#i felt it ever since he revealed he questions his existence but it took ace full on crying for me to realize it

[iristial]

Dropping one of many festering Geats thoughts on the table:

Ace has a thing where he regresses into his apathetic, aloof persona. It's almost like he catches himself getting more attached than he'd like because it might distract him from his desire of 2000+ years, he can't afford to show weaknesses, and he's - scared. The first person he ever cared for left him forever, and it drove him to such grief and despair he ended his first life. Now he lives like a ghost with unfinished business. Trapped in the DGP that feeds on people's misery. And if he were to get attached, who says they won't leave him too? Either during his life or they all die, old and full of years, and he wakes up with a new face and name, still cursed to keep living. Remembering. Ace may have accepted partings are inevitable, but he knows they leave wounds that never heal, scars that itch, and he'd rather not experience it again. Much like any other person. Hence why he keeps everyone at arm's length. Why he could tell Gene about his cycle of suffering but not Keiwa and Neon. Why he tests Keiwa, as if to prepare him for disappointment, and envies him deep down. Why he related to Neon more than anyone else regarding the pain of existing yet didn't say any of that to her face, and instead pushed Kyuun to comfort Neon. Why he doesn't explain the true nature of wish making to Keiwa and Neon because that way, he can take down the DGP by himself and they can keep dreaming

[whatifyoulivelikethat]

bb / gg, m | jjk

pairing(s): jungkook x reader

summary: Jeon Jungkook is the lead singer in a rock band and failed his Biology class last semester, so he has to take remedial classes over the summer. You're the Biology TA, double major in Psychology and Biology, watching him freak out over his make-up exam because he had overslept. Both of you are surrounded by rumors. Does the title stand for bad boy / good girl or bad bitch / good guy? Who knows.

warnings: rated M (18+) for language; not the healthiest dynamic tbh; slight angst due to perceived unrequited love; smut (fem reader, D/s dynamics, begging, scratching / marking, choking, handjob (he is still wearing underwear), multiple orgasms, cowgirl, hair pulling, edging / orgasm denial, cock ring usage, m-masturbation, cum-eating); non-idol!BTS – rock singer, sub!Jungkook x studious, dom!reader

yes, it's SOWOOZOO JK, both the first yellow tropical look and the shredded black shirt look; for those who wanted him to be dom!JK, there is a moment when he is but not in the way you think because that's how I operate

--

Jeon Jungkook was a bad boy.

Wore too much black, dyed his hair too much, had tattoos, always had girls hanging around him. Sang in a rock band on the weekends, played electric guitar, played the game of how-many-numbers-can-I-get tonight? Never gave a girl his leather jacket to wear but was happy to buy her a drink and flirt with her until she got hot with arousal.

You were a good girl.

Always wore a blazer. Crisp white dress shirt and pleated skirt underneath, usually in a dark color. Sensible heels, but always heels. Did too many units a semester because you were double majoring in psychology and biology. Always arrived to class early, always turned in your assignments on time, always turned in your tests early and aced that shit. Took physics with calculus even though you didn’t have to because it was the harder one and you wanted a challenge.

-

Against the wall, shoving a fist into the neck, lips to lips, teeth snapping, hand travelling down, whimpering pleas and harsh growls, keep crying, I like it, ecstasy and pain, nails to skin. Tearing clothes off, biting, marking, I own you, and then, yes, you do, mouth and tongue, aching pleasure, cocked eyebrow, mocking the pathetic whines and cries, stopping right before the end, no, please, I’ve been good, and, you take what you get, hand fitting onto the neck, squeezing the sides, eyes rolling back, skin to skin, bruising slaps that would be seen tomorrow in the mirror, traced with shaking fingers and pants of an open mouth, moaning at the memory of sky-high pleasure while lightheaded and thoughtless, desperate to do it again.

-

There was a rumor.

Everyone liked Jeon Jungkook. He had two smiles, an endearing one and a teasing one. Both encapsulated the kind of person he was, honest and playful. He always sang with conviction, he rapped with savagery, and his lyrics were always from the heart. He always hung out with his bandmates after their performances at bars and interacted with those that came up to him. No one ever said Jungkook was mean or rude in any way.

And yet.

There was a rumor.

A rumor that Jeon Jungkook was taken.

He was the kind of guy that always made sure a drunk girl got home safe even though he didn’t know them. Paid for their taxi and everything. He focused a lot on his music and writing lyrics he thought would connect with others while taking into account his band members. He always told the truth if a girl confessed to him, saying he wasn’t looking right now, that he was very sorry if she thought otherwise, that there was someone he was already interested in.

-

“Oi.”

You slammed a hand onto the tabletop and Jeon Jungkook jumped, the shredded black shirt he was wearing falling down his shoulder, revealing his ink black tattoos on his tan skin. He was wearing a black tank top underneath.

“What’s with you? You missed the exam for your remedial class and you’ve spent the past ten minutes spacing out at your make-up exam,” you barked, pointing to his empty exam sheet. “You haven’t even filled out you name.”

Jungkook swallowed hard. “S… Sorry.”

You frowned. Why was he apologizing to you? Honestly, why did you sign up for this summer TA position again? Oh, right, money and credits. Hmph. It was really just an excuse for the professor to slack off while you did the tedious things like grading and watching over idiots that skipped class. Sorry, overslept. Hung over, probably, since this was the Jeon Jungkook. Rockstar, hottie, famous in his own way.

Whatever.

He could be Jesus Christ and you would still be scolding him for missing his remedial Biology exam.

“Fill out your name so at least I can fail you properly.”

Not that it mattered, since you knew who he was. He didn’t know you knew who he was, and you had zero incentive to inform him that you were indeed aware of the existence of black-haired, tattooed, chiseled-jaw, sparkly-eyed Jeon Jungkook, all due to the constant snide remarks that followed you in your wake.

You wouldn’t be such a bitch if a guy like Jeon Jungkook put you in your place.

Who the fuck was Jeon Jungkook?

This guy, this weirdo about to fail his fucking Biology exam in front of your face.

Impatiently, you rolled up the sleeves of your gray blazer and grabbed a chair, dragging it up to the table. You snapped the chair down and sat in it, smoothing your skirt. You liked to be neat. Even though university didn’t have a uniform, you liked to keep some sort of uniform for yourself. There was a sense of security in knowing you didn’t have to select an outfit every morning. Today, white dress shirt, gray blazer, pleated black skirt that hit slightly higher than mid-thigh. Every other outfit was some variation of this and, in the winter, you wore thick stockings.

You clicked your heels together under the table sharply.

He flinched at the sound.

Jungkook wasn’t looking at you. He was mumbling at his paper.

“I… I think I studied the wrong chapters…”

You clicked your tongue. Jeez.

His hand was shaking so bad that his pen was practically vibrating. You leaned over the table, grabbing his fist to still it.

“Stop.”

Your bare knees hit his bare knees, mostly because he was wearing black jeans with giant holes in them. Jungkook froze, head snapping up, silver earrings jangling, black hair flying, undercut visible for a second.

“You want to pass this class or what?”

He nodded quickly in response.

“Good. I want to get out of here. Keep your mouth shut. Answer to the first question is A.”

His eyes widened.

“Are you… helping me cheat?” he whispered, terrified.

You cocked your head, letting go of his hand. “You said you studied the wrong chapters. I’m not spending forty-five minutes of my life to watch you panic and then ten minutes more failing you,” you replied lowly, dangerous edge to your voice.

“I… couldn’t… I mean…”

You shoved his knees open with yours, narrowing your eyes as he yelped, pleading look in those brown doe eyes. You pressed your knees on the inside of his thighs, keeping them open.

“Answer to the second question is C.”

When Jungkook didn’t move, you reached over and cupped his chin. Felt his racing heartbeat pounding through his veins, coursing through your fingertips. Stared deep into those eyes, lowering the octave of your voice, keeping his thighs spread for you under the table.

“Listen to me,” you murmured softly. “Okay, Jungkook?”

“O… Okay…”

And he did.

-

There was a rumor.

Nobody liked you. Maybe it was because of your high scores ruining the class test average. Maybe it was the dismissive way you spoke to people, almost demeaning. Most likely it was a combination of the two. Students talked behind your back all the time, spreading rumors. Friends? What friends? You had an average of twenty class credits a semester. You didn’t have time to make friends. And besides, why try to make friends when clearly nobody wanted to be your friend?

And yet.

There was a rumor.

You ignored such things. You didn’t need such distractions.

-

“It would be too suspicious if you got full marks. This score is high enough.”

“O… Okay…”

“Get on the table.”

Jungkook scrambled on the wooden tabletop as you pushed his exam aside. You were still sitting in your chair. Your head tilted, eyebrow lifting at his speedy response to your rather suspicious request.

“You listened.”

He blinked at you. “Uh… yeah?”

Silence.

“Why?” you finally said.

Jungkook gulped. “Be… because you asked,” he mumbled, knees on the table, hands clutching his knees.

“You can just walk out and report me.”

He shook his head quickly, black hair flying everywhere. “I don’t want to.”

Your other eyebrow raised. He chewed on his lip, a flash of pink tongue in his movement.

“Tell me what you want. I’ll do it.”

Well.

You decided to test his conviction.

“Edge of the table. Spread your legs for me.”

Instantly, obediently, Jeon Jungkook surprised you by doing it, putting each leg on either side of you, chunky black sneakers hanging down. Shredded black shirt open, hands behind his ass, towering over you, and yet his eyes were watching you, waiting for more, begging for instruction.

“Hm.”

You raised your chin, seeing his impressively muscular thighs and body displayed for you to take. He was so close you could smell his clean, dreamy scent, like a meadow in summer dusk, surrounded by peeking stars and blinking fireflies. Interesting.

But you didn’t need the distraction.

“That’s it. You can go now,” you said dismissively, about to push your chair back.

His legs closed in, pressing firmly into your upper arms. Your eyes flickered up to him.

Jungkook shook his head very slowly.

“Do what you want.”

You saw his chest rise and fall, his silvery voice deepening, pupils expanding.

“I know you want to do something to me.”

His erection was bulging against the zipper of his black jeans. Your eyes went back to his face. He shivered at your sharp stare. All of this was happening in an otherwise empty lecture hall, with you and Jungkook at the very bottom.

Just you and him.

You placed your hands on his thighs. He jumped a little, but scooted closer to you. You slid your hands up. You undid the button of his jeans, scrutinizing those brown eyes. He raised his hips to help you as you pulled the zipper down.

“You don’t know me,” you finally said, no inflection in your voice.

He didn’t look away. “I don’t care.”

“Hmm.” You smirked. “Bad boy, aren’t you?”

Jungkook shook his head slightly, but didn’t break eye contact as you pulled his pants to his knees and reached for his black boxer briefs. “No. I’m a good guy. I want to give you what you want.” You hooked your fingers over the waistband and nicked his skin with your nails, making him gasp, the pleasure evident in his tone. He did not try to hide it from you. “I want to be good for you.”

“Why is that?”

He hung his head a little.

“Something about… how you make me feel…” he muttered. His gaze finally faltered. You reached up and righted his chin, forcing him to look at you. Saw that Jungkook had a mole under his mouth, perfectly in the center. He had a nice shape to his pink lips. You tapped his cheek, nudging him to elaborate. “You… You’re so pretty… and smart… Everyone looks up to you because you have such good grades…”

You doubted that.

Jungkook probably had no idea that most of the school hated your guts.

You didn’t have classes with Jungkook, but you were sure he knew your name because your name was posted on the Dean’s List of the highest-ranking students of the university every semester. Also, you weren’t hard to miss. Every student moved out of your way when you walked through the halls, whispering behind their hands.

Jungkook brought you back to the present.

“I feel,” he whispered, voice trembling, gaze locking with yours. “I feel like I want to be on my knees for you.”

His skin was warm under your nails.

“Like this is where I belong, in your hands.”

You stood up.

Jungkook started, turning into a tight squeak as you placed your hand on his chest and pushed him down.

“Lift up your shirt with both hands.”

He did was he was told, revealing his toned abs and the lower half of his pecs, biting his lip, clutching onto his tank top, ears turning red as he craned his head to look down at you. You didn’t give him any satisfying response. His tan skin seemed to glow under the overhead lights. You studied his face.

Reached up and began to rub his erection through his underwear.

“A… ah…”

“Gonna make you cum like this.”

He shook his head quickly. “P… Please, no…”

You felt him swell and twitch under your hand. He was pretty big. Thick. Pretty boy with a pretty dick, probably. You rubbed the head with your palm, feeling his pre-cum leaking through the thin fabric. He wasn’t kidding when he said you made him feel some kind of way.

“Why not? Make you cum in your underwear and then you have to go all the way home covered in it. All dirty, just for me.”

His handsome face twisted with sinful pleasure at your suggestion, whimpers in his throat. His cock jerked with need, wanting it.

“O… Okay. Whatever you want.”

So obedient.

“So obedient, Jungkook,” you purred, rubbing faster.

He nodded. “For you. Only for you. Just for you.”

Was it just saying those things because he thought that was what you wanted to hear? Or was that how he actually felt? Surely not the latter, considering he didn’t really know you. You leaned over him, placing your free elbow on the table to stabilize yourself. You hadn’t even kissed him.

“You’re so hard for me,” your drawled, lowering your head, letting your warm breath float down onto his skin. “You want to cum for me, don’t you?”

“Y… yes, please…”

“You want to be my toy?”

You pressed your lips to his bellybutton, feeling the smoothness of his skin, tasting it. He moaned at your kiss, your swift tongue flickering out to that delicious skin, whining when your teeth nipped at the softness. Fuck, he tasted so good that you wanted to mark him. Looked so fucking good that you wanted to mess him up, mar him with temporary imperfections on the perfection that was Jeon Jungkook.

“Yes…”

With breathless, lustful conviction.

You licked up his abs, increasing the intensity and speed of rubbing the engorged head of his cock, the pre-cum already soaked through and creating a slippery surface, turning Jungkook’s pitched whines to deep moans, a melody that filled up the entire lecture hall until was the only thing you could hear, Jungkook’s moans as you bit his skin, his moans as you sucked on his skin, moans as you kissed the hard muscle, cries for more at you left marks, pleading for you, sweet and beautiful, clutching his shirt so tight that his knuckles were white, the black tattoos of his right hand standing out, his cock throbbing in your hand, his hips rising to hump your palm, your name on his lips, over and over and over.

“Gonna… gonna cum…” he panted, sniffing slightly, cheeks flushing pink. “Gonna cum like how you want me to, all over my underwear…”

Your fingertips touched his side, seeing him stiffen and then shudder at your gentle caress.

“Do it,” you murmured. “Show me how good you are at listening, Jungkook.”

He bit his lower lip, jaw clenching, squeezing his eyes shut, tipping his head back into the tabletop, whining your name in his chest, your palm working him, slick and hot and hard, pulsating under your roughness. With a sharp moan, his lower lip popped out of his teeth, dark red and swollen, small mole quivering.

“F-Fuck…!”

You felt it and heard it, the unmistakable jolt and squelch as his orgasm splattered inside his boxer briefs, drenching the fabric, drenching your hand, his embarrassed whines as he realized what he had done but still humping your hand, forcing out every last twitch of dribbling cum, causing you to smear it everywhere, coating the sensitive head and adding to the pleasure, his cheeks flushed red, eyes squeezed shut to savor the pleasure and avoid looking at you.

“Shh…”

You crawled onto the table, still holding his cock through his soiled underwear, squeezing it, free hand slipping under his head and lifting him, his eyes weakly opening, scared and anxious, but all you did was lean down and kiss him, pressing your lips to that pure softness, exhaling his name into his mouth, his scent staining your hand, his cologne filling your nose, your whisper in his throat.

“Time for you to go home.”

-

Jungkook thought you would tell everyone.

You did no such thing.

Instead, you ignored him.

He would see you three times a week and, three times a week, you arrived with the professor and left with the professor. Jungkook tried much harder to attend classes, but you seemed not to care either way. He would come to the front and collect his assignment and find that you had marked it up exactly like everyone else, red marks all over his incorrect answers. You didn’t even look in his direction.

The next exam was coming up quickly.

Part of him considered skipping exam day to have one-on-one time with you again.

“Jungkook.”

He jumped, jerking his head towards the hall, confused. Somehow, he had heard your voice. Or rather, did he imagine it? His teeth sunk into his lip, placing a hand on his forehead, confused. His head was confused. He couldn’t think straight. Why had he done such an embarrassing thing with you? Even you had told him to leave and report you. But Jungkook just couldn’t. Not then and not now. He had asked for it.

He still wanted it.

Nobody knew. Everybody thought he was a cocky, womanizing playboy. And he was, but not because of the sex. It was only because he was bored and that was all he could get. There was power in being on top.

And there was power in letting go.

You were bad for him.

He was a good guy.

You were a bad bitch.

And nobody knew.

A hand slapped down on his shoulder and yanked him around, the loose short sleeves of his yellow tropical shirt flaring out, making his sunglasses rattle on his face. You narrowed your eyes at him. Instant shivers down his spine at your stern gaze.

“Are you deaf?” you snapped. “I’ve been calling your name for the past minute.”

“I… S-Sor–”

You waved a hand dismissively, grabbing his right hand and slapping down a post-it into it.

“Chapters for the exam, including the date and time. Do not miss it this time. I will not let you make it up and fail you on the spot.”

You turned on your heel, letting go of his hand.

His left one shot out and circled around your arm, his rings pressing into your skin.

“Wait.”

You jerked your head towards him, glaring sharply. “Don’t touch me.”

And you yanked your arm out of his grasp, but his legs made the choice for him, following your swift strides, his backpack hanging off one shoulder, clutching the post-it and his last strands of sanity.

“Please, wait.”

“What?” was your curt response, not looking back at him.

“Please do it again,” he gasped breathlessly, unable to stop himself.

“Do what?”

“Have your way with me.”

You stopped walking.

Jungkook walked straight into your back and banged his nose on your head. He winced, stepping back and rubbing it gingerly. He didn’t register you turning around until it was too late and you were right in his face. You raised your chin and eyebrow simultaneously.

“No.”

He blinked rapidly, his tinted sunglasses halfway down the bridge of his nose.

“W… Why? Did you not like it? Was… was I bad?”

You let out an amused scoff.

The side of your lips curved upwards.

He had made you smile, even if only a little bit. Just that small thing was enough to feed his courage.

“I…” Jungkook coughed, clearing his throat before he spoke again, voice still a soft whisper in his embarrassment even though no one was around to eavesdrop. “I can be better. I can do better.”

Silence.

He thought you were going to walk away again.

You reached up and plucked his glasses off his nose. Folded them neatly and tucked them in his tropical shirt pocket. Then your eyes found his again and he knew something was different. He could see you clearly now, his vision no longer clouded by sienna.

Now, Jungkook could no longer stop it.

He could feel it all over him, coursing through his veins, arousal like fire. Something about you and something about him. Jungkook could sense the danger, but he didn’t want to run even though he knew he should. He had heard the rumors surrounding you. They could be true.

And yet.

“I want it,” Jungkook breathed, inviting himself into the danger. “I want you. I want to be your toy.”

Your discerning expression didn’t change.

You reached up and gripped his chin, digging your nails into his soft skin.

He whimpered in his chest, moving closer to you.

“What’s my name?”

His brows furrowed, saying your name hesitantly.

You pulled his chin down so he was eye-level.

“Next time you say my name, I will be choking it out of you.”

-

Everyone thought Jeon Jungkook was the kind of guy to grip your wrist with his left hand and your throat in his right, his lips against your ear and his sweaty chest against your back as you slapped your ass into his crotch and fucked yourself with his rock-hard cock, his smirk in your ear as he provided you with a certain type of encouragement.

“That’s right, you want this dick, don’t you? Show me. Prove to me you want it.”

His fingertips tightening against the sides of your neck, listening to your pathetic cries and moans as you tried to squirm against him, brain running out of oxygen due to lack of blood, running out of thoughts, running out of pleas as Jungkook gripped your wrist, deep snarl against your hair as he roughly finished himself off using your body because that’s all you were, someone to be used by him and nothing more, neck suddenly released with a breathless gasp and shoved face first into the sheets with his right hand splayed on your back, his tattoos and your orgasm crashing down on you, his growls staining the air and a fierce jerk of his hips to spill into your tight hole and leave you moments after, nothing but a discarded toy in his eyes.

You thought.

That was what everyone thought when Jeon Jungkook stood on stage, flipping his dark violet microphone between verses and smirking like a devil, truly in command of every thought and every pair of eyes on him, surrounded by a heavy bass line and deafening drums, guitar solo tearing through the moment to emphasize the next of his lips nearing the mic again, entrancing the crowd with his beautiful lips and talented tongue.

No one knew.

-

You were riding him hard and fast, torn condom wrappers and used condoms littering his bed, back-to-back orgasms, his head pressed into his pillows, your hand around his neck, the other leaving long lines down his chest, scratching him so hard that it dotted red, blooming lines of pain.

“Don’t stop, please don’t stop, f-fuck…”

Jungkook was hoarsely whispering, clutching his sheets, black hair soaked with sweat, raising his chest to your nails, whimpering, punish me, punish me, punish me, and you muttered plainly with a sharp edge, you talk too much, your grip tightening again, pressing onto the sides of his neck, cutting off the blood flow, and Jungkook moaned gratefully, eyelids fluttering, the slap of your hips to his louder and louder, filling up his whole bedroom, rattling his bedframe, fucking him so hard he was slowly sliding up to his headboard.

Your name fell from his lips in pure ecstasy, back arching to shove his whole length fully into you, thick and hard and twitching with need, your slick walls clamping down on him, fitting to him with a hiss. He began to match you, breathless, lightheaded, world hazy, moaning from deep in his chest, I love you, and your reply was only tightening your grip, your hand and your pussy, harder, harder, harder.

“Aren’t you such a good guy?” you scoffed sarcastically, letting up for only a second to let him reply, blood rocketing back into his brain, flooding him with oxygen, and Jungkook sucked in a lungful of air, reeling.

“N-No…” he panted. “You’re the good girl… you’re always s-so… so good to me…”

His eyes locked with yours hazy with lust and love. You almost looked away out of instinct.

“You a-always remember… what I like…” he managed to choke out.

-

You left him when you were done using him.

You pretended he didn’t say those words to you. There was no point in acknowledging the nonsense that he said in the middle of being choked and barely functioning. You tapped your pencil against your textbook.

You caught yourself thinking about him.

Jeon Jungkook.

Your eyes flickered to the clock. Late at night on a Friday. He was probably at a bar. You watched the second hand of your plain silver clock tick, tick away. You never asked to watch him and his band perform even though Jungkook always made it a point to text you the address and the time.

It was obvious Jungkook didn’t want you to be his secret.

He wasn’t really your secret either. You just saw no benefit to letting anyone know there was a connection between you and Jeon Jungkook. After all, you were just using him.

You stopped tapping your pencil.

Stared at the second hand.

Tick.

Heard the voices of the rumors poisoning you, saying the things they said.

She thinks she’s so much better than everyone else because she’s a nerd.

The only reason she has good grades is because she fucked that one professor.

I heard she dated him.

I mean, there’s a reason he left in the middle of the semester, right?

He had a wife!

Snap.

Your eyes flickered down.

The tip of your pencil lead rolled across the page, leaving tiny pinpricks of granite.

There was never any evidence because nothing happened. Nothing happened between you and said psychology professor. He left in the middle of the semester because his wife had a miscarriage and he wanted to be with her. It had nothing to do with you. You had long discussions with him about life and existentialism, hanging out during his office hours.

Sometimes, you felt bad.

Had you kept him from his wife? Would it have not happened if he just skipped his office hours and didn’t spend them talking to you? These were irrational, foolish thoughts. They made you guilty even when there was nothing to be guilty about.

He was a nice guy, mid-thirties. Everyone liked this professor.

They blamed you because they didn’t know.

Only you knew, because he told you with tears in his eyes and thanked you for being his student.

You didn’t tell anyone, because he did not owe you an explanation and you were not going to divulge someone’s personal business that they had shared with you in confidence. You watched your reputation crumble and fall apart, watched friends ostracize you, because you didn’t tell them anything and they didn’t believe you. You watched yourself turn bitter and hateful.

Just tell the truth.

There was no truth to be told.

You put your pencil down.

Closed your eyes.

Remembered Jungkook’s face.

-

Your hands were in his hair, pulling hard. His hot breath was in your face, arms shaking as he held himself up, fucking you into his mattress with whines in his chest, begging you, begging you, begging you.

“P-Please… let me cum, please…”

You liked to watch the sweat clinging to his high cheekbones and neck, jaw glistening with tension, feeling his strong body between your legs, his twitching hardness sliding into you repeatedly in rough, hard smacks, squeezing him every time he was fully sheathed inside you, vibrations coursing through you every time he came down.

“Not until I’m done,” you growled and he whimpered, pleading look in those brown doe eyes, black pupils expanded, unable to cum because a vibrating cock ring was restricting his orgasm, keeping him hard but unable to climax, sending thundering pleasure through him and into you. He watched helplessly as you gripped his hair, hissing sharply as another wave of pleasure overtook you, closing your eyes to savor it, savor his swollen cock twitching inside you as he felt the intense massage of your pussy walls closing around him, throbbing around the head and driving him insane, moaning pathetically because he couldn’t follow suit no matter how desperate he was.

Jungkook didn’t ask if you were done.

He just kept going because you told him he couldn’t cum until you were done.

And you didn’t say you were done.

You stared into those brown orbs, hazy with lust and full of conviction to be good for you.

Desperate to be the best and the only one, not knowing there was no one else because no one else wanted you like the way Jeon Jungkook wanted you.

“Pull out.”

“B-But…”

“You heard me,” you exhaled, throbs of pleasure still trembling through you. Your hands slid down, cupping his chin, nails digging into his sweaty cheeks. “Obey.”

With a pained whine, Jungkook obeyed, pulling out of you, his cock covered in your juices, wearing a condom and the black cock ring. You reached over with one hand to press the button on the remote to turn in off.

“Take it all off. Let me see your cock.”

He reached down and slowly pulled the cock ring off, taking the condom with it, whimpering at the sensitivity, his tone hitting a lovely pitched groan as the silicone squeezed the base of the head. His whole body was shaking as it fell from his hands, the veins on his length standing out, head purple-red and angry, white pre-cum slowly beading at the tip, and his face, looking down at you, waiting for your next move.

Cock waiting to be used.

You tapped your chest.

“Cum on my tits.”

“B-But–”

You cut him off.

“You’re going to cum on my tits and then you’re going to lick it off while I watch.”

-

He listened.

Jungkook straddled your waist with his thighs, muscular and defined, right hand wrapping around his cock, sweat making the tattoos on his forearm and shoulder glow in the low light, smelling like sex and musk, his core tightening as he touched his overstimulated length, using the lube of the condom and his own pre-cum to add to the pleasure as he began to stroke himself, moaning as you lifted your hands and cupped your breasts, pushing them together, his eyes on the curve of your cleavage and points of your hard nipples sticking out, and then your face, an indifferent look with a cocked eyebrow, taunting him, unimpressed by his timid grip on his cock, so he squeezed harder, tighter, embarrassing cries falling from his mouth, living for the smirk that slowly began to form on your lips.

It empowered him somehow, that smirk, the little inkling of satisfaction that Jungkook wanted, needed, craved, knowing he was doing well, being good, furiously pumping his aching cock over your pressed-together tits and he couldn’t last, couldn’t help it, too overstimulated and too turned on, too in love with this to prevent himself from tipping over with a hot gasp, spilling streams of sticky white lines over your breasts, spreading them everywhere, making a huge mess because he wanted a huge mess to clean up, shoving the head into your cleavage and shuddering at the sensation of warmth to his scorching heat, able to feel the pulse of the engorged tip dripping out what was left, shivers up and down his spine, the words falling from his mouth that he never stopped saying even though you never acknowledged them.

“I... l-love you…”

He stayed like that for nearly a full minute, but you didn’t tell him to get off.

His eyes were closed, savoring the feeling.

Slowly, Jungkook gingerly removed himself, lowering his body over yours, tongue sliding out, touching your skin covered in his cum, his taste, mine, no one else’s, him on you, lapping it up, salty and bitter and yet he loved it, loved that you told him to do it, loved that you let him paint your skin with his orgasm and now his saliva. He didn’t care that you never said anything to his I love you, didn’t care that you seemed to pretend he never said it, because he would continue saying it when he was with you, hopeless as it was.

It was the small things that kept him going, sucking his own cum off your nipple and wrapping his lips around it, hearing your soft sigh of pleasure, feeling the tap on his thigh that instructed him to scoot up, the small thing of your hand closing in on his spent cock, sending sparks of pain but also pleasure, moaning into your skin as you massaged his balls with your fingers, knowing that he could take more pressure and roughness because he had just came, the small thing of your thumb rubbing the sensitive slit, his face pressing into your breasts, smearing his cheek with his cum and saliva, sliding across your slick skin because of the intensity of the high it gave him, the pleasure and the pain, his right arm coming up to wrap around you, tattoos cradling your torso.

“I love you…” he whispered to your racing heart under his ear, lost in the rhythm of your heartbeat and the firmness of your touch. Jungkook did not care if you hated him saying it.

He would continue saying it as long as he was with you.

-

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing…?”

“Hmm.”

He placed his hand over the bottom of his phone and smiled at the cute girl that was talking to him at the bar.

“Sorry. I have to take this call. It’s important to me.”

He didn’t hear her response, because he backed away, bowing lightly, pressing his phone back to his ear.

“Ah, never mind, Jungkook.”

“No, no. What is it? Tell me.”

“You’re at a noisy place. It’s Saturday night.”

Jungkook pushed through the people, mumbling his apologies and straining to hear your voice over the thundering bass. “I finished. Well, we finished. We’re only drinking. I can leave at any time. I’ll just text the guys to bring my equipment back for me. Where are you?”

“Forget it.”

He opened the door of the club as the dial tone rang in his ear.

Looked up.

Your hand dropped to your side. You were still in your white dress shirt and navy skirt, dressed exactly like you were when at school minus the blazer. Jungkook’s eyes widened. He was in a torn-up long-sleeve shirt with the right sleeve removed, showing off his tattoos. His black hair was wild and half-wet, and he was wearing tight leather pants.

You clicked your tongue.

“I said forget it,” you repeated hollowly.

You sighed and turned around, skirt swishing in your wake.

“Wait, I’ll come with you–”

“Go back to where you belong, Jungkook.”

His hand closed around your forearm, holding tight.

“I belong with you.”

You stopped walking, silent.

“What is it? Tell me.”

You scowled. “It’s dumb.”

“So am I, remember?” he chuckled, his hand slipping down, squeezing yours. “I’m not very good at school.”

You didn’t say anything for a moment. Cars and people brushed past, but Jungkook was focused onto on your stillness, watching your eyes seemed to be thinking about many things. You hadn’t pulled your hand out of his yet. By now, Jungkook knew that if you didn’t want something, you wouldn’t be shy about telling him right away.

You started walking again. Jungkook was still holding your hand.

“It was just a moment of weakness,” you mumbled under your breath.

“A guy…?”

You didn’t answer.

Jungkook squeezed your hand. “It’s okay,” he murmured tightly. “I understand.”

He did not. He wanted to cry.

Your eyes shot to him, pinning him in place. “You don’t understand, Jeon Jungkook. You understand nothing.” You pulled your hand out of his and Jungkook let go, trying to hold his pain, trying not to breathe because he was preparing himself for the inevitable, the moment you were going to break his heart and, if it was right here and right now, then so be it, because he had said how he felt repeatedly and there was nothing more he could do than that.

He loved you so, so bad.

Jungkook knew he shouldn’t, that it was madness, but he did anyway.

But you surprised him.

Your sharp gaze softened.

“You know what they say about me. You have to know,” you exhaled, shaking your head. “You must know the rumors.”

Good girl gone bad.

Jungkook frowned. “About you and the professor?”

He watched your jaw clench.

“Does it matter?” he asked.

Your eyes shifted, not quite looking at him.

“Whether something did or didn’t happen, what does that have to do with me?”

And now you looked at him, guarded, not letting him know your thoughts.

“You…” He swallowed, trying to press the lump down in his throat. “You’re just using me, right? It doesn’t… doesn’t really matter, because in the end I don’t matter to you anyway… right?”

He did not want to cry and yet he did, because he knew he loved you. It was the small things, the way you never let up on him even in class, the way you picked days that were never the weekend and never before exams, the way you would brush your fingertips on his knuckles before leaving when you thought he was asleep, the way on the last time, the last time you were together, that you pressed your lips to his forehead when you thought he was asleep, running your fingers through his hair.

Jungkook was standing outside this bar and there were people he knew walking past, seeing you and him, but he kept his eyes on you, because the only one that mattered was you.

The one he belonged to was you.

He had decided that when he climbed onto the table that day.

He stuck his hands in his pockets and let out a heavy breath. “If people say things about you, then they say things about you. Whether it’s the truth or not doesn’t change the fact I love you. It doesn’t make me love you less,” Jungkook said, speaking at his usual volume, because there was no reason to whisper the truth. “Even if it’s pointless and crazy, I want to be with you until the day you don’t want to be with me.”

His smiled and blinked back tears.

“Even if that day is today, I will never regret it.”

In this cruel summer, you could have ruined his reputation. You could have told everyone the kind of person he really was and you didn’t. You could have spread embarrassing stories of the things you made him do and you didn’t.

Even if he didn’t matter to you, Jungkook was confident that you weren’t a malicious person.

You rubbed your forehead. “The rumors will come to you.”

Jungkook laughed. “So what? I heard a rumor that I removed two ribs so I could suck my own dick. I admit, I considered doing it after hearing that.”

You scowled, but Jungkook only smiled in return. He could see the tension falling from your face with his comment. You clicked your tongue and tilted your head, as if to say, can’t be helped.

“There’s no other guy,” you muttered. “There’s just you and you’re dumb.”

Jungkook blinked rapidly, confused.

“You say it over and over and make me think about it all the time.” You sighed heavily, running a hand through your hair. “I’m not a good girl. People pushed me away and I stayed there instead of trying to repair the burned bridges. I don’t even think I want to repair them. Who knows what will happen next? I don’t think it would be a good idea to put you through that shit.”

You sucked on the inside of your cheek, looking at him apologetically.

“You’re not the bad boy everyone says you are. You’re a good guy. You should find a good girl.”

Is that what you think? Jungkook chuckled, taking out his hand and rubbing his nose thoughtfully.

“I don’t want a good girl.”

He stepped toward you, lowering his hand and his head so that he was eye level with you.

“I love a bad bitch who can push me around and makes me their toy.”

He tilted his head, small curve on those beautiful lips, tiny mole underneath appearing with every smile.

“Which can only be you, you know.”

Jungkook didn’t try to kiss you. He only wanted to look into your eyes so you knew his conviction.

“I love you.”

You raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I’ve heard you say it.”

He nodded. “And I’m going to keep saying it until the day you leave me.”

Silence.

Ah.

Your eyebrow lowered and you gave him an indifferent look.

“Hm. I wonder when that will be, Jungkook.”

You leaned in, but before you kissed him, he heard the whisper against his lips, felt the shape of yours as they brushed against his, words he prepared himself to never hear from you, words that he thought you would never say, and that was fine with him, because you showed it, and that was enough.

He thought.

“I love you.”

And then your lips on his and his tears fell onto your cheeks because Jungkook wanted to cry all this time and he could not stop now, knowing that he was so, so in love with you and you finally, finally said it back to him.

--

masterpost

[dreamii-yume]

So, in the event, Rook has shown that he just carries rope with him. You may do whatever you wish with that information 👀

This was an ask from a few...weeks ago? I don’t remember exactly how long this was sitting in my inbox because I was waiting for the perfect time to answer it (//∇//)

Rook had been a very kind and helpful senior to you this year. You’ll be lying if you say that you didn’t think he was a bit strange like the others, but he has that certain charm in him that makes it difficult for you to complete look away from his direction. Besides, it got to the point where you just got used to him and even thought his actions were somehow entertaining...If you were the spectator, rather than the target that is.

Rook is a very doting person as well, you are by no means an exception to this peculiarity of his. He’ll appear when you least expected it, often startling you out of your skin just by a mere greeting alone. He would always talk to you as if he’s reciting a poem ever so often, making you think that you may or may not have completely lost his point here, it’s almost like he’s talking in a different language. He always acts like this towards you, and to everyone else as well, you could never know what he’s thinking or what he wants in the first place. Part of you just thought that he may just have been built differently than others, but then again, Rook is an elusive individual to begin with so everything could all be an act in the first place.

Long store short; you were both fascinated and terrified of this man.

But as strange and conflicting your relationship with Rook is, you still respected the guy as your senior to some extent. Say what you want about the the Pomefiore Vice Dorm Leader but you can’t deny his wide range of capabilities. When you are at a lost for things that you think you can’t do, he was the one who provided you with the advices and help that you needed during those times. Before you knew it, you had already owe him in many ways and yet, Rook had never once asked for anything in return.

“Worry not, mon petite chérie. For I am only doing of what I must.” He would say to you as an excuse, often filling you with guilt sometimes. Especially whenever he would ever so gently pat your head, chuckling to himself as he towers down upon you. “Seeing the beauty in your smile is enough to make my own heart flutter in happiness. Oui, believe me when I say that it’s that marvelous.”

Huh...So, people who accepts things like that as payment still exists in this time and age too. Forgive yourself from being too suspicious of his behavior though, you just don’t think a single smile is worth all that trouble but you guessed this was just another “agree-to-disagree” kind of situation. Who knows? The two of you did grew up in two different upbringings. Or quite literally, two different worlds.

Anyways, although you respected his choices after all this time, you thought it was just common sense to at least provide him with a simple gift in his birthday. You saw how everyone else such as Epel, Vil, and Trey were preparing their own gifts, so you don’t think he’ll be able to reject yours this time. You made your way through the Pomefiore lounge where the party was being held, but was unable to see a single glimpse of your peculiar senior around. It was a lively party and he may be busy with the other dorm residents, so you felt a bit out of place and proceeded to ask people you personally knew about his whereabouts.

“Rook? I was talking to him earlier but now, I have no idea where he went.” Vil said with a sigh as he crossed his arms. “That guy is as elusive as always, even I wouldn’t know exactly what’s running through that mind of his. It puts me in an unsettling position actually.”

“But it’s his birthday for goodness sake, he’s the main protagonist of the day. He should be the one to at least entertain the guest out here, not hiding in plain shadows, seriously.” You laughed nervously as Vil ranted in irritation, huffing by the end. He then glanced at you and soon took notice of the gift you’re holding. “If that gift is for him then, just leave it at his room. It’s unlocked, I believe. We stacked the other gifts he got earlier there too so it wouldn’t clog up the lounge.”

“O-Oh, is that so...Thank you very much.” Thus, ended your conversation with the Dorm Leader with a bow, watching as he walked away saying how Epel had been consuming way too much sugar for the night. With no more leads to follow, you chose to go with Vil’s suggestion and headed out to his room, still at a lost for where your senior could be.

It was true, the moment you spotted the room and turned the doorknob around, it easily spun open. “...Pardon my intrusion...” You slowly said as you took a peak before entering, unsure if anyone was actually inside. There was no one, just some elagant room design as expected with the Pomefiore dorm, with neat furnitures decorated all around. You could feel your own heart cry when you compare to your own dorm which trademark lies within the ghost residents.

You felt slightly anxious, it was your first time visiting his room like this so you couldn’t help but to gawk at some things you’ve never seen before. This was your chance to explore another man’s room, albeit only for a few seconds and by the looks of it, it really hits different that of Ace or Deuce. It has the exact same smell as Rook and the sense of familiarity was somehow calming, probably because you’re so used to being in close proximity with him now. His belongings were all well-organized, the books are neatly stacked on the bookshelves, along with some...questionable collection of bows and arrows stuck on the wall. You also noticed a spare hat and a single telescope lying on his desk, you could ask what it was for, but you preferred to keep the question for yourself.

You shook your head eventually, quickly but carefully prancing inside to place your gift on his desk. Finally, your quest has been conquered, although looking around, the other presents that Vil mentioned was nowhere to be found. Maybe he has them already opened and kept at a certain storage of some sort? Anyways, that wasn’t your problem now, you did what you needed to do, it was your time to bounce out of this room, feeling as if you’re invading too much of his personal privacy. Rook did told you that he never liked that in a person.

...Until, something else caught your eye.

You stopped, eyes blinking repeatedly at the slight tear in the wallpaper near his bed. There was something hidden inside, no, it doesn’t seem like it’s trying to hide at all. It was deliberately placed in a place like that for everyone to see. So, like a cat overwhelmed by curiosity, you stepped close to inspect it, even going as far as stepping on the neatly draped bed sheets of his to get a closer look.

“Eh...?” It was a mass of pictures of almost everything and everyone you can think of upon coming to this school. It was stuck inside the wall like a collection of some sort and it took you a while to actually get what all of this meant. “There’s so many pictures...Pfft...!”

You ended up laughing at yourself for feeling so tense, you honestly felt stupid for the amount of suspense you gave yourself. Of course, this was definitely something that Rook Hunt will do, what did you think it was going to be? Sure, it is creepy to think that someone is keeping tabs at everyone and everything through photography but this is just normal in this school. At least, to those who knew Rook to some extent, it’s not really a big deal nowadays, especially at this school. Anyways, you calmed your laughter down and stared back at the pictures to actually admire them as despite it all, every one of them are all well-taken.

Humming throughout your exploration, you thought it would be interesting to see if you could spot yourself in one of these photos. You looked around and at first, it was tough since you weren’t anywhere in the photos that the wallpaper could reveal but after a while you found a glimpse of your own face at the very edge. However, the tear in the wallpaper stops there so it filled you with disappointment to not be able to see the photo he took of you. “That’s a bummer...” You pouted slightly.

However, combined with overwhelming curiosity, your mischievous side couldn’t help but to come out. You peaked through the small hole inside the wallpaper and confirmed that there is more, as you expected Rook would have, just not visible from your angle. You didn’t want to damage anything but you carefully slipped your fingers in the small opening, trying to get a better look of the picture. You were mainly trying to shine light on them, just a little bit more and you could make out of its content. It got your heart pumping somehow, eager to see what kind of photo you were in.

“Bonjour~”

Screaming almost immediately due to panic and shock, you made the mistake of instinctively gripping his wallpaper tight, dragging them down completely by accident. You turned around, face flushed and clutched your chest as your heart beats so fast that it feels like it could jump out at any moment. “R-Ro-Rook-san!?” You stammered out, your butt hitting the bed while your legs shook. “W-Wha-When...!?”

Rook only gave out a chuckle as you frantically try to calm your nerves, which was nearly impossible after the stunt that he just pulled. You knew he loved doing this and to think you’d be used to it by now, but this one felt so different than the other times you were startled by him. He was so close to you with that greeting, too close in fact. Just where the hell does he keep coming from, you didn’t even hear a single sound from your surroundings. Rook stood straight before glancing over at the mess you had realized you made when his expression turned that of worry.

You were still gripping onto the ruined wallpaper at this point so, you gasped and quickly turned around, preparing for any damage you may have caused. However, at that moment, you stopped once your eyes had finally caught what kind of picture were inside those wallpapers all along.

“Aah...To think mon chére fleur herself would be the one to unravel my collection! How embarrassing~!” Rook said, placing a hand on his slowly heating up his cheeks. He bats an eye to your direction, looking all embarrassed as you stared, unblinking at his work. He soon smirked and chuckled darkly, leaning in closer to you from behind, in which you shivered at. “...But how does it look in your perspective? Aren’t they all beautiful?”

Yes, they were harmless pictures, that’s all there is supposed to be on it. But these pictures striked a nerve in you, one such that you didn’t know could cause this much wave of alarming fear in your body.

They were harmless but they were not normal in the slightest. For almost all of what the wallpaper had revealed was all about you, and only you that it makes you sick to the stomach. Everything that you remember doing in your daily routine had been taken into consideration, from a picture of you yawning as you wake up in the morning, to a picture of you sleeping peacefully at night. Pictures of you seemingly eating, walking, talking, everything that you’ve been doing is pasted on the same wall before you, all taken in such high resolution. If that wasn’t enough, even a few photos of you in the nude was in there, bathing and changing, you unconsciously wrapped your hands around yourself as goosebumps quickly formed.

Rook had literally been watching your every movements, documenting your life with a camera and capturing everything, including things that hits way too close. Deeply disturbed, your eyes tried to glance everywhere but the pictures, only to find no escape to them. Some pictures had even been tampered with before taking the shot, like that one photo where his hands shows his hands deliberately spreading your legs for the camera as you slept. You shivered, unconsciously thinking about that other one where it was your breasts that was fully out for the world to see and oh, god...That one with your sleeping face covered with a suspicious white liquid, you almost gagged at the mental image.

“...W-What is this...” You slowly looked up at Rook with fear in your eyes, trembling like a leaf as the same guy looked down upon you with a chilling smile. It was honestly too nauseating that you instinctively brought a hand to your mouth, just in case something does come out.

“Beauty, my Love.” Rook purred closer to you, his eyes brimming with desire. “Your beauty.”

He caught your chin in a gentle yet tight grip. “I had it preserve in a memory that I would forever see. Just keeping them in my mind alone was not enough.” He said, closing in on you on his bed, preventing any possible escape routes. “...For I am a greedy man.”

And with that, you found yourself in his bind, pinning you down on the bed with your hands on each side of your head. “Now...The reason why you invaded my sanctuary was...?” Rook asked but he was not expecting you to answer at all. Instead, his eyes glanced to the side, eyeing the gift you left on his desk. “...Ah, of course. Vil must’ve given you permission to hand your gift in.”

You were as stiff as a rock, too tense to even act and move. The hands on your wrists doesn’t seem too tight but a feeling in your gut screams at you to not even try if you didn’t want to get hurt. You were left gulping down your own nervousness as Rook turned back to you with the same smile. “Merci. I’ll be sure to treasure whatever you have given me.” He whispered as he leaned closer, giving you a delicate kiss on the temple in which you squeaked at. “...But nonetheless, you trespassed on someone else’s territory, petite proie. A predator’s territory, on top of that.”

“I-I’m sor-“

“Non, an apology is not what I need. Someone as beautiful as you should not make that kind face.” Rook cuts you off, before suggestively licking his lips. He sat up, confident enough to let go of your wrist, knowing fully well that you wouldn’t have the guts to push him off. He straddled above your stomach, which left you confused and wary to wonder what he was planning to do. However, looking back at him, your eyes widened in caution as he suddenly pulled out a long and thick rope, one that would certainly burn your skin if you struggle too much. Where in the hell did he... “Lift your head up high and reap what you have sowed. That is the beauty that can justify your crimes.”

“Now...” You breathe heavily as he tightened his hold on the rope, biting his lip eagerly. You can’t even imagine how much he has planned inside his head. It made you visit the terrifying possibility that he was ready for this moment from the very beginning, curiated and planned. Your heart drops at the thought, if that is really the case, then...Just how much? How much further into the future did he plan exactly? “Allow me to indulge myself to this fine opportunity you gave me, beloved Trickster.

“...A fine opportunity, indeed. Beautifully so.”

Allow Yume to flex on her non-existing French skills along with her companion, Google Translate. i sincerely apologize to any French Darlings out there yume did not attend a single French class in her life lol

Someone teach me French so I can write more things about this sexy bitch.

[collecting-stories]

One Sunset - c. 08 - JJ Maybank

Summary: Your birthday keeps getting closer.

A/N: Two more chapters to go! 

You Are Ok Masterlist | Outer Banks Masterlist

✰ Oh, my love, she waits, so long overdue ✰

The baby, Hope, the youngest, so far, of your sister’s six children, was propped on your hip. Clingy, she pressed her face against your collar, head tucked in your neck as you bounced just slightly from foot to foot. She‘s been crying when Esther handed her off, a passing comment that “there was something different about you” as she rejoined the conversation your older siblings were having. You carried Hope outside when the fussing started again, threatening to interrupt your father’s reading from the bible before dinner. She wasn’t the youngest of all the babies there, Jubilee’s son took that honor, being just three months, but Hope was the most restless.  

“You used to be like that,” your mother teased, coming out to bring you a bottle for Hope as she squirmed in your lap. You’d settled with sitting under the tree in the yard, letting your niece tear through the grass.  

“Destructive?” You asked, looking up through the sunlight to her.  

Ever since JJ had mentioned the possibility of leaving you had been thinking about what it would look like when you were gone. Knowing what was in store if you stayed, you had given leaving your mom and dad a lot of thought anyway. It would be just them in the house, plenty of grandchildren to take care of but just the two of them at night when everyone else went home. You would miss it, but it was these moments, so rare now that you were the last left in the house, that you would miss most of all.  

“Restless, unsatisfied.” The adjective stung when she said it, as if she resented the trait even in a baby. “The minute you were steady on your feet, you used to take off.”  

“Maybe I was just curious about everything around me?” You suggested, that bizarre fear that she knew something settling in your stomach. It was the same queasy feeling you used to get when you were little and you would lie, certain your mother would know.  

She nodded, though it was not in agreement, “and what does the bible say about that?”

“And he said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the father hath put in his own power.” You replied, all too familiar with the warning verse that your mother had kept taped to your bedroom mirror as a child, a reminder that your curiosity was as much a sin as anything else.  

“That’s right, we don’t need to concern ourselves with other, worldly things.” She replied.  

“I don’t think Hope is concerned with anything other than appreciating God’s creation,” you joked, an attempt to lighten the mood, as you looked down at Hope sill pulling at the grass and then staring in wonder at her dirty hands.  

“I’m not talking about Hope, I found a…very revealing outfit tucked under your bed along with a sweatshirt I’ve never seen in the house before.” She said, playing her cards. She did know something she wasn’t letting on, just as you had suspected. It was better than you thought, something you could play off easily.  

“They’re Kiara’s. She wore the dress on Sunday and I told her it was too revealing for church so she came in and changed. And the sweatshirt is her…boyfriend’s, she had it with her.” You lied. The dress was the one that JJ bought for you. For almost three weeks, since he’d first suggested it, you had been packing and unpacking a duffel bag, certain that you wanted to go but then unsure at the same time.  

Your mother’s observation of you was probably right, you were restless. They had raised you the same way they raised your siblings and yet, nothing about the church seemed to comfort you. It made you discontent just exist in the space sometimes but you had always assumed it was because of some deep fault of your own. Some sin you weren’t consciously aware of that ensnared you. Restlessness would follow you forever, it felt like. But then you’d never felt restless with JJ or Kiara or Pope. You never felt like you were trying to fit into something that wasn’t made for you.  

“I didn’t realize she had a boyfriend.” The tone was back, the disapproving one that silently conveyed the underlying meaning of her sentence. If your mom had known, she would not have let her hang around.  

“He’s very religious too. I think he goes to a non-denominational church,” you lied, pulling Hope’s dirty hands away from the hem of your dress.  

You had come outside with Hope because you wanted to be alone. Her crying was the perfect excuse to separate yourself from the rest of your family but then your mom had followed you out here, determined, it felt like, to deny you any moment alone.

“Your good with the kids,” she ventured, “It’ll only be a couple of years before you’re having little ones of your own.”  

“That’s what Esther said when she handed me Hope.” You replied lifting the baby with you as you stood up. There was no point in trying to hold onto your attempts at relaxation. Babies had been all your mother wanted to talk about since Timothy’s visit to the house. She couldn’t stop herself from mentioning your future imaginary family. “How did you and dad know you wanted to have kids?”

“We prayed and fasted and the Lord answered us by giving us Faith and I knew then that he was telling me to leave my womb in his hands.” She replied as you fought the urge to roll your eyes at the response, “How many kids you have is something you’ll have to talk about with Timothy but God will guide you.”  

“Yeah, I guess so.” You shifted Hope in your arms as she babbled, her dirty hands gripping your cardigan.  

Maybe JJ lying to you should have been the push that you needed to embrace this idea of Timothy and Zambia and the twelve children he was probably going to expect you to have. It should’ve put you back on the path of the Lord, that “most righteous” path, as your father called it during Sunday service. But you couldn’t bring yourself to just close off the part of you that loved JJ so much that you considered running away with him. He had lied but you couldn’t bring yourself to believe that all of it was a lie. There were parts of it, you were certain, that had to be true. You had been thinking about him since you left John B’s.  

“What if...” you chanced, beginning to walk back to the house with your mom, “what if Timothy isn’t who I’m meant to be with?”

“Why do you say that?” Your mom asked, stopping. She didn’t look surprised or even bothered by what you thought sounded like your usual restlessness.  

“I just think...what if I’m not a good enough wife?”

“You have to pray, and have faith in the Lord and in your husband that they will guide you down that path and help you to learn how to serve your household.” She answered.  

Hope started fussing again and your mom took her from you, proclaiming that it was most likely time for a feeding and heading back inside with her. She called over her shoulder for you to check the church, the light in the nave was on. You wanted to thank her for the moment alone but then she might’ve stuck around and questioned you further.

You walked to the church, pulling the old wooden door open and heading inside to turn off the lights in the vestibule. Your father was known to forget and leave them on and you were sure that your mother thought sending you was some subtle way of telling you that you needed to reconnect with Jesus through prayer. You weren’t so sure that was what you needed but you would take the moment alone that you had been trying to get the first time you went outside.  

Before you could hit the light switch you noticed the familiar army green backpack leaning against one of the back pews. You hadn’t seen JJ since you left John B’s house but that was his backpack, sitting in the middle aisle. There wasn’t any reason for JJ’s bag to be in the church but you walked toward it anyway, curious as to its existence in that space at that moment.  

The bag, you quickly discovered, was not without its owner. JJ laid there on the bench, asleep, from what you could tell, his lip split and a horrifying bruise under his left eye. You knelt down by the edge of the pew, brushing his hair away from his face so you could see him better. Just the sight of him had your heart pounding.

“Oh my god, JJ,” you whispered, laying your hand on his arm. “JJ.”

He groaned, shifting on the pew before opening his eyes slowly, a smile gracing his features as he saw you there in front of him, the cut on his lip bleeding slightly at the motion. “Hey Ace.”

“JJ, what happened?” You asked, moving to sit next to him as he sat up. Maybe you should have been more apprehensive with him, considering what John B had told you, but all you could think about was the bruising on his face. You’d seen less noticeable bruising before that JJ had always brushed off and maybe it was unrelated but your mind was drawing connections as you looked him over, noting the large purplish mark peeking out from the arm of the cut-off shirt he was wearing.  

“Nothing,” he swore, shaking his head and shifting away from you slightly. “I’m sorry, I just needed to crash for a few hours.”  

When you reached for him again and he moved back, you felt an ache. He looked battered and you didn’t care about what sort of bet he made, all you wanted to do was hold him and tell him that for the last few days you had been thinking about him. “JJ, please, tell me what happened?” you asked, taking his hand in yours before he could stop you.  

“I fucked up everything.” He replied, leaning back against the pew and closing his eyes. “I didn’t...I should’ve told you about-”

-

Despite Pope’s attempts to reason with him, to remind him that the last person on earth you probably wanted to see was him, JJ couldn’t stop himself from moving forward with his original plan. He had offered you a way out and, whether you wanted it with him or at all, he was going to come through on that promise. He loved you and maybe it was selfish but he couldn’t stand the thought of you going to Tennessee.  

JJ almost never went home but he did a few nights after you had run off, after Kiara told him that you’d come to see her, he went back home again to get the keys for his dad’s boat. Luke always kept the keys on him and JJ hadn’t actually been on the boat since he was a little kid. The first time he had smoked weed when he was twelve and his cousin took him on the Phantom for a joy ride down the coast to buy some specially cut stuff from a friend of a friend. He had let JJ smoke it on the way home and the probably broken rib that he’d suffered the week before suddenly didn’t hurt half as bad.  

He wasn’t stealing the keys for a joyride this time though. He was stealing keys to get you as far away from the Outer Banks as he could. Pope had reasoned that you hadn’t really ever made up your mind and that by now you had probably definitely decided not to go off with some guy on a whim, but JJ had to believe you were still leaning toward going with him.  

“Hey, look who finally decided to show up.” Luke chided, sitting at his work bench. If there was anything that JJ knew about his father, it was that Luke could sit in front of his work table all day and nothing would ever actually get done.  

“I’m only here to grab some stuff.”  

If he said nothing, it caused an issue. If he said something, it caused an issue. JJ had spent enough years in his father’s home to know that it didn’t matter what he did, if Luke was in a mood then there was nothing, he could do to avoid it. And usually, he would just make his visit a short one but he needed that key and that key was hanging off his dad’s neck.  

It took Luke a couple beers and a trip down to Barry’s trailer before he confronted JJ’s return home with more than a snide remark. It started off with shouting about the electric bill when he tried to hit the light switch in the living room and realized that the darkness was unescapable. And that, of course, like all the other bad things that existed in his life, was JJ’s fault.  

“How many fucking times I gotta tell you to do something before you actually do it?” He screamed, a string of insults following that would stay trapped in JJ’s head for what would arguably be the rest of his life. The rage was just what JJ needed though, his dad was erratic, distracted, and close enough that when he shoved JJ against the wall and tried to choke him, the key was in reach.  

He had the key and when he finally got his dad off him, he ran for the door, grabbing his bag and running through the woods. Still not talking to John B, he knew there weren’t too many places for him to go. He stayed on the beach for a while but then moved on, heading to the one place he knew he wasn’t technically welcome. JJ had seen your family’s cars in the yard and had ducked into the church, falling asleep on one of the pews.  

It wasn’t like you could’ve contacted him, you had no phone and you couldn’t exactly get away easily during the day and maybe that was what made it so easy for him to convince himself that he wasn’t beyond forgiveness. He needed to talk to you, had wanted to for days now. He needed to explain things to you, make you understand that he did love you and the bet was stupid, a mistake that he wanted to take back more than anything in the world.  

-

“JJ, I don’t care about any of that right now,” you said, brushing hair away from his face. “What happened?”

He sat up a little, pulling the makeshift necklace out beneath his shirt, the keys to the Phantom hanging there around his neck. “I got the keys.” He replied, “I don’t know if you even would still want to go, but I got the keys.”  

“Is that how this happened?” You asked, eyes still on his bruised face and not the keys he was holding up.  

“It doesn’t matter-”

You cut him off, “it does matter, JJ-”

“No.” He insisted, “no, it doesn’t matter. I don’t want you to base anything on feeling bad for me.” JJ had spent his whole life trying to make sure that nobody felt bad for him. Sympathy, charity, pity, it was all just fake and he hated it. He did everything he could to be sure that no one ever knew what kind of father Luke was because he never wanted them to look at him like he was broken.  

“I don’t want you to hurt.” You admitted, kissing his cheek.  

JJ didn’t protest the affection, though he wanted to laugh. Here he was with you worrying about him, telling him that you didn’t want to see him hurt while he had hurt you. For days he felt like he had been plagued by that moment, replaying the way you looked at him when you asked him if John B was telling the truth. Kiara told him to give you space and Pope told him to take things slowly but all he wanted was to be with you again, to make everything right.  

“You shouldn’t even want to talk to me right now.” He said, rubbing his hands over his eyes.  

“My propensity for forgiveness might surprise you.” You teased, then shrugged, “I don’t think that you lied to me about...about being in love with me,” you chewed on your bottom lip as you spoke, “I mean, I hope not-”

“I wasn’t.” JJ replied. “If Sarah hadn’t bet me to ask you out, I wouldn’t have, but everything else was real. I know I should’ve told you...I just, didn’t want you to look at me the way you did after John B told you. Everyone else already looks at me that way, I didn’t want you to. I’m so sorry.” It seemed like the only logical thing to say to you.  

The door to the chapel creaked open and JJ slid down to the floor as you stood up, moving down the aisle to keep whoever it was out of the church. Your dad stood there at the entrance, holding the door open with his foot as he caught sight of you. “There you are, your mom sent me out to find you, she said she asked you to turn the lights out here.”

“I was,” you replied, moving closer to him, “I just, stopped for a moment to sit in prayer.” An easy lie, one your parents were always all too willing to believe.  

He nodded, “do you need another moment? Some fellowship?”  

“No, no, I’m okay.” You promised. “I’ll be right there.”

The door swung shut behind him as he stepped back out of the church. You knew he’d be just on the other side of the door, waiting for you to turn off the lights and follow him in for dinner. Knowing the limited amount of time you had, you ran back down the aisle to where JJ was just standing up.  

JJ’s eyes went wide as you grabbed his collar and quickly pulled him into a kiss, “I have dinner with my family, come to my room tonight?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “yeah okay.”

As you left him you flicked the lights casting him in darkness as he dropped back down onto the bench, a small smile etched on his face. He’d come to the church because he needed to be close to you, especially after his encounter with Luke. But JJ had honestly thought that things between you were irreparable. Knowing they weren’t felt better than he could’ve imagined. Like he was floating above clouds. Stupid to think maybe but he didn’t care.  

-

JJ’s muscles tensed as you traced your fingers beneath a nasty purple bruise that stretched across his stomach to his side. You leaned over him, hovering like a ghost in the stillness, and placed a kiss just over the discolored skin, eliciting goosebumps over his skin.  

He stayed camped out in the chapel until the lights went off in the house and your family left for the night. There were too many smaller units these days to accommodate everyone when they came home to visit but your father was friends with a local motel owner who always gave him a good deal. JJ had tried to stay alert and awake but he’d fallen asleep, getting up later when the lights were off and sneaking across the yard to your window, knocking and hoping that you answered. That you meant it when you said you still believed he loved you.  

Your parents were asleep down the hall from your room and he knew that trying anything would be risky and dangerous but being back in your room again since the last time, since he’d slept with you, it was almost as if a switch went off for both of you. He climbed through the window and was already grabbing at your waist, pulling you into a kiss as you led him to your bed.  

He breathed out apologies and “I love you’s” between kisses, making sure that he took every opportunity to remind you both how sorry he was and how much he had missed being close to you in the few days apart. JJ had tried to tell himself that if you chose to stay with your family, he would be okay and understanding and he would force himself to be but he knew that he was lying to himself, if things ended between the two of you, he wasn’t sure how he would cope. Maybe that was unhealthy but he really didn’t care at all.  

“I was thinking, we could go to Florida,” you said, keeping your voice down as you sat on the bed, JJ’s shirt keeping you warm. He was laying on his back, covers pushed down to his waist, one hand behind his head and the other resting on your thigh.  

“Why Florida?” He asked.  

In all honesty it wasn’t that Florida was anything particularly special it was just that you were trying your hardest to think of anything to say so you didn’t start crying. When you’d seen him in the church earlier you had almost lost it and that was with only his face visible. The bruising on his stomach and sides made you feel ill. “I don’t know, I’ve always wanted to go to South Beach.”  

JJ grinned, hand squeezing your thigh, “you on a topless beach? Yes, please.”

“How about I conquer a two piece before I attempt going topless?” You joked, taking his hand in yours.  

“I don’t know, you look pretty hot...” he said, moving his other hand from behind his head and grabbing the hem of your shirt to pull it up passed your chest. You swatted his hand away, stifling a laugh. The sound of it made him smile though it didn’t quite meet his eyes, that flicker of sadness still there behind them. There was nothing he wanted more than being here with you but he couldn’t shake that gnawing feeling of guilt that settled in.  

“What’s the matter?” You asked, registering the change in his demeanor before he was even fully aware of it himself.  

“Nothing, I-” he sighed, shifting around to sit up in bed, “I should have told you. About the bet, about my dad. I just...I know, under the surface, I’m not the most likable person. I’m loud and I smoke too much and I drink too much and I’m not that smart and I just...really wanted you to like me. So I didn’t say anything. And I know that’s not an excuse-”

“JJ,” you cut him off, “I was mad that you lied and didn’t tell me about the bet but that doesn’t change the way that I feel about you. And it doesn’t change the way I know you feel about me.” It was hard to explain, it had been hard to explain to Kiara when you had shown up crying at her house, but you didn’t think that JJ was lying to you about the whole of your relationship. He said he loved you and you believed him, there wasn’t a single moment that felt unreal to you in that sense, whether he had asked you out because of a bet or not. “You said you only asked me out because of the bet but everything else was real and I believe you.”

“I don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt.”  

“Stop trying to sell yourself short.” You replied, leaning forward to kiss him, “it won’t work.”

Before he could answer you, the floor creaked and the you both looked toward the door as footsteps sounded down the hall. The light by your desk was still on and the footsteps came to a stop outside your bedroom door, a knock sounding, followed by your dad’s voice. “Ace, you awake in there?”  

You pulled JJ’s shirt off, grabbing your nightdress and putting it on as you got off the bed and went over to the door. “Yeah, hold on!” You were thankful that the door opened in, obscuring the twin bed from view. “Sorry, I was having trouble sleeping so I was just up reading some verses.” You lied.  

“Hmm,” your dad nodded, easily convinced, “what were you reading?”

“1st Peter, 4...uh, ‘and above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.’ Just felt like something I really needed tonight.” You replied.  

“That is a good one,” he contemplated, “I told your mom I’ve been a little stuck on the sermon for this coming weekend...it’s a big one, with Timothy’s family visiting and your birthday. But maybe I’ll put some focus on that verse, see if the Lord speaks to me about it.”  

“I’ll pray on it as well,” you promised, twisting the doorknob in your hand as you waited for your father to decide to head back to bed.  

“I’m just grabbing some water, do you need anything?” He asked, looking toward the kitchen.  

“No, I think I’m gonna call it a night,” you replied, stepping forward to give him a hug, “love you, see you in the morning.”

“Love you too Ace,” he said, leaving you and heading to the kitchen.  

You shut the door to your room, blocking out the rest of the world again and nearly jumping when you turned and found JJ standing right there beside you. “My dad could’ve seen you,” you whispered, pushing him away when he tried to wrap his arms around you.  

“He didn’t.” JJ replied, voice low. His hand darted out from his side, grabbing the front of your nightdress before you could get away, using the leverage it gave him to pull you back to the bed. He flicked the light off on your desk lamp on the way to the bed, sitting when the back of his knees hit the mattress.  

“What are you doing?” you asked when he started to pull the nightdress over your head again.  

“Undressing you.”  

“JJ,” you fought a smile, biting your bottom lip, “you need to go...that was way too close.”  

He pouted in the dark, letting your nightdress fall back into place as he laid his hands on your hips. “Can I see you tomorrow?”

“I can walk to Heyward’s in the afternoon?” You offered. “Timothy and his family will be here on Wednesday...”

“When’s the party?” He asked, trying not to let himself dwell on the actual question, were you staying or were you going?  

“Saturday evening...I don’t know what to do.” You admitted. It was leaving home either way but one of those included the possibility of never speaking to your family again.  

“It’s your decision. I love you, either way.” JJ promised.  

-

taglist: @heavenlymama @vindictive-hearts @alexa-playafricabytoto @dontjinx-it @randomficsandshit @niamhobrien @strangerthanfanfiction713 @tovvaa @freckled-and-daydreaming @harleylynn @bibliophilewednesday @dpaccione @bolaurel @poguestyleskye @beautyandthebleh @under-a-canyon-moon @outerbankspreferences @stevie-buck @bijleegiregi @vitaminekabc @minigranger @teamnick @just-smile-darling @obxsummer @damonsalvawhore27 @isqbella @tomzfrog @fangirlvoice @phantompogues @98starkeys @ilovejjmaybank @lemur46 @khiaraaa-in-spacee @babygal-babygal @niya-savage @divvrx @princess-of-the-fandoms @thecaptainsgingersnap @jenjie @yourprincess-maybe @wowmaybankk @goldeng1rl8 @outrbanks @mendesmaybank @thehomeiknow @minnie-bby @katiaw2 @2kayla64 

[yoshkeii]

Bokuto Confession hcs!

࿐ character: Bokuto Koutarou

࿐ genre: fluff, soft, confessions!

࿐ requested by: GreenTheSimp on Ao3!

࿐ imagine/scenario: “some Bokuto headcannons on how he asks Khai out? Plus maybe him being a goof towards his s/o.”

A/N: fyi, most of these will be coming from my Ao3 since I started writing there first! it’s not much and i generally don’t proof read these so im sorry if there are small errors, this one is a bit longer since I made two chapters for it. im so bad at writing istg,,

≫ ──── ≪ Confession Time ≫ ──── ≪

❀ First, Bokuto would be oblivious to his crush and his feelings for you till it was brought up multiple times by his team, and eventually at the volleyball camp from the other schools. Most likely Kuroo nagging him about the certain someone, Khai, Bokuto talks about so much.

❀ You and Bokuto were friends for quite some time, maybe at least a year or so. And being in the same class as him, you guys had time to interact with each other and even plan hangouts whenever you could.

❀ And yes, this man talks 24/7 about you without even noticing- this varies from your interactions during the school day, your conversations during classes and lunch, stupid dumb texts you guys have once in a while, the answers you give him from the many of many questions he asked you... the list goes on and on. This makes it easy for his friends to identify his fucking crush on you. him being so oblivious about it hurts their brains istg

❀ He's extremely bubbly around you, super friendly and kind but you usually brush it off as his normal personality. ibetyou'llbeoblivioustooaboutit.

❀ Once Bokuto awakened to his crush and feelings for you he found it extremely difficult to act like it was normal before. The slight blush on his cheeks was a much solid shade. His heart skipping beats every time he saw you walk in the room. Your laugh, your smile, anything about you made him so nervous around you now. When you directly smile at him, hearing your laughs at his jokes or actions will make this man just seize to exist.

❀ Bokuto can't stop thinking about you after that thought, always finding his mind wandering to the dorkiest, sappy shit thing he would do with you.

❀ Sometimes he found himself avoiding you at some points just so he can keep himself in check and not be an embarrassment around you-

❀ He still craves your attention but he gets a lingering fear he might mess something up so he has an internal fight with himself and it just- hurts him sm- poor owl,,

❀ Akaashi finds himself trying to motivate and support emo Bokuto at these moments, usually through texts or calls when they aren't near each other etc.

❀ You would generally think he would just confess to you as soon as he had the chance but actually took this on a slow thoughtful ride. To the point, it did affect his skill at practice, which notified his teammates about it fairly quickly. Bokuto was so deep in thought about it all he was unsure how to process his confession, when, where, what would make you happy, if you liked him back and such.

❀ This eventually leads to him asking Akaashi, the team, and friends (from the other teams' ofc-), on how he should confess to you. All of the answers didn't seem to fit Bokuto in a comfortable way either, which is hella surprising. Before he decided to do something pretty simple.

❀ Earlier today, Bokuto asked you to wait for him a few minutes after class. Knowing you two had different club activities after school, him having volleyball and you have [Khai's favorite activity]. It was the best option to get your attention since your clubs ended at different times made it difficult. And so you did, meeting him outside of your classroom, just you and him.

❀ Bokuto felt anxious about being alone with you, especially like this.

❀ "Hey, Khai..?"

❀ "What is it, Bo?"

❀ That little nickname you gave him, always and I mean always made his heart skip 10 beats. The blush on his cheeks grew a shade darker.

❀ "Wanna walk home.. t-together...?" Bokuto quickly mustered out the words, knowing his throat would dry up sooner or later.

❀ Both of you actually took a similar route home after school, which you guys figured out on a rainy day.

❀ "Oh, sure! Don't you have practice though?" You tilted your head innocently, your hair moving as well revealing the smallest of details that made Bokuto swoon.

❀ "Coach said we should rest for our game tomorrow"

❀ "Ah- that makes sense, I forgot about that-" You giggled lightly before you took the lead of heading out of the building.

❀ Bokuto froze at your giggle before you dragged him behind you. Your hand softly around his wrist. "C'mon slowpoke," you teased.

❀ He smiled slightly before he caught up to you. Walking aside from you at the same pace.

❀ It was an awkward walk. Bokuto was oddly quiet which made you slightly worried.

❀ "Bokuto? You alright..?" You finally broke the silence, looking up at the Ace to your right.

❀ "P-perfectly fine!"

❀ "You stuttered."

❀ "Did... I..?"

❀ "Yes, dummy- What's wrong?"

❀ "I-... Damn it. Khai."

❀ Before you knew it, he pulled you into a kiss. His large hands cupping your face as he planted his lips softly onto yours, pulling away from a little with only a few inches from your lips. Bokuto looked straight into your brown eyes, staring back with his golden eyes. The blush on his cheeks flushed with shades of red.

❀ "I like you. Wait- No.. I love you." Bokuto muttered softly, feeling his breath on your lips made you shiver.

❀ You just giggled, before it grew into genuine laughter. He widened his eyes removing his hands from your face.

❀ "H-hey..!! What's so funny!?"

❀ "It was so obvious Bo~"

❀ "Was.. was it!? I-"

❀ You cut him off, "I love you too Koutarou."

❀ Him hearing you use his first name WITH you saying ily to him, made his day. A bright smile plastered on his face, he hugged you lifting you up and kissing your face all over.

❀ "HEY HEY HEYYYY!! Khai likes me back!! Actually, Khai LOVES me!" Bokuto exclaimed happily

❀ After that, Bokuto was back to his normal, loud, excited self throughout the walk. You guys began to have your simple conversations again, him poking you with questions trying to get to know you even more. Having the lingering doubt he had from rejection and negativity was lifted-off from him. He even mentioned having your first date so soon-

❀ He couldn't wait to bring the news to his team and friends.

❀ He can't wait to see you by his side every day.

≫ ──── ≪ Confession Aftermath ≫ ──── ≪

❀ After the confession, Bokuto would rarely ever leave your side. So he does get clingy to you as he does with Akaashi. He's not much for PDA but he's also not against the thought, he unconsciously hugs you, wrapping his arms around your torso, waist, arms, and sometimes around your neck at least- Sometimes light kisses and pecks but those are generally rare unless he's really excited about something.

❀ He gets really flustered sometimes when you addressed him as your boyfriend the first few days and maybe weeks after starting the relationship. He's just not used to it- It gives this hunk of a man butterflies in his stomach a lot.

❀ Whenever you guys had to leave each other for your designated classes, you tend to find cute notes in your locker whenever you open them. Having cute phrases, flirts, compliments, and silly pick-up lines. You already knew it was from Bokuto because you... sometimes catch him lurking around your locker- just never brought up to him knowing it would genuinely make him sad.

❀ Bokuto just finds it cool that you don't know at first okay-

❀ You always tried to go to his practices and even games when you guys were just friends. Knowing that if Bokuto saw any of his friends out in the stands made his confidence skyrocket so much-

❀ But since you guys are now in a relationship, it makes Bokuto smile so much every time he spots you in the stands of the crowds. Cheering him on boosts his confidence so fucking much- like if this man is in emo mode please cheer for him, it helps a ton (Akaashi and the team might thank you also-)

❀ Long-lasting phone calls that continue till like 3-4 am. Sometimes facetime/video calls if you both have the ability to! He loves seeing your face, he finds it so fucking adorable with all your smallest features and details.

❀ Bokuto probably changed your contact name on his phone to something like "baby owl" with like emojis or something- or literally, just nick (pet) names he has for you- "baby, bae, cloud, cutie, feather, angel, king/queen, prince/princess" and so on. He looooves having names for you because it makes him smile every time he finds things that remind him of you (which generally is how he figures some of them out-)

❀ Whenever this man finds you sad, upset, stressed, or literally in any negative emotion. He will try his damn hardest to make you feel better even if its the slightest, and if it is the slightest he'll keep going to you are perfectly fine and dandy.

❀ He'll even go out of his way to skip practice if needed to comfort your sad butt- He'll give you cuddles, so many cuddles. He's practically a cuddle monster so better prepare for how long you'll stay in his arms afterward-

❀ Whenever you guys are just cuddling in general, he loves to nuzzle his face into your hair, your neck, and shoulder. Just craving the touch and comfort of his lover. Even if it's the slightest of motion, he'll take whatever he can get!

❀ Continuing on the cuddling situation, one of the secret things he loves about you is how you smell. The shampoo you use for your hair, the body wash, perfume or cologne.

❀ Since it's fall season (as of I'm writing this ofc-), Bokuto will drag you around for some walks in the cool weather through parks. Honestly hoping to find leaves to pile and fall into with you! I'd think one of Bo's love language would be quality time (and words of affirmation.) So hanging out with him makes this owl the happiest man to walk on this planet.

❀ Whenever you are cold on these walks, he won't hesitate to wrap his arms around you. If it's a specific part of your body that is cold, for example, your hands. He'll definitely hold his hands over yours. Maybe planting a kiss on them afterward (accidentally getting flustered seconds later-)

❀ Bokuto might also just stare at your hands clasped together, noticing the size difference for the 100000000000000th time

❀ Honestly, he likes to use Instagram and Snapchat filters with you. It's really cute af,, he's such a dork for couple things

❀ Body issues? Bokuto will love every part of you no matter what, comforting that every part of your body is perfect as it is. He'll softly plant kisses wherever you feel insecure. He'll cuddle you till you agree with him that you are a perfect human being.

❀ Don't try to sneak out of it. He's hella stubborn with topics like these- He ain't that dense and dumb guys,,

A/N: I love me some Bokuto huuuuu

[heliosthegriffin]

The Tarasque

On the night before the finals of the Vytal Festival, we find Jaune Arc. He leaned over the railing of the roof where he trained with Pyrrha, they hadn’t trained tonight, she needed to be in top shape for tomorrow.

Jaune didn’t though, and Jaune had come up to think dressed in his baby blue onesie. Smoking a cigarette in hand and breathing out the smoke into the clear night sky.

Taking a long drag of his cigarette, letting the warm smoke fill his longs, holding it till it lost it’s warmth and expelled it. He spoke out into the night sky, “I’m really going to miss this place again, aren’t I?” There was no one to hear him question.

In his unoccupied hand was his scroll, a message ready to be sent to a group chat. Jaune looked at the scroll his expression mixed, his finger hovering over the send button. One press would be what it takes to summon his friends, they’d deserve an explanation at the very least before he left. He still hesitated before pressing the button, then he signed. “It’s never going to be any easier, is it?” Silence was his answer.

Several minutes passed before Pyrrha showed up, her normal, fake, smile still up, something was bothering the girl. He knew what Orville the poor child to due, and it only added to the list of grievance he had with the man.

“Jaune? Why are you calling everybody?” Pyrrha asked, her face full of worry. 

Her mind obviously wondering he could no longer take the guilt anymore, he’d nip that in the bud now.

“I’ll tell you when the rest get here. It’s more than what you think it is.”

The tone of his voice got her attention, but she nodded.

She had yet to notice the cigarette in his hand.

The rest came in the pair of Ren and Nora, and then the Team RWBY who came out in a dogpile on the roof. He snickered, he would indeed miss their antics.

The seven of them formed a semi-circle around him seeming to wonder what Jaune had to say. Jaune said nothing for a long second, taking one last long drag of the cigarette before exhaling.

That got Weiss’s attention, “Since when did you start such a repugnant habit, Arc?“ She asked with disgust.

Nora before Jaune could answer, “Oh, oh, oh, can you blow smoke rings Jauney, and hey wait, when you start smoking? I never smelled any  on you before?”

That got a small murmur going through the group of teens, bring a smile to his face.

Yang broke the silence, “So, what’s up VB? Come to have us look at you model your onesie?” She said with a snicker.

A sad looking smile came to Jaune’s face, he let the bud drop to the roof where he ground it under his slippers.

“I’m leaving Beacon, tonight.”

Any words that were about to come out froze in the seven teens mouths, not one had been expecting him to say that.

A series of ‘Whats?!” ‘Why’ ‘Are you for real?’ and so on and so forth, it all blended together to white noise.

It hurt him see his friends look so pained and shocked, but he needed to do what he needed to do. They were weights.

He clapped his hands, infusing his hands and arms to strength them, and then further empowered the shockwave as it left the hands causing a explosion of noise.

They all jumped up in shock, but Ren’s eyes narrowed at him, clearly noticing the aura trick he did.

He smiled softly at him, then at all of them. “I just want to say, thank you, thank you all, you’ve made the last hellish nine months in this place actually pleasant.”

Blakes eyes narrowed at his choice of words.

“I have had more fun here in my time with you seven, than I have had in the last couple centuries.”

NPR and RWBY’s eyes shot open, and before their eyes Jaune disappeared.

“I suppose you’re all curious what that means, but, I don’t have time to explain it all to you, I’m on a schedule you see, and you’re better off not knowing too. You seven have too bright future together, to change the world, to be dragged down into a shadowy conflict. Focus on your life and goals, not the mysterys in the dark. It’s been a pleasure, Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Blake, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren.”

Crocea Mors in hand, Jaune grabbed it by the sheath and handle pulling it with speed that not even the eyes of hunters in training could follow hitting Ruby in the back of the head before her aura went up.

Ruby hit the floor with a nary a sound, looking for the world like she just fainted.

Weiss and Yang stood to either side of Ruby, with Blake at the end of the semi circle next to Yang. Ren stood to Weiss’s side, Nora to Ren’s side, and Pyrrha at the other end of the circle.

Crocea Mors sheath didn’t stop moving after Ruby went down, Jaune turned the strike so the flat of the blade hit Weiss’s temple, eyes went wide and then rolled up into her skull, her aura failing to come up at speed to block the strike.

In all under a second Jaune had incapacitated Ruby and Weiss, in the next ten second the other fives fell to the ground knocked out, not a scratch on the boy, and in the next second Jaune let his expression fall, and suddenly Jaune didn’t look so young and weak anymore, his face going from soft to sharp looking, still young but closer to his mid-twenties than his late teens, but his eye’s held a weight and age to them that could not be measured. It was like looking at the difference between a puppy and a alpha beowolf.

Jaune looked tiredly at his former friends, and took out his scroll and hit another message to each of his former friends, a video personalized for each one, on how to improve their fighting style, semblance, and training, along with a personalized apology.

Then Jaune hit a app on his scroll, then any trace of Jaune Arc ever existing on paper was deleted, being replaced by John Ark who tragically died in a bullhead flight tonight.

The scroll was then broken like cheap plastic and tossed away. Jaune brought up a burner scroll, and called. “I’m ready, are the pieces in place?”

Ozpin’s voice could be heard on the other end. “Yes. Are you in position?”

“No, but I will be within five minutes, tell them to be ready sooner, if all goes as planned the infiltrators will be captured and brought to the vault in less than a half hour, if not, be ready to send them in to capture or kill them.”

“Roger, message sent, I will be waiting below.”

In a blur of speed the onesie was gone revealing briefly too things, a body that was covered in scars of all kinds, burns, pock marks, slashes, bruises, acid burns, a catalogue of wounds that if saw on a normal man would cause a doctor to question how they were alive.

The second was on Jaune’s back, a large Tattoo, one of a fearsome monster that stared off of Jaunes back.

In another Blur of speed Jaune was dressed in dark blues, and blacks, Crocea Mors at his side.

“Tonight the Tarasque hunts again.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jaune stood outside of the dark hall way following the aura signature to a visiting students dorm, he could feel the Fall Maiden’s power inside. He was right on the money that it was the transfer student. She was far too old to be playing pretend... Or not old enough.

He sensed the Ace Ops patrols the outside and roof, Goodwitch down the hall, The Branwan skin-changed and waiting outside the window.

Jaune focused on the aura signatures in the room, four, all sleeping.

He took out a key and opened the door, and slipped in.

They never even noticed him stalking up to the fall maiden, and grabbing her by the throat, to her credit her eyes shot open immediately, but Jaune took the handle of Crocea Mors to her head.

Her aura blocked it, but she was clearly dazed, and could barely choke out a “H-help.” In a blur of speed and force he brought the handle to her temple again and again till her aura broke and her eyes rolled up, a dark bruise forming with a blood dripping down the side of her head.

He felt the movement behind him, and the attempt of an illusion to cloud his mind. He feigned falling for it, and let her sneak up with the blades. Just as the girl swung he backhanded her in the throat, she wasn’t expecting it and her aura wasn’t up, so she went out like light.

That’s two.

The half-legs and the woman-girl stirred. He took Crocea Mor’s to their heads, a trickle of blood all the proof he needed.

He went over to the window and opened it, letting the Branwen in.

He pointed at the half-legs and woman-girl, “Grab em’“

The Branwan knew better to argue with him.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The elevator opened with a ding, showing Jaune and Qrow with two unconcious bodies over their shoulders.

“Is that the culprit?” Ozpin asked with a thin frown.

Jaune nodded.

“Good, put her in the machine.” “No, Orville. I got a better way to do this.” Jaune said.

Ozpin raised a eyebrow, and Qrow looked intrigued. “What’s that Jaune?”

“This,” Jaune said raising his hand, it briefly lighting up the room before dimming revealing a pearlesque white hand.

Ozpin took step back in fear and surprise. “You completed it?!”

Qrow looked nonplussed, and raised his eyebrows. “What exactly is this ‘it’?” He asked with air quote.

“The highest form of aura manipulation I’ve achieve,” He shot a look at Ozpin. “When you have centuries of time on your hands, you either get good at what you do, or make plans for the future... I know what I’ve chosen.”

Ozpin let out a huff. “Well one of us has to make sure the world doesn’t explode.”

“Whatever,” Jaune said with a smirk, and then plunged his pearly white hand into Cinder’s chest.

Cinder awoke with a blood-chilling scream, her hands going to her chest, but then her body started thrashing like she was having a seizure.

“Yeah, I imagine having your soul invaded and having a piece ripped out isn’t very fun is it, yeah, well guess what?” Jaune said to a terrified Cinder. “Turn about is fair play, Amber was a good friend of mine, and you’re gonna pay.”

- Several bloody hours later. -

Ozpin looked mildly disturbed, while Qrow vomited in the corner.

“Dust, dust that was horrifying.” “Yeah, but I got the Maiden powers.”

“Are you going to do the same to Amber?”

Jaune nodded darkly. “Yes, but I’ll be much gentler with her.” “That does inspire much confidence.” “Well, excuse me if soul surgery isn’t exactly a very well explored field!” Jaune said to Qrow, then shot a look at Ozpin. “It would be much farther along if somebody gave me those prisoners, instead of sending me to kill super-heavy class grimm.”

“I find the survival of frontier villages and cities a more pressing matter.” Jaune shrugs. “Fair.” He then walks over to Amber’s stasis pod, a glowing orange ball in Jaune’s pearly hand.

It open and Jaune rams the orb into her, Amber’s eyes jumping open in pain.

It takes several screaming hour before Jaune is done.

“Well, she might be fine now.” “Might be?” “Very poorly explored field.”

Qrow looks over to the three accomplices, who woke during the soul surgeries, now looking very terrified.

“What about them?” “What about them? Their your problem now, as far as I’m concerned the only thing that’s my problem now is Amber, you two chucklefuck deal with the brats.”

Ozpin looked at the two children and Neo, “Soooo, anybody want some coffee.”

Edit: Forgot the Author’s note that would explain somethings, I kinda lost passion towards the end.

AN: This an AU where around a thousand years ago Ozma decided to do a mass aura awakening to see if it would bare fruit. Jaune seemed like he didn’t have semblance after couple years of training. But, come 80 years later, Ozma hears rumors of a lmmortal blonde... Jaune’s semblance is eternal youth.

[softsillytwsted]

The Sleep of Blue Roses

I had this thought in my head of a what if story about an Ace betrayal and couldn’t stop myself from writing this until it was done. This is honestly not what I usually write because it’s kinda dark, but hey - it fits October doesn’t it?

Warnings: implied character death, implied domestic abuse, angst, the slow crawl of helplessness

Somewhere between now and back when you were still here, Deuce never understood limits. How can he? You were magicless, but you selflessly faced those impossibly stronger than you and succeeded. Deuce felt that nothing was out of reach when he was with you, with Ace, with Grim, Jack, Epel, Sebek...

When did things go wrong?

After weeks of strategizing a way to rescue Grim, who’s habit of eating everyone’s negative energy finally caused him to overblot, the gray monster was finally back to normal. Looking back, Deuce could only see how reckless and impossible the task was. They were up against a monster that had the combined magic and unique magic of the 7 strongest students from an academy of elites. The situation that promised death loomed over everyone, yet with you there, no one had any doubts they would fail. Not Riddle, not Leona, not Azul, Kalim, Vil, Idia, nor Malleus. And the impossible was made possible.

And you left this world thinking the impossible can be made possible.

“I arrived in Twisted Wonderland right after my mom contacted me,” you admitted shyly. “I haven’t talked to her since I was a kid because my dad always told me to stay away from her but... I really want to see her again.”

You were in front of the mirror, bags packed and your friends surrounding you. You can finally return back home and with a piece of the Dark Mirror in your hands you can communicate with them whenever you desired.

Deuce beamed at you, “It’ll go great, I know it will! My mother is always kind to me and she wanted what was best for me. I’m sure yours will be the same too!”

Ace hugged you before you left. “It’s seriously going to get so boring without you around. You better contact us or I’ll go over there and kick your ass.” Jokes aside, you and Deuce could tell by the glint in Ace’s eyes that he meant every word. You smiled at him then, because despite knowing each other for a year, the three of you shared an inseparable bond.

“I promise.”

You left them.

Days passed, then weeks, with no word from you. After one month, Ace angrily stormed into the Mirror Chamber and demanded to go see you.

“They do not exist.”

“Of course they don’t fucking exist, they’re in another world- now lead me to them!”

“They do not exist in this world or in any other world.”

“What the fuck do you mean by that!? They were here just a month ago!” Ace lunged at the mirror. His fists futilely pounded on its glassy surface before he tried to shake the mirror out of its placeholder. Deuce had to restrain the wildly thrashing Ace before the ginger stilled in his arms- lifeless. “Whatever, I’m over it.” He took a deep breath and walked away, ignoring Deuce’s and Grim’s cries after him.

If Deuce took better notice of the chill that followed Ace’s steps, maybe things would’ve been different. Instead, he visited the Mirror Chamber until a year passed and he too gave up- only visiting again on occasion, whereas Grim still stops by everyday.

Ace’s friendship with Deuce and Grim were strained at best. The ginger acted the same, but something was different. Like a cherished photo misplaced. Deuce didn’t question when Ace started hanging out with Kalim and Jamil more and Deuce and the other first years less. Nor did he stop to think about why Ace volunteered to do errands for Azul and Crowley. He even looked away when he saw Ace chatting it up with the two princes of the school.

They graduated like this without mentioning the name Y/n.

***

“AAH! Oh no are you alright?” Deuce yelled after you when you somersaulted from a heavy onslaught of his color-changing magic. “I’m so sorry!”

You could only giggle at your current state. Ace warned you not to get close to Deuce while he was changing the colors of the roses, but you assumed being behind Deuce would be safe. You were now paying for your mistakes. “Don’t worry about it Deuce,” you paused. The smile you flashed him revealed a weariness he couldn’t comprehend. “It was my fault too.”

***

Two years later, Deuce finally passed his test to become part of Rose Kingdom’s Elite Division. Right after orientation, he was pleasantly surprised by a visit from Ace who threw an arm over the bluenette’s shoulders and cheekily grinned at him like the two never grew apart. For a long moment, Deuce believed they never did as the two went to a bar to celebrate and catch up. Deuce breezed through all the sleepless nights he spent studying and training; Ace regaled his continuation of his internship. 

“They loved me so much they made a new position to get me to stay!” he said. “And guess what? He said that if he becomes prime minister he’ll make me one of his advisors. Not too bad huh?”

Deuce couldn’t be happier for Ace. He always wondered what Ace, who blanched at the idea of the future, would do with his life. He admits, however, that politics was the furthest thing he would ever imagine his friend doing. “Being in the political scene can be dangerous I hear. Luckily I can assign my own bodyguards, including a certain elite policeman.”

This was news to Deuce. He was unaware of any political strife that would need the Elite Division, which specialized in magic-related crimes, to act as bodyguards... Maybe he needs to follow the news more closely. Regardless, Deuce grinned with all teeth and slammed his fist in his palm. “Just leave it to me, no way in hell I’ll let my buddy get hurt.”

“...Glad I can count on you... buddy.”

***

Deuce helped you up and tried to wipe off the paint on your uniform. You didn’t bother telling him that he was only smearing the paint into your clothes because of the look of concentration on his face telling you how hard he wanted to make this right. “Oh Deuce, you ended up painting the finished roses blue too.”

“What? Oh no...” he groaned at the extra work he’ll have to do. Will he be in time for the Unbirthday Party?

“Hey relax, I’ll help you out! We should be finished within an hour if we hurry,” you reassured him. He flashed you a grateful smile which you returned with a soft smile of your own.

***

The time between then and the election passed with a blink of an eye. Once his candidate won, Ace swaggered over to Deuce’s department with the confidence and authority that didn’t fit a 21 year-old advisor. It didn’t take long for Deuce to find himself a part of Ace’s security detail. It took an even shorter amount of time for Deuce to feel like he was slowly crawling into a waking nightmare.

Deuce tried to ignore it, tried to give Ace the benefit of the doubt, but he couldn’t excuse the things Ace did right in front of him. Dismissals of important emergency committees, deregulation of organizations with authority, increased spending on militarized weapons. The public blamed all these new policies on their new prime minister, but Deuce knew who the real mastermind was.

It didn’t take long for him to confront Ace - especially after he realized that the recent strings of overblot cases popping up across the country were a direct result of Ace’s policies.

“So what are you going to do about it?” Ace sneered. Deuce looked away; the gun in his hand hung lifelessly by his side. “You couldn’t even stop Y/n from leaving to die. You definitely won’t stop me from having my way with this country.”

“What?”

“Don’t give me that... You know exactly what I’m talking about.” Ace looked at Deuce like he was a bug beneath his shoe, but the quake in his eyes said otherwise. “You’re hereby dismissed from your post. If the next time I see you and you try to stop me, I’ll crush you.”

Ace walked away from Deuce- just like he did years ago.

“I’ve done too much to have you get in my way.” 

***

Deuce felt so lucky to have met you, despite the rocky beginning. You never hesitated to help and encourage him. Sometimes, when his vague idea of an honor student wasn’t enough to guide him, he would look to you.

He wondered if you knew how much he wanted to repay you for being you.

He wondered if he can one day be someone you would be proud to know.

He wondered... what you thought of him.

***

The familiar halls of Night Raven College felt comforting - a temporary balm to the turmoil Deuce felt lately. He had hoped to see some of his old teachers and Crowley, but the school’s headmaster was tasked to find the Magic Mirror, the legendary mirror that the Beautiful Queen used once upon a time. No doubt, this was Ace’s doing.

When Deuce reached the Mirror Chamber, he was surprised to find Grim was nowhere to be found. Deuce ignored the churning in his stomach and thought to himself that maybe he was just early. After all these years, Grim never stopped believing that you would return to them. Crowley always spoke with pity in his voice about how the little monster would visit the Dark Mirror everyday- waiting, staring.

Deuce respectfully crouched in front of the mirror - like a mourner in front of a grave. 

“Hello Y/n I’m sorry it’s been a while since my last visit,” Deuce began, he softly smiled while thinking of all the memories he had of you. “I was able to pass the qualifications to be part of the Elite Division. One of my first assignments was actually to guard Ace, can you believe that?”

He paused and tried to gulp down the lump in his throat. “Um… about Ace he… he’s made it big as a politician. He’s my friend and I was happy for him but… a part of me is scared. He’s not the same anymore after you left Y/n. Looking back, I can’t help but think how reckless and dumb we were to risk our lives against people we had no chance against. But we always made it through thanks to you.” Every single sentence, every single word came out in a rush. It was a confession to all the sins he committed letting Ace go. A realization that he could never be the man he wanted you to be proud of.

“You somehow make the impossible possible… I… I really need that right now...” He begged, “Please… I need...”

Deuce didn’t realize he was crying until the tears flowed down his cheeks and onto his clenched fists. He looked up at the Dark Mirror and activated it. “Oh Dark Mirror, show me Y/n.”

“...”

“They do not exist.”

***

“Hey Deuce,” you began as you picked up a blue rose. The two of you were almost done cleaning up the mess Deuce made and you decided now was the time to take a breather. Deuce slouched in the shade of the hedge, too tired to do anything but hum to show he was listening. “In my world, blue roses were never found naturally, so they symbolized the impossible. But after years of research, my world was able to grow one.”

You handed Deuce the rose, its petals shone brilliantly despite its withering edges. Deuce took it curiously and the two of you shared a sweet smile.

“They now symbolize miracles.”

[torikawa]

Tōru Oikawa FanFiction Part #1

'Mixed Realities' a love story between [F/N] [L/N] and Tōru Oikawa.

This Fanfiction includes the following~

Happy Ending

Sexual Themes

Explicit Words

Kinks

Friends to Lovers

Strangers to Lovers

Sad scenarios in the Middle

Fluff

Comedy

[F/N] = First Name

[L/N] = Last Name

[N/O/S] = Name Of School

[F/N] [L/N], a girl who attends to [N/O/S] was known to be a Huge Otaku and the newest Manager of the Boys Volleyball Team. She's a huge fan of the Anime Haikyuu! Looking up to the Characters especially Oikawa. She thought of him as such an amazing character who deserved the world! She basically Simped for him whenever she could.

"Did you see the new Episode?! Oikawa showed up for less than a second but I think I fell for him all over again" [F/N] said with a grin spreading across her face, her eyes glued onto the Screen Shot she took of him.

"Here she goes again." Julien muttered under his breath, glaring daggers into [F/N]'s smaller figure.

"Oh come on! Hearing her rant about her 2D Boyfriend is honestly funny-" Ace laughed in.

"No wonder she's still single, too busy SIMPING for guys who don't exi-" Interrupted by a sharp smack on the shoulder, Leon choked on his food.

"Oh come on! You can't deny that he's the hottest Character in Haikyuu!!" [F/N] chimed in between the boys Laughter.

"You say that about every guy in Haikyuu." Julien dead panned.

"You're just salty that I don't talk about Sakusa as much!"

"Tch." He looked away, his nose scrunching up along with his mask.

"Pfft, don't be mad Juju!" [F/N] squeezed Julien's cheek through his mask, pink scattering across his cheeks as he swats her hand away.

He muttered a small 'whatever' before he got up and walked away.

"Mmm, I think our own little Sakusa likes you [F/N]" Ace said with a snicker.

"He has a point. Julien's a huge Germaphobe yet he treat you as if you're the only pure/clean thing that exists" Leo added, his words mumbled from him chewing on his food.

[F/N] stared at her 2 Friends, dumbfounded. She slowly looked away before moving a strand of her hair behind her ear. She couldn't bring herself to see Julien looking at her as someone more than just a friend.

He was tall, handsome, smart, and above all the boy who the girls swoon over in the School. But there aren't any proof of him liking her, atleast not yet?

"I still can't believe that, but anyways! It's almost practice, we should probably get going or we'll be late" She got up slowly, slinging her bag over her shoulder right shoulder.

Ace and Leo sighed in anticipation, upset about how stupid their little manager was when it came to romance.

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the Gym, Julien and the rest of the Team were already practicing their serves.

"You guys are a bit late" The coach said with a sympathetic smile.

"Sorry we wer-"

"[F/N] ate so much, we had to wait for our little manager to be finished because we didn't want her left alone" Ace said with a snort. Causing Leo to burst out of laughter as he jogged towards the rest of the team.

[F/N] gave Ace a smack on the arm, her face beat red. It caused most of the boys who were practicing their serves to snicker.

Meanwhile, Julien kept his stone cold face. Simply not bothered by the fact the others were basically dying of laughter by now. Though as his eyes landed on his dear Friend, a teasing smile spread across his face.

[F/N] looked away embarrassed, trying her best to avoid Julien's teasing gaze.

After 2 hours of practicing, it finally came to an end. With [F/N] handing out each of the Players water bottles.

For Julien, she had to rub the shit out of his bottle. It was something she had to do before handing it to him. Of course at first, she was kind of offended. But now that she was one of the few people who were actually able to touch him, it made her feel special.

"Here" [F/N] said with a smile on her face, slowly handing Julien his Bottle. He stared down at her, nodding before giving a small 'thanks'

She ended up walking home alone today, Julien had to get home fast to take care of his Nephew, Ace had to go out with his Girlfriend, and Leon as usual walked on a different path since he lived in the opposite direction.

It didn't take long for her to reach her front door. She reached into her pockets and pulled out her keys, professionally sticked it into the keyhole with a turn, causing the door to open.

"I'm home!" [F/N] screamed out, but then a sudden shock hit her. Her parents were off on a vacation, so she'd have to live alone for a few weeks. "Oops- Forgot"

Slowly, she took her shoes off. Placing them ever so gently against the shoe rack before ascending the stairs of her house. But then, that's when she realized. Something felt so off about her surroundings, but why?

[F/N] continued her way towards her bedroom slowly, her legs shaking with each step she took.

Her hand pressed against the door as she pushed it open, revealing her bedroom. She stepped inside cautiously, her eyes scanning her room.

A minute passed with her standing still. And yet nothing happened. 'Huh, I guess it was just my imagination-' Though before she could step forward to enter her room fully, a large hand grasped her mouth, forcefully pinning her against the wall.

"Who the fuck are you and where the Hell am I?" The dark figure yelled out, his hand still dangerously close to choking her. She couldn't tell who this was, and she couldn't have known why the Hell this person was here in the first place!

[F/N] felt a surge of fear flow through her body as she whimpered against the touch.

"Are you gonna talk or stay quiet?"

"P-Please..- I have no idea why you're here just please let me go!"

The boy eventually let go of her neck, stepping back while letting out a sigh.

[F/N] didn't hesitate to flick the lights on, snapping her head back to the boy. Only to have her eyes widen and her mouth open. 'N-No way..-' she thought in her head.

The Boy infront of her stood at over (6'0"), chocolate brown hair, and eyes. The features of his body were all so familiar with her.

"Oi..Oikawa..-?" [F/N] muttered, loud enough for the boy to hear.

"How do you know my name" Oikawa deadpanned, his cold eyes staring down at her smaller figure.

"I...no w-way- this can't be happening I.. this is a d-dream I..-" She stepped forward, causing him to step back in confusion and fear.

He wasn't used to his surroundings, nor was he used to having to look at a mirror with his different yet similar face.

"Stay back, I don't know who you are." Tōru kept his distance from her, he didn't show any fear whatsoever. But deep down he was panicking. Where was he? How did he get here? And why was he here?

[F/N] sighed, calming down a bit to hold herself back from bursting out into tears. She looked into Oikawa's half lidded eyes and began to explain how he was a Fictional character she looked up to, a character who wasn't supposed to exist but yet still ended up being in her room PHYSICALLY. Was this a way of God giving her a Gift? A gift of someone she treasured and looked up to the most? Perhaps.

Tōru's eyes softened, he scanned her room only to look at the merch [F/N] baught of himself. It's crazy to believe, but it's the only logical explanation; How he ended up transferring into a different reality, a different dimension. It all made sense in his head but it was hard to believe. How could this girl look so calm? Was she expecting this? Though, she was caught off guard when she realized who he was. So Oikawa shook off the thought, and eventually let out a smile.

"Is it alright if I stay here until I figure out a way to head back..?" He questioned, his head tilting to the side as his usual yet none genuine smile spread across his cheeks. He wanted to deal with this situation without having to face it alone.

"O-Ofcourse..!" [F/N] quickly looked around, before settling her bag on her [F/C] bean bag.

"Do you live alone?"

"Oh, actually I live with my Parents but they're off on a vacation for 3 weeks"

"I see~" Oikawa hummed, before plopping himself on her bed. He may look and act calm and collected. But inside he was worrying about how his friends and family would act with his sudden disappearance from his own reality.

"Are you okay? Do you feel hungry? I could cook for you if you want" [F/N] said as she sat beside him.

Tōru was caught off guard from her sudden approach, but he paid no mind. He didn't get any harmful nor dangerous vibes from the stranger.

"Actually, I'm not hungry at all. But I do have a question or two that I would like for you to answer"

"Ask awayyyy!" [F/N] said with a huge goofy grin her face, causing the setter to let out a chuckle. She couldn't keep in her excitement with having her idol infront of her.

"Pfft, now, what's your name Stranger?"

"Stra- ah right- I'm [F/N] [L/N]"

"Ah~ what a cute name [F/N]-chan! Is it alright if I call you that or are you uncomfortable with it?" Tōru asked with a tilt of his head.

"A-Actually I don't mind you calling me by my first name.. But, that means I get to call you Tōru-kun then!"

"Tōru, just call me Tōru." He replied softly.

[F/N] could practically feel her heart flutter. Was she really falling for Oikawa for real? Was he really THE Oikawa Tōru..

Little did she know, this was the start of an unbreakable bond. A bond that will soon blossom into romance.

[Original Idea, do not steal]

[cutiepisenpai]

Gifted Part 3

Spencer Reid x F!Reader

Warnings: Fluff, minor porn reference, mentions of unsubs crimes nothing graphic, and one supernatural reference

The next Monday at work it was as if nothing had happened at least for Y/N. When she walked in at the same time as always, a chipper smile telling everyone good morning. She runs into Spencer in the kitchenette as he is making his morning coffee with too much sugar. “You know the consumption of excess sugar doesn’t actually provide you with more energy; it's a common misconception. If you ate more actual solid foods you would have energy. Eating an apple and a handful of almonds would garner better results.” Y/N says to Spencer referring to the ungodly amount of sugar he is pouring into his coffee. Spencer as most of his coworkers have come to know is not much of a morning person and rarely coherent without coffee in his system. “Is that why you’re so chipper in the morning. Because you eat real food?” He says groggily as he continues to pour sugar into his coffee. “No, I actually alternate between boxing and yoga to start my morning. And if you don't stop pouring sugar that will be molasses before you know it.” Spencer stops and looks down at how much sugar he had actually poured into his mug. It was too much but what the hell he would drink it anyway. “So, how was the rest of your weekend?” He asks. “It was boring, you know grocery shopping, picking up dry cleaning, repacking my go bag, that kind of stuff. What about you?” What he didn’t want to tell her is that he spent the entire next day trying to figure out why she reacted the way she did, so he lied. “Oh just reading a new book.” “Oh really, what book?” She asked. He did not think that through and he hadn’t read anything new so he lied again. He thought of a book he heard JJ and Prentiss talking about, “Twilight, have you heard of it?” “You, read twilight?” She asks, with a knowing smirk on her face. “Yes, what I can’t read something that isn’t science or classic literature?” He asks defensively. “Oh I know I just didn’t take you for the tragic vampire romance kind of reader but to each their own. Sooo, what did you think about it?” Thankfully at that moment Hotch came to get them, they had a new case. 

Their new case is taking them to Shreveport, Louisiana where a body had been found floating in a lake and  upon further inspection after dragging the lake they found a dozen more bodies. When they land Hotch sends Morgan, Prentiss and Rossi to the lake, Y/N and Spencer to the M.E. and He and JJ go to meet the local police. Unfortunately for Spencer being stuck in the SUV with Y/N while driving to the M.E. 's office gave her time to interrogate him on his Twilight knowledge. “So what did you think of the book? Are you going to read the others?” Others?? Spencer thinks to himself how many of these are there. “It was good but I don’t think I will read the others.” He says hoping his mediocre response will suffice. It does not. “Care to elaborate? I have seen you dissect a blog post more in depth than that.” “No I wouldn't, we should be focusing on the case, not some book.”He says in a huff. “Wow okay no need to get defensive what insights do you have on the case?” She is met with silence, he didn’t have anything to say about the case; he just wanted to stop talking about the book he didn’t read. But she didn’t push him any further okay with keeping quiet for the rest of the ride. The M.E. informs that because of the deterioration of the bodies in the water the cause of death at this time is undetermined. “Is there anything you can tell us about the remains?” Spencer asks. “All of the victims are men and it appears they were all in their mid 30’s at the time of death and the earliest body shows to be about fifteen years old.” The M.E. says. “Well at least we know the unsub’s victimology. Is there any chance we will be getting any of these men I.D.’d soon?” Y/N says. “We’re working on dental records but that’s all we have to go off of.” With this information Spencer and Y/N head to the police station to meet up with the team. Getting out of the SUV when they arrive at the station, “Ugh I detest coming to the south, it’s so gross and muggy and humid my clothes are sticking to my skin. Why does 100% humidity even exist? It should just be called wet without rainfall.” Y/N says, pulling off her blazer and pulling her damp hair into a bun on her head.  “100% humidity occurs when the dew point temperature is equal to the temperature outside.” Spencer says with a smug smile. He is met with a glare, “I understand the science behind it but that does not make it better. And how are you wearing like what four layers of clothing and have no problem with it?” She rants. “This is only three layers.” “You have on a sweater vest and a cardigan seriously how are you not dying?” He just shrugs.

Two days later and the team was having trouble with the case the ac in the precinct they were in wasn’t working and the increasing heat was making everyone agitated. Spencer was currently on a call with the M.E. regarding the official cause of death while everyone else sat around the table complaining about the heat. “So the M.E. says that the official cause of death is belladonna.” Spencer informs the team. “The porn star?” Y/N and Prentiss ask in unison. Spencer gives them a questioning look, “the poison.” “Oh” they say in unison again. “Belladonna is native to Europe, Northern Africa and Western Asia and it's not something you can bring through customs so how did they get it?” Y/N asks “They could have bought it on some kind of black market and then planted it here there is a lot of land and most people probably wouldn’t question it.” JJ adds in. This was the only lead they had so far so they had Garcia looking into it. With no other leads and nothing else to do for the time being Hotch sent everyone to their hotel rooms to rest for the night so they could start back fresh in the morning. 

The team ends up not solving the case, the unsub was laying low after their disposal site was revealed. “Man this sucks.” Morgan grunts out. The team is on the jet heading back to Quantico all feeling a bit defeated by this case. “I know but if this guy ever resurfaces  we’ll be back and we’ll get him then.” Rossi says. With that everyone relaxes for the most part knowing that every case won’t go their way. Y/N and Spencer are sitting side by side reading as everyone else has fallen asleep. “So, is that book better or worse than Twilight?” He really thought she had let it go seeing as though she hadn’t brought it up in the last couple of days. “It’s better more of my style.” “It doesn’t hurt to try something new. So what was your favorite part?” She really wasn’t letting this go, he wonders if she knows he is lying. She hasn’t been a profiler for too long; she might just be that curious. “How did you know I was lying?” He finally decides to just tell the truth. “From the moment you said Twilight. If you didn’t want to tell me about your weekend that’s okay I just didn’t understand why you felt the need to lie.” Y/N says turning back to her book. The rest of the flight is quiet, both of them joining the rest of the team and falling asleep. When the team arrives they don’t have any paperwork so they can just head home. “Did you drive today?” Y/N asks Spencer knowing he took the train sometimes. “No but don’t worry I can get home.” “I can give you a ride, I’m heading in that direction.” He considered declining but he didn’t want to go through the trouble of calling a cab so he accepts. The car ride was filled with unbearable silence. “I didn’t want you to know I was bothered by how you reacted when I hugged you.” Spencer says breaking the silence. “What?” “When I walked you home from the museum I hugged you and you tensed. Did that bother you?” Spencer says, his voice getting lower with each word. “Oh that wasn’t a you thing, I don’t usually hug people well except Garcia and that is not by choice every time she hugs me she tells me to relax and that I will get used to it.” Y/N says with a laugh. “Sorry if I upset you.” “Why don’t you hug people?” “I don’t have a real reason, it just feels weird and rather unnecessary.” “Well I’m glad you weren’t bothered by me hugging you.” Tension is gone now they have gotten into an intense conversation about facts on hugging. Pulling up to Spencer’s apartment they are ready to say their goodbye but they stay in the car talking, “So do you have plans for your days off?” Spencer asks. “Nothing.” “Would you like to go out somewhere together?” “Like a date?” Spencer has wanted that since they met on the elevator. “Yes as a date?” “Okay call me to let me know the details.” Y/N says with a smile before Spencer exits the car filled with joy. 

[arotechno]

The Heartless: Chapter 7

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Chapter VII: in which home is a fickle thing

“Mom, why do I have to keep what I am a secret?”

My mother set another cup of warm milk in front of me and pursed her lips. After seeming to think for a moment, she answered carefully, “Because, dear, there are a lot of mean people in the world who would do bad things if they knew.”

“What kinds of bad things?”

It was one of my earliest vivid memories; I was six years old. From as far back as I can remember, my parents had always told me that revealing that I was Heartless to anyone, no matter how trustworthy, was strictly forbidden.

“Well, your father and I could get in trouble. Or they may hurt you or take you away.”

“Why?”

My mother hesitated. This was before I knew of the curse; my parents had always kept it from me. Finally, she said, “Sometimes people are afraid of those that are different from them.” She bent down to eye-level and placed a hand on my shoulder. “The reasons don’t matter. What matters is that you don’t ever tell anyone, not even your friends.”

“I know.”

I did know. It was the earliest truth instilled in me; my identity was something to be hidden from view. It was the seed that one day, when Marcus spun his tale of the great evil that lived inside me, sprouted into shame.

So I learned to fake being normal and told no one, not for two more years. But I still carried the shame between my ribs, like a thorny stem that never quite blossomed into a rose.

  Swallow’s Point was not much different than I remembered it, though the buildings had begun to wither and fade with the passage of time. Traipsing through the northeastern woods to get there had been a quiet affair, with only my thoughts and the gentle crunching of the autumn leaves under my boots to keep me company. The journey had only taken a few days this time, as compared to the week it had taken me to reach the Village of the Heartless seven years ago. When I began to run out of water as early as the third day, I was more thankful than ever for improved navigational skills and longer legs.

As I approached my house from down the road, I could see it had become overgrown with vines in the years since I ran away. The same old fence stood in a state of disrepair, and my father’s vegetable garden had yet to be replanted for the fall harvest. When I reached the front door, I froze. What if my parents didn’t want to see me?

The curse had always been a burden for them, to the point where sending me away became their only reasonable course of action after keeping me—against royal decree—for ten years. Perhaps they resented me for being born broken; if they’d had a normal child not plagued with the curse I had been dealt, then they would never have had to put themselves at risk. They could have had the perfect child, who grew up in the safety of their home and perhaps one day got married and bore them grandchildren. I was never going to be that child for them, and as I turned the knob to open the door I wondered if they regretted having a child at all.

The door swung open.

“Mom?” My voice broke and echoed through the small house. I don’t know if I had been expecting a grand welcome or the sting of rejection, but I had not expected what I received, which was nothing at all. Not a look, not a single breath, not even a crackle of the wood in the fireplace.

“Mom? Dad?” I called, stepping inside. “Hello?”

The house was eerily empty, the wooden dining table dusty like it hadn’t seen use in years, so empty that it seemed larger than it ever had. There was only stillness and silence, the only sounds my careful footsteps and bewildered breaths.

My own room, though dusty and donned with cobwebs, was in pristine order. The now faded quilt over my bed had been folded neatly over my pillow. What few books and toys I had owned were organized neatly on my shelf. What surprised me was the yellowing family portrait we had taken when I was seven years old, beaming from ear to ear, before I knew of curses or emptiness or human cruelty in child-sized packages. It sat framed on the shelf beside an empty, dirty vase which must have once held flowers before they decomposed over several years. It was as though someone were mourning my loss; maybe I might as well have been dead to them, or perhaps it was what they pretended to explain my absence.

“Ace, you need to run! Go! There isn’t much time!”

What had my father meant, there wasn’t much time?

I ran out the door and had half a mind to glance toward the center of the neighborhood first, where several adults had congregated amongst the children, trying to make sense of the chaos in its aftermath--Basil was nowhere to be seen. Carita made eye contact with me and stared, briefly, but said nothing and looked away as I turned and bolted down the road and toward the village’s western edge where my parents told me to run, crashing through the brush with branches scratching at my limbs until I was sure I was far enough away to never look back.

The air in the room suddenly felt oppressive, thick with some sadness I hadn’t allowed myself to feel for quite a while. Without thinking, I snatched up the frame and slipped it into my satchel. Then, in a panic, I bolted from the room and from the empty house of my childhood and pulled the door shut firmly.

“I thought that was you I saw coming up the road,” an eerily familiar voice piped up behind me. I jumped and whirled around to see Carita leaning against the beaten fence, arms crossed over her chest. She bent down and lifted a wicker basket from the dirt beside her feet.

“I got this for you when I saw that you were coming,” she explained, pulling off the covering cloth to reveal a few small bread rolls and a large canteen.

Wordlessly, I narrowed my eyes at the offering, cursing my traitorous stomach for growling at the prospect of food.

Carita placed a hand on her hip, rolling her eyes. “What, do you think I would poison you?” she questioned. Then she laughed. “Please, I had feelings for you when we were little. I’m just doing you a favor.”

I hesitated for a moment before reaching out and grabbing the basket from her hand. I felt like a desperate, wounded animal, downing all of the bread and the entire canteen of water in minutes while Carita stood over me like a self-satisfied hunter who had just spared me from a bullet between the eyes, dripping with smug confidence over having done the bare minimum of human decency.

“What’s your ulterior motive for being kind to me?” I demanded, taking a step back and crossing my arms.

Carita sighed. “Can’t I just be kind to an old childhood friend?”

“We weren’t friends.”

This caught her off guard. “Well—I mean, surely we were before… you know.”

“It proves we never were. You were friends with an idealized version of me that never existed.”

Plaintively, Carita toyed with the cloth in her hands, frowning at the dirt. “And which version would that be?”

“The version of me that is capable of love.”

I watched Carita’s eyes drift toward my chest, and she paused that way for a moment before reaching a palm forward. Possessed by raw fear, I leapt backward.

Carita’s lips formed a tight smile. “I figured as much,” she lamented. “Since you disappeared right after Marcus did what he did to Basil.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Where is he?” I demanded.

“Marcus?” Carita shrugged. “Probably in town. Don’t worry, I won’t tell him you were here.”

“Not Marcus. Basil.”

"If I knew, I would tell you. Last I ever saw him, he was escaping through the woods.”

My blood ran cold thinking of what could have happened to my best friend after I had run off. “And my parents?”

She shrugged, as if it didn’t matter. “A couple of days later, the royal guard passed through the neighborhood, and they disappeared; Basil’s too.”

My face must have fallen, as Carita smiled sympathetically, the cloth changing hands again.

“I’m sorry. I know what it feels like to lose someone.”

I shook my head vehemently, shutting my eyes. “You don’t. It’s not the same.”

“It might as well be.” I could feel Carita step closer to me.

“Quit toying with me,” I demanded, trying to step backward but finding myself firmly rooted to the ground. “I lost both my parents and the one person in this town who understood me thanks to the ignorance of people like you and everyone else in this godforsaken kingdom and you think your pain compares to mine? How can you say that?”

“Because I lost you seven years ago.”

My stomach lurched. “Th-That’s not the—”

I was cut off by Carita gripping me by the shoulders and pressing her lips against mine. My eyes shot open. Every muscle in my body froze, every drop of my blood went cold and still; the fairytales in the old books my mother used to read me always spoke of sparks flying, but the only warmth I felt was white hot terror creeping through my veins. I was paralyzed by fear for several moments before I managed to push Carita away from me, sending her stumbling backwards and landing flat on her back in the dirt road, the cloth from the basket fluttering through the air before coming to rest at her side.

“Stay the hell away from me,” I shouted, pulling the hood of my cloak up over my head and backing away down the road.

Carita pushed herself to a sitting position. “Ace, I didn’t mean it!”

“And I’m sure Marcus didn’t mean it when he ruined my life!” I turned around and sprinted down the road, turning the familiar sights of my hometown into a blur.

“Ace, wait! Come back!” I heard Carita call after me.

“I hate you!” I screamed, bolting through town without caring who saw or who was listening. “I hate this entire village! I hate this kingdom! I hate this curse and I hate myself!”

I kept running, darting between people and houses and market stalls with my head down and blinders up until I came crashing into Marcus himself, in all his six feet of smug-faced glory.

“Watch where you’re going,” he grumbled, glaring at me.

After stumbling backward, I took a defensive stance. “Don’t even think about coming any closer,” I threatened, gripping my bow behind me.

“You bumped into me,” he pointed out, raising his eyebrows. “Do I know you?”

My grip on the bow went slack, as did my jaw and every other muscle in my body (which had been tense ever since Carita first laid a hand on me). I stood there just like that as Marcus shook his head in disbelief and pushed past me, headed for home in the direction I had come.

[rainebowkitty]

Listen to Me and You’ll Have Nothing to Fear

It’s finally here, oh my g o d. Yandere bald Riddle Rosehearts x Reader in honor of cult leader @tsuisute and inspired by the sacrifices works of @muraenxdae and @nonsensical-twistedriddles​ 

Also, trigger warning for blood, leech abuse, and overall harmful behavior near the end of this fiasco work of literature (though it starts off surprisingly normal and just slowly descends into madness) 

Riddle Rosehearts was a practical dorm leader, someone who had never been tangled by the distasteful chains of love. He knew he never would be, at least not until it made sense to him. Love would just untidy his schedule and ruin his day. If it wasn’t convenient for him, it didn’t need to exist. 

Other than the color red, he had no relation to the disgusting emotion anyway. Not even when you arrived with your pretty eyes and calming smile. You had just been bothersome, always requiring him to take time out of his busy day to help you knot your disastrous tie or to remind you to study. It became apparent that he was going to have to tutor you whenever you failed the first test of the school year. It was clear you weren’t taking his suggestions, so he’d have to make you listen.

The two of you resided in the Heartslabyul common room with books, papers, and clipboards laying across your laps. Magic wasn’t a hard subject, yet you seemed to struggle exceptionally with it. Perhaps it was because you didn’t have an ounce of arcane energy in your bloodstream, but understanding it wasn’t that hard, was it? Maybe Riddle was just too used to the intricacies of a spell, how empowering the burst of light spiraling from one’s hand felt. It wasn’t difficult, yet you made it so with your confused expression and tiny frown. 

However, as time passed you seemed to understand. Your study sessions with Riddle started coming to a close, each aced test giving you more reason to escape his lecturing clutches. Riddle gratefully let you go with a stern promise to resume your study sessions with him if he caught another of your grades dropping. You hastily nodded, not planning to let so many of his lessons go to waste. Riddle didn’t have to help you, he could’ve forced an unlucky freshman to do it, but instead he had become your personal tutor. While you were thankful, it would be nice to have more free time once again.

Riddle had thought the same thing. He wouldn’t have to dance between drinking afternoon tea to arriving at your dorm for study sessions anymore. Still, how close the two of you had become was something unexpected. Again, you two had began traversing between his dorm and yours, the common room and the rose maze on days you two agreed to bask in the remaining daylight.

Did he miss you? That was unlikely. He had never particularly missed anyone before, never nurtured someone as he taught them the ways of his world while you shared tidbits of yours. He remembered the way you described something once; a giant machine that can transport you places. You said it was similar to a horse, but shinier. He had been intrigued until you revealed it was a car. It’s not like cars didn’t exist in the twisted wonderland, they were just impractical, especially for college students living in a campus easily navigated by foot. 

With annoying descriptions about something as simple as a car, why did he want to make excuses to see you? Why was it your side he’d stick to whenever his short height made it impossible to find Trey and Cater in the cafeteria? But most importantly, why did blood rush to his face at the sight of your smile or the brush of your hand against his as you both reached for a pencil? 

Actually, scratch that. Why did he feel the ugly green seeds of jealousy blooming in his chest whenever he witnessed you studying with none other than the Leech twins? It made sense to have a disliking towards Floyd seeing as that weirdo consistently teased Riddle with the degrading nickname of goldfish, but what had Jade ever done to the piping redhead?  

Perhaps it was the slippery eel qualities he shared with Floyd mixed with his overly mild personality. His kindness was truly unmatched, especially to his brother who he let get by with anything. The thought made Riddle sick, just as Floyd did now whilst poking you, breaking your focus. You were trying to learn something you didn’t know, and even if you went to the Leech twins over him, Riddle wasn’t going to easily accept Floyd’s attempts to pester you as you studied. 

He fumed towards the three of you, his heeled shoes annoyingly unable to make their normal satisfying clomping sounds on the carpeted library floor.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He hissed primarily at Floyd. Only when he noticed your clear alarm did he realize he sounded as if he was punishing you as well. He wanted to take back his harsh gaze, but something deep within told him just to press harder. Guaranteed results wouldn’t come from being merciful, even if that path might result in your gratified smile. 

“Helping,” Jade bowed his head a little as he responded, as if that made him any more innocent for dragging his disruptive brother along. 

“Maybe you are, but Floyd is just being a distraction,” Riddle huffed, foot tapping the carpet with an impatient, unsteady rhythm. “If he won’t leave, I’ll take over this study session myself.” 

“Very well,” Jade rose from his seat. “Come on, Floyd. The Heartslabyul dorm leader would rather us be elsewhere.”

“But I wanted to poke the goldfish,” Floyd pouted as Jade dragged him off. At least one of them had a brain enough not to bother a frustrated Riddle Rosehearts. 

“What was that about?” Riddle whispered harshly. “If you needed help, you know I’d assist you. Why did you go to them?” 

“I’m having trouble grasping the geology of this world,” you let the words helplessly tumble from your lips as your eyes pleaded for forgiveness. “Jade is the founder of the Mountain Loving Club. I thought he’d know better.” 

Your tango with words became too much for you, allowing you to slip up. You had said someone was better at something than Riddle. While you weren’t sure the boy was that narcissistic, his face definitely showed his offense at your claim. 

“I’ve studied any subject you can imagine for years,” he glared as his face grew red with rage. “Just because I’m not wasting my time in the Mountain Loving Club doesn’t mean I’m not well versed in my geology. How dare you assume otherwise.”

You had heard him yell, maybe even scream at disobeying first years before. Why did a shiver go down your spine whenever he whispered? He wasn’t even in your ear, but perhaps he was in your head. You almost felt helpless at the thought, but it’s not like he could read minds. You were safe, even as his tense form seemed so shaken with rage that the paper fibers of your textbooks thinned and paled under his pressing fingers. The remnants of a thank you danced on your lips as the tutoring session came to a close, but he had already turned on his heel and left by the time the first word left your mouth. 

He was furious, that much was certain. How much so would remain a mystery until you uncovered the truth.

~

Three days had passed since you last saw the boy, but he had certainly seen you. He watched the precise way you sipped your tea, the way he had taught you to do so. He noticed and kept track of every person you had spoken to. Each place you had been, so had he, only little red clumps of hair giving away that he was even present.

He was obsessed with you, but not so much the way you continued on as if he didn’t exist. On one hand he couldn’t understand the ongoing anger towards you, towards Floyd and Jade, towards the books you read and notes you took without him there. It was maddening, unexpected, and most importantly, inconvenient. So he began plotting ways to make it convenient, the red hairs on his head the worthy sacrifices made for a thorough plan of correction. 

It wasn’t more than two days later that a note was slipped under your dormitory door. You recognized the neat cursive as Riddle’s. It had only been marked time and time again on your schoolwork as he added notes and criticisms meant to improve you as a student. 

The letter looked more rushed than what was to be expected of Riddle. It also seemed to be written in red ink, something you didn’t know the boy to have. He preferred the regular black ink of the magic casting pen he kept secure in his uniform shirt pocket, so why the sudden change? Whatever it was, it only made the frantic looping of his handwriting seem more urgent. Preparing yourself for the worst, you rushed to his dorm room with purpose in your step. 

Upon arriving, you knocked knowing he wouldn’t appreciate you barging into his room. Even in crisis, you were smart enough to know Riddle appreciated his privacy. 

“Come in,” you heard him call, his tone much calmer from the last time you heard it five days ago. 

You opened the door slowly, your eyes drinking in the sight of the room as you searched for his short figure. He was nowhere to be found, nowhere at all even as the door slammed shut behind you with a swell of magic.

You swallowed down your panic, knowing it was just proper etiquette to close the door after a guest’s arrival. You then ventured to the center of the room, eyes scanning your surroundings as you notice an abnormally large red puddle leaking from behind the dorm leader’s bed. You cautiously investigate, uncovering the piled bodies of the Leech twins, blood pooling from their heads like the oceans they used to swim in. 

You wanted to scream, feeling the tense clumping of your vocal cords before a hand was clapped to your mouth, preventing you from making a sound at all. 

“You’re late,” Riddle’s voice creeped into the air, his breath raising the hairs on your neck as he remained close to you. 

“Didn’t you read what time you were supposed to be here in the letter?” His head tilted as he asked the question, his curiosity veiling all the rage in his system. “I wanted you to arrive before Jade, well, you saw what happened to him.” 

You indeed saw what happened to him as Riddle’s tight hold on you forced you to face the bodies. Your eyes squeezed shut, but Riddle had moved in front of you now. You were already breaking one of his rules by trying to block him out of your sight. 

“Open your eyes,” he commanded, his hands still harshly gripping your shoulders. 

One eye at a time, you made yourself gaze upon him. Only it didn’t look like him at all. Staring you in the face wasn’t the Riddle Rosehearts you’d come to know, but a stylish young man going bald minus two particular strands of royally red hair; the pieces sitting in the shape of a heart at the center of his forehead, only complete with his signature crown.

“Riddle,” you tried speaking but he put a finger to your lips. 

“You clearly don’t know what’s best for you if you enlist these eels as your tutors,” Riddle kicked Floyd’s unresponsive face with his heeled shoe. “So from now on you listen to me and only me. Got it?” 

You couldn’t believe this was happening. Riddle had killed two people for you? He had broken the very real laws enforced by the proper authorities just to tell you you were wrong? But most importantly, had the stress of it all really gone to his gorgeous, crimson hair? 

“I said,” suddenly he had flipped you around, pushing you into the nearest wall beside the corpses of the Leech twins. “Got it?”

You reluctantly nodded as you tried to swallow your fear. It appeared this was it for you. Your life would consist of his rules and games with hell to pay if you failed to obey. 

“But don’t fret,” he caressed your cheek, a sudden gentleness overcoming him. “By my hand, you’ll be perfect in no time. Doesn’t that sound divine?” 

He noticed your lips tremble in fear as you hummed in response. “Mhm,” you had hesitantly agreed before his lips met yours. With that one consoling, ensuring kiss went the final sprigs of Riddle’s hair, cast into the drying pool of leech blood along with his remaining sanity. 

If you happened to enjoy this (somehow) then feel free to suggest more silly (or serious) twst content like this! If you want more bald yandere stories (who wouldn’t) then check out the people that inspired me and their Malleus, Vil, and Jamil versions of this theme! They’re seriously awesome!

@tsuisute​ (for Malleus) @muraenxdae​ (for Vil) and @nonsensical-twistedriddles​ (for Jamil) <3

Thanks and come again, folks! 

[pneumasthesia]

Chapter 19

C. The middle-aged woman

Third Act – Cognition: Part 5 / Fourth Card – Future: Coins

 I’m falling.

I have been falling for some time. Ever since that moment. That moment of such pure clarity. Such pure confidence. Such pure conviction.

But then I started to fall.

My clarity was shattered. My High ended. I had nowhere else to go but down.

So I fell. On and on, for what seemed like an eternity. Every moment they, I, we, got one step closer to the truth.

I was afraid.

When I find the truth, I will finally fall to the bottom. I will be in a Rut. My deepest Rut. A Rut that will last years.

My clarity was only a High. Only an illusion invented by my addled mind for my own self-satisfaction. This Rut is the truth.

They are talking, discussing, determining something. The truth, most likely. It won’t be long. I have resigned myself to this, my future, and my past. I am a murderer. I’ve never been anything else.

The Hanged Man speaks up first. She accuses me. I’m so happy for her. I’m sure that she has the strength, and the weakness, to carry on. This moment, this trauma, will be the basis for her achievement of true catharsis. It’s not as if that was what I was aiming for in doing this, my deeds were always purely selfishly motivated. I thought myself a savior, but I was only a savior to myself.

The Magician takes my arm. He holds me in place. I expected this of him. I knew that the two of us had much in common. We both think for more of ourselves than we are worth, and that is our strength. We have the inner strength to brave any outside threat, and any inside one, at least that is what I thought. But I know now that we differed in one key way, the Magician truly likes himself. The Ace despises that they can only allow themselves to be the Ace.

The Hermit takes my other arm. I can no longer struggle even if I wanted to. I’m proud of him. In many ways, the two of us were alike, that is the one thing that my victim said that I agree with. But regardless of how intelligent, composed, and perhaps even kind we may be, I lack one thing that the Hermit has, I never allowed myself to embrace being alone. The Hermit is awkward and difficult, he could never understand anyone else, but because of this, he let himself enjoy the company of his own self. I always searched for someone, anyone who could complete me. I never tried to fix what was broken in myself on my own. I always searched for answers outside of myself, and when I found none, I took my self-hatred out on the world.

The High Priestess reveals the final piece of evidence. This is my damnation. I truly despise her. She is everything that I defined myself in opposition to. She is dependent and emotional and frivolous. I saw her as weak, so I convinced myself that I was strong. I do not envy her. She is weak, but I am as well. We both have weakness and we both have searched our whole lives for a way to cover it. Neither of us have been successful and I don’t think either of us ever will, but one became a murderer, so perhaps the other has the right of it.

Finally, the Fool steps forward. He gently places his hand on my bare arm and scrapes away my cover. Below the thin layer that I had thought would protect me is my weakness. Cuts, gores, gashes. A mark of my mistake, created by the desperation of a weak individual. It’s unsightly, seeing so deeply under my own skin. This is what is inside me? It is the same thing that was in the Professor. Well of course it is, how silly of me to be so surprised.

The Fool looks me straight in the eye. That must be difficult for him. I think I can understand. I know those eyes, I have seen them and failed to see through them so many times before. We really were the same deep down. That’s something I’ve been realizing more and more with everyone here. But with him especially, I felt that we are the same person, only seeing the world with different eyes, or not seeing it, in this case.

I can’t help but laugh. I have been feeling in good humor lately. I can hardly think without cracking a joke. If I laugh out loud now, what would they think of me? Perhaps they’d see me as some maniacal villain, an insane murderer, an unfeeling monster. I can’t tell them that they’re wrong about that, but that’s not the reason why I want to laugh. It’s just … instinct: basic evolutionary psychology.

I am fading.

I have been fading for some time. Ever since we started the evaluation. That moment of such clarity. Such pure camaraderie. Such pure catharsis.

But then I started to fade.

My clarity was sharpened. My Rut ended. I had nowhere else to go but reality.

So I faded. On and on, for what was only a few hours. Every moment I, he, we, got one step closer to the truth.

I am afraid.

Now that I have found the truth, I will know that I am at the bottom. This Rut will be my truth. Ever Rut before will have only been a High. A High that only lasted an instant.

This clarity is the truth. A truth invented by my addled mind for my own self-satisfaction. This truth is the Rut.

They are asking, questioning, demanding, that I tell them: the guests, the police, the therapists. That I tell them why I did it. That I explain my side. They ask for the whole story. I cannot give it to them. I do not know myself. The murderer that I am is in the past. I am no longer the Ace of Swords.

It is all a haze. The past is but a fading cloud above my head. No more real than the future. The only thing is the present. I am for once in my life fully conscious of the present. I despise the present. The present can never be anything but the result of the past. But the past is immutable, ephemeral, an unreal truth. So the present can never be right as its foundation is wrong.

Slowly, I fade. I sit in a corner, and I fade. I speak about myself, and I fade. Every moment of every interminable day, I fade.

To kill is to die. The moment that I committed my greatest mistake, I was more myself than ever before in my life. That mistake was my purest truth. I will never again feel that pure clarity, nor will I ever again feel the resulting confusion. I have left my truest self behind. I am only her shadow. My life is not hers, nor is it mine. I simply live.

So I lived. I lived and I faded. I did the right thing. I allowed myself to fade. Every moment my existence became less and less real and every moment I became closer and closer to the material. Slowly, I escaped my head. I could not bear to be in there any further. It was too crowded.

Then, he came. I knew he’d come. He came for me before, an eternity ago, a few hours ago, right when I needed him.

At first, I didn’t listen to him. I didn’t want to hear. I didn’t want to hear what he thought of me, because I knew that it would be true. I simply sat, and I faded. I waited for him to leave, like everyone else. I wanted to be alone. I thought that I was myself when I was alone. I thought that he would only make me her, my true self. I didn’t want that, I don’t want that, but I need that, I have always needed that. I didn’t realize that. How could I? Not when I was alone. I could never have been able to admit to myself who I was, until he said …

“Just start by telling me how you feel right now.”

How do I even begin?

[the-hidden-writer]

A Second Chance: Chapter 4

An Ace Attorney fanfic. Read on both AO3 and FF.net!

Summary: Miles learns the identity of his “dead” mother, and the aftermath of that revelation is a tricky one. Especially when his newfound little sister is trying to turn him into a spirit medium.

AKA Miles is a Fey. Miles also doesn’t really know how to family properly.

[Chapter 1] | [Chapter 2] | [Chapter 3]

Comments make my day! :D

The Great Beverage Debate

It had been one hell of a day. Early in the morning, Maya had made a bet with Phoenix to see if he’d get a new case by noon since he was an “unstoppable famous lawyer hero” now. Or something like that. Point is, they didn’t get any new cases, and Maya won the bet. 

At first, Maya had begged to be fed fancy meals for a week. Phoenix had ended up refusing that one (his funds were slowly dying…) and agreed to clean the office’s floor instead.

He didn’t mind too much. It was oddly therapeutic. 

So when Edgeworth appeared at his door, wearing something other than his prosecutor’s suit for once, he’d been immediately taken off guard. Since his face was already flushed from scrubbing so hard, he’d hoped that he wouldn’t notice him blushing. He thinks he got away with that one.

He never saw the reveal coming. Again, he felt like an idiot for not even suspecting it a bit, but he should've taken the news a bit better. Thinking back, he might've sacred Edgeworth off with the way he reacted.

That luckily didn't happen though, and that's how he'd ended up sitting opposite the man at a small table in a café known as "Sugar & Spice". 

Since Edgeworth had offered to get the drinks, and judging by the way he had begun to sip it almost desperately, Phoenix had a suspicion that he'd ordered tea after all.

They'd walked from Wright & Co. Law Offices, barely talking to one another as he led the way. Phoenix had noticed that Edgeworth looked slightly confused when they passed more local coffee shops, which would have saved half the walking time, but he had his reasons for going the extra distance.

"Mia used to come here a lot." He said, snapping Edgeworth out of his window-gazing trance.

"She'd bring me along often enough but I'd see her in here almost every day." He continued wistfully. He missed her.

Edgeworth took another (more gentle) sip of his cup. "It would make sense." He muttered. "She used to work at Grossberg's, correct? It's probably a habit from then."

Ah, trust Edgeworth to always think one step ahead of him.

Now Phoenix was a bit stuck. When he'd offered to get coffee what felt like ages ago, he wasn't sure what he was expecting. To get to know each other better? To spend some time together? Maybe he was just being polite. It was just… seeing him appear out of nowhere like that…

"You look good." He blurted out suddenly. Edgeworth raised an eyebrow. 

"N-No, I mean," he gestured in the prosecutor's general direction, "It's nice to see you wearing something other than a suit for a change. You look great like that."

And he did. His white shirt surprisingly didn't clash against his pale skin, and his pants complimented it perfectly. And he still managed to look so professional. Honestly, he never understood work casual before now.

"Believe it or not, Wright, but I am a human being as well as a lawyer." Edgeworth said in a dry tone that betrayed how tired he actually was.

"Really?" Phoenix replied sarcastically. "I never would've guessed."

Despite his attempt to lighten the mood, Edgeworth didn't smile. In fact, his frown only deepened.

"You know Maya, don't you?"

The only problem with Miles always being ahead of him, is that Phoenix had no idea where their conversations would go.

"Um, yeah? You know her too, though."

Edgeworth shook his head. "No, I mean… you know her well. You're the living person that's closest to her." He paused, and sighed quietly. "What are her interests? Her favourite foods?"

Those were probably rhetorical questions, but Phoenix felt like it would be too awkward if he didn't answer anyway.

"Well she's way too obsessed with Steel Samurai and will eat literally anything that's edible. But she does pester me for burgers most of the time."

He could've sworn Edgeworth smiled, just for a second, but it disappeared so quickly that it was hard to tell.

"See?" He said, as if proving a point that was obvious to only him. "I should know these things! Being a brother comes with responsibilities, and I've neglected those for what, 19 years?" He groaned in frustration. "I wish this had never happened…"

Phoenix looked at him with determined but soft eyes. "You can't neglect something if you didn't know it existed." He stated firmly. "Don't bring yourself down over something you can't control."

The man just sipped his probably-tea.

“When did you find out?” He asked eventually, once Miles was reaching the end of his… British-beverage.

He just frowned, then let out a small sigh. “It was only yesterday evening, but it feels like a year ago. But no, it still hasn’t settled.”

“You told Gumshoe before me?” Phoenix teased, half-joking.

Edgeworth scoffed. “He’s the one who found out first, believe it or not. I’m…” He paused for a moment, not meeting his rival in the eyes. “I’m rather glad that it was him first.”

“Yeah, he’s good at that sort of thing. Breaking news, I mean.”

“If not for anything else.”

For the first time since leaving the office, both men laughed. Phoenix felt a stab of guilt for making fun of Gumshoe, but if Miles was even slightly happy then he was happy. He was still playing host after all, even if he wasn’t the one paying for the drinks.

"I'm sorry, I'm not the best person to talk to about sibling stuff." He admitted. “I think he has a sister? Gumshoe. You could always talk to him.”

There, he felt a bit better now. He could sleep peacefully.

“N-No, that’s alright.” Miles answered, though still sounding quite unsure. “He’s done enough already.”

“Hey, speaking of Gumshoe…” Phoenix had been meaning to bring this up since the moment it was mentioned, but knew that Edgeworth would be too prickly to answer. Hopefully the definitely-not-coffee had softened him up.

Miles waited for him to continue, but Phoenix noticed that he looked nervous. And he knew when Edgeworth was nervous, from all the time they spent as kids- not to mention in court.

“...he said something about a letter.” He finished, before hastily adding: “It sounded important.” when Miles almost broke his cup in surprise.

“I-It was nothing!” Miles spluttered.

“Yeah, sure.” Phoenix said. “And I guess this is the part where you forget that I have a magic stone that tells me when you’re hiding something?”

Sure enough, ever since Gumshoe’s… dramatic arrival back at the office, a large red psyche-lock had encased itself around Edgeworth. It wasn’t the first (when he’d used his magatama on others, he’d always notice the large number of locks surrounding his friend but never knew how to bring it up), however it was the first time he’d watch one form right before his eyes. Which meant it was purposely being hidden from him specifically, and not one of the many things that Edgeworth bottled inside of him.

He almost felt horrible after he saw the horror flash across Edgeworth’s face in that moment, and his posture suddenly became defensive. 

...Again, he knew too well what that looked like.

“Damned spiritual nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense, and you know it.” Phoenix countered before draining the remains of his actual-coffee.

“I mean, you literally used it the other week, didn’t you?”

Edgeworth said nothing, which he took as a confirmation.

“It’s weird, right? Sometimes I wonder if Mia ever used it. I mean, she wore one around her neck, and mine had to be charged for me to be able to use it because I’m not a Fey or anything-”

“Hold on,” Miles interrupted, suddenly alert. “For you to be able to use it?”

Now Phoenix was confused. “Yeah? I think? Pearl taught me how to use it, but even then it kinda took some practise.” He smiled fondly at the memory. “Even now I still have to remind Maya that not everyone was born with spiritual powers, y’know?”

Edgeworth waited.

“Oh, you mean-”

“Just another reason I should have realised the obvious sooner.” Miles said, his tone dripping with exhaustion. “I was shocked when they appeared out of nowhere.” He scoffed. “Thought I was finally going mad.”

The excuse that Edgeworth had been working late came to Phoenix’s mind, and he felt a pang of guilt. The guy had gone through a lot, and had probably not slept, and now he was interrogating him. 

“I’m sorry for asking.” He sighed, trying his best to sound genuine. Because he was.

“No, no, it’s okay.” Said Miles, before putting down his cup and sitting up straight. 

“The letter was in the box that Detective Gumshoe found, along with those photographs. It was addressed to me, and-”

“To you?”

“Don’t interrupt, Wright. Judging by the tone of the letter and some of the specifics mentioned, it seems like it was written by Misty Fey quite soon after DL-6. It was a vaguely detailed account of her expressing her sympathies and telling me the truth about who she was, though by the way it was stored it appears she had no intention of ever sending it.”

That wasn’t what Phoenix had been expecting. Alright, so he didn’t know exactly what he was expecting, but it was not this.

“So…” He said, trying to stop his new grin from spreading, “...no forbidden love letters from your parents? Romeo And Juliet style?”

He regretted that comparison as soon as it came out of his mouth, since he had no doubt that Edgeworth would have read Shakespeare at some point. But fortunately any deeper meaning flew over his head for now, since his frown had gone. Miles still wasn’t smiling, but it was a start.

“Ever the optimist, aren’t you Wright?”

“When’s the last time you called me Phoenix?”

“I’m going to go home.” He said, avoiding the question completely. Or maybe just choosing to ignore it. Probably both.

“Oh, okay. Get some rest.” Was Phoenix’s slightly dejected reply.

“Thanks for the coffee-” 

“Thank you for the co-”

They’d both spoken at the same time. Phoenix felt the heat rushing up the back of his neck as Edgeworth’s eyes widened and he stood up from his chair and turned to leave, obviously quite embarrassed too. 

“HOLD IT!”

...and he turned again to face Phoenix, who had found a sudden determination.

He was going to expose this faker once and for all.

“You think you can fool me that easily, Miles?”

Miles looked dazed.

“Well, I know the truth. You just said ‘Thank you for the coffee’ which is polite, and I appreciate it, but you got the coffee for both of us. You’re a tea person! You’re freakin’ British! The way you sipped at it with the same look on your face, the way you carefully kept your hand on the cup until it was finished so I couldn’t see properly, the way you tried to disguise it with the amount of milk added… you ordered tea. It’s the only explanation. So TAKE THAT!”

Edgeworth was stunned, his face blank as he presumably processed the demise of his deception. 

And then he smiled. Then the smile cracked open, and Edgeworth laughed.

It had been so long since Phoenix had heard him genuinely laugh. Sure, he’d had his fair share of smug/maniacal laughs in court, but this was a soft, dorky-yet-still-classy, laugh. One so rare that Phoenix wished he could record the sound.

And it was perfect.

Once the laughter died down, Miles exhaled. “Guilty. You should really think about becoming a prosecutor, Phoenix.” He said, still smiling, as he turned on his heel and walked away.

Phoenix felt warm inside as he leaned back in his chair and watched him go. He was so happy with his win, that he completely missed exactly what Edgeworth had said to him.

...It was only when he stood up to leave himself did he notice the remains sitting inconspicuously inside of Edgeworth’s cup.

A thick, dark sludge of coffee grounds.

“Motherf-”

[omniversalobservations]

Supergirl (December 2019)

Holy crimson skies of death! Part One of the Arrow-verse crossover “Crisis on Infinite Earths” destroyed Earth-38 and sent Stephen Amell’s Oliver Queen to an early grave after he stayed behind to avert the anti-matter wave from killing billions more people. Even The Monitor didn’t foresee it happening! While all the superheroes assembled to try and prevent Earth-38’s destruction, the episode still managed to include quite a few familiar faces from across the DC multiverse. Here are all the cameos from the Supergirl portion of “Crisis,” so let’s get to it.

Alexander Knox Sees Red Skies On Earth-89 Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman was confirmed in “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” even if the moment was short-lived. Robert Wuhl’s Alexander Knox, a Gotham Globe reporter, appeared in a brief scene at the beginning of the episode. In the scene, Alexander is seen reading the Gotham City Gazette with the headline “Batman Captures Joker!” As soon as the red skies emerge, Alexander notices the Bat signal. “I hope you’re watching, Big Guy,” says Alexander. Unfortunately, even if Batman was around to see the red skies, it was already too late and Earth-89’s fate was sealed.

Dick Grayson Walks Ace On Earth-66 While Burt Ward had already been confirmed to appear in “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” it wasn’t expected for his cameo to be nestled in the opening montage of Part One. The scene in question detailed the multiverse’s birth (and upcoming death) while flashing to different Earths across the multiverse.

One of the Earths was Earth-66, which showed Burt Ward’s Dick Grayson from the 1966 Batman TV series walking Ace, the beloved Bat-hound. Ward played Batman’s trusty sidekick, Dick Grayson/Robin, in the Batman series. Ward’s version of Dick is clearly no longer the Boy Wonder, but it was good to see him again before Earth-66’s unfortunate demise.

DC Universe’s Titans Appear On Earth-9 Arrow-verse executive producer Marc Guggenheim tried his best to bring together a plethora of characters from across DC’s shows and movies, and even asked Nicolas Cage to appear! Even though fans knew to expect the unexpected when it came to cameos, it was still surprising to see Jason Todd’s Robin (Walter Curran) and Hawk (Alan Ritchson) from DC Universe's Titans, which just wrapped its second season and finally transformed Dick Grayson into Nightwing. It was only a quick shot of the two of them, but it does confirm that the Titans exist somewhere in the DC multiverse. Too bad Alan Ritchson couldn’t return as Smallville’s Aquaman, though!

Earth-X’s The Ray Makes A Comeback! The crossover “Crisis on Earth-X,” which saw Nazis crash Barry Allen and Iris West’s wedding on Earth-1, introduced a freedom fighter named The Ray. Originally from Earth-1, The Ray helped the Arrow-verse heroes defeat Earth-X’s Nazis. He’s briefly seen flying across the skies, presumably while protecting his earth from those who wish to destroy it. However, the cameo is brief as he and Earth-X vanish in the anti-matter wave.

Source: Cinema Blend

The baton has officially been passed.

In hour 1 of the CW’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover, which aired on Supergirl Sunday night, Oliver Queen/Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) and his daughter Mia (Katherine McNamara) joined the rest of the Arrowverse’s heroes on Earth-38 to fight the Anti-Monitor’s shadow army. Before wading into battle, though, Oliver gifted Mia her very own Green Arrow super-suit.

Katherine McNamara opened up about how much this exchange meant to be both Mia and her personally when she dropped by EW’s after-show Crisis Aftermath, which was hosted by Kevin Smith and aired on the CW following Supergirl.

“That was one of my favorite moments to shoot definitely just because Stephen and I have spent most of the season together and getting to watch him work and being a part of this story and this being my first crossover,” said McNamara. “That was such a big moment for both characters and I think we both felt that.”

Shortly after this, though, Oliver is mortally injured battling the shadow army, and the Monitor returns him to the Team Arrow bunker, where he dies surrounded by Mia, the Flash (Grant Gustin), Sara (Caity Lotz), and the other heroes. McNamara felt a very weird mix of emotions when they shot that scene.

“That was a historic moment in many ways for me personally. It was my first day on set with everyone in the suits. It was my first day wearing my suit on set, so I was so excited,” she said. “Then I get to set and I realize, ‘Oh I have to cry over my dying father. Let me reframe my entire headspace.'” She continued, “It was so wonderful, and Stephen killed it. Everybody really came together because Stephen, in a sense, was the beginning of this entire universe.”

With Oliver’s death, the Green Arrow mantle is now firmly in Mia’s hands. But, as Smith wonders, does Mia actually want this responsibility?

“That’s been the toughest kind of struggle for Mia throughout her entire process of being involved in this,” said McNamara, who will be the new Green Arrow if The CW orders the in-development spin-off Green Arrow and the Canaries, which will have a backdoor pilot in Arrow‘s final season. “She was raised in a world in which vigilantes were villainized and she’s come full circle with that having met her father and kind of gotten a look into the difficult choices he’s had to make. Now, she’s been through and worked through all of these issues and has a wonderful relationship with her father. She doesn’t want the responsibility because she doesn’t want to lose him. She knows she can take it on. She knows she’s ready for it. But she’s finally filled the one missing piece of her life and doesn’t want to lose that. That’s kind of the tragedy. Yes, there always needs to be one Green Arrow, but there’s only one Green Arrow. So she knows that’s coming to an end and it’s difficult.”

Crossover executive producer Marc Guggenheim added that legacy is a big theme in “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” “It’s not just the passing of the torch from Oliver to Mia,” he said. “There’s a lot of passing the torch and keeping the flame alive.”

Guggenheim also revealed a very intriguing detail about the Arrow hour of the crossover, which doesn’t air until January. “We open with the mother of all flashbacks and we basically do the secret origin of the Monitor and the Anti-Monitor,” said Guggenheim. “Actually that whole sequence, the first draft, was written by [Crisis on Infinite Earths comic writer] Marv Wolfman.” He added, “We give you an explanation for the [Monitor’s] outfit.”

Source: Entertainment Weekly

The Arrowverse's biggest crossover ever takes place over all five superhero series on The CW, starting with Supergirl. Crisis has been building since last year's Elseworlds crossover, which introduced the cosmic being known as The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett), who began 'testing' the many worlds of the Multiverse to see if they were strong enough to survive the cataclysm to come. Crisis has accelerated throughout the current seasons of Supergirl, The Flash, Batwoman, and Arrow but now the end is here.

With the anti-matter wave sent by Crisis' big bad, the Anti-Monitor, threatening the Multiverse, Harbinger (Audrey Anderson) gathered Green Arrow (Stephen Amell), Mia Smoak (Katherine McNamara), Superman (Tyler Hoechlin), Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch), Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh), Batwoman (Ruby Rose), and The Flash (Grant Gustin) to Earth-38, the home of Supergirl (Melissa Benoist). The heroes had to defend Kara Zor-El's world from the anti-matter wave using a Quantum Tower constructed by the Monitor and repel an attack by a horde of Shadow Demons. However, despite their best efforts to evacuate the planet with the help of Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath), they couldn't save Supergirl's world.

Crisis Part 1 delivered on the promise that the crossover's stakes are life and death on a Multiversal scale. Literally billions died in the first chapter of the epic and this, shockingly, included one of the Arrowverse's founders and greatest heroes. Here's the body count of Crisis Part 1, which is just the start of the cataclysm that will reshape the Arrowverse:

* Alura (Erica Durance), the mother of Supergirl. Alura was introduced in Supergirl season 1, when she was played by Laura Benanti but Smallville's Erica Durance took over the role in season 3. Helped Superman and Lois launch their infant son Jonathan on a rocket before the antimatter wave struck, in a moment poignantly echoing Kal-El's origin story, so Jon Kent survived, though he landed in Earth-16's Star City in the year 2046 and had to be saved by Lois, Brainiac (Jesse Rath), and Sara Lance. Of course, Durance will return as Smallville's version of Lois Lane later in Crisis.

* Everyone on Argo City, the last surviving city of Krypton. Unfortunately, Argo had no starships to evacuate besides the spacecraft Alura saved for baby Jon so the people of Argo were all wiped out by the antimatter wave. Luckily, Harbinger teleported Superman and Lois to Earth-38 at the last minute.

* Earth-38 was destroyed, including 3-billion people who couldn't evacuate the planet in time. Despite the superheroes' efforts to defend the planet, they couldn't stop the antimatter wave from wiping out Supergirl's adopted world. While a wave of spaceships supplied by Brainiac and many of the aliens who took refuge on the planet was able to evacuate 4-billion lives to Earth-1 (thanks to a dimensional portal built by Lena Luthor), they couldn't save everyone. The Monitor said 7.53-billion people lived on Earth-38 so over 3 1/2-billion people died when the planet was destroyed.

* Green Arrow (Oliver Queen) gave up his life to help the evacuation of Earth-38 after the Monitor had teleported the rest of the superheroes to Earth-1. Out of arrows, Green Arrow took on the army of Shadow Demons by himself and was fatally injured before the Monitor rescued him. Oliver had long expected to die during Crisis and he spent all of Arrow season 8 preparing for the inevitable. On his deathbed, Oliver confessed to Barry Allen and Kara Danvers that he made a deal with the Monitor to spare their lives in exchange for his during Crisis - but the Monitor revealed that this wasn't the death he foresaw for Oliver, which casts serious doubt on how the Arrowverse's heroes can defend the Multiverse in Crisis On Infinite Earths.

Source: Screen Rant

In the beginning there was only one. A single black infinitude. Then the infinitude found release, and finally, the darkness broke, filling it with life.. With the multi-verse. Every existence multiplied by possibility. And spread out before space and time in infinite measure. Civilizations rose and fell. And rose again across reality's expanse. Life. A precious gift persevering in the face of every obstacle, until finally, the age of heroes was born. Chaos. The constant enemy of life, kept at by champions across the multiverse. Joining forces to fight on behalf of all creation. They found each other just in time because now, the entire multi—verse is about to come under attack. There is a malevolent force at work, one driven by a singular goal. The destruction of all there is. I have planned, there are those who say I have schemed, but the time for preparation has passed.

Source: TVMaze

(images via YouTube)

[im-the-king-of-the-ocean]

could I nab an aro/ace jim? going along w/ life before it hits him that crushes?? exist?? because I personally never realised that this was a thing people experienced, and realising my experiences weren't the norm. I thought I was bi for the longest time because I felt the same towards everyone. perhaps his 'crush' on claire is a squish, or becoming qpps with toby? or maybe something else if you feel you've got a rad idea :o

Ace of Spades

When Jim found out about being aromantic and asexual, it was because of a set of pride flags he stumbled across online.  He knew what some of them were.  He’d spent months trying to figure out if any of those ones fit him.  Then realizing they didn’t.  Not really.  The only one that came close was bisexual.  Still, it felt like there was something different about him.  Something that didn’t quite fit with the bi label.  Something that was it’s own thing entirely.

Mom said he could be a late bloomer.  That he’d figure out romance in his own time.  There was no rush.  She’d always be there for him if he wanted to talk or if he needed help in getting resources.  Jim never took her up on that.  

What if that supposed magic moment where he’d figure romance out never happened?  He asked himself on occasion.  Did he really want it to?  Jim wasn’t sure.  He’d never considered himself different from anyone else.  He always thought the way he felt was the norm.  That the “romance” he saw in media was something exaggerated by Hollywood to sell all the movies they could.

The fact that he was apparently the different one felt strange to Jim.  He didn’t know what to make of the feeling.  He’d gone through life without really thinking about romance as A Thing.  He honestly didn’t want to start now.

So, seeing those pride flags and learning of the aro and ace labels felt nice.  Like the beginning of an answer to a question Jim didn’t know he needed to ask.  “Aroace” rolled off the tongue in a pleasant way.  It was a secure feeling, to know he didn’t have to be anything else but what he already was.

In the coming days, Jim learned more words, an entirely new vocabulary.  Squish.  Queerplatonic relationship.  Zucchini.  That last one made him smile when he used one of the vegetable for dinner one night.

An entire world he didn’t know existed, one that felt right, had been opened up to him.

And something, for once, felt comfortable.

Jim soon found it was hard to deal with everyone else.  Before learning of being aroace, he hadn’t realized (noticed) how much everyone else around him seemed to be obsessed with romance.  Now that he did, it was grating.  Just a little bit.

Jim didn’t mind that romance existed or that people were interested in it necessarily.  It just, it wasn’t something he was interested in.  Not really.  Sometimes it was downright frustrating when everyone assumed he wanted or would want it.  Eventually.

His mom, in particular, seemed to be waiting for that “eventually”, given her regular comments that “girls” were a natural part of high school that he should be worried about.  Jim generally avoided talking to her about it if he could.  He loved her, but there were times when Mom could be pushy when she thought she was being helpful (when she was really not).

Jim still hadn’t figured out how to talk to her about that one yet.

Toby was easier.

“So aroace, huh?  Sounds like you’re some cool archer dude.  Like you’re an ace ninja with a bow and have like a bajillion arrows that you can shoot with deadly accuracy and you’re going to become a superhero—wait, hang on, I gotta look this up.”  Toby whipped out his phone and started typing.  “There’s gotta be some cool aroace superhero already.”

Jim laughed.  “Only you, Tobes, would react by thinking of some hero thing.”

“Laugh now, Jimbo, but one of these days I’m going to be right.  Just you wait.”  Toby paused.  “Anyway, you good?”  He turned to face Jim.  “How do you feel?  Like are you “I just came out to my best friend and I’m totally awesome sauce cause I know we’re awesome sauce forever” or “I just came out to my best friend and I’m kinda panicky about it?”

“The first one.  Mostly.”  Jim shrugged.  “I wouldn’t put it exactly like that, but yeah.  “We’re good, Tobes.”  He took a cookie off the plate Nana had given them and lay back on Toby’s bed.  He let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding in.

“Master Jim, I must apologize.  For I assumed you and Tobias were already in a partnership.”  Blinky spoke in an uncertain tone.

“Wait, you thought we were dating?  Like gay?”  Jim clenched his hands arounds his knees.  This conversation was not going how he’d expect it to.  After talking to Toby about it, he’d decided to come out to Blinky too (and ARRRGGGHHH!!! depending on how the conversation with Blinky went).  So far, he’d made it past telling Blinky that he was aroace.  That had gone well.  Blinky had accepted his explanation of the labels.  But now they’d gotten here, where Blinky apparently assumed he and Toby were an Item.

Blinky spoke up again,  “I would not put it like that necessarily.  Not too many years ago, while scavenging on the surface, I overhead a set of humans talk of what they called a ‘queerplatonic relationship’.  From what they said, I gathered it must be a meaningful sort of relationship that exists independent of the usual trappings or symbolism of traditional romance.  Since then, ARRRGGGHHH!!! and myself have found it a wonderfully useful term to define what we are to each other.  We are something that is both strong and deeply emotional.  Somedays there are no words to eloquently put how I feel about him nor him about me.  For us, queerplatonic fit what other words could not possibly hope to describe.”  Blinky paused.  “Ah, my train of thought seems to have gotten away from me.  But my assumption was that you and Tobias share a similar relationship.  That you are, I believe the right term is zucchini?  Partners?”

“Oh, um no.  We’re just friends.”  Jim’s grip tightened on his knees.  He hadn’t thought about being anything with Tobes.  Not yet.  He was still adjusting to his identity.  That was what this conversation was supposed to be about.  His identity.  “Blinky, I’m…I may never want a relationship.  Of any kind.  I haven’t really so far.  Like I haven’t gotten crushes or anything ever.  I didn’t even think they were real for the longest time, but according to Toby they are.”  He sighed.  “I just…I don’t know.”  He threw up his arms.  “I’m ok with the possibility of a queerplatonic relationship, but I don’t want you guys to just assume I’m going to do that.  Or anything else.  Because I don’t even know what I’m going to do yet.  I’m still figuring this out!”  He paced around with his fists clenched.  “Just…don’t say I can still have relationships despite my identity.  Cause being aroace?  Is really important to me.  It’s a part of me.”  He spun and glared at Blinky.  “Not something that needs to be overcome.”

Blinky approached him slowly.  “I deeply apologize, Jim.”  He cautiously put his hands on Jim’s shoulders.  “It was not my intention to convey that that needs to happen.  It does not.”

“Thanks, Blink.  I…I kinda like the idea of a qpr?  Just not right now.  Or yet.  Or something.”  Jim inhaled.  “For now, I want to be just me.”  He paused.  “But, can you tell me more about them anyway?  Just so I know?”

“Of course.”

Jim backed up a step, away from the classroom door.  “Are you sure I can be here? I mean, I don’t know, they may—”

“Dude, chill.”  Toby grabbed his shoulder.  “It’s going to be totally awesome sauce.  Trust me.  I got you’re back.  Worst case scenario, we run out of there and become school legends.”

“Really, Tobes?  Running out of a GSA meeting will make us legends?”  Jim sighed.  Ran his hand through his hair.  “This was a bad idea.  We should—”

Toby interrupted him.  “No buts!  Trust in your wingman.  When have I ever led you astray?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?”

“Good point.  But I’m right about this, Jimbo.”  Toby faced him.  “I know you read some stupid stuff online, but this isn’t the Internet where anyone can say anything.  I know everyone on the other side of that door and I can say with certainty, you belong with us and they’ll think so too.”

Jim sighed.  “Fine.  Let’s do this.”  Worst case scenario, he activated the Amulet of Daylight so he could break through the classroom window as an escape and then have to deal with the fallout of revealing magic to a bunch of high school kids.

Toby opened the door with a flourish. “I hereby welcome you to the Gay-Straight Alliance of Arcadia Oaks High!” He led Jim into the classroom.  “Where we have doughnuts, friends, and on special occasions, Miss Janeth’s dramatic interpretations of other teachers!”  In a quieter tone, he added, “You should hear her Strickler.  It’s hilarious, dude.”

“I heard that, Mr. Domzalski.”  Miss Janeth spoke from where she was hanging up a poster on the board.  “And welcome, Mr. Lake, we were just about to get started.”  She turned to address the entire group in the classroom, which included Eli Pepperjack, Shannon Longhannon, Mary Wang, Darci Scott, Claire Nunez, and even the new students Aja and Krel, as well as others Jim didn’t recognize immediately on sight.  “As many of you know, the club fair is coming up and I’d like us to have a station.”  Miss Janeth went on.  “We’ll have signups for those of you who want to help man the table and, like last year, Señor Uhl has agreed to maintain a ‘security presence’.  Now, Ms. Wang has submitted the idea that we get mini pride flags to put on the table, so everyone, especially if they’re still in the closet, knows they’re welcome with us.  She’s volunteered to acquire the flags and start a list so we don’t miss anyone’s labels…”

As the meeting went on, Jim relaxed.  No one asked him to come out or prove why he should be there.  He was welcomed easily into the conversation.  He was ok.

Jim set up the mini pride flags along the front edge of the GSA’s fair table.  It had taken then a while to find them all, but in the end they’d been successful.  He set both the aromantic and asexual flags down next in the lineup after the genderfluid and agender flags.

A part of him regretted letting Toby talk him into helping today, but a part of him really wanted to be there too.

“Ah, they look lively!” Aja bounced into the chair next to him. “It is so exciting!  We will educate the people of the municipality of Arcadia all about the wonderful identities they don’t know they can have or they know they have and don’t know that have support for!”  She spun around in her seat.  “Either way it will be a totally legal day!”

“Arcadia’s a city and we’re only manning the table for the school’s club fair.  I don’t think that many people are going to show up.”  Jim was quick to reply.  The idea of a huge number of people showing up made him nervous.

“Yes, but some will still come  That is exciting!”  Aja playfully punched his arm.  “We will help people!  Toby told me you’re an archer ninja.  Between your mad skills and my…errmm…also mad skills, we will do good for the next two hours!”

Jim couldn’t help but smile.  Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

[edogawatranslations]

999: Alterna (2) - Part 5, Chapters 4-6

Table of Contents | Previous: Part 5, Chapters 1-3

Chapter 4

Clover’s sudden words took me aback.

“Esper... You talkin’ ‘bout someone with psychic powers or somethin’?” Seven snorted in laughter. “If that was true, I’d teleport with you outta this ship right now.”

“I’m not joking. I think you might have the power of precognition.”

“What gives you that idea?”

“Experiencing déjà vu is one form of precognition. You said you’ve seen this operating room before, right? That’s probably because you’ve perceived what happened today in a dream.”

“Yeah, right.”

“But you were also the first one to notice that my brother couldn’t see!”

I didn’t necessarily believe in precognition, but as Clover said, Seven was the first one to point out Snake’s blindness. Until Snake admitted it, I hadn’t noticed anything off about his eyes.

“That’s not precognition. It’s a detective’s intuition -” Seven froze. His eyes opened wide and stared off into space. “...Detective?”

Repeating the word that stumbled out of his mouth, Seven brought his hand to his forehead. His head must have started throbbing again.

“Was I a detective?” He struggled to recall something, but it didn’t seem to end well. “Damn. I can’t remember.”

He shook his head with great force. Large beads of sweat streamed down his forehead, reaching his cheek and the back of his neck.

“Please. Use your powers to figure out where my brother is!” Clover begged with puppy dog eyes.

“Sorry, but all I’ve got is a big body. I don’t got psychic powers or nuthin’. Besides, stuff like that doesn’t even exist, right?” Seven answered bluntly, while wiping away the continuous stream of sweat with the back of his hand.

“You don’t believe in precognition?” Clover asked, raising her voice. “Even though there are tons of clairvoyants in the world?”

“They’re all frauds.”

“Sure, some of them might be frauds, but there are plenty of people who aren’t!” Clover got worked up, her voice turning into a yell. “Don’t you know? Someone even accurately predicted the sinking of the Titanic!”

“What? The hell you sayin’?”

“It’s not a lie. It’s written right there in a book published a whole fourteen years before the incident.”

I had known about that. It was a novella titled Futility, written by an American author named Morgan Robertson. In it, a large passenger liner sank after colliding with an iceberg.

If that was where the similarities stopped, then it would easily be brushed off as mere coincidence. But somehow, the name of the ship, the ocean route, the time of disembarkation, the specifications of the ship - the length, displacement, top speed, the number of passengers and crew, even the number of lifeboats equipped to the ship - all of it was eerily similar to the characteristics of the Titanic. From the location of the accident, to the reason behind the incident, even the damaged parts of the ship - it was almost as if the scene was elaborately sketched out by someone who had witnessed the accident with his own eyes.

...Huh?

I felt dumbfounded.

It happened again. Why do I know these things?

“What’s wrong? Junpei? Your face don’t look so good. You tired?”

I snapped back to the present and saw Seven scrutinizing my face.

“No... It’s nothing.”

I shook my head vigorously. Knowledge of the Titanic seemed to flow effortlessly into my mind, like search results on a computer. If I told them the truth, I would quickly be labeled a person with ESP. It was probably better for me to keep quiet.

“Let’s find that pink key,” I said, changing the subject. I took the key to the medicine cabinet from Seven’s hand and opened the glass door.

“Seven, please tell me. Where is my brother?”

Still unwilling to let it go, Clover continued pestering Seven.

“We gotta open that door first. If you wanna see your brother, help us find that key.”

As I carefully took out bottles of medicine from the cabinet, Seven’s perplexed voice reached my ears. Since the labels were all written sideways, I couldn’t figure out what was written on them.

After moving all of the bottles from the bottom shelf of the cabinet onto the ground, I peeked inside and noticed a small key.

“Found it!” I yelled as I grabbed the key. Seven and Clover quickly rushed over.

“Well done, Junpei,” Seven said, patting my back with force so great that I started coughing.

“But that key... isn’t the right color,” Clover pointed out. She was correct. The door was painted pink, but the key I found was yellow.

I tried using the key on the door, but the shape didn’t quite fit, and it got caught halfway in the keyhole. Our excitement was short-lived.

Giving in to frustration, I attempted to hurl the key onto the ground. However, my grip was weak, and the key flew out of my hand towards the medicine bottles. It hit one of the vials I had placed on the ground dead on, causing the glass to shatter into tiny pieces.

“...Oh.” A sigh escaped my lips. Just how much luck did I have? A pink key appeared in the center of the spilled liquid. It must have been hidden inside the vial.

Right as I was about to step forward to pick up the key, white smoke began to spout vigorously from the wet floor. The liquid must have been one that vaporizes at room temperature.

The scent of sweet olives filled the air. I had smelled the same scent very recently.

The image of the figure in the gasmask popped into my head. The canister he held in his right hand... The white smoke that erupted out of it...

All of the blood in my body suddenly ran cold.

This was the scent of the anesthetic gas I inhaled at that time.

Both Seven and Clover seemed to have reached the same conclusion.

“This ain’t good! Hold your breath and run!”

Before Seven could finish his sentence, I had cupped my mouth and taken off.

Chapter 5

Returning the way we came into the room, we burst into the hallway.

I shut the door behind me and slumped my body against the wall, breathing heavily.

“That smell...” Clover murmured.

“Yeah, there’s no doubt about it. It’s the anesthetic gas Zero put us to sleep with.”

The white smoke seeped into the hallway through the gaps around the door. It would only be a matter of time before the whole area was filled.

“We got no choice. We gotta run back in there holdin’ our breaths, and get that pink door open. You two ready?” Seven said, taking off his beanie and bringing it down to his mouth.

“But what about the question?” Clover asked, her voice quivering.

I patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll get the answer by checking the label of the broken vial.”

“Alright, let’s divide up our roles,” Seven said. “You two run to that pink door. I’ll go pick up that key and toss it over. Then I’ll read out what’s written on the label, and you two punch that into the screen.”

Clover and I nodded simultaneously. If things went smoothly, we would be able to get into the next room within ten seconds or so. We could definitely hold our breaths for that long.

“Got it? Then let’s go.”

“Wait.” Clover stopped Seven, and pulled out something resembling a pendant from her pocket. She held it close to her chest and closed her eyes in prayer.

“Whatcha got there?”

“It’s a charm.”

Clover opened her hands, revealing a piece of silver in the shape of a four-leaf clover. Didn’t Santa have an accessory like that too?

“You see, each leaf on a four-leaf clover has a meaning to it: hope, faith, love, and luck. ‘You must not ever lose hope. What’s important is to have faith, and to have love. When all of those conditions are met, good luck is never far behind.’ My brother taught me that.”

“Can I see that for a second?” I asked.

After Clover handed me the piece of silver, I turned it over. The letter <R> was engraved on the back.

“Did you get this from Santa?”

“Huh? Why do you ask that?”

“Oh, it’s just that he had the same thing.”

“What? So Santa was also part of that experiment nine years ago-”

“We’re runnin’ outta time. We gotta go.” Seven’s deep voice cut Clover off.

...That experiment nine years ago?

What Clover said intrigued me, but our top priority was getting out of here. The white smoke was slowly but surely filling up the hallway.

“Three... Two...”

With his hand on the doorknob and a nervous expression on his face, Seven started counting down.

“One...”

I took a deep breath.

“Zero!”

On that signal, the door flung open.

Chapter 6

The room was so utterly white that I couldn’t see where I was going.

Pulling Clover by the arm, I pushed forward to the target door, bumping my shoulder against the wall multiple times along the way.

“Junpei! I’m tossin’ the key over!”

Amidst the white haze, I saw a large, dark silhouette. From that direction, a pink key flew at me in a parabolic arc. As soon as I caught it, I thrusted it into the keyhole.

The screen displayed the question. I pressed the <ANSWER> button, and our bracelets began to flash.

“Seven, the answer!” I yelled.

“Gimme a minute. The smoke’s blockin’ it so I can’t see... Here it is.”

“Hurry!”

I felt my breathing getting heavier by the second.

“I’m no good at English. S... Sop...”

“Soporil!” Clover shouted. “The drug that Ace injected into himself earlier! Soporil was written on the capsule!”

“That’s right. Soporil - that’s gotta be it!” Seven’s voice echoed out from within the mist.

The top of my head started throbbing due to a lack of oxygen. I was close to my limit.

Filled with hope, I typed in <Soporil> and pressed the Enter key.

The detonation timer stopped, and the door swung open.

“Seven, the door’s open! Hurry up!”

The three of us stumbled over one another as we flew through the door. After taking a deep breath to replenish my oxygen supply, I shut the door behind me. Fortunately, this door closed perfectly and had no gaps, preventing the white smoke from leaking out.

I looked around. A dim and dreary hallway stretched endlessly before my eyes.

“...I need a break,” Clover said, clutching her chest in pain while crouching on the cold floor.

“Then wait here. Junpei, you look after Clover. I’m gonna continue lookin’ around.” With those words, Seven dashed down the hallway.

Watching as his figure shrank, I let out a big sigh. Even though we were able to safely overcome the danger, my heart still felt clouded.

Just how many more times will we have to taste this anxiety?

I had a feeling that the goal was still far away from us.

However, the time limit was the only thing that was closing in.

Next: Part 5, Chapters 7-9