#hopefully i didn’t miss something important that will make this post seem dumb

[anotherhumaninthisworld]

Hi,

In a lot of books I've read that the three members of the Committee of Public Safety most intent on having the Dantonists executed were Barére, Billaud-Varenne and particularly Saint-Just; however, I have never seen a sufficient explanation as to why. (I know about the gossip such as the Sillery affair or that Saint-Just and Desmoulins hated each other but I don't think such trivival things really contributed to them wanting to have the Dantonists executed.) Could you explain if it was really these 3 members who were hellbent on the whole affair and why the others might have been reluctant about it? Furthermore, about Lucile: to what extent is it true that the letter upon which her arrest was based was forged by Saint-Just? Because I have read that various times and also various times that Saint-Just had absolutely nothing to do with the letter. Can you please give me recommendations (books, articles) about the whole Dantonist affair because I feel that most I have read this far is incredibly biased or just simplistic.

Thnak you so much.

I have wondered the exact same thing, because you’re right, it has been stated by many historians that a certain number of CPS and CGS members (though not necessarily always the exact three you listed) were particulary eager to put down the Dantonists. This often gets contrasted with Robespierre’s alleged more hesitant reaction:

It was on the same day, perhaps, that, after much hesitation and many discussions at the Committee, [Robespierre] was at last persuaded by Billaud-Varenne and Collot d’Herbois to consent to the proscription of Danton. Robespierre (1935) by JM Thompson

But the fate of the ‘Indulgents’ was still to be resolved. In late March there were desperate meetings between Robespierre and Danton as pressure mounted for arrests. Robespierre remained hesitant — what exactly was Desmoulins’ offence? — but Billaud and Collot, worried by what the proscription of Hébert and his allies might mean for them, were unrelenting. Robespierre: a revolutionary life (2010) by Peter McPhee, page 190

In the government committees, the dabate has been vivid. Those most up in arms about Danton and those close to him have been Amar, Voulland, Billaud-Varenne and Collot d’Herbois, but it’s Saint-Just who has been assigned with writing a report against them. Robespierre (2014) by Hervé Leuwers, chapter 21

Collot d’Herbois and Billaud-Varenne, who had both been close to the Cordeliers, argued fiercely that the Committee should strike down the Dantonists. For a long time Billaud-Varenne and Robespierre had been at loggerheads over this. For several months Robespierre resisted killing Danton.  Choosing Terror (2014) by Marisa Linton, page 218

But of all those listed here, Billaud-Varennes is the only one for whom I’ve found sufficient evidence when it comes to hostility towards the dantonists, as he on several times is recorded to have reported his eagerness when it came to silencing Danton. As can be seen, he does however never really give a satisfying answer as to why, other than the fact that he saw Danton as dangerous.

The first time I denounced Danton to the committee, Robespierre rose like a madman and said that he saw my intentions, that I wanted to lose the best of patriots. Billaud-Varennes accuses Robespierre on 9 Thermidor 1794

Billaud-Varennes: If the misery of Danton is a crime, I accuse myself of it: because I was the first to denounce Danton; I said that if this man existed, freedom would be lost. If he were in this enclosure, he would be a rallying point for all counter-revolutionaries. Danton was Robespierre's accomplice; for the day before Robespierre consented to abandon him, they had been together in the countryside, four leagues from Paris, and had returned in the same carriage. I ask you if it is for few men that the Convention must vote at this moment. I declare that, if the intriguers, the thieves could have the upper hand, I would kill myself. Les crimes des sept membres des anciens comités de salut public et de surete general (1794) by Laurent Lecointre, page 23

I repeat it for you, Danton is the only representative of the people whose punishment I provoked, since he to me seemed like the most dangerous of conspirators. Réponse de J.N Billaud, représentant du peuple, à Laurent Lecointre, representant du peuple (1794) page 38

The last political opinions of Billaud corrected the old ones only on purely individual points. Thus, the death of Danton was then in his eyes a crime, because of the immense services he had rendered. "Alas!" he would often say, I was too directly involved in it and with a terrible hatred. The misfortune of revolutions is that you have to act too quickly; you have no time to examine: you act only in full and burning fever, in fear, I understand, of seeing your ideas aborted. Danton and his friends were clever people, invincible patriots at the tribune or in public action, and we massacred them! Unlike us, they did not, except for the brave Westermann, the Murat of the Republic, have their hands free from trafficking and plunder; they loved luxury too much but they had a noble and revolutionary heart; you will know their services one day, when the sincere history of our time is written. That of M. Lacretelle is only a work without facts, a work made up of a rhetorician. I remain with the intimate conviction that 18 Brumaire would not have been possible, if Danton, Robespierre and Camille Desmoulins had remained united at the foot of the tribune. Billaud Varennes — mémoires inédits et correspondance (1893) page 236-237

There’s also the following claim said to originate from Billaud in McPhee’s Robespierre biography that I’ve honestly been interested in since the first time I read it. No source is cited and I’ve not yet been able to discover from where it comes:

On January 13, Billaud also openly opposed Danton when the latter defended the recently arrested Fabre d’Eglantine, exclaiming ”Woe to whoever sat next to Fabre d'Églantine, and who is still his dupe.”

For the rest of those mentioned however, I not only had a hard time finding reasons for them to be particulary against Danton, but also evidence they actually even were against him more than anyone else. Since private papers where they might have spoken their mind more freely barely appear to exist for most of these people, I’ve chosen to mainly look over the minutes from the Convention and the Jacobin club between December 1793 (when the bickering between the hébertists and dantonists began) and the dantonists’ execution in April 1794. That colorful and devisive opinions are hard to find here might not be all that strange given the fact they needed to appear somewhat unified before the public. But I would still say my findings are rather inadequate for the claims cited above.

Starting with Barère, we know that he on December 26 denounced Desmoulins (without mentioning him by name) when talking about ”periodical writers who […] revive the counter-revolutionaries, and warm the ashes of the aristocracy.” He did however also say that Camille was doing this ”unknowingly and perhaps unintentionally,” which is very similar to how Robespierre chose to defend him on January 7. On April 1 Barère also voiced his support for the dantonists’ arrest at the Convention, but nowhere near as strongly as Robespierre had right before him. These were the only times Barère actually said anything about the affair during these four months that I could discover… I also didn’t see Barère talk about any particular role he might have had in it in his memoirs, though given the nature of those kinds of publications that doesn’t have to mean very much.

Collot did him too denounce Camille’s journal without naming his name on December 23. He denounced him again on January 5, but opposed expelling Camille from the Jacobins, which had been suggested on both December 21 and December 31, saying that ”the aristocrats have pronounced that Camille Desmoulins would be driven out of the Jacobins: let that go; the club will judge in its wisdom what is to be done; but let us not forget what an old patriot has done for the public good.” He only proposed the journal be censored, which is again the same thing Robespierre would also later ask for. At the same meeting Collot did however ask for Philippeaux to be expelled from the club, something which Robespierre would instead declare unnecessary two days later, but this on the grounds that Philippeaux had never really been a worthy member anyway.

One rather common thesis is that Collot (and Billaud) were close to the hébertists and for that reason wanted to get rid of Danton, and even that getting Danton’s head was their ultimatum for helping obtain that of Hébert. As evidence for this is often listed the fact that Collot on December 21 openly defended the hébertist Ronsin who had been arrested four days earlier, was celebrated by Hébert in Le Père Duchesne as well as the fact that he on March 7 went to the Cordeliers Club to preach union with its members. In Collot d’Herbois: lègendes noires et révolution (1995), Michel Biard does however dismiss the idea that this can be used as evidence Collot himself was a hébertist, arguing that he defended Ronsin to protect himself since the latter had been his collegue in Lyon and not because he agreed with him politically (if he had, he also would have defended the other arrested hébertist Vincent) and that Hébert praising Collot doesn’t mean Collot praised Hébert.

As for Saint-Just, he was away from Paris during much of the period (From October 17 to December 4, December 10 to December 30, and finally January 22 to February 13). It was of course he who, with the help of Robespierre, had prepared the dantonists’ indictment, but that he also did for the hébertistswhy did they always get him to write all the important reports btw?

The CGS members Amar and Voulland I found to barely have spoken at all during the studied period. On February 2, it was however the latter who suggested setting the imprisoned hébertists Vincent and Ronsin free, which I suppose at least reveals which side he was on. Amar was in his turn the one who had written the report regarding the East India Company scandal, in other words the people the dantonists would end up getting executed alongside. Though curiously, when reading the report at the Convention on March 16 (the only time he is recorded to have spoken that I could find) Amar received criticism from both Billaud-Varennes and Robespierre, who claimed it too narrow since it only focused on the financial side of the affair. At the same time, Robespierre called on the Convention to defend its honor and purge itself of traitors on its midst and demanded that Amar’s report be revised to express these ideas… The article André Amar and his role in the Committee of General Security (1961) also didn’t mention anything in particular about its subject’s role in the dantonist purge.

All those listed had however been attacked by Desmoulins in his two more recent publications (Saint-Just, Barère and Billaud in Lettre au général Dillon, Barère, Collot, Amar and Voulland in Le Vieux Cordelier), and, like you said, SJ and Camille had also been personal enemies since 1792. But also like you said, it is hard to say exactly in what way this affected them, and if it was to the extent that they actually wanted the author dead…

tl;dr, I actually don’t know what motivated these guys to put down the dantonists, because I don’t understand what the claim that they were extra eager to get them even stems from.

As for the story of Lucile Desmoulins and the letter from Arthur Dillon, I’ve already written about it in this post, but to quickly recap, Saint-Just (or anyone else for that matter) did not go so far as to commit forgery. Dillon himself admitted he had written Lucile a letter, however, he also underlined that it had simply been about encouraging her and not at all an invitation to conspire against the government. Lambert, the man Dillon had asked to deliver the letter, did in his turn claim that after he had refused to, Dillon tore the letter up before it could even leave his side.  Finally, Lucile answered ”no” both when asked if she had received the letter and when asked if she had received money from Dillon.

Finally, when it comes to good books or articles on the dantonist affair, I found chapter 8, Le chef d’un groupe indulgent ? and 10, ”Tu montreras ma tête au peuple ; elle en vaut la peine” of Danton: le mythe et l’histoire (2016) to be quite useful. The first chapter deals with the ”indulgent offensive” while simultaneously questioning the idea that there really did exist a cohesive group that under the leadership of Danton sought to slow down with ”the terror,” while the second is about their trial and execution. I also really liked the account in Camille et Lucile Desmoulins: un rêve de république (2018). Of course, both these books are in French, which I don’t know if you know or not, and none can be found for free legally… When it comes to English litterature on the subject, I’ve yet not found anything that I think truly has it all, but two books that can at least be found for free are Camille Desmoulins and his wife — passages from the history of the dantonists (1876) (bias in Camille’s favor and sometimes romantizing, but also making use of several primary sources) and Danton (1978) (I’ve honestly not read that part of the book, so who knows if it’s any good…)

[sl33py-g4m3r]

OCs from SMT IV that I accidentally created; or 2 but I’m only working on 1 currently I think. Fleshing him out more~~

Is what the larp is, lol. Accidental creation of characters.

Don’t have names for them yet tho.

One is someone from the monastery who’s somehow got access to this site and posts occasionally.

The other is a prentice samurai who completed a mission and unfortunately is now in the infirmary unconscious; with their soul somehow being isekai’d to our world somehow.

Whether he’s just a ghost or can interact with things physically around him is unknown at this time. How it happened is also unknown. Hopefully his soul returns to Mikado once more ~~

Rip new recruit. Shall he meet his end henceforth?

Still with all his equipment, gauntlet, and everything, except his memories of his fellows or what a samurai even is. Hadn’t determined whether he can still use the gauntlet to summon demons in our world or use any magic, or it’s simply cosmetic as he was wearing them in naraku and when he collapsed… remembers not of demons or magic…

Appears if at all, as a transparent figure of himself. Unsure to him if anyone can even see him or what happened. Finds interest in all the ‘magic’ he gets to witness in our time. Or relics as he would’ve known in Mikado.

Hopes to remember who he is, what the gauntlet is for and can do, and where he came from. In hopes that he can eventually get back to help his fellow samurai in Mikado. If he remembers that is.

Now he just has the vague feeling he’s missing and lost something deeply important; but knows not what nor whom. And is saddened by it~~

Thought it was a cool idea but now it sounds really stupid ~~~ as there’s nothing there that could possibly just do that to ones soul while leaving the body unconscious and not actively dying…. But suspension of disbelief I guess… magic doesn’t need to make sense in our world I suppose ~~~

Calling my own ideas and fantasies dumb… unbelievable… it’s supposed to be fun even if it seems stupid ~~~

Wanted to larp for fun but accidentally created characters instead….

For once creative post instead of an ‘I’m anxious darn you anxiety stop ruining my fun’ posts. A creative positive post??? Unbelievable ~~!!! lol.

Hope this is my own thought and I didn’t accidentally steal this from somewhere else cause I’m always afraid I had. Cause there’s an occult saying: “there is nothing new under the sun” so I might’ve picked it up somewhere but maybe I’m just overthinking my own creativity here…

How tf would a 1400’s society keep someone in a coma alive in the infirmary? Of course demons are a thing so…. Who knows…: are his fellows worried sick or too busy on missions to care that he’s vanished from this world? Is thee one that has a crush on him and fails to do missions in the hopes he wakes? Or does Hope make him do missions regardless?

Edit: fixed ‘for motions’ to ‘on missions’ as that’s what I intended to type. Stupid typo

[dollslayer]

Sweeter Endings

Sugar Daddy!Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary: Still reeling from the financial realities of losing your mother you turn to a lucrative website for help and get more than you could have bargained for.

W/C: 5,325

Warnings: Smut (no minors 18+ only), light D/S dynamics, brief mentions of alcohol consumption, unprotected sex, swearing

A/N: NO MINORS, I wrote this for @donutloverxo 's Sugary 4k Challenge (Congrats!!) I love sugar daddy AUs so I was really excited to write this!! If you like it then please like/reblog/comment I'm all ears! Also maybe check out my other stuff if you want! Cheers!

Main Masterlist

____

The saying ‘desperate times call for desperate measures’ was truer than you’d ever imagined and you found out the hard way. Life had hit you hard last year. You had watched your mother succumb very quickly to cancer. A cold that just wouldn’t go away turned into a doctor’s visit turned into three months left to live. Having no one else in her life, the cost of her funeral and medical bills fell to you. The bills outweighing the inheritance you had no choice but to drop out of school.

One year later you were hanging on by threads to keep yourself off the streets without turning to a loan shark or selling yourself. Stocking shelves at a bougie grocery store in Soho by day and bartending in Tribeca by night had you working six days a week. What free time you had you were too exhausted to do anything with. Something had to give or you were going to collapse from the stress, you just didn’t know what.

A couple weeks ago you had been casually venting about how broke you were with a coworker when she jokingly suggested signing up for one of those Sugar Daddy sites. You laughed along with her but it sounded better than getting a third job. You had quietly asked one of your roommates to borrow their laptop saying you needed to look at job postings only half a lie, really and locked yourself in your room.

You were just gonna check out the website, maybe sign up and poke around, it didn’t mean you were committing to anything, just looking. You remembered first looking at the website once your shitty wifi loaded it, promising ‘beautiful and successful people making mutually beneficial connections’. You balked after reading that but you couldn’t look at any profiles without making one yourself so you had set to work.

After making your profile you hadn’t gotten any hits in about a week so you shrugged it off. You couldn’t keep hogging your roommate’s computer anyways so you set off back to work. Your days at the store wore on into endless nights at the bar and you wondered what other options you really had when you had no degree and no experience in any relevant field.

___

6 o’clock on a Thursday night, the typical after work crowd begins to roll in. The bar you work in is upscale, classy. Definitely trying to lure in the businessmen that worked in the area and their wallets. It annoyed you to deal with the same type of customers you did at the store all over again but with the high end crowd came good tips so you couldn't complain too much.

It was busier than usual when a group of men in suits walked in together asking for a booth. You saw a lot of business meetings take place over whiskey sours in this place so you didn’t think much of it. You tried your best to keep tending to your regulars when a pair from the group came over.

One of the men had deep brown eyes and a sly grin that when split gave you the perfect view of the gap between his teeth. He was confident but he had a kind look to him. His friend had dirty blond hair and a beard that clung to his perfect jawline and you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t snuck a second look. You turned your back and continued filling orders to distract yourself when one of them cleared their throat behind you.

As you turned to face them you found it was the blond calling after you. His face held a hint of surprise but it was quickly replaced by a look of amusement as he smirked and one brow lifted, like he knew something you didn’t. He was like any other typical customer for you, professional and handsome, probably over-confident in himself. You returned his smirk and prepared your best charming banter. Time to earn those tips.

“Something to drink for you, gentleman?” You offered.

“We’d like a round of scotch for the table over there. You don’t mind bringing it over, do you sweetheart?” the brown-eyed man asked.

“Of course not” you answered. Pricks.

“Good girl” the blond said with a wink. Creep. A hot creep but still. Before you could ask he took his card out of his wallet and put it on the counter for the tab.

____

A round had come and passed, soon they’d asked for another but this time it was just the blond that approached you. You lifted your eyebrows in anticipation of an order.

“You here often?” he asked. Ugh, not even a good pick up line.

“Am I here at my job often?” You retorted with a playful smile.

The man’s shoulders shook as he chuckled. “Sorry you just uh, you look familiar that’s all. What’s your name?”

You supplied him with it and asked him if he wanted another round of scotch. He nodded.

“Smart girl, I’m Steve by the way.” He laid down his business card which you picked up with a look of challenging curiosity. Steve Rogers, CEO of Shield inc.

Oh. You didn’t recognize the name but you definitely knew the company. It felt like a quarter of their employees stopped in for a drink throughout the week and it was prominent enough of a company that you read about it weekly. Play it cool, these types want to feel like an every-man at the bar but still wanna feel important.

You raised your eyebrows again in recognition. “Nice to meet you, Steve, I’ll have your round right out.”

“Good Girl” he winked again at you. Okay so it’s hot, but he’s a total stranger and you don’t even know him. Stay on your game.

___

10 o’clock came around and things were thinning out slightly, regulars made their way out, awkward Tinder dates and rowdy young 20-somethings made their way in. The party of businessmen was still around but they were hopefully wrapping up after the 2 more rounds they’d had. Steve approached the bar once more and you preemptively picked up the bottle of scotch.

“Whoa, easy, girl! I’m here to pick up the tab” He said, taking out his wallet.

“What’s the name on the tab?” You decided to play dumb but based off the grin on his face he knew you were playing with him.

“Steve. Rogers.” He replied, his tone was stern but his eyes told you he was in on the joke.

You cashed him out and left him to sign his receipt so you could make more drinks. You saw him move in your peripheral and turned your head to see his face.

“Have a good night, sweetheart. I’ll be seein’ ya” he promised.

“Take care!” You smiled back.

A few minutes later you circled back to collect his receipt and found three $100 bills staring back at you. You blinked dumbly in disbelief, who the hell leaves a 200% tip? Looking around to see if Steve was still here he was nowhere to be found. You had no choice but to pocket the money.

____

Another week went by and left you wondering how much energy and concentration it would take for you to just evaporate, since that seemed easier than going to work today. Sadly still in solid form, you punched in at the store and stowed your things in your locker.

Your upscale customer base was a mostly pretentious and successful group of yuppies so even though you were grateful to not be on the streets you were constantly reminded of the professional success you couldn’t help but feel that you were missing out on. Stuck instead to listen to incessant whining ‘is this organic? I won’t eat it unless it’s organic’.

The upside of this job was that the time went by quickly because you always had so much to do. Plus with how monotonous the work was it was easy enough to zone out. So much so that you hadn’t heard someone calling your name and approaching you. A hand softly touching your shoulder snapped you into the present.

You looked up, startled to find a pair of blue eyes staring back into yours. You took a step back and processed who it was. “CEO guy?” Steve?

“‘CEO guy?’ I thought I recognized you, ‘barmaid’ or should I say… ‘stock girl?’” He joked using his fingers to make quotations.

Now that you thought about it, the store isn’t that far at all from the bar, it would make sense if he’s in the area. You smiled and tapped your nametag in response.

“I just came in on my lunch to grab a few groceries” looking down at his basket it held some protein powder, some eggs, and one lonely banana. “Clearly, I’m single. But you’d know that already, wouldn’t you?”

Your brows twinged together in confusion. What is that supposed to mean?

“Excuse me?”

He edged a little closer to you and lowered his voice “SeekingConnection.com?”

Your eyes widened in shock. The fucking Sugar Daddy site! I forgot about that! Surprise was quickly replaced with humiliation. You looked down and away as you felt your cheeks heat up.

“I don’t mean to embarrass you” Steve placated, “But I gotta say, I’m pretty hurt you never responded to me. I sent that message weeks ago and let’s just say I’m not used to rejection.” He kept his tone light, letting you know he wasn’t mad.

“I-I um, I’m sorry, I don’t have a computer and they don’t have an app, I was using my roommates’ computer and I guess I forgot about it…” You admitted.

Steve nodded in acknowledgement. Please say something to salvage this conversation. Please.

“Well,” Steve rummaged in his pocket for another business card. “You got a pen on you?”

You dug around in your apron and came up with one. Handing it to him you watched as he wrote on the back of the card. He held the card and the pen out to you.

“That’s my number, I’d ask for yours but I don’t wanna make you uncomfortable, you already look like you wanna sink through the floor” Not helping, but I do. You took them from him and tucked them away in the pocket of your apron.

“You do have a phone right?” You only glared at him in response. “Well, if you check your profile, you would’ve seen I asked you out to lunch, offer still stands. Just text me when you’re free”

Should I even say yes? I mean, the winking the other night was weird but he’s good looking and at least somewhat considerate. I mean, it’s not like I had any other intention when I signed up for that site. What the hell. right?

“I… usually work mid shifts so I don’t know if lunch is doable, they only give me half an hour but, maybe we could do coffee? I’ve got tomorrow off from the bar I could meet you” you suggested.

If Steve felt pity for you he hid it well behind the wide smile he made when you offered coffee instead.

“There’s a place around the corner from here, just up a block, you know it? I’m off tomorrow at 6, why don’t you meet me there?”

“Sounds like a plan.” He winked at you again and started walking away. What the hell just happened?

____

You did end up borrowing your roommate’s computer once again when you got home to look up Steve’s DM. Sure enough, there he had been in all his internet glory. ‘Steve, 33, CEO. likes: art, conversation, whiskey. Digging around further on his profile you found that he owned several houses here and in Europe, he had a dog that was cuter than he was, and that he was ‘Seeking deeper connection’. All of these things piqued your interest.

‘Hey, Doll. Saw your profile and I had to ask, what’s a girl like you doing in a place like this? Kidding, of course. But maybe you’d care to tell me your story over lunch? Your profile says we’re both in New York. - Steve’ Sent three weeks ago. Fuck.

You had texted him earlier to confirm, which is how you found yourself walking up the sidewalk towards the shop with a mind running rampant with nervous thoughts. What if he just wants to feel big about himself in comparison to me? What would I even really have to offer the relationship? A college dropout working two dead-end jobs with no social life. You needed to snap yourself out of it. You were just meeting for coffee doesn’t mean anything.

Pushing open the door you found Steve waving at you from a quiet corner. He was still in a suit, presumably coming from work himself. Even the buttons on his shirt looked expensive. You were wearing dirty jeans and a worn pair of work boots paired with a flannel. You couldn’t have looked more different if you tried.

“I waited for you to order,” He said. You smiled up at him, only now realizing how tall he was in comparison to you. He ushered you both towards the counter where you both placed your orders. You moved to take your wallet from your purse but he had already beat you there.

“Really? As if I’d let the lady pay, and on the first date no less?” He said playfully.

“Oh, so this is a date now, is it?” You kidded.

Steve shoved his hands in his pockets and gave you that boyish grin and a shrug. The pair of you made your way back to the table and waited for your drinks to be brought over.

“How was work?” You asked, “What exactly is it that your company does?”

“We offer security and surveillance software domestically as well as international. Stadiums, airports, other government buildings. Things of that nature. And work was fine, thank you for asking” Steve said with a genuine smile. “How was your day, doll?”

“Oh, my day was fine, more of the same but y’know,” You answered half-heartedly.

“You know, you never answered me, what’s a funny, pretty gal like you doing on a site like that?”

Embarrassment hit you again, this time maybe accompanied with a hint of shame. You were saved momentarily by your drinks being delivered. He seemed truly interested and since he was paying you supposed you owed him an answer.

“I was going to Columbia and I had a pretty good internship when my mom got diagnosed with cancer. She died three months later and since it was only always just the two of us I ended up footing the bill. I was on partial scholarship but between the hospital and the funeral I can’t really afford the rest of tuition on top of working for free so here I am” you explained, “Oh my god, I’m sorry I’m totally oversharing aren’t I? You probably don’t wanna hear about a bummer like this, sorry”

You tried to laugh to ease the tension you thought you’d created. Braving a look at Steve, he looked thoughtful and only a little bit like he pitied you. You could live with that.

“I’m really sorry about your mom, mine also got really sick before she died, I know it must’ve been hard. What were you in school for?”

___

You and Steve talked for hours, trading anecdotes of childhood and talking about each other’s interests. You had a similar sense in humour so you got on swimmingly. The evening seemed to be coming to a close as the night sky sent in through the window.

Being with Steve was probably the most relaxed you’d felt since before your mom was diagnosed. It became difficult to focus on anything but your financial situation and even though that’s what brought you here in the first place you had managed to forget all about it.

“So look, us getting together wasn’t exactly the most conventional on meet-cutes but to put it bluntly,” He said, “The CEO life makes it hard to meet real people and it gets kinda lonely, I mean, you saw my grocery basket” You both laughed at that. “You need money and I need company, I feel like we could help each other out. Whad’ya say? Think you could put up with me?”

You knew what this was but hearing it put so plainly was a little surprising. At least he was to the point.

“So if I said yes what does that mean, exactly?” you inquired.

“Well,” he started, “We take care of each other. Let me cover some of your bills at the very least, make it so you’d be comfortable quitting at least one of your jobs. And you’d keep me company, we go on dates, maybe you could come over, there’s the occasional work event or charity gala I’d need you on my arm for. Thoughts?”

God I can’t even imagine what it’s like to work only one job anymore. Maybe I could even save up and go back to school. He’s cute and he seems sensible, why not?

“Could we maybe take things slow? What you describe is something I’m down for but I don’t want to make myself completely dependent on you. But I’d love to be there for you, and I have to admit, the thought of only working one full time job is pretty crazy to me” You laughed.

Steve swallowed and placed one of his large, warm hands over yours.

“I can do things the old fashioned way, if that’s what you’d feel good with. I gotta say though, with looks like that it’s not gonna be easy” he jested.

You smiled shyly and looked away. You both stood to leave and he held the door open for you.

“I’ve already got your number from when you texted me earlier but I’ll talk to my assistant about my schedule and maybe I could take you out to dinner this weekend?”

“I um, I’d really like that. It’s a date” You stated.

“Oh, so you think this is a date now?” He jested.

You lightly punched him in the arm and he took the opportunity to pull you closer to him. You looked up to find his face inches from yours. You could smell his aftershave and his deep voice gave you goosebumps when he spoke next.

“I kinda want to kiss you goodnight, would that be okay?”

You could only nod as he shut his eyes and closed in. Your lips met in one perfect, chaste kiss. You sighed and leaned into his hand as it briefly cupped your face.

You broke apart and made promises to see each other soon. You felt like you could’ve floated home as you boarded the subway, caught up in the swarm of newly forming feelings.

_____

You sat in the break room when your phone buzzed to life, ‘Saturday at 7?’

You were about to type out a yes when you forgot you worked closing at the bar. Your thumbs moved quickly to tap out the reply ‘Working, sorry :/ the pitfalls of bartending. Sunday at 7?’

You were nervous telling him no and asking to change plans. You hated not being able to make things work but you only just met the man and the weekend tips were killer, it’s not like you could turn the shift down.

‘Ah yes, almost forgot. Sunday works too, I’ll text you the details. What’s your address? I’ll pick you up’

Oh, God. Steve can’t see my building! His cufflinks probably cost more than my rent!

‘I’ll just meet you there, don’t worry about it’

‘Not a chance, doll. Just tell me where and I’ll come get you’

You let out a worried sigh but knew you had to let it go. You sent him your address and went back to work.

____

Saturday was maybe the longest day in your entire week, in fact you loathed it. Mornings at the store followed by running immediately to the bar. Last call in New York was 4am so it’s a good thing you didn’t try to make brunch plans with Steve for Sunday. But ultimately both your shifts passed without major incident and now it was Sunday and you tried to ready yourself the best you could.

The place Steve mentioned was fancy, you knew that much from a quick search. Panicking instantly upon realizing you don’t really have any nice clothes you turned to your most fashionable roommate for help. She loaned you a cocktail dress that was revealing enough to draw interest without giving everything away. You just hoped Steve would like it.

‘Downstairs, doll. Silver BMW’ you exhaled. Hoo boy, here we go.

____

Steve handed his keys to the valet and rushed around to open your door for you. You held his hand and you clambered onto the sidewalk in your heels. His warm hand on the small of your back as he steered you towards the doors was a comforting weight.

Dinner has been lovely so far, he chose a place that wasn’t completely white-glove but was upscale enough to make you feel only a little underdressed.

You joked back and forth with him over the course of the meal, talked about your lives, and even found out you both have a guilty pleasure for cheesy rom-coms. It wasn’t until dessert and your third glass of wine came that you realized how much time had passed. You frowned slightly thinking of the early morning ahead of you followed by a long night at the bar.

“What’s wrong, doll?”

“Oh, nothing I just didn’t realize how late it was, I’ve got both jobs tomorrow it’ll just be a long day that’s all” you tried to wave it off but Steve frowned in response.

“Quit the bar” he stated.

“What?”

“Quit the bar. This is your card, I’ve already loaded $3000 on there. Put me in touch with your landlord and I’ll get you taken care of.” He slid the card across the table to you. Your name printed on the front. This got real very quickly.

“Steve, that’s.” You were in shock, a loss for words almost “that’s too much, I don’t know what to say.” You felt embarrassed taking the money. You knew that was the essence of your arrangement but actually taking his money had you feeling uneasy.

“Honey, this is what I’m here for. Let me take care of you. Give up your late nights. I wanna take you out on the weekends and you’ll need to be available for events. You can stay at the store if you want but quit the bar, you don’t need it.”

You took a deep sigh. He did say he wanted you to be comfortable quitting one of your jobs; it's just making the change that scares you. But something about Steve felt safe so you nodded and looked up to him.

“I’ll put in my two weeks”

“Good girl” he patted your knee and you involuntarily clenched your thighs. He smirked at that but let it go.

____

A few months had come and gone since that night and your time with Steve had been great. Only working the one job gave you so much more free time. You'd spent a good chunk of it just trying to form a normal sleep schedule but all the time you spent with Steve made it difficult. Not that you minded especially since your allowance was monthly but he’d showered you with gifts here and there.

They started off small, perfume, chocolates and flowers, or a simple pair of white gold hoops that reminded him of you. They gradually became pricier and more elaborate. You’d felt guilty accepting it all at first but he was insistent you deserve the best. He had even mentioned you moving out maybe finding a better place but you reminded him you needed to go slow.

He’d also been nothing short of a gentleman. Out in public at least, you’d learned the hard way that he was an absolute animal in bed. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep your hands off of him.

Something you had appreciated about Steve is that he never made you feel bad or less than for being broke. Never held his money over your head like leverage. You’d felt equal to him in all aspects, understanding you had just as much say as he did.

Still, there was a small nagging voice in the back of your head that reminded you Steve is not your boyfriend. This isn't a relationship and he's looking to get something out of just like you are. But if you were being honest you were catching feelings, it was hard not to when the man was giving you the fantasy. You decided to push that voice aside whenever it came up and let yourself be swept away. Maybe that would bite you in the ass but for now you were happy.

____

You were buzzed into Steve’s building and on the elevator ride up to his penthouse your phone buzzed. ‘I have to make a quick call- I’ve got a present waiting for you in the living room.’ You couldn’t help but feel giddy.

The doors opened and Steve was nowhere in sight but as you entered the living room a bag from Chanel and the Apple Store sat on the table. Oh god, what this time? I swear this man is too much.

You opened the smaller bag from Chanel first and found a beautiful black and white evening bag. It was sleek and simple, very much to your tastes. You were nervous to open the Apple bag, Steve always went overboard. Shakily removing the paper you pulled out the slim case in disbelief. A MacBook Air and a pair of AirPod Pros. The man well and truly spoiled you.

“You said you didn’t have a computer.” His voice came from behind you and startled you.

“Steve, this is too much. You’re too much.” You swung your arms around his neck and kissed him.

“Nothin’s too much for you, doll.” He kissed the top of your head.

“Think you could take a couple days off of work? I just got off the phone and confirmed plans for my house in Nice.”

A trip? France?? Oh my god. How is this my life? You felt so overwhelmed that you grabbed Steve by the collar and brought his face down to meet you in a kiss. His tongue swiped your lips and you granted him entrance. Moaning into his mouth your hands traveled up into his hair, pulling softly and coaxing a groan out of him.

He guided you to sit on the couch and brought you down into his lap. You ground down onto him and felt his hard-on through his slacks. Your hand moved slowly to undo the buttons of his shirt as he kissed down your jaw towards your neck. You sighed softly when he found your sweet spot and started sucking.

He helped you take off his shirt while you got started on his belt and undid his pants. He lifted himself off the couch slightly to move them down to his knees, taking his briefs with them. His cock stood proud and an angry red, leaking at the tip.

“I wanna ride you, I can’t wait.” You pouted as you writhed against him in need.

Steve tutted at you “that’s no way to get what you want. Ask me nicely, baby. Beg to ride my cock,”

You ground down even harder and whined. “Please, sir, please let me ride your cock. I need to feel you, I can’t wait any longer please.”

“Good Girl” Steve's hands flipped up your skirt and found your panties, ripping them to shreds. They were La Perla and had cost a pretty penny but he didn’t care.

He lined himself up and brought you down harshly gripping your hips. You moaned loudly in surprise and satisfaction and wasted no time moving back and forth. Steve made you feel so close and connected to him whenever he fucked you but he still made you feel sordid and dirty. You couldn’t get enough of the feeling, you’d gladly chase it.

His eyes were hooded as watched you chase your own pleasure and giving him some in return. His hands kneaded your ass and smacked it just to get a gasp out of you. He grabbed the back of your head and brought you in for a searing kiss that was all teeth and tongue. He’d nip at you and lick the pain away.

His hips met yours, finding your rhythm and speeding you both up when he gripped your hips.

“Can’t wait to have me, you had to fuck me on the couch huh?” Steve panted, “my dirty girl. So fuckin’ gorgeous.”

You put your forehead against his and went harder, pushing your clit to grind against the muscles of his abs.

“Only yours, sir.” Your orgasm was building. Steve was a pretty relaxed dom but you still needed permission.

“Sir, please let me cum I can’t wait any longer” you tried your best to slow your movements a bit.

“I think you can hold it baby, I wanna enjoy you a little longer”.

You could only whine in response and tried to slow your pace but his grip on your hips and his own movements pushed you further and further towards the edge. You tried to squirm out of his grasp but his hands only tightened. It felt like forever until Steve finally gave you permission.

“Go on baby, cum for me you earned it. Fuck your self on my cock and cum all over me”

Your movements were frantic, desperate to chase your orgasm when finally the perfect angle of his cock inside you and your clit against him set you free. You cried out above him and dug your nails in deep.

Steve held you firmly in place and started slamming into you from below, finally letting himself think about cumming. All you could do was hold on for mercy. Moments later he brought you down onto him one final slam as he came inside of you with a cry.

The only sound in the room was both of you trying to catch your breath. You sighed again and collapsed against him, nuzzling your face into his neck. He kissed the side of your face and let you make yourself at home while he caressed your back.

____

One shower and two more orgasms later you were both clean and made your way to the kitchen. Steve was gathering the ingredients for dinner when you hugged him from behind. Your head resting against his back. Steve twisted around and hugged you in full. You both stayed like that for a moment until you looked up at him.

You were so content. Moments like this where you were just domestic were some of the best between you. It wasn’t about money or material, it was just the two of you making dinner and enjoying each other, no barriers.

“Are you really going to take me to France?” Your voice came out muffled against his chest.

“Of course, doll. After dinner I want you to use your new laptop to buy some outfits for the trip. I left my card in your new purse.”

You lifted onto your tiptoes and kissed his nose.

“You really do think of everything, don’t you?”

“What can I say? I’m a planner” he retorted.

You didn’t know it yet but Steve was going to ask you to become official while you were there. He wasn’t worried in the slightest. In fact he’d never been so sure about something in his life.

[miraculous-sunflower]

don’t steal adrien’s phone - a fanfiction by miraculous_carnation

hi yall! this amazing piece of art isnt unfortunately done by me- it’s by the ultra charming miraculous_carnation on ao3, so be sure to check her out! i’ve gotten her permission to post this here, so dont worry! enjoy the show!

Lila Rossi posed for the camera, putting on a flirty face, Adrien sitting next to her. They were at the Palace of Versailles, the place for their photoshoot. Lila hugged Adrien in a way that made him uncomfortable, running her hands across his back. The photographer, noticing Adrien’s discomfort, asked them to take a 5 minutes break.

Lila walked to where Adrien was sitting. “So, Adrien! The photos are going to look awesome, right? I mean, we look so in love!”

Adrien’s eyes opened wide when he heard her voice. “Um, Lila? I know I’ve said this a lot, but can you please stop touching me? It makes me uncomfortable, and I already have a girlfriend,” Adrien tried to explain.

Lila narrowed her eyes at his last statement. Ugh, that Maritrash. What did Adrien see in her?

“Oh of course, Adrien! I’d never want to do something that would make you feel uncomfortable,” she whispered, leaning towards his mouth. Adrien grew stiff. Luckily, the photographer called for them just in time. Lila rolled her eyes, but then put on a fake smile.

“Oh well, anyways, we better go back, Adrien! We have to finish the shoot!”

Adrien hated photoshoots with Lila. They were the worst. Luckily, it was only for another 30 minutes, because after that, he had an interview with Nadja Chamack on Face to Face.

Lila hid behind a bush, watching Adrien get up and head toward the photoshoot. Perfect. She ran over to the table and picked up his phone.

“Well, Adrien, let’s see who you really love,” she smirked.

“Welcome back to, Face to Face! This is your host, Nadja Chamack, live in Paris!” Nadja Chamack enthusiastically said while the audience clapped. “Today, we have a very important guest. He’s a model, born here in Paris, ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the son of world famous designer Gabriel Agreste, Adrien Agreste!”

2 seconds later, Adrien walked onto the stage, wearing a suit, created specially by his father, strutting in the way his father taught him when he was little. ‘Flash a flirty smile to the audience, then greet Nadja Chamack professionally’, his father’s words repeated in his mind. His father cared about his appearance and reputation, after all…

“Hello there, Nadja! How are you doing today?” Adrien politely asked. He wished he could be somewhere else,particularly running around as CHat Noir, maybe playing a game of tag with Ladybug…

“Oh, well I’m doing wonderful!” Nadja responded, snapping Adrien out of his daze. “Anyways, I’ve got a bunch of questions for you! First one, are you dating Lila Rossi, a fellow model from your father’s company? Are the rumors true?”

Adrien sighed. There were so many rumors about that going around, many of them created by Lila. She already convinced the class that they were dating, when he actually was dating Marinette.

“Sorry, Nadja, but that is incorrect. I am not dating Lila Rossi, but I am dating Marinette Dupain-Cheng, of who you may know.”

Nadja smiled at the name of her friend’s daughter. “Yes, I know Marinette, I commissioned her to create a dress for Manon for my sister’s wedding, and it came out beautiful! Everyone in the audience, go check out Marinette’s website!”

Lila Rossi was watching the Face to Face interview, fuming. She didn’t know he had an interview! How dare Adrien say that! She’d ruin his relationship with Marinette! She tapped into his phone, already knowing his password, courtesy of his father. Gabriel Agreste gave her access to all of his son’s social media accounts for safety reasons. She logged onto his Instagram account and made a new post, adding the photo of Lila kissing him on the cheek.

“So grateful for my girlfriend @lilarossi! Love you!”

She smirked. No way he was getting out of this one.

Nadja Chamack was confused. Apparently, a new post from Adrien on Instagram was posted just now, but how was it possible? Adrien was talking to her the whole time!

She coughed. “Adrien, it seems that there has been a new post on your Instagram,” Adrien looked shocked, “can we have the post on the screen?”

Adrien’s eyes grew wide as he saw the post. “Nadja, I didn’t post that! I couldn’t-”

“I know you didn’t, Adrien. You’ve been talking to me the whole time right now!”, Adrien let out a sigh of relief, “Is it possible your social media team did it?”

Adrien shook his head. “No, they don’t put out posts like that. They only put out posts that promote the brand!”

“So if it wasn’t your social media team, who was it?” Nadja said in confusion. There were several murmurs in the audience as well.

Adrien narrowed his eyes. “Well, I have a hunch. What is the post about?”

Nadja caught on with his thinking. “Oh, so you believe Lila Rossi posted this? How would she have gotten your phone?”

Adrien thought about what happened before the interview. “Well, you see, before coming here, I had a photoshoot with Lila. She probably took my phone then.”

Gabriel Agreste was watching from the safety of his home. Lila Rossi had not thought about this beforehand! She was going to ruin his plan and his brand! How dare she!

Nathalie walked in. “Sir, would you like me to delete the post and disable Adrien’s social media accounts?”

“Yes, Nathalie. Have Adrien’s social media team clean up the mess.” Gabriel sighed. The only good thing that came out of this was that he figured out his son was dating Marinette Dupain-Cheng. It was a good choice, as Marinette was exceptional.

Lila’s eyes grew wide at the revelation. She posted about herself on Adrien’s account when he was in an interview! It made her the prime suspect! Hopefully Mr. Agreste’s social media team could take the blame.

She dialed Mr. Agreste’s number. “Hello, is Mr. Agreste there?”

She was greeted with the monotone voice of Nathalie. “Excuse me, Miss Rossi, but Mr. Agreste has decided to terminate your contract on behalf of Gabriel. You will never model in his brand again. Goodbye.”

Lila gasped. How dare that dumb assistant! She was Lila Rossi! How dare Gabriel Agreste do that to her! She would ruin him!

“On top of recent events, Lila Rossi has lied about many things. She even got Marinette expelled once!” Adrien explained to Nadja, excited that he found a way to expose Lila.

Marinette was watching all of this from the comfort from her room, her mouth wide open. Well, she wasn’t super surprised, Lila would do something like this, but Adrien called her his girlfriend! Sure, they were dating, but she didn’t think he would announce it publicly!

Girl, are you watching Face to Face? Can you believe Lila lied?

Hold up, you’re dating Adrien? Why didn’t you tell me?

Girl, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. I thought we were BFFs!

Marinette snorted at the latter. BFFs? Yeah, right. Alya literally announced to the class two weeks ago that their friendship was over and that her new best friend would be Lila. Go figure!

“Wow. As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, startling revelations about the newest Gabriel model has come through! Hold on, we have a new post from the official Gabriel Twitter account! Can we please have this on the screen?” Nadja exclaimed.

Adrien read the post, not surprised. Of course his father would try to save face. It wasn’t new. He was just happy he wouldn’t have to model with Lila anymore.

The audience and Nadja gasped when they read the post. “Wow! It looks like the Gabriel brand has officially terminated Lila Rossi’s contract!” Nadja had to act surprised because this was predictable from the fashion designer. Typical Gabriel.

“Well, folks! There was a lot of drama today, but that concludes today’s interview! I hope you come again for another episode of, Face to Face!” Nadja concluded.

Bonus Scene:

“Well, Adrien, you made a good choice with Marinette. She could take over the designing area of the company while you take over the business side. When will you marry her?”

“FATHER!”

“Well, kid, he’s not wrong. Pigtails makes pretty good bread. And oh how good it tastes with camembert! Oh my sweet gooiness!”

“Shut up, Plagg.”

[jjuzoir]

Overdue | T. Shoto

request: “Hi! If your requests are still open, could I request a todoroki x reader oneshot please? Basically they’re childhood friends and go to UA together. Everyone ships them and Todoroki always treats reader super sweetly, but doesn’t realize that he’s also low-key pining for her. (always using endeavor’s credit cards to get her gifts LOL) eventually Todoroki figures out his feelings and confesses. Then the class catches them kissing in the dorms, making Todoroki and reader flustered! Thanks so much!”

a/n: this took me so long omgjdjsj fck all my reqs for this batch are taking me long :’) anyway thank you for being so patient with me @sugarandsoft ;;;

word count: 2933

When it came to romance it was safe to say Shoto was simply blind to it, the romantic feelings of those around him and himself were practically foreign to the teenager.

In all of your years of knowing him you had never once seen him actually be able to recognize the difference between friendship and crushing. To him there was no “I like you romantically” or “I don’t like you romantically”, it was always “I like you as a friend” or “I don’t like you as a friend”. The whole liking someone, crushing on them, dating-courting thing was as complicated as astrophysics is to an eight year old. Which led to everyone around him to immediately be put in the friendzone the minute they got to know him.

Everyone knew that, especially Class 1-A who had to bear witness to one of their top students crush hopelessly on you without even being aware of it. They knew, other students knew, the teachers knew, your parents knew, his mother knew, the League of Villains knew— everyone knew that Todoroki Shoto of class 1-A has a big, fat crush on you except Todoroki Shoto himself. Hell, it was so obvious All for One could’ve seen he had a crush on you.

It was the “little” thing that gave it away, like using the number-two-pro-hero’s credit card to get you a new phone because yours got a small crack. When confronted about it, he’d always say the same thing.

“She’s my friend and I enjoy using the old man’s money,” he’d scowl at Midoriya— Shoto’s self proclaimed wingman and president of the [Name] x Shoto club, who had questioned his spending habits when it came to you.

“So you'd do the same thing for any friend?” Izuku would push the boy further, he was going to get him to realize he liked you even if it killed him- and by the way the year had been going and Shoto’s complete obliviousness to the situation, the latter seemed more likely.

“I guess.”

“Oh really? Then where the fuck is my new phone, lukewarm? If you’re gonna call me your ‘friend’ where is my phone?” Bakugou questioned him with a snarl.

“Yours isn’t cracked, Bakugou-”

“Is that what it takes? ‘Cause I’m gonna do it!”

“Hey Izuku- what’s going on?” Ochako looked at the trio in front of her, easily being drawn to the loud noises coming from the living area.

“Half-’n-Half over here is gonna buy us new phones if we crack ours.”

“I see…”

“Seriously?” Mina barges into the room to pick up the teasing where the blond has left off, “But I like my phone- oh! I know, instead of a phone why don’t you get me some new sneakers!”

“And if I break my house, would you get me a new one?” The brunette asks, she’d rather shoot her shot or miss trying.

“So- you’re gonna admit you’d only do it for [Name] are you gonna need help placing some orders?” Bakugo smirks at Todoroki.

“Ochako and I can check real estate for you!” Mina giggles.

But rather than answering, the bi-colored haired teen simply looked down and mumbled to himself, annoyed; “I’m not buying anyone anything.”

Safe to say he didn’t keep his word because not a day later and he had bought you a new TV after you joked about getting tired of going down the stairs to the shared living space.

He’d make exceptions for you all the time, always covering it with the excuse of “she’s been my friend for longer”, even when it didn’t make much sense. From his limited physical contact rule to the reckless spending, you had him wrapped around your pinky and he didn’t even know it. Everyone would always tease you two about it yet both of you dense as rock to the implications never really paid them much mind.

But soon Todoroki was confused, really confused, by his peers and their words; they were constantly insinuating that he liked you in a more than friends way. At first it was easier to deny such claims, you were just friends— but the more the pestering continued the more aware he was of the ways his heart seemed to flutter at the mention of your name or how he began noticing how he stared at you more often than the rest.

But he couldn’t like you, you were his first real friend— the only person in his life that was always there, if he did like you and he did act out his alleged feelings there was always the possibility you’d say no. And that scared Todoroki more than he’d like to admit. You, on the other hand, did acknowledge the butterflies he’d bring you and welcomed them with open arms. Knowing your chances with him were slim, you unknowingly turned a blind eye to his behavior, chalking it up to him seeing you as his best friend (as much as it might’ve pained you to think like that).

It didn’t take long for you to notice how he seemed more hesitant around you, how he was shying away from your touch and the way he’d avoid giving you any response longer than two sentences, soon enough he was practically avoiding you altogether, and you were worried. In all of your years being his friend, Shoto had never been so cold and distant with you. Had you upset him? It was a complete 180º from before and it left you wondering why.

“Ugh, he’s just-! I’m so annoyed, Ochako!” You groaned into your pillows, “He's never acted like this before, he’s barely talked to me in weeks! I don’t know what I did or what to do.”

“[Name], it’s okay! He has been pretty off lately,” the brunette patted your back, “You should try talking to him!”

“How am I supposed to talk to him when he barely even lets me get near?”

“Hm, maybe leave him a note!” She suggests, brown eyes looking at you sympathetically.

“A note?” You look up and meet her gaze, “Huh…”

And so you did it, you scribbled down a meeting place and signed it anonymously before huffing, stuffing it in your bag and deciding.

“Dear Todoroki, please meet me in the kitchen after practice. It’s very important, you really need to come!”

Simple, short— straight to the point with little to no wiggle room for interpretation (other than a very insistent and kind of annoying person, but that’s a price to pay for the restoration of your friendship), if he didn’t come you’d simply harass him with more notes until he gave up or had enough to open up a paper store. Hopefully the former because you doubted you’d have enough post-it notes or the money for that many.

“Hmph! That should do,” you rub your hands before throwing a thumbs up at your friend, “Thank Ochako, I owe you big time!”

That morning you told Izuku and Iida about Ochako’s plan and how you hoped they’d make sure Shoto actually came to the meeting place.

“But, don’t you think he might, I don’t know,” the freckled boy scratched at his neck, “Think you’re going-to-confess-or-something?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.” You look at Midoriya confused.

“He means that Shoto might think the note might be from someone who wants to declare their feelings for him.” Tenya informs you, maybe a bit too matter of factly for your liking no one likes being talked down to.

“Don’t worry guys, I think a love confession is the farthest thing Shoto will assume this is.” You wave your hands in an attempt to convince them otherwise.

“There is no way this is going to be a confession.” Bi-colored eyes squint at the blonde that walked besides him.

“Look, all I’m saying is this definitely smells like a confession scene to me,” Denki smirks at Todoroki, “The kitchen is a weird place though, maybe they’ve baked you some sweets! Bro, you’re so lucky!”

“You might want to check your nose because there’s simply no way, Kaminari.”

“Why?” Sero smiles as he asks, “You’re pretty popular with girls, why can’t this be another confession?”

“Because,” Shoto snatches the note from the black-haired boy’s hand, “This is [Name]’s handwriting.”

“Wait a minute-! You’re telling me she’s making a move before you?” Kirishima asks in surprise, “I knew you liked her but I had no idea she liked you back, huh. I can kind of see it though.”

“What are you even saying?” The boy in question grumbles, he knew he should’ve gone with Midoiya and Iida but he knew you were going to be there and he didn’t want to risk being a fool. Now he’s got dumb, dumber and the dumbest giving him butterflies by insinuating you like him back, great.

“That she likes you, dude!”

“Totally! And you- you like her back! So all you gotta do now is go accept her confession and stop moping around being all pathetic- ow!” Kaminari rubbed his arm, cursing Kaminari’s strength.

“Don’t say that!”

“Yeah, at least not to his face.”

Todoroki simply rolled his eyes at the boys before hurrying up his pace, today was going to be long as he asks himself if he should really go.

He had a lot to think about, this information was important to him; there’s a chance you like him and the thought made him happy— very, very happy. Just the idea that you might return these feelings, which he’s still trying to come to terms with, just confirms it in his mind that he, Todoroki Shoto, does like you; in a more than friends way. He’s not going to let the chance slip away.

By the time he’s at the meeting spot, he can’t deny that he’s excited even if  his face doesn’t really show it. He had been confessed to many times but this was different because, for the first time, he planned on saying yes.

He heard you approaching, the soft tap of slippers matching the beat of his heart. He liked you, he really did like you and you liked him back.

As you turn around the corner you’re met with a frowning Shoto and are slightly taken aback at his serious expression. You knew he tended to be quite inexpressive sometimes but after a while of not hanging around you can understand why others are off-put by his cold features and intimidating stature.

“Shoto, you’re here.” Even through your shock you still smiled at your friend, relived he’d even shown up with the way he’d been avoiding you. You make your way near the counter, before sitting on top of it, you had chosen the kitchen in case that he'd forgotten about the note but be there anyway getting himself something.

You’d have to be quick before he’d run away,  wanting to get straight to the point and ask him what had been going on. You cared about him and you missed him, you didn’t intend on wasting more time.

“I know it’s sudden but you've been avoiding me all week and I’m sick of it! I really care about you Shoto and you ignoring me like this hurts-!” You stuttered, too caught up in trying to pour out all your feelings at once— accidentally giving him the confirmation he needed that this was indeed a confession.

“It’s okay, I think I know what you mean,” he cuts in, his expression softening, “And I feel the same way too.”

“Huh-? Shoto what are you-?” You look around the room confused, if he knew how you felt then why did he continue avoiding you? Did he even really know what you were talking about?

“I was scared,” he continues paying your previous statement no mind, slowly approaching your sitting form before taking your hand, “that’s why I avoided you but knowing that you feel the same way, makes me happy I guess.”

You blink in confusion, what was he talking about? Neither of you were on the same page, you probably weren’t even in the same chapter, you furrow your eyebrows at the thought.

“Shoto, just to get this straight,” you look into his eyes causing him to blush a soft pink, what the hell was going on, “what feelings are we- uh, talking about?”

First he avoids you like the plague, now he’s blushing and talking about feelings? What did he think this was?

“Like.” He says staring at you in confusion as if you were the one not making sense.

“Like what?”

“Like.” Todoroki looks at you, soft skin creasing at the frown that was now adorning his face.

“Like what, Shoto?”

“Like as in ‘I like you’-like.” He squeezes your hand and you’re thankful you’re sitting down or else you think you’d fallen over at his words.

“Wait, you like me?” At the realization of what you had been just talking about it’s your turn to blush, the blood rushing to your cheeks giving them a soft glow, “You had been avoiding me because you liked me?”

“Well, yes, I just said that,” a pale hand comes to hold your cheek, “[Name], are you feeling alright?”

“You like me?”

He nods, a soft smile in his face as he assures you with a hug;  “I really do”.  This wasn’t the conversation you were expecting but it wasn’t unwelcomed either. In a way, it did answer your question but it left you in a bit of a dilemma because you did like Shoto and he liked you but, now, what did that make both of you?

“Do you like me?” He asked, his hand rubbing your back delicately and a sense of nostalgia washes over you as you remember all the times you’d comforted him when you both were younger. You just nod in fear of your voice giving out and accidentally ruining the moment.

“Are we- uh, dating now?” You ask into his shoulder, the soft smell of his shampoo filling your senses,

“Only if you want to.” He whispers. Neither of you were really physically affectionate with each other before this, at least not since you were little kids, but Shoto had to admit that holding you close like this was nice. Even if it had only been a week or two, you missed him and he missed you a lot and being able to hug you so freely made his heart feel like it was about to burst.

“I’d love to.” You pull away slightly from the hug to face him, your noses touching ever so slightly. You were happy, not only was your relationship with Todoroki restored but it had leveled up and you swore it was as if you were floating.

With hesitant hands he pulls you closer and you close your eyes, he smelt like soft wood and tea and you were reminded of all the times you’d go over to his house where a little Shoto would show you around his room and toys, excited to have a friend his father approved of. You were proud of the way he’d grown, how he’d soften up and learned, how he was able to let go of the anger and grow into himself, you always liked Shoto and to finally be able to be his girlfriend was all you could want right now.

“Can I?” He asked, the whisper soft and delicate in your lips; you nod.

His lips meet yours for a second, a sweet peck that left you giggling into him. You both pull away for a second before kissing once more, it was longer and almost sickeningly sick. You could taste the mint from him and you wondered if he could taste the sweets you had been eating earlier.

But, of course, in class 1-A nothing is really a secret for long and you hear clapping from behind you. Shocked, you both pull away flushed red as your friends are left stifling laughs. The kitchen door is wide open and you can see most of them pilling against the frame with wide eyes.

“Fucking finally, I thought we were gonna graduate before you two got together.” Bakugo is the first to speak.

“I’m surprised they even kissed, I thought it was going to take them another 15 years to get there!” Mina giggles to Ochako who can only nod in amusement, she gives you a thumbs up and you roll your eyes.

“How did you even know we were here? Aren’t you meant to be at practice or something?” You ask them, clutching Shoto’s shirt in an attempt to hide your face.

“Come on, you passed the note to Kaminari and Sero and expected us to not come?”

“I wonder what your kid’s quirk is gonna be like,” Midoriya mumbles into his hand, “Will they get both of Todoroki’s quirks plus [Name]’s?”

“Izuku! Don’t say things like that!” Iida begins scolding the green-head much to both your boyfriend and your amusement, “To say something so suggestive when they’ve only gotten together-!”

“Iida now you’re making it creepy!” Everyone begins grumbling, some annoyed and some laughing at the comments and the once peaceful and romantic atmosphere turns rowdy as everyone starts talking about the newly formed relationship.

“Great now I can’t use the kitchen without thinking about you two making out!” The blonde grumbled before storming out bringing with him a new round of laughs as you and Shoto blush awkwardly.

Safe to say, none of your classmates will ever let you live down how long it took you two to get together.

[prettygirlcore]

fall - hwang hyunjin

a/n: i think i’m gonna start putting summaries on my posts, but don’t expect them to be good because i suck at that.

i also used like a million pet names because i find them really sweet and endearing. hyunjin’s a boy i want to protect, ya know?

warnings: fainting, hyunjin overworking himself :(((, and just overall sad vibes.

summary: hyunjin’s worried about being good enough, so he starts to work harder; that doesn’t end well.

hyunjin’s rarely late. being on time is usually something he holds himself to and when he knows he’ll be late, he’ll text you and let you know. but you haven’t heard anything from him since morning and he’s an hour late to your scheduled date. admittedly, you were just going to eat dinosaur chicken nuggets in your pajamas and watch tv, but all your stay-at-home dates are memories that you really cherish and value.

so you call him. and he doesn’t answer. at this point you’re more worried than annoyed, so your next resort is to call chan. hopefully you didn’t have to resort to calling jyp themselves.

“y/n? what is it? is everything okay?”

“chan, thank god you picked up, do you know where hyunjin is?”

“he’s still in the practice room. we told him he should get home to you, but he said that you’d be gone so he doesn’t have anything better to do but run through his sets a few more times,”

“Uhm no? i’m at home?? waiting for him???”

“maybe he forgot?”

“hyunjin’s capable of forgetting many things, our weekly dates isn’t one of them,”

“do you want me to get him for you?”

“no, just… let him be, i guess. whatever he’s doing is important to him, anyway,”

“y/n-”

“bye chris,”

you said before hanging up the phone, not giving chan a chance to finish. it was so incredibly embarrassing to think that hyunjin probably knew you were waiting for him, but didn’t care. maybe he was with someone else, since he was in a position where he’d be alone for a few hours. god you felt so dumb. chan felt pity for you and your stupid, dumb idea that hyunjin actually cared to make it to your stupid date.

you sit there, scrolling through a bunch of different apps, trying to distract yourself from how horrible you felt for a good twenty minutes, when...

your phone is ringing again.

chan is calling you again.

you watch his face light up your phone, you can hear the ringtone, and yet, you don’t pick up. maybe it was the underlying rage you felt towards hyunjin, or the absolute hatred you felt at chan’s pitiful voice when you almost broke down crying during the first call.

chan’s call fades out as you officially ignore his call and send him to voicemail, but he calls again.

you still don’t answer.

he calls you again.

once again, you can’t find it in you to answer.

he calls you a good five more times, maybe more, you don’t remember. all you know is that this ringtone is starting to annoy you. you move to put your phone on do not disturb, but before you can hit the button, you were getting another call.

guess who it was?

wrong.

you think to yourself if minho, of all people, is calling me, maybe i should answer it.

so you do.

“minho-”

“yah! what the hell? why weren’t you answering chan’s calls?”

“minho i don’t want to talk about it right now-”

“oh my god y/n for one minute stop thinking about you and your feelings! for just once in your life! hyunjin’s at the hospital!”

hospital?

hyunjin was at the hospital??

you were shocked, stunned into silence that you completely disregarded minho on the other line until he brought you back to reality.

“y/n?”

“a-ah, i’m sorry, why is he at the hospital?”

“they think he fainted from a combination of a lack of sleep and dehydration. he’s not awake right now, but the doctors assume he will be soon. he took a pretty bad fall when he fainted, and because he was all alone, nobody knew anything had happened to him until you called chan about him,”

“did he break anything when he fainted?”

“no, he just has a pretty nasty bruise on his side. agh, why am i explaining all of this to you? just get over here, okay? he’ll want to see you when he wakes up,”

completely disregarding all the irritation you had felt a second before, you thanked minho and grabbed your car keys, heading over to the hospital. you were driving faster than was safe, but it didn’t matter. hyunjin has fainted when you assumed he was cheating. what an asshole you were.

seeing him in that bed, all pale and weak-looking, truly made you think. had you paid any attention to hyunjin these past few days? you were sure he was fine just the other day, if a bit tired looking. he did also seem weaker. but you just took that as something sleep could fix.

maybe the last time you had seen him was yesterday, but you haven’t really seen him since maybe a week ago, your last date. he’s been so busy, you just assumed he was sleeping at the dorms when he wasn't sleeping next to you. was he really not sleeping at all?

you were pulled from your thoughts when his hand started to squeeze yours, a telltale sign he was waking up. you looked over at him, and his eyes were closed but you could tell he was drifting out of sleep.

“don’t try to get up, sweetie, you’re a bit weak right now,”

“y-y/n…? where am i?”

“you’re okay, you’re just at the hospital,”

“o-oh, um, look i’m really sorry for causing so much trouble and for missing our date, i didn’t mean to i just got caught up in practicing-”

“practicing doesn’t come before your health, jinnie, you know that,”

“i know but i was so worried about this past comeback and i feel like i didn’t do my best and you know jyp never gives us a break and i just have to be better-,”

“hyunjin,”

“y/n i have to be more than just a pretty face. i can’t be remembered as just a visual, i have other talents! i promise that i’m just working harder so i can show that there’s more to me than my looks,”

“stop, please, just stop,”

“y/n-”

“do you think i’m okay with seeing you like this? do you think the boys are okay with seeing you like this? what about stay? do you think they could fully enjoy anything you’re making knowing that you had to resort to unhealthy habits like not sleeping and forgetting to drink water?”

“i mean no i guess not, but this wasn’t supposed to happen-”

“what was supposed to happen, hyunjin? were you just going to keep carrying on practicing day and night, destroying your body, all while not talking to me about this?”

“you shouldn’t have to deal with-”

“that’s not up to you to decide what i should or shouldn’t deal with! because i’m here now, dealing with the aftermath of what you did,”

“... you’re right, i’m sorry, y/n,”

you suddenly realize that you’ve stood up from the chair you were sitting in. you’re also towering over him, since he’s laying in a hospital bed, and your angry expression and pointed finger in his direction probably didn’t help. he does look kind of scared of you.

“ah, i’m sorry, i didn’t mean to scare you. i was just really worried, i felt really helpless when i first saw you laying there, so i’m sorry if that was too much. i’ll check in with you doctor and see when we can get you home, sweetie,”

you say with a kiss on his forehead, and suddenly he’s alone again. like he was in the practice room. he didn’t like to be alone, more specifically, he didn’t like to be without you.

the doctors do plenty of tests to make sure there wasn’t anything else that contributed to his faint, but hyunjin is soon in the comforts of your arms and bed finally. he cuddles up close to you, resting his head against your chest. he feels safe when he heard your heartbeat.

“jinnie?”

“hmmm?”

“can we talk?”

“y-yes, sure,”

he looks like he doesn’t want to move, so you don’t force him to. his voice is slightly muffled but you can still make out what he says, so it’s not a big deal.

“you said you started practicing more because you were worried that you didn’t do good enough,”

“uhm, y-yeah, that’s why,”

“jinnie, darling, what made you feel that way?”

he looked at you like a deer in headlights, before resting his head in your lap. you run your fingers through his long hair, but it’s not enough to calm him.

“i… i see the things they say. i know it shouldn’t get to me, that i shouldn’t let it get to me, but it does. i can’t just tell myself to stop thinking about their criticisms like you want me to, it doesn’t work that way,”

you were almost taken aback by his slightly aggressive attitude, but you let it go. he’s not in the state of mind to care to watch what he says. with all that he’s feeling, it would be selfish to put the spotlight on you.

“i’m sorry, jinnie. i can tell it’s hard, so much more than i know. i can empathize and try to help you but i’ll never know what it truly feels like,”

it’s silent for another minute or two, the silence isn’t unbearable, but it’s awkward.

“how can i help you, jinnie? what would make your life easier right now?”

he’s quick to dismiss you, say you don’t need to do anything, but you speak up again before he can respond.

“and don’t tell me i don’t need to do anything. i want to help you,”

he smiles, somewhat sadly as he looks down to avoid looking you in the eye.

“just…”

“yeah?”

“...please be there for me,”

he looks up at you with watery eyes, and before you crush him in another hug, he speaks once more,

“please be there to catch me if i fall,”

[keziha-writes]

Coffee College And Skeleton Roomies 1/31

Inspired by this flufftober prompt list

A reverse harem fic focused on Sans and Papyrus from UT, UF, US, SF.

You had to leave that place, you knew transferring wasn't going easy but you couldn't stay, you just hope this time... this place... these people... it could be better. You just didn't quite expect to be meeting this many Skeleton monsters never mind just on your first day. Maybe these guys could be your freinds, your allies...? only time will tell.

Chapter 1

The first day

Bring… ring… bring… ring… bring… ring...

Your alarm sounded once again, that annoying ringtone echoing through the room, that tone seemed like a good one when you set it but now you're regretting it. Last night was pretty rough… How much sleep did you even get? You contemplate ignoring it... you could just switch it off for good this time and turn over and cuddle into your… sleeping bag?? 

You curse under your breath, you’d forgotten. How could you forget? Damn. You jump out of your sleeping bag and look over the mostly empty room for the clothes you set out. How many times have you hit snooze? 

You rush to get ready as fast as you can. No time for breakfast. You're gonna be so late and on your first day. Thankfully you’d at least had the brains to pack most of your stuff in the car yesterday, which is why tonight you slept on the floor in that old sleeping bag… 

Why couldn’t they just let you get in your dorm yesterday? Or something? This is what you get for transferring halfway through the term. You check the time, there's about 30 minutes before your first class, if there was little traffic you could get there in 25… maybe you could make it.

***********

You park up, grab your bag and check you have everything, “phone…? Check… notebooks? Yep. pencil case? Ok. wallet? Don’t forget that!”

You grab your wallet from the glovebox and jump out the car. 

Time…? 3 minutes.. Ok you got this.

You run into the college.

Humans and monsters alike walk around in their clicks, some hanging around by the stairs, others wonder aimlessly, they're either skiving or have later classes, you thought but there wasn't much time to dwell on it as you hurry passed, take two seconds to look at the map to check where you needed to be and booked it for your classroom. 

This class was pretty close to the entrance and easy to find, you knew the next wasn’t going to be half as easy. 

You made it with less than a minute to go, you step into your class after double checking it's the right one. 

It's a rather small lecture hall, most of the students are chatting amongst themselves. Your nerves are spiked by all the unfamiliar faces, but that was good, unfamiliar was why you were here right? But still you just hope you can make good use of this new fresh start. You look around for an empty seat… it took a second but you found one and sat down. And it was just in time because the professor walked in just then. 

He calls the class to attention and everyone takes their seats with some grumbling of course. Then he got right into the lecture. 

You got your things out and started scribbling down as much as you could. 

“Psst...” 

 Was that for me? You think, looking around just in case and see the skeleton next to you looking over.

“Hey… um… new girl, I forgot my pen……” he whispers and you get the hint.

It was inevitable someone was going to ask you for a pen, thankfully you came armed with spares just for that reason. So you hand him a pen.  

“Thanks darlin’, you're a lifesaver,” he hummed. 

Did he just call you darling?? Ok…… 

“Just remember to give it back.” you whisper back, before turning to your work. 

Hopefully the bit you missed wasn't really important… 

Class flew by and you thought you understood most of it, then you had to have a quick chat with the professor to make sure what you learnt in your other college lined up with what he’d taught this class, it was pretty much the same but you still had a little extra homework. 

You take your extra work, overly expensive textbook and your things out of the room. 

You think about how you're probably not getting that pen back, because there was no way that dude was gonna hang around till after your chat with the professor was over. You turn to go back and have a look at that map, you have a while to go before your next class but this one won't be as easy to find so you want to make sure you know where you’ll need to go. 

“Hey new girl!” a small shout comes from behind.

You turn and it was him, that skeleton who borrowed your pen. The first thing you noticed about him though was how tall he was, like he is really compared to you, in fact he towered over you. The next thing was that… like damn this dude has a gold tooth? You didn't see it before since it was on the other side of his skull, he also has a crack through his eye socket. His fashion style? Well you think he must frequent Hot Topic or something, cuz that black jacket with the fur trim hood with that rusty orange sweater?… This guy is edgy as hell. 

“Here.” he holds out your pen to you. 

“Um.. thanks.” you take the pen and toss it into your bag. 

“So… I’m um… curious you got a name darlin’.”

Darlin’ again? Is he trying to hit on you? He seems pretty genuine, maybe he isn't, you don’t really get the vibe that he is but then that one word kinda throws you. So you just smile and give him your name. Oh how about a bad joke!

“Nice to meet you curious.” you add before you can stop yourself, only to cringe seconds later…

Wait is he laughing? No way he liked your dumb dad joke? 

“Good one,” he chuckles. “The names actually Rus, and it’s… um nice to meet you too.” He gives you a shy little smile, that somehow really suits him despite his style. Then Rus holds out his hand for you to shake.

So of course you do, only to recoil. 

“Ouch.” then you laugh. “Was that?”

“A hand buzzer, yeah…” he chuckles again. “never gets old.” 

From looking at him you would have never guessed he was just a shy jokester. Well as they say don’t judge a book by it's cover.

“Say, um… have you… you know... had anyone show you around yet?” he asks.

“No, I haven’t but it can’t be that hard to figure out right?”

“You’d be surprised, you know  I got some time… so... if you do… and-and only if you want, I could... like... show you around.. or something?”

“Are you sure? It would be really helpful but I wouldn’t want to ask that of you.”

“You ain't asking, I'm offering.”

“Alright, If you really wouldn't mind.”

So your new classmate Rus showed you around and he was right it was pretty complicated to get around, you tried your best to take note of the different classes you need to remember but every corridor seemed to look the same, that's one of many things that make the first week or so in a new college so hard. Friends was another but hopefully you were already winning in that area. Rus is rather shy, and quiet but also pretty funny, if you can help it you'd definitely want to hang out more. Seemed like lending him that pen was a wise choice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next chapter!

I know it's kinda short but I hope you guys liked this chapter, please let me know what you thought of it. Oh and can you guess which prompt this one was? XDD

I'll hopefully post the next one tomorrow at some point.

[killiansprincss]

We Found Wonderland

Summary: Trapped in the past after the S3 finale, Killian and Emma are forced to fade into the background as a newly married couple in a village while Rumplestilskin works on the portal to send them back to the future. (No Marian) What challenges will they face, after all it’s only pretending to be married after all right? Inspired by Taylor Swift ‘Wonderland’

Due to tumblr word limit I’ve had to post this in 2 parts, find part 1 here

Also on AO3

“It was so lovely to meet you Emma, I love that I finally get to see the woman who keeps Killian on his toes. I hope we can do this again sometime.” Cassian says.

“Good luck with your child, I can see he or she will be brought into a loving house.” Emma tells them as they leave, not even looking in Killians direction.

____

“What the fuck was that all about back there?” Emma practically screams as they enter their home.

“What do you mean love?” Killian asks dumbfounded,

“Don’t play dumb with me Hook. The proposal story.” She uses his moniker, she’s angry with him, she’s pissed off.

“Touching didn’t you think? Really brought a tear to their eyes.” He smirks, he knows he’s winding her up but he doesn’t care.

“You want to know what I think? I think someone’s getting a little too comfortable in this life, you know pretending to be married and all. I think someone is forgetting. We are not actually married! We are not from here, we do not belong here. You’re in love with me but I’m sorry, I don’t feel the same.”

“You want the truth Swan?” Killian said through gritted teeth. “Fine. Yes I am getting comfortable with this life, for once you’re not always yelling at me when I’m trying to help. I won't lie and say I don’t enjoy you flirting with me for once instead of it always being me. And I don’t believe for a second my feelings for you are one sided.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Emma asks, the anger building up inside her.

Killian scoffs. “You know what I mean. When we were getting your parents together, at the ball. You looked at me different that night, like you were seeing a new side to me. You could’ve said something when we danced together over and over, but you didn’t. You got closer and closer to me over those 2 days, and when I rescued you from that blasted prison you acted like we were lovers and they didn’t question it. Ever since we found out we were stuck you’ve only been flirting with me more and more.”

“Because we are technically married. And it’s not flirting. It’s-“ Emma begins.

Killian moves closer, closing the gap between the two. She can practically feel his heartbeat as he looks into her eyes, “it’s what? Because I think you’re trying to ignore that gut feeling that you feel something for me. You don’t want to admit how you truly feel. What I feel. I’m not an idiot, you kissed me back in Neverland for a reason, and you felt something as I did. Bloody hell, I gave up everything for you Emma, I traded my ship to Blackbeard to get a magic bean to find you in New York even though you had no idea who I was. I-I” he couldn’t quite finish his sentence.

“You did what? Your ship?” Emma’s tone suddenly changes, “as in the Jolly Roger?”

Killian nods. “Aye. It was the only thing worth a magic bean.”

“You traded your ship for me?” She asks, still in shock. Nobody had done that for her before, he literally gave up his home for her. Everything he had. And she was a bitch to him.

Killian just nods. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think it important.”

His ship. His home. Killian traded his home to find Emma. She had no idea who he was, he didn’t know if the memory potion would even work, but he did it anyway. He came and found her, brought her home.

Instead of saying anything Emma takes another step towards Killian closing the already small gap between them and captures his lips with hers.

They both didn’t know how much they had been longing for this, it was similar to their first kiss back in the Neverland jungle, hot and fiery. It’s filled with passion and wanting. Killian breaks the kiss for just a second to move positions and when his lips are back on Emma’s small moans escape. For in this moment, in this kiss, nothing else mattered. They forgot about their argument, about the angry screams and cusses from before. All that mattered was each other and that they were together now.

Emma wraps her legs around a Killians waist as he leads them over to the bed. Suddenly only having one bed and having to share didn't seem like such a problem.

The moans escaping from each other’s lips were getting more frequent and louder with each kiss. These enchanted forest clothes were a lot harder to remove than modern ones, but Killian was happy to oblige the removal of the dress.

“God's you’re beautiful.” Killain says taking in the sight of the almost naked Emma.

“Just shut up and kiss me.” Emma tells him. She wants him, she needs him.

Killian happily obliges, kissing her lips and her cheek and her neck leaving marks that will need covering up tomorrow. He sucks on her neck and leaves hot kisses down from her neck down her body, paying close attention to her breasts and then her stomach and inner thighs causing her back to arch and more moans start to escape.

“Killian I need you please.” Emma pleads, she wanted him.

“You’re sure?”

“Yes please. Please.”

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

After that night of pleasure, they never had to argue over the bed or awkwardly untangle themselves in the mornings. The next few months are spent exploring each other’s bodies every night, and finding out new things about each other every day.

Their relationship took a turn from pretending to be real and pretending to be in love, to not being so pretend anymore. They fell into the routine of a happily married couple.

There was also something else magical about that night. It seemed Emma’s magic had returned. Sparks flew that night in one way or another. It was electrifying.

___

“Hmm something smells good.” Emma says as she walks through the door after another horrible day at work.

Killian comes out from around the corner and presses a kiss to her lips.”I’m glad you’re home. I made you a surprise for dinner.”

“You know I hate surprises.” She whines

Killian chuckles, “I promise you are going to love this surprise.”

Emma sits down at the table as Killian puts a blindfold on his ‘wife’. “Whatever this is it smells good.”

Killian removes the blindfold as he pieces the plate of food in front of her,

“Is this?” Emma asks as she sees what seems to be a grilled cheese in front of her.

“My attempt at an Enchanted Forest Grilled Cheese. I went to the market and got the finest bread and the best cheese imported from Agrabah. I then made it into a sandwich and heated it up. I couldn’t figure out how to make the onion rings, which you so enjoy too, but this is the best I could do.”

“You did this for me?” Emma is shocked that he did this for her, he didn’t have to, but he did.

“I know you’re missing home, I can’t go to Granny herself and ask her to make you one, but this is the next best thing.” Killian gives her a smile. It wasn’t to get points or anything, he did it because he was really enjoying their time together but she was always talking about Stortybrooke, so he thought he’d bring a little bit of it to their home.

“Oh.My. God. This is incredible.”she says as she takes a bite “I love you.”

Realising what she just said, they’re both taken aback.

“Slip of though don’t worry I’ll pretend you didn’t say it.” He says awkwardly scratching behind his ear, a sad tone in his voice.

“No. No, I meant it. Sure it was a slip of the tongue but I don’t regret saying it. Killian, I love you.” She finally admits. “I didn’t admit how I was feeling for the longest time, but you stayed with me and helped me through it all. You didn’t have to come find me in New York but you did, you didn’t have to help me make sure my parents met but you did. You even became my fake husband so that we can slip through the cracks until we can go home.”

Her walls were slowly coming down each day she spent with Killian. He wasn’t running away, and Emma didn’t want to run when it all became real either. And for each wall he crashed through, she didn’t feel the need to build another.

“Gods I’m so pleased to hear you say that Swan.” Killian grabs her by the waist and spins her around, releasing laughter from Emma. “I love you too Emma. So much.”

_____

So we went on our way

Too in love to think straight

All alone, or so it seemed

But there were strangers watching

And whispers turned to talking

And talking turned to screams

Emma and Killian had been in the Enchanted Forest for around 10 months, hopefully Rumplestilskin would keep his word and have the portal so that they could go back to their world in 2 months time.

10 months in the Enchanted Forest, and Emma was still not used to the clothes or the food. Cassian and Maeve had invited them round a few more times, and this time they didn't need to lie about their relationship or their feelings as much anymore. The two of them had welcomed a baby girl, and Maeve had returned to work at the tavern, so at least Emma was no longer alone in battling off the creepy men.

Although, Emma couldn’t completely control her magic so there were times it spiraled out of control and she had hoped nobody would notice it was her. There was one time she was pouring drinks, it was a really busy shift, and she accidentally made the barrels explode and beer went everywhere. It took a lot of effort not to laugh at the beer that practically drenched the guy that had been trying to touch her up all shift.

“This happens all the time, don’t worry about it.” Maeve tells Emma as she grabs a rag to start cleaning up.

Phew. She got away with it. For now.

Except it kept happening.

Emma didn’t know why or what was happening, but her magic was uncontrollable.

“It’s happening again, I don’t know what to do.” She confides in Killian. She knows he will want to help, and not just because it will keep their secret safe.

Killian trusts her, he knows her magic is never intended to harm anybody. “Why does it keep happening at work, you don’t seem to have outbursts at home.”

“I feel safe at home.” Emma admits. “When I’m with you, I feel safe, I can pretend it’s just us and the rest of the world doesn’t exist. When I’m at work I get nervous because you’re not there and I have to do it all alone, keep up appearances. You’re so much better at it than I am.”

“I have something for you then.” Killian says as he pulls a chain from around his neck, with a cool silver ring attached.

“Wow, wow wow.” Emma’s heart suddenly starts to race, she loved Killian, but if this ring was his way of proposing they were moving way too quickly.

“Calm down Swan, I’m not proposing.” He realises he should have led with that before pulling out a ring. “You know I’m a survivor, and this ring is why. It belonged to my brother, a better man than I am. It’s kept me safe all these years, and now it’s going to keep you safe. At the very least it’s a reminder that you’ve got a smouldering piercing eyed pirate at home who loves you.”

She kisses him and smiles. Her smile is so bright, nobody has ever cared or loved her the way Killian does, and it’s kind of scary, but Killian hasn’t left her, he stuck by her and she’s slowly realising that being in love, especially with Killian, is nothing to be afraid of. “I love you too.”

Now when she was at work and felt her magic or became overwhelmed, she would hold the ring on the chain, and breathe. She would think of Killian and how they would be going home soon.

______

For the first couple weeks after clinging to the ring, Emma was fine. Her magic did become slightly overwhelming but she took the ring and held it for a few seconds, thought of Killain, and she was fine.

But then their story started getting poked at.

“Where did you say you came from again?” A girl at work would ask.

“Crestbourne, just north of here.” Emma says, hoping the subject will change soon.

“Crestborune? Isn’t that South?”

Emma plays dumb, “Right, I meant South. Sorry my head is spinning today, too much rum after work last night,”

Killian experienced the same thing.

“You say you were in the Royal Navy Jones?” Someone at work would ask.

“Aye, me and my brother. Under King Elijah.”

“Only because I have a friend currently in King Elijah’s army, and he hadn’t heard of a Jones in that army for over a hundred years.”

Killian didn’t know what to say, he didn’t expect to be caught out like this. So he just laughs and says, “Well I guess I didn’t make much of an impact if nobody remembers me.” It’s the best he can do.

That night at home, Emma and Killian discuss their situation.

“What do we do? Go back to Rumple? Work for him for the next 2 months?” Emma suggests, despite the fact that she doesn’t want to do this, maybe they had no choice.

“No. Absolutely not. I still don’t trust the Crocodile. If we go to him now before the Portals is ready- who knows what he’ll do with us?” Killian had every right to be afraid, especially as this Rumpelstiltskin was not the Mr. Gold they could threaten in Storybrooke.

Emma was worried, how much longer could this go on? “Then what do you plan we do?”

Killian takes Emma’s hand and pulls her in for a kiss. “We’ve come this far together. As long as we stick together, we can wager any more storms that come our way.”

Emma can’t help but smile at his sea analogies. But he was right, they had survived ten months together without any complications, they just needed to survive 2 more. As long as they were together, they could do this.

____

The next day Emma heads to work with Maeve, they both have an afternoon shift and she appreciated the company. Poor Maeve is working 3 days at the tavern and 4 days at the market. She and Cassian can barely afford clothes for their baby girl who is growing every day. Emma wishes she could tell her that it gets better, and that soon she hopefully wouldn’t have these problems. She’s pretty sure all jobs in Storybrooke pay a decent living wage.

“What’s happening up there?” Emma asks Maeve as they see a crowd start to form outside the tavern.

“I’m not sure.” Maeve looks equally as confused as they approach the growing crowd.

“WITCHES! BURN THE WITCHES!” They hear.

Oh no. No. This was not good.

This wasn’t like Storybrooke, people didn’t always accept magic here. And if they found out about Emma, who knows what they would do to her.

“I know there’s a witch here. Strange things have been happening, I know magic when I see it.” A man with a pitchfork says. Emma recognises him as a regular. A regular who likes to touch the girls that work there.

Emma’s heart is suddenly racing. Last night she made the barrels explode again. She tried to think of Killian and his ring, but she heard the name ‘Henry’ and her emotions, and therefore her magic was spiralling. The lights flickered before they cut out immediately and goblets started to shatter-despite being made of a heavy duty material.

Maeve looks at Emma, “Go. Go now before they find you.

Emma gives her a confused look, “what do you mean?”

In a quiet voice, she tells her, “I know you have magic. I see it, but you can’t control it. You would never use it to hurt anybody, but they don’t know that. Go now, escape while you still can.”

Emma gives Maeve a hug, “Thank you.”

“I know you don’t belong here. So I hope you can get back to wherever it is.” Maeve whispers.

Emma nods, Maeve was smart. “Things will get better. I promise.” Before she runs away back to their home.

Bursting through the door, she sees Killian taking a nap, he’d been working a lot more shifts lately, in his attempt to slip through the cracks.

“Killian! Wake up! Killain! We need to get out of here. They know. We need to find Rumple. I don’t care that it's only been 10 months. I need to be safe. I can’t do this anymore.” She’s rambling, Killian can’t understand what she’s saying.

“Swan calm down. What’s going on?” Killian asks, in his half sleep state.

Emma takes a deep breath and explains the Witch Hunt going on outside the tavern and how Maeve knows she has magic, and has given her a head start.

“THE WITCH LIVES HERE! I'VE SEEN IT!”

Suddenly there’s a pounding on their door. Emma and Killian look at one another. “Swan if you have a way of getting us out by magic, do it now.”

The door breaks down and there’s a crowd of angry villagers with pitchforks and spires, “There’s the witch, I’ve seen sparks and white fog coming from their house time and time again. She’s practising magic.”

“Killian I can’t control it, I don’t know how to get us out.” Emma whispers, panic setting in, her fists are glowing, letting the angry villagers know they’re right about their assumptions.

“Swan. Look at me.” Killian says, using his one hand to turn Emma’s face to his.”Your magic is inside of you. I understand you can’t control it, but I’ve seen you do it before. You can do this, I believe in you.”

Emma takes Killians hand in hers and thinks hard about what she wants. She wants to get home to their family. Killian has been by her side through it all, he’s been her rock, she thinks of his ring and how much she loves him. She feels her power, and focuses on escaping.

Her fists glow brighter, and a second later they disappear in a puff of white smoke, and appear into the great hall of Rumple's Castle.

Emma opens her eyes to see the results of her first time really using her magic.

“You did it Swan!” Killian wraps his arms around her. “You’re bloody brilliant you know that!”

Emma breathes a sigh of relief as she hugs Killian. She did it, she actually did it.

“You wield in magic. I’m impressed.” Rumples' voice tears them from each other’s thoughts about what just happened.

“The villagers found out about us lying. And we were at the centre of a witch hunt. Is there any way the portal can be ready early?” Emma is practically begging, which she never thought she would. This Rumple was far less likely to help them than Gold.

The Dark One just laughs. “Oh I haven’t been working on the portal.”

“Please tell me this is a joke.” Killian half laughs, hoping it wasn’t true.

Rumple raises his eyebrows, “I don’t joke. I’ve been working on a memory potion for myself. I already know too much about the future, can’t know anymore.”

Pressing her lips together to stop her from wringing her hands around his neck, Emma simply asks, “so how do we get home?”

“With this.” He says as a wand poofs into his hand.

“I don’t understand.”

Rumple rolls his eyes at Emma. “You have proven yourself powerful enough these past few months, you are the only one who can replicate the spell that brought you here.”

“So you’re telling me, these past 10 months have been a test? That we didn’t need to make up a fake life and live here?” Killian asks, anger building up.

Rumple laughs. “Of course it was a test! You needed to prove you were powerful enough. And like I said, there was no use for you in my Castle, I already had help.” Emma notices the Castle isn’t as clean as it was 10 months ago, assuming Belle had been captured by Regina by now.

“I’m gonna kill him when we get home.” Emma whispers to herself.

/\/\/\/\

Rumple poofs them into the basement, or the dungeon of his Castle, filled with what was most likely the most dangerous magic and weapons.

The glamour Rumple had put them on had vanished, and they were back in their other clothes, Emma’s leather jacket, her armour was back on and she felt somewhat safe. The wand felt heavy in her hand, it was powerful magic, also likely dark magic if it were able to replicate any spell or curse.

“How do I do this?” She asks Killian.

“You’re the magic one Swan not me.” His tone was cold, what was up with him?

“Are you okay?”

“Fine. Just eager to get home.” He says looking around at the magical objects

Emma lowers the wand and turns to face Killian. “What’s wrong with you?

Avoiding her gaze, he simply says. “Everything changes when we’re home.”

Emma furrows her brow, “What’s changing?” She grabs his hand and forces him to look at her. “Killian, what is going to change?”

“Us, Everything. Your feelings for me. It was nice while it lasted.”

“You think I’m going to leave you when we get back home?” She asks, slightly hurt that he would even think that.

“I’m a Pirate Swan. You think your family of royals and heroes are going to accept me?” Killian was afraid of going home, it wouldn’t just be him and Emma anymore.

“Killian, I love you. And that’s not going away when we get home. I don’t care what my parents think, you have stayed with me all this time. You have a mark in the hero column.” She kisses him, letting him know that while things will be different, things aren’t going to change between them.

As she kisses him, the wand In her hand begins to glow white. Holding Killians hand tight, she raises the wand in the air and thinks of home, and her family.

“You did it Swan.” Killian says, pressing a kiss to the side of her head, looking at the golden shimmering portal which had opened.

“Let’s go home.” She says as she places the wand on the table and grabs Killians hand as they jump into the Portal.

/\/\/\/\

They come through the Portal with a bump. Storybrooke. They’re home.

“We did it! We’re home!” Emma can feel tears coming from her eyes, she didn’t know when she would see home again.

“You did it Swan. You’re bloody amazing.” Killain says picking her up and spinning her around, the same way as when Emma told him she loved him.

“Let’s go. Let’s go find our family.” Killian could almost cry at the way Emma said ‘our’, they may not be married anymore, but she still loved him and they were in this together. Whatever they face next, they face it together.

And so they walk hand in hand to Granny’s to find everyone.

In Storybrooke, only a matter of days had passed, thankfully they hadn’t missed almost a year. But she did miss the official name ceremony of her baby brother, Prince Leo, named after Snow's father.

“So you’re Princess Leia?” Snow asks, as they flick through Henry’s book to find Emma and Killians adventure now in it.

Henry chuckles, “Nice alias Mom!”

“I guess that means you’re finally one of us. A fairytale princess at last.” David says as he muses the picture of Emma and Hook dancing together at the ball.

“So what happened after that? You were there almost a year? What was it like? Did you slay a dragon, or get caught in the ogre war?” Henry asks, wanting to know all about her Enchanted Forest adventure.

Emma rolls her eyes, “Sorry Kid, no dragon slaying or ogres. Gold, or uh Rumple. He wanted to test us, test my magic. So we had to pretend to be a married couple living in a small village out of sight, and I had to work in a tavern for 10 months until my magic returned and I was the focus of a witch hunt.”

“Witch Hunt?”

“Married to Hook?”

Her parents clearly had different reactions to her story.

Emma just laughs, “It was a scary experience all right. But I couldn’t have gotten through it without my ‘husband’. It wasn’t so bad, but I’m so happy to be back at Granny’s, I missed her onion rings.” And she gives Hook a knowing look that causes them both to smile at the memory.

“Wait-are you two?” Henry asks realising the looks and smiles his mother was sharing with Hook.

Emma doesn’t quite know how to react, she wasn’t ashamed, but her family didn't know Killian like she did.

“I’m happy for you Emma. Really.” Snow says, holding out her hands to both Emma and Hook.

“I guess the Pirate isn’t so bad, as long as you don’t hurt her I’m happy.” David fights the urge to say something worse, but in all honesty he was happy for Emma.

“Does this mean Hook can teach me how to sword fight?” Henry asks his grandparents with a grin on his face making Emma smile.

Her family was reunited. She wasn’t alone anymore. She had a family who loved her and wouldn’t leave her. It may have taken time, and a curse, but it was worth it. Henry didn’t bring her to Storybrooke to break some curse, he was bringing her home.

[theoniprince]

If you had to pick one name/alias/moniker to go by, fandom-wide, what would it be?

Where, besides Tumblr, can people find you doing fannish things? (Obviously only mention sites and usernames you actually want to be found at. Don’t expose your secret identities on my account.)

What other names have you gone by on these platforms, including Tumblr, if any?

When did you join the IT fandom? And what got you into fandom, to begin with?

What are your favorite ships, or characters, if any, and why? What do they mean to you?

In what ways do you participate in fandom? (ex. Posting memes, reblogging/commenting on content, writing fanfic, making fanart, creating fanmixes, etc.)

Do you have any in-fandom inspirations? Other members of the community that drive you? (And if you have the time/energy, in what ways do they inspire you?)

Name and link some of your favorite works, please!

Do you have any works of your own that you feel particularly proud of, or wish more people would’ve consumed? Please provide links if possible.

Have you ever participated in a fannish event (ie. IT Week, a fic Big Bang) or applied to be a part of a fanzine? If so, which ones, and can you please link them?

Without any form of bashing or lashing out, what is something you feel this fandom is missing?

First of all thank you so much for asking me!!! 8D It was a pleasure to answer all these questions. During this I got quite emotional (haha Stanpat, Eddie). It showed me again how much I love this 8DDD

( I apologize in advance for all misspellings and my sloppy English =_=)

If you had to pick one name/alias/moniker to go by, fandom-wide, what would it be?

Oh, what a start XD I'm not that into nicknames. Generally people using my first name to address me or my username which is mostly onyprince (in reference to a character from Hakuouki) ID Sometimes they say Oni or J(ay) (Nickname for my first name). Do as you wish (though I like ‘J’ the th most) 😉

Where, besides Tumblr, can people find you doing fannish things? (Obviously only mention sites and usernames you actually want to be found at. Don’t expose your secret identities on my account.)

Twitter. But everything I post there is also here. Feel free to follow my account, but you don’t have to. https://twitter.com/oniprince_

What other names have you gone by on these platforms, including Tumblr, if any?

Oniprince_ (Twitter) yeah… you see, I am pretty boring XDDD

When did you join the IT fandom? And what got you into fandom, to begin with?

Actually 23 years ago (haha I am old XD) When I was eleven I saw the miniseries with my cousins for the first time. The horror factor wasn't that important to me or maybe I didn't see it that way. It was more like an adventure story with an unfunny and nasty clown. A group of friends who had to endure an adventure. In any case, it entertained me well, even if I was not aware of some elements like that it’s a story about growing up, friendship, love and all these issues around becoming an adult XDD Then with 13 I read the book. It was a  new experience, and I loved every single word. Over the years I talked with friends and Kingsianer (XD) about it and read it for a second and a third time. At this point I could start a list with things I don’t like about the movies, but I’d rather mention on thing I really appreciate about them: they are a good opportunity for a new generation to explore this universe. Every adaption like the book itself is a reflection of a specific decade and what is more yeah… immortal, universal and diverse than a story about growing up. It was a discussion with a dear friend about book to movie adaptions some weeks ago that probably brought me back to this fandom

Nevertheless there are things from the book I would have loved to see in the movies. Let’s be honest at this point if you want to adapt such a brick of a book you simply have to cut some elements. You can’t please everyone

What are your favorite ships, or characters, if any, and why? What do they mean to you?

Ships:

Stanpat - orz q__q they are such a sweet couple and it is so heartbreaking, they never ever had a real chance to become parents. They would have been excellent parents. Imagine them on a beautiful summer day. They have a picnic with their children and Stan would watch birds with them. He would tell them all about the birds and keeps a journal about their observations with his kids

Reddie - Despite the constant teasing their realtionship seems like a natural, casual und easy thing from the start. And Eddie likes the nicknames. These secret names are like another identity. He can be someone else. They take care of each other. Their relationship is a deeper friendship that runs mostly on an emotional level and is sometimes expressed through small, physical gestures. The chemistry between them is indescribable. It is cute when 90s Eddie immediately starts to giggle as soon as Richie makes a dumb joke at their reunion. And thing about the little moments when Richie pokes Eddie and calls him cute. I am won’t quoting this one passage in the book that leaves much room for speculations, but there is no doubt their special bond is official. In any case, the decision to make Richie gay in the movies gave the ship another push. I don’t complain. I love it. Though I still think Eddie would have been a better option. There are already some scenes in the book which are like an invitation to speculate about his sexualityTheir chemistry is very obvious and believe me, there is nothing I would more appreciate than a happy end for them Q__Q

Benverly  „Your hair is winter fire

                   January embers

                  My heart burns there, too

This is one of sweetest things I have ever read in a book and that is all I need to explain why I love this ship.

Fav, Characters:  Hmm when I read „IT“ for the first time I had a crush on Bill. He ist the born leader and in my childish, pre-teen way found his stuttering cute. There is something about him that cast a spell on you. It is perfectly understandable that he was a role model and an inspiration for his friends – especially for Eddie. In my personal opinion book!Bill ist the best Bill.

Richie - I love this chaotic megane dude. He is this silly type who use jokes, pranks to protect himself. His voices are like safe heaven (the same goes for Bill, whose stuttering almost disappears, when he pretends tob e someone else). He hides himself and his insecurities behind them. It is a shame that he doesn’t know what an impact he had on his friends. Richie seems to never ever shut up and sometimes his trashmouth is still talking, when he better should be quite. And I am famous to fall for funny characters. He can lights up the mood immediately ( and OMG…. I love Harry Anderson in the miniseries. A real entertainer, BUT BILL HADER…. Bill Hader…just to make it clear BILL HADER  did such an amazing job. He rocked the movie and I still think, not just because I love this dude since over a decade, without him… the movie wouldn’t  have been so entertaining)

Eddie - He is in these abusive relationships. First with his mother, who keeps him small and makes him believe that he is weak. At the end her own fears of beeing left behind prevented her son from becoming a self-confident adult. Eddie always thought he is weak and fragile. Although he knows that he doesn’t need all this medication, his childhood experience were the reason for his coping-behavior as an adult – he still uses his inhaler. He married a woman who is like his mother. Mike's call was something of a turning point. Until this call Eddie could not overcome his fears and had to face them again as an adult. I can remember. While reading the book there were several moments of silence and I stopped reading and thought: poor Eddie.

Ultimately, his story is about a hero who surpasses himself, overcomes his fears and by sacrifice himself he protects what is most important to him - his friends. It just touched me. Eddie gave his life for his friends and I think you can say he's my favorite character. His death may be a tragedy, but it was necessary for his character arc. My theory is that Eddie represents someone who has lost track in his life and prefer to stick on old but unhealthy patterns.It is almost like Eddie stands for missed opportunities, but at the same time it is never to late to change something. He is a hero. There are so many things I would like to talk about, therefore I should start an own thread XDDD

Oh and Bev - I could always identify with her (not bc of abuse or domestic violence. My childhood was amazing). She is the only girl around the losers and I was the only girl in my  favourite clique too. We spent most of our time outside  - it was great. Of course I had other friends (female) as well, but with my boys… it was always special).. As you know as an adult she falls back in old patterns. Her husband is tyrannical man like her father. Again Mike’s call is a turning point.  Maybe the Benverly arc is the most satisfying. I was… I am very happy that Bev got her happy end.

Last but no least - I like Ben, Mike and Stan too. They have all there unique character treats and you sympathize with all of them. The Loser’s club is bunch of adorable idiots who just doing their best to become adults. I think it is normal that their friendship feels more intimate in the book – I highly recommand the book.

In what ways do you participate in fandom? (ex. Posting memes, reblogging/commenting on content, writing fanfic, making fanart, creating fanmixes, etc.)

Mostly fanarts, but recently I thought about posting my own theories and sharing my hcs and random stuff about the characters and the different relations.  

Do you have any in-fandom inspirations? Other members of the community that drive you? (And if you have the time/energy, in what ways do they inspire you?)

The fandom is full of amazing artists and writersand actually it would be a, but i want to name those who inspired me the most (mainly artists – hopefully I copied the links correcty):

https://tonyofthetrees.tumblr.com

https://meowsteryyy.tumblr.com

https://slashpalooza.tumblr.com/ ( you have to check out ‚Loose Ends‘)

https://coldcigarettes.tumblr.com

https://vvanini.tumblr.com/

https://eggocrumbs.tumblr.com

https://twitter.com/10_sgan

https://twitter.com/kasphacked

https://twitter.com/tac_nor

(oh.. the list got longer than expected IDDD)

Do you know this?

https://ragnarozzys.tumblr.com/post/189890790551/those-early-hours-after-a-sleepover-when-you-wake

Have you ever seen something as cozy and cute before I///D? – me neither XD

Trust me they are all worth a visit and I am sure most of us already know them 8D

Do you have any works of your own that you feel particularly proud of, or wish more people would’ve consumed? Please provide links if possible.

My art I provide on tumblr can be found here:

https://theoniprince.tumblr.com/tagged/myart

Honestly I like these the most:

https://theoniprince.tumblr.com/post/649446311120273408/my-first-reddie-sketch-now-scanned-the-quality

https://theoniprince.tumblr.com/post/649548606679007232/close-to-you-now-scanned-with-coloured

https://theoniprince.tumblr.com/post/650697175346593792/hammock-iconic-richie-is-reading-a-monthly

Have you ever participated in a fannish event (ie. IT Week, a fic Big Bang) or applied to be a part of a fanzine? If so, which ones, and can you please link them?

Oh… unfortunately I am not feelin‘ very confident about my own artworks. Sometims I have the feeling I am not creative enough and that my ideas are more or less boring. Nothing special ID Totally dumb – I know. As I mentioned before I came back lately to the fandom… I guess I missed many amazing IT weeks. I participated in some weeks/mainly shipweeks in other fandoms (Yakuza/Ryu ga Gotoku, FFXV) If I find an interesting annoucement I can imagine to participate in the future ; )

Without any form of bashing or lashing out, what is something you feel this fandom is missing?

In general… the fandom is really friendly – I hope so. Lately I have seen some salty comments on different stuff, topics… and well.. I have just an advice: life can be exhausting enough and time is always running. Don’t spend time on things you don’t like. Discussions can esclate quickly and worde can hurt too. So, just thing about before you jump in.

Thanks again! <3

(Special lil sketchy piece of art I did for this ask)

[clandestine-j]

Gossip Girl Reboot, Ep. 2 Reaction / Review

This was posted on reddit first, crossing posting it here since I’ve chosen to review the ep’s and post on tumblr as well. So, this post is geared more towards reddit as a whole, this was posted a day after ep 2 aired.

i don't have a favorite character rating but #teamaki, yeah, the acting is awkward but it's getting better and it's not like it's the only bad acting in the show. i like the character either way.

now

people are so extra with zoya and obie and are looking at julien with the rose colored classes. yeah, obie shouldn't be dating zoya but let's not act like julien gave her all and everything to him. from the conversation with zoya in ep 1, his general feelings, audrey calls it out (maybe because she always feels that way)

She admits it at the end, she wouldn’t do the things he wanted when it came to his interest, he’d want to do random and fun things and she’d blow him off...how is this mart of someone fully invested in their other, no, she was invested what he did for her and how he made her feel. She misses him because in their other breaks he’d always come back. We saw a dying relationship and ppl can assume a lot about him but make 0 assumptions when it comes to her.

And then y’all expect Zoya to turn down the one person who’s actually nice, doesn’t ice her out and shares interest? What I want more than anything is for Zoya to find her own friends & her romantic interest, just one episode where her life isn’t an extension of Julien's. Idk wut, maybe she can go off on a find out gossip girl adventure. Idk something.

Then this talk about sisters and sister hood. Yeah, they’re blood related but what sisterhood is there? You say that’s is wrong for Zoya to do that to her sister but what about what her sister did to her? Even in this ep, she wants Obie so instead of idk driving Zoya away from him, she attacks her lil ‘sis’ over her long time boyfriend. She continues to let her friends talk bad about the girl. We can talk sister hood when she gives the mean team a good “learn me or leave me” when it comes to Zoya

At the of ep 1 Zoya says, she’s not playing the game. She’s grounded in fear of losing her scholarship, has already lost her dads trust. So she does that, she keeps her head down and doesn’t bother anyone but it’s the mean team to prompt Julien to after Zoya and she does. She’s minding her business at the even and Julien is the one to storm over and cause a scene. And it’s all about her, she’s scared of her dad finding out without any care that Zoya has lost and what she has left to lose. Of course she doesn’t care about Julien personal problems? When did Julien care really about hers? Then, she wants to sneak away and have fun and because she’s mad Zoya won’t run off and hide like a hood little girl, she once again collabs with GG, brings in the dads and fucks her sisters life up, AGAIN. Yeah, she changed her mind at the end but too little too late. Her come to jesus moment was great but the relationship she wanted/wants it very much damaged.

So yeah, Zoya dating the one person who has empathy for her is not as bad as the older sister who consistently let her be talked down, about and two, plotted with GG and didn’t even ask her if she was okay because, she didn’t mean it, it’ll blow over. Even in the very last apology when Zoya was about to leave, you could see that she had 0 faith in Julien, not only as a sister but as a person.

Which leads me to saying that Julien is probs the most interesting character of the show. She’s lovable and flawed and she is good but she as of right now, she’s mean at worst and horribly complicit at best because right now her career is a bit more important but her 14 year old sister doesn’t deserve the headache of navigating her with her. But I do love Julien because she has layers and I think by the end, she’ll be able to have her influencer career without compromising herself. That does lead us to the the chairmen and co-chair of the mean team.

Monet and Luna weren’t around as much but I do think...I do think...that if Julien goes nice, they’re gonna go super nasty. They have access to her life which mean access to that video if Julien didn’t out right delete it or they find out about it and snooping. They’re her friends but unlike her, they don’t have a much of a Conscious so far of right and wrong and they’ll strike anyone down. I think if we have wild cards, they’re it. If Julien really does go down a new path, learns more to fight for what matters and understand the real her is just as likable, the mean duo will not accept and will try and bring her down. They have their own meaning of friends with benefits.

My dude Obie, I can’t say much. I don’t think he’s as Malicious as y’all make him out to be but he is a bit callous and naïve...which could be worse tbh. I think he does want to do good but he only knows Performative good to counter-act his parents. I do want him to get with someone else but I do hope he learns what true activism means through Zoya and understand how much of a difference he could make if he really put his mind to it. I also want him to learn get out quick, because he wasn’t just looking for a reason to end things but one to stay and Julien didn’t give him that.

Audrey, I like the stuff with her mom. I like the little bit more depth we got, she slept with Max maybe but Aki made out with him, who am I to judge? I hope her mon can step up in the future but I don’t think it’ll be easy and hopefully they explore it more. Not just tease us. Her mom needs therapy but I think I'm a bit invested in her too.

Max, I love max but the dude is Pretentious ~ above earthly love ~ low key a shitty friend and talks in metaphors whenever he has the chance BUT he does it well. I don’t see him with Aki but I want it! I do see him going harder after Audrey but I think he was a bit shocked for all his flirting that he was into the kids with Aki. I think he lives to play with people. I don't know if he really likes Audrey but he does want to bang her, a lot, a lot a lot. I don't think he really wanted to sleep with Aki but he did like playing with him and he could pick up the fact that Aki might be feeling him. I don't think the interest was really, real until Aki kissed him at the pool, home boy was shocked and was like oooo maybe something is there but his focus is on the teacher. And I also think the not in a million years thing had his gears turning too. You tell him it can't or won't happen and now he wants to make it happen.

Aki, my baby, my voice of reason. What makes him great as a person, makes him not great for Audrey when it comes to emotional stuff. He means well and I get where he's coming from with wanting Audrey to understand her mom but she did need a partner. The thing she loves about him is the thing that makes it hard. I don't know how Aki was brought up but I feel like this plays into it, she's always comparing him to a therapist. I wonder if his parents a bit more emotionally cold or curt or just very analytical people. But, like he's been lovely since ep one, the only one of the group to sort of defend Zoya or Julien wanting to know her / keep her secret. (What secrets does he have?) And in ep 2, he really was like 'ya'll fucked in the head' to the mean team. I know some consider him boring because he doesn't speak up often but when he does speak up, he got something to say. I want the show to use him in a way to stir drama just by being friends, his character doesn't have to have a dramatic effect and he could get his own little subplot that's tied into the show but like, my can't become some douche. (If he does, only for a bit.) Now, I don't see Max being endgame for him AT ALL. If it's between the two, Max would go for Audrey for sure while leading my boi on in ways, he could even really start to like him but endgame no. I'd love to see a scene with Max does get jealous of Aki with another dude, in a romantic way or the dude could be hitting on him, I think Aki would be able to humble him just a bit because no one really seems to know what he's thinking. In the end, idk who he ends up with but I want him to find someone who will do my dude right and he should get some non-shitty friends who'll listen to his problems. (Still not over that Max)

The teachers while being shown more, don't have much of a presence. It's mainly Kate and the goofy one for extended scenes. KATE MY GOOD SIS. NO. Please, I want this to be the point where she loses GG somehow and someone takes over or maybe another GG pops up, can market better and isn't willing to have a faltering moments. I want it to spiral. Spiral hard. Also, sexy teach said not on my watch ezra! I stan him. Teachers are still fun for me, they make me want to never teach at a dumb rich private school.

Also, fuck the dads within reason. Esp, Julien's dad but only because we got to see Zoya's more and he is kinda in the right about most of the stuff but not the sister stuff. You can tell he's doing his best to instill morals in his daughter esp when he knows she can fall to outside influences.

Overall, I'm still enjoying it, I'm invested. I see room for growth for all of the characters (maybe not the teachers) and I want to see it play out. It does feel a little rushed but I think they're finding their footing and they have some big things to pull. But's not horrible and if they just play the drama bit longer and then conclude, it wouldn't feel that way. Maybe one more episode or half an episode could've been added to the Zoya-Obie-Julien story line to fully flush it out but I like the ending. Not sisters, not friends but cool with each and possibly re-build, at worst they just don't interact. I noticed some cool things with the promos but I need to confirm when I can find the one for 3.

Sorry if it went from all lower case to proper-ish, I had to switch to my phone and it auto-does it.

[femmereddie]

strong as the steel we carry (we rise like the sun) [6/6]

pairing: adora/catra fandom: she-ra and the princesses of power rating: general summary: A collection of drabbles from canon moments over the course of She-Ra, Catra/Adora related. This post contains all my drabbles from 5x11 through 5x13. read on ao3

S05E11 Failsafe

Adora felt terrible when she saw Catra curled on her side on the mattress. She looked small and vulnerable, like something drained all the strength she had. Adora walked over to Catra, determined to bring her to Mystacor. She wanted to ensure that Catra felt valued and wanted because she was. Adora had no idea what she would have done if Catra wasn’t by her side this entire time. Making Catra feel loved and secure gave Adora a renewed energy, energy that she channeled to fight Horde Prime. “Catra, are you coming with us to Mystacor?”

“Why would I do that? Seems like you and Shadow Weaver have it handled,” Catra sighed. “After everything she’s done to us, you’re really going to follow her?”

Adora’s heart broke at the betrayal in Catra’s voice. The last thing she wanted was for Catra to think she wanted Shadow Weaver around. “I don’t like it either, but this is the only plan we have; the failsafe could finally save Etheria.”

Catra turned on her other side, away from Adora.

Catra’s action stung, but Adora would not leave her behind just because of Shadow Weaver. Adora would never forgive their former abuser for what she did to both Catra and herself. Adora promised she would not let anyone hurt Catra again, including Shadow Weaver, of all people. Nothing would stop Adora from protecting Catra against Shadow Weaver. “Shadow Weaver hurt us; I haven’t forgotten that. But Prime is hurting so many more people. I need to stop him, Catra.”

“I know, I know. You have to go save the world, spare me the speech.”

“Hey, she can’t do anything to us anymore. Please come. We…” Adora took a deep breath and put her hand on Catra’s shoulder. Catra needed to know how important she was to Adora, and frankly, Adora wouldn’t mind reminding her every day for the rest of their lives. “I could really use your help.”

“Fine. I’m only doing this to make sure Shadow Weaver doesn’t try anything. Not because I like you,” Catra said, grinning.

Although Catra was still looking the other way, Adora smiled back. She knew Catra was just joking, and it made her heart swell. They had a long way to go to defeat Prime, but Adora was happy to see that Catra was slowly overcoming past trauma. She wanted to help her friend in any way she could.

Suddenly, Melog jumped on Adora, making her squeal in surprise. Melog purred in response, while Catra looked stared. Catra was so in love with her best friend that she would chastise herself if she knew of the sappy smile she wore on her face. However, as usual, Catra lost all concept of time and space whenever Adora's ethereal presence mesmerized her.

* * *

“Don’t touch me!” Catra shouted, jumping away from Shadow Weaver.

Catra didn’t mean to cause a scene, but the second Shadow Weaver laid a hand on her, she freaked out. Catra wouldn’t admit it to anyone, except maybe for Adora (although Catra was sure that Adora knew already), but Shadow Weaver still scared her. Her former abuser grabbed her out of nowhere. How could she not react?

Unfortunately, Melog growled at Shadow Weaver, instinctively going into protection mode, releasing the invisible shield they held on the group.

Once they became visible, Adora gasped, noticing a chipped sorceress at the center of the room. Catra and Melog dived out of the way just in time, but it was enough to trigger Adora’s fight or flight instinct. She didn’t even know if she had that instinct until she began having trouble transforming into She-Ra. Hopefully, this time, she wouldn't.

“For the honor of Grayskull!”

But other than a brief flickering of a sword, nothing happened. Adora gasped again, realizing that she had to choose flight. The sorceress spun a magic spell and aimed at Adora, forcing her to jump behind the pillar that Catra and Melog hid behind.

The group moved quickly after that, but it did not stop Adora from feeling like she failed to protect Catra, and it did not stop Catra from shivering because of how Shadow Weaver’s cold hands felt on her skin.

* * *

The strike team followed Shadow Weaver and Castaspella into a secret hallway, where the tunnels of Mystacor were hidden.

Catra crossed her arms and walked, attempting to fight insecurities that Shadow Weaver sprung into her mind.

Adora noticed Catra’s jitteriness and how she distanced herself from everyone else. Adora was still upset that she couldn’t protect Catra, but it wasn’t just about the sorceress. Adora wished she could protect Catra from dark memories, the trauma inflicted on Catra by Shadow Weaver.  “Hey, are you…” Adora began, reaching out for Catra.

As soon as Adora touched her shoulder, Catra instinctively recoiled, thinking it was Shadow Weaver. She was a little queasy being near anyone at the moment, but Adora was always an exception. However, Catra didn’t want to burden Adora with her baggage, so before Adora even finished her question, Catra looked away and curtly said, “I’m fine.”

Adora gently placed her hands on Catra’s shoulders and smiled. With her inability to transform into She-Ra, and Shadow Weaver lurking about, the only thing Adora could do was comfort her friend. “Catra, it’ll be okay. Trust me.”

Catra didn’t say anything, but her eyes filled with hope. She wanted to trust Adora—in fact, she did. The two of them have come a long way over the last three years. But no matter how hard Adora tried, she couldn’t comfort Catra’s trauma away.

But Catra was appreciative of Adora’s effort. She was about to respond, but Shadow Weaver unpleasantly interrupted their moment. “There’s no time to waste. News of our presence will have reached the others by now after that… disturbance,” Shadow Weaver said, looking pointedly at Catra.

Catra glared, but she held her ground. She would not appear weak in front of the person who tormented her for years, no matter how scared she was inside. Hopefully, Shadow Weaver couldn’t hear her heartbeat’s rapid pace.

Adora did not want Shadow Weaver to start trouble, especially since she always tried to push people’s buttons. Adora stepped in front of Catra and firmly said, “Come on, we have to keep moving.”

Adora walked ahead, so she missed Shadow Weaver and Catra glancing at each other, but it was anything but amicable. After a moment, Shadow Weaver walked away, and Catra’s heart rate finally slowed down, despite the fury that still brewed inside of her. However, there was nothing else she could do, so Catra followed the group. As always, she remained on guard for herself and her heart.

* * *

The group finally descended into Mystacor’s tunnels.

Adora led the pack. She wanted to reach the failsafe and get out of there without any more trouble. She stepped forward just as Shadow Weaver cried, “Wait!”

However, as soon as Adora put her foot down, a circle of flames illuminated around her.

“Adora!” Catra cried, jumping into the fire without thinking. If a past version of Catra saw her desperation when she hurled herself into the flames, past Catra would be horrified. Her present self acted rashly and without thinking, and most importantly, without any plan. It was so unlike her.

However, past Catra had not endured everything that her present self had. Catra was running on so many stakes, and she had been for a long time now. Thinking was hardly an option, mostly if Adora’s life was on the line, and the stakes just kept rising. The longer Horde Prime went undefeated, the more Catra didn’t think they would beat him, and Catra’s priority was Adora’s safety. Nobody else (except for Bow and Glimmer) would look out for Adora, not even Adora herself. The prospect of Adora dying from some dumb fire was not an option. Catra had to get her back.

Catra successfully pulled Adora out of the fire, and they tumbled onto the ground on top of each other.

“I’m okay. I’m okay!”  Adora insisted.

Catra unknowingly gazed down at Adora. So what if everyone else stared? Okay, it was a big deal if people looked, but Catra thought Adora would die. Was it so awful to give herself a few moments to revel in the love of her life’s existence?

Adora didn’t move from underneath Catra. Instead, she smirked. “Did you just jump into fire for me?”

Okay, the moment was officially over. Adora was alive, and there was no reason for Catra to lay on top of her, especially since everyone was watching. “What? No! Shut up!” She said, pushing Adora away.

But Adora couldn’t stop laughing. In fact, she snorted. “You did.”

God, Catra was so in love.

* * *

“I see you and Catra are close again.”

Adora glanced sideways at Shadow Weaver, who lingered behind everyone else, waiting for Adora to catch up. Instead of responding, Adora chose to keep walking.

“Do you really think that’s wise?”

Adora stopped and turned to Shadow Weaver. How dare she try and tell Adora what to do about Catra? This woman already did enough damage to both of them, and she always made things worse by involving herself. This time, Adora was going to make sure Shadow Weaver stayed out of her personal life. “It’s none of your business.”

“But it is,” Shadow Weaver said, approaching Adora. “If your emotions are blocking you from becoming She-Ra, it’s all of Etheria’s business.”

Adora’s eyes widened. She hadn’t realized how selfish she might have become now that she was also focused on Catra. Adora loved Catra with all her heart, more than anyone in the world, but Etheria needed She-Ra to defeat Horde Prime, even if Catra needed Adora more.

“How long has it been since you were able to transform?” Shadow Weaver asked.

Adora sighed and looked down in defeat. “It’s been happening ever since the Fright Zone.” She felt her body shake as tears welled in her eyes. “What if… what if I’m losing her?”

Shadow Weaver covered Adora’s hands with her own. “She-Ra is a being of pure magic. To unleash her full strength, you must be focused, clearheaded. But you are letting your emotions pull you in too many directions; Catra, she… distracts you, confuses you. Haven’t you hurt each other enough?”

Adora gasped. It never occurred to her that she could hurt Catra by being powerless. Adora thought of earlier when she was forced to duck behind a pillar because she couldn’t transform into She-Ra. She felt useless without her magic, but more importantly, Adora felt like a failure because she couldn’t protect Catra.

“If you care about her, focus on protecting her; the world needs you as She-Ra right now, not Adora. And if She-Ra can’t stop Prime… then we are all doomed.”

Adora angrily pulled away from Shadow Weaver’s grasp. She hadn’t realized that she allowed Shadow Weaver to manipulate her once again, and at Catra’s expense. Adora had to be more careful; otherwise, she might hurt the person she loved most.  “I will stop Prime. No matter what.”

Adora was relieved she recognized Shadow Weaver’s manipulation before things got out of hand. She could only imagine what would happen if Shadow Weaver’s words infiltrated her head. They might have destroyed Adora and Catra’s relationship for good. Thankfully, that didn’t happen.

Unfortunately, Adora did not know that someone was eavesdropping just around the corner and that someone happened to be Catra.

* * *

To say that Catra’s emotions were running high was the understatement of the century.

After overhearing Shadow Weaver and Adora’s conversation minutes earlier, she had no idea what to think. Nothing Adora said surprised Catra—Adora’s priority would always be saving Etheria, even if the price was Adora’s happiness.

But at the same time, a glimmer of hope sparkled inside Catra. She didn’t want to think stupidly, but she heard Adora stand up to Shadow Weaver. Adora wasn’t interested in following Shadow Weaver’s advice. Maybe, just maybe, Adora loved Catra enough (even if it was platonically) to choose her over Etheria. Still, Catra shivered, thinking of Adora listening to Shadow Weaver. Of Adora deciding that Catra wasn’t worth it. The insecurities that stirred inside Catra didn’t make her confident that Adora would choose her, either.

“Someone needs to go inside and… accept the Failsafe? What does that mean?”

“It means the failsafe must be bonded to a willing soul and carried to the Heart of Etheria in their body to be deployed.” Shadow Weaver’s words sent chills down Catra’s spine. Something about that didn’t seem right. Shadow Weaver made the task sound simple despite the considerable risk, and Catra was sure there was more to the story.

“And we’re sure that’s… safe?” Bow asked skeptically.

“We can’t turn back now; the Failsafe is within our grasp!”

Catra was horrified to see Adora mindlessly approach the Failsafe. Of course, Adora didn’t think about the consequences of the situation, but Catra did. There was something off about Shadow Weaver’s desperation, and it made Catra’s stomach curdle.

After a split-second decision, Catra lunged toward Adora, grabbing her arm. “Adora, don’t go in there.”

“Catra, this is not the time; someone must take the Failsafe.”

“So, you do it then.” Catra’s suspicions about Shadow Weaver lying only grew with the deafening silence. “I’ve been watching you the whole way in,” Catra began, pulling Adora away from the Failsafe. “You’ve been in here before, haven’t you? You could’ve taken the Failsafe yourself and gotten all of the power you’ve ever wanted. But you didn’t. Why?”

“You’re being paranoid. This is the only way to stop Prime; Adora understands that well enough.”

Catra blocked Shadow Weaver from approaching Adora. There was no way she would let Shadow Weaver anywhere near Adora until Catra learned the truth, even if that meant Shadow Weaver would attack her. “Why does it have to be Adora? What is going to happen to her? What aren’t you telling us?”

Shadow Weaver backed away without answering. The longer Shadow Weaver remained silent, the more nervous Catra became. If it weren’t bad, then Shadow Weaver would have no problem coming clean. However, now her cover was blown, and she was still trying to conceal it. Whatever Shadow Weaver was hiding was not good at all.

“Answer the question,” Castaspella demanded, while Melog growled.

“Whoever uses the Failsafe must absorb the full magic of the Heart when it is destroyed. That much raw magical power would burn any mere mortal apart. None of us are strong enough.”

“But She-Ra is.”

Catra turned when Adora uttered those words. Catra wouldn’t let Shadow Weaver manipulate Adora into doing this. The Failsafe could still burn She-Ra, and Catra was unwilling to risk Adora’s life, even if it cost Etheria.

“Only She-Ra can hope to survive the process; no one else can do it.”

“And if I don’t survive it?”

“Then the magic will be restored to Etheria through your sacrifice. You will give us the power to bring us to victory. Prime will be defeated; your friends will be free.”

Catra was sickened by the way Shadow Weaver held Adora’s face. It was another manipulative tactic, but Catra would not let Shadow Weaver win. She would not allow Adora to sacrifice herself for Shadow Weaver; it wasn’t an option. Catra gasped as she watched Adora seriously contemplate this garbage.

All at once, everyone began shouting, their arguments becoming static noise in Adora’s head. She couldn’t think clearly when everyone attacked each other, but she had a feeling that it didn’t matter, anyway. She knew what she was going to do the minute Shadow Weaver revealed the truth. “Stop it!” Adora screamed, effectively silencing everyone. She turned to her friends. “I’ll do it.”

Adora’s impending decision weighed heavily on Catra’s heart as she realized the consequences of whatever her friend decided. If Catra convinced Adora to turn away from the Failsafe, Adora valued her own life and happiness just as much as she valued saving Etheria. But if she didn’t, then Catra knew Adora would never choose Catra over sacrificing herself, even if she loved her. Catra wasn’t sure what was worse: Adora not loving her back, or Adora loving her but not enough to live.

“No! What? What’s wrong with you?!” Catra ran to Adora, desperately pulling on her lapels once she was close enough. “Shadow Weaver is sacrificing you, why can’t you see that?!”

“Because even if she is, it’s better than Prime getting the Heart and destroying the universe! We’re out of options. This is the only way.”

Catra trembled at Adora’s words, but her friend steadied her. She always had, Catra thought bittersweetly. Adora was always a calming, peaceful presence in whatever chaos that surrounded me. My life is meaningless without her.

Just then, Micah and a few sorcerers burst into the room and attacked the group. Micah aimed at Adora, and Catra helplessly watched as Adora threw her out of harm’s way just as Micah trapped Adora in magical rope.

“Adora!” Catra cried as she raced on Melog’s back, desperate to free her friend. Soon enough, both Catra and Melog were swept into battle.

Adora watched her friends fight the sorcerers, crying out in horror as Glimmer’s father attacked his own daughter. She didn’t believe she could transform into She-Ra, but she had to try. “For the honor of Grayskull!” Adora cried to no avail. “No,” she whispered to herself.

“We have to get out of here!” Bow shouted.

“The Failsafe! We can’t!” Shadow Weaver cried desperately.

Adora had moments to decide what to do, but she had already made her choice. She turned back and headed to the Failsafe.

Catra was busy fighting, but she saw Adora approach the Failsafe from the corner of her eye.  “Adora, no! Please, it doesn’t always have to be you.”

Adora looked at Catra one more time, silently communicating her goodbyes. Once she had the Failsafe, Adora would seal her destiny, effectively erasing any chance of a future with Catra. Then, she ran toward the Failsafe before she changed her mind.

“Adora!” Catra wailed, attempting to run after her. However, a sorcerer zapped her back, causing Catra to fall. She was too late.

Adora screamed in agony as she absorbed the Failsafe. She looked toward her friends, horrified to see that Micah tethered them to the ground with dark magic. Now, Adora was far past anger. She wouldn’t let anyone under Prime hurt her friends anymore.

“For the honor of Grayskull.”

For the first time in a while, Adora transformed into She-Ra. She immediately freed her friends from Micah’s magic and used her own to trap him and the other sorcerers. Then, she ran toward Catra. “I’ve got it, I’ve got the failsafe, let’s get out of here.”

Catra stared at the magical object in Adora’s chest with tears in her eyes. She felt hurt, betrayed, and angry. What was the point of jumping through fire for Adora if she would kill herself anyway? She would never do the same for Catra, but she would sacrifice herself for Etheria without a second thought. Catra should have known better, but Adora’s choice was the final straw. She couldn’t hang around and watch the love of her life die.

So, Catra ran out of the room with Melog by her side, attempting to distance herself from Adora as much as she could.

* * *

Later that evening, everyone had succumbed to sleep from the exhausting day they had. Well, almost everyone.

Catra sat on a box next to her mattress as she watched Adora sleep, the Failsafe plugged into her chest. God, Catra hated looking at that thing. It was a cruel reminder that Adora would never choose her in any scenario, no matter what happened.

Catra hopped off the box and grabbed the backpack she prepared earlier. Then, she left without hesitating or looking back. She paused for a moment when she heard Melog’s cries, but Catra knew she couldn’t stay. It hurt too much, knowing that she would never be enough for Adora. It would hurt for the rest of her life, but maybe the pain would numb if she was hundreds of miles away from Adora.

Moments later, Adora woke up. Instinctively, she looked over at Catra’s mattress, but it was empty. Adora didn’t see Catra or Melog. “Catra,” she gasped, frantic with worry.

Outside of The Rebellion’s hideout, Catra walked with a purpose. Melog hadn’t stopped meowing, but Catra ignored them. She was determined to travel as far away as possible.

Unfortunately, Catra didn’t make it far enough before Adora called her. “Catra?”

Catra broke into a sprint, figuring it would be easier to run than face her feelings head-on. Melog followed.

“Catra, stop!” Adora shouted, going after her.

Catra realized that Adora would catch up, so she jumped onto a tree branch. Unfortunately, Adora caught up by then, and she pulled Catra to the ground.

Catra tried crawling away, but Adora latched onto her leg and dragged Catra underneath her. “You were just gonna leave?!”

“I’m doing you a favor,” Catra said, pushing Adora off. “I’m a distraction, right? Now, you can go save the world without having to worry about me confusing you.”

Adora’s heart broke as she realized Catra overheard her conversation with Shadow Weaver. “No, that’s not true! Don’t listen to Shadow Weaver; this isn’t about her!”

Catra finally managed to shove Adora hard enough, causing her to go flying. She knew Adora already made her decision, but naively, Catra thought if she put herself out there as an option, Adora might change her mind. “Why? Why are you like this? Why do you always have to sacrifice everything for everyone else? When do you get to choose? What do you want, Adora?”

Catra’s question completely surprised Adora. No one had ever asked her that before. Although deep down, she knew the answer, she didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t say anything because she had to save Etheria. Adora had to think of the greater good here. Besides, she was most likely going to die because of the Failsafe. “I… I have to do this, Catra. I’m the only one who can.”

Catra’s heart tore into a thousand pieces. She already knew Adora’s answer, but it still brought her pain she only dreamed about beforehand. Catra never wanted to feel like that again, and the best way to avoid that pain was to leave. Catra wiped her tears and looked away. “Then do it. That’s what you want; that’s what you’ll always choose. I don’t have to stay and watch it happen.”

“Catra, please, stay. I need you.”

Catra saw Adora begging on her knees out of the corner of her eye, but she felt so dead inside that she couldn’t care less. She had to protect her own heart at some point, and Adora seemed desperate enough to say anything at the moment. Adora was just fine these last few years without Catra, and Adora’s life wouldn’t change no matter what Catra decided. “No, you don’t. You never have.”

Then, Melog shielded Catra with an invisibility cloak, leaving Adora to stare at an empty Whispering Woods.

Adora knew Catra was already gone, but she cried out for her one last time. She knew Catra wasn’t coming back, but Adora had to grieve for her lost love.

The love that could have been in another life. Maybe if Adora hadn’t left the Horde, they could be ruling Etheria side by side. Maybe if Adora was never She-Ra. Or maybe if Adora refused the Failsafe, letting herself be selfish for once in her life.

Adora thought about the possibilities, alternate universes where she was happy with Catra. She wondered what they were like. Did they live in Bright Moon’s palace? Were they on their own, moving every few days as wanderers with nothing but a few scraps of food and each other? Or maybe they were in each other’s arms as Etheria crumbled into pieces. They would be smithereens in seconds, but it didn’t matter because they would die together. Together, like it should have always been.

However, pondering on these scenarios was useless. Adora could think and dream all she wanted, but it didn’t change the fact that none of it would ever happen, because, in this life, Adora and Catra weren’t together. In this life, they were more alone than either of them ever was before. And in this life, despite growing up together, Adora didn’t have enough time to memorize Catra’s face before she left. Adora thought that there could never be enough time in the world for that.

So, Adora and Catra prepared themselves to spend the rest of their lives wondering about their great love. A love that could have reached the stars, conquered universes, and ignited magic, if given a chance to bloom. But like a neglected flower, their love wilted and withered to dust.

—

S05E12 Heart Part 1

Catra sat on Melog’s back as they sprinted through the Whispering Woods, running further away from The Rebellion’s hideout. Further away from Adora.

She pondered on the last conversation she had with Adora. Catra was as straightforward as she could be, and it hurt more than any pain Prime could inflict when Adora let her down. Adora was so busy sacrificing herself that she never even thought about what she wanted. And based on her final answer, Catra knew she would never be enough. Catra would not spend the rest of her life being second best to life-threatening situations. Adora would rather jump head-first into death's grip than be with Catra.

Well, Catra would not accept it, but that did not mean she wanted to leave. She just felt that it was her only option. Still, Catra looked behind her and wondered whether or not she did the right thing.

Melog must have sensed something was wrong because they suddenly screeched to a halt, throwing Catra on the ground.

“Ow! What’s wrong with you?”

Melog stood in front of Catra, meowing.

“Stop it. Stop it!” She pushed them away. “I told you, I’m not going back.”

Melog growled lowly and pinned Catra to the ground. Tears escaped her eyes, and she was frustrated with Melog insistence to turn back. “You saw what happened! Adora chose Shadow Weaver, okay?! Not me! Adora doesn’t want me!” Catra lowered her voice and looked away. “Not like I want her.”

Melog comforted Catra by licking her cheek, and Catra sat up and hugged them. They stood still for a few moments, and Catra was glad that she had someone to lean on in tough times, even if that someone happened to be a magical cat.

Suddenly, Catra heard footsteps approaching. Melog shielded them with invisibility, just to be safe. It was a good thing they did because moments later, a Horde soldier appeared. Catra thought it was strange for a random soldier to be walking alone in the Whispering Woods, especially with such purpose. A split second later, she decided to follow.

Catra followed the Horde soldier to a giant outpost. She looked down and gasped, recognizing First Ones’ writing. Then, she looked up and gasped again at a giant machine surrounded by dozens of clones. It was a lot to take in, and Catra’s heart sank as she realized that Horde Prime was planning something big, something that would destroy everything in its wake if given a chance. Whatever Prime had in store would probably ruin Etheria forever.

After almost getting caught by the real Hordak, Catra hid behind a rock and listened carefully. Horde Prime channeled Hordak’s body to speak to his army. “My brothers. The time has come at last. No longer shall She-Ra stand in my way. The Heart shall be laid bare, its power mine for the taking.”

When the surrounding clones began chanting, Catra realized in horror that Horde Prime discovered the Heart, and he found a way to activate it without She-Ra. He was taking the Heart for himself. It was only a matter of time before Prime destroyed Etheria.

Catra watched the First Ones' writing on the ground light up a sickeningly neon green as it traveled through the Whispering Woods. “Adora,” Catra said, realizing that Adora had no idea what was happening. Regardless of Catra’s pain, she had to warn her friend, at least. Catra couldn’t just abandon her, no matter how many times Adora hurt her.

Catra wondered if this was what unconditional love was like—suffering the most unimaginable pain but willing to drop everything just to help the person you loved. Catra always imagined that real love would be all chaos and passion, but these emotions did not feel like that. Unconditional love felt different—it reminded Catra of the first time she saw Etheria after being in space for months. The love Catra felt for Adora saw no end, even though she didn’t think she would see Adora again. Their love was infinite, just like the stars in the sky and galaxies in the universe.

So, without wasting another minute, Catra knew what she had to do. “We have to warn Adora!” She cried, swinging a leg over Melog’s back as Melog broke into a run.

* * *

“It’s okay, Adora. We’ll be with you the whole way, and when we get back, it’ll be a whole new world.”

Adora bit her tongue and looked down, opting not to say anything. She would break her own heart if she destroyed Bow's optimism. These were potentially the last few moments she had with her friends, and Adora wanted them to be memorable. She knew there was no going back for her. This was the end of the line.

Suddenly, Adora heard a familiar laugh. She gasped and looked up, fully alert. “Did you guys hear that?”

“What?” Glimmer asked.

Adora would recognize that laugh anywhere, under any circumstance. She always knew what Catra's laugh sounded like, even when they were enemies. A spark of hope ignited inside Adora's chest. Had Catra come back after all? “Catra?” Adora called, jogging toward the source of the noise.

Adora turned the corner, and lo and behold; there was Catra. “Hey, Adora.”

Adora felt tears of sheer joy prickle her eyes. “Catra, you came—“

“Adora!” Bow interrupted, forcing Adora to look away.

When Adora turned back, multiple versions of Catra walked toward her. When simulated Catra reached Adora, she pressed her forehead against hers. Adora knew it wasn’t real, but she could not help herself—she smiled and leaned into Catra’s touch. However, in a blink, Catra was gone. It was like Adora had dreamt the whole thing.

“You’re going the wrong way; the trail is back here.” Bow said, suddenly appearing with Glimmer. “You okay?”

Without looking at her friends, Adora spoke. “We need to be careful. It looks like this place can still project memories,” she said, collecting herself to face her friends. “We can’t let it distract us,” Adora said, whisking past Bow and Glimmer.

Bow and Glimmer could tell Adora saw something hurtful. Adora only confirmed their suspicions when she briefly lost control of She-Ra. However, Bow and Glimmer knew if they brought it up, Adora would brush it off. Adora would insist that it wasn't a big deal even though she was dealing with a fresh heartache while attempting to save Etheria at the same time.

Bow and Glimmer knew their friend was in a lot of pain, but at the moment, there was nothing they could do. It was not like Glimmer could teleport Catra—none of them had any idea where she went. So, Bow and Glimmer followed Adora, vowing to be there for her in every way they could.  

* * *

After running for what felt like forever, Catra made it back to the hideout, panting furiously. “Adora! Adora!”

Someone else answered instead. “She’s not here,” Shadow Weaver said.

“What do you mean, ‘she’s not here’? Where is she!”

Shadow Weaver stood and approached Catra. “She’s gone to the Heart of Etheria to free the magic and become the hero she was born to be. If you are still so selfish as to try and stop—”

Catra furiously grabbed Shadow Weaver’s lapels. “ENOUGH! This isn’t about you and your messed up power trip anymore. Prime is doing something to the planet. He’s… infecting it. He’s going for the Heart.”

Shadow Weaver processed the information, but before she could respond, they heard a noise. They both went outside and saw a giant hologram of Horde Prime in the sky.

“Rejoice, Etheria, for your day of reckoning has come. I offered you mercy, but you have spurned my good graces. So be it.”

Prime dragged Entrapta to his side, using her hair. Entrapta was crying. “I’m sorry.”

Catra grew furious by the minute. She had no idea what The Rebellion initially planned, but if Prime captured Entrapta, things weren't going well. She had to get to Adora, no matter what Prime said. “Your resistance has been for naught; your She-Ra has abandoned you. All that is left for your world is a terrible and eternal night.” Then, the hologram flickered off.

Catra turned to Shadow Weaver, panicking. “Take us to Adora now!”

“She’s too far away by now; we’d never reach her in time!”

“No. Use your magic; I know you have more power than you’re letting on.”

“It doesn’t work that way, Catra.”

“You’ve done it before! When you—you abandoned me in the Fright Zone, and you’ve always been able to track us our whole lives, so do something good with it for once and help me save Adora before it’s too late!” Catra cried desperately.

Shadow Weaver reached for something in her pocket. Catra thought Shadow Weaver would pull out a weapon, so she was surprised when Shadow Weaver presented an unidentified object. She held out her hand to Catra. “Come here.”

Catra’s eyes widened in shock. She could not believe her speech worked since it was so unlike Shadow Weaver to be selfless, especially at the risk of injuring herself. However, there was no time to dwell on that now, so Catra grabbed Shadow Weaver’s hand.

Within moments, they were in the middle of the First Ones' citadel, standing in front of Bow and Glimmer.

“Catra?” Bow asked, bewildered.

Catra ignored him, latching onto Glimmer’s shoulders instead. “Where’s Adora?!”

Glimmer had tears in her eyes. “She… she left us. She’s headed to the Heart on her own.”

“Of course she’s gone! That’s what she does, isn’t it?” Catra screeched hysterically.

They were interrupted by a crumbling sound above their heads.

“Catra, what is going on?” Bow asked.

“Horde Prime is onto you. He’s—he’s hacking the planet. All of this… is from him.”

Bow and Glimmer looked at each other knowingly. “He’s gonna take the Heart,” Bow said.

“That’s not all. He’s got Entrapta,” Catra said.

“If Prime has Entrapta, that means the other princesses are still chipped. We have to get back up there,” Bow said.

“We can’t just leave Adora,” Glimmer cried.

“I’ll stay. I’ll find her.” Catra was surprised that those words came out of her mouth, but there was no turning back. The unconditional love Catra held for Adora in her heart was strong and unwavering; it would not let Catra abandon Adora, even if she wanted to.

“Catra…” Glimmer began.

“I can’t lose her again, okay!” Catra cried. Then, she looked down, preparing herself for what she was about to say. Catra was scared, but Bow and Glimmer had to understand just how much Adora meant to her. “I promised her a long time ago that I’d look out for her. It’s time I made good on that.”

Bow and Glimmer stood still for a few moments. Catra’s feelings were unspoken, but they knew. Catra suspected that Glimmer knew the second Catra sacrificed herself for the princess, while Bow caught on during Adora and Catra’s reunion. However, neither Bow nor Glimmer felt the need to say anything. Adora and Catra’s love was so powerful that they could go the rest of their lives without confessing, and their love would still be crystal clear. Part of Bow thought Adora and Catra’s love was always like that, even when they fought on opposite sides.

Adora and Catra’s love gave Glimmer so much hope, and she felt privileged to witness how much they cared for each other. Glimmer thought about how lucky you had to be to have someone like that, but Glimmer suspected she had that person right in front of her. Adora and Catra’s love was so inspiring that Glimmer was seriously considering confessing her own feelings. She briefly thought of Bow before she smiled and threw her arms around Catra. “Take care of her, Horde scum.”

All three of them knew that Glimmer meant that in more ways than one. Catra returned the hug. “That’s the plan, Sparkles. And… good luck.”

Bow put his arms around Catra and Glimmer. “The four of us don’t need luck. We’re the Best Friends Squad.”

As Bow hugged them tightly, Catra realized that for the first time, she believed it.

* * *

When Adora opened her eyes, she stood on a cliff overlooking Etheria. This was not an Etheria she knew. It must be what Etheria looked like with magic. Adora was sure she had never seen anything so beautiful in her life.

Despite the breathtaking view, Adora could have never missed the person that came up to her side. Mara.

They stood in silence for a few moments before Adora spoke. “I’m going to save Etheria, no matter what it takes. Your sacrifice won’t be in vain, I promise.”

“But at what cost?”

Of all the things Mara could have said, Adora certainly wasn’t expecting that. She gasped and looked at Mara.

“I never wanted to die. I sacrificed myself, so you would never have to. Why are you doing this, Adora?”

“It’s better this way. My friends will be safe; they’ll be happy.”

Mara cupped Adora’s face. “And you? What do you want when this is all over?”

“I…” Adora trailed off, at a loss for words. Secretly, she knew the answer to that; she always had. If Adora could, she would choose Catra in a heartbeat. But Adora also knew that there was no way they could beat Prime if she didn't sacrifice herself. How Adora admit what she wanted? That would be incredibly selfish of her, and she couldn't bear that.

Adora remembered what Catra asked her before she ran off. When do you get to choose? What do you want, Adora? God, Adora wanted. If she could, she would spend the rest of her life showing Catra that all she wanted was her. But it was in Adora’s blood and bones to be selfless—it was just how she was built. She wished things could be different, but her wants and needs did not matter when Etheria was at stake. “It doesn’t matter. I’m She-Ra, this is what I’m supposed to do.”

Just then, the simulation glitched, and Adora recognized that something was wrong. They must be out of time. Mara held her hands. “You’re worth more than what you can give to other people. You deserve love, too.”

Tears brimmed in Adora’s eyes. This was Mara telling her that she was worthy enough to find her own love. It meant more than it could have from anyone else. Adora dared to hope that maybe this battle would not end in her death. Perhaps she would survive and tell Catra how she felt.

“You’re so close, Adora. Don’t give up yet.”

Adora nervously backed away as the entire simulation turned green. “Mara? What’s—”

“Ah.” Adora’s heart sank as she recognized the voice. She turned around. “Adora. So this is where you’ve run to hide.”

Adora instantly forgot all about what Mara said, consumed with the need to protect and die for Etheria once again.

—

S05E13 Heart Part 2

This was it. This was the end.

Adora clutched her side in agony. She panted as beads of sweat trickled down her face. Adora could not believe that she was about to lose to a creepy monster she could take out in her sleep if she was She-Ra.

Keyword: if. Adora was gravely injured and unable to transform back into She-Ra. She thought she would die by activating the Failsafe, but dying on the ground in unbearable pain? Handed to a monster on a silver platter like she was the main course of his meal? It was not worth it. None of this was worth it. Letting Catra go was not worth it. However, there was nothing Adora could do because she was still about to die at the hands of some weird squid, and Catra would never know how much Adora loved her.

It was safe to say Adora’s day was going terribly.

Suddenly, Adora heard a growl. She looked up and saw Catra charge at the creature, landing on her feet just a few meters away. “Hey, Adora,” Catra said, out of breath.

“Catra! You can’t be here; it’s too dangerous!” Adora tried to move, but she tripped. Right into Shadow Weaver’s arms. “Shadow Weaver?”

Adora was shocked at the twist of events, but she wasn't unhappy. Shadow Weaver’s presence bewildered her, but Catra’s? Adora broke Catra’s heart beyond repair, and Catra still came back to save her. Catra came back for her. Adora tried to stifle her singing heart as she realized how much she loved her best friend.

“Get Adora to the Heart, I’ll take care of this thing,” Catra said.

“Catra, no!” Adora cried. She was not okay with that plan.

Catra’s stern gaze softened when she turned to Adora. “I’ll catch up, okay? Get to the Heart.” However, nobody in the room—not Catra, Shadow Weaver, or Adora herself—believed her words.

Shadow Weaver pulled Adora away despite her protests. “No, no. Catra!”

But Catra was too busy fighting the monster to hear Adora wailing.

* * *

Catra managed to knock down the monster, but she barely caught her breath before the First Ones' writing on the floor lit up neon green. She knew what that meant—Horde Prime was here. She had to get to Adora and warn her before anything happened.

As soon as Catra ran into the tunnel that Adora and Shadow Weaver entered minutes earlier, she heard a familiar cackle. Her heart sank, and her stomach twisted in knots as a hologram of Horde Prime appeared.

“Oh, little sister. What a shame. I had such high hopes for you.”

Catra would not show Prime how terrified she was. She would not fall under his spell, or anyone else’s, ever again. She would not succumb to his manipulation, even if she knew he could destroy her with a flick of his hand.

Unfortunately, Catra did not realize the only reason Prime appeared was to distract her. The monster got up and wrapped a tentacle around Catra’s ankle. Catra screamed, feeling stupid that she fell for another one of Horde Prime’s tricks, despite promising herself she wouldn’t. But Catra did not realize she screamed so loud that the cavern shook down the tunnel to Adora and Shadow Weaver.

Adora’s skin prickled. Catra was in trouble. She had to go back. “No. No, wait.”

“Don’t lose your focus, we’re so close,” Shadow Weaver said.

Shadow Weaver and Adora reached a glowing orb. The Heart of Etheria. However, Adora could not concentrate because of the sharp pain in her hip, a cruel reminder that she let Catra take the fall when Adora should have died. Adora shouldn’t have left. Since when did she let her friends die for her, anyway? She could not hand over the Failsafe without Catra, and Catra’s screams only solidified that.

Adora heard Catra howl again, and Adora suddenly didn't care if she died stumbling on her way back to Catra—she had to save her. Adora was supposed to die at the monster's hands, not Catra. Adora would never forgive herself if Catra died in her place. Groaning in agony, Adora put one foot in front of the other, retracing her path to Catra. It was ironic—no matter what Adora did, all roads led back to Catra.

“Adora, wait!” Shadow Weaver cried, but Adora ignored her.

Meanwhile, the monster used its leverage to drag Catra toward him. She tried using her nails to hold her ground, but it was pointless. All they did was screech uncomfortably loud across the floor, leaving claw marks.

Prime ruthlessly taunted her. “So brave risking yourself for Adora, but it will make no difference. The Heart is almost mine, and when it is, your Adora will die.”

Catra’s eyes widened, realizing she tried her best, but it was not enough. The monster flung Catra into the air and dangled her. Then, he dragged Catra dangerously close to his jaw.

“So tell me, little sister, was it worth it?”

Catra closed her eyes, refusing to answer. She knew this was the end, but she would not give Prime any satisfaction. Tears stung her eyes as she faced death head-on. In any other moment, Catra would chastise herself for fearing death, something she thought she would never be afraid of. But when was the last time she was this close to the end? When Hordak planned to torture her in front of other Horde soldiers? At the time, Catra was devoid of any emotion. She was alone, and nothing mattered to her. But now? Catra thought she had lost everything when she left Adora, but she had built a life for herself. She had real friends. She had Melog. This time, Catra was bursting with love instead of wallowing in bitter hollowness. Now, she was afraid to die because she had so much left to say, but her words would die on her lips as Prime’s monster swallowed her whole.

Catra waited for the inevitable, but a spark of black magic zapped the monster’s jaw, forcing him to release Catra. She tumbled to the floor and landed with a thud.

Catra looked up. She was stunned to see who it was. “Shadow Weaver?”

“Take Adora and run!”

Catra watched as Shadow Weaver cast spells at the monster. Catra stood up, but she did not move, wholly mesmerized by Shadow Weaver’s rescue. “What are you—”

“I told you to run! Now run!” Shadow Weaver shrieked, using magic to send Catra down the tunnel.

Catra was out of her mind. She was absolutely out of her mind. Here was her former abuser, a person who inflicted the most pain on her (other than Horde Prime), ready to sacrifice herself. Catra couldn’t just leave her, no matter how badly Shadow Weaver had hurt her. Catra stood up, but Shadow Weaver ignited a transparent wall at the tunnel’s entrance before Catra could do anything. She banged on the wall hysterically. “Shadow Weaver, no! What are you doing?!”

“Please, Catra. You need to make sure Adora reaches the Heart. The magic must be set free.”

Catra only watched as the monster freed himself from Shadow Weaver’s magic and fought against her. “Stop it; it’s going to kill you!”

“It’s too late for me. But you… this is only the beginning for you. I am so proud of you, Catra.”

Before that moment, if anyone had told Catra that Shadow Weaver would swoop in at Catra’s deathbed, save her, and sacrifice herself, Catra would have laughed. Shadow Weaver? Saving Catra while sacrificing herself? Catra expected Perfuma to stop believing in love before that happened. And Shadow Weaver telling Catra how she was proud of her? This had to be some crazy, wacky dream because nothing made sense. Catra owed absolutely nothing to Shadow Weaver, but hearing Shadow Weaver's words made Catra desperate to do something. With tears in her eyes, Catra wailed, “No! No!”

Catra raised her fist to break through the blockade, but someone’s hand stopped her. “Catra?” Adora croaked.

Catra looked at Adora, acknowledging her presence, before turning back to Shadow Weaver one last time.

In elated horror, Adora and Catra watched Shadow Weaver sacrifice herself to save their lives. After Shadow Weaver and the monster vanished, Adora and Catra remained silent as they absorbed what happened. Catra slowly began to accept that she couldn’t have done anything, despite tears streaming down her face. At that moment, she knew that she would never have the heart to forgive Shadow Weaver, but Catra was thankful for her former abuser’s last act being one of bravery and heroism.

Adora burst into tears, completely shocked. Just minutes earlier, she was walking down the tunnel with Shadow Weaver. Adora still despised her, but the last thing she expected was Shadow Weaver to die for them. Honestly, Adora expected Shadow Weaver to backstab The Rebellion and take the Heart for herself before this. Adora cried because of the shocking twist of events and because she might have been secretly relieved that Shadow Weaver died instead of Catra. No, she was definitely relieved.

Eventually, Catra placed a hand on Adora’s shoulder. “Come on. We have to go.”

Adora and Catra shared a glance, knowing they couldn't waste any more time. Adora stood and hugged Catra instead of saying what she wanted to say. You came back for me. I’m happy that it wasn’t you that died at the monster’s hands. I could not think of any other person I’d rather reach the Heart of Etheria with than you. Maybe if Adora managed to live after all this was over, she would tell Catra everything she felt, but for now, they simply hugged and staggered down the tunnel together, holding each other the whole way through.

* * *

Catra quickly realized that Adora was still in a lot of pain because of her injury, so she steadily held her friend while they walked toward the Heart. Adora caught Catra’s eye, and as usual, Catra stared at her like there was nobody else in the world. At that moment, there truly wasn’t anyone else.

Before Adora and Catra knew it, a glowing object appeared in front of them. They finally reached the Heart, and they both gasped in awe.

“The Heart of Etheria. We made it,” Adora said.

Adora approached the center of the platform, ready to transform into She-Ra to unleash the Heart’s magic. However, as she attempted to channel She-Ra, the pain in her hip worsened considerably. Instead of a dull, throbbing ache, Adora felt like someone was butchering her alive. She screamed as glowing green lines filled her skin.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Catra asked, catching a stumbling Adora.

“I don’t—I don’t know. I can’t transform.” The Heart shook around them. “It’s Prime’s virus; it’s keeping me from becoming She-Ra.”

“What does that mean? Is the failsafe not going to work without her?” Catra asked, although considering that she dreaded the answer, Catra had a feeling she knew what Adora would say.

Adora looked down at her chest, where the Failsafe glowed. She was not upset since she always knew it would come down to this. However, Adora’s heart did twinge in disappointment because she would not live the life Mara wanted her to live. “No, it’ll work.” She paused, then looked at Catra. “Get as far away from here as you can. I have to do this next part on my own.”

“Adora, what is going to happen to you?” Catra demanded.

Adora walked away. “Without She-Ra, the magic will destroy me. I’m sorry, Catra. I’m so sorry. But there’s no more time. It has to end here. I can still save everybody.” Adora approached Catra again, placing her hands on Catra’s head and pressing her forehead against hers. Adora felt idiotic for thinking that a simulated Catra could ever be real. Pressing her forehead against a fake Catra's was nothing compared to the real thing. “It’s okay. I’m ready.”

Catra would not accept Adora’s fate. Well, maybe she didn’t have a choice, but Catra could choose to be there for Adora every step of the way. If Adora had to die, then she could spend her last moments with Catra. Somehow, Catra knew Adora would like that. Besides, this was better than running away with a broken heart. Long after Adora was gone, Catra knew she would be comforted by the fact that their last moments together would be in each other’s arms instead of intensely fighting with each other.

So, when Adora pulled away, Catra grabbed her hands. “No.”

“Catra…”

“No! I’m not leaving. Whatever happens, I am staying with you.”

Adora approached the center of the platform again, and Catra lightly held onto her arm. Catra knew that she would have to let go of Adora eventually, but she wasn’t ready yet. Then again, would Catra ever be prepared to let the love of her life die? There would never be a moment where Catra could confidently say, “let’s do this,” but she wanted to hold on for as long as she could.

Adora and Catra stared at the Heart of Etheria in silence. Suddenly, Adora fell back into Catra’s arms, screaming once again. Catra saw the Failsafe glitch in Adora’s chest, so she did not react in time to catch Adora before she collapsed on the ground.

“Adora?” Catra knelt beside Adora and gently turned her over. This was it. Adora was dying. She was really dying. Although Catra could not stop what was happening, she collected Adora in her arms and said, “No, no, no, no, no. No! No!”

As the Heart of Etheria beat louder, Catra looked up and saw Horde Prime’s infection consume the Heart. Moments later, green lightning spasmed, and Catra tightened her grip on Adora, shielding her from the bolt. After a few moments, she pulled away. “Adora? Adora, stay awake!”

Adora opened her eyes. She should have noticed the swirling green magic infecting the heart, but all she saw was her beloved Catra.

Catra had no idea what Adora stared at, so she looked up too. When nothing out of the ordinary happened, she looked back down at Adora, more confused than ever.

“I’m sorry,” Adora whispered as Catra cupped her face. Adora placed her hand on top of Catra’s.

“Adora!” Catra cried, pulling her close. “Adora!”

When Adora closed her eyes one last time, Catra’s screams were nothing but faint echoes wailing through the cavern walls.

* * *

When Adora opened her eyes, she gasped. Something felt off, but she could not figure out why. She looked at her reflection in a fancy water fountain while inspecting her outfit: a long, simple, and elegant white gown. Hair brushed back and styled. A piece of jewelry on her head. She looked like she was going to a ball.

Just then, the door opened. Glimmer and Catra burst in as Glimmer chased Catra, attempting to brush her hair. Adora noticed they were also dressed in ball clothing.

“Don’t let her touch me; she’s gonna torture me!” Catra cried playfully, using Adora as a shield.

“Do you always have to be this dramatic?” Glimmer asked, but she was smiling.

“Come on, guys!” A deep voice boomed. Adora turned just as Bow approached them. “If we’re late to Scorpia’s first ball, she’s gonna kill us.”

Bow wrapped his arm lovingly around Glimmer’s shoulder, and Glimmer leaned into his touch. “Fine! You’re off the hook. This time.”

Catra stuck out her tongue triumphantly. This banter was happening so fast, and Adora barely had time to process any of it. This scenario was all Adora wanted, but it seemed like it was a dream too good to be true. She was afraid that if she let her guard down, she would wake up.

Bow and Glimmer walked out shortly after that. Catra started following, but she turned back and held out her hand. “You coming?”

All of Adora’s concerns faded away when Catra offered her hand. She smiled and reached for it, but she was caught off guard when Adora’s hand fell right through Catra’s. A simulation. Of course. How could Adora not realize it before? She chastised herself for being so careless.

Adora watched as Catra transformed into Horde Prime, but she did not feel pressured to defend herself. Adora felt like everything was hopeless, and Prime’s words only confirmed that. “A beautiful wish. But there will be no future. Not for you.”

Adora did not know what to do, but it did not matter because Prime immediately wrapped a large ribbon around Adora, suffocating her. The ribbon was heavy, and it dragged her down into nothingness. Adora screamed, but the farther she fell, the more useless she felt. She closed her eyes, ready to give up until she heard a voice.

“Adora! Please! You have to wake up!” Catra cried desperately, standing in the light and holding out her hand.

Of course, Catra was not in the simulation, so through her eyes, Adora lay lifeless in her arms. “You can’t give up. You have never given up on anything in your life. Not even on me. So don’t you dare start now!”

Catra’s hand was so close that Adora almost felt warmth reverberating from it. Still, Catra seemed out of reach. Every time Adora inched forward, pain charged through her body, worsening with every attempt. Tears welled in her eyes. “It’s too late. I’ve failed.”

“No! No! I’ve got you, I’m not letting go,” Catra said, hugging Adora tightly. She did not even know where Adora’s consciousness lay or whether she was even alive, but Catra would not stop now. “Don’t you get it?! I love you. I always have. So please, just this once… stay.”

Adora felt too weak to portray her shock, but Catra’s words did give her enough energy for one final boost. Adora pushed herself up and grabbed Catra’s hand.

But Catra had no idea whether Adora heard her or not. She buried her face in Adora’s neck, praying with everything she had that Adora would live. “Stay.”

Catra did not care that the Heart was about to explode and that the world would crash over their heads. However, Catra turned her head once she heard something, followed by a bright light. She saw a brilliant rainbow transform into She-Ra’s shield. The shield vanished, but as Adora’s hand fell on Catra’s shoulder, Catra realized: Adora did that. Catra’s words made Adora shield them. They made Adora want to live. Maybe Adora had chosen Catra in the end, after all.

Adora opened her eyes and propped herself up. “You love me?”

Catra did not expect Adora to be surprised, so she chuckled. “You’re such an idiot.” Catra knew at that moment, even if Adora did not return her feelings (although Catra had an inkling she did), they would be okay, no matter what. But Adora confirmed Catra’s suspicions when she dopily smiled. Catra’s facial expression grew serious as her insides burst into confetti. Adora looked at Catra the same way Catra looked at Adora.

“I love you, too,” Adora finally said, as the Heart of Etheria beat steadily in the background.

Catra always thought that if this moment ever happened, she would shout from the rooftops: Adora loves me! While Catra still wanted to do that, Adora almost died moments before. Catra wanted to feel Adora’s breath on hers; she wanted to feel her best friend’s heart thump. So, Catra grinned, cupped Adora’s face, and kissed her.

And God, was it a kiss. Adora and Catra were so immersed in each other that they did not see the Failsafe glow and explode, disappearing from Adora’s chest. Once the Failsafe dissolved, a sea of flying colors engulfed them. But Adora and Catra did not feel the Heart of Etheria’s magic—they barely noticed it at all. Neither of them would ever think about it, but they did not see the Heart’s magic because they were too wrapped up in their own love, magic that they created. The Failsafe may have freed Etheria’s magic, but it did not activate itself. Adora and Catra’s pure unconditional love, as bright and as magical as any star in the sky, ignited the Failsafe. Only love, the purest of its kind, in any form, could set Etheria’s magic free. After all, She-Ra came back to life because of Adora’s love for Catra. Now, the Heart released its magic because of the love they had for each other.

The rainbow surrounding Adora and Catra transformed into gold. Everything in the tunnel turned golden as Adora changed into She-Ra. Adora and Catra pulled away, and they both looked around, in awe of Etheria’s magic. They did it. They activated the Failsafe, unleashed the Heart, and restored magic to Etheria.

Adora wanted to stay in Catra’s embrace forever, but she knew she had some things to take care of first. She looked at Catra knowingly; then she stood and walked out of the citadel, golden beams of light reflecting on her.

As Adora walked, she witnessed the crumbling ground beneath her feet turn into fresh green grass. It never ceased to amaze Adora that within moments, the rest of Etheria would follow. She looked up at Horde Prime’s ship—now a brilliant gold—and used her sword to shoot magic toward it, transforming the vessel into a miniature forest. Next, Adora looked down and jammed She-Ra’s blade into the ground. Everyone watched as a golden wave swept away a dark and dreary Etheria.

Once the magic restored life to Etheria, Adora had one last thing to do. She approached Hordak, who Prime was still channeling. Whatever he said, Adora barely heard him, and more importantly, she did not care. She knelt and became face to face with Hordak-as-Prime. “No. You’re wrong. It’s time for you to go.”

So, Adora held Hordak’s face, using her magic to free Hordak and rid the world of Horde Prime once and for all.

* * *

Now that Adora restored Etheria’s magic and Horde Prime was gone for good, Catra had one last thing she had to do.

Scorpia was laughing with Perfuma, Emily, and Frosta, rejoicing the end of Prime’s reign. Catra nervously approached them, afraid of how Scorpia would react. Despite her fears, Catra wanted to apologize to Scorpia ever since she started becoming a better person.

When the princesses noticed Catra coming their way, they stopped laughing.

Catra gripped the back of her neck as her heart skipped several beats. “Hey, Scorpia. Look, I—”

Before Catra said anything, Scorpia scooped her up in her arms and hugged her.

“Oh, there it is,” Catra said. She felt like Scorpia was squeezing her to death, but Catra was secretly relieved that her friend forgave her. Once the celebrations cooled down, Catra would specifically apologize to Scorpia. Catra owed her friend accountability and respect, and she wanted to begin their renewed friendship with no skeletons in the closet. But for now, Scorpia understood that Catra was trying to apologize, which was enough for her.

“You know I’m a hugger.”

“Princess hug!” Perfuma suddenly cried, and she joined the embrace with Frosta. Now Catra definitely felt like the princesses were squashing her. It was never a position Catra thought she would be in, but here she was.

And there was (almost) nowhere else Catra would rather be.

* * *

As everyone caught up with each other, Adora approached a clearing. She saw all of Etheria from where she stood, and it was her first chance to relish in the planet’s beauty. Subconsciously, Adora transformed back into herself, knowing She-Ra would always be there whenever she needed her.

Adora was blown away at the amount of life that thrived on Etheria, especially since it happened so fast. Adora was so mesmerized by the view that she did not hear Catra approach. “Adora?”

Adora turned and held out her hand. It was still so hard to believe that she could put herself first for once and choose what she wanted, and she was elated that Catra wanted her, too. The two of them have come a long way—from growing up as best friends to becoming enemies, to reuniting, to becoming best friends again, to falling in love, and finally admitting their feelings to each other. It was surreal to Adora, and the best part was it wasn’t a dream. Loving Catra and being loved in return was the most real thing Adora felt in her life, and she could not wait to spend eternity with her best friend and soulmate.

Catra took Adora’s hand, and they pressed their foreheads together. “It’s over. He’s gone,” Adora said.

“Good riddance,” Catra agreed.

They stood still for a few moments, basking in Etheria’s warm glow. Then, Bow and Glimmer snuck up from behind and tackled them. The Best Friends Squad rolled down the hill, laughing together. When they slid to a stop, they had their arms around each other.

Bow propped himself up. “So, what are we gonna do now?”

Adora sighed and looked up at the glittering sky. “We can bring magic back to the universe. What do you guys say to one more Best Friends Squad road trip?” She said as they all stood.

“I’m in!” Glimmer cried.

“Obviously!” Bow agreed.

“Of course I’m going with you, dummy,” Catra said, playfully rolling her eyes.

Adora smiled at her friends and hugged them once again. She couldn’t wait to start the rest of their lives. “Then let’s do this. Together.”

[seadragonjade]

Chapter 3: A Shadow’s tomb

I am so sorry that this Chapter come in so very late guys. I got distracted by other things and kept putting it off. So again so sorry about that. I will be posted chapter 4 but not for a a bit of time but it would be as long as this wait was hopefully. Pictures will be posted along with Chapter 4. Also this has be reposted since I freaked out when I didn’t know how to put read more but thank you to the person that helped me. 

Words: 22739

*Next Day: July 19 Tuesday* 

*Beep* *Beep**Beep**Be-* The alarm got cut off by the young Jaden-Drake Etheren hitting the snooze button. He groaned as he got up. “God! I hate getting up for school!” He groaned out as he got up and went to his closet. “Too bad you gotta.” Draco the bearded dragon said as he crawled out from bedding that was right near the tank. 

Drake sighed as he turned his head to the smirking dragon. “Don’t give me that look or I leave you behind.” “Wait, no!” The dragon was a little bit shocked when the green-haired teen said that. “C’mon already sleepy head. It is best for us to not miss the subway.” Xander said as he pokes his head in his friend's bedroom right when Drake was putting on his uniform. “You do know we can take my car right. Traffic ain’t that bad during this time.” Drake told his friend as he turned to face him. “The early bird catches the worm.” He shrugs as he walks away. “That really doesn’t answer me.”

After Jaden got fully dressed and got his shoes on he grabs his bag with Draco in it and heads out the door with Xander. “You do know I’m not a crazy driver like Tanner and Randy. I was the only one who was allowed to drive when Draco is in his jeep form. Sooner or later we’re going to drive in my car.” The shorter teen states as they head to the subway. Xander just shook his head as they got in the crowded subway and headed for Shujin. As soon as they got to Shujin they headed straight to their respective classes. 

*Time skip: Lunchtime*

Once lunchtime rolled around Jaden headed to the board where it showed everyone's grade in their own year. Jade sighed as he looked at the board. “Huh, not bad. Got to remember that their grading system is different from America's.” Drake muttered to himself. “I see that you got that you passed all your exams. Great job Drake-kun.” He heard a male voice say from behind him. The green-haired boy turned around to see Akira standing right behind him. “Oh, thank you Akira-kun.” He told him with a small smile and a pinkish tint of blush on his face. 

Akira chuckled at how Drake acted. “Oh, yeah. Awesome job on getting into the top tens by the way.” He told the taller male as they walked off to go find Ryuji. “Hehe, Thanks.” He said giving Jaden a smile. Once they were down the stairs they saw Xander, Ryuji, and Mishima waiting for them. Once they got to them they began to have a conversation.  “We were busy. It’s not like I could focus on studying.” All the boys looked at Ryuji. “Hey, it’s not my fault my scores suck, right?” Ryuji said, looking at them. Akira just shooked his head at Ryuji. “Mate...I’m not even going to say it.” Drake stated as he shook his head. “What?” Ryuji asked. 

Drake again shook his head. “Alright, I get it is my fault. Anyways, there’s something more important here, Mishima…” Ryuji said, looking at him. “You want to ask me something about the internet, right?” He asked looking back at the blond boy. “Yup, I’m gonna be straight with you here, do you know who Medjeb is?” “You weren’t kidding about being direct.” Mishima states. “Well, I suppose the news about Medjed and the Phantom Thieves has caused quite the commotion…” He continued. “They started out as hackers of justice but now they only look out for their own self-interests. That’s all I know. They were the group I texted Kurusu about yesterday.” He tells them. 

“Nobody’s sure actually who belongs to Medjed. Well, it looks like things’ll be the Phantom Thieves’ word debut, no?” He finishes off with a smile. “Dude..” Ryuji said as he put his hand on his head. “Don’t worry, I’ll be rooting for the Phantom Thieves. I’ll get the forum mobilized as well.” He smiled. “Now if we’re done talking here, I really must be going. I’ll see you guys later.” Mishima walked away. “So that was fruitless…” Morgana stated as Mishima walked. “Agreed.” Xander said as he shook his head. “I second that.” Drake said cracking his neck a bit. “Wonder if anyone else got any info.” Ryuji said as he took out his phone. The others did the same. 

Ryuji: Mishima was pretty useless, you guys get anything?

Makoto: I tried asking my sister, but it seemed as though she didn’t know very much about them. 

Makoto: She doesn’t specialize in cybercrime, after all.

Drake: I tried asking my brother over the phone but all I got was. “Why the hell you worrying about some dumb system. Worry about you and your friends.”

Ann: I tried looking into them too, but I didn't come up with anything.

Ann: There are really just no leads.

Xander: We are up against an enemy that we don’t know of. It would be difficult to use the Nav.

Yusuke: It seems so.

Yusuke: Hm, our opponent is truly elusive. 

“No luck.” Ryuji sighed out. “Medjed, hm?” Morgana pondered. “It seems we won’t be able to deal with them by ourselves”  “I wonder what they could really be.” Draco sighed out. 

*Time skip: Afternoon*

“I know summer vacation is due to begin next week, but I have an unfortunate announcement.” Ms. Kawakami began looking at the whole class. “We’ll be holding an emergency assembly on Monday the 25th. Please come to school that day.” She finished. Everyone began murmuring about the whole situation. “Great.” Drake signed out, flopping onto his desk with his arms sticking out. “Settle down.” She scolded the class. “We’ve had many strange incidents: the psychotic breakdowns, students being dragged into crime rings…” She explained. “Hence, Principal Kobayakawa has instructed all teachers to caution the student body. This is inconvenient for us too, you know? Having to find things to warn you about so suddenly.” She explained. Once she was done explaining Akira, Ann and Drake took out their phones. 

Ryuji: How’re we gonna find Medjed?

Ann: I’m not sure. No matter how hard I look online, all I find are unreliable rumors.

Yusuke: They have carried out corporate terrorism, yet they still manage to elude arrest somehow.

Yusuke: Kaneshiro was a lot of trouble, but this is turning out to be a much greater ordeal.

Drake: That sounds like a lot of famous people back in America.

Xander: We would just have to wait. It is difficult to attack someone if you can’t see them.

Ryuji: Did we bite off more than we can chew?

Akira: They're too big.

Makoto: Yeah…

Makoto: We don’t even know whether it’s a single individual or a large conglomerate of people.

Makoto: And even if we do manage to get a lead, what do we do from there?

Ryuji: Damn, this stuff’s really not going so good...

Ryuji: That’s prolly why my exams’re going to shit.

Ann: You know those are two separate things, right?

“‘Damn, this stuff’s really not going so good…’ Mwehehe…” A young teenage girl said as she read off the group's texts. “Clues on Medjed, huh?” she smirked.  

The school bell ranged and all the students started to grab their stuff and get ready to leave while some got left behind to chat with friends. “If we can’t identify who it is, there’s nothing we can do. Let’s wait till they make a move.” Morgana stated to Akira. “Although I would love to stay and chit-chat with you I gotta go. I have stuff to do with my older brother and I got to meet him somewhere. If you see Xander tell him I got to meet up with my brother.” Jaden sighed as he began walking away. “Alright. Do you also want me to let Boss know that too?” Akira asked, looking at him Jaden nodded as he headed on. He went past many students on his way out. 

He sighed as he walked off the campus. Was it a good idea not to tell Xander I’m going to see Taka… He thought to himself. He walked past Xander who was looking around the area. It seemed like he was looking for someone. Jaden didn’t pay any attention as he walked past his friend. “Hey, Xander.” Draco said, causing the green-haired boy to stop in his tracks and turn around to see his friend. “Huh, oh didn’t notice you guys there.” He said walking up to them. “Don’t worry, I didn’t notice you either. Draco did though. Anyways, what are you doing?” Drake asked his friend. “Well, I was looking for someone. There was this person that I knew online from awhile ago. We were pretty close; she apparently goes by the name Alibaba. She is an excellent hacker so maybe I could ask her to help us.” The taller out of the two explained still looking around. Jaden looked at him. 

“Well, first I don't believe you face time together so you don’t really know what she looks like. Second, she might not even go to this school. Third, she was probably a grown-ass man that was catfishing you. I mean she could be real and fourth, that’s most likely not her real name.” He explained to him with a long sigh. “That would have been true but aren’t you forgetting something?” Xander stated after looking at his friend. Drake looked at him for a minute then realized. “Shit, yeah. Thanks, oh also want to meet him?” Jaden said to his friend. “Yes but that is not what I meant. I was talking about my eagle sense.” He sighed as him and Drake began walking. “One of the games that we played involved voice chat. Since then I have been using eagle sense since we arrived here trying to see her unique tone. From the sound of her voice, she appears to be a girl mostly younger than us.” He sighed again. “No, I didn’t forget about your eagle sense. I’m just saying be careful. Japan isn’t like America. I mean look at the law for the age of consent. 13. So she could be an adult.” He sighs out. “But age can be revealed through a person’s voice. It is rather difficult to explain but whenever I hear people speaking, a younger person’s voice tends to not have voice cracks of different magnitude, some noticeable others difficult to hear. And with Alibaba, her voice was girlish with voice cracks that I can see.” He explained to his older friend. Drake shook his head and sighed. “Whatever, mate. I can sense you’re not lying about this situation. But still...do be careful.” He told him with a sigh as they headed on.

Once they got home they dropped off their bags and quickly left with Jaden grabbing his car keys and them heading to the car. Jaden-Drake’s car was an impala 67 Chevy black. The car was big but from what the inside looked like it could hold up to six people if needed. They got in, Jaden in the driver seat, Draco in a bag next to him, and Xander in the shotgun. They got in and headed out the parking lot and then to the street. The car ride was full of silence between the three of them. Being sick of the silence Jaden turned on the radio and put it on a station he thought was good enough. “...I am not scared you're going to tell me. I’m not scared of the beast and the belly. Fill this cup with ambition. Paint this town with my very own vision.” Xander started singing. Drake just sighed as he heard his friend start singing. 

Man, it’s been quite some time since I sang in front of the others...Maybe I should start singing in front of our new friends...He sighed again as they pulled up to a white building that looked strange to Xander. “Woooaah, I've never seen a building like this before.” Draco stated as his head was out of the bag looking at the building. “It’s a studio building. Meaning where they have photo shoots and movie scenes.” Drake stated as he walked towards the building. “What a building, talk about a skyscraper?” Xander said looking at the building while following his friend. “Wait, a studio that is one building?” Draco asked. “I’m used to seeing multiple buildings being a part of a studio place.” Xander exclaimed. 

Once they entered the building, both the tan boy and dragon were amazed to find a longed area and a receptionist. “Excuse me, but I don't thi-” She was cut off by Drake showing her his I.D. “Don’t worry he’s with me. Can you tell me what floor Takato Saijo is on.” He asked her while he put away his I.D. “Oh, Right. Sorry, Ethren-san. I didn’t recognize you. I give you the floor Takato-san is on.” she stated as she began typing away on the computer. Xander and Draco both stared at him. “What?” Drake asked his confused friends.  “The receptionist seems to know you.” Xander pointed out to Drake. “I’ve been coming here since I was a baby. A lot of people know me here...I also just realized I could have texted him which floor.” He’d facepalm. “That would have been wise.” Xander responded. “Here’s the floor he’s at, have a good day young Ethern.” The lady stated as she gave him a piece of paper with writing on it. 

“Thank you, follow me mate.” Drake stated as he walked away. The three of them entered the elevator and Jaden pressed the button. “Alright, I’m going to tell you guys something. There are going to be actors in this room and some will assume that you're a fan of them. If you want to talk to them and they are rude to you, you have my permission to be rude back. They know me because of my brother and know I don’t take shit. Trust me when I say they won’t do anything to you. They know how my brother can get.” He explained with a sigh. “Oh, and Draco you can’t talk to us in front of them. I'm fine with you talking when it’s with my brother. Also fair warning he does know about the whole Metaverse thing so if he asks you anything about the Metaverse, you can basically say anything about the situation, but don’t talk about the times I get hurt. He is really protective of me.”  He finished explaining to his friends. 

“Don’t worry I will be careful with what I say.” Xander smiled at his friend. Drake smiled. “Thanks, mate.” Once they got to the floor the doors opened to reveal another lounge area with a vending machine. Jaden walked out and headed right. Xander followed him as he entered the door. Upon entering it, Xander and Draco saw a whole staff of actors, carmamen, and dictators. “Cool.” Draco hissed out. Drake chuckles as he walks in further with Xander following close behind. They walked past people not even batting an eye at the three of them. 

Once they were at a table with one of the actors sitting there with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. He had black hair and was wearing nice, dark clothes. “Hey bro.” Jaden said looking at him. “Hey, Drake. I see you brought a friend with you.” The black-haired actor said looking at Xander. “Yep. Xander, this is my older brother Takato Saijo.” Jaden said. “Hi, Takato. I am Jaden’s best friend. It is a pleasure to finally meet.” Xander said as he bowed a little. Takato smiled a little as he nodded. “Hmm, nice to finally meet you as well Xander.” Drake smiled as he watched the exchange. “That kinda reminds me, how's Junta doing?” The teen asked his older brother who sighed after that. “Clingy as ever but we’re working on that. Thankfully.” He answered his brother truthfully. He smiled at his brother's comment. He shifts his attention to the set in front of him, where the director was giving orders. “Now I must ask you two, since I know you’re good friends with him and of course, are like brothers. How is Damien?” Takato asked as he closed his eyes again. Jaden froze on the spot as Draco and Xander looked at each other. Xander looks down with a sigh. “...He..He’s no longer with us.” He tells him while still looking down. 

Takato opened his eyes and brought his attention to the both of them. “Oh...I’m sorry to hear about that…” He paused for a second, then looked at his younger brother. “I knew how close you were to him. Just remember he’s in a better place now.” He said with an awkward smile. “Yeah….”Drake sighs. “Can we just change the topic, please?” He said softly. “Yeah of course. Um...Oh, how's working in the Metaverse?” The dark-haired male trying to change the subject quickly. “Kind of good, besides that incident. Have been helping people out here and there.” Xander explained. “Well, that’s always good to hear. Hey little bro, do you-” Takato was cut off by the director telling him it was his part to do. He sighed and shook his head. “Well, I’ll see you guys later then, I have my part to do.” He said as he got up and walked away. “Welp, that’s our cue to leave. Come on, mate.” Drake said as he headed for the door with Xander right behind him.

*Time skip: Evening*

Jaden was in the shower while Xander was in the living area when he got a text.

Yusuke: So I looked.

Ann: Did you find anything?

Yusuke: As you know, Medjed is a god that appears in the Egyptian Book of the Dead.

Ann: Huh?

Yusuke: Its name apparently means “the smiter”.

Yusuke: It seems nobody is actually sure that Medjed is a real name.

Yusuke: On top of that, almost everything else about him is unknown.

Yusuke: Even his form is unattainable.

Xander: An enemy who is unseen.

Xander: It’s going to be rather difficult to get them

Yusuke: Right. An unseen god that flies through the sky and shoots from his eyes...

Yusuke: He truly is an elusive being.

Ryuji: Dude.

Yusuke: Everything about his existence is shrouded in mystery

Ryuji: Wait. 

Yusuke: Fundamentally speaking, ancient Egyptain art always depicted gods drawn in a side profile.

Yusuke: However, Medjed is facing straight ahead in all depictions of him

Yusuke: Taking all of this into account, he seems to be quite the alien being

Akira: Well done.

Ryuji: Hey, there’s nothing to be impressed about.

Drake: Well unlike you there are people who would love to hear what Yusuke has stated.

Drake: Fuckin’ dumbass

Yusuke: I hope that information was at least somewhat useful.

Makoto: Indeed it was.

Yusuke: Should I look into more?

Makoto: That’s enough, thank you.

“Well, I know who I’m going to talk to when it comes to mythology.” Drake said as he walked out with a towel around his neck. “Do you mean Inari?” Xander asked his friend as he watched him sit down on the couch. “Yep.” He smiled.

*Time skip: 7/20: Early morning*

“And here comes another hot day at school.” Jaden sighed as he waited for his friend to get in his car. “Yay and boo!” Draco said with a smile. Jaden chuckled as Xander got into the car and they drove off. As soon as they got to the school, Jaden parked his car in the student parking lot and they headed inside the school building. Once inside there they heard conversations about the Phantom Thieves versus Medjed. All three boys rolled their eyes at the comments. “I wonder who is going to win. The Phantom Thieves or Medjed.” The boys walked away not wanting to listen to more. “I hate that this is what people are talking about nowadays.” Draco hissed out. “They are people bored out of their minds there's nothing we can do about it.” The green-haired teen stated. “We just plan out our next move.” Xander said as they headed to their homerooms. “Right.” 

*Time skip: After school*

The Phantom Thieves have a meeting and Akira shows them the text messages that Alibaba sent to him. “Considerin’ he mentioned stealin’ hearts, he knows, doesn’t he?” Ryuji said. “Seems so...” Makoto. “First of all she is a young female and second of all how do we really know it’s her.” Xander stated, getting a little huffy. “Wait what?” Ann said. “That’s his old friend and he gets defensive when someone talks trash and, or doesn’t know anything about his friends, just continue.” Drake said with a small sigh. “Anyways, how were we found out?” Yusuke said with a hint of anger in his tone. “I wished I knew…” Drake said as he sighed. “Well, he may have traced our chat log…” Makoto stated. “How careless of us.” Yusuke said “It’s not really our fault. Hackers are hackers, we can’t really stop them.” Drake explained. “But how would he have known these details with just that?” Makoto asked. “Do you think that there is another cause?” Yusuke pondered. 

“Yeah. I’m not sure why, but that’s the feeling I get.” Makoto told them in a soft voice. “Hey, is it that easy to look at someone’s chat log?” Ann asked them. “Normally no. But unless they’re hackers or just really good at technology.” Draco said looking at Jaden for confirmation. Drake nodded his head at the young lizard. “I don’t know much about it myself, but...it’s probably not impossible, I think?” Makoto sighed out. “How’s it done?” Ryuji asked her. “Maybe they extracted our phones’ data?” She answered. “It’s a lot more complicated than that, so it’s a lot harder to explain than you think.” Xander told them, shaking his head. “Why’s Akira getting an error when he tries to reply?” Ann asked. “Perhaps the receiving end doesn’t exist.” Makoto stated. 

“That’s possible?” Ryuji asks in surprise. “Don’t ask me everything. I told you that I don’t know much about it.” Makoto told him. “Wait. Might this be, from what Jaden and Draco kept on telling us, is referred to as hacking?” Yusuke asked, looking at the green-haired teen and yellow bearded dragon. “Yes. Again it’s a lot harder to explain then it is to show, and I’m not much of a hacker myself. I just knew people that did this sort of thing.” Drake sighed out as he explained. 

“Then, does that mean this guy’s a hacker!?” Ryuji asked. “Yep. Like I explained, mate.” Drake said. “I don’t get high-tech stuff! What does this all mean?” Morgana shouted. “An unknown hacker contacted us!” Ann told him. “I see. I don’t really get it.” He said. Akira shook his head a little bit after the cat said that. “Then is this person Medjed?” Yusuke asked. “I doubt it, considering he says he wants to “deal” with them.” Makoto said. “That is, only if we take his words for face value.” “True…” Yusuke agreed. “Hey...Wouldn’t it be great if we got this guy on our side?” Ryuji pondered. “That’s...not a half bad of an idea.” Drake said. “But we know nothing about his identity at all. We can’t trust him.” Makoto said, looking at the both of them. 

“I don’t think it’s a bad deal though…” Ryuji said. “I see where both of you are coming from.” Drake sighed. “But I agree with Ryuji. An enemy of my enemy is my friend as the saying goes.” The green-haired boy pointed out. “Even if Alibaba turns out to be a criminal? I am not helping anyone of that sort.” Yusuke stated. “Oh, right. That wouldn’t be good.” Ryuji sighed out. “We have no other choice though. Alibaba is our only way of beating Medjed.” Xander explained to the group. “I have to agree. It goes to say don’t judge a book by it’s cover. Right now we’re judging something based on second-hand information. Aren’t we a group that’s the opposite of that?” Jaden stated to them. Everyone nodded in agreement. “Although, the ‘I’ve prepared the necessary too’ part makes no sense either.” Morgana stated. 

“Could this be a prank?” Ann asked. “He knows an awful lot for it to be a prank.” Makoto responded. “If he knows who we are, won’t we get caught?” Ann asked. “No. If he wanted to report us, I think he would’ve done it already.” The brunette stated. “He must have some sort of objective of his own. He did offer us a deal, after all.” Yusuke said. “I’m certain he’ll contact us again.” He finished. “There’s no telling when he’ll do so, though…” Makoto said. “It’d be best if we stay together if something happens, we can act at once.” She told them. “I have to agree with that. Who knows what would happen if we don’t.” Drake sighed. “Yeah. So, somewhere we can wait and hide for long hours…” Ann stated. “How about Leblanc?” Makoto said watching everyone nod. “Alright, let’s go then.” Akira told the group as they walked off.

 *Time Skip: Evening*

The group walked into Leblanc to see Sojiro leaning on the counter holding a note looking at it. Akira looked puzzled as he walked up to him. Once he walked up to the black-haired adult he put the paper down and looked at him. “...Oh? What’s with the big group?” He asked looking at the group. “Good evening. We were thinking about putting together plans for our summer.” Ann told him. “Hm? Well, I don’t see why not. Just don’t cause too much trouble.” He said to them. “This old man’ll get going and leave you kids be. All right, the store is all yours.” He said as he walked towards the door then leaves. Once he left, they ordered food then sat down at a table. Their food arrives and they set it up at the table then just start talking. The T.V was on which was airing a news channel. 

“We have late-breaking news on Medjed, whose notoriety rose since their statement the other day.” The T.V.’s news reporter said. “Just moments ago, a new message has been released on their website. They have announced their victory over the Phantom Thieves. Medjed also warns any Japanese citizens who praised the Phantom Thieves to stop doing so. We will report any further actions by Medjed as they arrive.” He finished off. “Oh, come on! It’s in English!” Ryuji shouted as he checked his phone. Drake just chuckled as he shook his head. “Let me see. ‘The Phantom Thieves remain silent at our questions. This proves that we are just.’” Ann read out loud. “‘People of Japan, wake up. You must not worship the Phantom Thieves.’” She continued. 

“What!? That’s bullshit!” Ryuji shouted. “Keep listening.” Yusuke told him. “‘We will discipline any who worship them. The punishment is the confiscation of possessions. We are Medjed. We are unseen. We will eliminate evil.’” She finished. “That’s what it says.” She told them. “What does that all mean!?” Ryuji yelled. “They’re saying that they’ll target sympathizers of the Phantom Thieves.” Makoto stated. “For someone that wants to get rid of evil they sure are punishing that they will hurt people that don’t follow them. Sounds just like a cult.” Drake signed out. “Confiscation of possessions, hm?” Yusuke said. “Perhaps bank accounts or personal information...Either way, it won’t be anything pleasant.” Makoto stated. “Why the hell are we being singled out!?” Ryuji yelled out. “Like hell, I would know.” The green-haired teen huffed.  

“Perhaps all they care about is labeling the Phantom Thieves as crooks.” Makoto stated. “That all this wouldn’t have happened had the Phantom Thieves not existed.” She continued. “That’s complete bullshit.” Ryuji stated. “Talk about a troublesome organization that we’ve been targeted by…” Morgana stated. “Isn’t there anything we can do?” Ann questioned. “I don’t really think so.” Xander sighed out. “It’s certain we can’t do anything about this on our own…” Yusuke said with a saddened expression. “Hey, so what’s this letter about? We don’t need any more trouble.” Ryuji said to Akira. “It’s rare for you to get something like this.” Morgana said. Akira picked up the letter then took out the card. He then observed the envelope. 

Nothing seemed strange about it.  “What could it be?” Xander pondered. Akira put down the red paper. “A calling card?” Morgana asked in confusion. “Anything else in there!? Who’s this from anyway?” Ann said. “No, there wasn’t anything else in the envelope and I don’t really know.” Akira sighed out. “There’s no stamp on it. Someone must’ve directly dropped it into the mailbox…” Makoto said. “Could have been Alibaba?” Yusuke asked. “That reminds me, he did mention something about preparing the ‘necessary tool’...” Morgana stated. “Don’t tell me..Is this what he was talking about!?” The blue-eyed feline asked. “What the hell’s goin’ on here?” Ryuji said. “All we can do at the moment is wait for Alibaba’s orders.” Makoto said. “Let’s brace ourselves and stand by...in case anything comes up.” 

“I’m going to repeat this: an enemy of my enemy is my friend. So I guess we’re allying it up with them.” Drake stated. “Oh dear…” Ann sighed out. 

*Time Skip: At Jaden and Xander’s apartment*

“Man, I don’t really like this Alibaba person...Oh, no offense mate.” Drake started as he looked at Xander with a sheepish look. “None taken.” Xander sighed. “Kay, anyways. I wonder if they're just using us to get some recognition.” The short teen sighed out once he plopped himself on the couch. He thought for a bit while sighing again. “Man, this reminds me when we first formed the Hidden Ones. Heh, man, we didn’t understand who to trust and when to trust them.” Drake sighed. “Man, I miss those days.” He sighed again. 

He closed his eyes as he started to remember the days with the Hidden Ones. To him, it seemed like a lifetime ago. He sighed again. Draco looked at him with a knowing expression. “We can’t change the past. All we can do is look towards the future as you always tell us; The past is in the past and the future is in the future.” He told his human friend who chuckled at him. “Yeah, you’re right, I always do say that.” He agreed. “Just think of the friends we have today.” The dragon smiled. Speaking of other friends I wonder what Akira is doing. Drake blushed as he thought of the Phantom Thief leader. “The sight of love. Rather funny to see in your eyes.” Xander chuckled as he sat right next to his friend. 

“S-shut up, and what do you mean by that?” Drake asks him while his face was turning red. “My eagle sense is getting stronger and every time it is always to see your vivid feelings towards Akira.” Xander smirked as he watched his friend become even redder. “W-what?! Dude?! N-no, I don’t...” Drake stammered trying to think of a way out. “You are digging your own hole of embarrassment.” He continued to smirk at him. “Fuck! I can’t help that he’s just too freakin’ cute. Or the fact that everything about him is just so hot. Or how kind he is...He’s just...great…*sighs* I’m helpless aren’t I?” Drake asks as he flops a bit on the couch. 

“Yes, yes you are.” Xander told him. The shorter teen huffed a bit. “*sighs* What makes it worse is the fact I don’t know if he feels the same way.” He said as he bites his lip a bit. “You will just have to wait for the right moment.” The tan male told him. “Yeah, you're right. Anyways, we better get started on our home, god knows we have to before summer break.” Drake explained as he stretched. “Shall we begin?” Xander asked as he grabbed their bags. Jaden chuckles as he grabs his and gets his homework out while Xander does the same thing. 

*Time Skip: 7/21 Early Morning*

They were in Jaden-Drake’s car on the way to school at a stoplight. “Man, I hope today’s not going to suck.” Draco sighed as the two teens were looking out of the window. “Same here. I just hope nothing bad happens. Let’s face it we already have enough stuff to worry about.” Drake stated with a sigh that showed how tired he really was. “I also wonder if everyone’s alright. Learning we have to listen to Alibaba must be hard on some of them.” He huffs out. “We are basically pawns to her right now.” Xander explains to the two of them. 

“*Sighs* I feel bad for you the most mate. You two must have become good friends.” Drake said as he started the car again since the light turned green. Xander looked at his friend then sighed. “Heh, it will be fun when she realizes that it is me that she messed with.” Xander chuckled. Drake smiled and shook his head. “That’s going to be fun when we see her face to face as she realizes who you are...Did you ever give her your real name, mate?” He asked, looking at Xander. “No, my username was either ScarcenXD or Scarenknight.” He explained. Drake nodded as they made their way to the school.

*Time skip: Morning*

Akira, Ann, and Jaden-Drake were all in their class doing what they would normally do. Ann, listening to the teacher, Akira, somewhat listening to the teacher, and Drake, taking a quick nap. Everything was quiet till Akira's phone buzzed. Upon hearing this Morgana popped his head out of his desk. “Hey, your phone’s buzzing!” He told Akira. Akira checked his phone. “*sigh* It’s just Ryuji.” The cat said. The bearded dragon ignored the whole thing as he made sure Drake was still asleep since he stayed up too late the night before. Akira read the text messages to himself and shook his head a bit. He put his phone away and went back to doing what he was doing. While Draco tried walking Drake up to no avail.

*Time skip: Afternoon*  

They were back in class listening to the homeroom teacher. Thankfully Drake was fully awake and listening to Ms. Kawakami. Akira’s phone buzzed for what seemed like the fifth time that day. Drake shook his head while Morgana sighed. “Ryuji again? He just never shuts up, does he?” He huffed out. “Sounds like someone I know.” Draco mumbled as he curled further into Jaden’s desk. Said teen shook his head as he watched Akira check his phone. This time Akira kinda seemed a bit surprised by what Jaden could see. “So, it was really from this guy…” The feline said. 

Drake quickly understood what was going on and shook his head. I’ll learn about this later from Akira. He sighed to himself as he went back to listening to the teacher. “Tell him. We need the name of the target.” He heard the feline say but choose to ignore this time. He started nodding off to sleep until he heard Morgana speak again. “So he threatened you, then just took off!?” What the hell? He thought to himself. “And Sakura..? I feel like I’ve heard that name before…In any case, we should let everyone know about this.” The blue-eyed feline stated. 

Drake nudged Akira a bit. Akira turned his head a bit and saw the green-haired teen looking at him with a confused and worried expression. “You okay, mate?” He asked the fluffy, black-haired teen. Akira looked at Jaden and nodded. “Yeah, I’m good. Just, Alibaba texted me again. See.” Akira said as he showed Drake without the teacher noticing. “Huh, geez. We better watch out then and find out whoever this kid is.” The young teen sighed as he leaned back into his seat preparing to fall asleep. “And whoever this person is, that needs a change of heart, I hope they're ready for that.” He yawns as he falls right to sleep. 

Akira watches the other male for while he is falling asleep. He chuckles at his friend’s continues to keep falling asleep in class. He’s adorable when he falls asleep in class. I wish I could help him fall asleep better at night. The black-haired boy said as he smiled at the thought. I wonder how he would look in my arms. He smirked to himself. He continues to watch him for a few more minutes before going back to what the teacher was talking about.

*Time skip: After school*

“We’re gonna get reported if we don’t do this? What the hell…” Ryuji said after being shown the text messages from Akira’s phone. “‘Futaba Sakura’?” Ann questioned. “Wasn’t Sakura…” Makoto started. “It’s Boss’s last name!” Ann finished it for her. “Does he have any family?” Yusuke asked. “Boss has a kid...that really doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.” Drake said with a heavy sigh.  “Does he?” Morgana questions. “I don’t really know.” Akira said as he put his hand on his chin. 

“For reals!? How laid-back are you!?” Ryuji snapped at him. “Hey, it’s not his fault for not asking Boss in the beginning if he had any family. I mean it is kinda rude to ask that.” Jaden stated, glaring at Ryuji. “Wouldn’t you normally be introduced at least? I mean, you ARE living at his place.” Ryuji said. “Well, his situation does make things difficult…” Yusuke said. “True, why would someone trust a kid who has a criminal record, it is only us that know that the charge is fake.” Xander stated as he looked towards each member of the group. 

The teen green-haired right next time to him nodded. “If I was a parent in his situation, I wouldn’t want them near my kid. Ah, no offense Akira-kun.” Drake said, looking at Akira with a blush of embarrassment in his face. “None taken.” He said as he chuckled a bit. “Anyways, the calling card was delivered to Boss’s house; it’d be more natural to assume this is all related.” Makoto stated. “One of the reasons for that is because Alibaba mentioned nothing about “which” Futaba Sakura. Perhaps he thinks that the name alone is enough.” She said to them. 

“That makes sense.” Morgana said. “I believe it’s adequate for us to think that this is the doing of someone close by.” Makoto said, looking at the group. “I see.” Ann said looking at her. 

“I don't know how Alibaba got a hold of Akira-kun’s smartphone information. However, since he’s ordering us through chat, I do feel as though he’s taunting us.” Makoto explained with a sad expression on her face. “You mean, this might just be a prank?” Ryuji asked, looking at her. “I mean, look at his demands.” She pointed out. “Pay me if you don’t want me to leak who you really are-that I’d understand. But he’s telling us to steal someone’s heart without explaining why.” She explained to them. “So we’re being tested?” Yusuke asked. “I don’t really believe that we are.” Drake said. “Regardless, I think we should ask Boss about Futaba Sakura once.” She said. 

“That’s probably for the best. There’s nothing else we can do at the moment, and Chief might have an idea on what this is about too.” Morgana said. “I’ll check the school’s roster just in case.” Makoto said. “He will probably be mad at us if we were to ask about his family member.” Xander explains to them. “We don’t have a choice in the matter, mate.” The green-hair teen explained. “With that aside, we must make sure Boss doesn’t figure out who we are. We’ll have to go about this cautiously.” Yusuke said, looking towards his friends. Everyone nodded. 

“Well, I guess we’ll see you later. Also, good luck Akira-kun. I bet you’re going to need it.” Drake said as he patted Akira. “Also, boop.” he said as he boops Akira on the nose then left with Xander shaking his head following behind him. Everyone just chuckled or shook their heads as they left. Aside from Akira who stood there blushing a bit. Holy shit that’s adorable. I want him so badly. He thinks as he grabs his bag and walks away. 

“Don’t even think about it Jaden.” Xander said as he jokingly glared at his short friend. Drake just chuckled. “What’s the point when I know you're going to dodge it.” He told him. Draco just shook his head at the two human’s banter. “You two are strange people, but I love you two for that.” The bearded dragon smiled. 

“And you are a strange pet, but we love you for that.” Xander said with a smile as well. Draco looked at him and stuck his fork tongue out. Drake shook his head at the two of them. “You two are ridiculous. But will be my good friends no matter what.”  He states as the trio walk into the school parking lot and get into Drake’s Impala and drive away to their shared apartment. 

*Time skip: Evening*

The two teens were doing their homework when they got a text on their phone.

[Phone convo]

Ann: Oh, I just remembered!

Ann: Akira, were you able to ask Boss about Futaba Sakura?

Akira: I tried…

Yusuke: So, no results. Could there be a reason as to why that was?

Makoto: Hm. Alibaba might be our only hope of defeating Medjed.

Makoto: I wish we could get some info about Futaba out of Boss.

Ann: But trying to force it out would probably have the opposite effect.

Yusuke: To be honest, I owe a great deal to both Boss and Akira.

Yusuke: I don’t wish for this to be a source of discord between them. 

Drake: I owe Boss for allowing me to work for him and Akira whenever he needs it. 

Drake: So I got no complaints with finding out the hard way. 

Ryuji: Yeah, I know just what you mean!

Xander: We have no other choice.

Makoto: It’s probably best to wait for Boss to bring the subject himself. 

Jaden-Drake yawned as he laid on the couch a bit. “This is going to be difficult for us isn’t it?” Jaden sighs. “Most likely.” Xander said.

*Time Skip: 7/22: Morning.*

“Summer vacation starts the day after tomorrow, but don’t forget…” Mr. Ushimaru started up. “There's an urgent assembly on Monday. We’ll be taking attendance. There’s been an unusual number of strange incidents this year. Don’t do anything stupid over break. Got it? Don’t someplace shady like the red-light district, and don’t go to the beach after dark.” While he was stating this all, Drake was dead asleep on his desk with his arms crossed and his head to the side laying on them. “I wanna go to the beach...I wanna jump in some cold water…Seems like we won’t be having fun on our summer break for a while…” The blue-eyed feline said. “That’s true. But all I want to do is take a nice long nap under a shady rock under the sun.” The yellow lizard said as he responded to Morgana's statement. 

*Time Skip: After school*

Drake went to hang out with his older brother, Takato, while Xander was at the school's front looking for someone. He didn’t notice a certain red-haired girl with a ponytail behind him. “Audiotori-Senpai!!” She yells as she jumps a bit. Xander jumps a bit out of surprise then turns around to meet her. In his left eye was fading from its blue glow. “Ohh...what a pleasant surprise Kasumi-san.” He states looking at the redhead. 

“Hi, Audiotori-Senpai.” She said with a sweet smile on her face. “I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with me today?” She looked at him. “Sure my schedule is open for today.” Xander said with a smile. “Awesome, let’s go.” She said as she walked away with Xander following her. They both walked to the subway and had a nice chat about their school work with Xander cracking a few puns like he usually does with Kasumi laughing from them. Xander smiles as he watches her laugh at his puns. He appeared to have been more relaxed at the moment. 

This whole exchange was making him more relaxed from everything that was happening recently. He smiled a genuine smile. They made it to their stop and got off and continued walking towards the beach. The beach was thankfully not as crowded as it usually was. “Come on, let’s go Audiotori-Senpai.” Kasumi said with a smile as she walked towards the sand with a skip of joy. 

Xander chuckled as he followed her. “Alright, wait up.” He said as he walked behind her. They continued until they got to the sand. “Do you just want to sit and talk some more or have our swimsuits on and have fun in the water?” She asked, looking at him. “Well, the choice is up to you.” He told her. “Well then, let’s just sit and talk more.” She walked towards one of the tables then sat down. 

Xander followed her and sat across from her. “So how long have you known  Etheren-Senpai?” The red-haired girl asked, looking at him. He looked at her and smiled. “We actually go a bit, I think it’s been two or three years now. We didn’t know each other at first but when our other friends knew that both of us liked similar games, they decided to introduce us to each other.” He explained to her. 

“Wow, that’s so cool. You guys seemed like really good friends so I just wanted to know a little bit more about your guy's relationship. Also, how long are you guys going to be here in Japan for? Also, why did you guys transfer to Shujin?” Kasumi asked, looking at him with a smile. 

“Well...For the first question: might be for a year or three. And to the second it’s a bit complicated.” Xander said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh, it’s all right you don’t have to explain to me right now if you don’t want to. It’s kind of the same situation for me as well.” She said with a little sad expression. “Which...I guess you kind of know a bit of it.” Xander looked at her and sighed. “Hey come on now.” He smiled as he put a hand on her cheek. “Smile my dear, you are never fully dressed without one.” He closed his eyes and smiled some more. 

It took him a few moments to realize what he was doing when he opened his eyes to see a little blush on Kasumi. He chuckles awkwardly as he takes his hand away from her cheek with a barely noticeable blush on his face. “Whoops, my apologies.” They look away from each other for a little bit. “I-it’s alright. I-I don’t really mind.” She said while she was still blushing. 

They sat there in an awkward silence not knowing what to say after that. Why did I do that, I was blinded by her cuteness. Why?! Why?! I am such a fool. He thinks as he starts blushing a little bit more. Why did he do that? Was there something on my face? Oh god, why did he have to look good when he did that. She thought as her blush became darker. Before any of them could speak or make the situation even more awkward Xander gets a text on his phone. 

Drake: Hey, I’m heading back home from Taka’s place. Do you want me to pick you up from wherever you’re at or do you want to take the train?

Xander breathed out of relief as he picked up his phone. “Uh Kasumi, I need to check something real quick.” He states as he looks through his text messages. “Oh, it’s fine.” She breathed out as will. 

[Phone convo]

 Drake:  Hey, I’m heading back home from Taka’s place. Do you want me to pick you up from wherever you’re at or do you want to take the train?

Xander: Go on ahead and pick me up.

Drake: Kay, where are you so I can come get you?

Xander: By the beach.

Drake: Kay I’ll be there in a few.

Xander: Kay.

He puts his phone away and looks at the redhead. “Sorry, but I have to go right now. Jaden-Drake needs help with something.” Xander said as he gets up and grabs his bag. “Oh, okay. I need to get to my practice anyways. So, I’ll see you later.” She states as she does the same thing. What a relief, probably won’t tell Jaden-Drake what happened. He thought with a sigh. 

“See you later Kasumi.” He said as he began walking to the parking lot to wait for his friend. His face was still red from embarrassment. Calm down already, just concentrate. He activated his eagle sense trying to find the green-haired male’s car. Meanwhile, Jaden-Drake had just parked and threw his head back with a grunt. “Shit, Taka worries too much.” He sighs out. Drake looks around trying to look for Xander. He sighed to himself again. He sometimes hates waiting by himself for his own personal reasons. 

He grabbed his phone to text Xander he was there when there was a tap on his driver window. He looked to his left to see a strange-looking man looking in. Drake already knows where this is going to go. He ignores this man and texts Xander.

Drake: Hey, I’m here.

Drake: Find me fast. There is a strange man at my door and you know how I can get.

He puts his phone down and rolls the window down so he can speak to him. “Yes. Can I help you, sir?” The confused but straight face teen asked the man who was over his window. The guy smirks at the short teen. “Well, hello there little lady.~ Why yes, you can help me.~” The guy said as he leans down so he can get more of a good look at Drake. 

The green-haired teen can smell the smell of beer on him. Great, this is a drunk dude. Just great. He thought to himself as he sighed and looked at the older male. “Okay first. I am a guy. Second what type of help do you need?” He asks as he grabs his metal knife just in case. “Well, you don’t look like a guy. You look like a very pretty girl. A girl that needs something to fill her.” He smirks and it clicks in Jaden’s head what he wanted. 

The young teen cringed as he looked at him. “Mate, I am male. Dick and all. Also, I’m 16. You can’t just go and when someone asks you for help to tell them that they need to have something fill them. Also, you're drunk so I’ll be calling the police.” The short teen said as he began to grab his phone to text Xander to hurry when the man grabbed him. “I don’t think it’s worth the time to bother the police.” He said with a smirk. 

Jaden smirked as he opened his door. The man thinks that the teen has finally agreed to do what he wants. He lets go of him so he can get out of the car but once the teen does he punches the man right in the face then kicks him. The man grabs his face and looks at the teen with surprise. “Don’t try to touch someone that can easily kill you. Well, don’t try to fuck someone at all.” The teen said as he watched the man get up and began to run. 

He smirks to himself as he sees a small dagger fly right past his head and hit the guy in his baggy pants keeping him from running. “Don’t worry it isn’t my Spear of Leonidas. This one is not lethal, it will just make him stop.” Xander said as he smirked when walking up to the car. 

Drake shrugs. “I know. Anyways, let’s get out of here.” The teen huffed as he got back into his car with Xander following to the shotgun. They backed out and drove away. “Well, to get the nasty-ass man out of my head. What were you doing at the beach anyways? I don’t remember you being a beach person. I mean, hell, I have asked you if you wanted to go but always a no, so why did you go now.” The teen asked his friend while he looked for an album to listen to on his phone but kept his eyes on the road. 

Xander did not look at his friend, instead he blushed and looked out the window without the other noticing. “Well...The sounds of the ocean is something I always find soothing.” Xander lied to his friend without really thinking. The green-haired teen sighed when he heard that. “I get it but you don’t have to lie about something but if you're uncomfortable with telling me then you don’t have to tell me.” Drake stated with a huff and left it at that.

*Time skip: Evening*

They made it home and went to their rooms without saying another word to each other. Drake sighed as he dropped his keys on his bedside table then went to his desk to start on his new animation project when his phone buzzed. He opened up and saw it was from the group.

[Phone convo]

Ryuji: Yo, how’d it go?

Ryuji: You find out anything about Futaba Sakura?

Ann: I’ve been wondering about that too!

Akira: Tell you tomorrow.

Ryuji: Woah-ho.

Yusuke: So you did learn something. Fine work.

Ann: I knew we could count on you

Makoto: Akira-kun, thank you

Drake: That’s great mate.

Drake sighed as he sent that text. He really dislikes the idea of going into someone's personal life without their permission since it wasn’t any of his business. He goes back into his project without another thought. He was about to call it quits for the night so he could get some sleep and do something else when he got another text. 

He checked if it was a scam when he saw it was from Akira. The green-haired teen blushed and almost fell out of his seat. What!? Why is Akira texting me!? What time is it?! He thought as he checked the time. His phone showed it was 8:15. He looked relieved but still confused. 

[Phone Convo]

Akira: Hey, Little Dragon, how are you feeling?

Drake: Little dragon?

Akira: Well…

Akira: It’s my...It’s my new nickname for you. 

Akira: Do you not like it?

Drake: No no. I love it, it’s just that this is my first time having a nickname that wasn’t from my family or a shorter version of my name.

Akira: Haha. Okay, okay.

Drake: Anyways, to answer your question, I’m feeling fine thanks for asking.

Akira: It’s alright. I just want to make sure you are feeling your best.

Drake: Aw, that’s sweet, mate.

Akira: Yeah, I know. Anyways, I have a question to ask you.

Akira: Would you...Would you like to have a sleepover at my place? Or would mind if I stay at your shared apartment?

Drake: Um, sure. I wouldn’t mind at all. I don’t really mind where it is as long as Boss knows I guess.

Akira: Great. I’ll have to talk to you in person about the time and place.

Drake: Alright. 

Drake sighed happily to himself with a small blush on his face. Akira had just asked him to sleep over at his or the shared apartment. He sat there rolling on his bed a little bit with joy. He doesn’t remember being this happy before, besides getting to see old family he loved or getting presents as a kid from anything. Drake and Akira texted until 10:30 where Akira convinced him to go to bed. 

Drake smiled and chuckled at his friend’s concern with his sleeping habit. He smiled at the thought of being next to him when sleeping. I would love to be in his arms cuddling up to him and feeling his warm body against mine. He thought to himself as he began to fall asleep.

*Time Skip: 7/23: After School*

Everyone was at the hangout to talk about what Akira knew. “A woman was threatening Boss?” Makoto asked. “Yeah, she was going on about domestic abuse and taking the case to court and stuff…” Morgana explained to everyone. “I don’t know how it is in Japan, but when you want to do that you need a lot of legal evidence, not just the basic information. So, in other words she can’t do that without evidence.” Jaden explained to them. “That is true, you can’t take a case far without solid evidence.” Xander agreed with his friend. “....” Makoto sighed to herself as the three of them made their statements. 

“What’s up?” Ryuji asked Makoto. “It’s nothing.” Makoto said as she looked at the male blond. “So to summarize what you told us, Futaba is Boss’s daughter, and he’s abusing her?” She asked looking at the feline and the fluffy black-haired boy. “I don’t know him very well… Is he really the kind of person who would do that?” He looked at her and sighed. “There’s no way.” Akira said. The brown-haired girl nodded. “I would like to believe so as well, but we don’t have any conclusive evidence, do we?” After she said that Akira’s phone pinged. “Is it Alibaba!?” Morgana asked the messy-haired boy. Everyone gathered to watch the text message. 

[Phone convo]

Alibaba: I’ve given you a calling card and told you the target’s name. You should be ready for this.

Alibaba: Why aren’t you doing it?

Alibaba: I told you I’d help you if you stole her heart. What seems to be the hold up?

Alibaba: I also said I’d report your identity to the police if you didn’t help me.

Alibaba: Are you OK with that? I’m serious here.

Yusuke shook his head with a sour expression. “What a selfish person.” He stated. “Well, he does have information on us…” Makoto said. “Anyways, this Futaba he’s talking about have a Palace? If so, we’ll need keywords to get it. Try messaging him about ‘em.” Ryuji told Akira. 

Akira: Tell me her keywords.

Alibaba: Keywords?

Alibaba: What are you talking about? 

Alibaba: Are you just saying random stuff to dodge the issue?

“What’re we supposed to do about this?” Ann asked with a worried expression. “We'd be able to figure out Alibaba’s identity if we could just meet with him… Try asking him if there's any way we could meet up.” Morgana said to him.

Akira: Let’s meet somewhere.

Alibaba: Meet? With me?

Alibaba: That will be difficult.

Alibaba: I have reasons for not being able to go out.

Alibaba: That’s why I’m contacting you like this.

“He can’t go out?” Morgana asked

Alibaba: Wait I get it.

Alibaba: You steal people’s hearts directly… That might make things difficult.

Alibaba: Extremely difficult.

Alibaba: One moment.

Alibaba: I’m thinking…

Alibaba: Ok. It’s a shame, but I’m calling this deal off. Stop looking into Futaba Sakura.

Alibaba: Forget this ever happened. I won’t report you to the police either, don’t worry.

Alibaba: Sorry for taking your time. Now if you’ll excuse me...

Akira: Wait a second.

Alibaba: I said the deal’s off!

Alibaba: We’re never going to speak again. Don’t expect me to contact you anymore either.

I can’t find an account to send a response to. All I get back is an error message...Akira thought while they still looked at his phone. “Huh…? Did he just shut the whole operation down?” Ann asked shocked after what she just read. “This doesn’t make any sense… Not only can Alibaba not go out, but he won’t let us meet Futaba either?” Morgana said. “Well, it’s none of our business now. We can’t contact him anymore.” Ryuji stated. 

“But...what do we do about Medjed? We won’t be able to get Alibaba to help us with them now.” Ann said. “I don’t know. It seems that we’re on our own for now.” Drake sighed as he shook his head. “Seems like it.” Xander stated with a sigh. “Maybe they were just prankin’ us.” Ryuji shrugged. “They made that huge declaration, but they ain’t done nothing since. I bet we got ‘em freaked out.” The blond stated. 

“You mean they backed out because they’re afraid we’ll change their hearts?” Morgana asked. “Yup. And now it’d just make ‘em look lame if they came out and apologized.” The blond male stated with a smile. Drake shook his head and sighed. “But-” Makoto tried to explain but was cut off by the blond. “I guess with Alibaba and Medjed outta the picture, can we just say this case is closed.” He smiled out. 

“...You do have a point. I guess it is safe for us to relax a little” The Makoto sighed out. The short male shook his head “I don’t think so. I get the feeling that’s not it. I believe there’s more than meets the eye here.” Drake explained to the group. They all looked at him. Ryuji shook his head. 

“Oh yeah, remember Kaneshiro’s Treasure? Prepare to have your minds blown! We got one hundred and fifty thousand yen out of it.” He shouted out. “Holy shite.” Drake said. “That’s awesome! We can really go all out with that kinda money!” Ann said happily. “Yeah! Let’s make up for what happened at the fireworks festival!” The blond smiled. 

“We gotta go eat something fittin’ for the Phantom Thieves’ worldwide debut!” He declared. “Where would be good?” Ann asked hungrily. “Ooh, how ‘bout sushi? I could really go for some eel too!” Ryuji suggested. The green-haired teen’s stomach growled out. Signaling that he was hungry. “Heh, I guess that works with me. I'm kinda starting to get hungry with all this talk about food.” He stated while rubbing his stomach. 

“The best method is to fill yourself on ginger before beginning to eat sushi. That is my master technique.” Yusuke said. Everyone looked at the blue haired teen. “You don’t need to do that this time. Actually, definitely don’t do it, okay?” Makoto told him. Drake shook his head. “Yusuke please don’t do that cause ginger is used for cooking different dishes and you’ll get sick if you eat too much of it. Hell, that's what happened to my family on Christmas.” He explained. “Yeah… probably best not to do that Yusuke.” Xander told the taller male while he looked at him. “I’m all for sushi! You’re okay with that too, right?” The feline smiled. Akira just chuckled and nodded. “Sushi’s fine.” He said. “Then it’s decided.” Morgana meowed out. “All right! We’ll go tomorrow night!” Ryuji said. Everyone nodded in agreement. 

*Time Skip: Evening*

Jaden and Xander were in the living room watching a random movie when they got a text on their phone.

[Phone convo]

Makoto: I wonder if that Medjed business was just a prank.

Makoto: Now that I think about it calmly, it’s strange that they haven’t actually done anything yet.

Makoto: If their goal is to target the Phantom Thieves, they should want to be acting now, given our fame.

Ann: Huh. When you put it that way, it kinda makes me wonder too.

Ann: Especially after they taunted us theatrically like that.

Yusuke: Yes, however, it would be best for us to come up with a countermeasure regardless.

Yusuke: For now though, we should cautiously enjoy the sushi. That is all we can do. 

Akira: Yeah.

Drake: I have to agree but, still…

Ryuji: But that’s no fun…

Makoto: Hm, Yusuke is right.

Makoto: I’m sorry for bringing this up. On the day before our celebration party too…

Ann: Cheer up, Makoto! We’ll be eating sushi like kings tomorrow!

Yusuke: I hope one person in particular is on their best behavior. I’ll refrain from saying who though.

Drake: I second that.

Xander: I third that.

Ryuji:...You better not be talking about me!

Jaden just started laughing after the text message was sent. “Damn, That’s too funny.” He said as he shook his head. “Well...who else would it be?” Xander mutters to himself causing Jaden to laugh even more. “HAHA, damn it dude why do you have to do tha-HAHAH!” The green-haired teen stated as he continued to laugh while trying to calm himself down. “Because I can.” Xander said with a smirk on his face while he watched his friend calm down from laughing. “Damn, it’s very rare to get me laughing like that, fuck.” Drake sighed. His friend shook his head at that statement. “I have done it several times.” Xander said while he looked down at the green-haired teen who was sitting on the floor by now.

*Time skip: 7/24: Daytime*

The next day, two people were standing around talking in what looked like a common area for a police building. One was a female wearing a black business suit and the other was a young male that was wearing his school's summer uniform with a striped tie. 

“You seem quite busy, Sae-san. I take it you’re stuck in the middle of everything?” The young man said. “The Phantom Thieves made a mockery of us when they brought down Kaneshiro… And to make matters worse, Medjed, who has been dormant for some time now, just declared war on them. How much more can they screw us over?” The woman, Sae, stated to the young man. “Stress is bad for the skin, you know.” The young man said to Sae with a smile. 

“Did you come all this way simply to be sarcastic?” The Sae young woman stated. “How about you listen to my deductions for a change of pace? You may think it absurd… But don’t you think the case you’re pursuing and the actions of Phantom Thieves overlap somehow?” The young man asked with a calm voice. “What are you basing this off of?” Sae asked, looking at him. “The one point of commonality across all cases is how those involved have an unforeseen change of heart.” He explained to her. 

“I’ve suspected that myself, but those suspicions are unfounded.” She told him. “I told you at the beginning that this was only a deduction. These ‘just’ Phantom Thieves are riling up the public. However, that is a disguise. Their true goal is terrorist action by way of psychotic breakdowns… Is that too much?” He asked her. “There’s nothing at the moment that falsifies that claim. Have you mentioned this to the police?” Sae asked him. “I’d never tell them such things. The only value I have to me is in their mobility and organizational capabilities.” The young man explained. The young woman turned and fully looked at him. 

“Hm, it seems having you lend me a hand has paid off.” She said to him. “I’m glad to hear that. What about your case, Sae-san? Did you learn anything from the guardian of that mental shutdown victim’s daughter?” He asked her. “Nothing at all.” She sighed out. “I see. Now, what should my next action be for our victory?” He said. “Handle the Phantom Thieves. Without remorse. Use any means necessary to win. That’s how I would deal with them.” Sae told him. 

“*Chuckle* Very well.” The light brunette said with a smile. “This seems to be fun for you. Are you on to something?” Sae asked him. He shook his head. “No, not all. Well then, to our victory.” He told her. The young light brunette male waked away leaving the young woman to herself. 

“*Groans*” Drake makes a noise as he is on the phone. Draco jumped in confusion. “Is Drake okay or...?” He asked Xander, who was sitting on the couch waiting for him. “Isn’t this him on a day to day basis?” Xander asked looking at the bearded dragon. “Well…” “Taka-kun, it’s fine. I’m just going to be with friends eating sushi.” Jaden-Drake told his older brother. 

“Well, I just want to know where you're going for the fact of Medjed. I’m worried since you're a part of the Phantom thieves, I just want to know that you're safe. Look, I know you're 16 and you’ve been here before, just be saAAAAfe- CHUNTA!!!” Takato yells through the phone. The three of them tried holding back laughter as they heard the black-haired male yell. “Make sure you're safe, kid. I don’t want Takato-sama to worry about you too much. You know how he can get it.” Junta said as he held Takato. 

“Hey. Don’t talk to my brother like that when I’m on the phone with him.” Takato yells a bit. “Huh, what are you talking about? What did I do wrong?” His lover asks. Drake chuckles at the two’s banter. “Okay, okay. I love you two bakas.” He chuckles as he hangs up on them. He sighed once he did so. “Man...Every day is getting harder and harder for him to worry less and less about me man.” He said as he shook his head. 

“Is he always like this?” Draco asked the green-haired human. “Most likely.” Xander answered for him. “Well, with that out of the way. Let’s go get sushi!” The short male shouted. The others chuckled and shook their heads. They all walked out of the apartment and to the parking lot to get in Jaden’s car. 

*Time skip: Evening*

The Phantom Thieves were at the sushi bar eating their favorite dishes. “Man, the flounder is outta this world! That texture…” Ryuji drooled as he spoke. “I-I don’t see any prices listed here…” Yusuke said all worriedly. “It’s called market price. Don’t worry ‘bout it; we got the cash!” The blond male told the blue-haired male with his mouth full. Drake chuckled. 

“Man, I have never been to this type of place unless it was a buffet. It’s more cooler than I thought. Any thoughts, mate?” Drake asked his friend next to him. “This restaurant is nice.” Xander said as he ate. “Sooo gooooood…” Ann drooled while she ate. “Hey, is the fatty tuna ready yet?” Morgana said, wanting some fish. 

“Hold your horses. And don’t talk!” Ryuji told him. “Hey, he and I want our food.” Draco hissed at him. “We get it but you're not supposed to talk to you, butt.” Drake told the dragon off. “By the way, Akira-Kun... Is Boss really the kind of person who would abuse someone?” Makoto asked, looking at the black-hair male. 

“That again?” Ryuji puffed out. “I can’t get it off my mind. Especially if it means he could be taken to court…” The young brunette explained. “I understand and get what you're going on about but it’s something we can not help. Boss isn’t someone that seems like he would abuse someone.” Drake explained to her. “It’s very hard to be a bystander in a situation like this.” He sighed out as he continued to eat. “What kind of person is he? Do you truly believe he’d do such a thing?” She asked Akira. 

“No chance.” Akira shook his head. “He doesn’t seem like the type.” Drake nodded in agreement. “I have to agree with Akira with that. Even though I worked with him for almost about a month I don’t sense that he is a bad person.” The green-haired teen explained. “If it’s really true about the abuse, he’d be a no-good jerk pretendin’ to be a guardian.” Ryuji told them. 

“Maybe the chief is the one who needs a change of heart…” Morgana meowed out. “Ooo, I agree with that.” Draco hissed out to the feline. “Wait, it might be too early to jump to conclusions about Boss’s behavior.” Xander said, putting his hand up, stopping the group a bit. “*sighs* We are.” Drake nodded. “Hold on a sec! About that… I actually got curious after our conversation… and checked his name in the Nav.” Ann explained. “Sounds to me like there wasn’t a hit.” Makoto said. “Right. Anything beyond this is his family’s problem. We probably shouldn’t get any more involved.” Ann explained. Drake nodded. “That’s basically what I’ve been saying this whole time.” He said as he put salmon sushi in his mouth. “Wait… You think Alibaba could be Boss’s ex-wife!?” Ryuji stated. 

Everyone looked at him with questioning looks. “He musta cheated on her, and that’s where Futaba came from.” Ryuji explained his reasoning. “Doubtful.” Ann said. The green-haired teen slowly looked at him. “This is one of the reasons why I question a lot of men’s brains sometimes.” Jaden states while shaking his head. “Your imagination has run rampant.” Makoto states with closed eyes. “How foolish.” Yusuke says agreeing with the two of them. 

Akira nodded in agreement while Ryuji looked away. After that, they all went back to eating their food. “Still, this is delicious. I’ve never experienced anything quite like it before.” Yusuke said with a small smile. “Hmm, I’m going to agree with you, mate.” Drake said. “Man, and it’s all thanks to us bein’ the Phantom Thieves-” Ryuji was about to finish when he cut himself once he saw everyone looking up. 

Drake tried to hold back his laughter. “Crap.” Ryuji said. “U-ummm… Ph-Phan… Fantastic! This sushi is delicious!” Makoto said, trying to make a quick save. “Y-yeah! The fish is so fresh!” Ann said, making a quick statement to save her. “Hmph. Everywhere we go, we hear about these Phantom Thieves.” An arrogant sounding woman said, looking at the man right next to her. “What rubbish.” The haughty man that was sitting next to the arrogant woman said. 

“Think about where we are, Ryuji.” The light blond female scolds at the yellowish blond male. “Sorry, it just kinda slipped…” Ryuji told her. “Think before you speak, boi.” The short, green-haired teen explained. Xander looks towards his friend. Drake looked back. “What?...It’s true.” He defended himself. Xander keeps on staring at him. He hints for the fact that Jaden also does the same thing. “Oh, wait hey!” “My apologies for bringing up Boss again. We should just enjoy the food.” Makoto said. Everyone went back to eating their food.

The group finished up their meal and went out of the sushi place. “Xander and I will meet you guys at Leblanc, seeing that I don’t want to leave my car anywhere.” Drake told them. “Unless you want to go with them, mate, then I don’t mind.” He said looking at Xander. “I will tag along with you.” Xander told his shorter friend as he shrugged. Drake nodded with a statement. Akira looked at Jaden and smiled. “Alright, we’ll see you at Leblanc text me when you get there. So we know that you guys are safe.” Akira said to them. I really don’t want anything bad to happen to you. He thought to himself. 

Drake chuckled and walked over to pat his head. “We’ll be fine. It’s not like in America where a lot of people were shitty drivers...Well, I can’t really say that.” He mumbled to himself as he patted his taller friend's head. Akira blushed as he watched Jaden pat his head with a bright smile on his face. Akira chuckled as he watched Jaden mutter to himself. 

He grabbed Drake’s hand so he could stop patting his head. Drake stopped talking to himself when he felt a hand on his hand. He looked up and saw Akira holding his hand and blushed. Akira still held his hand as he put their hands down to their sides. They stayed like that for a few more moments. “Um, dudes?” Ryuji said after a few more seconds of the two of them holding hands. 

Both teens realized what was happening and quickly got their hands away from each other blushing while doing so. “Um, Well...See you at Leblanc...Bye!” Jaden blushed as he ran straight to his car leaving a blushing Akira behind with a very confused group of friends. Xander smirked to himself seeing that he now has teasing material. “See you guys later.” He waved off as he grabbed Drake’s bag with Draco in it and followed the blushing Drake. 

The rest of the group were at the subway station when they heard a young male’s voice. “Niijima-san! What are you doing here?” A familiar-looking pleasant boy approached the group. “Akechi-kun…” Makoto said, turning to face Akechi. “Akechi?” Ryuji stated as he turned to look at Akechi. Ann and Akira followed after him. “You’re the ones from the TV station...Could it be that you’re friends of Niijima-san?” The young man asked them. 

Yusuke turns around to face him and the group. “Do you know this guy?” He asked the rest of the group. “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Akechi. Glad to make your acquaintance, Yusuke Kitagawa.” He told the tall, dark blue-haired male. “How do you know my name?” Yusuke asks Akechi. “Well, because I’m a psychic, of course.” The light brunette told him with a smile. “Haha, I’m only joking. In truth, I’m a rookie detective. You’re a former pupil of Madarame, right?” He explained with a small smile. 

“I have actually just recently joined the investigation team looking into the Phantom Thieves. Did you see that Medjed has declared war on them?” He asked the group. “War?” Ryuji asked. “Their website was updated just a moment ago.” He stated to them. “For real?!” The vulgar blond asked. Ryuji took out his phone to check the website. “English again…” He groaned out as he checked the website. Ann took out her phone so she could read the post. 

“Wait what!?” Ann shouted as she looked at the post. “What’s it say!?” The blond male asked her. “Hm? Why do you seem so agitated?” Akechi asked the two of them. “Oh, um…” Ann started to think of something to say. “She’s, uh… a huge fan of the Phantom Thieves. A total nutjob for ‘em.” Ryuji quickly stated saving Ann at the last moment. 

“Hm, I don't know how wise it is to be a fan of groups like them.” The light brunette male said. “What is with these comments?” Makoto asked, looking at him with a stern look. “My apologies. I didn’t mean to butt into your conversation. But I must say, this is an interesting group. Prosecutor Niijma’s sister, an ex-pupil of Madarame, and a few Shujin Academy students… It seems you’re all connected to the Phantom Thieves. Perhaps you have better intel than I do. Ah, yes. I wanted to ask you something.” He said looking at the group. The group looked at him right after he said that. 

“Regarding this whole Medjed commotion… If you were one of the Phantom Thieves, what would you do?” Akechi asked them. “Ignore them.” Akira told him with just a single answer. “That is unexpected… Only a small minority of people believe that is the best decision.” Akechi said. “Sorry to disappoint, but we’re just normal high school kids. If anything, we wanna hear what you gotta say, Mr. Detective.” Ryuji said in a condescending tone. 

“...My profiling of the Phantom Thieves has led me to believe they are a group of juveniles. They have a relative amount of free time after and a hideout to slip away to.” Akechi explained to them. “Furthermore, considering Kamoshida was their first target, it seems they began activity around April. In a way, all I’ve said about the Phantom Thieves coincides with the group you have here.” He finished off looking at the group with a strange face. “What, you gonna report us? This isn’t even the full group, the rest are waiting for us.”   Ryuji said but regrets saying the last bit as soon as he said it. “Shit.” He cursed quietly. “Ryuji.” Ann quietly scolded at him. 

“So you have other friends that are part of this group. Interesting. Also, I didn’t say I was being suspicious of you.” Akechi said. “Good to hear.” Akira told him. “Hahaha, it seems you’re not perturbed in the slightest. You really are an intriguing one. I lack your calm mannerisms… but don’t you think my deduction is an interesting one? I bet we’d make a great team if we worked together.” He chuckled out with a wink. “What!? The hell’re you sayin’!?” Ryuji snapped at him. 

“Well, this has been a valuable point of reference for me. I hope to see you all again. And I wish to meet those other friends of yours.” Akechi stated. He then walked off leaving a very confused group behind. “What was that about?” Ann asked as soon as the group turned around to look at each other. “Do you think he’s ascertained our true identities?” Yusuke asked them. “Nah, couldn’t be. Right?” The blond male said. 

“I’d like to say that it’s simply us overthinking this, but… it may be best to be cautious from now on. We shouldn’t forget that Alibaba was able to discover who we are.” Makoto explained. “True, but it’s not as though he had tangible evidence to prove that discovery. Just keep acting normally.” Yusuke said. “More importantly, things are getting serious with Medjed!” The light blond female stated. 

“Oh yeah! What’d they write!?” Ryuji asked her. “Here I’ll read it… ‘We are disappointed in the people of Japan and their belief in the Phantom Thieves’ false justice. Hence, we shall proceed with our plan to cleanse Japan. This process will commence on August 21st. As a result, the Japanese economy shall suffer devastating damages.” Ann finished reading that part of the post. “For real…?” The blond male said. “Keep going.” Makoto told her. 

“‘However, we are magnanimous. We will give the Phantom Thieves one final opportunity to repent. As proof of this repentance, we demand that they reveal their identities to be public. We will attack if these demands remain unmet. The future of Japan rests with the Phantom Thieves. We are Medjed. We are unseen. We will eliminate evil…’ That’s what it says.” Ann finished. “Sounds bad…” Ryuji said. 

“In other words, if we don’t unmask ourselves, Medjed will attack Japan… correct? It seems they are quite the attention seekers...” Yusuke stated. “What are we gonna do about this?” Ann asked. “If only we could get in contact with Alibaba.” Makoto said to her group. “Our only clues... are Boss and Futaba. Anyways, it’s too damn hot out here. Why don’t we head to Leblanc already? We can talk more over there.” Ryuji explained. They all nodded as Akira texted Xander to explain to Drake and Draco what was going on. 

Xander and Jaden-Drake were very close to Leblanc. Joking around in the car when Xander got a text. “Well, this is bad.” He stated as he looked at his phone. “What? What is bad?” The green-haired teen asked as he looked at the road. “Medjed is claiming that if the Phantom Thieves don’t unmask themselves the future will be very grim.” He explained to him. “WHAT!?” Draco and Drake shouted in unison as Drake quickly slammed on the brakes as soon as he heard that, causing Xander’s seat belt to tighten up on him and Draco to almost fly out. 

His face was shown with shock and was as white as a ghost. “Be careful. Dude.” Xander shouted at Jaden. “Yeah. Sorry, but what the hell...This is like America all over again.” He sighed as he hit his head on the steering wheel. “Just don’t act as aggressively.” Xander sighed as he fixed his glasses and seating position. “Yeah...You're right...Geez” He sighed as his friend shook his head. “It’s just, how the hell are we going to handle it this time?” He begins with his eyes on the road again. 

“Last time we barely made it out cause we ended up turning their heart around. This time though we don’t know who they really are...Man...this is going to be tougher than what I was really hoping for.” The old Hidden Ones’ leader signed out from the memory of stress that the team and himself endured. “I don’t know what to tell you. We just have to wait to see what happens.” Xander explained calming his friend down. The other nodded and sighed. 

“Yeah...yeah you're right...sometimes I wonder why you didn’t become the leader of the Hidden Ones.” The green-haired teen sighed as his other friend chuckled. “You know that I like working behind the curtains while you enjoy the spotlight.” He smiled at him while Draco chuckled. “There is also the fact that you have more experience with being a leader than anyone that was a part of our group.” Draco smiled at Jaden. Drake chuckled after hearing that. “Huh, that’s true.” 

Once Drake and Xander drove up to a parking spot and headed towards Leblanc. Drake sighed as they walked in to see the group was already there. “We went through all sortsa options on our way here, but… Looks like we got no choice but to ask for Alibaba’s help.” Ryuji said to the others. “Question is how do we get in touch with him?” Ann asked with a look of defeat. “He cut off all contact with us after that misunderstanding. Then again, if we manage to steal Futaba’s heart, he may attempt to reach out to us once more.” Yusuke explained. 

“But we don’t have any clues on what her keywords are.” Morgana stated. “Dammit, Alibaba! Where the hell are you!?” Ryuji yells out in frustration. “Actually, he may be closer than we think.” Makoto said. “Huh?” Ryuji questioned. “How so?” Xander asked, looking at her. “Hypothetically speaking, even if we stole Futaba’s heart...How would Alibaba know that the deed has been done? Would he truly be able to discern that just from cell phone messages?” Makoto asks. Everyone looked at each other. “You mean he’d have to meet her in person?” Morgana asked. 

“Alibaba was able to deliver the calling card here. On top of that, he can check on Futaba’s condition. However, according to the circumstances he put forth, he’s unable to meet with us. This leads me to believe that if it would be bad for him if we were to see the two of them together. It seems to me that...Alibaba may in fact be Futaba herself.” Makoto explained to the group. “For real!?” Ryuji asked in shock. 

“So she’s asking that we steal her own heart!?” Yusuke asked in surprise. “I’m going to say this...I am not surprised one bit.” Drake signed out with a huff. “Maybe she wants us to save her from the scars of her abuse? That would be hard to ask directly.” Ann said. “I’d like to meet with Boss… He lives nearby, right?” Makoto said. Drake and Xander look at each other. Draco shakes his little head a bit. “I know where his house is.” Akira said. 

“I agree. It’s real late though. What’re we gonna tell Boss when we get there?” Ryuji asked her. “We’ll say this take-out sushi is a gift for him.” Makoto said. “But my fatty tuna…!” Morgana shouted. Draco hissed a bit. “Don’t give him any of my fish.” Drake sighed.  “I don’t think this is a real good idea. I understand that we need to help her but going into Boss’s private life. Now that is just wrong on so many levels.” Drake shook his head as he looked at the group. 

As much as he knew it was true that they needed to know, it just didn't feel right to him. He can’t really describe it, but something was telling him that something bigger was at play. He sighed as he heard Ann speak up. “No complaining.” She looked at the three of them. “Let’s all go together. Boss may get the wrong idea if Akira-kun and I show up alone.” Makoto said to them. Everyone nods. 

I still don’t think this is a good idea at all. But what choice do I have in the matter anyways. Drake thinks to himself. Xander notices his friend's concern. “This is our only way of knowing Futaba, like it or not.” Xander said to his friend as they walked out. Drake sighed and shook his head. 

*Time skip: Boss’s place*

Yusuke rang the doorbell near Sojiro’s door, but nobody came...again. “Nobody is answering, but the lights are on...” Makoto stated. “Maybe he thinks we are marketers.” Drake joked to the whole group. “Think she’s nappin’?” Ryuji said. “Even Boss would’ve woken up with how many times we’ve rung this doorbell.” Ann said annoyed. “I would think Futaba would have answered by now if she were here too.” Morgana sighed. 

“Ah, the gate is unlocked.” Yusuke pointed out. “Dude, you can’t go openin’ other people’s stuff like that.” Ryuji stated to Yusuke. “But look. The door seems to be slightly open as well. I wonder why. That’s rather careless...” The brunette said with confusion. After she said that a thunderous noise was heard from the sky. 

The Phantom Thieves looked up at the sky a little. “Whoa, it sounds like it’s going to rain...We should get inside!” The black feline stated with a serious voice. “...Do you think that’s okay?” Makoto asked. “Prolly?” Ryuji asked. Drake just shrugged. “I used to do this with abandoned houses when I was still trainin-AH.” He was cut off by Xander elbowing him in the gut. 

“Gonna rain for quite a while. Might as well go in.” Xander shrugged, then glared at him, who’s tempting to flip him off. “My apologies, Boss!” Makoto whispers. Six of the Phantom Thieves walked inside quickly while the other two fell behind in a slow walk. “WTF! Why did you elbow me, mate?” Drake whispered so the others wouldn’t hear.  “Would they not be suspicious if you were in abandoned houses?” Xander scolded back at him. 

The green-haired teen shook his head and sighed. “Whatever.” He mumbled while rolling his eyes. “Hello, sir?” Makoto said. They waited for an answer from him only to get nothing in return. “He’s not out, is he?” Makoto asked. “The door ahead is open, and I can hear the TV.” 

“I hope he didn’t pass out or something… I mean, Boss is kinda old, ain’t he?” Ryuji told them. “I’m a bit worried. Should we go in and check on him?” Ann asked. “I have no clue if that is a good or bad idea considering the fact we did enter without anyone’s permission, but might as well ‘cause if we don’t, I know for a fact that I will later regret it if we don’t.” Jaden sighed out. For the fact that I have morals of making sure everyone is alright and well. He thought to himself. “Please excuse us…” Makoto stated nervously. 

They walked further inside the house to look for any sign of life. The group continued until they heard the sound of thunder, the lights turning off following afterwards.  “AAAAAA!!!” Both Ann and a young female screeched. Draco, Jaden-Drake, and Ann jumped a little after hearing that. “Meep.” Drake meeped. “A scream!? What was that!?” Makoto questioned in fear. “H-How should I know?” Morgana scarcely asked. 

A few seconds after the black feline said that and the grouped calmed down, just by a little bit, they heard a thud coming from somewhere near them. “Did you hear that!?” The brunette asked the group in a scared voice. “H-Hai…” Drake said in all but a whisper rubbing both of his two arms. “What could it be?” Xander asked, looking around. “Let’s get out of here, please? Can we just go?” Ann the others terrified. “What’re you freakin’ out for?” Ryuji asked her annoyedly. 

“I-I-I’m not freaking out!” Ann said with a stutter at the beginning. “W-well it’s either this or the rain. I rather choose being freaked out a little bit rather than being soaked.” Draco hissed out at her with a beady eye glare. “Could it be Alibaba? I mean, Futaba?” The blue eye feline stated. Right after Morgana said that Ann ran back down the hallway past Jaden, Xander, and Draco who all shook their heads as they walked down with Yusuke and Ryuji. 

Drake sighed as he started calming down from being freaked out. Maybe I can ask Akira if I can just stand behind him or next to him at least? He thought to himself. “Um, sorry… Can I hold your hand?” He heard the older female ask the taller male. Drake froze in place when he heard that. He turned around to see Makoto holding on to Akira’s upper arm. He sighed as he shook his head. 

Man, I wanted to do that...Great... Drake pouted with a soft sigh. Can’t always get what you want, I guess. He thinks as he walks next to Xander. Next, they heard a door creak opened. “Eek!” The brunette screams screeched. Jaden, Xander, and Draco shivered a bit. 

“I can sense someone’s presence…” Yusuke said. “I have to agree.” Draco said. “Who is it?” Makoto asked with a hushed worried voice. At first, she looked at her leader then to another side of the room. “Who’s there!?” This time she was even more freaked out. “I can’t take this anymore! I’m leaving!” She yelled out of fear. 

After she stated that there was a noise coming from somewhere that they didn’t know. Makoto slipped down after hearing that. Drake was looking everywhere for the noise while pulling out his kunai slowly. Xander looks around as well and pulls out one of his daggers. Makoto tried getting up but she couldn’t get up. “N-No… My legs won’t move..” she stated out of fear. 

All of a sudden Makoto, Akira, and Morgana felt a presence behind them. They slowly turned their heads to see a dark figure with big white refelted eyes. The next thing everyone knew, lightning flashed revealing a girl with black-framed glasses and orange-colored hair. Even if that was the case, it still terrifies the living daylights out of Makoto. “Aaaaaah!” Both the brunette and the girl screamed causing the girl to run back into the room. Right when Makoto screamed she fell onto the floor and held onto Akira’s leg. 

“Alibaba! Futaba!” Ann yelled to the girl while Makoto quivered. Drake put his kunai away so he can cover his ears from all the girls yelling. Thankfully I’m not freaked out anymore...but I am now going to go deaf because of the screams. He sighed to himself. “Hey! C’mon, where are you!?” She shouts at where the girl once stood. Xander shakes his head as his shorter friend takes his hands off his ears and checks if Draco was alright. 

The poor bearded dragon was curled way back into the bag thanks to all the yelling by both girls. “You’re a hacker, right? Just show yourself!” Ann yelled again. “I’msorryI’msorryI’msorry! PleasesavemeSis…” Makoto stated in a whimper. Drake saw the situation at hand. Fuck, I got to do something to calm the girls down so that way Draco isn’t scared. Poor little guy. Before the green-hair teen can say anything to try to defuse the situation there was a voice that came from behind them. “Are you okay, Futaba!?” The voice of Sojiro yells through the front door. 

“Crap, he’s home!” Ryuji said. Both him and Yusuke ran down that hall with Ann following right behind them. Drake, Xander, Akira, and Makoto stayed where they were with Drake facepalming as soon as Sojiro opened the door and ran partly in. He looked down the hallway, seeing a group of shadowy figures. Unaware of who they were, Sojiro becomes defensive. “Who the hell are you!? Don’t move!” He yelled at them.

“You hear me!?” Sojiro yelled again. Drake and Xander were just shaking their head at the situation, as Boss turned the flashlight that was in his hand. “I’msorryI’msorryI’msosorrySis...Somebodypleasesaveme…” Makoto kept on repeating. She hadn’t yet noticed Sojiro, who had entered the room. 

Sojiro realized who they were and calmed down. “You? What’re you doing in my house?” He asked them. “Ah…” Makoto finally calmed down and realized the situation that they were in. Drake just sighed as he mentioned Xander that they stay put. “You’re…” The older man was trying to find something to say but was interrupted by Makoto. 

“Oh… G-Good… evening, sir… We… didn’t mean… to intrude.” The brunette stated. “Niijima-san!” The black-haired adult said as he looked at her. “Wait, are you two dating?” He asks the both of them. Drake looks in between the to and tries to hold back a bit of laughter. Xander watches and does the same. The young brunette shook her head. “W-We’re j-just friends!” She exclaims. Akira nodded and agreed with her as he slid glances to Drake who was still trying not to laugh. 

“Friends nowadays get that close to each other?” He asks them. Drake just loses it and starts laughing a bit at the whole situation finding a funny story to tell his mom later. “That’s not it! This, um...Things happened… and..” She tried explaining the situation as she was getting up from the floor. As she did so Drake started laughing at the situation. Drake calmed down once the others walked in. “You kids are here too!?” He asks the rest of the group.

Ann was the first to speak before Drake had a chance to after he was calm enough to speak. “Um, we brought you some sushi, but nobody answered when we rang the bell… The door was unlocked too.” The blond female explained quickly, continuing as she continued explaining. “We could hear the TV though, so we got worried you might have passed out or something…”

After she finished Sojiro looked at them confused. “The door was unlocked?” He asked them. “Yes.” Ann told him. “...I do that sometimes. Guess I’m getting old.” He sighed. “Aw. Don’t worry about it. My family is like that sometimes as well.” Drake explained with a smile. Xander nodded in agreement with that statement. “Well, that makes me feel less old then.” He chuckles at that. “Um, excuse me. There’s something we’d like to ask.” Makoto said to the gray-eyed adult.

Sojiro turns his attention to the young brunette again. “Hm? You wanna ask me?” He asked her. Makoto looks back to where the girl once stood. “There’s someone else living here… isn’t there?” She asked. “Yeah…” The older man with glasses paused for a moment. “My daughter” He finally said. “Could she be Futaba Sakura?” Makoto asked.

“You told Niijma-san too!?” Sojiro asked Akira a bit loudly in front of the others. Akira was looking down the whole time while Jaden had moved next to him and put Draco near Morgana to calm him down. “U-Um… is there any way we could meet with Futaba-san?” The brunette asked the adult. “I think we may have frightened her earlier, so we’d like to apologize if at all possible…” She explained. “Well… that’s…” He crossed his arms and closed his eyes trying to think of a way to explain.

Everyone was looking at Sojiro. “Is she sick?” Makoto asked him. “No, it’s not like that.” Sojiro stated, answering her question. Everyone stood around for a short moment as he shook his head and sighed. “I don’t want you all getting the wrong idea…” He explained to them. The older male sighed again. “I shouldn’t have kept this a secret from you.” He told the group of teens in front of them. “Let’s talk at my shop. She’ll hear us if we stay here.” They all nodded and followed him to Leblanc.

*At Leblanc*

Everyone stood or sat around Sojiro who had pulled up a cheer that was at his bar. “Now, where do I start? Futaba’s mother and I knew each other long before Futaba was born. Her mother was a bit of a weird one, but we got along well for some reason…” He explained to them as he continued. “She was sharp-witted, somewhat stern, a little socially inept, but always carefree… She truly was a great woman.” He smiled to himself as he explained.

“I see…” Makoto said. “When something piqued her interest, that’d be all she focused on. She always worked deep into the night. I thought that’d change after her kid was born, but after having Futaba didn’t do much.” He explained. Drake chuckled a bit after he heard that. “If I’m going to be honest here that sounds like how my mom gets when she finds something she's very interested in.” The green-haired teen explained with a soft smile on his face. Sojiro chuckles a bit after hearing that. “It sounds like Her and your mother would have gotten along just fine.”

Drake nodded after hearing that. “I’m sure they would have, sir.” He smiled as Sojiro continued. “Even with that, she always took good care of her.” He finished that off. “Working and watching over a child at the same time sounds rough…” Ann said, sounding sorry for Futaba’s mom.  “I guess raising Futaba alone turned out to be tough on her in more ways than one…” Boss explained. “What about her father? Didn’t he at least try to help her in all of this?” Akira asked him with a few side glances in Drake's direction as he asked that. “There wasn’t a father.” Sojiro bluntly told them.

“Do you mean…” Yusuke asked while Jaden looked at him with a ‘Really, that’s the question to ask him right now’ look. “Well, there probably was one. I didn’t know him though. She never said a word about him, either. She was single when she gave birth to Futaba, and single when she raised her. They were an ordinary, loving family. You could really tell how much she cared for Futaba.” He sighs after stating that.

His face expression became more upset after he sighed. “But one day, she left… leaving Futaba behind.” Sojiro said to the group. “Did she die…?” Akira asked him with a sadden expression. The older adult male took a deep breath before speaking again. “Yes. She committed suicide.” He said softly but still loud enough for everyone to hear. “Suicide...!?” Ann said in shock. “Holy crud.” Drake said with a widened upset expression.

“Threw herself into the street, right in front of Futaba’s eyes…” Boss explained the upsetting news to the teens. Drake froze in thought for a second right after he heard the fact. “Shocking doesn’t begin to describe that…” Makoto stated with her jaw dropped. “That’s gotta be devastating for a kid.” Ryuji stated. “Yeah, the death of any family member is devastating, especially to a kid.” Xander sighed. “So…” Sojiro began, thinking of something else to say.

“Well, a lot happened after that, but I ended up taking custody of Futaba… First, she was so depressed she...she wouldn’t even talk to me.” Sojiro explained. “Was that because she couldn’t get over her mother’s suicide?” Ann asked him. “I kept talking to her though, and she started opening up to me little by little. That’s when I found out… Futaba blames herself for her mother’s death.” He explained to them. “What!? But why!?” Ann asked in shock. 

“That part she’s never told me. I wanted to know what led her to believing that, but I decided not to rub salt in the wound.” He explained. “Then, a few months ago… She started getting real scared, even when nothing was happening. She’d say things like, ‘I hear voices…’ and ‘Mom is looking at me…’” He told them.  “Visual and auditory hallucinations… Have you taken Futaba to a doctor?” Yusuke asked Sojiro. “I wanted to, but she refused. Even when I had a doctor come, she locked herself away in her room. Since then, she’s become what you’d call a shut-in.” He explained to them.

“She won’t take a single step outside the house or even try to see other people.” He stated. “What about you?” Yusuke asked standing up more and turning to him. “She doesn’t even let me come into her room.” Sojiro tells them. “That’s pretty harsh…” Ryuji said. “Futaba is, well, a unique girl. She’s so quick-minded that conversations with her tend to jump from one topic to the next… It seems like she’s always coming to conclusions in her head. There’s a lot I don’t get about her...” He said. 

Makoto nodded to Boss’ statement about his daughter. “So yeah… her situation is why I couldn’t let you in my house.” He explains to Akira while he turns towards him. “Don’t worry about it. You had your reasons, so I understand.” Akira explained to him. “Thanks.” Sojiro smiled at the black-haired teen. “What Futaba needs is a safe where nobody will threaten her. Somewhere she can be at ease. That’s why I won’t do anything she doesn’t want. I don’t make her do anything she’s unwilling to either.” He states as he gets up to stand from his seat.

“Then again, I know that’s no way for her to live. It’s all I can do though…” He said with an upset look. “What does Futaba want?” Akira asks him. “I’m going to agree with Akira on this. Do you truly know what Futaba wants from her point of view and a parent’s point of view?” Drake asks, looking at the older male. “I don’t know. She just asks me for things that she wants, like food or these complicated books… Well, that’s that. So can you just… leave her be?” Sojiro asks the teens around him. They all nodded in agreement. Well not all of them. Drake sighed as he heard Sojiro’s explanation. 

Like we’re going to... We need to help her… No teen should be shut in to believe that they were the cause of her mother’s death. Drake thought as he looked to the side of him. “I’m gonna head back then. You all had better head home soon too.” He tells them looking at each of them. He then walks past Akira, Makoto, Jaden-Drake, and Xander. Once he left, Akira took the seat that Sojiro was just sitting on and sits down. Drake walks up and stands behind him leaning in just a bit.

“I feel awful for prying into his personal affairs…” Makoto stated. “No way in hell he’s abusin’ her.” Ryuji stated. “The reason why Futaba wants her heart stolen must be related to what happened to her mother.” Ann claimed. “So, she’d like to discard her feelings of pain, but can’t do anything about it herself.” Yusuke said, adding to the conversation. “Will changing her heart really help her, though?” Ann asked looking off somewhere. “If we can help her, we may be able to stand up to Medjed.” Yusuke stated, standing up. 

Drake sighed as he thought about it. Not everything is easy to fix. “Maybe changing her heart will help her out, but having her help us out right after helping her is kinda of a dick move if you think about it.” The green-haired teen explained. “It makes us seem selfish.” He sighed out. “But we are in a tough situation, we do need her help.” Xander said. “Still…” Drake sighed out while looking at everybody. “It’s possible, but I believe we should have a better plan.” Akira sighed. “Hold on a sec. Do we even know if she has a Palace? Let’s check.” Ryuji said.

Akira took out his phone to the Nav to see if Futaba did have a Palace. “‘The Futaba Sakura that lives at Sojiro Sakura’s house.’ Is that gonna be enough?” The blond male. “Candidate Found” The nav said after Akira put the name in. “What the…?” Yusuke asked in shock. “She’s got one...” Ryuji stated with widened eyes. “So someone can have a Palace even if they’re not evil?” Ann asked with shocked confusion. “Hmm, yeah. We knew someone that had a Palace but they were the nicest person you’d ever meet.” Drake started as he motioned between him and Xander. 

“Oh... that one.” Xander said, remembering the Palace. “Hey Morgana-” Ann was about to talk to the black feline but as the group looked around themselves, they didn’t see him. “Where’s Morgana?” The light blue-eye female asked as Mona was nowhere to be found. “I haven’t seen him for some time.” Yusuke stated. “So, ever since we went inside Boss’s house?” Makoto asks. “...Somewhere ‘round there. He’ll be fine though. He’s a cat after all. The trains’re gonna be shuttin’ down for the night soon, so we should prolly be headin’ home.” Ryuji said.

Everyone nodded in agreement to Ryuji’s statement. “We have to go to school in the morning, after all.” Makoto told them. “Ohhh, right. The urgent assembly.” Ann groaned. “Tomorrow is going to suck then.” Draco said with a sigh. “Now I wish Morgana was here. Hmph” Drake rolled his eyes at the dragon. “An assembly? What about?” Yusuke asked. “Shujin has been garnering a lot of attention ever since Medjed called out the Phantom Thieves.” Ann sighed out while explaining. 

“So, they need to remind us not to say arbitrary stuff online and add more fuel to the fire.” She finished. “We’ve gotta meet up for every goddamn little thing. Talk about a pain in the ass.” Ryuji stated, annoyed. “I mean, it is our fault.” Ann said sadly. “It really isn’t. They’re just trying to find the littlest excuse to explain to us what we should do and shouldn’t do. I understand that the rules are different from an American public school but they’re still looking for an excuse to explain what we already know.” Jaden explained with a heavy sigh.

Xander just shrugged and shook his head. “Might as well go with the flow… I guess.” He sighed out. “Anyway, let’s contact each other afterward.” Makoto said.

\\\\

////

‘No way in hell he’s abusin’ her.’ The recording of Ryuji’s voice stated. During their discussion the orange-haired girl listens in while typing on her computer. ‘The reason why Futaba wants her heart stolen must be related to what happened to her mother.’ ‘So she’s like to discard her feelings of pain, but can’t do anything about it herself.’ ‘Will changing her heart really help her, though?’ ‘If we can help her we may be able to stand up to Medjed.’ ‘Maybe changing her heart will help her out, but having her help us out right after helping her is kinda of a dick move if you think about it.’ 

‘It makes us seem selfish.’ ‘But we are in a tough situation, we do need her help.’ ‘Still…’ ‘It’s possible, but I believe we should have a better plan.’ ‘Hold on a sec. Do we even know if she has a Palace? Let’s check. “The Futaba Sakura that lives at Sojiro Sakura’s house.” Is that gonna be enough?’ ‘What the…?’ ‘She’s got one..’ ‘So someone can have a Palace even if they’re not evil?’ ‘Hmm, yeah. We knew someone that had a Palace but they were the nicest person you’ll ever meet.’ 

‘Oh... that one.’ ‘Hey, Morgana-’ Right after the recording of Ann saying the feline's name, he jumped out from behind the computer, causing Futaba to yell and Morgana run out the door. 

////

\\\\

Jaden-Drake, Xander, and Draco were all in the front seat of Drake’s Impala. It was silent at first while they were getting home from Leblanc. “Alright... So you guys never told me why you guys can’t tell the others why you're so skilled and know a lot more than you're leading on…” Draco paused biting his lower lizard lip looking for the right way to put it. “You're also keeping the others hidden from them including Him… You need to open up to them...they're really nice to us.” Drake took a deep breath and sighed.

He looked over at Xander. “He’s right, mate... We told each other we wouldn’t keep secrets from them but we are...so why are we?” Drake asked, fully looking at him after he stopped at a red light. Xander looked out the window for a bit before he spoke. “It’s rather difficult for us to be open right away, we have only known them for a few months. I am just trying to be safe.” Xander explained to the both of them. “It’s not right man...they give us so much trust so far and what have we given them...little to none. Hell, we can’t even tell the people we like that we like them because of it... We have to tell them!” Drake yelled as he looked back at the road and drove since the light was green. 

Drake's eyes were starting to water due to the fact that he wants to be with Akira so badly. Xander looked at him full view now. His eyes flash from his light brown eyes to a brownish gold eye color to back to his original color. “It just… people are too unpredictable, you could have your arms open to someone and a few days later they could stab you in the back and take everything from you. I had that happen to me and I… I…just don’t want that to happen to any of us.” Xander shot back at his friend.

He was met with a dirty glare as they made it to their parking lot. “And you think you're the only one. I had that happen to me twice. TWICE!! And you already were a part of the second one...So do you think I don’t know or don't understand. Hell, I had my cousin because of this whole same situation. I don’t want that to happen again.” The green-haired male told him, reminding him why there wasn’t a third person. He was getting really upset. He stopped the engine of the car and grabbed his bag with the partly scared bearded dragon in it.

Draco went deeper into the school bag to avoid the two humans arguing. Xander huffed as he got out as well and shot a glare at his short friend. “I… know… such a thing… experiencing… hell.” Xander said, starting to act differently than from, his usual self. Drake looked and rolled his eyes. WTF is going on!? Drake thought, not realizing what was going on. “Well, it’s not like you’ve experienced it twice in your life or even have your own clan brother, who was supposed to be the leader, backstab your trust when he knew that he could trust your family here. But no, he wants you to continue your training in New York than to follow your late Sensei’s last wishes.” The multicolor-eye teen snapped back at them as they walked into their apartment building.

Once they were inside, they went into the elevator as they continued to argue. “I… know. We…all experienced things that we didn’t want to…” Xander stated, struggling to keep himself from switching. Both of his friends noticed this as they got to their floor and headed straight towards their shared apartment. “I get it dude, but you're making it about yourself and that is not a good thing to do seeing that we both transferred here for a better start and a better life.” Drake states as he unlocks the door.

“We need to let go and find a different path in life.” He put Draco down on the kitchen counter and turned towards his friend. “I mean, it’s not like we’ve killed anyone we really care about in the past. It’s just that we-” With a blink of an eye Xander had a dagger at Jaden’s neck. “Didn’t kill anyone we cared about you say? Anyone we cared about you say?! I ENDED UP KILLING MY OWN SON!!! I WATCH as his eyes started to go pale. Do you know how it feels? As you are trying to kill someone in order to protect your son. As that man pushes you into sinking a dagger into your son’s heart!? DO YOU KNOW HOW IT FEELS!?!?” 

Drake's eyes widened as he fully realized that his friend wasn’t there in that moment in time. He wasn’t fully scared, seeing that this has happened before with others including this man, but never like this. He raises his hands up to where his head was. “Bayek please calm down. I didn’t know that you killed your son but please that was in the past and I am sorry for bringing it up like this.” The short teen stated calmly trying to reason with his friend's other personality. 

“You don't know how it is to have your own family’s blood spilt by your own hands. I had to KILL every… single… one of those bastards that breathed that day in Siwa.” The voice of Bayek said looking at the teen straight into his eyes. The teen sighed a bit and looked around to find a way to escape until his eye landed on the bearded dragon on the counter. His eyes widen in fear of what they just did. 

“Listen, I know how it feels to lose a family member but you need to let go of me because we are scaring someone very close to us.” Drake stated as he motioned to the terrified creature on the counter. “What are yo- oh… it is happening again. Why do I feel…so…lighthea-” Right after Xander regains control he drops the dagger and faints onto the floor. “Wha-Wha-what was that?” Draco asked, still shaking in fear.  

Jaden-Drake sighed as he fully looked at the shaking creature. “It’s something that we didn’t want you to know...and by we I mean them and I.” Drake sighed as he shook his head. It was something they hoped wouldn’t come to this. “Them? What… What do you mean by that?” The black-eye bearded dragon asked the calm teenager as he picked up his friend and led him to the couch.  Xander was starting to fall asleep as soon as he hit the couch. “I…will expla-” He started to snore right after saying that.

Jaden sighed as he grabbed the little creature and went to his room. “So… What happened out there?” The dragon asked again as Drake set him down on his desk and he sat on his bed. “ Listen, we, well Xander, really didn’t want you to find out this way. We were waiting for the right to at least talk about it with you…” Drake bit his lip trying to find a way to describe what the lizard just saw. “What... What you just witnessed...was one out of three different...personalities that Xander has..” Drake signed out. 

Darco looked at the human with his head tilted. “Three personalities...like one of the personality disorties that you were explaining to me?” He asked Drake as he sighed. “Not really. Xander hates this side of himself. He is going to have to explain to you when he wakes up. I can’t really-” He was cut off by his phone ringing. “Who’s calling me at this hour?” The green-haired teen grabbed his phone. He checked the caller ID to find that his grandmother was calling him.

Drake's eyes widened and he cursed under his breath. “Damn it, why now?” He asked with a sigh. “Look, we’ll talk about this later. I have to take this call.” The green-haired boy looked at Draco, who was still sitting on the counter. He is then moved by Drake and placed on his desk while he hits the answer button. “Hello?” “Jaden, Jaden, this is grammy.” His grandmother states through the phone receiver. “I know grandma. I have you on my caller ID.” 

This isn’t the first time Drake’s Grandma had told him that it was her and it wouldn’t be that last. “Well, how should I know that. Anyways, how are you and Xander holding up in Japan?” His grandma asks him. “Good, good. The school work here is hard, but hey I’m getting the hang of it.” He tells her with a small smile. Here it comes. He sighed out. “How are you doing in math?” There it is. “Drake?” “Yeah, I’m still not good at math. I mean, I’m not failing but I’m not getting the best grade either.” 

“Really, Drake why aren’t you great at it. Your father is a mathematician, why can’t you be?” His grandma tells him. Drake just stayed silent with a sigh. “Hello, Drake, are you still there?” “Yeah, grandma I am. Look, I will get help for math. I know a few people that can help me. Changing the subject though, I have a friend that is into art as well as I am and is really giving me inspiration that I need to continue wanting to take art as a career.  I am really happy about that.” He explained with a grin on his face.

Drake’s smile fell as soon as he heard what he’s been hearing from her for months “Oh, that’s nice to hear but shouldn’t you choose a different career path. I know that you want to but I believe you should go this root.” His grandma explained. He bit his lip as he tried to think of a response. “I’m sorry, but I want to be an artist and this is the path that I want to take.” He sighed out as he tried to hold his tongue back from snapping at her. I’m not dad. Stop comparing his past with my present. He thought “I know but listen, I don’t feel like you're going to get anywhere if you-” She was cut by her grandchild sighing out. “I’ll talk to you later grandma. I have to get some sleep because the school has an assembly tomorrow and I need to get up early for that.” 

Drake could tell his grandmother was surprised at this news. “Really, weren’t you supposed to start summer break tomorrow?” The eldrly woman asked him. “I do, it's just that we have an assembly explaining to the students not to be stupid ‘cause of what’s going on in Tokyo right now.” He sighed out. “Well alright. I will speak with you later, bye sweetheart. I love you.” “Yeah, love you too, bye.” He hangs up and groans. 

He puts his hands on his face and falls to the bed. “Goddamn it.” Drake sighed out. He stays like that for a few minutes then gets up and grabs his motorcycle helmet, jacket, and keys. Then, heads out the door without a word to anyone. The green-haired teen goes down to the parking lot to his motorcycle. 

Drake starts the motorcycle up and speeds out of the parking lot and into the quiet city streets. He was going to drive through the city to clear out his thoughts. Having done this time and time again he rides through parts of the city that seem lively during the day but are so quiet during this time. He doesn’t know where he is heading, all he knows is that he needs his head cleared. 

He stopped at a place where parts of the city could be seen from far away. He proceeds to take his helmet off, watching the city. “The city always looked so beautiful from this view, huh?” He smiled not expecting any answers. “This isn’t really you get to see.” “It sure is. Now speaking of sights that are rarely seen, what are you doing here Jaden-Drake?” A voice of an adult male said right behind Drake.

Jaden turned around, about to throw a shuriken when he saw who was talking. “Whew, you scared me, mate.” He sighed out as he turned to the male that was right behind him. “Please don’t do that because I can hurt and or kill you easily like that and I don't want that.” He chuckled. “Yeah, wouldn’t be a good thing, huh.”

*Time skip: 7/25: Early Morning*

“Man, I wish we didn’t have to go to this dumb assembly.” Draco hissed out as he stuck his head out of Drake’s bag. “Well, it’s cause of the stupid school wanting to scare us into following its rules. Like usual.” Drake stated as Xander and him followed the other students. “They just want to make sure that the students don’t say anything dumb to the press due to the whole Kamoshida and Kaneshiro incidents.” Xander said as they moved a head. 

“That too, but still it’s not like the press would want to ask some of the students. It’s not like we have any relation towards the Kaneshiro one.” Drake stated. “Anyways, are...are we not going to talk about what happened last night?” Draco asks the two teens. Drake bit his lip and looked at Xander. Xander rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “Tis, not the time for that. Too many people could be listening.” Xander explained.

Drake nodded in agreement. “Hmm, I agree. When you're in our line of work you don’t know who you can trust outside of your group. That’s a fact that is true.” The green-haired teen started looking around. He goes into a whisper where only Xander and Draco can hear. “Trust me when I say you don’t know when an enemy is hiding in the shadows.”

Draco rolled his eyes at Jaden-Drake as he made his statement. “Well can you at least tell me where you ran off to last night?” The bearded dragon asked. Drake sighed and bit his lip. “There is a time and a place for everything now is not the time.” Xander stated. Draco huffed and nodded as they entered the school to hear murmurs of students compiling. 

*Time skip: Daytime*

After the assembly, the Phantom Thieves sat around Akira’s room eating lunch. “Man, that assembly had me bored to tears.” Ryuji stated. “I basically fell asleep through the whole thing.” Drake sighed out as he put his head down on the chair. “Huh? Did you have school too, Yusuke?” Ann asked him. “I’m doing laundry, so these are the only clothes I had to wear.” Yusuke explains. “I can relate.” Drake said, raising his hand.  “You really should buy a couple more outfits…” The blond female stated to Yusuke.

“Come now, we didn’t gather here to make small talk, now did we?” Makoto asked the three of them. “Let’s get to Alibaba’s case.” “Well then, I’ll start. It looks like Futaba was listening in to Leblanc.” Morgana stated. “But, why would she want to listen in on the cafe?” Ann asked. “I have no idea.” The feline stated. “It’s just like Boss said… She’s a tough nut to crack.” Ryuji said. “In any case, her hacking skills will be absolutely necessary if we wish to stand up to Medjed.” Makoto stated. 

“Going by what she has told us, we may even be able to identify who they are.” Makoto continued. “We’ll have to trust in her skills for now, then.”  Yusuke said looking at the table. “Anyway, we found out that Futaba has a Palace… but someone who isn’t evil have one?” Ann asks. “That does not matter. A Palace is the materialization of distorted cognitions brought about by strong desires… That’s all.” Morgana stated. “It just so happens that a lot of warped people turn out evil.” 

Makoto closed her eyes out of worry. “She’s so young though… The pain she’s gone through must be the cause of her distortion.” She stated. “Maybe that has something to do with why she calls herself Alibaba.” The blond female stated. “According to the chief’s story, Futaba has auditory and visual hallucinations, right?” The feline started up. “There’s a chance those are related to some important memories she’s holding. It’s hard to explain… but those memories may have been warped by the distortions.” Morgana tried his best to explain with what he could.

“Basically we just gotta steal her Treasure, right?” Ryuji stated. “Well, yeah.” Morgana stated. “So do we all agree about taking on Futaba’s Palace?” Ann asked. “She asked us to do so. I don’t think that part is an issue.” Makoto began. “If we heal Futaba’s heart, it will not only help Boss, but she can then assist us with Medjed.” She stated. “I agree.” Yusuke said. Xander and Drake nodded in agreement. “Likewise, mate.” Drake said. 

“I’ve been wonderin’ about how Boss said ‘a lot happened’ after Futaba’s mom died too.” The yellowish blond male stated. “Hold on a second. Our investigation of her Palace may not go like anything we’ve done up to this point.” Morgana explained. “Why’s that?” Ryuji asked the feline. “Having an individual ask you to steal their heart is an extremely irregular case.” The feline started. 

“There’s no telling what the Palace ruler’s disposition will be like, or the distortion that’ll be there. We may run into some unforeseen situations. Do you still want to go in?” Morgana questioned all of them. “Yeah, let’s do it.” Akira said to him. Drake nodded in agreement. “I agree. I don’t believe we really have anything to lose for.” The green-haired male said. “All right. Let’s just make sure we’re cautious.” Morgana told the group. “Well, let’s get crackin’ on those keywords, huh?” Ryuji said. 

Makoto pushed her hair back and looked around the group. “The ones we have at the moment are ‘Futaba Sakura’ and ‘Sojiro Sakura’s house’” She explained. “We got the ‘who’ and the ‘where’ so all that’s left is the ‘what,’ right?” Ryuji asked them. “That would be correct.” Drake shrugged. “Let us try going to their house first.” Yusuke stated. “Boss is busy running the cafe, isn’t he? We should make sure he doesn’t suspect anything.” Ann told them. 

The rest of the group gets up and heads for the stairs. While Akira and Morgana stay behind a bit to talk. Drake just looks at the two then heads down with the rest. “Speaking of important memories. Do the two of you think I’ll everything back if...if I was like you guys?” Draco asks. “You know besides being human. Being confident, strong, and not afraid of taking a risk?”

Drake and Xander looked at each other then back at the bearded dragon. “We have to just wait to see.” The tan teen tells Draco. “I’m going to have to agree with Xander. We really don’t know what the future holds, for right now we just have to sit and wait.” The green-haired teen explains. Draco just nods at the two's reasoning. “Anyways, hey Xander, how do you feel finally meeting your online friend in real life?” The dragon asked. “It will be fun.” Xander smirks as Drake just chuckled.

The Phantom Thieves made it to Sojiro’s house. Ready to go into the young Futaba’s Palace. “Now, the last keyword…” Makoto muttered. “She’s a shut-in, so we just gotta figure out ‘what’ she thinks her house is. If she can’t get out, maybe a prison?” Ryuji asks. The nav stated it wasn't correct. “Perhaps a labyrinth with an unknown exit?” The dark brunette suggested. Again the nav stated that the answer was not correct. “Hmm… Maybe an oasis?” Ann pondered. The nav stated that it wasn’t the right one either. 

“Nothing so far. In that case, how about hell?” Yusuke asks. Drake looked over at the slender man. “Dude.” He states. Akira shakes his head as the nav states permission is denied. “We don’t have nearly enough clues…” Ann sighed out. “If only we could ask her directly…” Yusuke stated. “We can. C’mon, let’s go see Futaba.” Ryuji declared. “But what will we say to get in?” Makoto asked. 

“Whaddya mean? We’re sneakin’ in.” Ryuji said. Which causes Jaden to smirk. “I like your style.” He tells Ryuji as he wraps his arm over Ryuji’s shoulder. The blond male chuckles at the shorter males action. Xander just shakes his head. While Akira side glares Ryuji. “You both have to be joking.” Makoto stared at them in disbelief. “Won’t the door be locked for sure this time?” She asked. “I’ll take care of that. Oh, and I figured out where Futaba’s room was when I snuck in last night.” Morgana said. 

Makoto looks up at the feline. “What if we run into Boss, thought? There’s no way we’ll be able to avoid his questions.” Makoto explains. “He’s at work now, so I think we should be fine.” Ann explained. “Gettin’ cold feet, Makoto? Don’t worry, it’ll be nothing. We’ve gone through loads of shits like this already.” Ryuji tells her. “Yeah, just remember I’ve done this stuff before loads of time. It gets easier the more you do it.” Drake explained. “Ditto.” Xander said. 

Makoto looked around the whole group then closed her eyes and brought her hand up to her chin. “...This is our only choice, right? I suppose Futaba did get in contact with Akira-kun… Perhaps she’ll at least be willing to speak with him…” She said. “...Very well. Let’s do this.” The brunette sighs out. Everyone nodded in agreement. They all walked inside Sojiro’s house and followed Morgana to Futaba’s room.

The group stood in front of a door that had a sign and caution tape around her door. “This is Futaba’s room.” Morgana told them. “Futaba-chan? You’re in there, right?” Makoto stated as she knocked on the door. “There’s no answer…” The blue-eyed feline states. “Futaba-chan. Are you there? I’m sorry for being startled and screaming yesterday. It was so dark that O got scared.” The brunette tells Futaba through the door. 

“No reaction whatsoever.” Yusuke states. “I mean can you blame her this is most likely the first time in at least a few years she heard other people’s voices besides her caretaker.”  Drake explained while looking straight at the door. “This is gonna be hard…” Ryuji sighed out. “You're listening, right, Alibaba?” Makoto tries to reach out for the fourth time. Right after that knock, Akira gets a text on his phone. “Is it Alibaba?” Makoto asks Akira while he pulls out his phone. 

After Akire checks the message on his phone, Makoto turns to the door. “You’re Futaba Sakura, aren’t you?” She asks again. “She’s not responding again.” Yusuke says. “Does she not like us saying her name?” Ann asks. “We don’t have time to dally around. We need her keyword before dealing with Alibaba’s identity.” Morgana snapped. “We want to learn more about you. If we don’t do so, we can’t steal your heart. The reason why we came here is because we need the keyword to enter your Palace. That’s why we want to talk with Futaba Sakura herself, and not Alibaba.” Makoto explains to Futaba.

Drake lets out a sigh. “She’s right, chickareta. We really do want to help you out here.” He tells her. “You don’t have to show yourself. Just answer some questions for us. Chat messages are fine.” Makoto adds on. 

Futaba/Alibaba: Ok

“All right then… Our leader, the guy who lives in Leblanc’s attic, wants to speak with you. We’re counting on you, Akira-kun. Try and get a keyword out of her.” Makoto tells Akira. 

Futaba/Alibaba: What do you want to hear?

Akira: How's living in this house?

Futaba/Alibaba: It’s painful…

Akira: Why not go out?

Futaba/Alibaba: I can’t leave this place

Futaba/Alibaba: I’m going to die here.

“Wha… Die?” Ann asks

Futaba/Alibaba: Is this going to continue? 

Akira: Die?

Futaba/Alibaba: That’s right. I’m definitely going to die here.

Futaba/Alibaba: This place is my tomb.

“Tomb?” Makoto asks. “You think that’s it?” Ryuji asks. “Try entering ‘tomb.’” Morgana tells Akira. “Input accepted. Searching for route to destination.” The Navigation voice stated. “We got it…!” Morgana smiled. “Yay.” Draco cheered.

Futaba/Alibaba: Was that enough?

“Yes. It was plenty. You haven’t forgotten your promise of helping us if we complete your request, right?” Makoto asks Futaba.

To be continued... 

[jackidy]

Saturated Sunrise

Rating: G Pairings: Demyx/Ienzo, others implied Characters: Various Setting: Post KH3

Summary: Observations were his thing and, in all honesty, Ienzo was a very interesting person to observe.

---------------------------------------

Ienzo was strange.

Not in a bad way, Demyx thinks, watching the other flip through lab notes for something that he’d explained at least three times already, distracted by far too many things to take in most of the words. How could he not be? Recognisance had always been his forte, few people ever spent too long looking at strange folk with instruments playing for change in the town square, regardless of what world he was observing, it was always the same.

But now…but now he didn’t have an instrument to distract his fingertips, watching how something deeper than annoyance flickered onto Ienzo’s features, eyes break from the hastily scrawled pages of a report to the offended hand before back to his reading, muttering something quietly under his breath.

He’s switched his breathing, in through the nose, out through the mouth. A calming technique. Was Ienzo anxious or something else? Demyx cocking his head to the side as he tried to figure out his new found puzzle. As Zexion, he’d simply fix him a flat stare and sigh to exhibit his annoyance with him, name him a fool and go back to ignoring him but with Ienzo it was different, his reactions more extreme in the short term before simmering off into seemingly nothing.

Demyx wanted to know more.

Wants to know the differences between the two, were they as similar as Axel and Lea or were they the polar opposite, Ienzo had already provided evidence for this. The shock of seeing him and the hesitation to move forward, the way he’d cried when reunited with his father, it was different but good, an unexpected surprise that had only served to hook him in.

Perhaps its selfish to want more, Demyx contemplates, deciding to put his focus elsewhere, the computer he’d more or less draped himself across, the tea stain on Ienzo’s lab coat on the cuff of his left sleeve, maybe even the black screens on the other side of the lab that had put themselves to sleep about twenty minute ago. Anywhere other than Ienzo before his mind started to-

“You keep frowning like that and I’ll start to think you’re not Demyx.”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been quiet for thirty minutes and now you’re frowning at nothing.” He teases, Demyx enraptured by the small, almost shy smile on the other’s lips to the point he forgets to react to the comment, seeming frozen in time as he takes it in. Oh, he could get used to Ienzo smiling at him like that oh too easily Demyx staring dumbfoundedly as Ienzo spoke again only for nothing to register, Ienzo raising a brow at him as that smile almost, almost, broke into a grin.

“What did you say Zex- I mean Ienzo, I didn’t hear you.”

“Nothing important.”

He’s teasing him again, standing from the desk and stretching, a resounding crack that made Demyx wince whilst Ienzo just sighed, as if relieved to hear it as opposed to somewhat horrified. “I think…I think I need a cup of tea; I’ll be back shortly. Please don’t touch anything.”

And he doesn’t. He just sits and watches the way Ienzo goes, wondering if he had missed truly was important or not.

---------------------------

It becomes routine, after a while, for Demyx to come by the lab after he’d finished his rounds, watching the shorter man as he worked, making mental note after mental note of the little changes in emotion and watching for the flashes, as Demyx now referred to them.

Fleeting yet fascinating, it feels strange this role reversal, where Demyx becomes the scientist and Ienzo the unknowing test subject, watching anger flash in blue eyes before resigning quickly to neutrality and ultimately to something sadder, guilt perhaps? Demyx had felt it enough himself but had never really seen it worn by someone else so clearly.

“You need a break.” He states, eyes flicking up from the screen to fix the Nobody with a reluctant stare, looking torn between arguing against the request and accepting it, pale hands coming up to Ienzo’s neck, picking at something just hidden by the collar. Another new thing he��d noticed, he picks at his neck when nervous or overloaded, Demyx contemplating stepping down before shaking his head. “A small break might clear your head and help you think straight.”

Ienzo snorts, rolling his eyes insolently like he’d heard this a thousand times before, no doubt from Aeleus or Even, the latter always seeming to hover around like a mother hen whenever the older scientist was with Ienzo, seemingly unaware of Demyx’s presence or, the more likely, choosing to ignore him all together. But still, the young man gets up, shedding his lab coat before discarding it on his chair and walking away from the desk, pausing to turn only when he didn’t hear following footsteps.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

He clicks his tongue, fixing Demyx with a stare only a fraction less intense than something Zexion would wear when scolding him. “You, me, break.” Short and sweet, straight to the point with little room to argue, not that Demyx ever would have, scrambling upwards to his feet, practically bouncing along with Ienzo to first the kitchen and then the gardens.

They take seat by a wall fountain, the stress in Ienzo seeming to melt away with the sound of the flowing water, slouching against the cold wall and nursing the cup of tea in his hands like it was the only thing still tethering the scientist to the mortal coil. He looks younger somehow, pinning his hair back with one hand as he sipped his tea, the slight breeze seemingly an ever-present threat to tarnishing both Ienzo’s drink and hair.

“You know, I could probably get you a headband or some clips after my next shift.”

“Wouldn’t want to be a bother.”

You’re never a bother, he thinks, a thought and belief he’s held for long enough now that he’s fairly certain it was incapable of changing into anything but. He’s talking again, eyes lighting up with almost childlike curiosity as Ienzo talks about his latest project, the thing that had been bothering up until the point Demyx had requested he take a break.

“Aerith asked me to look for someone.” The flower girl, a sweet woman who always brought flowers into the office when he dropped by to pick up the mail for the day, the only person he’d seen so far that could lecture his new boss on something without the Blonde glaring as fiercely at her as he had done with any irate customer who came in to complain about a delay or lost delivery. “Something about your boss and an old friend.”

“He has friends?” It’s a jest and he’s thankful when Ienzo smiles at it, unsure of it the younger man had ever met his grumpy boss, Cloud, to fully grasp the concept. Probably not, he only left the lab to eat, sleep and when someone bothered him enough to get out of his chair but, even then, he only went as far as the gardens. “I thought finding someone would be easy, you’ve got the database all set up, right?”

“Right but…” Ienzo pauses, the guilt creeping bag in as he seemingly sags under the weight of it, “but most of them are on world or I have a decent description of. I only have a name to go by and the barest hope that maybe one of the keyblade wielders has heard of him.”

Again, he’s scratching at his neck, frowning at the flowers opposite the pair almost intense enough to make them wilt under the seer force of it. A distraction, perhaps, to get his mind off of the thoughts of anxious and inadequacy that were surely plaguing him. “It’s a weird name don’t you think?”

“What is?”

“Cloud.”

There’s a pause, Ienzo freezing before he laughs, genuinely, Demyx struck by just how magical it sounded as shoulders quaked, racked by humour. He wants to hear this again, never thinking that he’d ever get the other to laugh so mirthfully, Ienzo wiping his face before fitting Demyx with a look like he was about to break down into giggles at any moment.

“Really?”

“Well yeah, it’s a dumb name”

“Your name is Demyx.”

“I didn’t pick my name!”

He starts laughing again, leaning against Demyx this time as he tried to temper the amusement down, covering his mouth as giggles threatened to bubble up all over again. “I don’t think he picked his name either, besides people in glass houses should not be throwing bricks.”

“I will throw bricks and stand proudly in the shattered remains of my hypocrisy.”

Ienzo is silent for perhaps a moment too long, Demyx shifting unconsciously under the gaze before shrugging and laughing to himself again. “I never knew you to be so eloquent.” It feels like a compliment so he’ll take it, Demyx hating the bubbling embarrassment at the other’s words, wondering if there would ever be a moment he doesn’t fluster at praise. It didn’t have to be from Ienzo, he’d nearly crumbled under the kind words of an elderly lady over a simple flower delivery.

“Might have picked up a thing or two from some guy I know.” He huffs, hoping Ienzo doesn’t pursue the subject and, much to Demyx’s relief, he doesn’t, simply humming and sipping his tea, a silence descending on the pair that is neither uncomfortable or stifling, just he sound of birds, the town below and the pouring water of the fountain acting as the only thing rupturing the otherwise serene silence.

The scientist is still leaning against him, Demyx choosing not to focus on the proximity, the way Ienzo seemed to fit just right there or the way the cavity in his chest seemed to thud, the echoing thunder within it hopefully not that noticeable either on his face or to the man leant against him. It might have been just minutes but, honestly, Demyx wishes it had been hours, Ienzo finally removing himself from Demyx to stand, offering a hand to the other.

“Thank you.”

“What for?”

“Making me take a break and listening.”

He takes Ienzo’s hand then, pushing himself up more than letting the other pull him up but he finds he doesn’t mind, hesitating before letting go of the hand in his and mentally cursing himself as Ienzo, seemingly oblivious, made his way back to the castle without him. So much for observing his emotional changes, Demyx conceded, running a hand through his hair and refraining from just pulling at it. It’ll be fine, he supposes, following after Ienzo slowly as he attempted to get his thoughts together.

----------------------

They meet outside the lab for once, Demyx finding the scientist in the kitchen as opposed to his usual place, lab coat abandoned once more in favour for an apron, the Nobody wondering how long he could linger in the doorway before Ienzo spoke up and summoned him forward. Maybe a while, he thinks, laughing under his breath, Ienzo was by no means unobservant but often lost himself in things, leaving him open to surprise on an almost regular basis.

His observations have become interesting, to say the least, notebook now brimming with excerpts and examples of how Ienzo reacted to things and how they differed from a typical human. Examples of how he’d exploded at Even in an argument the week before and how he’d crumpled as soon as he was away from the older scientist, looking to Demyx of all creatures to help him assess how he’d reacted.

A Human asking a Nobody how to feel, life truly was stranger than fiction.

“You know it’s rude to stare.” So Ienzo had noticed him, a small smile betraying the amusement the smaller man had in interrupting whatever it as that Demyx was thinking about. He’s wearing the headband that Demyx brought him, an admittedly joke purchase of the most ocean-based thing he could find in Radiant Garden, never expecting Ienzo to ever wear and yet, here they were, clownfish still visible even with the mass of hair doing its best to obscure it.

“Just thinking.” No lie to his words but not exactly a full truth either, Ienzo giving him an almost sceptical look before turning back to the chopping board, ignoring the blonde in favour of some shallots and garlic. Coming over to the join the other, Demyx takes seat at the worn kitchen table, far enough to be out of Ienzo’s space but close enough to notice the changes in body language, perhaps for the best considering his upcoming questions.

“Don’t strain yourself.” Ienzo retorts without hesitation, a small bounce in his step as he scraped the food from the chopping board into the frying pan, stirring once then twice before turning his attention back to the pile of ingredients nearby. “Should I even ask what about?”

“You, actually.”

Had he meant to be so honest? Demyx has no idea, biting his lip as he waited for Ienzo to react. Would he laugh or sneer? What response was he due to receive from the scientist who was simultaneously an open book and an enigma to him? He’s not entirely sure he wants to find out now that the silence has dragged on.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, about the conversation we had the other day.”

The silence is back, nothing but the sizzling of oil filling the air as Ienzo fell still, as if Demyx’s words had short circuited him, only moving when food began to catch, quickly chopping the rest of the meat on his board before adding it, a shaky breath before hands are under the tap. “I thought…we’re less likely to be interrupted in here, aren’t we?”

He’s never been here when Ienzo is cooking but he knows the labs and gardens at least always lead to another apprentice making an appearance and, if not them, then a keyblade wielder or former colleague that only served to quickly change the subject into something less important or for their conversations to die all together. Maybe Ienzo’s room but then, no, it wouldn’t do, someone would still interrupt them there.

“Yes but…” Ienzo trails off, rubbing his hands a little too harshly dry and swallowing, looking almost like a lost child as he looked between the stove and the kitchen table. “But I’m not sure if I…”

Demyx is ready for it this time, grasping the hand as it comes up to his neck, weaving fingers together where possible and giving his hand a light squeeze. Were his hands always this cold? Demyx wonders, taking in the shocked look of Ienzo and offering a small smile in response. No time for grins or quips, just open expressions and apprehension, pans moved off the heat before the smaller man can further burn his food. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, not until you’re ready.”

A tanned thumb rubs lines into the side of a pale palm, the focus back on breathing correctly in a bid to calm nerves and settle his old soul, Demyx watching as eyes closed and breaths came in slowly, a face slowly easing back into calmness after painting a picture so anxious it tugged and tangled his heart strings. He could kiss him, lord knows she wants to, biting his lower lip as he went over why that would be a bad idea over and over again, an inner mantra that he could not ignore.

He’ll be mad at you. He doesn’t feel the same way. He won’t want to be near you again after this.  Just because he’s nice to you and treats you humanely doesn’t mean he wants you.

Demyx has taken risks but this time, this time he’s not sure it was worth it.

“I want to I just…”

“You just can’t get it into words?” Demyx fills in, Ienzo sighing and nodding, finally opening his eyes only to avert them to the side, face screwing as if trying to process a thought before Ienzo sighs. Hit the nail on the head there, Demyx surmises, giving the other’s hand yet another squeeze in hope of either encouraging him to speak or reassurance, which ever Ienzo had the most need for at that moment. “Or is it something else?”

“Something else. Maybe. I’m not honestly sure.” He pulls his hand away then, wiggling it out of his grasp and pulling the pan back onto the ring, breathing slowly, exhaling and continuing on like the exchange hadn’t just happened. It’s not long before the sizzling is back, Demyx feeling somewhat lost in the kitchen as he waits for Ienzo to do something, unsure as to where his sudden cowardice to chase the conversation had come from. “It’s easier to ramble my thoughts if I keep my hands busy.”

It clears up nothing and yet everything, Demyx’s mouth forming a small o as Ienzo hums, adding more ingredients to the pot, the tension in his shoulders seemingly melting away with every movement and stir.  

“I’ve gone from bare traces of feelings for so long that now that I feel them at the level I should, it almost feels like drowning. My annoyance is anger and my anger is loathing, my insecurities scream at me deafeningly during the long nights and the moments alone in the lab when I can’t find answers.” He whispers his words, barely audible over the hissing of oil meeting stock, Demyx about catching the sight of downturned eyes and the accompanying frown. “Things that bring me joy make my heart pound louder than sirens and bells, my excitement and happiness over the littlest of things exceeds expectations in displays that are hard to tamper down.”

He sighs, anger bubbling back to the surface, movements becoming jagged, aggressive almost as he spat out his next words. “It’s ridiculous, I’m not- “

“I don’t think its ridiculous.” Demyx intersects, hand taking rest on Ienzo’s forearm as the other freezes once more, biting into his lower lip in a way that looks a touch too painful but now wasn’t the time to lecture, not that Demyx would have done that anyway. “You’ve gone from drips to an over spilling sink, you’re bound to struggle.”

The laugh surprises him, somewhat strangled and a bit raw, like Ienzo is using it to hide another emotion entirely from spilling from his lips. “When did you start making sense?” He chokes out, the heel of his hand wiping his eyes, perhaps wishing he hadn’t pinned his hair back so entirely.

“I always have,” it’s just nobody ever cares to listen.

------------------

The market is simultaneously busy enough for him to blend into the crowd but also empty enough that he’s had the ability to occupy the bench by Aerith’s for a solid 40 minutes without being interrupted by anyone beyond the aforementioned shop keeper who had simply brought him a drink and left after asking him if he was okay, slipping a flower behind his ear before leaving after confirming he was.

There’s something unnerving about her, though what caused Demyx to feel on edge around her he couldn’t place, assuming it was down to how she always seemed to know what had, is and would happen in the foreseeable future if you so much as stepped within five feet of her, her comment of how he could always give the flower to his friend if he didn’t want it making Demyx ask himself if he was so obvious that this practical stranger had sussed him out already.

It’s been eight days since the kitchen confession, Demyx knowing he wasn’t intending to ignore Ienzo but his feet had led him to this bench as opposed to the castle, pouring over his notes on Ienzo’s emotional state and the table of differences he’d made between both Zexion and Ienzo. The table was simple, almost childlike, one worded differences in lists under a name and a poorly drawn doodle of both sides of the coin, Demyx cursing himself as he realises the small hearts he’d drawn as almost a halo around Ienzo.

Oh, he’s a fool, staring at the page, blinking rapidly as if trying to erase the obvious signs of his affection as if Ienzo would ever see his scrawled notes that he was the subject to. Why would he? Demyx knew better than to expose himself like this to anyone, never mind the other, already shuddering at the imagined looks of the other apprentices and the laughter of everyone else.

“Looks like a twelve year old when hair is pinned back…is that supposed to be me at the bottom?”

Demyx jumps, yelling as he sends his notebook flying, scrambling to catch it, preparing to turn and shout at whoever had surprise him only to falter and clamp his mouth shut at the sight of Ienzo, still leaning over slightly and looking only marginally apologetic for scarring him. He’s lucky he’s cute.

“Is what you?”

Acting oblivious is perhaps not his best move, Ienzo fixing him a look that is filled with scepticism as he undoubtedly sees through Demyx’s façade, taking seat beside Demyx on the bench, slouching as he sighed. It’s not stressed this time, relieved, ecstatic almost, barely able to hide the pride from his features, relaxing in the silence that stretched between them. “Anyway, what brings you down into Radiant Garden? You normally don’t leave the castle unless I bribe you.”

“I found him.” He’s not seen the other’s eyes ever light up like that before, Demyx leaning back slightly as Ienzo leaned towards him, almost blinded by the sheer enthusiasm. Normally he’d make a comment, tell Ienzo to calm down for a second but the saccharine hit of endorphins that seemed to be flooding the human’s system was simply too irresistible to try and dampen. “I found Zack Fair!”

That would explain the lack of fanfare that would have come from finding Sora, he supposes, Demyx looking over Ienzo’s shoulder to his work place, Cloud in conversation with Leon and Cid looking stressed, before looking back to Ienzo and swallowing. The urge to kiss him is back, seemingly stronger than ever. “Knew you could, where was he then?”

“Game Central Station. Can’t say I’ve heard of it either but I got a name match at least.”

He continues to talk, Demyx just watching how animated Ienzo became with every word over what the finding of a new world meant, explaining his work with such vigour that Demyx responds without thinking, tucking a flyaway piece of hair back where it belonged having dislodged itself during the enthusiasm. Fingers trail along a pale jaw, tilting Ienzo’s chin up, swallowing thickly as his movements came to a standstill.

Maybe he should kiss him, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing after all.

But, as with all things, he’s interrupted, wincing at Cloud calling his name before sighing, dumping his notebook into Ienzo’s hands unceremoniously, huffing as he stood before giving the other an apologetic look. “Sorry, duty calls.”

He’s going to regret giving Ienzo his notebook, isn’t he? Perhaps, but the flushed look of Ienzo was a fair enough trade for him, silently hoping he hadn’t ruined the one friendship he truly cared for.

-----------------------------

Three days until he sees Ienzo again and, for once Demyx isn’t sure if he’s unhappy that it took so long or that the break hadn’t lasted longer, still fighting the urge to run as he stands in the courtyard, holding what felt like a suspiciously empty box, the fragile stickers slapped across the brown paper being the only thing stopping the Nobody from just shaking the package.

From off world too, memories of Marluxia mentioning the Kingdom of Corona when he was still with the Organisation and Xehanort, a place of flowers and a princess with long hair trapped in a tower. Half the other worlds sounded like fairy tales, myths and legends but then Demyx knew full well they were. The Underworld still made him shiver, an itch he just couldn’t scratch.

Which wielder sent it? He wonders, Aqua being the safest bet of the lot of them, having gained enough of an impression of her from those talking about her to know she seemed the type to send something between worlds. Though, why she had to address it to the lab and not somebody specific he does not know, Demyx glaring at the package like it had gravely insulted him before heading in.

Perhaps the lab would be empty, Ienzo may spend most of his time in there but not all of it. He’s on a tea break, Demyx reasons with himself, finally took the initiative on his limits as a person and acted before he over worked himself yet again. It had, in part, been the reason for Ienzo’s argument with Even and Demyx can only dream that the message Even had been trying to get across had stuck.

Apparently not, Demyx sighs with resignation.

Sat at his desk as opposed to a computer, Ienzo had, of course, elected to take his break not outside of the lab but still in it, one hand nursing a chipped cup of tea whilst the other tapped a pen against the note book he was writing in, taking a brief break to think before noting something down again.

Maybe if he’s quiet he won’t be noticed, his cowardice coming back full force in the face of his feelings and it’s ridiculous, he believes, knowing full well he would have kissed the other the last time he’d seen him had the pair not been interrupted. Depositing the box is not the issue, the pen he sends clattering to the floor is, the noise seeming to become the loudest thing in existence, echoing beyond the walls of the lab and maybe out into the town square.

“If this is how you are when you’re trying to be stealthy, I see why you were always on public reconnaissance.”

He teasing him, still looking down at whatever he’s working on but humour still pulls of his lips to create some endearing mix of a smile and a smirk. Only on Ienzo would he find that expression endearing. It wouldn’t be wrong of him to think that maybe Ienzo hadn’t read his notebook after all, Demyx edging closer akin to a caged animal, swallowing back his fear of the situation.

Ienzo hadn’t read it. Ienzo was not aware he’d kept a notebook on his emotional ticks. Ienzo hadn’t delved into an admittedly creepy book containing both his thoughts about the newly reformed human and the differences between both himself and Zexion.

Only he had.

Demyx pales as he sees the notebook open, swiftly turning on his heel and making way to leave only for a hand to stop him, gripping the back of his jacket tight enough to stop him but loose enough to let him leave if he wanted to. He doesn’t. Despite the shame and feeling of regret welling up in him as Ienzo continues to hold the back of his jacket in silence.

Should he break it or leave it hanging? A spike of panic rising in his chest as the hand gripping him tightens, mumbling an inward prayer to himself for a favourable outcome as the silence is finally shattered. “I added another column, you’re rather observant when you want to be.”

He…What?

Turning back to face Ienzo and his work, Demyx takes note of the additional page ripped out from elsewhere in the book and stuck in, creases along the tape where the page had been folded in to keep it from sticking out. So there was another one, Demyx just about able to make out the words Child Ienzo from chicken scrawl, biting back a laugh at both the way his writing was better than an apprentice of Ansem’s but also the words written.

Little Weirdo. Quiet. Shy. Withdrawn.

Words from the other apprentices no doubt, Demyx sure he could place who had said what from what he had known of them whilst in the Organisation. But before he can even voice his guesses he’s distracted by the small doodle at the bottom, better than his vague barely Ienzo or Zexion doodles, of what Demyx guesses to be a child Ienzo. Miniature lab coat, neutral if not sour expression and ice cream? He’d never taken Ienzo to have a sweet tooth.

“There was one other thing…” Ienzo’s voice is gentle, fingers pulling at the hemline of his sweater vest as he looked down from the desk to his lap, breathing in the nose and out the mouth as he always did whenever the anxiety seeped into his system.

This was it. This was the time of his rejection, Demyx preparing himself to act like it was nothing, just water off of a duck’s back and nothing to be concerned about. “Look, you don’t have to-“

“I don’t really have days off but Even and Ansem both force me to take the afternoon off on Tuesday and Friday.”

Demyx can’t see his face but he can see the colour creeping along the other’s neck, hands still wringing the sweaters hemline almost to the point of distortion and oh.

Oh!

It finally clicks, Demyx biting his lip to stop himself from shouting in triumph, leaning down in one fail swoop to press a kiss to Ienzo’s cheek as the giddy energy eviscerated any self-doubt and regret he’d been stewing in for the past three days. “Then I will see you tomorrow, Zo.” The skip in his step is unmissable, practically bouncing out of the lab to finish his round so he can plan for tomorrow.

And if Ienzo hears his shout of celebration as the lab doors close, he doesn’t mention it.

[amaryllisblackthorn]

mainly dgs-2 spoilers, mention of small dgs-4 spoilers + possible tiny dgs-3 and dgs-5 spoilers [basically spoilers for dgs]

(major) spoilers for episode 2 of dai gyakuten saiban !! (minor) spoilers for episode 4, (even more minor) spoilers for episode 3 and episode 5

so something that I find a little baffling and frustrating is how many people genuinely think sherlock is 100% completely dumb after episode 2 and miss the fact that the end part of the episode reveals that sherlock actually had already figured basically everything out for real and was mostly trolling before that

like I know a lot of people by this point complain that the ending of the episode drags on and they're probably not paying close attention as a result but that means they miss something really really important!!!!

after sherlock says his 'tbh I intended to let Scotland Yard take it from here, the only reason I got involved was to help you out bc I felt bad, but I forgot that the deceased was a dear friend to both of you, so from here on out you should seek the truth with your own eyes' && the epic music (Reasoning Battle - Introduction i think) starts to play, Sherlock is not only on his game but is guiding Naruhodou the whole time.

he guides naruhodou to the realization that the food was drugged, that the whole crew was in on it, that the emergency stop locked the door, and of course that something was in asougi's fist.

sherlock prompts naruhodou  with deliberate questions that put him on the path of the truth. 'have you all noticed the throbbing too?' 'by the way as a stowaway how did you come by your meals? ah so last night the victim didn't eat any of the meal?... seriously after saying that aloud you still don't get it?' and, in a way, his theatre of logic and reason is very similar! he guides naruhodou onto the path of the truth by pointing out the significant tells and observations but intentionally gets the logic wrong so naruhodou has a frame to work with to figure it out himself (the theatre also helps naruhodou's confidence in asserting his assertions but that's another thing)

this last part reveals that sherlock was onto the actual truth before he entered the cabin the second time. for one, he did the second emergency stop to confirm his suspicion that it would lock the doors!! not to mention that HE INSPECTED ASOUGI'S FIST AND FOUND NIKOMINA'S EARRING IN IT which probably happened at the very beginning since Asougi's body has been moved when Naruhodo wakes up, meaning that SHERLOCK SUSPECTED/KNEW FROM THE BEGINNING THAT A WOMAN/NIKOMINA WAS IN THE ROOM WITH ASOUGI WHEN HE DIED. so his 'great deductions' about the snake and it being an accident with the cat??? they were a load of bull!! like I'm sure sherlock was actually genuinely shocked about susato's snake facts, but he didn't actually think it was a snake that did it!!!

to reiterate, before Sherlock even gave his great snake deduction:

he knew nikomina was in the room with asougi

he suspected the ship did an emergency stop to lock the door 

likely had suspicions that the food was drugged and thus the whole crew was in on it (strengthened when stroganoff reveals nikomina's connection with the sailors & naruhodou reveals the meal situation & others confirm their heads have been hurting)

knew that someone framed naruhodou (the emergency stop, the Russian on the floor)

his great snake deduction and his great cat accident deduction were not serious actual deductions!! he was trolling!! that's what the last part of the ep reveals!! like i mentioned before, his false deductions serve a purpose in helping naruhodou but i’ll prob talk about that more another time.

but the point is, this end part of the episode reveals that Sherlock is a lot smarter than he lets on!! it reveals that he is, in fact, a great detective. he’s still chaotic and distressed about the disillusionment of snakes and impulsive and certainly thinks a lot of himself and stuff, but he’s /not/ actually stupid. he’s a troll; a trickster. and again, this plays into his false deductions sometimes and i’ll prob get into that another time.

but so many people completely miss and overlook this!!! they think sherlock is, while possibly endearing, genuinely stupid and a bad detective; they think he’s all talk, instead of just a lot of talk (bc he does sing his own praises all the time lol). and like, i can kind of see why, because his introduction makes such a strong first impression and when it’s revealed Sherlock’s actually smarter than he’s been letting on near the end, many people are preoccupied with their frustration at how the end seems to be ‘dragging on’. !!!DGS-3 AND DGS-4 SPOILERS!!!  and then there’s a whole episode until his next appearance, so it’s kind of easy to forget what happened at the end episode 3 !!!/DGS-3 AND DGS-4 SPOILERS!!! 

but it’s honestly pretty frustrating bc so many people miss something that’s really important! 

i mean idk it could just be the small sample size i’ve seen that’ve been missing it and it isn’t as big of a thing as i sometimes feel it is, and it’s not like i’m angry at the people missing it or anything -- i just feel like dgs sherlock deserves acknowledgement (altho he acknowledges himself enough to compensate for it and then some, hehe)

!!!DGS-4 AND DGS-5 SPOILERS!!!

like, more than once i’ve seen people go ‘oh so iris is the real sherlock’ when they get to iris’ theatre of logic and reason, and again i can get why bc of the (intentional) stark difference between the theatres, but imo the main difference is that iris plays it straight, not that she’s actually better at it necessarily. and like, i appreciate that iris says that she ‘just mimics the real thing’ bc while she likes giving sherlock a hard time, she does acknowledge his abilities (heh it’s probably good for sherlock that iris likes giving him a hard time, to keep him grounded) -- from what I can recall atm i think Iris ‘put downs’ of Sherlock tend to relate to like his immaturity and impulsivity rather than like dumbery or ineptitude

and im not saying that iris isn’t better/smarter than sherlock bc iris is great and she could be, but my point is the ‘oh so iris is the real sherlock’ bc it’s attached to ‘sherlock is actually dumb but just thinks he’s smart/the best’ which. isn’t true!! it’s ‘iris is smart and sherlock is also smart’ as well as ‘iris is more straight-forward about it while sherlock is often a troll’ and i’m cutting myself off here to prevent myself from writing ten more paragraphs except im going to reiterate i’m not necessarily saying iris isn’t smarter than sherlock and honestly sherlock probably thinks she is and at the very least when she grows up she’ll surpass him and sherlock will be happy

!!!/DGS-4 AND DGS-5 SPOILERS!!!

i’ve gone off a little from my original point so i apologize for that. my main point was/is supposed to be that the end of ‘the speckled band’ shows that Sherlock is a lot smarter than he lets on bc it reveals he’s been figuring out the actual truth before he even gives his great snake deduction which also reveals that his great snake deduction and great cat accident deductions weren’t sincere and brings into question his other great deductions which i will hopefully get into in another post.

OH i forgot to include why i think sherlock was trolling, besides giving naruhodou a framework to work with to figure out what’s going on. it’s nothin super solid but basically it goes back to what sherlock said himself re: ‘the only reason i got involved was bc i felt bad that you were involved but i forgot the deceased was a dear friend to both of you’ and?? again i’m not 100% sure but it’s possible that Sherlock suspected that it was manslaughter and not intentional murder and so wanted to ‘solve’ the case so that the 15-yr-old fugitive wouldn’t have to be repatriated and also so Naruhodou would be cleared of suspicion, but eventually realized that Naruhodou and Susato deserved to know the truth behind the death of their loved one (and was later able to negotiate with the immigrations office on behalf of nikomina). the fact that sherlock went out of his way to encourage naruhodou to check the back of the newspaper he gives them (the one about nikomina) suggests that sherlock suspected nikomina’s involvement before they meet her as roylott in her cabin.  take in mind that this is taking into account only what we know as of dgs and not taking into account anything potentially learned in dgs2.

also this isn’t really part of anything, but sherlock also has adhd vibes which i appreciate (i have adhd-i which is a little different than his but still) even if it wasn’t intentional

[aardrinn]

OH!!! TELL US ABOUT THE FOR SHADOWING BIT PLEASE? If your cool with it lmao! I either missed it completely or I read it and didn't process it, so I'm truely curious as to what you did!

Oh, gosh, absolutely!

So, for Jazz and Prowl bonding, I had to do a lot of what I like to describe as structural foreshadowing! Basically, because this is an alien species, I had to do a couple of things before I could even begin to handle them bonding:

1) I needed to make it clear to everyone what bonding was

2) I needed to establish what sort of relationships could lead to bonding

3) I needed to establish what the benefits and effects of bonding were

Originally, Ratchet and Ironhide were going to be romantically entangled but not bonded (way way back in the beginning) but I realized pretty early on how I wanted Jazz and Prowl to wind up bonded - the scene in the cells was something I was planning since… the second fic, I think? Before The Kill, for sure. I didn’t have all of the details ironed out, but I knew I wanted them to bond before writing the whole romance. 

So, because I already had plans for Ironhide, I transferred Ratchet’s affections over to Wheeljack, and had them be conjunxed! That gave me another character to round out the Praxus team, and also gave me a chance to introduce the idea of a bonded couple.

Then there are Red Alert and Inferno, who are sort of a mirror of Jazz and Prowl’s relationship in that they build each other up. Unlike Ratchet and Wheeljack, who are very similar, Red Alert and Inferno complement by contrasting - Inferno balances out Red’s issues, and Red has his genius that pulls Inferno along. It let me introduce the idea that Jazz might be able to balance Prowl’s processor issues, which was a smaller thing, but it also provided more framing for their eventual relationship.

Then there’s Mirage and Hound - two very functional mechs doing a job very similar to what Jazz and Prowl will! They let me introduce mutual mortality (the fact that one bondmate dying kills the counterpart) and also the whole spark-bond communication thing. They also introduced touching sparks as being a core component of it, without making it explicit! With them, we had previewed several types of intimacy that could lead to bonding, had established that bonding probably has something to do with sparkmerging, and that bondmates could influence each other’s systems, speak using their sparkbonds, and die if their bondmate does.

From there, I needed to make it clear that Jazz and Prowl were compatible in terms of sparkbonding! Basically, I needed to make it clear that their was

1) Potential for mutual interest

2) Mutual trust sufficient for one character to bare their spark to the other

3) A sequence of events that would put the two in a situation where bonding made sense

Part 1 was easy - just… write a romance. Shower scenes, cleaning up after a battle, ect - but I also included scenes where the pair were allowing each other into their lives. Jazz stood up to Ratchet for Prowl - Prowl let Jazz help him write his brother. Jazz took Prowl out for pastries - Prowl let Jazz crash on his couch. Little intimate moments, nothing explicitly romantic because that would have spoiled the rushedness of it, but the sort of small, close things you share with a person you

TRUST. This was the big one, because you can’t write something like two people entering a suicide pact without them trusting each other. All throughout the story, Jazz is upfront with Prowl. Unless I missed something early on, there shouldn’t be any point where he outright lies to him - he admits the fuel is drugged; he tells him he isn’t there to kill him, he says outright that he plans to kill Feldspar. He’s an assassin, but an honest one. Not only that, though: he repeatedly proves that he isn’t just helping Prowl to feel good about himself; he wants to help. He listens when Prowl says that he’s going to get mechs killed. He puts himself at physical risk to protect someone important to Prowl. When Prowl is hurting (because of him!) he carefully helps him recover, and apologises for lashing out.

Meanwhile, Prowl is proving his trustworthiness, too. He doesn’t betray Jazz - not early on, when he’s figured it out himself, and not later, when he knows about Ratchet and could ruin both of their lives. Even when Jazz is most suspicious of him, Prowl’s intentions wind up being benevolent - he never uses his authority to force Jazz, and he puts Bumblebee’s life before his own dignity and begs Jazz for help. And then, when Jazz offers him a huge show of trust by letting him slave his systems over, he does exactly what was promised, and no more.

So with that, all of the ingredients are in the pot, so to speak. Now it’s just a matter of setting up the stage - Prowl in the first cell, so Jazz has to be walked by, giving them an opportunity; Mirage being unwilling to clarify that they won’t be killed, giving them impetus; Prowl having information that they want, giving him a reason to believe that Ops wants him alive; Jazz having heard Mirage threaten to have Prowl killed, giving him a reason to take an extreme step. Add in the big advantages bonding buys them with regards to not being able to execute just one of them, plus unlimited, confidential communication, shake it up, write a couple of classy lines where Jazz snarls “Yes!” and you’ve got a bonding twenty chapters in the making.

In terms of more explicit foreshadowing… In one chapter I literally wrote that the only way that they were going to have to get obliviously fake-conjunxed before they realized they loved each other :D But mostly it was the constant implication, in the chapters leading up to things, that Jazz and Prowl would do any dumb thing if they thought it would protect the other one - Jazz willingly getting captured by Mirage, and Prowl’s grinding determination during his interrogations.

----------------------

Basically, to make a long post short - IMO good foreshadowing isn’t an explicit thing so much as a looming inevitability. You don’t need all of the details down before you start - god knows I basically just had “they panic-bond in Mirage’s custody” when I started - but you need an end goal to build towards. Then it’s just a matter of taking slow steps towards that - basically, you want to shape your reader’s understanding of the situation enough that, by the time it happens, the outcome seems like a natural progression.

You don’t need it to be something easy to guess, though - no one seems to have seen them bonding coming, and that surprise is very much what I wanted, since it was going to be the bubble of stress bursting on a series of tense chapters. Like in an old comic - “with no rescue in sight for our heroes, they’re forced to take drastic measures -” :D It just needs to feel, when it happens, like it makes sense, like it’s the story coming to a climax rather than something out of place.

And then - well, it was a narrative twist, so it forced a bunch of pieces out of place, and set up a bunch more, and the next many, many chapters were spent dealing with the fallout, but that’s a whole ‘nother giant text post to get into.

------------------------------------------

Hopefully that makes sense? It’s very late and I am very tired, so sorry if it doesn’t, and feel free to poke me if there are any bits you want to ask about or that don’t make sense :D also it’s been a long time since I finished this so i’ve forgotten a bunch of the specifics :D

[shernoel]

May I request a romantic moment between Erik and Christine ?? uwu please and thank you

I’m not sure if you wanted art or writing, so I just chose whatever. Hopefully this counts as romantic enough! I do have a drawing in the works that will also cover this prompt, which will he posted soon. Also I’m on mobile so hopefully the cut works, if not I sincerely apologize!

[[MORE]]

Erik was not an anxious man. He liked to do things at his own pace, and do them well at that. His music took hold of his body and he worked frantically for days at a time, but he was not anxious over its flaws. He knew he could mold and polish it until it shone with beauty. He had all the time in the world for his Don Juan, for example. Quite literally.

But when it came to Christine, things were different. He was sure if the Daroga could see him now, hurriedly preparing Earl Grey tea and biscuits for a tiny blonde soprano, he would die of shock and amusement combined. A scowl crossed Erik’s devil’s mouth at the thought. Meddlesome booby. He had no right to even think of his life, let alone Christine! But it was of no matter, the Daroga was not here.

He smoothed his long hands over his clothing, trying to fix imaginary wrinkles and flaws. If he were to have this damned horror of a face, he must make up for it in all other aspects! His fingers found his mask, and he quickly ran them over it to calm his racing heart. The horror is hidden and safely tucked away where no soul would witness its terror. Erik’s yellow eyes flickered to the clock on the mantle—installed there at Christine’s insistence that “I cannot tell the time here without light, Erik, and I think I’m going mad!”, and he certainly didn’t want that, so he quickly created a beautifully crafted gold clock for her—and he saw that he still had roughly half an hour before she was to come. Unsure of what to do with all of this spare time, Erik decided to do a sweep through of the home—never her room, though, that was hers alone. Heaven knows how much he himself valued privacy. He would not invade hers. The cushions of every couch were fluffled, the fireplace lit comfortably, and the tables shone with cleanliness. When it was still ten minutes until her arrival, he was quite sure he would drive himself insane if his hands were not busy, and so he set himself to the task of fixing the books in the bookshelf until they were all straightened and dusted. Ten minutes became five, and five became none. Still Christine was not there. Anger and concern flared to life in Erik’s heart. Did she not want to visit anymore? Did she value him so little? Was she with that boy—

His thoughts were cut off by a ringing chime throughout the house. His doorbell! She was crossing over now!

Sweeping his scrutinizing gaze over the room one last time, he nodded once and strode to the door to open it for her—he truly wanted to show her he could be gentlemanly and kind, and gentlemen opened doors, did they not?

As he unlocked the door and stepped back to allow his beloved girl in, he was quite literally struck still by shock. Christine stood before him, white flakes stuck all over her hair, her face wet and flushed red over her pretty cheeks. Her eyelashes weren’t even spared from the snow, little droplets collecting on the delicate hairs.

He realized a little too late that one of his long, bony fingers were reaching out to that delicate eyelash, and quickly threw himself backwards.

“Come on in, Christine,” he choked out.

“I’m ever so sorry for being late! The snow outside made it hard for me to catch a brougham—it’s a blizzard out there!” The dear girl seemed blissfully unaware of his turmoil over her unkempt beauty as she chattered on, entering his domain.

“Is it now?” He humored her, inwardly berating himself. Use your wit, you dumb fool! Stop standing there like an idiot. Christine hummed in affirmation, taking her gloves off and huffing when they stuck to her hands.

“Truly! I don’t think I’ve seen a snowstorm like this since…” and here she trailed off, and Erik looked to her rosy face as it turned downcast. He scrambled for something to distract her from the difficult memories of her past.

“Tea! I have made us tea! And biscuits! You enjoy those, don’t you Christine?”

She looked up at him then, and her blue eyes seemed to return with a bit of light. Then the angel smiled at him, and his heart melted into a puddle at his feet.

“I’d love that, Erik. And I do. May I shed my coat? It is much warmer here than out there, thank goodness.”

Erik nodded once, and his mouth dried as she removed her thick cloak and hung it up, a bit of her hair falling loose from its pins and curling down her back. His dear girl was so polite. How he wished he could be the one to remove her coat for her—Tea, Erik.

He hurriedly turned and set to arranging the teacups and biscuits, and before long they were seated in their respective chairs as they drank the warm beverage. Christine was looking much more normal and dry now, and Erik took in all of her presence he could. She sipped delicately at her tea, and seemed to be avoiding his burning gaze—she had confessed in the past that his constant stare unnerved her, and though he tried to fix it, sometimes he was unaware he was even doing it—so he quickly turned his yellow gaze to the fireplace.

“Did you change the bookshelf?” She suddenly asked, a hint of humor in her tone. His dear girl was nothing if not observant. He stiffened a bit awkwardly.

“Yes...is it to your liking?”

Christine laughed, her voice sounding like tinkling bells as she responded,”not everything you do must be to my taste, dear Erik.”

While he normally would have protested that she hadn’t answered his question, the term of endearment floored him. If it wasn’t for the feeling of warmth the teacup gave his fingers, he would’ve sworn he had died and gone to heaven. Erik hadn’t realized he had gone still and silent like the corpse he was until Christine’s worried hand touched his shoulder gently and he jumped.

“Erik? I love the bookshelf—you always have the best taste in books. Even those boring architecture ones...please don’t be upset.”

“Why would I be upset, Christine?” He asked, still dazed that she had called him dear. If he were to perish now, he would die a happy man, her gentle touch on his shoulder causing his heart to spasm.

“I called your name a few times but you didn’t respond...I thought I did something wrong…”

Here he looked up and quickly saw her upset eyes avoiding his gaze, her lip being chewed as she always does when she is worried.

“Christine!” He exclaimed, and she jumped, and he cursed his sudden action. His hand caught hers in desperation.

“I apologize! Your Erik gets caught up in his own head, sometimes he forgets he is even here! Please do not blame yourself for his own shortcomings!”

Her gaze softened, and she briefly squeezed his hand.

“I’m glad I didn’t upset you, but…”

She continued her endearing habit of nibbling on her lip. He couldn’t tear his golden gaze away this time from her pink lips.

“What were you thinking so hard about?”

Erik’s brain fizzed out when he needed it most. He most certainly was not going to tell her he was thinking about her and her words and how much they truly affected him...

“Oh. Um. Thoughts...yes. Many of those, Christine. Finish your tea.”

He waved his hand towards her seat, and to his surprise as he watched her retreating form...was that disappointment in her eyes? Drat. He had upset her.

“It is nothing of importance, my Christine. Please don’t trouble yourself with Erik’s madness,” he pleaded, knowing the poor girl somehow still blames herself for his awkward detachment.

Christine turned her gaze to the fire and sipped her tea, a stray blonde curl falling onto her cheek. An awkward silence followed, only interrupted by the crackle of the hearth, and then;”you aren’t mad, Erik. Not completely, anyway. Madness can be...nice, sometimes. Different. Genius.”

His yellow eyes bore into her very soul as he tried to comprehend her words. Was this a roundabout compliment? A simple way to appease him? Or just his kind Christine? She turned her gaze to his, but then quickly looked away, seeming to flush and smile a bit under his stare.

“But onto different topics...this tea is lovely.”

He smiled his ugly smile under the mask.

“I am very happy you say so, Christine.”

“Very lovely. Where do you get your tea?”

At this he only let the twinkle in his eyes tell her. Her smile grew in understanding. His girl was clever, she would comprehend his hidden meanings. Things went missing in the Opera House all the time.

“Erik, you shouldn’t!” She scolded, but the smile told him she found his mischief fun.

“How else is a ghost supposed to get his tea? Now, my turn for a subject change. Would you like to sing? Of course if you’re too tired, I can play for you.” He stood quickly, placing his drained cup to the side. He seemed to have a renewed vigor at the sight of her smile, and knowing that he was the cause of it.

Christine set her cup down and stood up, and as she crossed the room to him he realized just how small she was compared to him. So soft, so delicate, his darling…

“Shall we go, Erik? I’d like to sing...well...if it isn’t too much to ask…”

Erik retorted perhaps a bit too quickly as he walked ahead of her;”Nothing you ask is too much, my dear.”

Christine stopped for a second, then smiled shyly up at him, continuing the walk to the music room.

“Could we sing a few Christmas songs? Duets, even?”

He stilled as he came to sit on the piano bench, but the pleading look in her eyes made him feel a warmth in his heart no drug could compare to.

“I suppose there wouldn’t be any harm in it…” he trailed off, and she gave a squeal of excitement.

“Oh thank you, Erik!” She exclaimed, and to his complete and utter surprise, she bent down and hugged him. Too frozen with shock to comprehend what was happening, his hands remained frozen just shy of her back, trembling a bit with want. She does not see you in that way, you fool, his inner voice reminded him. But why not enjoy the gifts she does give us? Another voice added. And so Erik slowly lowered his cold hands to the warmth of her back, and closed his eyes. The hug was over all too soon, and he straightened himself up on the bench as she shyly ducked back into her spot by the piano, her head almost as red as it was when she arrived.

“What shall we start with?” He asked, and then Christine replied and the music began.

Her voice was just as lovely and pure as he remembered, and all he could feel was the lovely sound emitting from her throat and the piano for hours. Soon he joined her, to her obvious delight, and they sang carols until Christine had to pause.

“I’m quite tired, Erik dear,” she started, and he once again allowed the happy feeling to wash over him at being referred to as dear,”and the weather is awful...may I stay here tonight?”

He stood from the bench, making his way over to her to lightly guide her back into the sitting room.

“Of course Christine! You are always welcome to stay in Erik’s home.”

But something else seemed to be on her mind, her face becoming even redder than before. He likened her to a tomato, or a fine red wine, but much prettier and more dear to him. He shook himself from his lovesick thoughts as she spoke again.

“Could you...read to me? Or just speak? I do so enjoy your voice.” She laughed a bit nervously.

“Perhaps it’s silly…”

“Of course I’ll read to you, my dear Christine.”

His long fingers gestured for her to sit, and to his surprise she chose the couch. That was fine, he would kneel before her and read. Just to be in her presence was a blessing.

After choosing a book from the shelf—fairytales, her favorite—he walked over and knelt before her sitting form. Christine leaned forward and caught his hand with her own, and his eyes were glued to her soft fingers intertwined in his own.

“Please, don’t do that Erik. Sit with me...please…”

How could he deny his angel?

And so that is how Erik found himself sitting next to —not too close of course, but next to!— his beloved on the couch in the sitting room while the fire burnt before them. He opened the book and began to speak in the most soothing tones his voice could produce—quite effective, he knew. His voice was powerful. Soon, Christine was drifting off, and she laid her head on his bony shoulder as she nuzzled in for warmth. Her blonde hair tickled his neck and he gasped for air. He must be dreaming!

But the house by the lake was indeed inhabited by two people that night, and though Erik was not an anxious man, he held Christine carefully and protectively, making sure she could never have an uncomfortable moment throughout her time in dreamland.