#i have bitten people before one time in high school my friend made a joke against me and i bit him

[ooc-themis-cattails]

I don't know what kind of school bullying experiences kids go through nowadays, but I was just talking with my late-Gen-X buddies about how the other kids continually threatened to bring a gun to school and shoot us, and the adults laughed, and shamed us for taking it seriously.

Not that I did take the ongoing threats seriously, after the adults laughed. I knew the bullies were just trying to get a rise out of me, but they switched to threatening to shoot my cats, which they likely could have done without much consequence, and that's more unsettling. They talked all the time about shooting and torturing cats because they knew it upset me. What was actually bothering me most-- since I didn't take them seriously anymore, even the bullies laughed at me themselves for believing them-- was the fake tortured cat yowls they would constantly scream in my ear. You don't have to believe them to want that to stop.

And the dead cats they put in my (other) friend's car at the end of high school makes me think they were only half joking after all. That was the year before the first ever school shooting, and nobody got in trouble for it.

Finding out that my other friend who graduated in the late 90s went through daily gun threats as well, and her teachers/parents also shrugged it off... I wonder how widespread it was. Both she and I were cis girls who were extra small for our age, and we got picked on almost exclusively by boys who were, despite being in our class, much bigger. In first grade I was picked on by the eighth grade boys on the bus. "Children can't hurt anyone," was the thought. You were ALWAYS safe so long as you were with other children, they thought; only adults can harm you. They let other kids do things to you, all day long, that an adult would be arrested for.

But the boys weren't picking on someone their own size. They were bored, they were lawless, and they wanted easy targets. The boys were beating on the smallest girls, because we were easy prey. They laughed at us and mocked us when we tried to fight back. I have bitten, kicked, hit, scratched, punched, and violently flailed at more human beings than most people go to jail for harming, all by the age of 8. The bullies thought it was hilarious and mocked how I looked and sounded trying desperately to fight them off. Then they hurt me again. Some of it was small and annoying injury to stay out of trouble, like poking me with a pencil or screaming in my ear, but even that is hard to put up with when there's a crowd of kids taking turns; a mob doesn't get bored, especially a captive mob. Often it continued during class (because the 8th graders gave the 1st graders ideas, and they too far outsized me; this went on basically until I graduated from high school.)

I wonder if any of that has even changed. Silly adults, expecting boys to actually fight other boys their own size. They don't have honour, they're 9 years old. They're probably still torturing the little girls when no one is looking. But they probably don't do it by threatening gun violence anymore. They've probably got some new awful threat that sounds unrealistic until one day they do it.

My parents believed that girls are only bullied by other girls, they told me to ignore and not care about whatever the bullies do, and they signed me up for self-esteem boosting programs. No. This is not always how it goes. No amount of self-esteem I possessed could stop the boys from hurting me. I had plenty; it didn't make any difference at all because it was the wrong thing. Nobody listened to what was really going on, and now they feel hurt if I say they made mistakes in parenting, because there's "nothing they can do about it" and they can't face that at all. I don't expect them to do anything about it, I want them to see the truth, and urge the rest of the world to do better. Don't shrug your kids off and fail them because you think you know all about the world, but you're missing what's ACTUALLY going on.

If you have kids, now or ever, please listen to the details. Don't assume you know better than they do, that you know all about how these things go. They don't all go the same way. Take your kids seriously now instead of defending your ignorance later. My friend and I were not shot, but then elsewhere in the US, some kids were. And they're not here to tell about it, so listen to us instead. Kids are not harmless.

[kicking-mushrooms]

I’m going to casually scream into the void, for old time’s sake.

There has been a lot that has happened since I last journaled in here. I’ll try to do a quick summation over the past 5 years, to the best of my ability. Nobody fucking reads my posts, so this is mostly to have a place I can write about without worrying about it being lost because my computer crashed and so my hard drive has to be been wiped. I could post this on a google doc, but that feels weird for some reason. I guess I like the idea of potential comradely? I’m not entirely sure….

I remember being mostly active here during high school, so this is everything that happened since graduating.

Trigger warnings: mentions of Ab*se and R*pe

I had a singular close friend, and ruined that relationship because of mental health issues I didn’t understand.

Turns out I have ADHD and Autism, and I struggle with mood regulation. I won’t start anti depressants until a year or two later, which help stabilize my mood IMMENSELY. Starting them made a lot of my anger slip away. However, it won’t be until around 2020-ish that I even find out about emotional dysregualtion or executive dysfunction. I won’t be able to get an ADHD assessment until 2022

Ahhhh. I deeply regret the way I acted. I think about it a lot. I hope she’s doing well in life

I was…. Very lonely, and angry for a while.

The timeline for this part is very foggy…. I know I was extremely depressed. I resented my friends for being more successful than me, and I also felt trapped. I didn’t have a driver’s license, or a parent who helped me at all. Everyone else was supported, and had a future. I felt so…. Trapped

I know I stayed with my mom in a little room above someone’s garage….. and I some point I was homeless and staying at a friends place…. But I cant recall where that lies chronologically

my mom started dating someone and basically abandoned me for him. She dumped me off at her uncle’s and aunt’s place.

BOY HOWDEY were they are SUPER toxic, and casually made jokes about how they emotionally abused their kids. They were also chain smokers, and being around them was hard on my health. There was never any food in the house because they lost their apatite from smoking. I lived entirely on a singular lunabar a day :) They also didn’t drive (much) because they were both disabled and retired. This was a problem all on its own because I still didn’t have a license, and they couldn’t teach me. For context: They live in a trailer in the middle of boonfuck nowhere. There weren’t even any buses in that area.

They also talked about sex a lot, which made me uncomfortable because they’re grandparents??? And hearing your granddad talk about “getting fucked in the ass” as a joke is really weird. It could just be compounded since I was also sex repulsed, so it made me extremely uncomfortable.

My mom was visiting them, when suddenly the new dog my gruncle took in attacks me.

The dog was apparently an abused rescue that my Gruncle wanted to rehabilitate. The dog had already bitten him twice at this point…. I still can’t believe that it took a large ass Saint Bernard ripping chunks from my arm before my mom did anything…..

I dressed up as John Egbert at a Halloween dance, and made a friend

I have since lost contact with them, because I am too socially inept to send a message 😭 Anyways, she invited me to go to an anime convention at that time, which I accepted because I had absolutely no friends around me. At the convention, I met some other people that I became friends with! I hit it off with two of them particularly well. I’ve loss contact with both at this point, for different reasons. One of them started dating an emotionally abusive bigot, and started changing for the worse ….I think about them a lot

At some point, I saved up enough money and bought myself my own god damn driver’s ed

I will never not be bitter that I had to do this. Family did provide a car…. Which was because mother’s husband had a great uncle who died, and so they gave me his old car.

My friend asked for my help to move into Austin

My mom’s boyfriend reaction to this was to have his own kid move into the room I was staying in :)

Guess I live in Austin now

My friend let me co-sign, and we started dating…. This was the first person I ever dated seriously! And was it HELL. They turned out to be EMOTIONALLY ABUSIVE AF. On the bright side, I was able to deal with a lot of body dysphoria I have, and also my sex repulsion. I still hate the sound of kissing, and anything like it, but that turns out to be a weird ADHD thing so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ what can you do

Also learned what an Empath is from him!

I started working at CVS, which was right down the road from where I lived

If you are thinking about working there… don’t!

I was there for a year, I think?

When the lease was up, I had no friends and nowhere to go. I had to resort to Craigslist. Oh! And my credit card info got stolen! The paycheck I had just gotten the day before was GONE. All I had to eat was a couple of saltine crackers to last me for two weeks until my next paycheck

My mom gets married (June 9th, 2016 at least according to the photos on my phone)

This is the anxious man my mom abandoned me for, and he also basically forces her to drop me for him. Mmmm I foresee an unhappy marriage Spoilers: it is

….Chanthony

So, I found a place! And it was a hell all its own. He was/is a fucking NIGHtMARE to deal with. I’m pretty sure he has undiagnosed Autism, but he definitely has untreated depression and anxiety. To get a good idea of what he is like - when he was looking for a roommate, he wasn’t ACTUALLY looking for a roommate. He was looking for a manic pixie dream girl to fix him. He thought that would help, instead of actually taking medication.

Right off the bat, his apartment was infested with fleas. I diligently took care of it myself, and ended up investing a decent amount of money and a whole LOT of time. I had to shave my cat, Jada! He would go into these depressive states and wouldn’t clean…. Anything. The sink and counters would be overflowing with moldy pans and plates. There were soda cans everywhere, full of cigarettes. Absolute ton of laundry everywhere. The worst was actually his dog. His dog was greasy and PUNGENT. I fucking cleaned the SHIT out of that apartment, and even invested in an IQair purifier. That bitch EXPENSIVE, but BOY was it worth it! The smell was gone after a few days of it running. It also helped prevent my migraines from him smoking weed inside, despite him saying he wouldn’t. Asshole never even recognized my hard work. He insisted I did it for myself. Like, yeah, to a degree? But if it was for just me, I wouldn’t have deep cleaned and organized the whole apartment. I figured that a clean environment would help with his depression, if only a little. Ironically, I was trying to help him like he romanticized but he was to self sabotaging to see it

If it was just mess, I could deal with that no problem. I would help deep clean this semi-retired lady who would walk to my work. I also did this for a “friend” of mine (Tangent: That friend would FREQUENTLY bail on me while we were hanging out for Tinder dates. Then got pissy and avoided me for months when I stayed with a friend after I was in between places because my lease ended? ?? That still baffles me to this day) I’ve got depression, I get how it be sometimes. What bother’s me is his attitude. He would vacillate from putting me on a pedestal and go on about all that I do for him, to complaining about how I wasn’t doing enough.

He was very much a “Nice Guy” who thought that being someone’s friend meant that they were courting, and that by not dating I was leading him on. Things like going to the grocery store together were dates to him. He would give me things I didn’t even ask for, and expect shit from me afterwards. He even asked for Christmas gifts back after I moved out. He would manipulate what I said into his favor. He also kept making the ultimatum that if I didn’t date him, then “All this goes away” and we had to stop being friends. Which, considering that I am his roommate and he sleeps in the living room, it felt like blackmail!

Arguing with him was so frustrating. He would try to manipulate what I said into his favor, or made blanket statements to discount anything I said. He mocked my opinions, and disregarded my boundaries - which the arguments were usually about. His most common response for not stopping something after I say no, or more likely repeatedly saying no/stop, was because I was smiling…. Even though I worked retail, and I frequently smile when I am pissed because of this. He ignored my gender identity. He even used my it to try to make sexual advances? “Oh, you don’t believe in gender? That it’s fine if I come in there and change my clothes with you” Just because I recognize our gender biases based on our society, doesn’t mean that they’re no longer there. He made me so DEEPLY uncomfortable, that I would just crawl in through the window when I got home to avoid him. I have never hated going home as much as when I stayed with him. It wasn’t just me, either. Jada even tried running out the door when I came home once. She hid a lot while she was there. Unless I was around, then she would hide under the blanket, behind my legs.

It’s been 5 years, and he STILL stalks me on social media and harasses my mom to try to talk to me. I think he has messaged me on almost every platform at this point, including PINTEREST. FUCKING PINTEREST. He also will make new accounts just to message me, because I keep blocking him.

On the bright side, I got to see firsthand some of my own toxic traits reflected back at me. I have a feeling I acted a lot like Chanthony did towards my mom, and I can understand not wanting to sacrifice your own mental health for someone else. You are not a therapist, and no matter what you do, it won’t help. They have to recognize it, and want to change.

I think I got a sublet after a Chanthony (Sept-??? 2017)

I was only there for a few months. It smelled like cat piss. I cleaned it, and the original tenant I was leasing under apologized and sent a care basket :)

I didn’t have a car during this time, so i had to take the bus…. Which is all well and good, except that the closest stop was over an hour walk away

I got a girlfriend! (Dec-ish 2017 to ???)

It was…. Interesting! It was nice while it lasted… There was an age gap. I think I was 22, and she was 19. It was only a few years, but I could feel the age difference. If that makes sense? She just seemed young. Not in the youthful sense, but in the “ah, you still have some mental development to do :| “ She had a lot of trauma that she didn’t get into, and was very cryptic about. She also had an emotionally abusive mom that she idolized, which is very unfortunate. For many reasons. One of the things she imitated was from her mom was quick to cut you off, or ignore you at the least, when she was upset.

She caused a lot of damage to me emotionally, because she was my only friend at the time and she just…. dumped me, and completely cut off contact. It wasn’t even that long until she asked to date again. Maybe a month or so? but it wasn’t the same. Abandonment is a big issue of mine, so I was pretty broken after all was said an done. I couldn’t even get closure the first time. I tried asking, and got berated by her on-and-off again friend.

I think about her sometimes… mostly out of curiosity. Both because she was a great opera singer, and because I hope she realizes how toxic her mom is and grows to be her own person instead of what her mom wants her to be

Another new place

My roommates and I didn’t really get along….. Specifically the homeowner, who lived in one of the rooms. She was HELLA privileged. The house she lived in was a gift from her family, and she worked maybe 5 hours a day. That, alone, isn’t why I didn’t like her. Sure, I was envious, but I’m not gonna dislike someone because of that. She just was ignorant about anyone outside of herself. It was obvious she wanted to live alone. She was so bothered by everything everyone did, and was so blind to her own mess. She would get upset that I wouldn’t sweep, despite me cleaning her messy ass kitchen when I would get home from work. I doesn’t help that I also just… can’t see dirt on the floor very, thanks astigmatism. Though, the times I did, it turned out to mostly be her own dog’s hair, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Even so, I was struggling with taking care of myself at the time. I was suffering from SEVERE depression because I had been dumped, my godmother got diagnosed with cancer (and I got a vague message from her about giving up, and I thought she was going to kill herself, and freaked TF right on out), and I had lost my car. So cleaning the kitchen when I made meal prepped was the most I could do….

Even if that wasn’t the case, she was just hard me to be around. Very passive aggressive, and a lot anxiety.

On the bright side, this was the first time I could really decorate my own space. There were a lot of nice thrifstores around that I could get cheap decor. Despite everything, this was the first time I had ever felt “at home” in my space. I also got Tobi, my GIANT stuffed fox. I love him very much. I am so glad I got him ….sigh, I need to restuff him and throughly wash him. He’s gotten pretty grungy :(

Tangent: I never wanted to do physical harm to a pair of shoes as much as I did with hers. I wanted to burn her fucking crocks SO BAD. THEY WERE SO LOUD AS SHE CLOMPED UP THE STAIRS. She woke me up on more than one occasion, and I am not even a light sleeper

According to my phone, I got into my first major car accident on Feb 18th, 2018

I hydroplaned off an overpass onto another, DIFFERENT, overpass. Real GTA shit right there

???

At some point, I got a new car…..? It was a pain in the ass to get because I couldn’t get co-signer, even though I needed one because I don’t have credit . It was a ‘08 Toyota Prius that I named Eiffel. I also wrecked that car when a pickup took the front end off while I was turning on a protected left turn.

I think I moved back with my mom for a while? I remember I took some time off of work as well. God, I was so burnout…

My best friend of 10 years at the time said she was looking into moving out of her parents house into an apartment, so I went out on a limb and moved states

Fall or maybe winter of 2018? I know I was there over Christmas. I spent it dressed up as an elf at work! Just cause it made me happy. I also got cheap decorations, and decorated the place. I was there by myself, so I didn’t have to worry abut anyone else

Since there wasn’t a place ready, I stayed with my Alcoholic brother and his Narcissist, alcoholic Dad. The Dad hated me because I was my mom’s kid, and flat out told me that. He said my mom was a filthy whore, and went into EXPLICIT DETAIL about supposed things she had done. At some point, I told him to please stop, and he got irrationally irate about that, which escalated to him wanting to kick me out….. even though I was paying for cable, cooking their meals, and cleaning their house. He was also pissed that I wasn’t psychically looking for apartments, even though they are online. And even if I did look at them, I needed the input from the person who I was gonna room with.

I got the best car I could with all the savings I had, which was only $1,000. Because of that, I had to work a few months before I could afford a down payment on an apartment. I thing I had it for 2 months before the timing belt went out, and destroyed the engine.

Also, during this time, I had gotten r*ped by my brother while he was shitfaced one night. So, even if it wasn’t for his dad, I would still have left

I got a new car from a very kind coworker

And I am so glad they did, because I lived in that car, quite literally. I had a queen mattress topper already that I folded and used as a bed in the back seat, so it wasn’t actually half bad! If I were to do it again, there are a few things I woulda done a few things differently. One would be purchasing those window insulated covers for cars. I would still have stayed in the Walmart parking lot at night, but I should have parked on the LEFT side because apparently there is an OUTDOOR OUTLET over there that I didn’t discover until LATER. And, finally, I should have caved and got the $20 gym membership

Also, my friend decided to stay with her grandparents. I haven’t talked to her since, and I am still very bitter

This gets me to about the Spring of 2019, when I move into an actual place

I will get into this in part II cause I am kinda tired of talking……

[vicious-vixxxen]

Ugh. I’ll I’ve been able to think about for days is Kirishima.

Pro Hero Red Riot is always on the move. Always busy. Saving people, doing interviews, kissing babies, the whole nine yards.

When you and Kiri started dating fresh out of UA you knew what you were signing up for. Being part of the hero support course yourself, never afforded you much grandeur or fame, but that was okay. You were trusted with one of, if not the most important part of a hero’s identity- their suit. You were more than happy to tinker away at revisions, or sketching new styles for up and comers, than being out on the field.

You were the only one in the support class, even above Power Loader himself, who Kirishima took his costume and ideas to. You’d made the very first alterations to his hero costume when he first arrived at UA, after the USJ attack. From then on it was sort of a wonderfully professional relationship. As professional as someone like Kiri could be- all large toothy grins, bad jokes, and hands on communications. /Very/ hands on. Kirishima never thought twice about leaning over your shoulder to watch you sketch up the inner workings of other suits, breath ghosting the shell of your ear, always warm and sweet, like all he consumed was candy.

Or sitting next to you, thighs and sides flush as you grew frustrated over his helmet design. He’d snicker and lay one large hand over your own- because by his third year he was already towering over half the staff, let alone the students- to drag your pencil in a different direction, voice soft and secret, just for you.

You never spoke outside of the support class really, especially as the years progressed. Kiri was class 1A after all, and as your own talents started to blossom, the busier you were kept as well. Being consulted to help pros with their designs in just your second year.

But you treasured the hours after school you got to spend with Kirishima. He’d never struck you as particularly male leaning, so while you’d entertain the idea sometimes, in the privacy of your dorm room, of being Kirishima’s boyfriend, you didn’t allow it to mess up the relationship you’d built with the other boy. You chalked it up to your first real crush, and, having always been an overtly rational individual, knew you’d work through it sooner or later. Unwilling to entertain the idea of not even being friends with Kiri. Cuz being his friend would always be better than nothing at all.

But imagine your surprise, the day after graduation, when he arrived at your doorstep. Flowers and chocolates in hand, and a thick envelope nearly bursting at the seams, filled with letters he’d been writing to you over the course of your high school careers.

Apparently, Kirishima hadn’t wanted to trouble you with his feelings when you two were so focused on school, and absorbing as much as you could, and for good reason. But now, he’d stated so clearly- the hesitance behind his wavering grin made your chest tight- you were both adults, out in the world, and if you’d have him, he’d love to take you out.

The rest was sort of history.

Three years later, still going strong.

Though Red Riots newest ranking- from his wavering 7-8, all the way up to 4, had meant an influx in work the last 3 weeks. Kirishima been all over Japan, helping out on various reconnaissance missions, interviews of the rising hero variety, and just generally being kept busy by his agency.

Kiri popped in ever few days, when he could. A quick dinner and cuddle till he had to leave again. A nice long Skype session as he was flown to a new mission, if you were lucky. But the two of you always made things work. You loved each other too much to even entertain the idea of your professional loved interfering to the point of no return, in your personal lives.

It didn’t mean it wasn’t hard, but it did mean it was a manageable. Especially when the two of you tried so hard.

And your combined hard work paid off. Kirishima had been praised internationally, after a mission he was brought in for in Europe went fantastically. The Japanese Hero Commission splashing Red Riot on the front page of anything that consisted of pages, honestly. And awarding him privately with paid time off.

Paid. Time. Off.

That had been yesterday, Friday evening. You’d both returned home late, and despite how tired you both were, it didn’t stop you from fully christening some new sheets you’d bought, before passing out together.

The christening of which you recalled as you sat, sprawled out on the sofa in the living room- one leg thrown back over the back of the sofa, the other extended out towards the opposite end. A book in hand in front of you, free arm cradled behind your head. Trying to focus on the pages, as the bright, early morning sun splashed across them.

Which was hard, when all you could focus on was the blossoming bruises on your inner thighs, and pleasant ache in your ass, and the sting of the bite on your neck whenever you turned your neck even a fraction.

The night previous had been rushed, all teeth, and gnawing, and clawing, and racing towards the end together. It was wonderful, and you’d always loved the aftermath Kirishima would leave on your body. Ever the closet possessor he was.

He’d never been much of an early riser, so it was another two or so hours of trying and failing to read for you, before the familiar sounds of large, lumbering footsteps could be heard slowly making their way downstairs. You smiled, cheeks flushing, despite the many years you’d known the man, as you caught a glimpse of his wild, shoulder length red hair first. Soft at the tips, wild at the root. Kirishima yawned, ducking below the entryway into the living room, and just barely catching you staring, before you lifted your book higher to block his view of your face.

You could practically hear the grin behind his chuckling, as he stalked towards you with more purpose now. His legs in view under your book, and his hair a plum of red above the top as he crouched at the edge of the sofa. Two large hands cupping each of your feet- teasing your toes briefly, snickering at how you giggled behind your book.

Kirishima’s eyes raked over you slowly- noting what seemed to him, as miles of gorgeous, unblemished skin, ready to be marked up. Clad in just a pair of briefs you’d thrown on before coming downstairs, almost every inch of you was bare to your husband. Kirishima drinking it in slowly, as he crawled above you on the sofa. Hardening just one fingertip, and tracing it from your ankle, all the way up to your inner thigh, as he towered over you on the sofa finally. The prick of sharpness on the soft flesh of your thigh causing a hitch in your breath. Which you held, until Kiri’s finger turned smooth once more, and he took a handful of the meatiest part of your thigh into his hand, and /squeezed/.

((NSFW warning ahead, I can’t help myself so continue reading at your own risk ;3))

“Ei-Chan,” you breathed out finally, setting your book down on the floor beside you. Bright red eyes meeting yours, as one of your hands found it’s way into Kirishima’s thick locks, the other wrapping around his broad back, palm settled just between the mans shoulder blades.

“Marked you up good last night, huh pebble?” Kirishima snickered, and you huffed. Faux annoyed as you smacked the mans back, tensing once more as Kiri’s fingers danced along the bruises and bite marks littering your thigh. Tapping each one gently, causing you to flinch with pleasure each time, before he moved to your other thigh. Doing the same, as he dipped his face down into the crook of your neck, and just breathed.

The shaky sigh he let out afterwards was victory enough for you, you reasoned, as even the mans strong shoulders shook as he breathed you in.

“Missed me that much, huh?” Kirishima nodded quickly, nosing along your neck, huffing like a puppy as he went.

“I missed you too,” you reminded him, biting into the mans shoulder gently, as the hand on his back drifted down to Kirishima’s ass, and you shook it jokingly. Feeling the weight of the mans cheek jiggle in your palm, laughing despite yourself as Kiri growled at you.

“Don’t tease me, dude,” Kiri mock cried, pulling back to give you a pout, as the hand on your inner thigh drifted center again, where, unprompted, Kirishima cupped your cock through your underwear. Smirk tugging at his bitten lips- bad habit he’d always had, you’d long since stopped trying to get him to fix it- as he ground his palm against you, almost too rough, and you groaned. Eyes fluttering shit, lip between your own teeth as he bucked up, shifting your hips just right to grind your quickly stiffening cock against Kirishima’s hand.

“So eager,” Kirishima mused, balking suddenly as you moved your hand cupping his ass, into his boxers- palming at his cheek briefly, before two fingers delved into the hot cleft of his bubble butt, brushing just briefly against the tight pucker of his hole, causing the larger man to twitch, and fall flat against you. Tense for all of two seconds, before he propped his ass back up, and wiggled against your fingers.

“You’re one to talk,” you laughed, head tilted back, long enough for Kirishima to latch onto your Adam’s apple, and suck hungrily as he continued to stroke you through your underwear. Lasting all of two seconds, before shredding through them with a finger, and taking your cock in his hand.

“Those were my best Calvins, jackass,” you huffed, brushing Kiri’s hair back out of his eyes as he leaned up- holding your gaze as he let a long string of spit fall from his Mouth- letting it drip down the side of your cock, before he slicked you up, and began stroking you in earnest. Hot, and wet, calloused palm perfectly rough, and you were putty.

Mewling and fucking into Kiri’s fist with quiet, breathy ‘Ei-Chan’s’ rolling off your tongue. Clinging to enough sense, barely, to bring two fingers up to your mouth to wet, before shoving them back down and into Kiri’s ass, teasing his hole briefly, before sinking your middle finger to the hilt in his hole- both of you moaning out, Kiri at the intrusion, and you at the spasming heat of his tight hole, like a vice on your finger as you fucked the man on it slowly.

You both shifted, Kirishima up on his knees, bringing you into his lap to stroke the two of you together, constantly spitting down on your lengths, hot and filthy, to keep you wet, as the larger man began to pant into your face. Morning breath be damned, you finally, /finally/, kissed him. Reaching between the two of you to cup Kirishima’s heavy ball sac as you did, kneading them gently, and tugging on them whenever Kirishima began to breath a little too heavily.

“Fuck, I love you. I love you so much, so so much, love- love- ah, fuck- love,” Kirishima whined, vulnerable in a way no one else would ever get to see him as you took over for him- needing both hands to stroke both he and yours impressive lengths, Kiri’s hands at your back holding you up in his lap- his arms shook with the force it took, especially as he neared his orgasm.

“Cum for me, Ei,” you whispered against a Kirishima’s lips, eating up his whimpered pleas as they ghosted your lips. “Come on, big guy, cum. Cum all over me, Ei, Mark me up. I wanna feel it, on my cock. Come on.” And that was all it took. With a loud shout, Kirishima’s grip on you tightened, and he hun he’d over your shoulder, quiet all of the sudden, before making a sound like he’d been punched in the gut as he began to cum. Cock thickening up, before pump after pump of thick, hot cum burst from the top of it. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight long ropes of cum shooting out all over your chest, and combined cocks, before slowing to a dribble every time Kirishima’s cock throbbed.

You overworked him though, his softening cock, and your own hard length making the filthiest squelching noises as you continued to overstimulate your husband- his cries into your shoulder sending you over the edge, as you leaned against his shoulder, and came undone yourself. Adding to the sticky, hot mess in your laps, before the both of you went quiet. Just the deep, heavy sighs as you caught your breath together filling your the surrounding space.

“My dick feels like it’s gonna fall off,” Kiri muttered finally, leaning you both back into the sofa- making a mental note to get it deep cleaned, as he snuggled you deep into the cushions- his spit wet hands skimming your sides, before they slid beneath you , and he settled comfortably on top. Careful of his weight, always too conscious of crushing you- unless you asked for it, that was, he thiight idly. Fondly.

“We’ve got the next eight days all to ourselves, so I’d maybe see if he can hold out till at least then. Though I’d accept an early leave- no earlier than Thursday, I suppose, if he can’t keep up,” you drawled, wiping your cum covered hands on your stomach as best you could, before wrapping your arms around Kirishima’s waist, and closing your eyes.

“Eight days,” Kirishima echoed, kissing your closed eyes, closing his own as he did so, and shifting to lay more comfortably, face in your neck as he felt sleep threatening to take him once again.

“Eight days,” you parroted back again, snickering, and yawning. Ignoring the tacky cum that was going to dry all crusty and gross between the two of you, in favor of hooking a leg around Kiri’s, and allowing sleep to take you.

But not before whispering one last “I love you” between the two of you, Kirishima mumbling contentedly back at you before falling back asleep as well.

[writings-of-dumpy]

Everybody Talks: George Weasley Smut

A/N: Yes, here it is--George Weasley smut. 18+ only. Warnings: unprotected sex and language

Summary: Based on the song “Everybody Talks” by Neon Trees. George is called a player often, but when Y/N overhears that her boyfriend slept with someone else, he has to make her see that everybody talks, but it doesn’t matter.

Fred and George were always the most sought-after pair in Gryffindor house, and Y/N was not immune to that. She often found herself looking at the boys in her year as she got older, and she couldn’t help but gain a small crush on one Weasley in particular. The twins had subtle differences about them that sometimes Y/N thought only she could pick up on. She could hear her fellow housemates talk about Fred and George as a single unit, which made her slightly uncomfortable knowing that they were different people even though they often weren’t referred to that way.

They had a reputation, too. Y/N could barely go two days without hearing about George’s latest sexcapade from a gushing girl in the Great Hall. She couldn’t lie to herself, it stung slightly. She felt like she was the only one George hadn’t paid mind to even though she paid him plenty of mind. He lived in her thoughts almost always.

As luck would have it, at the beginning of their seventh and final year at Hogwarts, she would be lucky enough to finally have the one she’d been crushing on sit next to her in herbology. Little did she know that George had his eye on her for quite some time now and he had practically begged professor Sprout to assign seats with him next to Y/N.

He had noticed that in the brief interactions, Y/N would always address them correctly. He didn’t know how she could tell them apart when their own mother sometimes couldn’t. He didn’t blame his wonderful mum, they were identical after all. But as for the students and even teachers at Hogwarts, they were almost never right when they approached the twins. Throughout the years, they had just been lumped together as the Weasley Twins. George didn’t resent it, though, he just found it annoying sometimes. He felt bad for feeling bad, though, because he and Fred were often together and shared similar interests. But then, when Y/N called him by his name for the first time, he knew she was different from the rest of the school. They were fifteen at the time, and George had craved her attention ever since. He hadn’t had the wherewithal to go with her to the Yule Ball because he was asked by a girl in Gryffindor who he didn’t know the name of. That was the other thing about George—he didn’t like to disappoint. He was a people pleaser and he didn’t want to make this girl sad because she seemed so incredibly nervous to even ask him that he couldn’t help but say yes to her.

But now, George finally had a chance with Y/N and he didn’t want to mess that up. He sat next to her and smiled at her with a charming look in his eye.

“Hello there, Y/N,” he said. She smiled at him.

“Hi George, good to see you,” she said to him with pink cheeks. The pair became fast friends and George wished he hadn’t waited so long to talk to her. It was clear that they both enjoyed a good joke and had a similar sense of what that consisted of. After herbology, he decided to shoot his shot with her.

“I know we’re not super close friends or anything, but I’d like to invite you to drinks at The Three Broomsticks with me and the rest of the team after the match on Friday?” he asked her with a shy smile. “As my date?”

Y/N blushed and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll meet you after. And I’ll cheer for you, of course.”

George felt satisfied with the answer and he beamed all the way to his next class and throughout the rest of the day. After these past couple years of crushing on her, he finally had the chance to make her his.

Y/N went to the Quidditch match in high spirits. She had heard all week that various girls were asked to the party by George, and she hoped that they were just fictitious because she longed to be the only one George was after. She’d find out soon enough, though, because George had wanted to meet her in the courtyard by the pathway to Hogsmeade after the match. After the match she made her way there and found that she and Hermione were the only ones in that area. She smiled and waved at Y/N politely.

Y/N waved back and smiled. She knew those rumors were false, and she said to herself then that she couldn’t be bothered by the rumors girls spread about George. They waited for about three minutes before Y/N saw a familiar head of ginger hair approach her with a goofy grin on his face.

“Hello, love, are you excited?” he asked, and Y/N’s stomach turned in the most pleasant way possible. She smiled and nodded. George offered his arm to her and she took it with a wide grin. It was nice to walk and talk with George. Y/N asked him about Quidditch rules as she had only attended the matches when her house was playing, and George’s face lit up when he talked about the sport. He made several hand gestures as he explained the game and his role in it as Beater, but his strong arm never let go of her. Y/N hung on his every word and she almost didn’t realize that they were almost to The Three Broomsticks at this point.

“Sounds like you’re an expert on the game, Georgie,” Y/N said with a grin. George’s face flushed at the nickname and he smiled ear to ear.

“Thanks, love. I do enjoy it, so I get a bit carried away,” he explained and reached for the door to open it for her.

“I like it when you get carried away. It’s nice to listen to people talk about the things they’re passionate about,” Y/N said and walked into the pub with a nod of thanks to him. When they were both inside, Y/N scanned the room and found a large table filled with the Gryffindor team and a few others that she didn’t recognize, who she assumed were friends or significant others.

“Hey, everyone,” George greeted. Fred’s eyes went wide in delight upon seeing his brother and Y/N on his arm.

“Well, look who’s finally got a date,” Fred said and took a sip of his butterbeer, and George shot him a look. Y/N smiled and waved to the team.

“Congratulations, guys. It was really fun to watch,” Y/N said to the team and they all smiled at her and raised a glass. George let her sit and he took his place next to her and Y/N felt his arm wrap around her shoulders, which sent butterflies to her middle.

After a few rounds of butterbeer, the table dispersed as the team expressed their exhaustion. George helped Y/N up and she blushed and thanked him. Throughout the night she had felt his thumb gently rubbing the outside of her arm and each time he made the sweet gesture, she felt more confident in being around him and she was sure her cheeks were pink most of the night.

“Did you have fun?” Y/N asked him once they were alone and walking through the corridors towards Y/N’s house common room.

“I enjoyed every minute with you. I hope you feel the same,” George said in a voice smoother and sweeter than honey.

Y/N blushed deeper and nodded. “It was a lovely time.” When they reached her common room entrance, George turned her to him and stood close to her.

“I have a small confession to make, love,” George said in a low voice.

Y/N’s breath was caught in her lungs and her heart pounded. “Oh?”

“I happen to fancy you quite a bit… And if you’d like, I want to take you out more, but just the two of us… exclusively, if you get my drift…” George clarified to Y/N with rosy cheeks and a small smile.

Y/N was dumbfounded. She couldn’t believe that he felt that way about her. She smiled and nodded. “You want me to be your girlfriend?”

George nodded. “If you’ll have me.”

Y/N was ecstatic and nodded her head. “I would like that very much. I’ve never had a boyfriend before, so you better be a good one, Weasley,” she teased.

George laughed and stepped closer to her with a grin. “Wouldn’t dream of being anything but, Y/L/N.”

The pair laughed and even though they were saying goodbye, neither made the move to do so. Y/N felt George inching closer to her as his hand smoothed over her waist. Y/N’s smile turned to a bitten lower lip as George’s face closed in on hers. She could feel the warmth from his cheeks radiate off of him and on to her.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked in a whisper. Y/N nodded and their lips met with gentle desire. The kiss was more than a peck, but as sweet and simple as one. As it went on, their growing feelings drove them to a more heated moment. George supported her against him, and as the moment got more intense, he pinned her against the wall. When they broke away for air, they looked at each other for a second and laughed in glee at the euphoria they felt, but noticed the portraits giving them judgmental looks.

“Erm… I’ll see you tomorrow?” George offered and backed himself away from Y/N. She nodded and smiled with swollen lips. It was when she entered her common room that George noticed his lips aching and he felt them swell a bit.

As the year went on, George and Y/N became closer and closer and their love blossomed, and all was bliss... or so Y/N thought. She wasn’t an idiot, she knew that everybody talked about her and George. Rumors spewed that they had broken up at least once a week, but all of them were crushed when George got wind of them and made a scene of kissing Y/N deeply in the middle of the hallway.

“Mister Weasley, that’s inappropriate,” McGonagall would say and George would wink and smile at Y/N as she headed to class. Y/N would love it when that happened, truly, because it reassured what she already knew to be true: George only had eyes for her.

But one day towards their graduation date, Y/N overheard a Slytherin girl gushing about how she and George had hooked up the night prior. The gaggle of girls around her demanded explicit details, and she provided them. Y/N shot the group a dirty and annoyed look, and the storyteller shrugged and sent back a sickeningly smug look.

Y/N left the room and immediately searched for George. Everybody talks, but not like this. Y/N knew that George had a reputation for being a player, but she had never heard such explicit details. She felt hurt and betrayed, and she didn’t want to believe it.

“Either let me in or send George Weasley out, please,” she said to the Fat Lady.

“Trouble, dear?” the portrait asked in a concerned tone.

“Just… I just need to talk to George,” Y/N said becoming more worried by the second.

“About what, my dear?” George’s voice said from behind Y/N. She turned and his face dropped.

“Come on, let’s go in…” he said and lead her through to the common room. Y/N was lucky that everyone cleared out once the pair walked into the room because the conversation they were about to have was going to be one that Y/N classified in her mind as highly private.

“What happened, my love?” George asked her with concern in his voice and his hands touching her elbows as her arms were crossed. He looked deep into her eyes and Y/N knew she was being foolish. George had never given her any reason to believe he was being unfaithful or that he ever wanted anyone else, but here she was feeling hurt over what she had overheard.

“I feel so stupid, but I just… I feel like I have to hear it from you,” Y/N said. “It’s horrible, I know, and I’m so sorry…”

George furrowed his brows. “What are they saying about me now?”

“That you and Justine hooked up last night. She just had so much detail, it was hard to shut her down… It made me think that maybe it was true, but…” Y/N said and finished her sentence with a shake of her head.

“I never thought I’d see the day when their words would get in the way…” George said in disbelief. Y/N looked at him with worry. George placed a hand on her face and wrapped his arm around her waist.

“Are you mad?” Y/N asked.

George shook his head. “No… I can’t imagine how hard this must be for you. It just means I have to show you how I really feel about you, dear…”

Y/N’s brows furrowed, but her confusion ceased when George attached his mouth to hers with fervor. He had never kissed her like this before. Y/N’s chest heaved with every breath she took and her heart pounded in her chest. She felt his hands run from her cheek to gripping the back of her head as he kissed her feverishly. His lips dragged along her cheek to give her jaw and ear deep and sometimes wet kisses.

“See them talk after this,” George muttered. His lips latched onto Y/N’s neck and she felt his tongue caress her throat, then the small pain of his teeth latching on and sucking the flesh into his mouth. She gasped aloud and George pulled her closer and bit and sucked harder at her neck. Y/N thought about how purple and red the bruise would be when she looked at it later. For now, though, it felt too good to be true. The words Justine had used to describe George’s love bites were not only inaccurate but not even a shadow of the magnitude of care he took into placing it.

“Only one for me, see?” George whispered into Y/N’s ear once he had been sated with the depth of purple he had made on her neck. Y/N looked at him with starry eyes and George smirked.

“Come on,” he said and gripped her hand. The two left the common room and George purposefully held onto her tightly as he passed boys and girls alike. When they finally reached an empty hallway, a door suddenly appeared on a blank wall to the left of them.

“Hogwarts, you never disappoint,” he said with a grin. He opened the door for a very confused Y/N. She eyed him with suspicion and walked in to find a simple room with a fireplace, a bathroom, and rather large bed with a canopy. The window showed a wonderful view of the Black Lake and Y/N looked and saw students milling about.

“How did you know about this place?” Y/N asked.

“It’s called the Room of Requirement. Fred and I found it a couple years ago and he likes to take girls here, so I figured I’d give it a shot,” George said with a wink.

“So it’s like a shagging room? No offense, but I absolutely do not want to fuck on a bed your brother has done it in,” Y/N said aghast.

George laughed and wrapped his arms around Y/N. “The room makes it different every time, and perfectly tailored to those who need it.”

Y/N felt better about that reassurance and relaxed a bit in his embrace.

“Now where were we, my love?” George said with a devilish smirk and pulled Y/N closer to the point where she could feel his crotch growing and hardening. She blushed and licked her lips before initiating a deep and passionate kiss. He once more pressed her against the wall in a frantic kiss and she quieted a moan.

“No need for that, my dear. Nobody can hear you in here. But I can and I want to hear you,” George whispered in her ear and sent a chill down her spine. Y/N felt his hands move to her hips and his fingers danced their way to the skin under her shirt. She pressed her hips against him as a signal to continue his movements and George let his hands dance up her shirt. His long and slender fingers made quick work of removing her torso of the clothes she wore. Y/N blushed a deep red and made her way to kiss him more to avoid his lustful gaze, but he moved too quickly for her and attached his lips to her breast. He made quick work of marking the area with his teeth and lips.

Y/N felt vulnerable and tugged at his shirt to take it off to even the odds. George caught the hint and completely removed the garment and tossed it aside next to where Y/N’s had landed. George blushed and pulled her towards the bed, where their mouths found each other once more and he sat her on the bed while he remained standing to remove his trousers and briefs. Y/N felt his lips leave hers as he struggled with shaky hands to undo the buckle of his belt. Y/N smiled then got to her knees and helped him remove the constricting fabric. He freed his penis from the tight hold of his briefs and Y/N licked her lips. George helped her to her feet and laid her back on the soft bed. He removed her panties and crawled over her with a hungry look in his eyes. His pupils were blown and his mouth hung agape as he visually drank her in. Y/N felt insecure under his gaze and felt her body couldn’t compare to the greatness his possessed. He wasn’t all muscle, but he was built well with an athlete’s muscles. She made an attempt to shy away from him, but he locked their fingers together above her head and her eyes were met with his.

“You never have to hide from me. I love all of you. Every single piece,” he declared to her. She smiled and kissed his lips sweetly.

George was nothing but generous in bed. Y/N wasn’t sure how much experience he had, but it didn’t matter because his movements made it clear to her that she was his and he was hers, completely and absolutely. He moved within her with purpose and each time Y/N moaned, he repeated the movement until he could get her to feeling that way once more.

“Feeling good, love?” he asked frequently in a low voice. Y/N would sometimes nod, but sometimes all she could answer with was a moan of pleasure. George grinned when she displayed such pliancy and responsiveness to his touch. Y/N did her best to help him feel good, too and moved her hips along with his. He threw his head back and let out a moan that had they not been in an invisible and sound-proof room, the entire tower would have heard. Y/N trembled at the sound he emitted and let out a small whimper as her climax neared.

“George, please,” she moaned. George smiled at her with love in his eyes. He kissed her lips deeply and quickened his pace within her and buried his head in the crook of her neck.

“Y/N, please… Love, I’m…” he moaned in her ear.

After several moments of bliss, and the only sounds that Y/N could hear were George’s confessions of love and praises in her ear that she echoed into his, she felt George still and tense as she concluded he had finished. Y/N smiled and blushed that she could bring him to completion like that. He sat up and pulled out of her with a questioning look.

“Did you..?” he asked. Y/N bit her lip and averted her gaze while trying to avoid the question. “That won’t do at all.”

Before Y/N could protest, his fingers made quick work of finding her clitoris and Y/N jumped in surprise. He rubbed slow circles at first, then as Y/N became more worked up, he sped up his pace and soon Y/N was becoming undone in front of him. She felt herself writhe uncontrollably and cry out his name as she was washed in pleasure. George held her through it and smiled sweetly down at her. He kissed her gently along her shoulder, then her neck, then her cheek, and landed on her lips.

“Let them talk, but you needed to know that you’re the only one for me,” George said to Y/N, who smiled and laughed.

[obx-paradiseonearth]

Could you do kook boys x reader (reader dating rafe but best friends with all 3) pls🥰

Absolutely! I made it a headcanon I hope that’s okay! Enjoy lovely!

// Dating Rafe and Being Best Friends with Kelce and Topper //

You started out as best friends, you’ve known them all since middle school, you were ridiculously shy and they were the type of boys who were super loud, always trying to make the shy people speak

You know the type, the idiot boys who are always like “why don’t you talk? You know you can talk, right?”

Yeah, the idiot boys

Well one day you just weren’t having a good day, bad hair day, homework done but not well, and you tripped on your way in the door; you were basically verging on a level five meltdown and god help the people who push you over the edge

A.K.A. Rafe Cameron, Topper Thornton, and Kelce Smith

“Hey, Princess-” that’s what they’d been calling you for weeks, it made you seeth and blush at the same time, “saw that fall earlier, it looked kind of nasty. You ok?”

You had rolled your eyes, closing your locker a little louder than you had intended to but you honestly didn’t care, “what do you care, Thornton?”

Their eyes had widened and you would have laughed if you weren’t already fuming, your fingers clamped around your biology textbook- that’s another thing for the list, you despised biology- half a second away from slamming someone’s head into the ground, yours included

“We’re just worried, Prin-”

“Don’t you say it, Cameron. Don’t fucking say it.” You had bit out, stepping towards him, your free hand curled in a fist

Kelce had laughed at that, slapping Rafe on the back, “you fucking heard her man. Little mama finally found her voice. I’m proud.”

Your cheeks had gone hot instantly but you didn’t step down, “not much better, Smith.”

“Yeah, well tough,” he had grabbed your textbook, stacking it on his identical one, “you coming or what?”

That was it, that was all it took for you to be one of them, it all happened super fast to be honest, after that you started sitting with them at lunch- well, they started sitting with you- and hanging out after school, they started closing ranks around you in every class and in the hallway, you were untouchable from that moment

They were pretty hardcore too, always around- not that you minded- and always tensing when other people gave you weird looks, Rafe especially, always ready to swing at someone for simply walking past you wrong, his jaw always tight in the cafeteria and hallway

You would ask them for the first year a lot why they even hung out with you

One night the summer before freshman year of high school you were especially persistent

“I’m serious guys, what’s the deal?” You were at the beach, digging your toes into the sand as you watched the sun set.

Rafe and Kelce were rough housing, rolling around on the surf and howling with laughter, Topper was next to you, handing you a diet coke with his eyebrows furrowed

“What do you mean?”

You had bitten your lip, feeling a little ridiculous, “why are we friends?”

At this point Rafe and Kelce were listening too, their eyes glued to you, “why not?”

“I just said I’m being serious, Top. I mean it, I don’t understand. I’m a nobody and yet all of a sudden you guys are always around, in full force, a fucking brigade. Is this a joke or something? Make the loner girl part of the club and then drop her? Are you guys fucking hazing me? I'm going to go into freshman year thinking everything will be rosy and you guys are going to dump pigs blood on me or some shit.” All of a sudden you were crying, shoving the bottle into the sand and standing, feeling like the biggest idiot on the planet

“Woah, woah, woah,” Rafe had stood when you did, clearing the space between you much too quickly, “where’s this coming from, Princess? Did someone say something to you? I swear to god if someone fucking said some-”

“No one said anything, ok? Chill out. It just doesn’t make sense. None of this makes any sense.”

The tears were freely flowing by this point, fuelled by both embarrassment and anger, all of the boys speechless, Topper verging on tears himself as he dug his fingers into the surf, trying to think of anything at all he could say but nothing was coming to mind

It was Kelce who finally spoke first, wrapping his arms- sticky from the ocean and hinted with the dregs of sunscreen from earlier- around your shoulders and squeezing tight, “what’s gotten into you, mamas? You’re spiraling on me. Take a breath, yeah? We’re friends with you because we want to be. Does there need to be more reason than that?”

You had thrown your arms around him, your whole body shaking from the tears, “I’m sorry, Kels. It’s just so much. I’m confused.”

Rafe and Topper had pulled it together by now, circling around you, their hands on your back

“We don’t need a reason to be friends with you, What’s so confusing about being liked. You’re fucking amazing.”

“I’m not kidding, Princess. If someone fucking said something.”

“I know, I know. You’ll kick their ass.”

High school rolls around soon after that and things only get more intense, but in a good way, you’re always busy, weekdays and weekends, day and night, always with one or more of them, doing everything together

They get more popular in high school, Topper joining the football team and Kelce joining the track team, leaving you and Rafe to spend more time together alone, going to their games and track meets together, dressing up in the school colours and cheering like mad, sitting in the front row together

One night, during one of Topper’s games, you’re on the edge of your seat watching the constant back and forth of the game, tapping your foot and fingers relentlessly, your eyes glued to the field, and all of a sudden you feel someone grab your hand

When you glance down you see a ring- Rafe’s ring- and he rubs his thumb over your wrist, neither of you say anything but that’s the first time you realize you feel something different for the boy, he’s your best friend but he’s also more

All of a sudden you start getting nervous around him, dropping your books and stumbling over your words when he’s around, feeling your heart pick up whenever he sits next to you, especially when Kelce calls shotgun in Topper’s Range Rover and the two of you get shoved into the backseat together

One night in particular you guys drive out of town to go to a drive in movie theatre that Kelce has been raving about and like usual you and Rafe are forced into the back- lately that has been happening more and more- and you zone out, lost in the movie, when you feel a hand on your thigh

Obviously it’s Rafe’s, warm and curled around your leg, and he leans over, his mouth right next to your ear, “come cuddle, Princess.”

You nod at him, not trusting your words, and he wraps his arms around your hips, stretching his legs on the back seat and pulling you onto his lap, his head on your shoulder, his hands now around your stomach, you’re certain he can feel your heart pounding through your back which is pressed against his chest

He smells like oranges and you can’t even pretend to focus on the movie anymore, your attention fully on the way his hands smooth up and down your sides, eventually dipping under your t-shirt and splaying against your ribs

“Rafe-” you have to whisper in order to not catch the attention of Topper and Kelce who are absorbed in the movie- “what are you doing.”

“I like you,” his lips find your jaw, his hands squeezing your ribs, “like a lot. I can’t stop fucking thinking about you.”

Your breath catches when he says that, tensing on his lap, wondering if he’s being serious or if he’s just playing at something, “don’t play games with me, Rafe. It’s not nice.”

He grabs your jaw, pulling your eyes to meet his serious ones, “haven’t I more than proven that I don’t mess around when it comes to you? I like you, Princess. Fuck, I could say I lo-”

“Don't say it, Rafe. Please. We’re best friends.”

Your heart is pounding, your heart in your throat. You want him to say it, more than anything, but it’ll complicate things in your circle and these boys mean more to you than anything in the world and you don’t want to risk losing Topper and Kelce in the process

“I don’t care, I love you.”

Your whole body lights on fire when he says it, your veins singing to life in the dark backseat as he tightens his hold on you, his eyes searching yours for any indication that you feel the same way

“Rafe, I-”

“Just say you love me back. I’ll let it go but I need to hear you say it once.”

“Of course I love you, Rafe Cameron. You’re an idiot if you think for a second that I don’t.”

He doesn’t waste any time opening the door, pushing you gently out of the car and tossing a quick “we’re going to get popcorn, be back in a few” to Topper and Kelce

He tugs you behind the concession building, pushing you against the brick, his hands on your hips, his blue eyes dark and burning into yours, his eyebrows pulled together, his lips pursed, like he’s trying to figure something out

Meanwhile your heart is pounding so hard you’re pretty sure it’s trying to escape your chest, you feel like you could throw up from all the adrenaline pumping through your veins, every second feels like minutes and by the time a minute passes you feel like you’ve been staring at Rafe for hours, on edge and wanting nothing more than to pull him impossibly closer to you

“Rafe come on what are you-”

Just like that he snaps out of it, pulling you by your hips towards him and planting his mouth against yours, kissing you like a madman, his lips hot and surprisingly soft, his mouth tasting like the candy he had bought at the gas station on the way here, pushing your back against the brick and slipping his hand around the back of your neck, every movement desperate and perfect at the same time

“I thought you were going let it go,” you mumble between kisses, your hands tangled in his hair

“Changed my mind, Princess,” he quips back, his mouth never leaving yours

You head back to the car a few minutes later, quite reluctantly, your heart pounding still but this time from the thought of sharing what you had just done with your other best friends. You obviously can’t keep it a secret- that never works it only makes the rift bigger- but the thought of them distancing themselves is terrifying

You silently slip back into the backseat, your hands shaking and your lips swollen, it’s silent for a few seconds, the air tangibly thick, your stomach rolling once more, until you’re ready to snap

“So, where’s the popcorn, huh?” Topper’s eyes meet yours from the rearview mirror and you almost barf, your eyes starting to water

And then they laugh

They fucking laugh

Like hooting, barking, howling laughter

And you’re beyond confused, your body buzzing, until you finally force a “what?” out of your mouth

“Mamas, you didn’t seriously think he wouldn’t tell us did you?”

“He’s been planning this for like a whole two months you idiot. Surprised you didn’t see it coming actually. It was so fucking obvious.”

“Gee, thanks Top. Love the support.”

“Stop you know you love me.”

Rafe just slides an arm around your waist, pulling you back to him and laughing with Kelce, “had to keep it a secret.”

“So does this mean none of you hate me?”

“Mamas, chill, you could kill a city of people and I still wouldn’t hate you.”

Nothing really changes after Rafe tells you he loves you, you start dating but you’re still as thick as thieves with Kelce and Topper, still hanging out with them as you always had before, going on drives with Topper and helping Kelce study for his English homework

Really the only thing that changes is that you make-out more with Rafe, it’s a notable change too, that boy is dangerous with his mouth, but he’s still your best friend at the end of the day

If anything you’re less nervous now that you’re out of that weird confusing period of time where you didn’t know what you felt

When winter formal rolls around you all still go together as you had planned at the beginning of the year, Kelce spikes the punch- also as planned- and you spend the whole night giggling with them about the most stupid shit

“Has anyone else seen Tommy Galagher’s tie? I think I’m going to seriously barf if I have to keep looking at it.”

You slap Topper’s chest lightly, trying not to laugh at the true statement, “then stop looking at it, Top. You’re an idiot.”

He slings an arm over your shoulder, scoffing lightly, “says the girl looking at it right now like you want to burn it.”

You do laugh this time, tugging on his jacket, “I didn’t say you were wrong, did I?”

“Okay, but has anyone checked out how fine Mrs. Campbell is looking this evening?” Kelce pipes in and all four of you burst into a fit of giggles

You dance with Rafe to all the slow songs, your head on his chest and his arms tight around you, smiling when you hear the occasional “go get her tiger” from Kelce

Eventually you ditch the event, going back to Kelce’s place and changing into casual clothes before heading to the beach for a bonfire, just the four of you despite the fact that all of you- including you- had been invited to numerous after parties

You bring a few beach blankets, spreading them near the dunes and falling into a huge pile of limbs and more giggles, the top half of your body on top of Rafe’s chest, Topper’s head on your lap, Kelce sitting next to you, his hand in yours, pleasantly drunk and pretending like he knows anything at all about palm reading

Topper points at a few stars, spouting out names and stories about them that he definitely made up, causing everyone to laugh again, Rafe’s chest shaking under your cheek, his arms falling around your shoulders as you slowly drift off to the lull of your best friends and your boyfriend

You couldn’t ask for anything better than this

I hope you like it and feel free to send in ideas <3

[beggingwolf]

Dystopian AU and Fake Married!

They hear the news as they're getting ready for the Midsummer Jubilee.

Denis, already strapped into his good suit, his paltry few medals pinned at his lapel, keeps twisting at the dial on the radio as Zhenya combs his fingers through his hair. It keeps dusting over his forehead no matter how many times he tries to push it to the side in the current style. The radio skips over the Public Wellbeing Report, then a creaky music station playing traditional ballads, then the singer's straining voice is choked off by a sharp tone.

"A special report from the Tsar's Imperial Army on the Western Front," a calm woman says through the tinny speaker. "The Quebec Fortress has surrendered. The Empire has prevailed."

There's a hiss and then the radio clicks back over to the wheezing singer. Denis pauses, looking down at the small silver radio before twisting to meet Zhenya's stare.

"Find Mama's medals," Denis says after a beat.

Their mother's medals hang heavy on their suits. Stiff red fabric holds up the large silver discs. Once Zhenya had scrubbed the dust from them, they'd looked just as they had when their Papa had received them from the imperial messenger, along with a note saying their mother had died with honor somewhere off the coast of Asia.

"She was a hero," the messenger had told them. Zhenya had been crying, loudly. Their father held the metals limply in his hands. Denis had been a statue, a rock. "Her calculations saved hundreds, Mr. Malkin. She was a talent."

Zhenya's mother had played with numbers and languages like they were building blocks. When Zhenya had still gone to school—when there was still a school to go to, before the military had shut it down and funneled students into either the new, shiny Tsar's Institute or the military academy, she sat down with Zhenya every night and helped him through his literature exercises, stifling her frustration with him by inventing little games to get them through the worksheets.

Then the military had come through, taken their mother away to serve as a codebreaker on His Majesty's Arial Fleet, and shunted Denis and Zhenya off to the military academy for their new education.

His mother, Zhenya thinks as they walk from their chauffeured car into the Red Palace, had seen the wonders of the world. Zhenya had dreamed of her coming home with stories for them all—tales about the swirling green-blue ocean that had swallowed half of Old Asia, or about the wall that Zhenya's friend Artyom had said the Americans foolishly built along their Eastern coast to try and keep the rising tides out.

Denis had scoffed when Zhenya told him about it; "Our mother is never coming back," Denis had told him. Zhenya hadn't spoken him to a week afterwards.

In the end, Denis was right, and Zhenya wears all that's left of his mother on his chest as he enters the palace.

It smells of perfume and warm bodies inside. A shrill orchestra squeals from deeper inside the hall, and Denis is quickly swept up into a gathering of the general's sons—their medals do them some good, at least.

"Idiot," Sasha says cheerfully as he grabs Zhenya by the elbow. "Where have you been?"

"Sorry," Zhenya says, and his lips tug up into a smile despite himself. "Is it my fault your mother is the Tsarina's favorite lapdog and you're always here?"

"You could never be so lucky," Sasha tells him, and Zhenya watches as Nicklas steps closer.

Nicklas—Nicky, as Sasha likes to droll—is dressed nicely but plainly. His simple black shirt and dress pants paint him as a void in the colorful room, full of fancy dress coats and clinking, half-earned medallions. The only sprinkle of color on him is the small medallion looped on a ribbon around his neck. The Fidelity Medal, or the Tsarina's Kiss, as some call it, is only for those who have survived behind enemy lines.

Or, in Nicklas's case, for those who defected from behind enemy lines to wisely serve the Tsar's greater purpose.

Next to Sasha, Nicklas's medal looks paltry. The emerald sash draped across Sasha's chest holds a riot of small metal pieces, all of the honors of his father and mother sewn into the fabric.

"You look like a tin soldier," Zhenya says with a smile. "When are you coming back to the academy?"

"Never," Sasha says with a grin.

The evening is full of drink and food and revelry; no one in the room is foolish enough to believe the war is truly over, but it's enough to celebrate it here and now. How fortunate they all are to be on high ground, how fortunate they all are to be in the Tsar's loving embrace, how fortunate they all are to not be the millions of refugees roaming the desolate lands that used to be North America, or worse, the piratical, violent water walkers who survive on the roiling seas.

Zhenya shakes many hands thanks to the medal on his chest. A brave sacrifice, he's told over and over. Serving a higher calling.

"I hope she gunned down a thousand water walkers herself," a drunk man tells him, and Zhenya stares at him until his wife escorts him away with an embarrassed smile.

His mother had not been a killer. She'd been a soldier, but she'd been an artist of language and math.

She knew how to use a gun, but then again, so does Zhenya.

They're in the middle of the Tsar's thirteenth boisterous toast when Zhenya sees Nicklas frown and then dart away from Sasha's side.

"Where's your husband off to?" Zhenya asks. He means it as a joke, but the smile on Sasha's face sits strangely on his crooked teeth. Zhenya frowns.

"Looking for more kvass. You know how he likes it," Sasha says.

Zhenya narrows his eyes at Sasha's fake smile but turns back to watch the Tsar boom drunkenly at the crowd.

It's not until later, when Sasha tries to squirrel away to a back door, that Zhenya catches him by the sash.

"If you're leaving to go mess with Nicklas—"

"Yes," Sasha says, but his expression is tight. "I'm going to go fuck his brains out, so unless you want to join me—"

"You're lying," Zhenya says. "What's going on?"

"Go find your brother, Zhenya," Sasha says, twisting out of his sash and leaving it in Zhenya's grasp as he ducks through a nondescript door.

Zhenya balls the heavy fabric in his fist and follows after a beat. Sasha knows the Red Palace better than most, had spent his childhood tripping around his mother's boots and playing with the Tsar's youngest child Petr until Petr had died somewhere on the Western Front, near the New United Republic of France. Zhenya follows the sound of Sasha's footfalls through a kitchen, an abandoned pantry, and endless halls.

It's at a dark-painted door that Zhenya pauses. There are voices coming from inside, and it's not Russian they're speaking.

His mother's medal sits high on his chest, and Zhenya stands up straighter before pushing his way in.

There are three figures in the room. One is Sasha, looking anxious and unhappy. The other is Nicklas, who bites off his next word in that ugly language before turning to look at Zhenya.

The third has the wind-bitten skin of a water walker.

He's dark and swarthy with it, his skin sun-spoiled and freckled, the evidence of saltwater waving his dark brown hair. His eyes are bright and golden, and he's dressed like Nicklas: dark and plain, but while Nicklas is fair and can blend into the imperial aristocracy, this newcomer is not from here.

"What is this?" Zhenya asks, and the water walker surges forward.

Nicklas snaps something at him, blocking his path. The water walker looks dangerous. He is dangerous; these are the people that killed his mother. These are the people who wander the flooded remnants of the rest of the world. These are the people who envy the Empire and her riches.

"Zhenya, listen," Sasha says, "it isn't as it seems."

"Who is he? What is..." Zhenya turns to look at Nicklas, at the medallion around his neck.

"A traitor twice over?" Zhenya asks.

The water walker swerves away from Nicklas and pounces on Zhenya. He's shorter but he's stronger, his muscles hardened from surviving on the junk-made skiffs the water walkers live on and use to rob merchant vessels and the Imperial Navy.

Zhenya's warden at the military academy would be ashamed of how easy it is for the water walker to wrestle him to the ground.

"My name," the water walker says creakily, his Russian strange and half-wrong, "is Sid, and you marry me."

Zhenya doesn't respond, but he bucks under the water walker's hold, and the water walker presses him down into the expensive rug. The water walker glances at Sasha and then back down to Zhenya. His lips are full even as they're pulled back in a grimace as he fights to keep Zhenya down.

"Zhenya," Sasha says as he kneels down next to Zhenya's head, "there's much to tell you."

[teenwolffanclub-me]

Season 1, Episode 12: Code Breaker

Hey there beautiful reader! If you’re new here, this is a series I’m writing where each chapter is an episode from the first season of Teen Wolf. If you’ve been here before, hey! I missed you! Previous and future chapters are linked at the end of each part if you want to catch up.

Pairing: Stiles x Psychic! Reader

Warnings: two very justified character deaths 

Notes: I feel like I blacked out and now we’re somehow on the last episode. Not sure how that happened so fast but here we are. Just prepare yourself bc this one is entirely too long but I didn’t want to do two parts 🤷‍♀️

Does anyone want me to continue with Season 2? Please let me know bc I won’t do it unless people are actually interested.

I also wanted to give a shoutout to everyone who has sent me nice comments and showed love on this series. It’s meant the absolute world to me!

Okay now let’s get some closure!

                                                    ————————

I walked through the hallways of the high school, using every ounce of willpower I could muster to keep my eyes firmly planted in front of me.

The pressure of dozens of curious stares weighed on my back as I made my way toward the lockers briskly. From the moment I walked through the doors a few minutes ago, all eyes had been on me. I squared my shoulders and forced my head to remain up high.

If people wanted to gossip, they could go right ahead.

My pace quickened as I heard the unmistakable sound of judgmental whispering behind me. I pinched my eyes shut tightly and tried my best to block out the irritating noise. I just wanted to get my books and go to class. At least there, I would see Scott, Stiles, and Allison.

Once I reached my locker, I shakily dialed in my code and popped the small metal door open. I instantly stumbled back, my eyes going wide as a shit ton of dirt came spilling out. I stood still for a few seconds, blinking slowly as I tried figuring out what the hell just happened.

With a frown, I wiped my hands against my jeans, which were now covered in the stuff. My eyes flickered down toward the pile of soil on the tiles in front of my feet, my brows furrowing in confusion.

How the hell did that much dirt get into my locker? How did any dirt get into my locker?

I glanced around the hall slowly, anxious to see my classmates reactions. I was already the weird girl after everything at the dance. I didn’t want to be the even weirder girl who keeps dirt in the locker.

A surprised breath left my lips as I saw that the halls were now completely empty. I turned all the way around, peering in both directions, but there wasn’t a single soul here with me. My head started pounding and I winced at the unexpected sensation before rubbing at my temples gently.

I swiveled back toward my locker, wanting nothing more than for this day to be over. Maybe everyone was right. Maybe I wasn’t ready for this yet. I instantly froze at the sight of a single purple flower sitting in the middle of the dirt pile. I was almost certain it hadn’t been there a moment before.

My heartbeat thrummed loudly in my ears as I reached a trembling hand inside the small space. I tentatively plucked the plant, which I easily recognized as wolfsbane, out of the soil. My eyes flickered around the purple leaves and long, green stem as my confusion only grew.

Just then, an ear piercing scream echoed through the halls. I whipped around, instantly going rigid when I saw that I was no longer in the school, but standing in the middle of the lacrosse field.

I glanced around the empty stadium, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Did I suddenly develop the ability to teleport? Or was I losing my damn mind? My eyes trailed downward as I felt cool air brush against my legs. My breath hitched as I saw that I was wearing my formal dress. The navy fabric was covered in blood and dirt, the strap on my left shoulder torn to shreds.

A bolt of fear licked up my spine as I heard rustling directly in front of me. My gaze slowly swept upward before landing on a pair of glowing red eyes that were illuminated in the shadowy distance. My eyes pinched shut as terror coursed through me when they started moving closer.

“It’s not real.” The mantra was a shaky whisper as my body trembled. “It’s not real. It’s not—”

Just then, my eyes jerked open on their own accord. I bolted upright with a harsh gasp, my throat constricting painfully as I sputtered and coughed a few times. One of my hands came up to clutch at my chest as I tried desperately to catch my breath.

Only a split second passed before Stiles flailed into a sitting position beside me. He whipped his head from side to side with wide eyes, as if searching for the cause of my panic. Once his attention landed back on me, he instantly pulled me into his chest and began murmuring lowly.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” One of his hands rubbed at my back while the other cradled my head against him.

“Lydia...” I gasped, my breath coming out in quick, trembling spurts. The dream had been some sort of vision or clue...it just had to be.

“Lydia’s alright, okay? They’re gonna find her.” Stiles’ fingers threaded through my hair and massaged my scalp soothingly.

“What? What is it? What happened?” Scott’s head suddenly popped up at the foot of my bed, his hair so messy it looked like he’d been hurled through a tornado.

“Another nightmare.” I breathed, feeling my heartrate dropping back down to normal as Stiles’ hands continued rubbing against me gently. 

Scott sighed from the floor, his shoulders sagging in relief. One of his hands came up to massage the back of his neck and he grimaced uncomfortably. “Cool. Is it my turn on the bed yet?”

“You can curl up down here if you want, like a good puppy.” Stiles smirked at his own joke as one of his hands left me to point toward our feet.

“Scott, just go sleep in your own bed. It’s literally right there.” I gestured to my window, which faced his, and slowly pulled away from Stiles.

As much as I would love to stay in his arms forever, I had to learn to get ahold of myself on my own. They couldn’t keep babying me. Both of them had done nothing but obsess over my health from the moment I was discharged out of the hospital two days ago. 

Scott had refused to leave my side since I’d gotten home, other than the brief moments he made appearances in his own house so that his mom knew he was still alive. He insisted it was to keep an eye on me, and that was partially true, but he was also basically in hiding right now. 

Jackson, being the wonderful friend that he is, somehow found the time to tell Mr. Argent that Scott is the beta they’ve been looking for, kindly adding on to our reasons-life-is-currently-terrible list.

“And let you guys have all the fun without me?” Scott mumbled sarcastically and leaned back to lay on the pillow and blanket I’d set up for him on the hardwood floor.

This had been our routine for two days. Mom banned me from having any visitors while I recover, but that hadn’t stopped Scott from staying or Stiles from sneaking in after school. Each night, I could barely make it through a few hours of sleep at a time before jerking awake from yet another nightmare. Or maybe they were visions. I honestly had no idea.

My days had also been...weird, to say the least. Most of the time, it was hard to tell whether or not I was awake. My sense of reality was seriously fucked up. I was having almost constant visions and dreams, and they never made any sense. It felt like my subconscious was trying to tell me something, but in another language I had yet to learn.

Lydia was still missing, and I was beyond worried sick. Sheriff Stilinski and the entire police department had searched every square inch of Beacon Hills over the course of the last two days, and hadn’t found a single trace of her.

Aside from that shitshow, I also hadn’t spoken to Allison since the last time I’d seen her at the dance. No one had, actually.

Scott—when he wasn’t fawning over me—was losing his mind because apparently while I was being a dumbass and getting myself bitten, Mr. Argent somehow made him shift in front of Allison. Then, he shipped her and Kate off to an undisclosed location until further notice.

I’d sent her a few texts since being home, but she only responded once. The words had replayed in my mind over and over for several hours after reading them as I tried figuring out an acceptable response.

You knew the whole time, didn’t you?

I eventually decided not to answer at all. What could I say? I’d kept something huge from her, although it was never really my secret to tell anyway. She had every right to be pissed off. I wanted to address it in person and, honestly, didn’t have the mental capacity to worry much about it right now.

I blinked a few times, feeling myself come back from my dazed thoughts as Scott and Stiles’ voices fluttered back to my ears. I’d been doing that a lot, too. Getting lost in my mind for several minutes at a time, if not longer. I felt a curious gaze on my face and took in a slow, deep breath before lifting my head to meet Stiles’ eyes.

My heart clenched uncomfortably in my chest at the look he was giving me. It was the same expression that had been etched into his face ever since I’d woken up in the hospital. It was like he was afraid I would try to kill him at any given moment, while simultaneously worrying that I’d suffer a mental break or croak on the spot.

I heard the rumbling sound of snoring from the floor and knew that Scott was already out cold again.

“I’m sorry I woke you.” I sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted. I glanced at the alarm clock on my bedside table, noting with a regretful wince that it was three in the morning. He had school in only a few hours.

Stiles’ eyes inspected me tenderly, rounding with concern as he reached out to tuck a stray clump of hair behind my ear gently. “I wasn’t sleeping. You stole my pillow, so...”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. He apparently couldn’t sleep without the thing and had brought it with him each night. It was quite possibly the most adorable thing ever.

“I’m still sorry.” My voice was barely above a whisper as I looked down toward my lap and fidgeted with my fingers. 

Ever since I was bitten I’d felt...different. Like a burden. Out of control. It was as if my mind was warring with itself all day, every day. I had a constant nagging fear that I was forgetting something important. It was like it was on the tip of my tongue, but I just couldn’t remember.

Stiles leaned toward me slowly and cupped my cheek before placing a gentle kiss on my forehead. His fingers trailed down to brush against the side of my neck before tangling in the hair at the base of my skull. His free hand came up to the other side of my head and he pulled it down against his chest. My eyes fluttered shut as a sigh left my lips.

A sense of peace always washed over me when he was near. Despite everything going on, all it took was a small touch to quiet my racing mind. I felt myself relaxing, if only slightly, in his arms. A moment later, I leaned back to look at him again, my stomach fluttering at the intense gleam of worry shining in his caramel eyes.

“There’s something wrong with me, isn’t there?” My voice broke and I furrowed my brows as traitorous tears filled my eyes. I didn’t want to cry. I didn’t want to feel sorry for myself. I wanted to get better.

Stiles glanced fleetingly at the place where Peter had bitten me, but jerked his attention back to my face quickly, probably hoping I hadn’t noticed. “Whatever it is...we’ll figure it out.”

Somehow, his response wasn’t all that comforting. I didn’t doubt for a second that he’d be there for me every step of the way as I went through whatever this was. I’d watched how he helped Scott during the early stages of his transformation, and it was admirable. But I didn’t want there to be anything wrong. I didn’t want there to be anything different about me.

I just wanted to be normal.

“C’mere...” Stiles opened his arms and I couldn’t help but instantly fall into them.

He pulled me tight against him and leaned back, snagging his pillow from my side of the bed on the way down. My eyes fluttered shut as I laid there on top of him, my legs between his and my head resting above his heart.

I listened to the steady rhythm of his pulse, feeling it lull me to sleep within seconds.

                                                    ————————

I leaned back against my headboard, adjusting the book that rested atop my knees. My bottom lip was tucked between my teeth anxiously as I flipped another page. I narrowed my eyes as they swept over the words, urging my mind to comprehend them. I just couldn’t. I was way too distracted.

My eyes flickered up to find Scott lounging in my desk chair across the room. He was playing some game on his phone and it was making this annoying boing sound every few seconds. It was starting to drive me crazy, but it wasn’t the only thing causing my jitters. 

I glanced away from him to look out my open window and sighed heavily. It was already dark outside, and Stiles wasn’t here yet.

It wasn’t usually like me to jump to conclusions, but considering the state of our lives right now, it wasn’t a stretch to be worried. At this point, though, I was moving toward a full on panic attack. School ended six hours ago. What could he possibly be doing?

I opened my mouth to voice my concern, but never got a chance as Scott interrupted me before I could get even a single word out.

“He’s fine.” He said absently, his eyes never leaving his phone’s screen.

My eyebrows twitched up in surprise. “How did you know...”

“I can hear your heart racing.” He sighed and finally dropped his phone onto my desk before lifting his eyes to meet mine. “You either just ran a marathon, or you’re worried about something. That something is usually Stiles. And he’s fine.”

I rolled my lips into a tight line at the way he’d just read me so easily. “But it’s already—”

Just then, something thumped outside my window loudly. I stiffened at the sound, and Scott perked up in his chair, instantly on high alert. There was a low groan before a figure clambered through the opening. I instantly knew it was Stiles as I caught sight of his red flannel. He flailed to the floor spastically with a yelp and I slammed my book closed before bolting to my feet.

I rushed to his side, my arms wrapping around him as he struggled to get up. His chest heaved with ragged breaths as if he’d run the whole way here.

“Where were you? Are you okay? What happened?” I couldn’t stop the panicked words from tumbling past my lips.

My eyes trailed over him quickly to assess for any damage. His freckled cheeks were flushed and the top three buttons on his flannel were undone, exposing his white undershirt. He looked a little roughed up, but not hurt.

He finally stood up straight and his eyes widened when they met mine, as if only just then realizing that I was beside him. He gripped my upper arms sternly before walking me backward.

“What are you doing? Get back in bed.” I had no choice but to plop down onto the mattress as the back of my knees ran right into it.

“Don’t change the subject, Stilinski.” I frowned up at him and his eyes twitched in warning.

“Oh, God. Please don’t make me listen to another who’s more worried about who fight. I might seriously puke this time.” Scott practically threw himself onto the bed beside me, a look of feigned disgust taking over his face.

My eyes swept toward him and narrowed into a glare only briefly, as my attention moved back to Stiles when he started talking again.

“Moving on.” He sent a pointed look Scott’s way before continuing, his hands gesturing quickly in front of him. He was anxious, that much was obvious. “I had a uh...talk with Chris—”

“Who?” I interrupted, thrown off by the unfamiliar name.

Stiles’ eyes twitched at me in annoyance as he flailed one of his arms in a circle, signaling that we didn’t have much time. “Argent.”

“You call Allison’s dad Chris?” My voice rose in disbelief. Since when was that a thing?

“Oh my God. This is important, okay? He tried to get me and Jackson to tell him where Scott is and—”

Scott sprang upright on the bed, his eyes wide with alarm. “Why were you with Jackson?”

“Can I just finish? Is that alright with you two?” Stiles’ voice rose in frustration, his eyes pinching shut for a brief moment after he shouted.

Both Scott and I froze and he sighed before running a hand down his face. His gaze flickered to Scott as he extended a hand out apprehensively. “He’s literally planning to kill you. Tonight. Okay? So you can’t—”

Scott suddenly rose to his feet, his face tight with determination. “I need to find Derek.”

Stiles’ fingers curled into a fist, still hanging in the air, as he pursed his lips when Scott brushed past him. “Why do we keep going back to him? He’s like your abusive ex, okay? You have a problem. And did you miss the part where I just said you could be murdered by werewolf hunters at any given moment?”

“If the Argents are after me, he’s the only one who can help.” Scott braced his hands against my windowsill and turned to glare at Stiles over his shoulder.

Before either of us could ask him what he was doing, he doubled over with a low groan. I realized he was shifting and tentatively slid back on my mattress, not sure what was going on. I knew he would never hurt me, but I hadn’t seen anything supernatural since being bitten. It instantly had me on edge.

Then, he jerked upright and howled loudly into the dark sky. 

I winced at the deep, rumbling sound, feeling a painful twinge in my head. One of my hands came up to cradle my temple as my lips parted in a silent gasp. The noise was vibrating all the way in my bones, overwhelming every one of my senses. I felt myself slipping away from the present, my eyes wide but unfocused. I faintly registered an arm wrapping around my back as Stiles rushed to kneel in front of me. 

His free hand cupped my face, his lips moving rapidly as he tried to bring me back. I suddenly had the strong urge to close my eyes, so I let them flutter down slowly. Instantly, my breath caught as an image of Derek’s house popped into my mind. There were way too many things happening to decipher any of it. My brows furrowed as I tried making sense of what I was seeing. 

The clearest picture was the most gruesome. Blood. Everywhere. 

A painful spasm in my left shoulder had my eyes jerking open. They met Stiles’ wide, panicked gaze as he hovered only a few inches away from me. With a snap, his and Scott’s voices rushed into my ears. 

“What the hell did you do to her?” Stiles practically yelled, his voice tight with anxiety and a hint of anger. His hands were clutching my arms as he jostled me awake.

Scott appeared at his side above me, his face crumbled in horror. “I-I didn’t do anything! I didn’t mean to...”

“I think I know where to find him.” I interrupted breathily, blinking a few times to focus my eyes. I sat up with a groan, my head pounding harshly. Stiles tightened his grip on me as he tried to keep me steady. “His house. I saw it.”

Scott’s face dropped from beside me, his brows furrowing as his lips pulled into a frown. “So did I.”

We shared a long, curious glance. I had no idea what that meant, and judging by the glint of wonder reflecting in his eyes, neither did he. 

“So we’re just not gonna talk about whatever that was?” Stiles asked incredulously. He e took a step away from me and shrugged sarcastically with a tilt of his head. 

“We don’t have time.” I pushed myself up to my feet and strode toward my closet hurriedly. 

It was freezing outside by now, and I wanted to be prepared for once. I rustled through my sweaters until I found one I didn’t mind ruining. My shoulder protested each movement as I wrestled it over my head, but I tried my best to ignore it. I turned on my heel to face the guys and froze at the looks they were giving me. 

Scott seemed hesitant, but didn’t look like he was going to argue, while Stiles was very much unimpressed. 

“That’s funny.” He laughed humorlessly and pointed at me. “It looks like you think you’re going somewhere.”

I frowned at his demanding tone. “I’m sorry, are you my mother? No? Okay. That’s what I thought.”

I brushed past him to find a pair of socks in my dresser. If he thought he was going to start telling me what to do just because we’re dating, he had another thing coming. My eyes flickered up to meet his in the mirror as I heard rustling behind me.

“You can’t seriously—” His mouth opened and closed a few times as he tried to find the right words. I pulled out a mismatched pair of socks and turned to lean against the dresser as I slid them on. “Scott, tell her how stupid this is.” 

“Hell no. I’m not getting involved.” He glanced between us with wide eyes, lifting his hands in surrender. 

“If we don’t go now, Derek is going to die.” I forced the words out through clenched teeth, growing impatient. Somehow, I knew that’s the future we were up against, despite not having actually seen it happen. I just knew. 

“Since when do we care about that?” Stiles swiveled his head as his eyebrows rose in question. 

Scott stepped forward, suddenly looking pensive. “I’m not going to just let him die.”

“I’m the only sane one left...” Stiles muttered to himself, throwing his hands up in exasperation. 

After several more minutes of pointless arguing, a very disgruntled Stiles finally agreed to drive us to Derek’s. The three of us had barely made it a few steps outside the Jeep before he came barreling from the house, looking unpleasant as ever. 

“What the hell are you doing? None of you should be here right now.” His angry voice echoed through the trees as he continued stalking forward until he stood right in front of us. 

“Finally, someone’s making—oh my God!” Stiles didn’t have a chance to finish his thought as an arrow came out of nowhere and embedded itself into Derek’s shoulder. 

My eyes widened in shock and I whipped around just as another arrow came from the trees to land in his thigh. He crumpled to the ground with a groan, clutching at his injuries. 

“Close your eyes!” He shouted and tucked his face into his elbow. 

Long fingers clasped around my bicep and I was jerked to the side before another hand shoved my head into a warm chest. I screwed my eyes shut tightly, a quiet boom sounding beside us. Stiles and I separated quickly to see what it was, but my eyes landed on Scott instead. 

He was crouched down on all fours, blinking rapidly. He hadn’t been fast enough. He squinted into the distance and I followed his line of sight, but came up empty. 

Derek grunted lowly as he broke off the shafts of each arrow that still lay inside him. He stumbled to his feet and grabbed Scott by the collar of his jacket. “Get to the house!” 

Stiles and I didn’t hesitate to obey as we bolted in that direction, our hands tangled together. We only made it about halfway before Derek slumped to the ground behind us, exhausted. I staggered to a halt at the sound and nearly lost my balance when Stiles continued moving. 

His eyes flickered from me to the place where Scott and Derek lay crumpled on the ground in a moment of hesitation. With a grimace, he let me go and we both jogged their way. 

“No! Go!” Derek’s head popped up and he tried waving us off, but it was too late. 

I froze, partially crouched beside him, as a thin figure emerged from the darkness. She was stomping toward us with a huge bow slung over her shoulder. The dim light from Derek’s porch illuminated her face as she neared us, and my breath caught in my throat. It was the last person I expected to see.

“Allison, I can explain—” Scott immediately stammered desperately, still trying to get his bearings after being stunned by the flash bullet. I realized at then that it was the same type she’d tried out with me and Lydia the week before formal.

“Stop lying.” She barked, her voice tight with built up anger. Her eyes flickered up to meet mine, my chest tightening at the intense betrayal swirling inside them. “All of you, for once, stop lying.”

“I was gonna tell you the truth. I was gonna tell you everything at the formal.” Scott rushed the words out in a panic as he shuffled backward to match each step she took toward him. “Everything that I said...everything I did...”

“Was to protect me.” She finished with a humorless scoff, fingers tightening around the arrow she held at her side.

“Yes.” He instantly confirmed, pleading with her to understand. 

I knew exactly how she felt. Being kept in the dark sucked, no matter which way it was spun. Maybe she had been safer this whole time because she didn’t know. Or maybe all his secret did was create an irreparable wedge between them. She was bound to find out eventually, considering who her family was, and this whole mess was probably the worst way it could’ve happened. 

Allison’s eyes glistened as she peered down at him, her hardened mask of hatred cracking just slightly. Her voice trembled as a few tears escaped down her cheeks. “I don’t believe you.” 

“Thank God!” I jumped at the sudden voice from the darkness, and watched as Kate stalked out of the tree line with a roll of her eyes. “Now shoot him before I have to shoot myself.”

My heart leapt into my throat at her words. With Scott dazed and Derek seriously injured, there wasn’t much we could do to stop her from killing either one of them. The reality of our situation hit me like a ton of bricks. Stiles and I were utterly useless. 

“Y-you said we were just going to catch them.” Allison sputtered, head jerking toward her aunt in surprise. 

“Yeah, and we did that. Now we’re going to kill them.” Kate raised an arm absently and shot a bullet right into Derek’s chest as she passed by, not even sparing him a glance. “See? Not that hard.”

I gasped at the unexpected act of violence, my jaw going slack. He instantly fell against the damp ground, motionless. 

Holy shit. Oh my God. Is he actually dead?

Allison’s horrified expression matched mine, more tears coating her face as she stared at Derek’s lifeless body. She stiffened when her aunt joined her in front of Scott, who was still gaping from his crouched position.

“Oh no, not that look.” Kate mused, not sounding the least bit genuine. “That’s the you’re going to have to do it yourself look.”

She raised her gun toward Scott’s chest, a manic grin pulling at her lips. I moved without thinking, taking a big step in their direction. Allison instantly started freaking out and tried to put herself between them, but Kate shoved her away harshly. 

She tumbled to the ground just as a hand clasped around my wrist to stop me. I yanked against it, my chest tightening with panic. I had to get over there. I had to help. 

“Y/N! Y/N, stop!” Stiles yelled frantically from behind me, his hold falling loose as I continued struggling against him. 

I ran forward and staggered to a halt beside Kate, who was still pointing the gun at Scott, having no idea what to do now that I was here. She glanced toward me and sighed with a disinterested roll of her eyes. Before I even fully registered that she moved, I was already on the ground. She’d whipped the gun against the side of my face harshly, white hot pain instantly rippling through my head. 

“No!” I heard Allison shout in horror. 

A groan trembled past my lips as I shakily pulled myself up onto my elbows. My vision blurred as Scott jerked upright, about to rush to my side before Kate aimed the gun at his chest again. He froze, his wide eyes never leaving me. I brought a hand up to my temple and hissed when my fingers landed on a warm trickle of blood. 

“Ah, ah...” Kate tutted, amusement shining in her eyes as she glanced behind me, gun following the movement. 

I turned my head and saw Stiles freeze mid-sprint toward me. His eyes narrowed into an angry glare as his jaw clenched tightly, but he didn’t move an inch. I let out a huff, growing frustrated by this whole stupid situation, and swept my gaze back to Kate. 

“Just shoot someone already.” I barked, annoyed with her games. 

Was it stupid to taunt the person with the weapon? Yes. Did I give a fuck? No. At this point, I was more angry than anything. We’d spent months fighting and tracking the alpha—Peter—as he went on a bloodthirsty rampage through Beacon Hills. We’d nearly died in the school, and at the movie store, and in these very woods. Several times. 

Lydia and I had been bitten, and Stiles’ dad was close to a nervous breakdown because nothing in this town makes any goddamn sense unless you’re risking your life everyday just by knowing about the supernatural. And now, we had to deal with Allison’s batshit crazy family, on top of everything. 

I just wanted it to be over.

Kate huffed out a surprised laugh and pointed the gun at me again. “What poetic last words.”

“No! Leave her alone! I’m the one you want.” Scott shouted desperately, stumbling upright from his position in the dirt. 

An evil smirk twitched at her lips as she ignored him. I watched her pointer finger tighten on the trigger and held my breath as I waited for the inevitable. 

“Kate!” A deep voice boomed from behind me, making her pause. I instantly recognized that it was Allison’s dad. “I know what you did.”

The amusement dropped from her face at his words and her eyes flickered up toward the house for a brief moment. 

“Put the gun down.” Mr. Argent ordered, dried leaves crunching beneath his shoes as he walked toward us. 

“I did what I was told to do.” Kate jutted her hand toward me as she enunciated each word curtly. 

I stiffened, very aware that her finger, which still rested against the gun’s trigger, could set it off at any moment. My pulse hammered in my ears loudly and my entire body began trembling as my fear suddenly caught up with me.

“No one asked you to murder innocent people. There were children in that house.” 

My mind raced as I slowly pieced together what he was saying. The fire. It was Kate. But why? Why would she murder an entire family?

“Ones that were human. Look what you’re doing now, you’re holding a gun at sixteen year old kids. No proof they’ve spilled human blood.” He continued, his voice harsh and unfeeling. “Now, put the gun down...before I put you down.”

My eyes widened at his threat. Would he really kill his own sister?

Kate stared at him for a few long moments, her face crumbling in disbelief. Finally, she lowered her arm back down to her side. I let out a heavy breath of relief, but didn’t move from my crouched position in front of her. A loud creak from the house had everyone’s attention jerking toward it. 

The front door swung open slowly, nothing but darkness behind it.

“Kids, get back.” Allison’s dad ordered gruffly as he cocked his gun and aimed it at the decrepit structure. 

Scott stumbled to his feet, but didn’t make a move to run and hide as instructed. Allison joined his side a moment later, her bow and arrow cocked and aimed at the house. I heard quick steps behind me a moment before strong arms wrapped around my waist and hauled me to my feet. 

Stiles whipped me around to face him, and I winced as my head throbbed in protest. His hands came up to cradle the sides of my face, his fingers turning red as my blood smeared onto his skin. His wide eyes flickered around my body frantically, as if not fully believing that I was right here in front of him. 

He suddenly jerked me toward him and smashed his lips against mine, pouring every emotion he’d just gone through into the kiss. I responded instantly, my hands fisting the warm material of his flannel as I pulled him closer. It was over much too soon as he pulled back with a shaky breath of relief. 

“God, I’m so mad at you right now. I could literally kill you.” His eyes twitched as he continued inspecting me for any hidden injuries. 

“Wouldn’t that be a little counterproductive?” I chuckled despite the situation, and he just glared at me.

“What is it?” My attention jerked back to Allison at the sound of her panicked voice. I’d nearly forgotten what was going on outside the peaceful bubble that was Stiles. 

I turned back toward the house and saw Scott’s eyes flash bright yellow as he peered through the opened front door. “It’s the alpha.” 

At his declaration, a huge black mass raced out of the house, moving impossibly fast. It dashed around the area in a big circle before turning abruptly and knocking Mr. Argent right off his feet. He flew into the air before landing heavily, instantly passing out cold as his head slammed against the dirt. 

Allison cried out and made a move to help him, but quickly found herself in no better shape as the alpha rammed into her next. Only a second later, Scott was groaning as he lay in a heap beside her on the leaf covered ground. My heart slammed against my ribs painfully as my head whipped from side to side, trying to see where he was now. 

All the air rushed from my lungs as a powerful force shoved against mine and Stiles’ sides. His arms instantly wrapped around my waist, and mine around his shoulders. We held onto each other tightly as we flew several feet through the air. At the last second, Stiles shifted us so that he would take the brunt of the fall. He hissed in pain as his back slammed onto the dirt, and I quickly scrambled to get off of him. 

“Come on!” Kate’s angry voice echoed through the trees as she jerked her gun around in a circle. She was the only one left standing. 

I wrapped an arm around Stiles and helped him sit up. He waved me off, muttering something about being fine, and I huffed in annoyance. At this point I was convinced that he was physically unable to help himself from downplaying his own struggles. 

I was about to argue with him, but froze when Peter emerged from the darkness to stand threatening behind Kate. He snatched the arm that held her gun and wrenched it behind her with ease. She grunted in pain as he twisted it with a snap, two shots firing into the sky as they struggled. 

She had no choice but to release the gun. It landed on the ground with a dull thud as he gripped her by the throat and tossed her in the air like a ragdoll. She crashed onto the porch, a cloud of dust rising all around her as she shakily pushed herself up. 

Peter wasted no time in striding up the broken steps. He bent down and grabbed Kate violently before pressing her back to his chest, holding her in place with his claws at her neck. 

“No!” Allison suddenly shouted and sprinted toward them. 

My eyes widened in horror. What the hell did she think she was doing? I made a move to follow her, but Stiles wrapped both arms around my waist tightly. I pulled against him for a few seconds, but stopped when Peter’s voice echoed toward us. 

“She is beautiful, Kate. She looks like you, only not as damaged. So I’m going to give you a chance to save her.” My breath hitched as he addressed Allison and I started thrashing against Stiles again. I couldn’t let her get hurt. I couldn’t let anyone else I care about become one of his victims. “Apologize. Say you’re sorry for decimating my family, for leaving me burned and broken for six years. Say it, and I’ll let her live.”

A tense moment of silence passed as Kate seemed to weigh her options. Finally, she choked the words out the best she could. “I’m...sorry.” 

A small, satisfied smile tugged at Peter’s lips before he ripped her throat out with his claws. My jaw dropped as blood splattered across every nearby surface, my stomach churning at the violence of it all. Allison screamed, practically doubling over in horror as Kate crumpled to the porch with wide, empty eyes. Peter’s shoulders sagged as he let out a long sigh, a look of relief washing over him. 

“I don’t know about you, Allison, but that apology didn’t sound very sincere.” His amused gaze bored into her wide, glistening eyes as he stalked down the steps.

By the time he had one foot on the dirt ground, Scott and Derek were crouched in front of her protectively. I hadn’t even noticed that Derek was still alive, let alone completely healed, but I was more than grateful. 

“Run.” Scott grunted over his shoulder, and she didn’t hesitate to listen. 

She sprinted toward me and Stiles, taking her bow with her, and immediately crumpled into my arms. A harsh sob wracked her body as I pulled her in tight. I felt Stiles’ hand on my back as he guided us hastily toward his Jeep. A few animalistic growls and roars sounded from behind us, and I knew they were fighting.

“I’m sorry.” Allison cried, pulling away from me to wipe at her face. “I’m so, so sorry. I-I didn’t know what happened with you and Lydia, and now Kate’s gone and—oh my God. I’m the worst friend ever.” 

Stiles wrenched the passenger door open when we reached the car and I shoved Allison inside before crawling in behind her. Something snapped behind us, and I honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d just uprooted a tree or completely destroyed the house. 

“It’s okay.” I breathed, running a hand down Allison’s back as she continued blubbering. “We’re both terrible friends, honestly.”

“Wait.” She suddenly perked up, her eyes widening in horror. “My dad.”

Damnit. I‘d completely forgotten about him. 

I turned to peer out the window and winced as Peter picked Derek up by the ankle and tossed him through the air. He crashed into Scott, who was trying to pull himself upright a few feet away, bringing him right back down harshly. 

Peter snarled, seemingly losing control as he hunched over and shifted fully into a huge, terrifying beast. He roared loudly, baring his claws and stalking forward. He grabbed Derek by the throat and threw him into a nearby tree before turning back to Scott. 

“I have to do something.” Stiles suddenly spoke up from the front seat. My head whipped in his direction as he threw open the driver’s side door and clambered onto the ground. 

“What? No!” I immediately tumbled out behind him and watched with baited breath as he reached into the trunk. 

My brows furrowed as I caught sight of a huge beaker in his hand. I barely had time to register that here was a yellow liquid swirling inside before he hurled it at Peter. As it flew toward him, I realized it was a Molotov cocktail, like the one Lydia showed us how to make when we were stuck inside the school. Peter caught it easily, his glowing red eyes snapping our way with a ferocious growl. 

“Oh, damn...” Stiles instantly deflated and took a tentative step back. 

My eyes widened as I whipped back around to face Allison, an idea suddenly popping into my head. She seemed to know exactly what I was thinking as she reached for her bow and instantly nocked the arrow into place. After taking only a moment to aim it out the opened window, she fired. 

It hit the glass bottle dead center, and Peter’s left arm erupted in flames. He roared frantically and tried shaking the fire off, only managing to make it spread across his torso more quickly. Soon, his entire body was ablaze as he staggered around and howled in agony. 

After a few long, torturous moments, he slumped down onto his knees in his human form. Thick smoke billowed from his charred skin as he sputtered and gasped for air. We all stood impossibly still, gaping at him in horror. I don’t think any of us had the slightest idea of what to do next.

Derek suddenly emerged from the house, his face a tight mask of fury. He stalked toward Peter, who now lay on his back, and stood over him with clenched fists. 

“Wait!” Scott rose to his feet and stopped only a foot away from them, his eyes wide with panic. Derek’s hard glare never moved an inch. “You said the cure comes from the one who bit you. If you do this, I’m dead. What am I supposed to do?”

My attention snapped back toward him, surprised at his words. There was a cure? I had no idea what he was talking about, but it must’ve been important if he was this freaked out over it. 

Derek’s eyes pinched shut and his jaw clenched tightly. He hesitated for only a brief moment before raising a clawed hand in the air. 

“Wait! N-no! Don’t!” Scott's desperate plea fell on deaf ears as Derek brought his hand down to slash Peter’s throat. 

Allison gasped from beside me, and I just stared ahead with wide eyes. My breath caught in my throat as I watched yet another person’s life fade away right in front of me. It was almost hard to believe, that he was actually dead. We’d all been through so much. It didn’t seem possible that it could all be over, just like that. 

There had to be more.

Derek staggered to his feet and turned to glower at Scott over his shoulder. His canines elongated and his eyes flashed bright red before he uttered the words we were all dreading. The ones that would seal our fate for the foreseeable future. 

“I’m the alpha now.”

Episode 11 Season 2, Episode 1 (Part One)

[dat-town]

love passes by

Characters: Hyunjae & You

Setting : childhood friends to lovers feat good old mutual pining and a sprinkle of angst

Summary: Hyunjae was too easy to fall in love with. Too bad you knew it was bound to end in a heartbreak.

Words: 4.7k

Partly inspired by his A to BoyZ video, IU’s When love passes by cover.

Gangneung was a relatively small town by the beach, where most people made a living of fishing or something related to that and countryside tourism. You never had the ambition to leave for a bigger city, to live the infamous Seoul life because you were content with the simple one you had.

After finishing high school, instead of pursuing further education, you started working as a waitress at your family's fried chicken restaurant. You used to do the same during summer breaks, so the regulars knew you already, greeted you as if you were their daughter just the same. Living in the suburbs of the town made it feel like a lovely village where everyone knew everyone and other than the mass of tourists in the summer season no new faces arrived. Nobody that could have turned your life upside down.

Not until Lee Jaehyun.

He wasn't a totally new face per se, but still, it had been years since the town had seen any of him and now he was back.

"Kwak Auntie's family visits her for the summer. Have you heard? Nobody knows why all of a sudden. We haven't seen them in years," you overheard a few murmurs in the restaurant about the news but didn't give it much thought even though the ahjumma lived right next to your family's home. You knew that if something was indeed going on, you would get to know it in time. And how right you were about it!

"Hm?" You looked up from your food when your mother called your name during dinner and she looked at you like she always did when she had something to ask. She always looked so apologetic about it even though you rarely said no because you had never been the rebellious kind and her requests weren't huge things either.

"You know, Mrs Kwak's daughter and grandson will come to town for the summer. I was thinking since you and Jaehyun used to play together, it would be nice if you could show him around, so he would see a familiar face."

You gulped down the spoonful of rice before nodding, throat closing up in a way that threatened to suffocate you.

"Sure," you croaked out, digging your own grave.

Truth was, seeing Hyunjae again was dangerous to your fragile heart but in such a small neighbourhood it was inevitable, so you might have as well bitten the bullet and taken it.

You just didn’t expect it to happen so soon, so sudden.

"Petite!"

The familiar, playful voice called your old nickname so affectionately that your lips trembled as you forced a smile, halting your movements. You needed to take a breather before turning around to face the boy who had grown into a young man over the years. After all, you had been sixteen and hopelessly in love with him when you had last seen him.

“Hyunjae...”

The name you used to call him fell from your tongue naturally as you saw him jogging up to you on the sidewalk a corner away from the street where you both resided and you felt your heart do a silly flip (or more like a slip) in the confines of your ribs as you caught the sight of him.

Your childhood friend had been handsome already once he had grown into his lanky limbs, face thinning with the years, eyes ever so mischievous but the good span of seven years that had passed since you had met matured his features. He was even taller, shoulders wide and his soft brown hair was styled sideways, still letting a few locks fall into his forehead. His thin lips were pulled into a wide smile and the dark of his irises sparkled with a giddiness. It was almost like he hadn’t changed a bit. He still wore clothes a bit too big on his slim frame, long, elegant fingers disappearing in the sleeves of his white shirt. His smile was so bright it outshone the Sun and small wrinkles appeared around his narrowing eyes. You needed to remind yourself to breathe.

“I heard you’re back… for the summer,” you fumbled with the words clumsily like a puppy learning to stand on its feet. Truth be told, you had no idea how to act around him without being awkward. You should have been over it, way over it, but seven years had passed and all those messy teenage feelings were back.

“Yeah, yeah I guess I am,” Hyunjae chuckled and the echoing sound of it messed up your heartbeat.

Oh if he knew how he made you feel! But despite him being so straightforward and sharp about everything else, he seemed so oblivious to your feelings that it made your heart ache. You had convinced yourself that he knew, he knew about it all too well and didn’t bring up only to save you from embarrassment, to save you from a hurtful rejection. You also convinced yourself it was better this way: he always left after all. He lived on the other end of the country and you didn’t want to be anyone’s summer fling.

“Where are you going?” Hyunjae inquired curiously, hands slipping deep into his pockets, eyes expectant as they were searching for yours but you refused to look up.

“Just running a few errands,” you shrugged and lifted the bag in your hand with a container full of fresh kimchi from Mrs. Kim a few streets down.

“For the restaurant? Gosh, I missed your mother’s fried chicken! Hers is the best. Just don’t tell my mom,” the boy next to you joked and you got startled when his fingers grazed against yours around the strap of the bag. You were so taken aback by the sudden action that you let go instinctively and the boy took the baggage from you.

“I can do it,” you protested, reaching for the strap after a moment of shock but Hyunjae’s mouth curled up in a smirk as he raised an eyebrow in challenge.

“Good luck taking it from me.”

For a second long you held the eye contact but then you were the first one to give up, of course you were. You turned your head, feeling your cheeks heat up at the depth of his dark eyes and his laughter filled the quiet streets with life. His steps resumed and you needed a moment to catch up under the scorching Sun.

“Have you been well?” he asked, sounding curious and your heart wished to tell him how much you had missed him all this time but it was too pitiful.

“Same old, same old. You know, nothing much changes down here. I’ve been doing well,” you answered instead because really, you had no complaints. Your life wasn’t exciting at all but you didn’t need it to be, you didn’t need heart attacks like Hyunjae to come more often than they did. Which also came to the fact that he was indeed there after all these years and you wondered why all of a sudden. However, you didn’t want to push, so your voice was kind and your tone was tentative as you asked: “And you?”

“Good. Seoul keeps me busy as always,” he said but he was short on words, didn’t tell you much, nothing specific and you were too afraid to ask, so instead you thanked him for his help with the container when you reached your house. It felt awkward not to know how to say goodbye. Your mother might have asked you to show him around but you weren’t kids anymore, he didn’t need a helping hand to get to know a town he had already been familiar with and you didn’t want to become a bother. But as soon as you turned around to go into the house, hand already on the handle, the boy called after you.

“When is your next day off? We could hang out a bit, catch up,” he suggested casually and it gave you a feeling similar to nausea.

“I’m free on Monday,” you told him and closed the door behind you so quickly that you missed his bitter smile.

The beach sand burnt under your bare feet.

“Remember when we were playing tag around here?” Hyunjae brought up suddenly and you hummed, grateful to the ice cream in your hand to cool you down a bit. You walked closeby, arms almost brushing, sharing stories here and there, nothing serious though, nothing that could have ruined the light atmosphere.

“Yeah. You always cheated,” you scoffed but with no malice and the gasp the boy let out was playful as well.

“Not my fault that I run faster,” he objected to your accusations to which you rolled your eyes.

“You just have longer legs,” you argued and as you started bickering about something so trivial like this, you could feel the tenseness melt in your bones and looking at him didn’t hurt that much anymore. By the time you both devoured your sweet treats, you had walked along the beach up to the famous white lighthouse and the ground turned more rocky than sandy. It didn’t stop the boy from chasing you to prove a point and laughter bubbled up your throat as you looked over your shoulder while trying to find your balance on the colder surface.

Hyunjae threatened that he would catch you and you weren’t going to let him, but you didn’t pay enough attention to the slipperiness of the rocks as you jumped from one to another and before you knew you lost your stable point. You had already gotten ready to land on your butt in the shallow sea water, but before that could have happened, slim fingers wrapped themselves around your waist, holding you in place. Hyunjae caught up with you just in time and the giggles stuck in your throat as he pulled you back into safety, close to his chest, looking down at you with worrisome eyes.

“I told you I’d catch you,” he murmured and you gulped. Oh how you wished he would have been there to catch you when you fell (deep in love with him).

Hyunjae became a regular at the restaurant your parents owned. He was always doted on, getting free treats just because he flashed a pretty smile. Or maybe it was because of his neverending compliments on which you called him out after a while.

“No, for real! Fried chicken became my favourite because of this place, so let me enjoy it,” he insisted and let out a moan at the taste of the crispy meat and you let out a laughter before running off to serve another customer.

You slowly got used to having him around, having him keep an eye on you from across the place. Sometimes he was there for hours long, a notebook in front of him, pencil in hand, hovering over the table, only looking up with a bright and mysterious smile when you walked by to refill the water jug on his table. He never showed you what he was working on.

Sometimes he stuck by until closing hours and then, no matter how much you objected, he stole a wet cloth for himself and helped you wipe off the tables, turning the volume on the radio up, having fun around the place. It was indeed more fun with him there, you had to admit and if it wasn’t for you fearing your heart, you might have admitted it out loud.

“Come on, dance with me,” Hyunjae held a hand out just when you wanted to get a mop and clean the floor but he saw through your weak protests and took your hand in his.

Your parents and other employees had left already, it was only the two of you for once in this cozy place you knew as your second home. An English song you liked came up on the radio and the boy had you twirl and laugh as you stumbled around in-between tables as if you were in a ball room. When he pulled you close and you felt his heartbeat over his chest, eyes boring deep into yours, you told yourself you only imagined the hammering speed of his heart and the longing of his eyes. It made it easier to laugh it off and to let go of his hand when the song ended.

Just one song, for that much you could let yourself be in love.

Again. Still.

Warm sand stuck to your water-soaked feet as you watched the waves play with your toes every other minute. It was getting dark, you were supposed to go back soon after another day off spent together. The silence wasn’t heavy, just nice and cozy, just like being next to him. So you didn’t expect him to tell you anything grande. Not until his quiet voice got lost in the wind.

“I dropped out of college,” he said, as if it was final but his voice wasn’t sad. You didn’t know what to say. Sorry? It sounded weird because turning your head to look at him, he didn’t seem like hurting. Just maybe a bit afraid of judgement. There was an answer on the tip of your tongue but he was faster. “I wanna do art. Something to let my voice heard. Business is not for me.”

The words felt rushed, as if he wanted to explain himself but he should have known better: there was nothing to explain to you, he didn’t need to.

“You’re still young. You have plenty of time to find your way. Don’t waste it on something you don’t like,” you said trying to soothe his pain, trying to mend his wounds and the smile he gave you had you catch your breath in the throat.

Suddenly he looked much older than your teenage selves. Suddenly you felt like adults who shouldn’t have made rash decisions and while you were okay letting life go with the flow, enjoying the calm serenity of your seaside days, Hyunjae had always had big dreams and big ambitions. He had grown out of this town, he belonged to the city with its buildings reaching for the skies.

“Tell me about your art,” you spoke up before he could have done anything that made your heart falter even more. You turned back to the sea, watching the Sun set on the horizon while Hyunjae told you about how he had picked up on drawing first and then photography. You listened to the way he talked about what he liked in these and there was a surreal kind of jealousy building in your chest as you realized he was in love with art.

“You could show me one day. If you’d like to,” you whispered and you thought the waves washed away your wish but the stars seemed to listen as Hyunjae didn’t even take his eyes off you.

It wasn’t the first time you were in his room but back then it was a child’s room, now it was just a guest room with barely anything personal. You felt like walking in a territory you weren’t supposed to but Hyunjae acted very casual, telling you to make yourself home while he brought drinks and snacks. Sitting cross legged on his bed, looking out of the window, seeing the same as you see from your own window made you feel some type of way.

The boyish smile that pulled on his mouth when he got back just added to it but then he pulled out his sketchbook and camera, laying them both on your lap, letting you look over them, seeing into the depth of his art. You were in awe at the way he was able to capture the sea and the sunset or the way he made ordinary things like an empty street seem serene and beautiful. It struck you even harder when you flipped through his drawings made with nothing but pencil and yet so delicate and amazing. Your hand trembled though when you found a few drawings of you.

“I was just messing around and you were there,” Hyunjae shrugged, skipping a few pages full of you as if you had been on his mind just as much as he was on yours.

You didn’t ask why though, you didn’t dare.

Yet, you agreed when the boy asked whether you would stay over for a movie night and he put on his favourite superhero film before settling on the bed next to you. One movie turned into two and then a whole marathon, him lending you more comfortable shorts and an oversized shirt to wear to bed. Both of you knew you could have just gone home to change but somehow you didn’t have it in you to reject his offer. So you sat by the headboard of his bed next to him, in a soft white tee smelling like his laundry detergent, smelling like him, while watching Tony Stark save the world again.

Summer was passing too fast.

You knew you were getting too attached with each second. You knew you should have stopped it before it was too late but you were already too deep, especially after that day in the arcade.

Hyunjae was still sometimes a kid at heart and you couldn’t say no to him when he dragged you into the corner arcade, playing a few rounds of games, giggling so loud as if he had the time of his life. He even promised to win you your favourite Pokémon plush but after wasting ten thousand won you stopped him from trying, telling him it didn’t matter that much but he wasn’t one to give up.

“Give me your hand,” he said as you were sitting on a wooden bench waiting for the bus to come and you frowned as you looked at his determined face. You let out a small huff of a sigh and gave up already. Hyunjae was too stubborn, so if he didn’t want to tell you why, he wasn’t going to no matter how much you begged him to. You held your right hand in front of you with palms up but the boy’s gentle fingers quickly turned it over, nails grazing over the back of your hand before you felt something cold slide onto your index finger. You could only stare when you noticed the thin band of pink toy ring he just put onto you.

You blinked at him, seeking the warmth of his brown eyes on you but when he looked back at you, his mouth was already pulled up into a mischievous kind of smile, washing away any other emotions.

“See? I won you something,” he said triumphant and you were too taken aback to notice the matching silly plastic ring on his hand.

You had always had a fascination with summer rains but you would have never thought you would be caught in one with the boy who made your heart beat so abnormally.

The two of you were out on the beach, running around in the warm sand bare feet, splashing water to each other and laughing about some story he was telling you before you would have let out sounds of shrieks at the cold raindrops on your skin. It didn’t take even a minute for the downpour to turn into a storm, pouring enough water on you to soak your clothes through.

“Come, let’s find a hideout,” Hyunjae grabbed your hand, your slippery fingers fitting perfectly as he pulled you away from the beach but both of you chuckled by the time you made it under a balcony to catch your breath. You were quietly panting as you watched the storm move the trees and sunshades.

“I told you it was going to rain! You never listen to me,” you nudged the boy’s shoulder next to you but only then you noticed that you were still holding hands, fingers intertwined and there were so many unsaid questions in your eyes as you looked up at him. His hair was almost in his eyes, the brown mop sticking to his pale skin like second skin while the raindrops looked like pearls against his smooth features and sitting on his eyelashes. He was the most beautiful daydream you had ever seen.

Hyunjae called your name, gently, almost like a stroking touch and a breath got stuck in your lungs as you kept eye contact. You felt yourself drowning in his eyes and you weren’t sure you shivered because of the chilly breeze the storm brought. Those dark orbs on you had something serious in them, something that pinned you into place.

Hyunjae’s thumb stroked your wrist and the sharp inhale of air he took had his mouth parted, had you follow the movement with your eyes, only to have him take a step, impossibly closer to you. You needed to raise your chin to look into his eyes and when you saw him leaning down, your eyes fluttered closed on instinct.

It felt like dreaming, the drawn out moments, until a loud thud made you open your eyes.

“Yah, come inside, both of you will get cold!” The ahjumma from the nearby café yelled at you and embarrassed, with pink ears, you stepped away from Hyunjae. On your lips you were missing the feeling of something you never experienced: his kiss.

You didn’t talk about it. Hyunjae didn’t say anything even when he walked you home after the storm passed, so you just watched him go with a thudding heart.

But you should have been a fool to not notice how he avoided you the next couple of days until you got enough of this weird awkwardness between the two of you and you went over to the neighbouring house only to face unexpected news: the house was on sale. It was clear on the table displaying a phone number and when you pushed your way through the entrance, you only saw wrapped up and covered furniture. Mrs. Kwak was moving, that much was obvious. That must have been why her family came: for a last time. You couldn’t let that pass without comment, so knocking on Hyunjae’s door, you didn’t even greet him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” you raised your voice immediately. There was a storm inside you threatening to spill and you could barely hold it together. He was never supposed to stay, you knew that much but to act as if this summer was like any other when in reality it was your last together was unfair. To you at least.

“I just wanted a chance to say goodbye before we leave,” the boy gulped, shoulder tense and eyes swimming with sadness. But you were too busy fighting your own demons, the hurt in your body, the ache of your heart to care about that.

“You should have told me nevertheless. How was I supposed to find out that you will leave next week and never come back?” You questioned harsher than you wanted and seeing Hyunjae’s face crumble made you guilty right away.

“Why are you so angry? You knew I was going to leave. Like every single time! I never made you believe otherwise. I didn’t want to give you hope when I can’t stay,” he said and arguing from the two sides of a doorstep really made it feel like you were on opposite poles of the absolute truth, yelling something that the other wouldn't have heard anyway. All you could hear were excuses while he only heard accusations. His question - Why are you getting so angry? - rang in your ear and you just wanted him to understand, finally, after all these years.

“That’s exactly the problem! You always leave,” you claimed, putting the blame on something that you had known from the get go, so in that sense you should have been blamed just the same but Hyunjae with that desperate darkness in his eyes seemed to get it. 

“No, the problem is what we make it to be. The thing is: you belong here and I don’t. I’m just passing by like summer, I come and go like the ocean waves but you never asked me to stay,” he said through gritted teeth, leaning closer. He looked very cozy in the shirt over his tee, off the shoulder as he kept his balance on the door frame. At his words, you felt like air was knocked out of your lungs but if someone then Hyunjae knew exactly how to take your breath away. “Why do you think I haven’t visited in the last few years? Why haven’t I told you I’m in love with you?”

“You… what?” you blinked because his words didn’t make sense. Not to you, not now and the boy you had known all your life was standing in front of you as if he had been standing at the edge of a cliff before diving forward until your back hit the wall of the corridor behind you. With a hand on your neck, he tilted your head and pressed his chapped lips against yours so gently and so loving that you had the urge to cry. It was a goodbye you knew, so no matter how sweet it tasted your salty tears broke your heart.

“You’re being unfair,” you told him as you shoved him away until he stumbled back. You looked into his heartachingly beautiful eyes one last time. “You never asked me to leave with you either.”

After Hyunjae left, the town got quiet and calm again.

Your days were just the same and you claimed you didn’t want anything more no matter how pitying your own mother looked at you. It was like she knew yet you didn’t want to share your heartbreak story with anyone. You told yourself it would go away and months after months it seemed you were right.

On winter nights, you missed his warmth and in spring you wished he would be there to see the cherry trees bloom. When songs reminding you of him played on the radio you could smile again after almost a year and then you only thought of him from time to time when storms passed by the beach, the sea and the rain singing their own ode to him. You convinced yourself you moved on, almost believed it was better this way until news of someone buying the house next to you came.

“What? It can’t be bought by just anyone,” you looked at your mother in horror after she told you that the house is going to be turned into a studio and abruptly, you stood up from the table.

Mrs Kwak’s house was a part of your childhood, a place you cherished and treasured as it held many of your memories with Hyunjae: hide-and-seeks, movie nights and a kiss desperate and regretted. You didn’t want a stranger there who would do who knows what. It was irrational, you knew that much but you just couldn’t help it, the urge to do something. So you took the welcome tarte from your mom and got out of the house before she could have protested. You walked up straight to the van of the moving company and asked where you could meet the new owner. One of the guys from those who carried those brown boxes pointed towards the sea. There, on the beach sat a man in the sand, knees pulled up and hugged close to his chest.

Your heart skipped a silly beat as you got closer because you knew this silhouette all too well. You almost dropped the dessert in your hands when he turned around, looking straight at you.

“What are you doing here?” you asked in a trembling voice, trying to hide the childish ring on your finger in the meantime but Hyunjae always had sharp eyes and the small movement made him crack a smile. A heartwarming, genuine one.

“Staying.”

[oosizins]

Genre: angst,fluff Words: 1.952 Warning: bullies, swearing words and violence and a little kiss

AN: So this is a request by @seroonie

I hope you like it sweetie

Bichy Bich Club

All start when they were younger Jeno was a little boy who loved take care of himself everyone thought he was selfish until he went help a little girl named Y/n, who was bullied by some random person. Fom that everything start to turn into something else, and that until now they had grown up, the little selfish kid turn into a men who is now in highschool, part of the soccer team he have good grades, rich and everywhere he is going everyone is staring at him. The little girl had grown even pretier that before but no one was able to see it but Jeno and his friends. She was really silent and didn't want everyone to look at her like they are looking at Jeno. She also have good grades and if you're searching for her she is at the table next to the window watching her friends doing sports or just studying.

But like in all the stories they are antagonists and there it was a girl named Chloe really popular too, by a chance (or not ) she got close to Jeno, they start hanging out together and he even introduce her to his friends, here they are:

Renjun the older of theme all, he was cold from the outside but when you get to know him he was as warm as the cacao that you drink in a cold winter, Haechan he was always teasing everyone and even the teachers were weak but he's the sunshine of you're group. Jaemin everyone's favorite, he was kind, heart warming and sociable when they were younger jeno and he were always fighting but they learn how to live around each other and they discovered how they likeed each other. Jaemin was here for everyone who need love and support and finally Y/n the only girl that was really close to them all she was shy and talk only to the boys so imagine the face that Chloe made when she knew that Jeno had another girl in his life. But she anyways took the place of all the girls dreams and became Jeno's girlfriend. And from this situation they're history are starting

Hey Y/n we are here said Haechan while shaking his hand over his head.

Ye I'm not that blind Chan I just need to go somewhere. you mumble back

Ok we are going to wait for you in the library Renjun shout and you and you friends separate to your respective place, actually, you were going to the bathroom, it was now an habit that at 13h Chloe and her friends were here in the toilet waiting for you and if you miss one of there reunion it's the end, they gonna make fun of you in front of the whole highschool or you gonna be bitten up

So you got our history home work? Asked Chloe without even looking at you

No I didn't get the time you replied

Ow and why did you didn't get the time? You were hanging out with someone? A no I forgot that beside Jeno and his pets you don't have any one her friend commented

So what are we going to do with you? Hm? Maybe hurt you? Like slap you're ugly face? Or no maybe hurt you're friends? The second said

No! Hurt me but not my friends you begged I don't care if you slap me... but don't you dare do something to my friends. You suddenly had a wired felling inside of you like if you're blood start boiling and anger filled your eyes.

Ow so we want to play the superhero? Chloe ironically asked

No but if you dare touch one of there hair all the high school will know what did you did with Kai

Ow I see you gain in confidence, but why would they trust you when you have the courage to talk only to MY boyfriend and his friends?

Do you really love "you're" boyfriend? That is the question everyone beside you him and you're two dogs know that you don't like him for who he is but for his-

That is none of your business bich- She cut you off and you saw his hand fly and slap you're cheek Don't you dare talk to me like that again or you'll regret

What you are gonna do if I talk to you like that?

She grab your hair and smack it against the sink

That what I'm gonna do stupid, don't you're parents thought you how to respectfully talk to people or they don't like you too?....

And they're gone

That isn't actually the worst they've done, you're just gonna have an bruise and maybe a red cheek but that's ok .... Right?

Hay what happened? Asked Renjun a little panicked to see you with a black eye And you saw Jeno take out his water bottle to place it gently against you're cheek bone

You felt you're heart race and you're cheek heat up by the fact that he was looking at you and his hand patting you. He was so gentle even if he have strong arms long legs kick bullies booties he was so careful and sweet, he always had the habit to make you fall for him in a way

I got stuck in the bathroom and I hurt myself against the door you said silently and you heard Jamin replying

Y/ n it's actually the 5 time it happened maybe we'll go with you next time?

In the girls bathroom? Noooo I'm not going with you, they're all gossiping about how jeno is strong, beautiful and everything else! joked haechan

No but we can stay on the bench in front to wait and if after 10 minutes you're not out we go break the doors explained Jaemin

No it's ok guys I'm ok don't worry you thank them.

No you're not that courageous or brave that you want to be, you don't fight back you don't want to get into troubles like all those popular protagonist in the series.

After the classes you saw Chloe talking to a new guy he seemed to be uninterested in what she was saying and you laugh

What is funny Y/n ? Asked Jeno

Just you're girlfriend trying to catch that guys attention you laughed out

Oh I hope it's a joke you're not like the boys right? He groaned

But why out of all the girls did you choose her? She isn't even kind? And she look like a fish

Yes but she love me and I love her she is really nice she even get to know you and she is beautiful I don't know why you think she is ugly jeno said

Ye she is pretty with all that paint on her face and she is kind with those popular guys you mumble to yourself

Y/n I'm telling you that I like her can you just respect my opinion

And I want you to be happy and with that you're gonna be everything but happy, she's a whore and when are you gonna get it? You were screaming

You know what don't come to me I'm not letting anyone talking about my girlfriend like that and usually people understand but you don't seem to. And he walk away

No-jeno I... I'm sorry...you started to cry out but he didn't heard and you get inside the bus alone with no one to talk to or to lean on while listening to music but all you were able to do is cry cuz knowing Jeno for that long you know that he wouldn't let you come close to him so you were crying, you have lost you're best friend.

//:✨a week have passed✨://

As you knew jeno didn't let you come closer to him so you were talking to the boys,Chloe said that if she see you with Jeno she will beet The boys so you didn't try to talk to him neither, Haechan said that Chloe hook up with one of the newbie of the highschool and you were again thinking about Jeno...

Jeno was blind he thought that this girl liked him for who he was but no it's just that he is famous, his rich, he is sportif and handsome.

Like every other day you were walking down the strets to to you're house it's was dark and only the little lights were showing you the way across the little park. You get out of the park and you saw what you didn't want to see. Jeno walking alone, you did as you havn't seen him but he took you're hand and that makes you look at him in confution

Sorry Y/n.... I'm dumb we shouldn't have had a fight about her. he said and put you in his arms

No...hmpf.- Jeno let me go- you were trying to go out but his arms were too strong

It's killing me that you want to go out now when before the simple fact that I touch you're shoulder makes you blush he said and you were kinda surprised by how he new

Jeno what are you talking about let me go out what is someone see us like that, they.. they would think that you are...- you tried to explain

I don't care about the others I care about you! He shout out and you were again speechless

But me I have to care about them cuz if Chloe see us like that she gonna beet us up me and that boys you mumble and you felt tears dropping

What?! You are telling me that only now?! My Lord I'm so wrong come here he said and drag you by you're arms, So you are saying that all the scars the bruise and everything else it's because of this bich?

How are you talking about you're girlfriend? You asked a little bit shocked.

It's been a week sins she isn't my girlfriend. Cuz during this time when we were fighting I finally figured how.... How I love you Y/n that is unbelievable but I figured out that I was always watching you or asking where you were or how you were and everytime someone was talking about you I was smiling like a dumb crap in love. He looked at you and you were still inerpreting what he said and you were happy to know that he loved you

Are you confessing? You joked

Of course yes how can I not, you're the girl of my dreams and I want you to be my ... My girlfriend he confess while scratching the back of his neck

Can- I .. can I kiss you? You mumble while playing with your fingers.

He looked a little bit surprised but didn't refuse and took you're chin in his finger and close the distance between your two lips.

And after that day Chloe got in (garde a vue) and everyone left her cuz what she did was discussed

Y/n was finally getting more comfortable around people and lived a happy life with our dear Jeno who took extremely care about her, Renjun, Jaemin and Haechan were so happy that they finally confess to each other, they wanted to do like a little wedding (but they didn't cuz it was to childish in Jeno's opinion and Jaemin was sad but that's ok)

But now the most important is that everyone know that popularity is not being rich, being highly educated or perfect, it's being kind, humble and real.

[nelllraiser]

garlic dread | milo & nell

TIMING: the middle of spring, before the portals opened. PARTIES: @wickedmilo & @nelllraiser. SUMMARY: milo just wants to help nell with her plants, but nell has other plans.

With spring coming into its prime, Nell’s garden had been thriving in addition to her greenhouse. During the time she’d been struggling to pay off her hospital debt, watching the numbers of new flowers in her garden dwindle had been one of the hardest cutbacks, the blooms and otherwise being one of her simpler joys in life. But now that her father had paid off the hospital without the witch’s permission, it meant that she was able to spend a little more money than usual on some new little plants and the like. Which was how she found herself walking home with a plethora of green and leafy friends in her arms, barely able to see over the lot of them as she made her way out of the plant nursery. She was nearly out of eyeshot from the other townies— which meant she was only steps away from being able to freely use her magic when another person caught the corner of her eye. Where the hell had he come from? She was instantly annoyed despite the fact that the young man couldn’t have any inkling of his unintentional meddling. Hopefully with any luck he’d disappear soon enough of his own accord, and then she’d be able to hover her new plants home with minimal effort. Another look towards the guy had her brow scrunching up in thought. He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t quite place why.

Milo wasn’t sure he would ever get used to smelling people before he saw them. It was a strange, and uncomfortable instinct. Usually he discovered he wasn’t alone through sight, or through sound. The regular ways. But when the fresh scent of vegetation and potted soil managed to reach him on the evening breeze, he glanced upwards, curious to see where it was coming from. There was a woman on the other side of the road, walking towards him with her arms full. He could only assume she was an avid gardener, nobody else would buy quite so much when they knew they needed to carry it home. For a while, he was too distracted by her plants to pay any real attention to her face, but as she grew closer he began to recognise her from high school. What was her name? Was it Penelope? He felt sure it was, but he also had a feeling nobody ever actually called her that. Jeez, it was so difficult remembering back on a time where he had barely been present. Always high, or on the verge of inebriation. If somebody wasn’t his friend, they faded away almost immediately after graduation. Regardless, it felt rude not to offer his help. He had been meeting so many people from his past, as of late. This could be an opportunity to make a new friend, somebody who didn’t know what a mess he was. “Hey!” He called from where he was standing across the road, there were no cars, so he knew she would have no trouble hearing him. “Any chance you want some help?” 

Highschool maybe? Was it highschool that she knew him from? Nell didn’t really want to ask, not when she was trying to hurry home, and get this guy out of her hair so that she could get her magic up and going. “Yeah- no thanks,” she dropped her reply quickly, taking on a fairly dismissive tone, hoping he’d catch the hint and leave her alone. Still...it was nagging her that she couldn’t place his face. It was definitely from highschool, but she’d had barely a handful of friends back then, and everyone else knew well enough to just leave her alone. Even though the normies couldn’t have known she was actually a witch, that didn’t stop the age-old fear of things they didn’t understand from settling in when it came to Nell Vural.

At first, they’d been taught it by their parents at the hands of a disastrous childhood birthday party where a kindergarten aged Nell had accidentally summoned a swarm of Wolpertingers out of her birthday cake. From then on, all it’d taken for her schoolmates to avoid her was a couple of violent altercations born of shitty people and her temper, and a few more mystic incidents for them to steer clear and whisper behind her back. But they’d had no problems coming to her when they wanted something more salacious, hook-ups underneath and bleachers and in empty classrooms. Apparently it had been fine enough to screw the creepy magic girl, just not get on her nerves or be her friend.

Milo faltered as Penelope turned down his offer, both surprised and irritated by the way she casually brushed him off. He was trying to be friendly, not to mention the fact that he recognised her from high school. She had every right to say no, of course. But he felt like he had decent grounds to be annoyed. If anything, it was an opportunity for good company, a mutual opportunity. Crossing the road without looking, confident he would hear any cars if they got too close, he raised his eyebrows at her. “I’m going to assume you have no idea who I am.” He half teased. “But I swear I’m not a creeper about to follow you home. Come on, let me help.” He gestured to the plants in her arms, knowing he didn’t need to point out how overwhelmed she was by her load. “I’m trying this new thing where I’m not an asshole, you know? This would really help my credibility.” 

Nell. The name came back to him suddenly, along with the reputation she had once managed to build for herself. He had stayed largely out of her way, watching her arguments in the corridor from afar, listening when people whispered about her while making no move to acknowledge the rumours. Honestly, anybody willing to say ‘fuck you’ to societal standards and enjoy sex for what it was had his respect. But it made him wonder why he had never gotten to know her back then. Given what was so often said, she seemed very much like his kind of person. Had she changed since? He definitely had, in more ways than one. “Nell, right?” He asked, unable to help himself. “It’s Milo… Summers. I used to hang around with Kyle.” He had no idea whether she even knew who Kyle was, but given they had both spent most of their days filling the boy’s bathroom with smoke, he figured she had probably heard of him.

To be honest, Nell didn’t entirely mind if some random guy from highschool got caught in the crossfire of her impatience— especially when she was over eager to get home, and get her plants all settled in. Was it rude? Probably. Would she ever see the guy again, and did she really care when she hadn’t even known him well enough to properly attach a name to face? Probably not. She simply raised a brow as he confirmed that no- she couldn’t quite place him within the confines of her highschool memories. “I’m not worried about you following me home.” It most likely wouldn’t turn out great for someone anyway if they decided to follow a girl back to the house where three witches, a reanimated corpse, and a literal demon dog lived. He was trying not to be an asshole? Why did she have to be a part of that when she just wanted to get home as fast as possible? 

Popping her mouth open to give him another denying reply bordering on rude, surprise flit over her face when he managed to remember her name— which quickly turned to intrigue as he mentioned the name Milo in conjunction with Kyle. Oh shit, this was Milo. The same Milo that had been hanging around the werewolf during the time he’d been turned. Along with his name came a few more vague memories from her school days, finally recalling him to be someone along the lines of a stoner who was often in detention. “Oh- Milo, right,” her expression instantly shifted into one that was much more open now that she realized he was actually someone she wanted to talk to. “That’s funny- I was actually just talking to Kyle the other day, and he mentioned you.” Milo didn’t need to know that it had been in the middle of Nell’s moonsitting. Ugh, she supposed this meant she should let him carry a couple things. “Sorry- I was just excited to get home.” She could be perfectly amiable when she wanted something, and she definitely wanted to know more about Kyle during his days around being bitten.

Milo could pinpoint the exact moment Nell began to realise who he was. He had no doubt in his mind her memories were vague, or based primarily on hearsay, but it would be hypocritical of that to bother him when his memories of her were the very same. “That’s me.” He agreed. “If you ever caught me in any compromising positions, now is the time to forget- you know, for the sake of my dignity.” He teased, laughing at his own joke. “I’d rather be judged on my new mistakes, of which I’m sure there will be many.” Her expression was far more open now, almost warm as she observed him, he wondered what she was thinking. It didn’t take her long to sate his curiosity. “Oh, you were?” He asked, his smile growing at the mention of his friend. He had only recently learned of Kyle’s lycanthropy, but strangely he found the knowledge comforting. He felt closer to him now than he had when they were at school together, despite seeing him then on a near daily basis. “What did he say? Good things, I hope?” Grinning easily, he glanced down at the plants still balanced in her arms. “Excited to get home because of this? Isn’t it a little late to be buying vegetation?” Holding out his arms, insisting she pass over some of her items, he caught her eye again, hoping she could see that he was trustworthy, and being sincere in his offer. “Here, come on… I swear I really do just want to help.”

Had she caught him in compromising positions? Maybe once or twice when they’d shared a detention, but highschool seemed so far away by now that sometimes it felt like an entirely different lifetime all together. “Sure- the sake of your dignity,” Nell echoed, biting off a teasing remark about how she wasn’t sure she could spare something he didn’t have. But she was going to be nice, she reminded herself. People didn’t talk to women about their werewolf friends if they thought they were an asshole. “But yeah- I just saw him right around the full moon,” she dropped casually, wondering if the phrase would trigger anything in Milo. Did he know about Kyle and his wolfy tendencies? “Honestly, it was so late when we were talking I barely even remember what we were saying,” she lied easily, not missing a beat. “But I doubt it was anything good if you’re that concerned,” she teased, testing the waters of what she could get away with. While he held out his arms, she let out an internal sigh, knowing she’d have to let him help if she wanted to get information from him. “I have a greenhouse,” she explained while carefully handing him a few of the plants, already feeling rather overprotective about letting him carry them. “It’s not too far from here.”

Milo grinned, glad Nell was willing to play along with his joke. “Much appreciated.” He replied, nodding his head with mock sincerity. But his smile quickly faltered as the conversation circled back around to Kyle. The full moon. It was such a specific thing to say. It jumped out at him, almost startling him out of his lighthearted demeanour. Did she know? He couldn’t see any other reason for her to mention the lunar cycle. So was she testing him? Trying to figure out whether he had also been trusted with the information? Hurrying to compose himself, he could only hope she hadn’t noticed his expression slip. “That’s a weird fucking way to measure time.” He teased, doing everything he could to sound casual. “Do you not own a calendar? Like a normal one, without moons on it?” Forcing a quiet laugh, he actually wouldn’t be surprised if Kyle had nothing decent to say about him. He wasn’t particularly worried, the reason they got along so well was due to that very fact. 

Feeling a strange sense of triumph when his company finally handed over some of her plants, despite not knowing much about her, he could see how much she cared for them. He made an effort to be gentle, holding them as though they were delicate, and breakable so that he wouldn’t cause any damage. Despite genuinely wanting to be of assistance, it would also help to earn her trust, and for some unknown reason, he found he really wanted to. “Define not too far?” He prompted. “Did I accidentally volunteer to walk miles with this stuff?” 

The hesitation in his smile was caught by Nell’s sharp eyes. She might not have noticed it if she hadn’t been looking for any hitch in Milo’s demeanor, but the falter was more than enough for Nell to continue her digging. “You know how White Crest is-” she began, careful to keep the levity in her words. “-always obsessed with the moon and her cycles along with ten million other weird things that wouldn’t fly in other towns. So what if my calendar has moons on it?” She didn’t need to get into the fact that Milo would be hard pressed to find a person that adored the moon more than a werewolf or spellcaster did. The two were generally unified in their waxing poetic of the big, powerful, and glowing lady in the sky. “Kyle didn’t think it was weird that I like the full moon.” Perhaps she was coming on a little too strongly, but if Milo didn’t know what she was referring to, it wouldn’t matter. Normies didn’t generally assume that any mention of the full moon and a person meant the guy in question was a werewolf. 

The greenhouse was Nell’s haven, a place that only a select group of people were allowed to enter, and she already had plans to leave Milo at the door of it once they arrived on property. “Are you gonna complain after you did this to yourself?” she teased back, her steps taking them further into the dense trees of the nearby woods. The Vural home was a part of the Outskirts and the forest that made up the less populated area. “It’s just through the woods a bit.”

Milo wanted to counter Nell’s point, to tell her she was being ridiculous, and laugh at how pretentious she sounded, like he might have once upon a time. But now he knew she was right, now he knew far too much about what happened below the surface of his sleepy, unassuming hometown, and he couldn’t bring himself to disagree. “Said you and every other tumblr girl obsessed with astrology.” He muttered, figuring that would have to be enough. If he abruptly dropped his teasing then she would notice, he knew she would. “Maybe Kyle is also a tumblr girl obsessed with astrology.” He countered, his mind still working to process the strange words leaving Nell’s mouth. It all felt calculated somehow, as though she was carefully choosing them to elicit some form of reaction. But what did she want from him? What was she expecting him to say?

“Oh, I complain no matter what.” He insisted. “Did Kyle not tell you? It’s one of my more favourable traits.” He followed her as she led him into the forest, wondering where her house was located. He only knew the houses in town, and maybe a few of the buildings on the outskirts. He felt stupid for not realising some people needed to walk through wooded areas to get to their homes. “It’s just through the woods a bit sounds like the last thing somebody hears before they’re murdered.” He pointed out, offering her a smile over the plants in his arms so that she would know he wasn’t being serious. Besides, he had already been murdered once. Surely that lowered his chances of being murdered for a second time. That or he had the worst luck in the history of mankind. “You aren’t luring me out here to kill me, are you?” 

Nell’s eyes rolled seemingly without command, all too used to being compared to the cottagecore girls that love to emulate spellcaster culture and teachings. The humans loved to play pretend until a real witch was staring them in the face, and they realized their fear of the unknown outweighed their desire for crystal and starry aesthetics. Subtly was not her aim while she continued on, wondering if she could simply pressure Milo into revealing whether he knew Kyle’s secret or not. “That’s why you think Kyle has a glowing moon lamp on his wall? He’s a tumblr girl? I wouldn’t be surprised if I caught him howling at it one day,” she finished with a laugh, still waiting to see whether Milo would connect the dots. 

“Kyle told me lots of things,” Nell answered cryptically, having quickly abandoned her ‘nice girl’ act. Not that she wasn’t being nice anymore, just that she was letting more of her edge shine through. After all, fear could be a decent motivator as well. Of course she wasn’t actually here to murder the young man. She just wanted to know more about the time Kyle had been turned. With a laugh she shot Milo a coy look over her shoulder before answering his next question. “Oh no, I’m out of the human sacrifice phase right now.” It’d only been once that she’d spilled a human’s blood for magic, and she’d do it again if the situation was as dire, but for the most part she had no interest in taking human lives in exchange for magical power. 

Milo laughed, unable to help himself. “I’ve never been to Kyle’s place so I have zero knowledge of moon lamps. I have, however, seen them advertised on Instagram, so it still fits with the aesthetic.” Keeping his expression neutral at the mention of howling, it was becoming very obvious to him that Nell knew Kyle was a werewolf. He almost wanted to ask her how she knew, but if he admitted to also knowing then he would come very close to outing himself as a part of the supernatural world. Nell wasn’t his friend, this was the most they had ever spoken, so he refused to willingly make himself vulnerable. Raising his eyebrows in a show of polite interest, despite attempting to seem casual, his gaze was sharp, watching Nell for any sign or tell that might imply she was aware of his ‘undead’ status.

“He did?” He asked, almost daring her to tell him what was said. Surely Kyle wouldn’t have confided in her like that. There seemed to be an unspoken rule among the people he had met so far; you never told somebody else what a person was if you didn’t have permission to do so. Maybe there were exceptions to the rule, things he didn’t understand just yet, but he trusted Kyle not to out him. In the same way he hoped Kyle knew he could be trusted not to tell people he was a werewolf. “Hm, good to know.” He muttered in response to the joke on human sacrifice. He was glad they were able to move back into familiar territory. He enjoyed teasing, he was good at teasing. And it carried them further away from both Kyle’s predicament, and his own. “Because I’m sure I’d be a pretty useless sacrifice. Whatever demon you worship would probably send me back and ask for a working replacement.” 

“Really? It sounded like you were good friends the way he told it,” Nell commented smoothly, not actually having all that much interest in the closeness of their friendship at the moment, but figuring she should at least pretend. But her patience was wearing thin, and either Milo knew what she was speaking of or he didn’t. So with a huff and turn of her heel, she would have folded her arms over her chest if she hadn’t been holding the plants. Fixing Milo with her hardest stare, she carried on nonetheless. “Look- you either know what I’m talking about or you don’t. So just tell me if you know or not, and then we can move on.” If he thought her weird and demanding he wouldn't be the first, and most certainly not the last, but she didn’t really care about the opinion a random person from highschool might form from this interaction as long as she got to ask the questions she wanted answers to. 

“He sure did,” Nell replied with the beginnings of a smirk, giving Milo nothing when he seemed determined to do the same. Let him wonder at what Kyle had shared. Maybe he’d reveal too much by asking his own questions. “Why? Were you worried he said something about you?” It was a stab in the dark, and she had no real reason to think Milo might be worried about things he’d rather keep private. But she knew most people had something they wanted to hide. Milo most likely wouldn’t be an exception. She let him laugh at what he perceived to be a joke, waiting with a natural face until he was done, making no effort to join in. “I’m glad you thought it was funny. Demons don’t work like that, though.” Still, she was somewhat amused that he'd managed to stumble onto the demon portion of her magic. Not that he knew that.

They were close to the Vural property now, and the moonlight could be seen glittering on the glass of her greenhouse in the backyard of the house as the woods began to open up. 

“We were.” Milo clarified. “Way back when we were at school. I ran into him the other day but… that was the first time in years.” He couldn’t understand why Nell was taking such an interest, but every word out of her mouth seemed to set him more on edge. There had to be an ulterior motive here, only he couldn’t understand what it might be. His eyes widening as she suddenly decided to take a direct approach, one he definitely hadn’t been expecting, his step faltered. He wasn’t able to hide his surprise, but he did everything he could to compose himself quickly. A few beats of silence passed before he managed to find his words again, and he knew it was essentially too late. But if he admitted he knew what Kyle was, he admitted to knowing about the supernatural. That was one step too close to her realising he was a part of that world too. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He snapped. “And you’re being really fucking weird.” He gripped at her plants, angry at himself for offering to carry them. If his hands were free he would be able to walk away from this, remove himself from the situation. 

Glaring at his company, his chest tightening at her words, he wondered whether Kyle really had told her what he was. For all he knew, she hated vampires. Maybe she really did intend to kill him out here in the middle of nowhere. Who knew of his location? Nobody, and he didn’t have time to shoot anyone a text. If he disappeared now, he disappeared forever. Only Nell would ever know what happened to him. The thought caused his stomach to churn uncomfortably. “Why should I be worried?” He demanded, kicking at brush, and brambles as he passed through them. “Forgive me for not knowing how demons work.” He added, more convinced than ever that this might actually be the end for him. Surely she wouldn’t risk hurting her plants though. At least he had that. She needed to wait until he put them down, and then he could reevaluate the situation. Maybe even make a break for it. 

“Really? Why’d you guys lose touch?” Did it have to do with the whole werewolf thing? Nell continued to pry, her nosiness knowing now bounds as she tried to learn more about Kyle around the time he was bitten. If she understood him and his control then, maybe it would help with teaching him control now. The second show of surprise on his face only made the witch feel even more confident about her choice to confront him, even if he wasn’t giving anything specific away. She supposed if there was one thing to be said about Milo— it was that he was loyal. Which was unfortunate for her in this situation. Still, it was good that Kyle had friends who wouldn’t easily out him. Not that she should care about Kyle and whether his friends were suitable. His snappy response had her lips pursing, her temper flaring for a moment even though she knew she’d been the cause of Milo’s new shortness. “And you’re being really fucking rude.”  She was used to being called weird, and though she’d set herself up for it, the word still held the gravity of all the times she’d been ostracized for being ‘weird’ while growing up— especially when coming from the mouth of an old classmate. “But if you wanna be a little shit about it, be my guest.”

She rolled her eyes at his comment about demons, no longer interested in curbing her words or being overtly nice now that it seemed he wasn’t going to give her any information. Nell hadn’t meant the words in a correctional way. They’d been more along the lines of informational. “Maybe you should be worried cause you’re acting exactly how people who have secrets would act.” Finally they’d arrived at her greenhouse, and she set her own plants on the ground so she could raise a charmed key to the door. If Milo hadn’t been here she would have used her magic to undo the lock that would respond only to her magical signature, but it’s be difficult to explain such a thing away. “You can put the plants down now,” she commented dryly, suddenly eager to get rid of the guy.

“We used to smoke in the bathrooms at school together. That’s not exactly something you keep doing after you graduate.” Milo pointed out. Not every friendship had a foundation strong enough to last. He knew Kyle because they shared a passion for breaking trivial school rules, and often wound up in the same detentions. Spending time together because you were essentially running on a schedule wasn’t quite the same as actively arranging to stay in contact. He was incredibly glad he had run into Kyle outside of the university, more than grateful considering Kyle was a part of his terrifying new world. But had they not crossed paths again, reaching out probably wouldn’t ever have crossed his mind. He wasn’t ashamed to admit that. “I’m being rude for pointing out you’re being weird?” He asked. “That’s bullshit.” Maybe he should feel guilty for being so cold, it was very possible Nell had good intentions. But until he knew for sure, he wasn’t giving in. And if he genuinely didn’t know about Kyle then this defensive anger would be coming very naturally to him. “I’m not being a little shit about anything, you’re the one demanding information I don’t fucking have.” 

Narrowing his eyes as Nell came to a halt in front of the door to a greenhouse, he couldn’t exactly tell her she was wrong. He did have secrets. But then again, so did everybody. He definitely wasn’t alone in that fact. “Or maybe you’re projecting.” He countered, though he had no reason to believe she was. Watching as she opened the door, it suddenly struck him that a greenhouse might count as a part of her private dwelling. There was little chance of him being able to set the plants down inside if she didn’t first invite him in. He wasn’t sure whether she would be content with him putting them down on the floor, so he hovered awkwardly in the doorway, realising after a few moments had passed that she really wasn’t about to invite him inside. Despite him carrying her plants for her, despite him trying to make polite conversation. He had only been met with a confrontational attitude, and apparently now a distinct lack of thanks. Finally putting down the plants in his arms, lining them up beside the doorway he was trapped in, when he straightened up again, he was more than ready to shoot his company a glare. “What?” He demanded, unable to help himself. “You really aren’t going to invite me in?”

“Yeah, it’s fucking rude,” Nell shot back, her own temper stoked by the appearance of Milo’s. “You think you can just go around calling people weird?” It was more the principle of the matter than anything, the fact that Milo seemingly thought he had a right to call her names and get away with it. She snorted at his claim of ignorance, still not entirely sold when it came to him knowing nothing. “I’m asking, you’re the one getting all offended about it. Which makes you a little shit,” she replied snarkily, a smugness entering her voice. 

A roll of Nell’s eyes, and she was fixing him with a withering glare from inside her greenhouse. “I don’t give a shit about people knowing stuff about me.” Or at least she specifically didn’t really mind if someone knew she was a witch. In honesty she thought it beneficial that people knew of her power. If people knew she and her sisters had power, they’d be less likely to mess with them. As for the more personal feelings in her life- those were the things she was bad at sharing, and letting people in on. She might have thanked him if she’d wanted his help in the first place, but now she wasn’t all that keen on giving him the satisfaction. At first she was pleased, and now surprised that he hadn’t walked into her greenhouse of his own accord. Had the guy finally decided to show some manners? The choice of his words were rather specific, and had her head cocking to the side with intrigue. He wanted her to invite him in? Arranging her new plants on a nearby worktable, a bulb of garlic caught her eye, and a flicker of connection fired in her brain. Well...there was only one way to find out if her newest suspicion was anything of substance. With a quick and easy flick of her wrist, she launched the garlic towards Milo without warning, savoring the flash of satisfaction she felt from the childish move. “No- I don’t think I will.”

“I mean, if they’re being weird then I don’t see an issue with it.” Milo countered, an edge to his voice to match the edge in Nell’s voice. He wasn’t exactly sure how they had ended up where they were but as far as he was concerned, she was entirely to blame. Maybe if she hadn’t pushed him, maybe if she wasn’t so desperate to talk about Kyle. “I’m not getting offended.” He added, crossing his arms over his chest as he continued to wait in the doorway. “I’m getting annoyed, there’s a distinct fucking difference.” Letting out a huff of breath, he didn’t care how she felt about people knowing her information. Even if she was projecting, he was hardly interested in learning her secrets. They were probably more akin to which manure makes the best fertilizer, anyway. Something he would be more than happy to tell her. 

In fact, he was in the process of opening his mouth to do so when he was distracted by her suddenly, and very pointedly throwing an object at him. Instinctively, he reached up to cover his face. But it wasn’t until the object hit him that he was able to discern what it was. If his body’s reaction to the plant wasn’t enough to give it away, the scent was very nearly overwhelming. It was a bulb of garlic. An actual bulb of garlic. Who even grew their own? He couldn’t understand why Nell would go to the effort when you could literally buy it pre-crushed in jars. Immediately feeling a jolt of disorientation, he scrambled to bat it away, fangs protruding, eyes flashing red as the skin it made contact with began to sting. “What the fuck?” He demanded, righting himself to stare at Nell with open disbelief. He wasn’t sure whether she had chosen the garlic on purpose, or accidentally stumbled upon what he was, but he wasn’t an idiot. He knew there was no point in trying to hide from her. Not now. “Are you fucking kidding me?” He raised his voice, his indignation only growing as he was given time to fully process what had happened. “Did you just- you just threw garlic at me!” 

You really aren’t going to invite me in? Milo’s words were thrown into clarity as she watched the flash of his fangs appear, and his apparent aversion for the plant became clear. “You’re a vampire.” Nell’s words weren’t so much a question as a means of telling him she’d seen the changes, and put the earlier and smaller hints together that she hadn’t thought to put as much stock in. Her stance took on an even more guarded pose, not knowing Milo well enough to feel confident in making a judgment on whether he was a vampire more along the lines of someone like Harsh, or someone more murderous or bloodthirsty. Either way she certainly wasn’t going to be inviting him into her greenhouse now. The witch’s arms folded across her chest, cocking her hip to the side as she gave the young man a thorough up and down, sizing him up in that same way she used to measure threats in the Ring. “So that’s why you were being so squirrely?” Did Milo being a vampire mean he was more likely to know of Kyle’s werewolf status?

“No shit. What gave it away?” Milo bit out, brushing himself down as he retracted his fangs, making a point of continuing to glare at Nell. He watched her as she shifted to take a more guarded stance, one that made it clear she was now actively scrutinizing him. He wasn’t entirely sure what she was looking for, but he felt himself shrink a little under her gaze regardless. It was impossible to know what she was capable of, it was impossible to know what anybody in White Crest was capable of. Though he wasn’t exactly holding a torch for self preservation, if she decided to attack, his only real option would be to run. So he opted to stay where he was for now, awkwardly rubbing at his wrist where it had come into contact with the garlic. All he could do was stay silent, and hope she wasn’t trying to figure out where best to plunge a wooden stake. His skin was no longer stinging but the ghost of the feeling was there, he tried not to let it distract him. “I wasn’t being squirrely. Fuck you. You’re the one asking weirdly specific questions about somebody who isn’t even here!” He pointed out, indignant in the face of the accusation. “I know why, by the way. You’re not being subtle.” 

Nell didn’t hesitate to return Milo’s glare, still not even entirely certain how they’d gotten to this point in the first place. Maybe she’d pushed too hard, but that wasn’t anything new for her. It was another one of the many reasons people in highschool had avoided the witch. There weren’t many people who took kindly to her abrasive personality, and it had been even more extreme back in those days. “Well most vampires walk like they have a stick up their ass so that was probably it.” Sorry Harsh. She made the mental apology to her friend, not actually believing the words, but wanting some childish way to retort Milo’s snark. Nell didn’t actually have anything against vampires so long as they weren’t witch hunters like Miriam, or lacked control in a way that made them a constant and active threat to others. “You were being squirrely. Basically dancing around my questions and shit, and getting all uppity.” Her eyes rolled again. “I gave up trying to be subtle about fifteen minutes ago, I’m not stupid enough to come on that strongly without being aware of it.” She’d learned that well enough through her time as a monster catcher and bounty hunter. “So you know Kyle’s a werewolf, then.” At least they’d gotten it out in the open. “Did you know when he was changed?” Now she could ask her questions point-blank.

Milo let out a huff of breath. “Oh, yeah? Have you ever thought maybe that’s just the vampires having to deal with you?” He countered. He wasn’t sure how they had managed to go from a genuine conversation to what could almost be considered an argument. But he wasn’t about to back down, it wasn’t in his nature. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure she wanted him to. “Because you were trying to get me to out a friend!” He explained, wondering whether she might be able to understand his reasoning, maybe even appreciate it. She had made it relatively clear she knew what Kyle was, but she could have been using him to get confirmation, to go behind his back. He would never forgive himself if he gave information to the wrong person, especially information that wasn’t his to give. “Without knowing what you know, did you honestly expect me to just come out and just say it? We aren’t friends, Nell. We said like two words together throughout the whole of high school.” 

Narrowing his eyes when she brushed off his comment, insisting she hadn’t been aiming for subtlety, he waited, wondering whether she was going to say the words out loud. Say what they both knew, what he was continuing to carefully dance around. And then she did, and it was as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. “Yes.” He said finally. “Did he tell you that?” It still felt strange, talking about it with a stranger. The least he could do was find out whether Kyle had confided in her, or if she had somehow pried the information out of him. If he had willingly been honest with her then he would begrudgingly accept the fact that she could be trusted. “Why?” He asked, some of his anger beginning to fade away. He was curious now, more so than anything else. “Do you mean did he tell me when it first happened? Or just… do I know when it happened in like, the timeline of our lives?” 

“No it’s definitely a you problem,” Nell quipped back, unwilling to take any responsibility. “And I wasn’t trying to get you to out a friend. I was seeing if you already knew. It should have been obvious that I knew by the way I was asking- so you wouldn’t have been ‘outing’. Unless you’re too clueless to connect the dots between me talking about the moon and Kyle. You literally just said I wasn’t being subtle, though.” She rolled her eyes at the mention of them not being friends. As if she cared about something like that when it came to the random guy from highschool. 

“Yeah, we talked about it.” That’s all Milo needed to know when it came to what she and Kyle had spoken of, the deeper conversation they’d gotten into with sleep still tugging at their eyes and the sun barely glinting over the horizon on Kyle’s patio. Her stubbornness made her balk at Milo’s request for why she wanted to know, but she doubted he’d answer her questions if she wholly refused to reply to his. “I’m trying to help him,” she supplied vaguely. “And I mean the second one- do you know when it happened in his life and stuff.”

Milo narrowed his eyes, but stayed quiet, allowing Nell to answer him despite her attitude making him want to interrupt. It would be so easy to cut her off, to argue, but he held his tongue. Resisting the urge so that he could hear what she had to say to him. It didn’t take long for his patience to falter, though. For his frustration to grow exponentially. Could she really be so oblivious? “You weren’t being subtle.” He bit out. “But for all I knew you only suspected Kyle. Isn’t that the oldest fucking trick in the book? Pretending someone confided in you so that you can get information on them from the people they actually trust?” Letting out a huff of breath when his company rolled her eyes, it was everything he could do not to turn around and leave. He only had two reasons to stay. He wanted to know more about Kyle, more about Nell, about the friendship they apparently shared. And he was also incredibly confident his continued presence would annoy her. If he left now he would only be giving her what she wanted, and he was petty. Undeniably so. 

“That’s all you’re giving me?” He asked. “You talked about it?” Coming to realise she was never going to give him the information he wanted solely because she knew he wanted it, he decided to focus on what she was telling him. Or more accurately what she was asking him. “Do you think he needs help?” He hadn’t considered the fact that maybe his friend wasn’t coping. His version of support usually consisted of sharing a drink, and talking until the sun began to rise. What if Kyle needed more than that? Mechanisms that were actually considered healthy by society. He wasn’t any good with those. “Yeah, I know when it happened. I mean, obviously I didn’t at the time. I knew something was up, but it was only after seeing him again that he told me why he started acting so shady way back...” 

“Oh my god, I know I wasn’t being subtle. I literally just said that was the point- that was I was doing it on purpose.” It was becoming rather apparent that something just wasn’t aligning all that properly between Nell and Milo, and the witch was starting to wonder if perhaps they were two people who simply tended to get along like water and oil. Or maybe it was just the conversation they’d chosen. Either way, she was annoyed. She mirrored Milo’s huff, while her eyes gave yet another roll. Nell had lost count of how many times she’d done it since their conversation had begun. “You’re the one who came up to me, remember? If I was actively trying to find out if Kyle was a werewolf, I would have orchestrated some way for us to meet. Not some stupid chance thing.” She’d done it countless times while she looked for bounties. 

“I’m not telling you what we talked about,” Nell replied haughtily. It wasn’t any of Milo’s business, and it wasn’t as if she was going to tell a guy who’d only annoyed the shit out her thus far about the traumas she and Kyle had shared. “It’d be shitty when it was just for Kyle and me.” As for Kyle needing help...that was a question Nell was more willing to answer. Even though Milo was unbearable, he was Kyle’s friend. Someone that might care to help. And Kyle needed all the help he could get. But she didn’t want to outrightly expose Kyle, and she remembered how he’d wanted to set the boundary of requesting help from others. But still...she worried. “It’s...not easy adjusting to being a werewolf on your own.” That was the most specific she could get without outrightly saying he suffered with control. “He hasn’t had anyone to teach him.” She was disappointed that Milo hadn’t known at the time, but intrigued by the mention of Kyle having acted differently. “He started acting shady, how?”

Milo set his jaw. He was over Nell’s attitude, much like he suspected she was over his own. And his desire to hear what she had left to say was infuriating. Why couldn’t he just turn and leave? It should be easy to abandon their ridiculous conversation. “Yeah, I was trying to be nice. That might be a foriegn concept to you.” He snapped. It wasn’t fair that he was being blamed for how their interaction had played out. He had approached her with good intentions, it was utterly undeniable. “How am I supposed to know what he’s told you and what he hasn’t? Jeez.” He ran a hand through his hair, doing his best to expel his agitated energy. “I don’t need to know what you talked about. I think I just need to get out of here.” The longer they spoke, the more apparent it was becoming that they weren’t going to find a common ground. Maybe in another situation, under a different circumstance. But certainly not here, and certainly not right now. 

He actually turned to leave, finally finding the motivation, before Nell hesitated. He noticed it, noticed the way she faltered at his question, and it made him wonder just how much he had yet to learn about Kyle. “No shit.” He muttered, stopping in his tracks. “It isn’t easy adjusting to being a vampire either.” His heart ached at the thought of Kyle, so young and scared. But there was nothing he could do to change the past. All he could do now was focus on the future, on being there for Kyle in any way he was able. “I know how that feels.” Pushing his glasses further up his nose, his expression momentarily softening, he caught Nell’s eye. Sharing in her concern, in her obvious affection for the werewolf. “It doesn’t matter.” He brushed off her request for him to elaborate, knowing the information wasn’t important. It wouldn’t help anybody now. “Just- I don’t know, be there for him, I guess. And I’ll do the same. We don’t have to like each other.” 

Nell didn’t bother even considering that he’d claimed to be making an attempt at being nice, past the point of caring either way. And if he wanted to leave she certainly wouldn’t stop him. But then again...she hasn’t quite gotten to ask everything she’d wanted to. And though she was more than willing to try and bully the answers from him, she tried to think of Kyle— how upset he might be if he heard that she’d done her best to force answers from his friend. So she bit her tongue— quite literally digging her teeth into it in an attempt to exercise the very limited restraint she held. “Then go,” she replied, trying her best not to reignite the animosity in their conversation. 

But then Milo had to go and insinuate that...perhaps he related a little more to Kyle than not. A reluctant prickle of sympathy flickered in her gut, and she did her best to squash it down for the time being. She was already barely treading water when it came to helping Kyle, and she shouldn’t add a vampire who had proven annoying as hell to her plate. Still...maybe she’d message him later, and try and figure out just how much Milo was like Kyle. But being there for Kyle was something she could do. And despite her argument with Milo— she was glad to hear it was something he was planning on as well. “Great. Then we’ll...watch out for Kyle.” Her stubbornness and petty nature made it hard to agree with the vampire who’d been a frustration. Still...in the end Kyle was more important. With a still angry shake of her head, she watched Milo as he left the property, and waited until he was out of sight to turn back to her greenhouse. She’d bother Milo later.

[letterstomilen]

i discuss the classification of igneous petrology as you fall asleep during my lecture (PART 1) (ASMR)

Childe/Zhongli, Alternate Universe (read part 2 here) When Childe's younger sister tells him about the volunteer at the library, he does not make the connection between that and his new favorite ASMR YouTuber, Rex Lapis.

Childe has a very effective method of getting through college. His little sister, who’s caught him making coffee at three in the morning on more than one occasion the past week alone, would beg to differ. 

“You’re the best older brother,” she starts off, and he’s sure she’s trying to convince herself more than him at this point, “but you need to fix your sleeping habits.” Then, because she’s his little sister, she’d flash him a smile and pat his shoulder reassuringly.

(The comment is not lost on him though. He understands his sleeping situation will eventually wear him down if it hadn’t already, but he believes if he’ll drink a coffee every morning and a Monster every night, he’ll get through three days. By the third day, he’ll hardly be coherent but that doesn’t matter because he’ll conk out for the next twelve hours and then repeat.)

“Don’t worry, Tonia,” he says, trying to sound as reassuring as possible as he contemplates whether it’s worth it or not to swallow a pill of 5-hour energy with his morning coffee. “Once break ends, I’ll get back to normal.”

“You said that six seasons ago.”

Childe frowns, trying to remember if his sleeping schedule was this dysfunctional last year. “Huh?”

“The Walking Dead seasons,” Tonia clarifies, as if she’s not twelve years old and the show is for grown adults. He thinks. He hasn’t checked Commonsensemedia ever since La Signora labeled him as a “helicopter parent” and his Netflix tab has been playing How to Get Away with Murder as background noise for the past few weeks.

Isn’t it a show about zombies though? Tonia’s sheepish smile tells it all, because it’s the same exact guilty look he had when he got caught red-handed as a kid.

(Once he remembers later, Childe promises himself, he’ll check out The Walking Dead.)

“Oh. Well. I have a lot of shows to catch up on, you know. Not to mention a ton of my professors gave me reading for over the break.”

A half lie. They did give him a lot of reading because each professor assumed that their classes were his only one, and with seven days left, he still has a textbook worth of reading to go through. But there are no shows that Childe would sacrifice his precious sleep for. As a matter of fact, he would love to sleep. He’s spent the majority of his classes back in high school sleeping and faking attention, saving his grade at the last minute — it was quite the extreme sport really, if he says so himself.

Whenever he tries to sleep recently, his thoughts run at several hundred miles per hour, and he spends several hours staring at the ceiling before succumbing to the computer at his desk and watching trashy movies. At this point, he must have gone through the entire romance comedy list on Netflix. (Not a proud point in his life but if anybody ever wanted him to give a list of best to worst romance comedy movies, he now has one.)

Tonia, on the other hand, isn’t incredibly convinced.

Admittedly, the excuse was lame. Also, he can’t easily lie to his little sister, who’s far shrewder than he takes her for at times.

“You never start your reading in advance. You like to speed read it right before your class or watch a five-minute video on the chapters while your teachers take attendance. But that’s… uh, ‘a bad work ethic.’” Tonia looks immensely proud of herself as she says this, finishing it off with, “Zhongli told me that.”

“Zhongli?” he repeats, trying to remember if that’s one of her classmates or some stranger that’s hoping to kidnap his sister.

“The guy that volunteers at the library sometimes. He recommended me a loot of good books to read, but he talks like an old man.”

“How old?” Childe can tell she’s enjoying this — talking about her new friend at the library that he’ll probably have to run a background check on.

“Like he’s in his sixties or something. But he looks… actually, he looks your age! And he’s a student too. I told him all about you.”

Well, that doesn’t sound very reassuring coming from the mouth of a twelve-year-old. He’s not sure if that translates to his social security number, his current dilemma, or just that he’s her older brother.

“Like all of the stories you told me when I was a kid. And then when Lumine came to pick me up, she stayed to show him pictures of you too.”

“Of course she did,” he mumbles, ruffling her hair. One of these days he’s going to move without telling his classmates and the twins won’t enter his apartment unannounced. (But Tonia adores their company and the stories they tell her far too much for him to actually do it. But that doesn’t mean he’s above making threats when they tell his little sister about the bet he made about white-out and how it could dye hair. The jury is still out on this one.) “She’s just mad because I get away with it and she doesn’t. But don’t do it yourself. It’s a bad habit,” he adds, remembering that he should at least try to be a good influence on his younger sister when he can.

“Okaaay,” she says unconvincingly, before shaking her hair and running off to her room with lunch he prepared for her.

Watching her close the door and no doubt continue her binge of The Walking Dead, he takes out his phone and texts Lumine.

 Childe

12:35

ur a horrible influence on tonia

 Childe

12:35

and whos this ZHONGLI

 Childe

12:35

also is twd appropriate for 12 y/os

 Twin 1

12:37

a normal person would say hi

 Twin 1

12:37

also 1. me n aether watched it when we were 12 so probably and 2. some guy at the library that also goes to our school

 Well. At least he’s somebody they know. But The Walking Dead?

 Childe

12:38

thats not very convincing

 Childe

12:38

also dont ppl DIE? get BITTEN???? what if she gets nightmares

 Twin 1

12:39

isnt she 12 r u telling me u weren’t watching R rated movies at 12

 Childe

12:42

thats very different from a 10 season long show that is hailed as “one of the greatest horror shows in history” and “paved the way for post-apocalyptic horror”

 Twin 1

12:42

well if she has trouble sleeping she could always watch asmr. that helps me during midterms idk

 Childe

12:42

whats asmr

 Childe

12:43

asking for my sister btw

 Twin 1

12:44

A feeling of well-being combined with a tingling sensation in the scalp and down the back of the neck, as experienced by some people in response to a specific gentle stimulus, often a particular sound.

 Childe

12:45

wtf?

 Twin 1

12:45

people on the internet make random sounds or just talk into a mic n its supposed to be very relaxing. how have u never found out abt this?????

 Childe

12:45

idk the only thing on my youtube recommended r greatest stunts and chapter review videos

 Twin 1

12:47

… makes sense

 Twin 1

12:47

check out rex lapis’ channel he looks like ur type

 Childe

12:48

i thought we were talking about my sister????

 Twin 1

12:50

[message screenshots.jpg]

 Twin 1

12:50

ya she told me everything

 Twin 1

12:50

have fun i need to convince aether to not commit arson bc of his TA

 Childe

12:51

hope he does it

He opens his Youtube app, typing in Rex Lapis and expecting Lumine’s suggestion to be a joke. Despite them being friends for nearly two years now, she’s never made any indication of knowing his type. And he’s sure he’s never been that vocal about it either, only shooting appreciative looks at history majors and paying more attention than necessary to the TA for ‘Tradition of Justice and Law.’ (It’s unfortunate that those short-term crushes never led to anything, but maybe that’s for the better seeing that Childe has never understood the appeal of relationships.)

It is an ASMR channel, judging by the ASMR playlist he finds as he scrolls through the account. The icon shows no face — only a microphone — which leaves him skeptical. Most of the video titles belong in a petrology lecture as well, which makes him even more convinced that it’s a joke. He finds a few readings of ancient literature and decides to pick ‘I discuss the classification of igneous petrology as you fall asleep during my lecture (PART 1) (ASMR)’ because that’s exactly what he needs. (Not the very moment — but ten hours later when he’s in the bed memorizing the pattern of his ceiling wondering why he stole from his fifth grade teacher’s candy jar during lunch.)

When Childe opens the video, he damn near gasps.

The man in the video is exactly his type. His eyes are a soft amber color, framed with long lashes, and it’s almost enough for him to lose his dignity and message Lumine a long thank you text about how she is always right and he’ll pay for her coffee for the following week.  He smiles at the screen, albeit a little sheepishly, dark hair framing his face with a long ponytail that Childe can’t see the end of. On his right ear, there are a pair of earrings with a single feather that brush against his neck when he moves his head.

Even before he speaks, Childe is mesmerized, sure he’ll already memorize his features from the curve of his nose to the way he tilts his head, displaying the expanse of his neck.

Really — he reminds him of actors in historical dramas, the way he sits regally, and how he speaks. His voice is low and slow as he adopts a careful manner of speaking, leaning into the mic.

“I’m Rex Lapis, and I’ll be discussing igneous petrology today, which is part one in a three-part petrology series. I apologize in advance, seeing that my knowledge is limited compared to many petrologists out there but my friend Venti said that many of my viewers are here for my voice, so I’m very excited to start today’s video.”

Holy shit.

For the following week, Childe learns less about petrology, the philosophy of economics, and historical revisionism concerning matters of war and more about Rex Lapis, who is not in love with his voice but often finds himself in the middle of long tangents without explanations. His favorite book series is the Legend of the Lone Sword, which he says he’ll look forward to reading out loud for the channel. (Childe replays that part of the video again and again, captivated by his excitement as he mindlessly taps the mic while he speaks, his tangent cutting off mid-word — as it usually does, much to his dismay.)

His guilty obsession is not lost on Tonia, who realizes that instead of drinking Monster every night he’s been engrossed in his phone completely, often not noticing her or when the water starts bubbling. But because his sleeping schedule has been alleviated, she says nothing until Lumine comes over as she always does, not forgetting their weekly schedule of watching trashy movies while leeching off of Childe’s food.

Because he doesn’t trust the twins with the kitchen — even if they can cook — she instead spends her time sitting next to Tonia and spreading more of her anti-Childe propaganda while they wait. This usually involves Tonia occasionally calling out Childe’s name and asking, “Is that true?” or “Did you really do that?”

This time is different though.

Worried that Lumine finally decided to show Tonia a video of last semester’s presentation, he leans over, looking at the computer screen.

And he’s wrong. Unfortunately. Maybe it should’ve been his presentation because even if he botched it and accidentally projected his work process — screaming notes and all — to the class instead of his actual presentation, it would’ve been better than the two of them watching one of Rex Lapis’ videos together.

The ‘I read Erosion: Essays of Undoing to you as it rains outside’ video, to be specific, which is where Rex Lapis is embarrassed by Venti mid video when asked if this was his idea of a date with a lover. (And then it ends with Rex Lapis asking for video suggestions from the commentors, his face still flushed from the previous comments.)

Oh God — oh fuck.

“So he is your type,” Lumine says, her expression a bit too smug for his liking. Tonia looks half awake, scrolling through articles as the video plays, more interested in ‘Top 10 Glenn Rhee Moments’ than Childe’s crush. Her expression is a bit guilty as she does so — she’s biting her lip and avoiding his gaze, but he assumes that it’s just because they went through his YouTube history.

“I can neither confirm nor deny that statement,” he retorts, but the YouTube history she pulls up once Tonia hands the computer over to her says it all. (It’s quite mortifying, really — even Tonia is giving him a look, but it’s not as bad as Lumine’s shit eating grin.)

“Well… he does have a nice voice,” Childe finally says, thinking that perfectly encompasses his most recent obsession. Because he does have a nice voice — it’s soothing and speaks to him without really speaking to him directly. (The good looks are a bonus, he assures himself. A fantastic bonus, but a bonus nonetheless.)

“He does,” Tonia confirms, smiling toothily up at him, and he resists the urge to ruffle her hair with Lumine staring at him so skeptically. “But I don’t understand much of what he’s saying. He — heh — talks like an old man.”

“Don’t worry, Tonia, your brother likes him because he’s attractive,” Lumine informs her, now fast forwarding on one of Rex Lapis’ videos. “Did you know that he lives nearby?”

“Huh?”

The knife he’s holding clatters to the floor, and the two look down and back up at him with— hold on, why does it feel like they’re in on a secret he doesn’t know about?

“Yeah, he’s working on his grad thesis I think… Aether told me it was about something on history,” she muses. “That’s why I recommended his channel to you. He’s a bit of a celebrity in his department.” Childe’s sure his jaw dropped now, trying to maintain his facial expression as he takes out a new knife to chop up the onions.

“Really,” he tries to say as calmly as possible, wondering how he should accompany Aether to his lectures without trying to seem as obvious as possible. His voice is a bit shaky he realizes but he can’t quite make the connection between Rex Lapis and actual graduate student that goes to his university.

“Yeah, actually…” Lumine is definitely pretending to think now, enjoying this far too much. “He—”

“It’s Zhongli!” his little sister yells excitedly, practically jumping up and down at this point as if she won the lottery. “Zhongli runs an ASMR channel and he talks just like that in real life! Right, Lumine?”

“Yeah.”

Childe sighs, holding a hand up to his face. The realization that he’s been obsessed with the same guy that hears about every stupid thing he did secondhand is way too much — and the fact that he’s been listening to his voice every night before he went to bed the past week is way too much. He’s sure his face is redder than before judging by the amused expressions on Lumine’s and Tonia’s faces — really, they’re mirror images of each other right now.

Not for the first time, Childe swears to himself that he’ll never let her into his apartment without signing a contract ever again.

[scienceoftheidiot]

In my move, I’m also moving all my drabbles, prompt answers and short stories with my OCs. Here’s an old one.

In case you don’t want to click on the link, the short story itself is right here under the cut. It's 3.5K long, so beware.

No prompt for this one, just Desden and Diane going out for a drink, except it doesn't go the way they expected. Some parts will be rewritten in the future, or a new part added - I have already written a part where they discuss the event at the end, and I'll share it after ;)

In case you don't want to click on the link, the story is right there under the cut. TW : sexual harassement, ableism

“And what’s this song saying, then?  “I said I understood it, didn’t say I can immediately translate all the songs that we get to hear in every bar we end up!”

Desden patted Kalinka on the head. He had not been through his first pint yet, while Diane had drunk one and a half. Music was blasting from the pub’s sound system, but most of the patrons were following a sports event on TV at the other end of the room. They were alone near the counter.

“But you said you knew this one! Also, we have only ever been to one bar and it’s this one. And I’m sure you can.” Desden straightened up, more amused than annoyed.  “Oh, of course I can! … but not just like that and with all that noise and -«

He tilted his head backwards at the roar that just came up from the back of the pub.

“Who scored ? »

“The… blue ones…? » “Well, thank you very much, but which town is it? »  “I have no idea. You should know, if you’re that into it! » “Didn’t know there was a match tonight. Also it’s rugby, yes? Not football, if it’s football we’re leaving this filthy place. »  “Gosh, you snob, yeah it’s rugby, of course it is. Two secs… okay so it’s us against… Toulon?”

Desden grinned, his face lighting up behind the dark glasses that hid a big part of it.   “Whoah, so not only are we playing tonight, but we scored then! We’re the blue ones! » “How’d you know that? »  “I know so many things, you wouldn’t believe it. We’re blue. They’re… white ? » “Oh, please! And they’re red.”

Diane tapped her bitten nails against her glass – nearly empty. The song she wanted to know about was not finished yet.

“Come on, what does the song say?”

Of course, she didn’t really care about it. She did that for the playful exasperation it prompted in Desden. They probably both knew it, judging from the more or less annoyed, crooked smile on his face. He had a dimple in his right cheek – not on the other side, for some reason. It made his smile even more asymmetrical. How come Diane had not noticed that before?

“Right now, I don’t know! why do you want me to do that? » “Cause I ask you to? Nicely? »  “You’re drunk.” He gave a high-pitched chuckle. “As if you weren’t. That was the ugliest laugh, by the way.” “And I am not singing yet. If you want to hear that you’d need to get me many other drinks. Care to do just that?” He said while tipping his now empty glass in her direction.

Diane suddenly thought about something, and sobered up a little.

“Is it okay for you to drink that much? Haven’t you told me you have balance problems? » “Oh, this is cute. Are you afraid for me? »  “Seems like I’m the only responsible adult, here, so, I ask. »

Desden straightened up and got a little more serious. “It’s okay. I’ve drank only one pint of light stuff, and I’m big. I shall be alright. Besides” he added, and the smile was back “I know you’re strong enough to carry me home. » “Shut up.” As Diane was getting up to head for the bar, a pair of hands abruptly landed on her shoulders, nailing her down to her stool.

“Hey lady? Why don’t you join us for the next round? Drink to our certain victory?” She stiffened. She had almost bit her tongue in surprise. She cast a glance at Desden, who looked lost, frowning. But even if she thought she could handle it, she couldn’t communicate it to him like that. Right now he couldn’t even know half of what was happening. Especially that that stranger had his hands on her.

She had to play it nicely. She didn’t want to make a fuss.

The guy was starting to vaguely massage her shoulders. It sent shivers of disgust down her spine. A bunch of guys near the TV screen had cheered as he talked to her and was now looking avidly. She’d have thought they would be a group of random older rugby supporters, but they were more probably students –and well dressed, at that.

So there were others. She’d have to be diplomatic. She turned to the man – roughly her age, or a little younger, maybe? – dressed fancy, him too, with thin metal rimmed glasses, and what he probably thought as a charming smile. Judging by his dapper style, he and his friends could be from one of those expensive business schools, those were in the city centre, not that far. You never saw people like that near the campus – she knew that from all the times she’d been there for a run.

She tried to smile back at him.  “No, thanks. I was having a good time with my friend here, and I’d like to go back to that. You don’t need me to cheer for the team, eh? You got your mates for that. Have a good evening. Bye. » “No need to be rude, girl. Just thought you’d be happy we save you from doing your charity thing here, that all.”

From the corner of her eye, she could see Desden lick his lips, and red slowly rise to his cheeks and ears.  “I was not rude. You are starting to be. Please leave us alone.” Her sudden mean look probably worked, because the man finally let go of her shoulders, and walked away with his hands out, in a “I didn’t do anything wrong” gesture.  She let out a big, if a little shaky, sigh. Desden spoke in a tiny voice. “I am sorry. We shouldn’t have come here. We should go home.” He was already getting up – and probably felt dizzy doing so, as she saw him suddenly grappling the table. She chose not to say anything about it. “Why, did you know there were going to be assholes in this place? » “No, it’s a nice place, it never happened before, but – »  “Then I say we get another drink and leave when we want the fuck to and not before. »

Desden hesitated. He was still half standing, but loosened his hold on the table. “I am not looking forward to more interaction with this type of people. I may sound like a coward, but I am always afraid they could go further. » “And what? »  “Please.” He shook his head and made a face. “Don’t let me say it out loud. » “He won’t do anything. Don’t worry. » “I’ll worry if I want to. Just… please, try to understand.” He was visibly upset. “I don’t mind being called names and such. I don’t care. There’s just nothing to do but let them talk. I just don’t want to get in trouble and I especially don’t want you in trouble either.”

She didn’t know what to say. He didn’t go on any further and motioned towards his ever faithful backpack. Kalinka immediately got up. Diane noticed just now that the bright red colour of the backpack definitely clashed with the plain, if nice, clothes he wore from work. But was the same colour as his shoes. Bright red chucks.  She was going to make a lame joke about it, to try and lighten the atmosphere, when the whole group of guys that had been cheering in front of the TV came back towards the bar and them. The game was over. Despite the points they’d scored earlier, they’d lost. She locked her eyes on her beer, avoiding the men’s stare. Desden himself had sat back. She didn’t know how he could have told, but there were probably too many people around at the same time for his taste.

The man with the glasses stopped by their table again. Too close from her, his back towards Desden. “See, girl, we lost. Should have come with us instead of staying here babysitting. We’d have won.” Diane didn’t want to be diplomatic anymore. She wanted this guy to eat his words.  “Just get lost already. Leave us alone! » “Oh, yes, or what? Your boyfriend’s gonna kick my ass? Send his dog? »  “Yeah, Damien, eh!” Another one was standing next to Desden; he looked quite drunk – and quite tiny next to him. “So, what happens if I do this?” He waved his hand in front of Desden’s face; in doing so, his sleeve brushed Desden’s shoulder, who jerked away as far as he could while keeping his hold on the table. He was as red as his backpack and was biting his lips furiously. They had to leave. “Look, he moved! Eh, wait, is he mute, too, or what?”

Diane didn’t give them a look, leaned over the table and pressed Desden’s hand. “You were right. Let’s go.” He just nodded in answer. They both got up, and she led the way, Desden and Kalinka right behind her, feigning to ignore the sneering men around, bumping into them when they wouldn’t move. They managed to get to the counter.  Desden mumbled. “I’ll pay.” She did not argue.

“Yeah bring him home, tuck him into bed. How much does he pay you, really? Do you sleep with him, too? Is it part of the contract?” Desden felt Diane stop. Like this was one comment too many. They were in the street, now, and he would have thought the men wouldn’t have followed, that they would have stayed inside and carried on with their drinking, forgetting about them as soon as they left. But they apparently weren’t drunk enough for that.  He tried to talk to Diane. “Come on, let’s just leave. It’s okay. Let’s go now.” He had found her sleeve, and was tugging at it. But she wouldn’t move. The guy was still talking – more or less saying the same things on repeat, nothing really inventive.

This type of person was not something he’d encounter often, but he already had. There was nothing else to do than retreat to another place. Most probably home because he was beginning to feel tipsy and that wasn’t good.

“Diane, let’s go. Please.” It had no effect on her. He let go of her arm; he actually was ready to leave without her, that is, if he hadn’t feared for her. She moved away from him, not speaking; he had no idea whatever was going on, or through her mind, at this moment. Frustration and fear were getting on his nerves. Again.

Until he heard, more or less at the same time, the guy suddenly shut up, and a perfectly audible, painful crunch. And then tables or chairs collapsing.

Diane shook her hand, trying to relieve the pain of the punch, and walked towards the man she had just broken the nose of – but surprisingly, not the glasses. She looked down at him from all her height – not much, and he was still half lying on one of the fallen tables – and said in a low, growling voice she didn’t even recognize herself :  “One : I am boxing since I am seven. Also, I grew up with three sisters, it teaches you. Two : you are an arsehole. Three : he is not my boyfriend, but if he was, I’d probably be a lucky girl. He is much more of a man than you’ve probably ever been. You are filth. Go home, arsehole, you’re drunk.”

“You are ALL fucking going home. You’ve ruined my terrasse, bloody tossers!” The barman – where had he been all this time? –  put his hand on Desden’s shoulder. “You okay, mate? Need a lift? I been late on this, but I’m not a cunt.”

Diane was shaken. The guys were all silent, shocked, too. Sobered up, hopefully. She was. She deliberately turned away from them to walk by Desden.

He was white as a sheet. How had he turned so suddenly from totally red to white was a mystery. He took his glasses off – the first time Diane had ever seen him do so – keeping his eyes closed, he rubbed his face with the back of his hand. He started slowly: “No I think I’ll be okay… I have…” He stopped, then bursted out, something between a genuine and a hysterical laughter. “I think I have a bodyguard!”

“You’re all fucking drunk. Piss off, all of you, or I call the cops. » “You should call the cops! Look what she did! She broke his fucking nose, man! “Yeah, well. Want me to call the cops, I’ll call the cops. Then you’ll have to explain to them why you were harassing a woman and a blind man. Good luck. I was going to throw you out, well, I couldn’t predict she would react like that. Too fast for me. Now fuck off. And I’m keeping an eye on you boys. You ain’t following those two. In fact you’re going to stay there for a while. Now,” He turned towards Desden and Diane, who were already leaving, “you two, piss off.”

Here they were, walking in the middle of a deserted street – it wasn’t that late, but it was a week day. Desden had finally calmed down, but still had random bouts of giggling. Diane felt torn between the same kind of maniacal laughter and the need to throw up. Not because she was drunk.

It took a long time before Desden spoke.  “This was -«  “Terrible. »  “Epic. I have never had anyone fighting for me before! » Desden smiled a broad smile.  “What? I didn’t fight for you.”

Diane was still angry. She had to calm down. “And you make it sound like it was a noble fight or whatever. I just punched him.” She hoped he couldn’t hear the trembling in her voice, but he probably could. “I just grew sick of him and I had too much to drink. Sorry. This guy, he… He fucking touched me. Twice. The first time he put his hands on my shoulders, and then he ostensibly grabbed my… It’s… it’s disgusting. And he kept being fucking rude to you. Like you weren’t even there. “I am sorry. Really.” He couldn’t help but chuckling again: “And I know. I actually was there.”   “Do you really find this funny or is it the alcohol, or adrenaline showing?  “Probably all of this. Sorry. » Desden let his head down and stopped talking.          They walked silently again for a few minutes. Diane envied the ignorant calm of Kalinka, who was just there doing her job, and had apparently already forgotten the tension of a few minutes ago. She could see the top of the footbridge. Arrived there, they would part ways – Desden lived nearby on the other side, and wasn’t really into people walking him home, as she understood. Right now he had his hand on her arm, but he could probably manage. He wasn’t really drunk and knew those streets like the back of his hand. She still felt bad about the idea of letting him go alone, though, after what happened. Or maybe it was her who needed someone to walk her home. And probably stay with her. They had reached the footbridge, drenched in a harsh orange light. Diane felt an urge to look over the railing, to have a look at the river at night, to see if the furious rambling she could hear translated into something that resembled what she felt. The river was pitch-black. Not even the slightest, orange-y bit of foam. She sighed. “You okay? I mean, seriously.  “Yeah, allright.  “Well, you definitely don’t sound okay.  “I am, though.  “Mmh-mhh.”         Desden didn’t look nor sound convinced. He had stopped next to her, and was taking his cane out of his backpack – a sign that he felt at least a little drunk, as he could walk the road back to his home following only his dog, usually. She had seen him do it countless times. She wanted to stay with him. Not to protect him, not to make sure he made it home safely. Because she was not sure of making it home safe herself. Because she felt like going back to her empty flat would make her scream.  Because she felt she needed to be held and told she had not done a terrible stupid thing, and that she wanted the arms holding her to be his.  “You don’t want company, walking home? You do sound pretty shaken.  “Desden, you’re the one always claiming you’re not made of glass. Am I the one who is, then?  “Well, obviously not… Okay, okay, it’s just that I don’t like to leave a friend alone like that.  “Are we going to accompany each other back home until the end of the night, then?  “No need to be all witty, eh. Sorry. I’ll go. Just… take care, ok? And don’t think about this too much. It’s nothing. He deserved it. If he gets it taken care of right away, there will be nothing to see in a few weeks.  “Would you have punched him, if you could?  “I don’t know. I… don’t think so. Never been a fighter. I’m a coward, really. Always been. “Do you… do you think he’s going to file a complaint against me?  “He doesn’t have your name, right? The only thing he has that could help find you is me.”         None of them moved, nor talked. It seemed they didn’t know how to leave. She was reluctantly stepping away when he spoke again. Desden had apparently been thinking, because he suddenly said, as if continuing their previous conversation: “And that little speech you gave? It was great. Especially that part about me not being your boyfriend, but –  “Wait, you heard that?  “Well, I have good ears, but I’m pretty sure the whole pub heard it, Diane.  “Shit. It was… anger talking. I hate this type of people. When I’m angry I just ramble, it’s nothing, sorry. “Really? So you don’t actually think what you said?” Was it her or did his hand on her arm, he had put it back there somehow,

tightened a little?  “What, about you being a better man? Of course, what, yes I do!”  “No.” He took a step closer to her. She could feel the warmth in his breath, now. His hand was definitely holding her arm tighter. The crooked smile had returned, but he was not giggling anymore. “About the fact that you’d be lucky if I was your boyfriend.” She didn’t know what to answer. Because she didn’t know what she actually thought about it. Yeah, it was probably true, but… He let go of Kalinka’s leash and brought his hand up, apparently hesitating. Then he smiled again, and felt for the side of her face, lightly resting his hand on her cheek. “Can I?”  “Uh, yeah?” He was going to touch her face. That was what blind people did, right? Like, in film. It felt awkward, them being – admittedly alone – doing that in the middle of the street.  On the other hand, while she had been disgusted by the touch of that man in the pub, she could feel blood pounding in her ears right now…  But Desden just quickly trailed the line of her chin, stroked her lips with his thumb, bent over and kissed her. A very sweet kiss. A very unexpected one, too. He could probably feel she was surprised by her slight recoil – he had a step back, too.  “That… you didn’t actually say yes for that, right?” Red was back on his cheeks, and he looked confused, head tilted on the side. She had never noticed how much of an open book he was. You could read everything on his face, and she couldn’t even see his eyes. He was obviously as embarrassed as she was. “Miscommunication? “Yeah, I… sorry.  “No, no, I’m the one who’s sorry.” He let go of her arm. “Sorry, I thought… Alright, I’m probably still drunk. I should go.”         She should have let him go, called it a day and went home too. That was the right thing to do. This was definitely not the time to do anything else. She caught his arm – remembering too late that he hated that, let go of it and just hugged him. The top of her head didn’t even brush his chin.  Desden took his time to close his arms around her, and did it very slowly, as if she was a small animal anything could frighten into flight. He sighed.  “If we’re going this road you probably should talk a little more, alright? Or miscommunication will happen.”  He could feel her answer as much as he heard it, as she kept her face pressed against his chest. “Okay. “We still… friends, then?” He felt pained to have to say so, but he’d rather state it and keep her close than have her run away because he was dumb. He’d been definitely dumb to think she was anything else than a friend. It was good. He didn’t have many. “No more of this. Friends. All right?” He felt her head move against him. Just to hold her was good enough.  “All right.”

Taglist : @heirsoflilith @hughstheforcelou @shutterbug-12 @omg-okimhere @foxesandmagic

[lemonietrinket]

Coward ||| Chan & Reader

Summary: you and your best friend that have been conjoined at the hip since you were little got into an argument 3 weeks prior, and you can do little to escape it Genres: Angst, but a happy ending with fluff Warnings: consequences of and therefore inferences to a big argument (actual events left vague), one explicit insult, poor language (2x f**k) Word Count: 2,099 Theme: Not a song, but this edit inspired the fic AN: guess how long I’ve had this here in my drafts? September 9, 2019. finally got round to writing it, even though I knew exactly what would happen this is my brain’s bs I don’t write angst super often so, I hope you enjoy!

High school/non-idol AU

~~~

With a sigh you let your chin fall onto your arms. You stared at your own muffled reflection in the glass as you sat on the windowsill, brain in a haze. The cicadas were chirping away below your hunched body, their chorus at its opening hook, and they would continue long through the night—much like the chaos next door.

You supposed, through the thicket of your thoughts, that you should be grateful that the swathes of bodies were just chatting loudly to themselves, instead of screeching to some awful trap beat like they’d been doing the week before. The speakers were playing full blast however, and it didn’t help a single bit that it was one of your favourite songs.  In fact, that was part of the reason why you felt so heavy.

Had things been normal, you would have been there, dancing and smiling and joking with anyone who would listen. But you weren’t.

He hadn’t invited you. Your best friend. Didn’t invite you—his best friend—to his birthday party. Over something so petty too.

You could barely recall the intricacies of the argument. All you could remember was his terse scowl, his soft eyes going from sweet to sour in a second, and the words that cracked like a whip and branded you. Your best friend was so gentle, with a heart of gold—you had seen him at his worst once before, what you’d thought was his worst, and even then you couldn’t imagine he could even contain the spite that then flew from his lips. Even if there had been warning for what could come, nothing further still could have prepared you for it.

He’d become a sort of cold vicious, insults thrown carelessly that then cut deep as if they’d been heated in a bare flame. “How can you be such a fucking coward, Y/N?” had been the one that had twisted as it was pulled out. It still snuck up on you, pounced when you thought you’d calmed down, and then left you reeling in unsettled hurt all over again. 

It never made you cry though. Not during the day. As night crept over the horizon however, it was a different story, and the cicadas’ call became a tepid siren.

You let the warm night air hold you, as if it would work as a suitable replacement, though you knew it would never come close. Breathing in the night air, you sank deeper into the arms of your jumper. It smelt of comfort, of home, of happiness, and the loose hairs there tickled your nose. It was as if your reactions were on a set delay, as it took you several seconds to realise that it was dog hair that was on your sleeves, and that scent was from the person that had taken the comfort away from you. 

‘He doesn’t want you anymore,’ you had to remind yourself, ‘you shouldn’t spare a thought on him.’

But there you were, moping nevertheless, your thoughts practically consumed by him. You couldn’t blame yourself entirely for it, because even as soon as you tried to lift your head away from the memories embroidered in your sleeves, you were still hit by the realisation that you were sat by your bedroom window—the very one that he’d clambered through unprompted years before. He’d been so desperate to escape being forced to tolerate his uncle’s ramblings about roadworks and his pitch to him to get him to come and work at his business instead of music. “Silly songwriting,” had been what his uncle had referred to it as, and your best friend always got a kick out of impersonating the man’s wily poshness. 

You used to chuckle every time your brain procured the memory randomly for you. Now, it just stung.

He’d always wanted to do music, and he refused to give in no matter what anyone told him. His parents had always been supportive, and you figured that was partly why he was so determined with it, though the sentiment wasn’t shared with his extended relatives that often visited. You’d always thought he was brave for standing up to them, it was something that you’d always wanted to do to your own for other reasons, but never found the words to.

You caught yourself in the loop, shaking your head miserably at yourself and the situation before you. How were you supposed to move on when everything around you seeped with him? The caps you shared were slung on the bedposts, the mess of homework scattered upon your desk, the guitar in the corner easing gradually out of tune. Even the night itself was his time. How were you supposed to hide away from the night when you’d spent pretty much every other one before with him.

The ember heat of anger rose in your throat, your thoughts spiking at the distaste of how no one seemed to take the jagged loss of a best friend seriously, at least to enough to help you. The heat grew wilder then; it was never directed at him.

With the sun set below the horizon you felt your lower lip quiver and you loathed its tenderness. You’d watched the sunset with him so many times, you could conjure the exact shades of gold and crimson in your head, it was just a hindrance that you couldn’t paint it without his messy dark curls in the corner.

A knock came from the front door, ad you found yourself counting its beats. Three, no sharps, just drawled pauses in between. You immediately questioned yourself on as to why it mattered. But you knew exactly why. Wishing one of your parents was home to go and answer it would not fix the problem no matter how much you yearned it to, and so you convinced yourself to trundle down the stairs to see who it was. It was probably only a delivery guy after all. Hopefully they wouldn’t try and talk to you unnecessarily.

Biting the inside of your cheek and settling your shaking lips into a firm scowl you swung open the door with a warning glare already in your eye.

To your surprise, it was no person holding a stack of pizza or a parcel of any kind, just a boy you knew too well, with his fallen-tipped eyes all downtrodden.

“Chan, what the fuck are you doing here?” you snapped, your hand itching to slam the door straight back in his face. The only thing that stopped you was his bitten lips. You hated how you knew him so well and that it left you vulnerable.

He drew a smile upon his face, but it was too tight-lipped to be convincing. You wondered if he thought you a fool to try and lie, but still you left the door open. “Too many people,” he finally managed, one fist curling in the cradle of the other’s palm.

“It’s your party!” you snarled, your heart’s leniency not transferring across to your words. You watched his lips hammer shut as his sad eyes glanced away, explanations or excuses—how were you to tell—pooling behind his barricade. You let him stew, the vengeful spirit seeking some joy in his utter discomfort and you didn’t have it in you to hold it back quite yet. The weeks he’d left you in turmoil etched across your mind, the insecurities he’d played on that he couldn’t use the ignorance-card for in the slightest too. You weren’t ready to forgive him, but you couldn’t bring yourself to tag a ‘never’ no matter how much you tried. 

His response broke through the blockade of his silence. “I realised that I messed up Y/N, and it’s not my party if you’re not there and,” his gaze came back to yours and you indulged him, meeting his eyes and how they glistened, “and I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

The vengeful sprite vanished from your shoulder, and you were left without a clue as to what to do. You wanted to forgive him, and he seemed genuine. He’d never pulled a stunt like this before, and you’d known him ever since you were little. But neither could you put his words to bed, and the actions that followed. You’d been to every single one of his birthday parties, you’d been such a staple to him that this wasn’t actually the first time you strictly speaking hadn’t been invited—because there was no way you wouldn’t have been at his side to begin with.  But this was a first, and it hurt. 

You took in the sight of the boy that you’d refused to even look at for the past three weeks. He looked exactly how you’d left him, only emptier. His shadow grew in the flitting light of the dying day sky, much like the ones beneath his eyes had already done. He was closed in on himself, the subtle confidence he always oozed nowhere to be found. You couldn’t picture his high tone catching laughter tumbling from his lips like this. Neither could you hear those sharp edged words on them.

“I’m sorry, Y/N, I didn’t mean it, it all just happened and... and this doesn’t fix it—I made you cry, and I hate that I did! It... it’s my responsibility. I accept that it’s my fault, and I’m sorry, I really am—”

You stepped from your doorway and took him into your arms. Three weeks was too long of a time to be from them after all, and you couldn’t stand the way the tears threatened to spill over both your eyes and his. 

He held onto you as soon as you fit against him as perfectly as you always did, hands clutching at your jumper while he nestled his head into your hair. Your tears dampened the collar of his sweater as you sighed, a staggered breath that only just pulled you back from crying entirely. You focused on him, just like you had done before, only this time it was less painful. You realised he smelt different than before, and it soon occurred to you that it was your scent that was missing. It surprised you to discover just how much of your perfume ended up all over him. It wasn’t like you were super affectionate and cuddly friends either. Your lips twitched into a smile without a single thought discarded.

The two of you stayed like that for a while, swaying before your wide open door as Chan slowly regained his stability. All the midges were probably fleeing inside but this once you didn’t mind. You had your comfort back, and even though things weren’t perfect, you could begin to move forward as things should.

“You better make it up to me,” you ordered, a feeble laugh filtering through. 

He sniffed and its stunned you just how close to crying he’d been. “I know, I will, I promise.”

Rubbing his back soothingly, you eased him into swinging gently with the song. It earnt you a warbled laugh, but it meant his usual self was returning. “Do you want to play Mario Kart and see how long it takes for someone to notice?”

You pulled away gently hearing him chuckle awkwardly. Peering up you saw his pink tinged cheeks and wet eyes that he half-covered-half-wiped with his hand. He was the same old Chan you’d known for years after all. “Sounds perfect!” You smiled, helping him wipe his tears with the side of your finger which caused him to sheepishly smile and repeat ‘I’m ok, I’m ok...!’ 

Unsure how to handle the next part, you ended up leading him inside his second home with an awkward shimmy of your arms. It was meant to be a dance move, but it didn’t look much like one and it barely fit the theme of the song pummelling across the air. It didn’t matter to you though, it was really a test of the waters, and fortunately: it worked.

Your restored best friend giggled shyly as he followed, steadying his breath as he watched you shuffle through your front door. He would make all his words up to you, he vowed he would. They’d all been misplaced, all been resentments with himself that he’d sprung weakly on the first other he found, and of course that was going to be you. He was going to make it right, never let you down, help you with whatever you asked—no excuses—and maybe let you win a few times at Mario Kart. And maybe one day he would finally work up the courage to tell you the truth.

~~~

AN: i wrote a thing! go brain!

[edited: may 31]

Masterlist

[polaristranslations]

Shinobu Mustard Episode 2

011

"You aren't hiding something from me, are you?"

A little girl with golden hair and golden eyes.

The mere shadow of a vampire, or perhaps the dregs of a vampire—in the past, she'd been feared as the iron-blooded, hot-blooded, cold-blooded vampire, the king of oddities, a monster among monsters that lived for nearly six hundred years, by the name of Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade. But her current, completely changed form was now that of Oshino Shinobu, and that was the question she posed in Koyomi's room in the Araragi house.

"Oi, oi, what are you saying all of a sudden, Shinobu-chan? If you're going to doubt me like that, then our relationship of mutual dependence would be over."

"As if! We're in too deep. As you can see, I'm bound to your shadow as if I've been nailed to it, tightly and firmly."

"Now, now. Look, Shinobu-chan. It's the donuts that you love so much, see? It's the Golden Chocolate, see?"

"That makes you even more suspicious, my master. Don't speak with such a wheedling voice. There's clearly something you're trying to gloss over."

She was sharp. Like a fang.

During spring break when I was seventeen years old, the legendary vampire, who had bitten down upon the nape of my neck and enslaved me, had been bitten back by me and enslaved in return—she had become the legendary slave.

However, despite saying stuff like "my master", she did not seem to want to follow my orders at all. This slave was not at all convinced by my well-reasoned and impeccable attitude, but rather seemed to have deepened her doubts.

Shit, Gaen-san sure was asking a lot from me.

Hiding something from Shinobu was harder than hiding something from my parents—she and I had an inseparable bond, with two hearts beating as one.

If anything, it might have been easier to run in headfirst into dazzling battles against vampires, just like my spring break at seventeen, but with a pacifist specialist and moderate strategist at the helm, it didn't seem like we could take the simple approach.

I had to hold Shinobu back until the sun rose again.

I didn't know why I had to do such a thing—I'd asked her during the daytime, "What should we tell Shinobu about this case?" And the answer that Gaen-san came up with while she slept was not to ask for her cooperation, but rather the strategy of keeping her at a distance.

She was totally just being excluded!

Even though we weren't on the topic of the girls' basketball club, it seemed that bullying was still a thing even among evil spirits... Haah, poor thing.

"Don't look at me with such a pitying gaze. Don't send your feelings of pity at me! What in the world happened during the day? Who did you meet?"

"Oi, oi, Shinobu. Do you really think I would do something like going around and seeing other people?"

"I do. You should at least go out and see people!"

"Now, now. Look, it's the Half & Half from Mister Donut."

"Even if you try to sidestep the matter with something like that... Eh? Half of it is a Pon de Ring, and the other half is an Old Fashioned? It's like a donut from my dreams! Panaino!"

With a sidelong glance at Shinobu who began chewing, I measured the time remaining until sunrise—right now, it was 10 pm, so there was still about 7 hours.

I wondered if I could make it.

Ultimately, since Shinobu was bound to my shadow, it was possible to keep her confined as long as I stubbornly stayed put, but it didn't feel right to force her to just stand by.

Even if it was a request from Gaen-san, who I was much obliged to, I didn't want to do anything that could create a crack in my relationship with Shinobu from here on out.

Since we were in so deep, that was something I wanted to continue.

"That's right, Shinobu. There's something about that deeply memorable spring break that I've always wanted to ask about."

"If it's something you've been wanting to ask for a year and a half, why did you not ask it sooner...?"

Shinobu knit her eyebrows in confusion, but it wasn't like I could tell her that it was a question I had just thought up for the sake of stalling for time.

"During that spring break, you sucked out my blood and turned me into an immortal vampire. You remember, right? With you on the verge of death, I said something like, 'Dying like this suits me pretty well, so this isn't so bad,' and chuckled nihilistically before offering up the nape of my neck..."

"Is something wrong with your memory? Did you use it all up studying for exams?"

The truth was that I was crying when it happened.

But, putting aside whether I was laughing or crying, at that point, I'd turned into a vampire... That was what had happened, but I'd learned from Gaen-san at the hospital that there'd been plenty of potential for that to have failed.

It was actually more likely for the creation of a vampire's thrall to fail, she'd said—and with three mummified high school girls having been verified, it was a fact that I fully understood, to the point that it sent chills down my spine.

And in that case, what I'd suddenly become curious about was...

"What would have happened if, at that time, my vampire transformation had failed? In the first place, what meaning does a failure hold to the vampire master?"

"Ka ka. So the time has finally come to speak of that, then."

Including the Half & Half, Shinobu had made short work of the donuts I'd prepared, and assumed quite the haughty attitude—I mean, it wasn't like I was trying to touch upon such a grandiose secret.

"You sure have grown, my master. Not that you'd actually grow, considering you're immortal!"

"Don't just retort to your own joke. And let me grow! I'm not immortal anymore, anyway. Besides, what kind of growth have you shown in the past year?"

Rather than growth, it was more like regression.

Well, going from a beautiful lady to a cute little girl was a genuine regression... But anyway, this question was made for a reason beyond just stalling for time.

If my vampire transformation had failed at the time.

Would I have become a mummy? And, before she was called Oshino Shinobu, would Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade have been able to survive?

For vampires, the act of sucking blood is like nutrients, but if a vampire were to fail at transforming their target into a vampire, would they simultaneously fail in gaining those nutrients?

During that spring break, the king of oddities had certainly said this.

One whose blood is sucked by a vampire is turned into a vampire, without exception—there was no discretion, it was just a matter of eating it all up or leaving some behind.

In other words, in order to prevent the unnecessarily proliferation of thralls, they couldn't leave any behind—would that just be indigestion?

In the end, were the high school girl mummies successes or failures—as the creator, were they failed products unworthy of signatures? It was hard to figure out.

Right now, the vampire that Gaen-san was chasing. With what purpose—or perhaps, with what motive—were they going after the Naoetsu High girls' basketball team members? If we could figure that out, it would help establish a point of reference.

Even if it was temporary, I wanted an additional line.

If the motive was just an appetite for the sake of gaining nutrients, then it didn't make sense for them to leave anything behind, even if it was just a skin-and-bones mummy. But if they were trying to increase the number of their thralls, then it was a series of failures that was rather disgraceful—what exactly was this vampire trying to do?

"To get straight to the point, if you had failed to become my thrall, my slave, then you would have turned into a zombie incapable of any thought. You remember, don't you? That day, when we visited a different timeline and saw a bunch of living corpses."

"Ah—yeah, we did."

I see.

For those cases, the image I had of those immortal creatures was like a humid, rotten lump of flesh that was sticky and squishy, so I hadn't connected them to these mummies in my mind, but now that she'd mentioned it, I had already known about the precedent.

It was surprising how such an intense and memorable experience could be overlooked when looking at it from a different angle—then, going off of the assumption that losing the ability to think and losing consciousness were similar, then those examples of failures... In that timeline, the "Oshino Shinobu from another route" was in a kind of despair, and had no purpose or motive.

Could this vampire also be in despair? A case of binge eating out of despair... Far from stoic forward-thinking or a smart sense of purpose, it could be a rampage of complete desperation.

Well, I didn't know that many vampires to hypothesize a pattern... Like the number of friends I had in high school, I could count them on one hand.

And, as for the span of time I spent as a vampire (though it felt like an eternity to me), it had only lasted a mere two weeks, so I couldn't be counted in that. So first, the iron-blooded, hot-blooded, cold-blooded vampire, Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade.

Then, there was the giant professional, Dramaturgy, who came to Japan as a vampire hunter of his own kind, in pursuit of the king of oddities... And yet another vampire hunter, the white-uniformed professional, Episode—well, strictly speaking he was just a half-vampire, but it was fine to include dhampirs in the count.

And finally, Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade's first thrall—Shishirui Seishirou...

Four people. Well, they weren't exactly people, so I guess I should say four vampires? In any case, the sample size was a bit too small for me to use as a reference in analyzing the state of this vampire... Well, for a normal human, one encounter with a vampire in a lifetime would be more than enough, but with four vampires (five if you include this one) in a little over a year—Araragi Koyomi's vampire life is truly bountiful, wouldn't you say?

Although all of them were linked to Shinobu—Hm... Well, hold on.

Hold on hold on hold on hold on.

That's right, that was certainly a glaring oversight...

If we were talking about links to Shinobu, then while I had never come in direct contact, I was certainly aware of the existence of yet another vampire.

Though I'd never met them.

I knew.

Though I'd overlooked it.

Without exaggerating—I can say that, if it weren't for that vampire, I wouldn't be where I am today. Because.

"Shinobu. Speaking of which, you've never told me about the vampire that turned you into a vampire—the vampire that's essentially my origin."

"Ka ka. So the time has finally come to speak of that, then."

Shinobu repeated the same line as before, revealing the narrow range of lines that she could think of. And then,

"So the time has come to speak of the death-prepared, death-inevitable, death-certain vampire—the one who birthed me and the one who gave me my name, Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicidemaster," she said.

What did she just say?

012

Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicidemaster.

Surprisingly enough, it wasn't the first time I had heard the name—or rather, it was a name that I'd just heard that day.

"D/V/S".

Somehow.

With that, I understood everything. No, not everything, but almost everything. That was why Gaen-san had ordered me to contain Shinobu for the night. It had felt like the kind of job that didn't make sense, that I wasn't really sure if it was a job or not—and if I may say so, a rather unrewarding role for how tiresome it was—but that wasn't it at all.

There was no mission that was more important than this.

In the first place, it was because Shinobu had gotten in the way when it came to the resurrection of her first thrall, Shishirui Seishirou, whom she'd once been separated from by life and death, that Gaen-san was forced to make a difficult decision on whether or not to request her cooperation for this case—and even then, this time it was no longer her thrall, but her former master.

Not in the way that she called me "my master" half as a joke and half for fun, but a true "master" in every sense of the word.

It might not stop at just getting in the way—in the worst-case scenario, Oshino Shinobu, who was supposed to be certified as harmless, might end up actively joining the other side. If this little girl, broken down to the point that she'd be in a good mood just from eating donuts, were to once again become the bloodsucking legendary vampire...

A return to the dark side.

Well, because she was such a legend herself, of course there was no way that Gaen-san, the administrator of specialists wouldn't know the name of the vampire that was the source of that legend—the onee-san that knew everything.

Therefore, as soon as the solution to the code was revealed to be "D/V/S", she immediately had a hunch that they were initials.

This completely ordinary town may have had oddity stories occur one after another, but that was when there was no god presiding over it—and now, why was it that yet another vampire would appear so soon, as if mocking the peace that we had laboriously established here? I'd thought it was weird—I'd thought that it could only be an oddity story because it was weird—but if there was a reason like that, then it would explain the drastic change.

If the vampire named Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicidemaster had come to visit her former thrall, Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade—just like Shishirui Seishirou, who had approached Shinobu to recover the Demon Blade "Kokorowatari".

Well, originally, his case had the implication of him returning to his hometown...

"Hm? What's the matter? Were you frightened? Did you get too scared to ask about what kind of a nightwalker would give birth to a strong, beautiful, yet fragile vampire like me? Ka ka, quite understandable. The story about the lord of a castle of corpses is so repulsive, it can chill your blood. Even I'm trembling with fear right here."

Shinobu, deliberately making a gesture as if to give herself goosebumps, seemed to be somewhat proud of herself—this was a kind of excitement I didn't see often, despite my close relationship with her.

Was it because she was talking about someone even closer to her, with an even deeper relationship? I felt the way I did when I watched Kanbaru and Higasa-chan play around earlier.

It felt similar to when I saw a junior that I was close with speak even more candidly with a friend that she was even closer with—it would be a lie if I said that I didn't want to accuse Higasa-chan of being overly familiar with Kanbaru, despite her being such a capable junior that would actually treat me like a senior in this day and age. Though it was a little different from jealousy.

Thinking about it now, as equivalent thralls, I had definitely felt something close to jealousy when I faced off against Shishirui Seishirou—that had gotten me worked up, and it had also caused trouble for Gaen-san.

Back then, I had gotten in the way almost as much as Shinobu had—however, if it came to her vampire master, then they wouldn't be someone to be jealous of.

That would be like being jealous of your girlfriend's dad... If anything, I would even like to hear some of Shinobu's stories from when she was human, and the fact that Shinobu had something she could speak proudly of would make me happy as well—if it only weren't for the current situation.

If the main character of the oddity story that Shinobu was telling me about so happily was using their poisonous fangs—their demonic fangs—to bite into the female students of Naoetsu High one after another, it would be hard to just listen to her with a smile.

"Well, I'd even forgotten that I used to be a human until I got into this mess with you last year—I haven't seen Suicidemaster in almost 600 years. Ka ka, she was a genuine vampire who lived quite the reckless lifestyle, so I'm sure she's rotting away somewhere by now."

"...Hey. Shinobu. When you say 'reckless lifestyle', what do you mean by that specifically?"

I asked timidly.

Of course, it wasn't that I was afraid of the ghost story—what I was afraid of was facing the truth. Calm down—it was possible that everything was just me jumping to conclusions.

It was something that happened quite often, me jumping to conclusions.

"Indeed. Unlike me, who eats everything no matter if it's an oddity or not, Suicidemaster was quite the gourmet. Once she'd decided upon her menu, she would stubbornly refuse to eat any other food."

Oho.

So basically, if she decided that she would only suck the blood of female students belonging to a certain club in a certain high school, she wouldn't even give other humans the time of day?

"In fact, at the time, Suicidemaster had almost starved to death when she decided to suck my blood while I was still human. Well, I'm the one who let her suck my blood out of pity. Nihilistically saying, 'Dying like this suits me pretty well, so this isn't so bad'..."

"You're saying the same thing I did."

"You can't fight your blood."

I wonder about that. If this continued, then it wouldn't end at just fighting—it could very well turn into a bloodbath... It was in order to avoid this that Gaen-san diverted her policy and took on the formation that had me mark Shinobu...

But, in that case, I would rather not have known that fact... I should have been a college student that didn't know anything, just as the onee-san that knew everything had arranged me to be.

Sure enough, Shinobu, who had been chattering away in a lively manner up until now, suddenly came to her senses.

"...Huh? Why was I talking about Suicidemaster at this point, all of a sudden?"

She tilted her head to the side—oh, crap.

"If I recall correctly, this originated from the question that you asked..."

"Good grief. Not slipping when asked, not slipping when talking, and yet slipping when asked again—I'm always so paradoxical, aren't I?"

"No, I think you just normally let it slip when asked."

Umm.

I'd already run out of the donuts from Mister Donut that I could have used in a pinch—whether he knew everything or knew nothing, now that he had become a college student, Araragi Koyomi could no longer use the method of a kiss to tide things over, like the Italians did. Not that it was any more justifiable as a high school student.

There was still plenty of time remaining until dawn, but just as I'd been backed into a corner, salvation descended upon me.

I heard a quick knock on the door to my room.

"Yes, yes, I'm opening it no~ow. Could it be Karen? Or maybe Tsukihi? Or maybe news that my child was born?"

"What if you opened the door like that and it was your mother?"

"If the news was that my sister had become a mother, how could I not congratulate her? Welcome, I'd say. Or perhaps, happy birthday."

However, when I opened the door, the hallway was empty.

"Over here, oni onii-chan."

A young girl appeared at the window.

"Happy birthday."

013

Ononoki Yotsugi-chan. An immortal falsely similar to a vampire, a doll girl and a corpse doll (this had nothing to do with what we were talking about earlier, but her existence was close to that of a zombie—a physical oddity similar to Frankenstein's monster), and shikigami of Kagenui Yozuru-san, the specialist traveling from a great distance away to return to Japan. And right now, in Tsukihi's room in the Araragi house, she was freeloading as a stuffed doll.

She had taken up the role of a nearby overseer that was monitoring Shinobu and me closely to ascertain whether our certification as harmless was really appropriate, but at the present moment, the young shikigami girl was, to me, a goddess of salvation.

"Wow, if it isn't Ononoki-chan! You came at just the right time. Now, don't hold back. Come and sit down right on my lap. My lap will be your child seat."

"My master, before you say such creepy things, at least retort to the doll girl's sketch comedy technique of knocking on the door yet coming in through the window."

"Please make yourself at home, Lord Ononoki."

"Is she a noble?"

Shinobu looked at me with even more suspicion, but it seemed that she had to lay aside those doubts in order to deal with her natural enemy that had flanked her—so far so good.

Call me creepy or even a degenerate, but anyway, I'd planned on plunging headfirst into bantering about a child seat with a little girl and a young girl as a vivid reminder of my high school days, but...

"Fortunately for me, I'm not so free that I can spend time lounging around on your lap, oni onii-chan," said Ononoki-chan, expressionless and indifferent.

No, this girl (and though I said "girl", she was the tsukumogami of a corpse that had been used for a hundred years) was always expressionless.

Because she's a corpse.

"Thanks to you, even though my employer, the onmyouji onee-chan, is away, I get to keep working. I'm making a huge profit. I'm laughing like, 'wahaha'."

She didn't look like she was going "wahaha", though (because she was expressionless).

"It's the know-how of wahaha."

"If such a know-how exists, I'd like for you to teach it to me."

But Gaen-san had said something like that, too... Ononoki-chan was in charge of a separate case.

That it was important to not sweat the small stuff.

In that case, she really must have just come with perfect timing, as opposed to coming here on Gaen-san's orders to support me in marking Shinobu—in that case, for what reason?

"What? Should I not have come without a reason?"

"Are you a childhood friend? My childhood friend doesn't act that spoiled. If it weren't for Hanekawa's support, she might not have even made it to college."

"I just felt like seeing your chaos, oni onii-chan."

"Don't come to see my chaos [kaosu]. At least come to see my face [kao]."

Although as a matter of fact, her timing was pretty chaotic—though the problem was, that chaos didn't show any signs of ending anytime soon.

"Hup."

Ononoki-chan stepped over the window frame and entered into the room—she wasn't a vampire, so she didn't need permission to enter.

How in the world did she knock like that? Was it a magic trick?

"It's true, I really don't have a reason. I was out for work and I just barely arrived home when it turned out that dumbass Tsukihi was in her room. She's studying or something."

She was such an oppressive and insolent middle school third-year that it was unavoidable for her to be called a dumbass, but I guess she's surprisingly diligent when no one's looking, that sister of mine—since Tsukihi thought that Ononoki-chan was a life-sized stuffed doll, she couldn't possibly enter through Tsukihi's window, so the hard worker had no choice but to return home through the alternate route of using my window.

Then, really and truly, how in the world did you knock like that. Did you borrow the power of the yanari phenomenon? Was it a phantom knock?

"However, it looks like I'm intruding upon you guys. Well, busy as I am, I can leave for the attic or whatever, so feel free to continue your discussion—oh, that reminds me."

While I'd been racking my brain trying to figure out a way to detain Ononoki-chan as she was about to make her hasty exit, she stopped just then to feel around her chest, as if she'd just thought of something.

What did that young girl plan on pulling out from her chest?

"Don't tell me you're going to use 'Unlimited Rulebook' to make your breasts huge!? Stop it, stop it! There are some lines you just shouldn't cross, Ononoki-chan!"

"I don't want to be warned about crossing humanity's K-point by someone like you, oni onii-chan. Here. A souvenir."

"A souvenir?"

Had she really gone that far away for work? Even if Ononoki Yotsugi-chan busied herself with urban legends, with Kagenui-san's absence, I figured her current range of activities would not deviate from this neighborhood.

However, when I took what she offered to me, it was not any kind of senbei or cookies indicating "Just visited ______", and instead, a piece of paper that had been folded ultra-thin.

In other words, it was a fortune slip.

Don't tell me she was trying to make the fortune slip she got at some shrine into a souvenir? Because fortune slips and charms and stuff are hard to throw away? Even as I thought, "I'm not going to accept this if it's nothing less than 'great luck'", I opened it up.

"Well. If it isn't a fortune slip from Kitashirahebi Shrine, where that lost girl works as a god," said Shinobu, taking a look at my hands and saying it out loud to make it easy to understand.

Incidentally, the fortune was "average luck".

Average luck.

It wasn't really clear to me if that was good or bad.

"So when you said you were working, you just went to play around with that lost girl, hm? You should've called me, too."

"I didn't go there to play. New as she is, Mayoi-nee-san is a lost child that rules over this town, after all. If I want to be able to do my work properly, I have to go through the proper channels, or else—"

While Shinobu and Ononoki-chan were partaking in a conspiratorial exchange that may have been friendly or unfriendly, I inspected the fortune slip.

Love—Treat your girlfriend preciously!

Studies—Don't let your guard down! Keep going without resting!

Health—Your mind is really in poor health!

Someone Waiting—You should go and see them yourself!

Business—Being a yes-man is dangerous!

What a high-energy oracle...

With her manner of speech, it did feel a lot like Hachikuji... As for the "Business" fortune, if it was referring to my current role as requested by Gaen-san, then "being a yes-man is dangerous" may have been just the advice I wanted to hear.

It was a good feeling.

This must be average luck for the sake of Araragi, averarage luck—but no.

That wasn't what I should be paying attention to. Well, that was important, too, but what I should focus on was—

"Ononoki-chan. You don't need to go to the attic. Until Tsukihi-chan leaves her room, you're free to just hang out here."

I stood up.

"The child seat and its child are going to go out for a late-night drive."

It was time to go and see the person waiting for me.

014

Hachikuji Mayoi had just been a lost grade schooler when I met her last year on Mother's Day, but now she'd become a splendid god. Even if it weren't for this case with the vampire, I knew it wasn't a good idea to visit her so casually due to her position, and I'd been careful not to rely on her (literally, pray to a god). But it was a different story if she was the one to call me.

Gaen-san had ordered me to keep watch over Shinobu, but she hadn't told me that I necessarily had to keep watch over her at home. Despite her previous offense, it wasn't as if Shinobu had been sentenced to house arrest.

But to deliver a message through Ononoki-chan through not a living message nor a dying message nor anything encrypted but a fortune slip of all things... It was surely something only a god could do.

The Kitashirahebi Shrine.

Built on top of a mountain, it was a shrine with deep connections and karma for me, and for everyone in this town.

If I was Lupin III, I could have simply ridden up the mountain in my New Beetle, but alas, I couldn't go against the Road Traffic Act or my own common sense. So I parked my beloved car at the shoulder of the road, placed Shinobu on my shoulders (my shoulders were also a child seat), and began to laboriously climb up the mountain path.

Due to the aftereffects of my vampirism, while I wasn't exactly nocturnal, I was still pretty strong at night—in times like these, I had no need for night-vision goggles.

"However, what business could that lost girl have with you? Does everyone really just want to see my master's chaos?"

Yes, I was curious about that, too. No, not my chaos, but her business with me—Hachikuji should have learned her lesson (or rather, Gaen-san mercilessly beat the lesson into her), so she shouldn't be behaving as freely as she used to.

She wouldn't just invite an ordinary citizen to the top of the mountain without any business—so maybe she had a few words to say about the serial mummy vampire incident secretly going on in this town, after all?

It was easy to get mad at me for this, but if the origin of this vampire's visit was Shinobu, then I had no choice but to take the blame for it, as her supervisor.

It was a violation of a virtuous supervisor's duty of care. Putting aside whether or not I had any virtues as a supervisor.

To be honest, responding to Hachikuji's summons did make me glad that I could gracefully escape from Shinobu's interrogation, but if what Hachikuji had to say had anything to do with this matter once we finished climbing the mountain, it would be a dead end for me.

A girl at the front gate, and a little girl at the back gate.

I had no choice but to hope that it was about something completely different. For example, maybe Hachikuji had decided to appoint me to sit upon not a child seat, but the seat of a god (in which case, I would humbly accept).

Really, I had no idea where my utterly random life was headed anymore. My life wasn't simply going forward, but hurling itself forward. Without coming up with any ingenious plans, the climb was completed.

Hachikuji was sitting under a waterfall in white clothing.

"Oh, how embarrassing. You ended up seeing me secretly trying to train."

"What part of this is secret? I've never seen anything so blatant. It almost felt like you weren't under a waterfall, but under a spotlight."

When did this shrine even have a waterfall?

Don't misuse your godly powers just for laughs.

She hadn't fixed her free-spiritedness at all.

"Oh dear. So this is not what they mean by a beautiful girl, glistening like the morning dew."

Of course not.

With a splash, Hachikuji made her way out of the waterfall basin... She was soaked completely through, and it was not in the least bit romantic. Her trademark twintails had been flattened against her head by the water pressure, and her white clothing clung to her body, making it difficult for her to move.

That open-mindedness. Truly a god.

"Anyway, it has been a while, Amefurashi-san."

"It's certainly been a while, eternal fifth-grader Hachikuji, but just because you're soaking wet, that doesn't mean you can call your friend by the name of a gastropod mollusk. And you're not sopping wet because I made it rain [ame wo furashita] or anything. I'm sorry if you went and got hit by a waterfall just so you could call me that, but my name is Araragi."

"Sorry. I flubbed it."

"No, it was on purpose."

"I fwubbed it."

"It wasn't on purpose!?"

"Ti debbuwf I."

"Even backwards, it wasn't on purpose!?"

No, that had to be on purpose.

And in any case, it really had been a while since I'd been here, but with the usual exchange that made it feel as if it hadn't been any time at all, Hachikuji and I celebrated our reunion.

"I wanted to see you too, Nobushi-san."

"Who are you calling Nobushi. By anagramming it, you've turned a ninja into a samurai. My name is Shinobu... Wait, am I doing this too?"

"Sorry. I flubbed it."

"Nay, 'twas on purpose."

"I fwubbed it."

"'Twas not on purpose!?"

"I fubwebd it."

"Even anagrammed, 'twas not on purpose!?"

With the girl and the little girl chattering away, it seemed pretty fun. Unlike the world of the animation's commentary tracks, they were heartwarmingly close.

Why was it only in the commentary tracks that they didn't get along? It's usually the other way around.

Well, Shinobu, as Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade, had also been exquisitely enshrined as a god in the past, so in that sense, it wasn't just a relationship between a girl and a little girl, but perhaps a senior-junior relationship as well.

A junior, huh? Hmm.

"Anyway, Anagra-san."

"You're prolonging this, aren't you? If you take what you flubbed and link it to a new way of flubbing, this passage will last forever!"

"Anyway anyway, Araragi-san. The reason I went to the trouble of asking the very busy Ononoki-chan to summon you to this mountain at this late hour is none other than this."

Although I was hoping there was another reason.

"The truth is, there was a little girl I wanted to introduce to you, Araragi-san."

"Oho? It sounds like there are some circumstances."

"If you wanted to be introduced to a little girl without any circumstances, you'd have to be totally crazy!"

From the little girl who showed no intention of descending from her seat atop my shoulders even after we'd finished our mountain climb, I received an elbow to the head.

"To be precise, it's not to Araragi-san, but to Shinobu-san."

"Huhu. It seems you're the one that's totally crazy, Shinobu-chan."

"Don't act so proud of yourself with a little girl on your shoulders. And don't shrug your shoulders, either, it clings. There's a right way and a wrong way to shrug your shoulders, you know."

"D-do you really need to go that far? All I did was shrug my shoulders, though?"

"Now, lost girl. What of the little girl you wished to introduce to me?"

"Yes. Right this way."

Hachikuji went up the shrine road on the grounds and towards the main shrine—and we followed in the footsteps of the young god as they were marked down on the ground with wet, bare feet.

"Yes. Just the other day, there was a lost child that came under my custody... Incidentally, she was naked."

"Oh, a naked little girl [youjo], you say? Who knows if that can be adapted for the anime. It's a fine line to walk."

"It's way out of bounds! Clean it up [youjou]!"

She retorted with a pun.

"Clean up the little girls [youjo youjo]!"

You meant, clean up every important point [yousho yousho], right?

Even if you punned on every important point.

"Anyway, it's out of bounds even in a novel, is it not?"

"And yet, it can't be avoided. After all, we're for social awareness, getting straight to the heart of taboos."

"Not for social inappropriateness?"

But, to be serious, I was a little relieved.

I had no idea who this naked little girl was, but apparently it was a completely different case from the matter that I was cooperating with Gaen-san on—the matter with Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicidemaster.

And considering Hachikuji's origins, you could say that taking custody of lost children was practically a livelihood for her.

As long as we didn't run into the novel and stupid development that the progenitor who birthed and named the iron-blooded, hot-blooded, cold-blooded vampire was actually a little girl, and a naked little girl at that, then it seemed likely to be unrelated to this case—and the clock had reached its peak around the same time we had reached the peak of the mountain, so there was about 5 hours left until dawn.

If Hachikuji's child [youji], or rather, her business [youji], was business for Shinobu, then it would be ideal if Gaen-san (and the others) could draw the curtain on the gourmet vampire while she was distracted.

And with Kagenui-san still not having returned to the country yet, it was unlikely that Miss Suicidemaster would be suppressed in a violent manner... In that respect, I was thankful for Gaen-san's pacifist nature.

"By the way, Araragi-san. Don't you have anything you want to say to me?"

"Hm?"

"You have that look on your face."

Wow, even though her career was just starting, she was still a god in the end... For her to read my face, my chaos.

However, I'd decided that I wouldn't consult her about this case. It was different from when she didn't have her position—now that she'd become a god, I didn't want to stick Hachikuji in a dilemma between oddities and humans.

"Ha ha. You don't know me as well as you think you do, Araragi-san. You'll never put me in a dilemma, because I'm always on your side, Araragi-san. As long as I'm with Araragi-san, even hell isn't such a bad place."

As she said those deep words of friendship, Hachikuji opened the sliding door to the main shrine, but as soon as she did so, I felt like I'd been struck by a sense of cruel betrayal by that good friend of mine.

On the floor within the main shrine, as if it was a divine object of worship that had been carefully laid to rest, the naked little girl was indeed a naked little girl, but.

The naked little girl was a mummy.

015

Some might argue that a naked little girl was a naked little girl, regardless of whether she was a mummy or not, and others might argue that naked was naked, regardless of whether she was a little girl or not—of course, some would argue that a mummy was a mummy, regardless of whether it was wearing clothes or not.

Just as a mummy was a mummy, regardless of whether it was wearing a high school uniform or a patient's gown—however, the situation had changed. We were now in the grounds of a shrine at night, within the traditional main shrine that was completely unconnected to electric lights, and that diminutive mummy seemed to fit perfectly there, as if it had been made-to-order.

The stage effects were astounding.

Rather than an oddity phenomenon, it was like I was being shown an important cultural treasure—and though I'd temporarily fallen into a panic, I was brought back to my senses by...

"S—Suicidemaster?"

A small voice that came from above me.

A whisper.

At that moment, with Oshino Shinobu calling Ononoki-chan "doll girl", and her calling Hachikuji "lost girl" even after she'd become a god that ruled over the town, I belatedly realized that it was extremely rare for her to refer to someone by name.

Suicidemaster.

Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicidemaster—was it?

"Wh—what a mess you've become!"

"O-oi, Shinobu. What, what did you just say?"

"Hee-yah!"

Could she tell that the mummy was her former master, even when it was all dried up?

Even though Shinobu had stubbornly refused to come down from my shoulders even after we reached the summit, she now placed both hands on my head as if it were a vaulting box, spread her legs out magnificently to the left and right, and jumped wide.

And, in the air, she spun twice around before landing, and then rushed up to the mummy of the naked little girl. The little girl was rushing up to the little girl.

"Whoa! Shinobu, be careful—"

Remembering the bitter experience I had faced in a shack on the side of the road to school during the daytime, I panicked and called out to her—however, what I'd feared did not come to pass.

The mummy didn't stir an inch. If I said it like that, then it sounded completely natural, but... Hm? Instead of the difference between wearing and not wearing clothes, and instead of the difference between a high school girl and a young girl, but as a mummy itself—did this individual follow a different providence?

Perhaps I should've also drawn close to check for this mummy's pulse or breathing, but I couldn't seem to move my body very well... It felt like my body wasn't mine. It felt like I'd actually become a child seat, or even a vaulting box.

"Hachikuji..."

"I'll say this now, but it isn't like I stripped this little girl naked for the sake of Araragi-san. The mummified little girl was naked from the beginning."

Um, that wasn't what I planned on asking or anything...

"Also, she hadn't been a mummy in the beginning."

"What do you mean by that? What happened?"

After reflexively rushing up to the mummy, it seemed she hadn't decided on what she'd do next, as Shinobu had been circling the mummy aimlessly before she asked that question to Hachikuji.

"God. What exactly is happening in this town?"

The question wasn't aimed towards me, but because of Shinobu's unprecedented tone of voice, even I couldn't help but feel nervous.

Even now, the administrator of the specialists, Gaen-san, should have been looking around town in pursuit of the unidentified vampire—so why was that unidentified vampire, Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicidemaster, assumed to be the culprit behind the mass creation of these mummies, sheltering away in a shrine as a mummy herself?

She's—sheltering away, right?

"......"

At any rate, there was no longer any doubt that Shinobu and I had long since diverged from Gaen-san's plans.

The prime suspect behind the mummifications had turned up as a mummy—it sounded like that old proverb, "the mummy hunter becomes a mummy", but wait. If it followed the proverb, then the next one to become a mummy would be me.

"Shinobu. What state is that mummy in? That naked little girl? I'm already kind of astonished that your progenitor who birthed and named you was actually a little girl, but that's definitely not what a vampire should look like—is she in a zombie-like condition?"

The prime suspect had become the next victim.

It was kind of like a mystery novel, maybe?

"No. If I had to say it, then this is cryptobiosis."

Shinobu responded with a careful, and marveling, voice.

Though a marvelous god was right there.

Cryptobiosis.

In other words, anabiosis.

The ultimate state of suspended animation used as an emergency measure to preserve one's life, that tardigrades, real, non-monstrous creatures said to be as immortal as vampires, used—or so I'd read in a book.

"It's not like a living corpse, but more like in critical condition... Is that why you called us here, lost girl?"

"That's right. I couldn't exactly have a clean conscience if a foreign visitor lost their life in my area of influence—as for what exactly is going on in this town, I would like to ask the same question."

That's why, for the sake of learning the truth.

Araragi-san, I would like you to procure the medicine that will revive this person—said Hachikuji.

"The medicine—what? Procure it—where?"

Is there a pharmacy in this world that would prescribe special medicine with components that would revive vampires, which are immortal by nature?

"It is not in this world. But, it is in the next world. As you are well aware."

"Th-the next world? Even if you say that I'm aware, I don't think I know what you're talking about?"

"You should be well aware, Araragi-san. After all, you visited it quite recently—it's hell."

It's the Blood Pond Hell.

That was what Hachikuji said—the Blood Pond Hell.

Indeed, it was the perfect medicinal ingredient for the vampire's condition, which neither doctors nor the hot springs of Kusatsu would cure.

016

Hachikuji had said something like "If I were to fall to hell with Araragi-san, then it wouldn't be such a bad place," but it seemed that wasn't just figurative—it seemed that I would have to visit hell once again.

To revive the vampire in a mummified, cryptobiotic state—even though I'd thought of this vampire as the fiend going after the members of Naoetsu High's girls' basketball club, I couldn't help but feel some cognitive dissonance at having to move for the sake of this vampire's health. But it was for the sake of investigating the truth.

Even though I'd regretted that spring break so much, to think that I would mobilize to save yet another vampire on the verge of death... It's bloody ironic, is what it is.

In the first place, just because she was discovered in the same (though not exactly the same) state as the high school girls, it didn't mean that the doubts surrounding her—and whether or not this little girl was "D/V/S"—had been cleared up, but there was no doubt that things were getting into the height of confusion.

It had surpassed not only my hypothesis, but Gaen-san's hypothesis as well—the question Shinobu had asked earlier was probably the same question everyone had in mind.

What exactly was happening in this town?

What sort of oddity phenomenon was this?

...Even an unprepared college freshman like me could tell that the fastest way was to ask "the person herself".

Otherwise, even if Shinobu's progenitor was the one responsible for the mummification of those high school girls, I certainly didn't think I could leave this naked little girl as she was... If I didn't clear things up, I wouldn't be able to even apologize to Higasa-chan, who'd provided me with the list of the Naoetsu High girls' basketball team members.

It was like the type of mystery where a necromancer-like detective called upon the spirit of the victim, but of course, this wasn't as convenient as that.

After all, once again, I was going to hell for the sake of a little girl... And this time, for the sake of a naked little girl, I was going to the Blood Pond Hell.

"But how exactly am I supposed to descend to hell? Seeing as I'm a perfect saint, I can't think of a way to do this."

"If you just play around with little girls or your little sisters as usual, wouldn't you just normally go to hell?" said Shinobu.

Even though she was sealed, because of her nature as an oddity, she couldn't accompany me to hell.

Don't joke about something just because it's not your problem.

Well, it was her problem, too.

The vampire who's like a parent to her was on the brink of death—it seemed she wasn't able to keep up with the situation, and although she didn't give off a heavy vibe, it didn't seem like she was able to keep up her antics.

But what about Hachikuji?

Though she was originally a lost child, she was now a god. I didn't think she'd be able to accompany me like she did last time.

In other words, even though she'd said all that so happily, in the end, she wouldn't be able to act as my guide or navigation, and I'd have to fall to hell on my own—what's with it turning out like this as if there was nothing strange about it, as if it was completely ordinary?

"But anyway, good grief. I guess I have no choice but to go. To my home away from home, hell."

"I was about to fall for you a second time. Don't say something so cool. The last time you were in hell, it was only for an hour," said Shinobu.

"It's an unseasonal homecoming."

"What are you saying, for a college student still living in his parents' home?" said Hachikuji.

Harsh criticism from these girls. Especially to a guy that was about to go to hell.

"Well, putting aside how long you spent there. It's your second time, Araragi-san, so you must be used to it by now."

"I wouldn't say that... But at the time, there was a specialist that would allow me to come and go as I pleased."

Right now, what method of transportation could I use exactly? I didn't know if it would take an hour, but I at least wanted to get back before dawn.

"If you went to hell with such a carefree attitude, even the judge of the afterlife would lose face," said Hachikuji.

Despite being the originator of the idea, she sure was bashing me pretty hard.

"Well, it may be a bit artless, but what about using the same method as last time?"

"The same as last time..."

I searched my memories. Yes, it was the previous academic year, the morning of my entrance exams.

Strangely enough, it was right here, at the grounds of the Kitashirahebi Shrine—at the time, Gaen-san had, with no explanation at all, sent me off to hell with something like a surprise attack.

With Demon Blade "Kokorowatari" in hand, she'd chopped my body up into pieces—that was the means of transportation.

I see, in that case, the original owner of that demon blade that was also known as the "Oddity Slayer" was right here—

"Eh? Huh? Then, am I going to be chopped up by Shinobu? A surprising kind of development that had never been done even during that spring break when I was seventeen?"

"Rather than a development, it's more of an expansion plan. Of your body. Shinobu-san, if you would."

"All right."

Arrangements to slice me up were quickly coming into place—Shinobu opened her mouth wide and thrust her hand deep into her throat.

Though Hachikuji had mentioned it was artless, it'd been a while since I'd seen that circus trick—like a magic trick, the oodachi was pulled out of the little girl's body without a sound, glowing with a mysterious light.

Demon Blade "Kokorowatari". The Oddity Slayer.

"Huhuhu. I've been waiting for the opportunity to rudely beat you up like this. How dare you humiliate me by putting me in a child seat!"

"I-I thought you were happy about it! Why are you getting mad at me now!? What's with that weird 'huhuhu'? What happened to your usual way of laughing?"

"Revenge is a soup best served cold."

"I thought we were at a distance where the soup wouldn't get cold! ...By the way, I've never actually seen you wield that sword properly... It's a bit late to ask Gaen-san for help on this now, but are you sure you can actually chop my organs up successfully like she did?"

"Ka ka. Don't look down on me. It's true that not even in the movie version had I gotten the chance to, but allow me to show off my secret techniques now. Everything was for this moment. To send you off to hell!"

"Aren't you a little too passionate about this?"

"Have a taste of the swordsmanship I honed for four hundred years! I'm warning you, this won't just end with your organs being chopped up. My Seishiryuu has seven secret techniques—"

First Technique: "Kyouka Suigetsu".

Second Technique: "Kachou Fuugetsu".

Third Technique: "Hyakka Ryouran".

Fourth Technique: "Ryuuryoku Kakou".

Fifth Technique: "Hika Rakuyou".

Sixth Technique: "Kinjou Tenka".

Seventh Technique: "Rakka Rouzeki".

"—And, unleashing the seven techniques simultaneously, Seishiryuu's final secret technique, 'Shichika Hachiretsu'!"

But at the moment where I wanted to retort that she'd gotten through the whole song and dance, I may have been torn to smithereens.

017

In my third year of high school, when I'd been fighting with the aftereffects of my vampirism (or perhaps fighting against it), I'd gotten rather used to the idea of dying.

In hindsight, I had relied too much on that vampiric immortality, which had remained pronounced even after I'd returned to human form. In other words, I'd been dependent on it.

I'd become addicted to death.

In the end, even though I'd managed to hit upon that one-in-a-million chance of returning to human form, I had found myself spontaneously turning into a full-fledged vampire, even without my blood being sucked—it was kind of like a rebound, or perhaps I was just an idiot who didn't learn his lesson.

The reason Gaen-san chopped my body up into pieces and dropped me into hell was to separate my soul from that immortal nature, that oddity nature, but thinking about it now, maybe I was about to make the same mistake again.

Just as I had grown accustomed to death.

If I ended up growing accustomed to going to hell—then saying that it was fine because it was my second time, or that I'm used to it... Those wouldn't just be jokes.

Ougi-chan would laugh at me, saying, "How foolish you are", while Oikura would get mad at me, saying, "You should just die".

Anyway, so this fool that didn't learn his lesson would once again reach out his hand and step foot into a tour of hell that could shatter mankind's view of life and death—

"...Huh?"

When I awoke, or perhaps when I entered into eternal sleep, I found myself in heaven.

Heaven.

Or maybe it was paradise, or the pure land, or perhaps Eden.

There were many ways to describe it, but anyway, the fantastical landscape that sprawled out before my eyes was completely different from the one I had seen when I'd last been sliced up, and it was one that I had never seen before... What in the world?

Normally, I would describe it as a beauty that could not be painted, but the scene—this landscape filled with light—looked as if I'd entered into a painting. Or, to put it another way, I had only seen such a scene before in paintings.

If I had to make use of my poor vocabulary, well, I guess I could say it was a beautiful example of Mother Nature... But the impression I got was more, "Is it okay for someone like me to be here?" I felt really out of place.

Out of place, and just wrong.

As if I'd accidentally wandered into the jewelry area of a department store.

With rolling green plains, a mountain range with distinctive ridges far off in the distance, and not a single cloud in the beautiful blue sky—the trees were lush and ripe with fruit, and the flowers were in full, multicolored bloom.

Even the air was delicious.

I wasn't a hermit that could live off of breathing mist, but it felt like just by inhaling, I could add a hundred years to my lifespan... Although, far from extending my lifespan, wasn't I supposed to have lost my life after being cut into pieces?

Wasn't I supposed to have fallen to hell?

"Urk... So basically, instead of falling to hell, I messed up and went to heaven? Ah, jeez, this is a problem. I guess whoever's watching is watching what I do on a regular basis."

"That's exactly right. You aren't as bad of a person as you think you are."

In order to break out of my confusion and break down the current situation, I tried to calm myself down by muttering something stupid (my self-control technique—surprisingly effective), but to my surprise, even though I'd thought no one was nearby, a voice spoke from behind.

Someone caught me talking to myself!

Normally, I would've ended up writhing in shame, but the gentle voice, as clear as (or even clearer than) the air around me, calmed me down as opposed to agitating me—I turned around.

The fact that there was a naked beautiful woman there did not make me lose my cool, either.

After a naked little girl, a naked beautiful woman.

What a series of events.

However, just like how the naked little girl was a mummy, the naked beautiful woman also had a third condition—or rather, more strictly speaking, I couldn't determine if the naked beautiful woman was a true beauty or not.

Because the beauty was wearing a demon mask.

A demon mask... To expand it into more words, a mask with a demon's face.

An adult woman that was liberally nude, but whose face was completely hidden by a mask... After finishing high school and entering college, I'd had a hint of hope that my life would become more adult in the future, but it had proceeded to become more adult in a strange way.

Not just lewd in the way I had hoped, but erotic and grotesque in an Edogawa Ranpo sort of way.

"......"

However, was it just my imagination?

That adult woman... That masked, fully nude beauty... I felt like I'd met her before. Even though I couldn't see her face, I could see her long, long blonde hair coming out from behind her mask, and her beautiful body lines that made her seem as if she was closed in a thin robe, even if she wasn't wearing anything. I felt like I had seen her before...

"I apologize for the way I look, Araragi-sama."

Oh my.

Though I didn't say it out loud.

I wasn't sent into a panic, but I was honestly not sure how to react to the gentle voice coming from behind the mask... Was this person someone I knew?

Was that even possible, considering where we were?

Since she had a demon mask, maybe this was hell after all? Was she one of hell's tormentors? If you hit the books, you'll find that hell really is full of diversity, encompassing every possible variation... Among those, there might even be a hell where a tall, sexy, naked, blonde, buxom beauty wears a demon mask and tortures the dead.

"I'm embarrassed to have appeared before you wearing a mask."

She seemed more ashamed of hiding her face than of exposing her nakedness—well, I'd suspected her of being a tormentor of hell, but this beautiful woman, like the landscape that stretched out behind her, looked like a woman that had been depicted in an artistic painting, and there was not a sliver of guilt or indecency anywhere on her body.

Or rather, I even felt that this landscape had actually been made for the sake of this beautiful woman—that was how much her naked body shined.

Perhaps, in actuality, if she hadn't been wearing a demon mask, the eyes of someone like me would have been blinded by the brilliance... Ah, is that why she's hiding her face like this?

So that her beauty wouldn't hurt me—her beauty?

"P—Princess Beauty?"

"Yes. There are those that call me by that name. But while you are here, I would like it if you called me Princess Acerola."

That was what she said.

That was what she—before she was Oshino Shinobu, before she was even Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade—Princess Acerola, a literal beauty who had destroyed her country with her unparalleled physical and mental beauty—said.

That was what the beautiful woman in heaven said.

018

"We are in heaven, so being without clothes is more natural. It is the natural order of things—if I may be so bold as to suggest this, it would be more unnatural for me to be clothed, as you are right now, Araragi-sama. Why not undress as well?"

"Should I? All right."

"Please do not decide to undress so readily."

So which is it?

But it was true that, if I were to be so brazenly nude, it would make me feel wrong—but "Princess Beauty", Princess Acerola.

I remembered.

Strictly speaking, I had never actually met this goddess before... At least not in this world, in this actual world.

I won't exactly go into the details because it wasn't something that actually happened, but in the period of time after I graduated from Naoetsu High and before I entered Manase University, I crossed through the looking-glass and was honored with an audience with "Princess Beauty".

Her beauty was such that it made me want to die just by facing her—even then, we'd only spoken with a curtain between us, but I'd nearly ended up killing myself, just as the people of the kingdom she destroyed had done.

"Well... I guess you could say I am convinced. 'Princess Beauty'... Princess Acerola, I could not possibly complain against you being a resident of heaven."

Uh-oh. My tone of voice was already getting weird.

That made sense.

I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't just a resident of heaven, but the queen of heaven.

Despite the great expanse of these plains, there was no one else in sight, so it was possible that Her Majesty had already destroyed heaven as well... Well, I was only joking, though.

Anyway, there was nothing unusual about Princess Acerola being in heaven... What was unusual was that Araragi Koyomi was here.

Just as Hachikuji and Shinobu had explicitly and implicitly asserted, I myself had decided that I would go to hell if I died—but then, what was I doing, ascending to heaven?

"That is because I invited you here, Araragi-sama."

"Ah, I see. So it was something like that. That makes perfect sense."

"Teehee. Oh, Araragi-sama, that wasn't something that should've convinced you so quickly."

It was a highly sophisticated retort accompanied by a pleasant laugh.

Considering she was going along with my antics, she wasn't just beautiful and kind, but a good person as well—but, "teehee".

It was worlds apart from that little girl who would laugh, "ka ka".

Was this person truly the predecessor to that insolent, inhuman girl?

"...Just like how I was separated from my vampiric nature and fell to hell. Princess Acerola, six hundred years ago, when you transformed into Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade, did that beautiful soul of yours that 'died' end up separating and ascending to heaven?"

To force an analogy, it would be something like that.

I couldn't tell what her expression was behind the demon mask, but the naked human body was a surprisingly eloquent thing—by moving her body, Princess Acerola affirmed my guesswork without even needing to open her mouth.

Or rather, this goddess seemed to inadvertently be posing while talking—I'd heard she didn't like it herself, but it seemed that the unintentional beauty of her gestures had seeped into the marrow of her soul as well as the marrow of her bones.

I couldn't lose to her.

Time for a slightly peculiar conversation.

"However, what may have been the reason for you to so graciously invite a humble person such as myself to this place..."

"...It seems the demon mask isn't enough. Araragi-sama, please lend me your shoes."

"Okay. As you wish."

Princess Acerola took the sneakers that I respectfully offered her and put them on her feet... The naked beauty was wearing men's sneakers with a demon mask equipped.

That slight hint of discomfort brought me back to my senses.

Suddenly [俄] brought me back to myself [我].

Considering the addition of that 'person' radical [⺅], it was a scene that made me wonder about my status as a person.

At the very least, I didn't think heaven would grant me a visa.

"Why did you call me to heaven, Princess Acerola? I needed to visit the Blood Pond Hell to get its water, that is, its blood..."

"Instead of discussing such things, please forget everything and come with me, Araragi-sama. This is a recreation of my birthplace."

She was a good person, but she truly was a princess, going on at her own pace... She entered into a review of the landscape.

A beautiful princess's review of a beautiful landscape.

"My birthplace happens to be the first of many countries that I brought to ruin."

"......"

Countries.

The first of many—it was a weighty statement.

And, as a siren-like beauty, she was the first, and most likely, the last.

"I am not sure how to respond to that qualification. I may have to resign myself to it—not to mention, it's possible that someone among your friends could become something similar in the future."

Hm? Who could she be talking about?

If it's one of my friends with influence on the level of countries, then I can only think of Hanekawa...

"...I'm not sure if the idea of a country being destroyed by beauty really makes sense to me... Princess Acerola, are you sure those countries weren't destined for ruin anyway, even without you there?"

It may have sounded like I wasn't really thinking about it, but I couldn't keep quiet about it... There was no need to take on everything as her own responsibility—as unlimited liability.

This didn't have to do with the girls' basketball team's collective responsibility, but the princess's back was far too dainty to bear the burden of all that—however, dainty as it was, it was by no means so frail that it would break if you touched it.

I knew that very well, because she was naked.

You could tell, that back was very robust.

"Even the prosperous inevitably decay. No, every beautiful thing will die someday—is that what you wish to tell me? Araragi-sama. If that's the case, I must say that I have been too greedy in obtaining eternity by having my blood sucked by Suicidemaster."

Princess Acerola's shoulders drooped. Her beautiful shoulders.

That's right—the legend of Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicidemaster that Shinobu had told me had been quite biased, and although she had told me this and that, on and off, about the vampire's character, she had barely touched upon the specifics of how "Princess Beauty" had become "Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade"—how "Princess Beauty" had become the "iron-blooded, hot-blooded, cold-blooded vampire".

Did she perhaps do that on purpose?

Or maybe she forgot about it because it was six hundred years ago—normally, an event so important would never be forgotten, so it would usually be interpreted as her just being reluctant to speak of it... But this was Shinobu, after all, so forgetting about it was totally possible.

She was so lax that she may have forgotten that she was once human, over the course of that long life of hers—after seeing me wishing to become human again, she'd said it had reminded her of something she hadn't thought about in a long time.

...I wonder what she was like back then?

I'd heard of the story when Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade had been enshrined as a god, just as Hachikuji was now and Sengoku had once been in the past—and when she gave that up and continued to be a demon. But what state of mind had she been in when she turned from a human into a vampire?

Had she ever thought that she wanted to be human again?

Or perhaps—had she quickly forgotten about when she was human?

As I'd mentioned earlier, I had to finish my business quickly and come back to life, so I didn't have time for a picnic with a naked beauty. But seeing as I'd suddenly gotten the chance to have a question-and-answer session, I couldn't help but want to ask a whole bunch of things.

For now, I'll try asking one thing. The most important of them all.

"Excuse me. If you do not mind, would you please deign to inform me of the size of that ample bosom of yours? Ah, this isn't for anything indecent. I simply wanted to bequeath to you a gift of lingerie."

"Araragi-sama. Asking that of a woman you've just met is not exactly praiseworthy. I do have the awareness that it was just a joke to lighten the mood, but I think you should refrain from saying things you will regret ten or even twenty years later."

She reprimanded me normally. Reprimanded by a princess. A naked princess.

When in front of a princess at the level that could make me kill myself due to being made aware of my own diminutiveness, it was less a joke to lighten the mood and more a technique for my own survival—however, I'm probably the only person that would take care to not kill themselves while in heaven.

"I—regretted it. The fact that I lived."

"......"

"I should have died. Before I even met Suicidemaster."

At first, I thought that she meant that she didn't want to be a vampire, that she wished to be human again, just like me. But when she continued, I realized that she meant the exact opposite.

"For that reason, I ended up placing a heavy, heavy burden on Suicidemaster."

This princess. She didn't regret having her blood be sucked.

She regretted making her suck her blood.

To this day, not a day has gone by that I haven't regretted my spring break when I was seventeen, when I helped and fought against vampires. But I don't think I had ever regretted it in the same way she did.

"And so—even while I knew it was an outrageous act, I couldn't help but pull you up as you were about to go to hell for her."

It seemed the conversation had circled back around.

Well, for a princess who is not only beautiful in appearance but beautiful in mentality, she surely would not display any self-centered conversation skills, even if she did go at her own pace.

"If the me that has become your partner, the me that you know, has forgotten all about the me that is right here, then that is not because the six hundred long years of her life has worn those memories away, but because she hated me, hated me to the point that it couldn't be helped."

"...Is that also regret?"

No.

She'd avoided even regret itself.

That's why—she made it as if it never happened.

She'd convinced herself that she'd been a born vampire.

If she was a vampire with the astonishing technique of physically tinkering with her brain to recover lost memories, then perhaps even the opposite was possible.

"Indeed. What I regretted, filling myself with regret to the point that I might burst, was not that I had become a vampire, but that I had been a human before that. That I had been a princess—that I had been myself."

"To the point that that chest of yours might burst—"

"Araragi-sama."

She stopped me just by calling my name—it seemed that even these rude jokes might end with me killing myself.

Now that I was in my first year of college, I wouldn't do anything like get flustered by the naked bodies of women, but at the same time, it felt like it would be even ruder to be all composed and unwavering in front of a nude woman behaving in a dignified manner.

It seemed to me like my etiquette as a gentleman was being tested.

"And so, that must be why I was separated from my soul, and this half-baked soul of mine was sent to heaven—a fitting punishment for me."

A soul where even heaven was punishment.

It was difficult for the average person to understand that feeling, but it seemed that, just as Oshino Shinobu and I held an inseparable bond, so did Princess Acerola and Suicidemaster—so much so that they had to be separated.

When Shinobu had been reminiscing, she'd spoken of her master with such ease that it was hard to believe that they held such a fierce relationship, as if she was like a college student talking about a senior from her hometown (a common occurrence—how envious)—so, essentially, she'd forgotten why she forgot, and she'd forgotten why she wanted to forget, forgetting everything altogether.

It sounded stupid when I put it like that, but when I saw the separated Princess Acerola in front of me like this, it wasn't a laughing matter.

"I'm sure you are here because you've accepted it, and I don't have the intention, nor the qualification, to console you, but isn't that something you shouldn't be worrying about...? Because, after all, vampires are destined to suck blood—"

"I can say this only because I have been a vampire myself, but a vampire sucking blood does have a different nuance than, say, Mr. Lion or Mr. Bear attacking humans."

Mr. Lion or Mr. Bear?

Why was she acting like a fairytale princess for children for just that?

"I think it is unreasonable to talk about vampires who prey on humans in the same vein as carnivorous animals. Though I am glad to hear you say such words."

"No... I'm sorry that words are all I have."

No, maybe I'd said too much.

It was possible that I really didn't have the intention of consoling Princess Acerola, and while I was acting like I was talking to her, I was really talking to myself.

It wasn't something to worry about.

But I should still worry about it. For the rest of my life. Or perhaps, for eternity.

"However."

Said Princess Acerola.

"If those points are to be considered similar—then it would mean that I had ended up changing the ecosystem of endangered animals. And that is, perhaps, an even greater sin."

"......?"

What did she mean by that? Ecosystem?

Before I could question the meaning of that monologue (which I couldn't just let pass, seeing as I was more or less majoring in the sciences), she continued. "It may be too late now, but I want to help Suicidemaster, even if it means protecting an endangered species," she declared.

She declared, beautifully.

"That will not lessen the weight of my sin, and it is possible it will only lead to my regrets worsening even further. But even so, I intend to do what I have to do."

What she has to do.

What she has to regret.

"I can no longer turn a blind eye to the present situation, and leave Suicidemaster in the state she's in."

The naked little girl.

Well, the nakedness wasn't relevant—the mummified little girl.

The mummy that had dried up so much—it was hard to even look at.

"—Basically, Princess, it wasn't that you were trying to prevent me from visiting hell in search of a cure, but that you saw me about to descend into hell, and thought, 'He isn't that bad of a person.' And then you pulled me up for the sake of saving Miss Suicidemaster, right?"

"Yes. I truly do not believe you are that bad of a person, Araragi-sama."

Even her honesty had a virtuous beauty to it.

It was to the point that I wanted to introduce her to the members of the Pretty Boy Detective Club, who I had befriended the other day.

"If I were your friend, I think I would recommend that you take a leisurely trip to hell at another opportunity."

If the princess who destroyed countries was going to recommend a vacation like that, then it seemed I would have to reevaluate the way I lived. But in that case, I would gratefully accept her support.

If I could, I would borrow even the help of a cat (though the Araragi style of doing things was "I would borrow specifically the help of a cat"), but if it was the princess herself offering her hand, then I couldn't not kneel down and kiss her.

"You said this was a recreation of your birthplace, Princess Acerola—um, can I find a Blood Pond Hell in heaven, too? Somewhere that's fairly close by, and easy to procure from—"

"There is no Blood Pond Hell in heaven. There is none in this world, in the same way there is no place here where either me or Araragi-sama can belong."

I was told something pretty terrible.

But, well, of course... In that case, it would be the Blood Pond Heaven. I couldn't help but imagine a Blood Pond Heaven as something sumptuous and immoral.

It didn't seem heaven-like.

So, if she didn't invite me to a haven where I didn't belong to recommend a cheaper generic drug with the same effectiveness but at a lower price...

"Could it possibly be that we were off the mark this whole time? Are you warning me that ladling out a cup of medicine from the Blood Pond Hell won't be the wonder drug to revive Miss Suicidemaster like we were thinking?"

Well, it wasn't the kind of treatment you'd find in a "Family Medicine" book... It had been a suggestion from none other than Hachikuji Mayoi, not only a god, but also someone who had had experience in hell.

To put it one way, it was like folklore that had been thought up by folklore; to put it another way, I may as well have been trying to go to hell to pray for rain.

Like a meaningless sacrifice, or a sacrifice chosen by lottery...

"No, no, it is not like that at all. As a treatment for Suicidemaster in that state... Yes, it would be Ultra-C."

She'd worded things in a way a youngster like me would get... Unfortunately, there was a significant margin of error, but I was glad for her concern.

"The Blood Pond Hell, a soup simmered with the karma of people, can act as a health drink not just for Suicidemaster, but for any vampire in the world... However."

That person surely will not drink it.

She surely will not accept it.

That was what Princess Acerola asserted.

"Because she's a gourmet. An epicure, and a high-class one, at that—she will never consume anything that doesn't go along with what she wants."

When she said that, I remembered what Shinobu had told me about Suicidemaster's personality.

She would only eat the lives of whoever she killed herself.

In that way, she was quite the stoic vampire.

"The Blood Pond Hell, if you will, is a buffet of sorts, filled with the blood of people in every possible variation. Do you like buffets, Araragi-sama?"

"Huh? Well, I guess."

The buffets that I was familiar with were mainly the sweets buffets that I was taken to by my girlfriend, but the glamorous party-like atmosphere was very exciting.

In that case, perhaps I could expect a similar sort of placebo effect from the Blood Pond Hell—however.

"Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicidemaster prefers service a la carte."

Said Princess Acerola, continuing the analogy.

"The idea of that new god was rather flexible, and I would value it as rather original. However, in this world, there are some patients that refuse to accept rational treatment—there are some that refuse to even see a doctor."

People that wanted to die naturally, huh.

They didn't want to live long to the point of defying their fate—well, that also concerned the matter of euthanasia or death with dignity, so it wasn't something that a youngster like me could talk about lightly. But there were certainly people that thought that way.

"A youngster, you say? Please don't abandon that thought, and keep thinking about it. You already have the right to vote, after all."

And why are you so knowledgeable about the state of Japanese politics?

Is everything we do, including right now, completely transparent to heaven? In that case, does that mean that the princess knows the truth behind this incident?—I nonchalantly tried to fish for information.

"If Miss Suicidemaster is such a gourmet, or rather, such a picky eater—then she's likely to be biased towards the targets she attacks as a vampire, right?"

For example, high school girls. More specifically, the members of a high school girls' basketball team.

"I would like to ask you not to probe for information. The fact that I could arrange this point of contact with you is not exactly commendable in itself."

Oof. It was a little hard to press for information if she told me that directly.

Or rather, I was pretty embarrassed that she'd figured out I was trying to probe for information.

"No matter what, I will always be on the side of Suicidemaster. It is like testimony from a family member—please consider my words to be unreliable."

"......"

"However, it is not that I know everything about this, either... The only advice that I can give you, Araragi-sama, is that if you wish to obtain the wonder drug that will become the nectar for Suicidemaster, then instead of getting it from a drink bar with variations of blood, you should extract that blood from someone that has been carefully selected."

For example.

For example, the blood of someone like me.

With that, "Princess Beauty", the completely nude princess, raised a hand to the demon mask upon her face.

Huh? Was she going to take it off?

Why now?

"Please close your eyes."

Being asked to do so, I finally (even though it should have been the first thing I did when I saw an adult woman in the nude) closed my eyes.

Because of her brilliance, an ordinary person would be blinded if they looked directly upon her countenance—that was how dangerous it was to look upon the beauty of "Princess Beauty".

She knew that from the very beginning.

That's why, even in heaven where exposing your body was the basis and nudity was the dress code, she appeared before me wearing a demon mask—so then, why was she suddenly trying to take off the mask now, without any context?

"That is, of course," the princess said.

I couldn't tell for because I'd already shut my eyes, but she must have already taken off her mask, for the sound of her voice had become even more beautiful—that muffled sound that came from behind the mask was gone.

And that voice was extremely close.

I had no idea when she had gotten that close, to the point that I could feel her breath.

That beautiful voice was coming from a distance where our lips were almost touching each other.

"If I am still wearing a mask, then I cannot place my lips on top of yours."

"Wha?"

"That was the reason why I asked you to close your eyes—"

I didn't understand what Princess Acerola meant when she spoke to me in an admonishing way, and though I opened my mouth to ask what she actually meant.

She shut me up with a kiss.

[timetoresurface]

Turn / LTY

vampire!au Taeyong x Y/N 6k vampire thingy where weird stuff just seems to happen, but you don’t care as long as you were close to Taeyong // no warnings

Honestly, you don’t know a lot about your town’s history. Still, you did know that vampires and humans lived in harmony together. You remember something about a truce many moons ago where vampires vowed not to bite a human in exchange for a peaceful life. Even though you have never really heard of anyone being randomly bitten for the past fifty years, humans were still wary of the vampires. 

One side of your town was bright and filled with people living their carefree lives, and the other was more dark and forbidden territory to humans. Vampires actually didn’t care if you would go over to their side. However, the elderly people in your town still remember the times when simply walking through their neighbourhood meant being bitten, or worse being turned into one of them.

There was only one case five years ago where a female vampire had turned your neighbour into a vampire, but this was only because they were in love. You always thought it was kind of strange, as she was probably over a hundred years old and your neighbour was only twenty at the time. What could they have possibly talked about? You still remember everyone being upset by the news, and local stores closed for a whole week because everyone thought the vampires went loose again. They didn’t, of course. After a week or so, everything had gone back to normal, and people seemed to have forgotten about your neighbour. As if he had never existed in the first place. 

You loved walking through the vampire part of town, as it was more deserted and gave you some time to think. You also needed to go through the quiet streets to get to your classes. You never really liked taking the bus as it was too crowded, and you definitely didn’t want to take the long route. Your only option was to go through the peaceful streets filled with weird antique shops and high-tech stores. You had entered one of their shops once, and it was as close to normal as could be. You couldn’t tell if the lady behind the register was a vampire, but in the end, it didn’t matter. They were simply living their life in the same peaceful manner as a human would do. You didn’t understand the fuss about them being mean and secretive. Vampires used to be human too, and the vampires in your town wanted to live an ordinary life. 

You didn’t know many vampires. You only knew of the lady in the shop who could or could possibly not be a vampire. But there was one person you suspected of being a real vampire, and his name was Taeyong. He lived a bit outside town, like you, where there was no strict vampire or human territory. He had moved a little over a year ago to go to your local college together with some friends. He was the brooding and mysterious character who had fascinated you since day one.

At first, you didn’t consider him being a vampire, but there were some giveaways if you paid close attention. He was pale, and this might not a big surprise as everyone in your town was remotely pale due to the lack of sun your city saw, but he was exceptionally pale. As if he was sick, but other days he had a healthy glow and noticeably more energy. He was also too smart to go to your small local college, and this you knew because you shared a lot of the same classes. You only talked to him once, and it wasn’t a success, to say the least.

It was one of your first day of college, and you had never seen Taeyong or any of his friends. Classes were over for the day, and you took your usual route through scary vampire territory. You had bumped into each other, and it was not the romantic kind of walking into each other. He had been running, his eyes crazy, and it scared you. It was never a good sign when someone was running through this part of town.

“Watch where you’re going.” He hissed at you, making you feel small and insecure. As if you were an animal stuck in his trap.

“I’m sorry.” Was the only thing you could say while you were avoiding his intense stare. You had always heard people talk about a vampire’s stare being mesmerizing. Still, you never realized how consuming their eyes were. It seemed to be the only thing you could focus on. It was hard to not look into his eyes, but you fought the urge.

“You should go home. Don’t talk to strangers.” He finally ordered you with concern laced in his tone. You looked up with confusion in your eyes, but that’s where you made a mistake. His eyes were dark brown, almost black-like, and it somehow didn’t scare you.

“My mom told me I shouldn’t talk to strangers, and you’re definitely strange.” You told him, and you cringed at your awkward statement. Were you trying to prove to him that you were not scared because you were, but not of him. He simply laughed at your comment before running off to wherever he was going, leaving you alone and confused. That’s when the small obsession with Taeyong began. You wanted to figure out if he really was a vampire or not, because how else you could explain your speeding heart and moist palms whenever he was near?

You had worked on a project with some of his friends, and you  still couldn’t tell if they were vampires or not. His friends ate the healthy amount of food a human boy in their twenty’s would, and they were actually approachable. You could talk to them, and you could find them at parties chatting someone’s ear off. You actually befriended one of his friends, Mark. He was the kind of person everyone got along with, including you. Taeyong was also present at these parties, but he was always standing somewhere alone in the corner. He preferred to be alone, but girls periodically tried to make a move on him, and he never seemed pleased by their presence. It was quite a hilarious scene to uphold. How the girls attempted to show their cleavage while acting tipsy to get his attention. He never looked at them, disgust expressed in his orbs while he sipped from his drink. 

You and Mark had gotten pretty close since your school project. He would take you out for lunch or would invite you to hang with some of his other friends. It was clear to anyone that you and Mark had this special bond, and both your friend groups accepted the other. He even threw you a little surprise birthday party at your favourite coffee shop. He had invited some of his friends and your friends, and it was one of the most enjoyable afternoon’s you had ever had. 

Mark had given you a birthday card where he mentioned he would always protect you, and he would even hide a body for you if necessary. He was a good friend, and you were glad he was in your life. You never knew a day would come where you would actually take him up on his offer. 

“Hi Y/N!” Mark immediately said when he picked up his phone. He seemed happy and carefree, and you hated to be the person to ruin his mood. Every time something remotely unfortunate happened to you, Mark would try everything in his power to make you feel better. You kind of felt regretful about depending on him so much. You wished you could be the same to Mark, but he never gave you a chance to worry about him.

“Mark, I…” you started, but you were in a state of shock and immediately started crying. Mark noticed your distressed behaviour, and you could hear him saying something in the background. 

“Where are you? What happened? Y/N?” Mark asked you, and you could hear him getting ready to come and pick you up. He was the only person you could depend on. You trusted him 100 per cent. 

“Second Street, corner shop.” Was the only thing you could say through your tears, but Mark knew enough. You heard a door slam, some keys jingling and a motor being being brought to life.

“Give me five minutes.” He said before hanging up, and you quietly waited for him to come and get you. You didn’t want to hang up, but you also weren’t in a state to have small talk. You simply stood there with your bike in hand. 

“Y/N!” Mark yelled through the open window of his car, but he wasn’t driving. You couldn’t see who was driving the vehicle, but you were glad he had finally arrived. It felt like you had waited hours for him to get here, but in reality, it had taken him only three minutes. 

“I think I killed it.” You whispered monotonously, and Mark looked worried by your lack of emotions. You pointed toward the small cat that was still stuck under the wheel of your bike. It didn’t really look alive, and you couldn’t remove your bike out of shock. You had stood frozen in your spot for the last half hour, chances were getting slimmer for the cat to be alive.

“You know, I was joking on that birthday card when I said I’d help you hide a body.” Mark tried to lighten the mood, but you simply presented him with your deadly glare. He seemed relieved by your typical behaviour before taking your hands off the bike to remove the murder machine.

“What happened?” A voice behind you asked, and you immediately turned around in shock. It was Taeyong, and he had probably driven Mark to the murder scene. It was the first time you had heard him speak in close proximity, and it gave you chills all over your body. This was not the time to be aroused by someone’s voice. You were currently the lead suspect of a murder case.

“She hit a cat with her bike.” Mark sighed, and relief flashed over Taeyong’s face. Why did he look so relieved? Had he been worrying about you too? 

“Are you alright?” Taeyong asked you while he moved closer to you. Mark was now examining the cat, and you were glad Taeyong was distracting you from the bloodless scene. His eyes were deep brown and merely mesmerizing, you almost forgot about the situation. Almost.

“No.” You simply said, making Taeyong chuckle lowly. You never really liked to play the damsel in distress, but you couldn’t hide your feelings. You needed their help, and you didn’t care how pathetic it made you look. You had never even killed a fly, and now you had accidentally murdered a cat.

“Do you want to bury the body?” He asked you, and all you could do was nod your head. Mark looked questionably at Taeyong but seemed to make peace with the situation. He simply shrugged his shoulders, trying to think of a solution.

“Okay,” Taeyong said before he went back to his car to grab a towel out of his gym bag. Mark stood by your side to shield you from the scene while Taeyong wrapped the lifeless body in his blue towel. 

“There isn’t a place to bury it here, though.” Mark thought out loud to Taeyong. They were looking at each other as if they were speaking through their minds. 

“We can do it in our garden, I suppose.” Taeyong finally stated. The boys turned toward you expectantly. 

“Do you want to be there?” Mark asked you softly before wrapping his arm over your shoulder. You shuddered at the contact, realizing how cold it had gotten outside. Taeyong had seemed to decipher your reaction and quickly grabbed an extra sweater out of his bag. 

“Yes.” You finally said when Taeyong had given you his sweater. You gladly accepted and put on the extra layer of warmth before following them toward the black car. The piece of clothing smelled freshly washed, and you couldn’t help but relax in the backseat while a dead animal was in the trunk. How did you always get yourself in these weird situations?

You had never gone to Mark’s house, so you did feel a bit awkward because of the situation. The only thing you knew was that he had three housemates, one of them being Taeyong. The others you had briefly met, and you do remember one of them being at your surprise birthday party. You think their names were Jungwoo and Doyoung. 

The moment the car parked in its rightful place, two guys stormed outside with worried expressions. When Taeyong opened your door, and when you made your way out, everyone seemed relieved. Again, why was everyone so concerned about you? You barely knew these people.

“What happened?”

“How’s Y/N?”

“Everything alright?”

Were a few of the questions they immediately fired toward the three of you. Taeyong looked at Mark as if to say he should handle the nosy boys, while he opened the trunk of his car. He carefully grabbed the cat wrapped up in a towel before walking out to their backyard. Everyone silently followed him, not knowing what was in the towel or what the plan was. 

Taeyong instructed his roommates to dig a hole at the edge of the garden while Mark kept you company. No one questioned Taeyong but simply followed his order. You were mesmerized by his powerful vibe, and you couldn’t help but follow his every action. How he carefully placed the dead cat on the grass to adjust the towel. How he sometimes secretly glanced toward you and Mark to check if you were still doing okay. 

When the other two boys were done digging a hole in the ground, they awkwardly awaited further instructions. Taeyong simply looked at you to see if you were ready. He probably expected a simple nod so he could place the cat in the hole, but you wanted to say a few words.

“We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of a suicidal cat.” You started, and you could hear Mark hold back his laughter, his body vibrating next to you. The other two boys simply stared at you. Taeyong had to suppress a smile, and you wished you had seen him smile earlier. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

“I don’t know if he or she is a loner, or if they belong to anyone. I’m extremely remorseful of my actions, and I hope that if there is a God that he or she can forgive me. It was unintentional. May you rest in peace.” You finished your speech. Taeyong noticed and carefully placed the cat in its rightful place in their garden. The other boys skillfully closed up the hole while you softly let tears fall from your eyes. Mark noticed and gave you a tissue he kept in his jacket. He had gotten used to you crying over silly little things, so he always carried an extra tissue just in case. 

You gladly accepted the tissue before wiping your eyes. You realized you had put on make-up this morning, and you probably looked like a raccoon. You looked at Mark, and he simply nodded his head as if he just read your thoughts. 

“Shit.” You muttered under your breath, making Mark laugh. Blame it on the aftermath of shock, but you started laughing along with him. Taeyong and the other roommates looked at you with hundredth questions in their eyes, but you and Mark simply kept laughing like mad people. 

“Is she okay?” Someone asked Taeyong softly, but he simply smiled at you when he thought you weren’t looking. 

“We should get her inside before anyone sees her.” The one named Jungwoo suddenly said firmly. Taeyong simply nodded his head before he took your arm and rushed you inside. You didn’t understand what the issue was of you being seen in their garden, but you didn’t question them. They had helped you without asking you, so you returned the favour. 

“You can stay here tonight. You can sleep in my bed while I sleep on the couch.” Mark told you while he grabbed some water for you to drink. Jungwoo was ordering some pizza while Doyoung and Taeyong were softly talking in the living room. It was weird to hang out in their house when they clearly never invited anyone before. 

“Where is the bathroom?” You asked Mark after drinking the glass of water he had given you. Mark pointed toward the direction of the bathroom, and you followed his instructions. 

You were surprised by your appearance in the mirror, and not in a good way. Your face was swollen from crying, and your skin was pale from the shock. Your mascara was everywhere except on your eyelashes. To summarize, you looked like a walking mess, and you finally realized why everyone kept asking if you were okay. You undoubtedly didn’t look okay. You wiped the remaining make-up off your face and splashed your face with water, hoping to make yourself look more alive. When you were done, you made your way back toward the kitchen, but an argument was going on in the kitchen. It was about you.

“Why did you bring her here? It’s dangerous for humans to be seen around here.” Jungwoo stated firmly, and you could feel the tension rising. 

“She was alone and helpless. We couldn’t just leave her.” Mark defended himself. You hated the fact you had put him in trouble again. He was always helping you while you kept putting him in awkward situations.

“You could have driven her home.” Doyoung piped in.

“I expected this behaviour of Mark, but I didn’t think Taeyong would be so stupid,” Jungwoo said irritated. Him dropping Taeyong’s name made your heart race, and you couldn’t understand why your heart was acting this way. 

“I think she’s back,” Taeyong stated, and you had a weird feeling that he knew you were eavesdropping as if he sensed you being near. 

“Y/N I hope you like Hawaiian pizza,” Jungwoo said when you entered the kitchen, acting as if you didn’t hear the strange conversation. You simply nodded your head when you stood next to Mark. You didn’t know how to work around them, and it showed.

“I’ll bring you some clothes to get changed into,” Taeyong announced before leaving the room to get you a change of clothes. You thanked him, but he was already out of earshot. After you got changed into some sweats and another sweater of Taeyong, you guys shared pizza and watched a movie. There was a weird atmosphere that no one knew how to break, so you quickly made your way toward Mark’s room to go to sleep. 

It was strange sleeping in Mark’s bed in a house filled with boys. It was weird knowing there was a corpse of a cat buried in their garden that you had accidentally killed. However, you did sleep the full ten hours. It was Mark who had woken you up to check up on you.

“Y/N,” Mark whispered while he gently touched your forehead. You opened your eyes and were met with Mark looking worriedly at you. You noticed you were covered in sweat.

“Hi.” You croaked out, noticing your dry throat. 

“Here is some water.” Mark offered you, and you gladly accepted. “You had a bad dream. Do you remember anything?” He asked you after you drowned the whole glass. You shook your head. This wasn’t the first time you were covered in sweat when you woke up. 

“It happens from time to time. I never remember the bad dream, though.” You explained to him, but he kept looking at you as if you were a porcelain doll. “You don’t need to worry. I’m a big girl.” You joked while you showed him your imaginary muscles. This got a little chuckle out of him, but not his full contagious laugh that you loved so much.

“I have to go to school now, so I can’t drive you. Taeyong told me he has the same class as you at ten, so he will be driving you, okay?” Mark explained to you, and you could only nod your head in agreement. He quickly enveloped you in a big bro hug before leaving you in his room. 

You were going to be alone with Taeyong. You would enter your class with Taeyong by your side. All the girls will be jealous, and your friends are definitely going to want to know the story behind your entrance. You couldn’t tell them you killed a cat by accident, and called Mark while having a panic attack. Perhaps you should just tell them it was all coincidental. 

“We leave in ten minutes,” Taeyong said while knocking on Mark’s door. You realized you had stayed frozen on Mark’s bed for over an hour, and you didn’t even start to get ready.

“Let’s make it twenty.” You shouted before rushing to the bathroom to take a quick shower. You heard Taeyong laugh, and you hated the fact that you always missed it when he was laughing. For someone you’ve had spied for over a year, you had never seen him smile. Now, in the span of barely twelve hours, you had heard him laugh and seen him smile. It gave you a rush of adrenaline and a certain kind of proudness that you were able to evoke these emotions out of Taeyong. Is this how people get addicted? Is this the reason why girls keep throwing themselves at him?

You didn’t have any spare clothes, so you kept wearing Taeyong’s black hoodie and your black leggings from the day before. It wasn’t your best outfit, but it wasn’t that different than other days. When you walked out to Taeyong’s car, you did feel a little bit insecure. 

“You look great.” He softly complimented you while you seated yourself next to him. A soft blush found its way on your face, and you tried to hide it while covering your face.

“You’re only saying that because I’m wearing your hoodie.” You teased him, stunned by your own sudden confidence boost. He looked just as stunned as you at your remark, but he quickly recovered, showing off his tiny gummy smile.

“You got me. You look amazing in my clothes. You should keep the hoodie.” He told you while staring the car. You stared at his hands while he drove onto the street. Your heart started beating faster, and your palms began to sweat. 

“Thank you! I think I will.” You finally muttered when you had recovered just a little bit. If he noticed your awkward behaviour, he didn’t comment on it. But you had a feeling he knew he could make your heart lose its healthy beat. 

The moment the two of you entered your local college together, everyone stopped talking so they could look at the strange combination. Taeyong was never seen with anyone except for his three friends who were coincidentally his roommates. You understood their reaction because you would act the same if he walked with any other girl into class. You thought he would sit in his usual lonely seat at the back, but he followed you toward your fixed spot at the front. You liked to sit at the front with two of your friends. You looked questionably at Taeyong, but he simply shrugged his shoulders.

“I just want to make sure you’re okay.” He softly whispered as if understanding the question in your head, moving a bit closer to you than was sociably acceptable. His closeness made you shiver, but you tried to cover it by pretending to be cold.

“I am.” You confidently stated while you tried to ignore the rush in your body by Taeyong’s closeness. 

“You’re still pale.” He remarked, again with the same worry in his eyes as the day before. You didn’t know the guy, why the heck was he so interested in you? Maybe it was because you were close to Mark, but it still confused you. You hadn’t really spoken to Taeyong before yesterday, and now he was sitting next to you in class?

“I’m always pale.” You deadpanned while taking your seat. Taeyong quickly followed and occupied the chair next to you. He softly opened up his backpack to get his notebook and pencil while you eyed him suspiciously. 

“I really don’t like this class.” He whispered, and you could feel the stare of your friends on your back. Why was the Taeyong whispering something in your ear? You ignored him for the remainder of the lesson, as his presence was already distracting enough. 

After class your parted ways, you had an economics class, while he had to do something else you didn’t ask about. Your friends fired question after question the moment Taeyong was out of earshot, but you had a feeling he could hear everything they said by the small smile on his face. You tried to answer as honestly as possible, but you mainly kept up the facade of it being an accident. That both of you run into each other on accident. They seemed to believe you, and you continued your day as if nothing had ever happened. 

You walked your usual route back home while it was already getting dark out. You had stayed longer at the library than planned, but it didn’t matter that much to you. You liked the colours of the sky when the sun was setting, reminding you of carefree times you spent your holidays on your grand parent’s farm. 

You hadn’t noticed a figure following you, and you also hadn’t felt the air getting colder and colder the more you got in the vampire district. You hugged yourself trying to get a bit warmer, but the cold was creeping in your bones. You looked at your phone, but there were no new messages, making you feel alone. 

“Why is a beautiful girl like yourself walking all alone at night?” Someone commented, and you quickly turned around toward the source of the voice. It was a handsome young man you had never seen before. Your town really was filled with beautiful young men with mesmerizing eyes. You noticed their eyes to be a reddish colour, and it did scare you, but not enough.

“It’s barely night time. The sun is still in the sky.” You corrected the stranger as if you were old friends. He seemed surprised by your answer as if he hadn’t expected a bratty response.

“I see why they like you.” He simply stated, making you look at him with confusion. Who was he talking about? He started laughing, and his laugh was low and a bit scary. You know this cliché villain laughs, well he had one like that. 

“I” m Jaehyun.” He introduced himself, walking closer to you. You took a few steps back, but he simply smirked at your actions.

“Okay.” You answered him while your back was against the corner of the street. There was no one to see you. You were alone with this stranger, who you felt had bad intentions. 

“What’s your name?” He asked you softly, still making his way closer to you. He was only an arm’s length away from you, and you didn’t know how to get out of this situation. 

“I don’t see why that’s important.” You told him, but this must have been the wrong answer. His smile disappeared, and annoyance transformed his face into something grim. Something you didn’t want to witness. He moved closer until he was right in front of you, and you could smell his evil intentions. You had never seen this man before, and it scared you. His hand softly touched your face while he sniffed the side of your neck. His lips barely touching your sensitive skin. You stood there frozen, not knowing how to handle the situation, while you felt his teeth scraping at your skin. 

You thought this was going to be the end. You knew the guy must be a vampire, so you didn’t try to run as it was useless. They were faster and all-round better at anything than humans. You were scared, and you expected his bite any second when he was forcefully removed from you. You didn’t dare to open your eyes, but you heard someone crying in pain. 

The moment you opened your eyes, you couldn’t understand what was going on before you. Taeyong was moving incredibly fast; you could barely follow him with your eyes, but he seemed to be the one with the upper hand. The Jaehyun guy tried to fight back, but Taeyong was filled with rage the other guy barely didn’t have a chance. 

“Taeyong!” You yelled, trying to stop him from killing the other. He held Jaehyun in his arms, ready to snap his neck, but he stopped when he heard the desperation in his voice.

“Do you have to kill him?” You asked him softly, looking into his eyes. He looked puzzled by your question.

“He’s been biting humans around here even though he knows there is a truce.” He told you a matter of factly, but you weren’t satisfied with his answer.

“Are you alone, Jaehyun?” You asked the guy Taeyong was holding firmly in his deadly grip. You didn’t know why you were trying to save the scary vampire’s life, but you already killed a cat this week. You couldn’t handle any more blood on your hands. 

“Why does it matter? You want to adopt me?” He spat back at you, and you almost wanted to turn around and let Taeyong do whatever he was planning to do. 

“Isn’t that better than dying?” You asked him softly. You touched his face, mimicking the action he had done to you earlier. His were still franticly searching for a way out, and you could feel he was a lost cause. But you didn’t want to give up on him so easily. There was a glimmer of desperation in his eyes as if he wanted to be killed. As if he knew someone was out there protecting you. 

“I’ve been dead for over twenty years now.” nHe simply stated, his body relaxing a bit as if he was showing his true colours. 

“You’re relatively young.” You remarked. Your eyes locked with Taeyong’s and he seemed to understand your plan. Somehow he had a perfect instinct on how you felt. It comforted you to know he actually listened to you and respected your opinion even though he didn’t really seem to agree.

“Don’t tell me you plan to take him home?” He asked you in disbelief, but he already knew the answer.

“Not my home.” You shrugged, looking over at his car that was still parked in the middle of the empty road. 

“Get in the car.” He commanded, and you followed his order as if your life depended on it. Taeyong locked the unknown vampire in his trunk as if he was used to tying up depressed vampires. The ride back to his home was quiet and filled with a thick tension you didn’t want to break. He looked deep in thought, and you couldn’t take your eyes off of him. 

“I remember a year ago where I told you not to talk to strangers.” He finally spoke while he parked his car in front of his house. You didn’t know how to answer him, so you just got out of the vehicle.

“Aren’t you scared?” He asked you forcefully. He was annoyed by your behaviour, but you weren’t scared. You had never been scared of vampires, and you could never be frightened of Taeyong. 

“Should I be scared?” You asked him softly while you looked into his eyes. He seemed to soften a little, but he still looked pissed at your behaviour.

“Yes! He tried to kill you.” He stated, and you simply shrugged your shoulders at his comment.

“I don’t think he actually tried to kill me. He was waiting for you to tear him away from me.” You explained to Taeyong while Mark went outside to inspect the noise you two were making.

“Y/N? What happened? What are you doing here?” Mark asked you immediately when he saw you. He inspected you from head to toe to see if anything was off, but you looked perfectly fine.

“Your friend has adopted a vampire.” Taeyong simply explained to mark while his eyes bore into yours. 

“What?” Mark questioned him again as if he hadn’t heard him correctly.

“You heard me. We’ll set him up in the basement. Tell the others.” Taeyong commanded Mark while he grabbed your arm and pushed you inside the house. “And you, you stay in the kitchen.” He told you when you were safely inside the house. Mark went back inside, yelling for the others to come down, while Taeyong grabbed Jaehyun from his trunk. 

You listened to Taeyong and waited in the kitchen. You had no clue what the others were doing in the basement, but you didn’t hear any noises to make you feel worried. Mark was the first to come up, but he seemed as cheerful as ever. 

“Taeyong is going to drive you home. I’m staying with Jaehyun.” Mark told you while you were scrolling through your phone. You were glad to spend some more time with Taeyong, but at the same time, it made you feel worried. Was he going to scold you?

“He’s not pissed. Don’t worry.” Mark explained when he saw your worried expression. You relaxed a little bit but still acted stiff. The past 24 hours had been tiring, to say the least.

“I’ve brought enough trouble into this house.” You confessed while you looked down at your hands. Mark quickly came over to your side to wrap you into a big bro hug.

“You’re a troublemaker, I’m not going to deny that.” He whispered with a teasing smile which you gladly returned.

“Are you trying to make me feel better?” You asked him with a raised eyebrow, earning a wholesome laugh out of him.

“I don’t know how to handle this situation.” He confessed finally.

“I’m not scared of you, and I would like to keep my best friend.” You told him earnestly. He looked relieved by your answer.

“You’re never going to lose me.” He told you. His arm was still around you when Taeyong returned to the kitchen. He had his car keys in hand, signalling you to move. You said your goodbye to Mark and followed Taeyong outside. 

The moment you stepped into his car, a strange awkwardness filled the small space. Your heart was racing, and not because you were scared, but because Taeyong was near.

“Why aren’t you scared? You should be scared of me. I could tear you apart in a second.” He finally broke the silence when you were almost at your house.

“Do you want me to be scared of you?” You asked him while fidgeting with your hands. You seemed to do that a lot around him.

“I’m no good.” He confessed softly. You looked over at him, and he looked like a broken man. He probably had never chosen this life, and it made you think that Jaehyun and Mark also seemed like they didn’t want to be like this. It made you feel sad, and you tried to comfort him, but you didn’t know how to. He pulled over in front of your parent’s house, but you didn’t want to get out just yet. You finally had him close to you, and you weren’t letting him go that easily.

“My parents warned me about drugs and freaks in the streets, but never the ones with the hazel eyes and the missing heartbeats.” As you looked into his eyes, you could feel him searching deep into your soul. “I’m not scared, because you have never given me a reason to. You were there when I needed you most.” You explained to him while he kept his eyes fixed on you. His brown eyes showed you the admiration he had for you, it made you feel dizzy and bold. You cupped his face into your hands. He let it happen as if he had anticipated your behaviour.

“You’re a special one, aren’t you?” He said while his hand found their way to your face. He gently stroked your cheek, as if he was afraid to scare you away. He looked at you as if you were a porcelain doll, and you didn’t mind. He had never looked at any of the other girls in your town. He had never even given them a second glance, and here he was comfortably stroking your face in his car. Here you were with a Taeyong who looked at you as if you were extraordinary beautiful. Like you were important.

“Only for you.” You whispered, but your speeding heart gave you away. He must have heard the change of pace because he suddenly broke out into an adorable smile.

“What are you doing Friday?” He asked you, and you couldn’t hide your excitement.

“I’m free.” You told him eagerly. “I have absolutely no plans.” You continued, which made Taeyong laugh that soft giggle of his. You had a feeling you were the only human who had ever heard him laugh like this.

“Do you maybe want to go to a movie or something?” He stuttered softly. If he weren’t a vampire, he probably would’ve been blushing. You tried to calm yourself down, but with butterflies in your stomach and a head buzzing with possibilities, there was no way you could control your speeding heart.

“Are you asking me out on a date?” You asked him teasingly, masking the sound of your heart leaping out of your chest.

“If that’s okay with you.” He asked for your permission, which almost made your heart combust into a million pieces. Could your heart survive a date with Taeyong? You weren’t so sure.

“Absolutely.” You told him. You quickly gave him a kiss on his cheek before running inside. Your action might have been bold, but you regretted your straightforwardness. It was clear Taeyong had never asked anyone out on a date, and maybe you shouldn’t have tried to push his buttons. You sneaked a glance outside, and Taeyong was still parked in front of your house. You saw him touching his cheek with a soft smile, before driving off. You were almost sure you wouldn’t survive a date with Taeyong.

[awesomelyanxiouspanda]

Jealousy (Billy Loomis/Reader/Stu Macher)

Repost from my deleted Tumblr!

Some days you really regretted taking a position on the student council; today was one of those days. Being one of the more responsible members, Principal Himbry called on you quite often for help. In fact, you spent so much time at his beck and call that really made you question his motives for having you around sometimes. If it wasn’t the only extracurricular activity on your college applications, you’d just leave the council entirely and tell them to screw off.

You never knew what the principal would ask you to do from day to day. He had you help with planning for holidays and celebrations, tutoring other students, and showing around new transfer students. Today was tutoring.

It usually wasn’t the worst task in the world, especially with the nicer students, but Himbry had specifically requested you do it now- during lunch- instead of letting you do it tomorrow morning as it had been scheduled. Something about Andy now having football practice before the game. So not only did you have to miss lunch, you had to miss the only break during school that you got to spend with your boyfriends. Worse even, you hadn’t gotten to warn them ahead of time. Hopefully they wouldn’t be too upset. Billy and Stu wouldn’t be angry with you over the situation of course, they were too sweet to you for that, but their disappointment was worse than their anger.

“Hey, Y/N,” Andy called, snapping his fingers in front of your eyes.

“Eh? Wha- Oh sorry!” you quickly apologized, cheeks heating in embarrassment, “I must be more tired than I thought.”

He grinned brightly and waved off your apology with a chuckle.

“No big, dude. I get it. Sorry we had to change to today so suddenly. Coach is adamant that we get more practice in before the biggest game of the year,” Andy sighed.

Patting his hand easily, you gave him a warm smile. It wasn’t his fault you guys were stuck here in the library. Hell, he probably wanted to be out with his friends as much as you did.

“No need to apologize. That’s a lot of pressure. I’m sure you guys will do great though,” you assured him, “Let’s get through these last two problems and we’ll be golden. Might even have a few minutes left to snag some food.”

With a grateful smile, he nodded and hunched back over his paper.

“I dunno why I can’t get this shit when Mrs. Pembrook explains it,” he muttered.

“Sometimes you just need the one on one and silence to let things sink in,” you replied.

He really wasn’t dumb, as most people assumed. He was battling ADD and couldn’t focus unless there was someone to constantly redirect him; Not that you were much help in that today.

“So,” he paused with a big sigh then read off, “Carlos has taken an initial dose of a prescription medication. The relationship between the elapsed time in hours since he took his first dose and the amount of medication in milligrams in his blood stream is modeled by the following function”

You watched him closely work out the problem into steps, unable to help but feel a spark of pride and accomplishment as he slowly but surely made his way through the entire equation. When he jotted down the correct answer and looked up at you in questioning, you couldn’t stop a grin from crossing your face.

“Yes! Yes that’s it! You’ve so got this!” you cheered.

His cheeks darkened but there was an obvious glint of happiness in his eyes as he leaned back and pumped his fists.

“Only cause I’ve got the best tutor!” he replied.

“Okay, okay, one more. Let’s do this!” you encouraged him.

Once more he went through the word problem and sorted the equation out, step by step, until the right answer was written below.

“Mr. Andrew, I think my work here is done,” you giggled, reaching out for a well-placed high-five that made you palm ache.

“You’re the best, Y/N. Seriously, I can’t thank you enough. I feel like I might actually pass the final test,” he said sincerely.

You copied his earlier motion and waved off the thanks.

“Can’t wait to hear how you rocked it,” you replied.

“Alright, grub time!”

The two of you started cleaning up the papers and books and were almost finished when a call of your name caught your attention. Your head snapped up and you were greeted to the sight of your boyfriends marching to the table.

“Stu, Billy!”

Without much thought, you launched at them happily, grinning as Stu caught you a few inches from the floor.

“Hey babe,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to your cheek as you wrapped him up in a tight hug.

“What are you two doing in here?” Billy asked coolly.

Looking over, you found his arms crossed and a blank expression across his face. You let out a sigh and wiggled from Stu’s arms to tug Billy into a chaste kiss. Even that couldn’t make his obvious irritation go away.

“Oh hey Loomis, Macher,” Andy commented as he joined your trio before turning to you, “Thanks again, Y/N. See you at the game tomorrow?”

“You know it,” you replied, offering him a fist bump, “Kick some ass in the test tomorrow.”

Before he could touch his hand to yours, you were drawn back into the protective arms of your boys. For a moment you couldn’t figure out why until you felt the tenseness in their bodies. They were… jealous?

“Uh, yeah, anyway,” Andy muttered, “Catch you later, Y/N.”

The awkwardness was thick in the air as Stu sharply added, “Yeah, WE’LL see ya later dude.”

Yup. There was no denying that obvious message. Andy made a silent retreat quickly and you couldn’t blame him. You let out a little sigh and slumped against Billy, grinning despite the situation.

“What the fuck were you doing here with him? We’ve been looking everywhere for you. Thought maybe you were hurt or sick,” Billy grunted as he promptly turned to face you.

Stu mimicked his motions and both stood before you with stern expressions. Ugh, there came the ache of unnecessary guilt.

“I’m sorry. Himbry told me that I had to do our last tutoring session during lunch instead of tomorrow. I got called out of my last class so I didn’t have a chance to see you and tell you,” you explained.

Pouting slightly, you reached up and cupped a jaw in each hand, having to rise on tiptoes slightly to reach Stu.

“There’s no reason to be jealous, you know? He’s a nice guy but he’s got nothing on either of you,” you added, hoping to get through to them.

Finally Stu wilted, a whoosh of air escaping his mouth before he leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of your head.

“It’s not like we don’t trust you, babe. It’s the jerkwads we’re worried about,” he muttered.

“He didn’t try anything, did he?” Billy asked shortly.

“What? No, of course n-”

Your remaining words were muffled by his heated kiss. A wave of bliss ran down your being as you leaned into him, soaking up the passionate embrace.

Not to be outdone, Stu swept you hair aside and started kissing along you neck. His teeth found purchase hard in the bare flesh of your exposed shoulder. For a moment, you were panicked the librarian would catch you until you remembered she was out for lunch like the rest of the student body; upon the realization, you let out a soft moan and let the tension out of your body,

“Ah! Oh f-”

Your curse was cut off by a whimper as Billy copied a stinging bite on the other side. Everything seemed to float away, aside from pleasure and pain, as you melted between them. The burning grew almost unbearable and you knees weakened, urging you to give in and pat at them frantically.

With a pop, Stu pulled back first, and then Billy. Breathless and burning up, you swayed on your feet between them. Your shorter lover simply grinned at the faux glare you sent his way.

“What the hell was that for?” you demanded, albeit sounding more dazed than angry.

“Just wanted to remind others to stay away from our girl,” he replied.

He extended his hand and brushed a thumb softly along the freshly bitten flesh and you nearly dropped. Stu thankfully caught you. His giggle made butterflies storm your belly as you relaxed against him.

“I’m gonna get in trouble for these if they bruise,” you commented dryly.

“If anyone here says anything, you tell me and I’ll handle it,” Billy retorted seriously.

Swallowing thickly, you nodded in agreement and stood up to finally regain your footing. You were about to joke about needing a bandage for the wounds when the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. There was a heavy, collective sigh between the three of you immediately.

“Come on, we’ll help you carry your stuff back to your locker,” Stu said, leaving your side to scoop up your books from the table.

“I can easily carry those. You’re just looking for an excuse to be your paranoid, protective selves,” you teased.

“Damn right we are.”