#i hope this is okay to share i know i was super worried+frustrated and i know a lot of others were too haha | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

nycbaby21 · 1 year ago

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Young and Stupid

prompt: sharing a bed with your best friend's older brother

word count: 4,600

“I’m really sorry,” I hear my best friend’s voice rush over the phone. “Wow no hello, no how are you, no I miss you. You must be really sorry,” I laugh closing my book standing up and stretching. I had been sitting at my desk for the past three hours studying for my last final in an hour. “So I know the plan was for me to drive up and grab you and then head home,” Liana started and her voice trailed off. I groan already knowing I’m gonna hate what leaves her mouth next.

“So funny story, you know that really cute guy I was telling you about,” she continued. “Yes, I remember the very cute blonde with super blue eyes,” I say grabbing everything I needed and heading out of my dorm. I began walking to my last class and stayed on the phone with her the whole way. “Okay so come to find out he lives like an hour away from my parent's house. So he is gonna give me a ride home,” I stop in my tracks.

“Li, what are you saying,” I ask having a feeling where this is going. “I already talked to my parents and they are super excited to meet him. I can really see this going somewhere,” I can hear the smile in her voice. “Okay,” I say stopping at the stairs of my lecture hall. “You aren’t mad,” she asks, concern in her voice. “No, I’m not mad. I’ll just have to find a ride after I finish this test,” I say. “Don’t worry I already have one for you,” she says. “Liana Barzal what did you do,” I ask with a whine in my voice.

“Love you! Talk later, good luck with your test. You are gonna kick ass,” she rambles and then hangs up on me. I can’t let myself think about it and walk into the room focusing on the test at hand. After an hour, I walk out of the building and head back to my dorm. I tried to call Liana several times, but she never answered me. When I walked into my dorm, I could see why.

“Mat, what are you doing here,” I ask seeing her older brother lying down on my bed reading a book. “Geez about time you got back. I was so bored I started reading your stupid little book,” he says in a teasing tone. I snatched the book from his hands and put it on my desk. “Let’s try this again. “What are you doing here Mathew Barzal,” I ask with an attitude. I loved the whole Barzal family, they have become like a family to me over the years. Our parents were friends and then they had Liana and I at the same time. But Mat was a whole different story.

Ever since I could remember he would tease me. Little things never anything terrible or purposefully malicious. He would pull my hair out of the ponytail, always call me stupid nicknames, and my personal favorite pretend he didn’t know who I was almost all of high school. I had always hoped it was the classic, oh he likes you because he teases you kind of thing. Those dreams were shattered when I was around and his friends asked who I was, and he just replied just some girl my sister is friends with no one important. It was not like I had known him my whole life or anything.

“Oh, you used my full name. I’m so scared,” he laughed sitting up and staring down at me. My bed was raised so I could reach to slap the back of his head so I smacked his calf. He laughed at me and I just kept hitting him. Not hard enough for it to hurt, but it did feel good to let out some of my frustration. I had been so stressed with finals, maintaining my grades, and stupid boy problems.

“What the hell are you doing,” my roommate Maddie asks walking in with her girlfriend right behind her. “Aw Y/n, good for you. I’m glad you moved on from that loser. Also, this one is so much hotter,” Olivia says sitting down on the bed. My entire face burns red and I stop hitting Mat. “No no no. This is Mat,” I rush taking a few steps away from him. He quirks an eyebrow at me. “Oh shit my bad. I thought. You know what never mind what I thought. I’m just gonna sit here and look pretty,” she jokes with me. “You think he’s hot,” Maddie ask looking from Mat to Olivia. “I don’t know for a guy yeah. I mean I would never ever never. But I could see the appeal,” she shrugs explaining to her girlfriend.

“I don’t know. How you treat people is way more important than looks,” Maddie rolls her eyes continuing to pack her bag. The whole time I refused to make eye contact with him. “You know who I am,” he asks hopping down off the bed and leaning back against it. “You talk about me Y/n,” his voice comes off condescending. I huff and let out a groan and Olivia throws a pillow at me. I whack him in the face with it. He grabs my wrist and makes me freeze. Noticing the tension Maddie saves the day.

“I know a lot about you Barzal. Your sister is amazing by the way,” Maddie smirks, knowing she is riling him up. “You think Y/n/n talks about you. Please, you have no idea how many people try to get info on you from her. She has never once indulged them,” Olivia says thinking she is being helpful. I cut her a look and she stops talking. He looks down at me and his face softens. “What is she talking about,” he asked me. “Well, we should get on the road. Long drive down to Tennessee. Love you Y/n,” Olivia says grabbing Maddie’s stuff and heading for the door.

Maddie comes and wraps me up in a hug. “Call me okay. I love you and have a great break,” she smiles. “I love you and you guys too. Also Mads you got this. Any parent should be thrilled for their daughter to bring you home,” I give her arm a comforting squeeze. She nods and walks towards the door. “Barzal, if I hear one word about you hurting my girl you better be ready,” she threatens and closes the door. The air was thick in tension as soon as it was just the two of us.

Mat turns and opens his mouth to say something but I cut him off before he can. “Okay well, she should probably get on the road too,” I say grabbing my duffle bag and throwing it over my shoulder, and grabbing the suitcase with my free arm. I feel myself being pulled back and the weight on my left arm is now gone. Mat now had my pink duffle bag over his shoulder. He sent me a small smile and headed towards the door. This is gonna be a long trip.

I slowly walked behind him following him to his car in the parking lot. I let out a laugh and tried to cover it with a cough. His head snapped back to me and he smiled. “Yeah yeah, laugh it up,” he says putting my stuff in the back with his. “No I’m not laughing at you or the car I swear,” I laugh and he cuts me a look. “It’s just you’ve been in the NHL how long? They have to be paying you enough for a luxury car,” I say getting in the passenger door as he shuts it behind me. “Not that I need to explain myself to you, but there is no point in all of that. I mean this is a great little car, trustworthy, and dependable,” he says leaning over and looking backward to reverse the car. I hated to admit it to myself but he looked way too good doing that.

“No, you don’t have to explain anything to me. I just figured you would be all flashy and get a car to impress some girl,” I shrug looking outside my window and not at him. “Maybe the Mat you used to know would have done that. But I’m not that guy anymore,” he says glancing over at me. His stare makes me feel like the same little girl who had a monster crush on her best friend’s older brother. “Maybe,” I ask in a teasing tone getting a laugh out of him, like a real genuine smile. Happy with how the conversation was going and in fear of messing it up, I reached over and flipped through the stations trying to find a station.

“Here, just play something on here. The static is driving me crazy,” Mat says handing his phone over to me. I held it like it was a bomb, scared if I moved it would go off. “What,” he laughs eyes straight ahead. “I don’t know. It’s just no guy has ever just openly handed me his phone to go through,” I say opening his phone, he didn’t even have a password on it. His background makes me stop. It was a picture of Liana, him, my little sister, and me from one summer when we were kids on my dad’s boat. “Well you have been around the wrong guys,” he says snapping me out of my trance.

I didn’t even know that picture existed, let alone why Mat had it as his home screen. “Yeah well, you could say that again,” I laugh dryly and scroll through his playlist trying to find one. “Oh my gosh. You do not still have this,” I say shocked pulling up a playlist I made him one summer when he said I had terrible music taste and wanted to prove him wrong. I click play and the catchy beat of some random boyband I was obsessed with fills the car. He smiles and starts singing along with the song. “What? Don’t go feeling all special or whatever, it just has some good songs on it,” he says trying not to smile.

The next two hours are filled with us screaming the lyrics of the playlist and dancing around in the car. I had actually never had this much fun with Mat ever. He always treated me like his sister’s annoying friend. Right now it felt like he was treating me like a friend. The snow started to pick up more and more. We had turned down the music to almost nothing and I was helping him watch the road. “I saw a sign for a motel like half a mile back. I know it isn’t ideal but I can’t risk having you on the road in this weather,” he says slowing down even more and turning into the motel.

“Risk having me on the road? What about you,” I ask as he puts the car in park. “Liana and my parents would have my ass if anything happened to you,” he said looking over at me. I deflated a little bit, cursing myself for actually thinking maybe it was because he cared about me. I just nod my head and open the door grabbing my bags and heading for the door. “Hey wait slow down. What just happened back there,” he asks rushing forward and opening the door for me.

The lobby was filled with the same chill as outside. I shook off some of the snow that had gathered up on my clothes and hair. “I have no idea what you are talking about Barzal,” I say walking further inside towards the front desk. “Y/n you just completely shut down on me,” he says grabbing my forearm and pulling me back. I roll my eyes and look up at him. “I have no idea what you are talking about Mat. Look I’m tired and cold I just want to take a hot shower and sleep okay?”

I hear someone clear their throat and we both look towards the guy behind the desk. He has an annoyed expression on his face. I pull my arm away from Mat and walk towards the desk. “How can I help you tonight sweetheart,” his voice sends chills down my spine. He looked me up and down like he was a wild animal stalking his prey. “Uhm.. a room please,” I stutter out completely creeped out by this guy. My eyes shift over to Mat and then back to the guy. “Okay, so two rooms. That will be,” the guy is cut off by Mat. “One room actually,” Mat wore a smug look on his face. His arm slipped around me, and this time I leaned in and didn’t brush him off.

“Yeah sure okay,” he grumbles out typing away. Mat gave my side a squeeze and his thumb rubbed back and forth under my jacket. I tried to ignore the feelings that came with being this close to him. He was just trying to help like a big brother would. He didn’t see me as anything else. “Right this way,” he said and we followed him down a long hallway and to the last room in the hall. He opens the door and we both can see the room only has one bed in it. I try to control my face, but it must have slipped because the guy smirks down at me. “One bed alright with the happy couple,” he said emphasizing the word couple.

“Perfect with us. Right baby,” Mat leans down and looks at me. I nod my head, not trusting my voice in that moment. Fear overwhelmed my system, I just couldn’t tell if it was from the looks the clerk was giving me or the fact I had to share a bed with Mat tonight. “Well, I’ll leave you both to it. Come find me if you need anything okay,” he says directly at me slipping a wink in before walking away. Mat all picked me up and carried me into the room away from that guy.

He slams the door closed and I jump at the sudden loud noise. He turns around and looks at me. I have never been able to read Mat well, he always held his emotions close to himself. But in this moment I was grateful I couldn’t. He was seething with anger. He paced around the room rambling about how no man had any right to talk to a woman like that. I sat on the bed and watched him continue to walk around. “Mat, please. You are making me dizzy,” I groan falling back onto the bed with my legs still hanging off. I hear a deep sigh and feel the bed dip down next to me. “You okay,” I ask looking into his eyes.

“That doesn’t matter right now. Are you okay,” he asked voice soft. I nod feeling very vulnerable under his gaze. I open my mouth to ask him more about what the hell just happened but my phone ringing cut me off. “Y/n, finally you answer me. I got an alert that you and Mat both stopped and neither one of you picked up. I was scared to death something happened to you both,” Liana rushes out. “Li slow down okay. I am perfectly fine okay. The roads just got really bad and Mat pulled over and we found a motel to stay at. We are gonna get back on the road first thing in the morning,” I explain calmly trying to help ease her worry.

“Hey you know I wouldn’t ever let anything happen to her right,” Mat says to his sister looking straight at me. “Yeah, I know. Sorry, it’s just you guys are two of my favorite people, and if I lost you both,” her voice cracked and we heard a hushed voice comforting her. Mat raised his eyebrows and I smiled. “You can’t get rid of us that easy. We are gonna be annoying you for the foreseeable future,” I laugh telling her and trying to get off the phone before Mat realized who she was talking to. “Okay I love you guys,” she says before hanging up.

“Who was that,” he asked looking back to me. I laugh and shake my head jumping up. He quickly followed suit and stood after I did. “I am gonna go get that shower,” I say walking backward towards the bathroom. “Y/n tell me who she was talking to,” he says walking closer to me. I keep backing up until my back hits a wall. Mat is right in front of me looking down at me. “A friend,” I say in a hushed tone due to our closeness. “Uh-huh. A friend. Who is this friend,” he asks maintaining our current distance. “Maybe a friend who wants to be more than a friend,” I shrug and laugh at the face he makes. “Oh my god. She is a little rat,” he said backing up some.

“Why is she a little rat,” I ask finally getting to take a full breath. “She totally used me asking to bring you home as a way to hang out with a boy,” he says looking back to me, and then his eyes get big. “What did you just say,” I ask stepping closer to him. “I have no idea what you are talking about,” he says trying to keep distance between us and trips over my bag falling down. “I’m okay,” he says looking up at me and then laughing. “Are you sure,” I ask laughing back at him. “Positive. Now go get a shower, you kind of stink,” he jokes and I kick his shin lightly.

When I was in the shower my mind drifted back to the car ride here. It was so different than any other time I had spent with him. Maybe he was right, he wasn’t the same Mat I knew growing up. I was more confused now than I was before. I shake off all of the feelings coming back from my teenage years and get out of the shower. I go to change into some clothes and realize I didn’t grab a shirt. “Hey, Mat. Can you pass me a shirt? I forgot to grab one,” I yell hoping he can hear me over the sound of the TV he had going. I hear a muffled sound and then a quick knock on the door. I open it and come face to face with him.

His eyes drifted down and back up very quickly, he was hoping I hadn’t noticed. It was just the same as him seeing me in a swimsuit in the summer, which he had seen several times. Something different was floating around his mind, but I just couldn’t tell what. He cleared his throat and handed me the shirt. “Thanks,” I say softly and step back into the bathroom slipping the shirt over my head. I noticed how much bigger it was than normal and finally looked at myself in the mirror. He had given me one of his Islanders training shirts. I try not to think too much about it, but the small part of me who still believes in fairytale endings drifts.

I walk out turning the lights off in the bathroom and turning to face him. His shirt was so long it covered the shorts I had on. He looked up at me and his jaw tightened slightly. The air was weird between us again like it was earlier. “What are you watching,” I ask looking over at him when he doesn’t answer me. I call his name again and he looks over at me. “Oh uhm I don’t know some random comedy I found,” he says sitting up straighter in the bed. I nod my head at him and walk around the side of the bed opposite him. I pull back the blankets and carefully slip into the bed being very cautious of our personal space.

“Are you cold,” he asks looking over only being able to see me when the TV flashed a bright color. “No, I’m good I promise,” I say back lying to him. “Y/n/n, I can feel you shivering over there,” he says looking over at me. I feel his hand touch mine under the covers and he winces. “Your hands are freezing,” he says. He scoots closer and pulls me towards him. “Mat, I’m fine really,” I try and push him off. He ignores me and pulls me into his chest. I immediately feel warmer, either from his body heat or my face flushing.

We both stay still as a board, both afraid of moving too much and scaring the other. I could feel his breath and hear his heartbeat. That was the only thing comforting me because he was as fast as mine. “Hey can I ask you a question,” he asks running his hand up and down my arm. “Yeah, you can ask me anything,” I say looking up at him. “Earlier when your roommate and her girlfriend were talking they said you never talk about me even when people ask. Does that happen a lot? People asking you about me,” he asks his hand stopping and resting on my upper arm. “Yeah, I guess it does. I mean people know me from Li’s Instagram and figure I am close with you or whatever. So girls try to be friends with me to get closer to you. Or guys only ask me out thinking I will introduce them to you,” I say scared of how he will act.

“I am really sorry that happened to you Y/n,” he says looking down at me. I look up at him and smile. “It’s okay Mat. Not anything I’m not used to,” I replied. “Has this always happened,” his question made me sigh. I just nod against his chest. “How long,” his voice breaks. “I don’t know, freshman year. It wasn’t because you were mister hot-shot hockey back then. It was because you were this hot older guy every girl our age was crazy about. So that’s why Li and I have always been really selective of our friends,” I answer back. We stay quiet for a minute and then I feel his chest vibrate some. “What,” I ask looking up at him and seeing a smile on his face. “Every girl your age thought I was hot, eh,” he asks in a teasing tone, but not the same one from childhood.

“Wow out of all of that, you wanna know if I thought you were hot,” I roll my eyes and push away from him. His grip tightens on me and I laugh with him. “Why does it matter what I thought of you way back then,” I ask. “I don’t know,” he shrugs. “Can I ask you a question now,” I counter and he nods. “What did I do to you growing up,” his eyebrows furrow at my question. “I mean it was like you had it out for me. Anything I did, you had a teasing comeback for it. And then in high school you just ignored me. So I’m asking you if I did something,” I ask waiting for a response.

“You didn’t do anything, I swear. Well not intentionally anyway. You couldn’t help me having feelings for you. I don’t know as kids I thought of you just like Li and your sister. And then one day you weren’t the same anymore. I noticed how my feelings were changing with you. And I was stupid and young and had no clue what I was doing so I was just mean.” I stayed quiet just listening to him. “Then high school came around and some of the jerks I called friends started asking questions about you. Like who you were and some other stuff I’m not gonna repeat. So I just thought if you weren’t an active part of my life maybe guys like that would leave you alone. You were way too good for them,” he finished and stared ahead. “Mat, will you please look at me,” I ask, his eyes drifting across my face and landing on my eyes. He nods and I look at him,” Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“Like I said, I was a young stupid kid. I was scared of you. You were my sister’s best friend, our parents are super close, and I just knew that I would screw something up. And it wouldn’t just be us it would be us I messed up, but everyone else would suffer,” he said. “Well are you still,” I ask, taking a leap of faith. “Still what,” his voice is filled with confusion. “Are you still young and stupid,” I whisper back to him. “Up until yesterday. Yeah, I was,” he replied. “What changed today,” I question leaning in closer to him. “I finally quit trying too hard around you. I was just Mat with you today. And it felt really nice,” he smiled leaning down our lips almost touching. “Tell me to stop and I will. We can pretend this never happened and go back to whatever we were. Even though that might actually kill me, I’ll do it if that’s what you want,” he says his breath fanning my face.

I close the distance between us by grabbing his cheeks with my hands pulling him closer. It didn’t even take him a second to fall into rhythm with me. All those years of secretly pining and hidden feelings were finally being released. I kissed him until I physically couldn’t anymore needing to breathe. “Holy shit,” I say resting our foreheads together.” If I had known that was what I was missing I would have said something sooner,” he laughed making me smile. “Well, we have about ten years to catch up on,” I smile at him reconnecting our lips.

The next morning I woke up all tangled up in Mat’s embrace. I nuzzled into his chest harder, waking him in the process. “Please tell me last night wasn’t some dream,” he says not opening his eyes yet. “No, you dork. It wasn’t a dream,” I laugh kissing the space between his shoulder and neck. “I don’t really wanna leave the motel, is that bad,” he asks running his hand in my hair. “No, it isn’t that bad,” I smile. “Good because I’m pretty sure Li may just kick my ass,” he laughs. “Am I worth it,” I ask looking up at him. “Worth every second of ass-kicking,” he says kissing my nose. I kiss his lips again and my phone ringing interrupted us. “Oh god, it’s her, isn’t it? She is already cockblocking me and she doesn’t even know yet,” he groans throwing his head back.

“Are you both still alive,” she jokes. “Yes we are both still alive,” Mat groans into the phone before moving us to where he could rest his face on my neck. My hands go to his hair and start running my fingers through it. “Well, I’m sorry for asking. Geez Y/n maybe you should have given him some and he wouldn’t be acting like an ass this morning,” she laughs and stops when she realizes neither one of us answers. “Oh my god. You did not,” she screams.

#nycbaby21works #nhl imagine #mat barzal imagine #mat barzal #new york islanders

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cocogrrrl · 1 year ago

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who are you?

while you're on a date with your boyfriend, when a girl comes up claiming that she's his boyfriend. (requested!)

main three (separate) x gn!reader cw: fear of being cheated on/replaced for two, yn being called a whore + sleaze wc: 2046 for all

an: my first request!!!!!! >▿< i hope this suffices! also stan's is a lot more light hearted than kenny and kyle's huhu

🍀 k. broflovski (wc: 679)

You were out on a park date with Kyle. The two of you were propped up against a tree, with your body loosely leaning on his as well. You buried yourself further into him, your lips humming against his neck.

He seemed to find the action ticklish, brushing you off of his shoulder by gently holding your head up by the chin as if you were just as delicate as porcelain. He stared at you, and you could tell that it seemed like he couldn’t get enough of you.

“I love-” you whispered against his lips, right before being cut off by a foreign voice off in the distance.

“Who are you?” A random girl spat out right in front of you. Kyle immediately let go of your chin, both of you sharing a confused look before looking back at her.

Kyle was the first one to answer. “What do you mean?” He asked, turning his head at the girl.

“Huuhhhh!? You’re my boyfriend, duh! Why are you hanging out with… that?” She said. Immediately, your head whipped towards Kyle’s direction, eyes pleading to confirm or deny that what she said was true.

“Look,” he sighed, closing his eyes—an action you’ve come to familiarize yourself with whenever he got upset or angered. Hopefully, he hasn’t been lying to you, right? I mean, he does seem genuine, but…god. “I have no idea who you are or what you’re trying to do. Can you just leave us alone?”

She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Yeah, that’s exactly what a two-timing dick would say!”

“I think you’re looking for the wrong guy. I’m not whoever your boyfriend is.”

“Yes, you are! You’re,” she took a short pause. “...Brad.” She said with full conviction. It felt almost as if a thunderstorm swept itself off your shoulder. You released the biggest sigh you must’ve let out in your life. “And I can’t believe you’re cheating on me! With someone less hotter than me, not to mention.”

“Don’t you dare talk about my partner like that!” Now he snapped, pulling you close to him. ��Just cut whatever the fuck you’re trying to do. You got the wrong name anyway!”

She stared at him in shock and disbelief, her jaw dropping on the floor. She turned around, probably to walk away now, but before she did, she leaned into you. “Watch out for that son of a bitch.” She said, walking away right after.

“I’m sorry,” he let out an exasperated sigh, holding your body up as he rested his head on your shoulder. “Gah, I feel so embarrassed.”

“Hey,” you cooed, patting his head. “It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know, but I,” he mumbled, his frustration making him grip onto you a little tighter. “Agh, thank you.” He raised his head, smiling at you. “I hope you weren’t super worried or anything.”

“I kinda was…” You pouted. “It’s not your fault or anything! I know you're better than that. My mind just started jumping to conclusions faster than I could stop it. Sorry.”

“No, no,” he said, removing his hands wrapped around you to lift your head, making you make eye contact with him. “I understand.”

“Thank you, Kyle, especially for when you were defending me earlier.” You hummed, leaning into his touch.

“Thank you too, YN, for not storming out or anything.” He laughed. “You were about to say something earlier, right? Before that whole thing happened?”

Your mind snapped back to earlier, and you quickly nodded. “It was nothing.”

“No, I wanna hear it.” He smiled.

“Ah, well,” you nervously mumbled against his hand. “I just wanted to say I love you…” Your words came up more muffled than remotely discernable, to which Kyle found himself giggling.

“What?”

You raised your head from his hand, dragging your lips right next to Kyle’s—the same position you two were in a few moments ago. “I just wanted to say I love you.” You whispered, all breathy.

“I love you too.” He giggled, nudging his nose into yours as he briefly closed the gap.

🍁 k. mccormick (wc: 755)

Traveling through the streets with Kenny, your arms were intertwined—swinging as you two circled around the town. You two shared your headphones. The sun shone but hid within the cloud, so you two weren’t burning right now. If anything, the lush breeze of cold winds blew against you two and made everything cold for you.

Suddenly, something stopped the two of you dead in your tracks.

“Who are you?” A girl spoke up, making you two put your little walk on pause. “And what are you doing with my boyfriend?” Quickly, your head jolted towards Kenny’s, who gave you a look just as shocked as yours.

Now, your relationship with him was still awfully fresh. Before this, he often went from girl to girl. He never really was confirmed to have dated two people at once, but he was a heartthrob amongst most, nonetheless. You worried, like any other rational person. What if he was really two-timing you two?

You turned back to look at her, mumbling out a nervous “I don’t know?” You didn’t notice it at first, but you let go of his hand, your concerns quickly getting the better of you.

“Well, he is my boyfriend, and I think you’re just being used by him.” She said, pushing you off to the side as she hugged Kenny’s arms like a koala—who pushed her off of him immediately.

“Kenny, is this true?” You looked at him, maintaining a farther distance from him. You were worried, maybe a little insecure too. Those attributes were playing themselves to the maximum right now.

“God, of course not!” He clicked his tongue, shaking his head and walking over to grab you by the sides of your arms. You flinched and took a few steps behind. “YN. I’d never do a thing like that. I understand you’re worried, given everything about me before, but I promise.”

“How can I be sure of that?” You looked worriedly at him, then back at the girl who had a smug grin on her face.

“Because I like you,” he breathed out. “I like you a whole lot.” He smiled at you, not daring to move any closer for fear it would make you uncomfortable. “And because I have no fuckin’ idea who this girl is.” For a split second, you felt like you could completely trust him again like he was being genuinely honest. For a split second, just his gaze cured you of all your worries.

The girl spoke up once more. “What? I’m your girlfriend!” Just like that, your fears snapped back as fast as they left. You stood there frozen, watching what Kenny would say next.

“Look, girl, I really don’t know who you are.” Kenny rolled his eyes, sighing as he rubbed the back of his neck to relieve some tension. “So unless you got some hard proof that we’ve hooked up before, like texts or pictures or somethin’, YN is my partner as far as I’m concerned.”

She scoffed in reply, but she remained silent. Seems like she was stirring up some trouble all for nothing then. “I… I don’t, but I can’t believe you’re sleeping around with some sleaze!”

He walked up to her, pressing his hands firmly on her shoulders. “Now, you don’t talk to my partner like that, yeah? You know as much about me as I know as much about you—which is none. Stop prying yourself here. It’s fucking embarrassing and you’re only humiliating yourself.” He turned her body away from his direction, giving her a little push. He pulled you and lead you into the opposite direction she was facing.

“Are you okay?” Kenny asked, wrapping his arm around you.

“Yeah, don’t worry,” you sighed, resting your head on his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry for that. I’d never do that to you, you know?” He cooed, playing with your hair with the arm around you.

“I know, I know, but that had me completely worried for a second—if I’m being honest and all.”

“I get why. I can’t say I blame you. I mean, I’d be as worried as you were if I were in the same position.” You found him resting his head on yours as well. “But, I just hope you know that ever since we got together, I’ve completely changed from that side of me. I really like you a lot, and I just can’t bare the thought of losing you because of something stupid like that.”

“Ken?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you, Kenny. I like you a lot too.”

🎸 s. marsh (wc: 612)

You and Stan were by a bar, mindlessly chatting as you two were mindlessly drinking. The atmosphere was crowded and busy. Though it would be overwhelming, especially adding onto the strong scents of alcohol and sweat, you’ve learned how to tune those things out as best as you could.

Stan was currently talking about what he and his best friend Kyle were up to earlier, you gazing deeply at him—forgetting to pay attention, even. “Yeah, and then Kyle was all angry all of a sudden. I get it, though, but like-”

A whiny, near-shrill voice caught both of your attention. “There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” She sighed, taking a seat right next to him, hugging his arm.

Needless to say, Stan had a bothered look, pulling his arm away from her as he faced back to you, mouthing a ‘Who is she?’ at you. You shrugged.

To be honest, you were pretty sure that Stan hasn’t been seeing other people. I mean, he spent most of his time either with you, Kyle, or at work. He work alongside Kyle, and you trusted his friend, so you were sure you would’ve heard something already if he was doing something like that.

The girl behind scoffed. “Oh, my god! You’re so embarrassed. Why did you do that to me? Your girlfriend? Hellooooo?” She yelled amongst all the noise, waving a hand in front of his face.

Stan rolled his eyes, pinching his nose. “Dude, look,” he sighed, turning his direction towards her. “I only talk to, like, five people a day, max—and that includes my parents. I don’t know what your deal is, but I literally have no idea who you are.” He replied blankly but at the same volume.

“You’re only saying that because you're with some trashy whore you found on the street. You’re too nice to hurt her feelings.” She sneered, glaring at you deeply. You weren’t hurt by her comment, you were better than that, but you did find her really funny.

“Don’t say that. That’s my actual partner.” He shook his head, rubbing the sides of it to cool himself down. “We’ve been together for a year now. You’re just embarrassing yourself.”

“But I am your girlfriend!” She pouted, landing a fist on the table.

“Don’t think so.” He hummed nonchalantly, taking a sip of his drink.

“You’re so annoying! I’m breaking up with you.”

“Wow. I’m so hurt.” He replied sarcastically, tapping his foot and resting his head on the palm of his hand as he waited for the exchange to be over.

“Ugh, don’t come crying saying you regret you did!” She cried, pushing him as she got out of the place, making a beeline towards the door underneath the luminous ‘exit’ sign.

“Uhuh, ‘kay. Buh-bye.” He said, double-checking if she was actually gone. A few moments after she was gone, you burst into a laugh. Stan rolled his eyes at first but found himself joining you as well—with him even ending up banging on the table.

“What exactly just was that?” You exhaled, catching a breath as you wiped away a tear from your laughs.

“No idea. Fuckin’ weak, though, babe,” he said, brushing your hair out of your face as he tucked the strands behind your ears. “You’re okay, though, right? I’m sure you are. I’m just checking up on you if-”

“Stan, I’m fine. I trust you.” You giggled, pressing a peck on his cheek. “Especially because you had the balls to admit that the only people you talk to, other than Kyle and me, are your parents.”

He groaned, rolling his eyes in annoyance. “Shut up. Oh, my god.”

#cocogrrrl's writing #kyle broflovski x reader #kyle broflovski x y/n #kyle broflovski x you #kyle x reader #kenny mccormick x reader #kenny mccormick x you #kenny mccormick x y/n #kenny mcormick x reader #stan marsh x y/n #stan marsh x you #stan marsh x reader #stan x reader #south park x reader #south park fanfiction

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thatdeadaquarius · 2 years ago

Note

hi! quick tip: if you’re on mobile type ‘:readmore:’ then hit enter! i dunno if you’ve been told but. yeah :)

also, your recent piece on apd was incredible!! very nice to see representation!! keep up the excellent work <3 it did get me thinking though: reader with vocal stims, cementing it in the acolytes’ minds that you don’t speak the language of teyvat, and then you’re all just stuck in this loop of “oh man they don’t speak the same language of me” but they DO

if asks are closed or this is outside of your comfort zone then feel free to delete! have a lovely day <3

AHFJLAKLOSUDBABWB U FELT REPRESENTED YAY!!

A cookie for thee, and also extra for telling me how to do Expand thingy on mobile ilysm 🤲🍩🍪✨️ (pspspsps all askers,, u get cookies,,cometothedarksidepspspspspsss)

I was so worried bc it wasnt like super all the aspects of Apd issues, and it was very based on my personal experience w/ similar symptoms + other bits of ppl's experience so i was hoping it still felt somewhat recognizable for ppl w/APD!! Tysm for the feedback :D

NOTE ABOUT VOCAL STIM DEPICTED:

So i think ive experienced verbal stims, so this is a combination of others shared experiences + personal experience, and while everybody experiences things individually/their own way, please let me know if there is something obviously inaccurate/maybe even offensive.

You will definitely not make me mad or otherwise offended, I really want to hear that kind of feedback from others who vocal stim!

Thank you so much for reading! :)

___________________♡_____________________

So lets just say that ur vocal stims r pretty non-verbal or non-sensical ("her sister was a WITCH BRO-" like memes that dont make sense to them)

Or like, u have verbal stims that r actual language but they dont hang around long enough to hear it maybe ??

♤

So like, this ends up happening

Chongyun was exploring near Qingce village for supernatural stuff as usual

And U were just vibin, chillin near Qingce village livin ur best Creator god cottagecore life

And ur like planting a new seedbed, Jueyun Chilis :) (bc jfc however bad it was to collect them in game, its 10x worse in person, ur tired of running around town getting chilis, Qingce isnt exactly flat 💀)

♡

And every seed u put in the dirt ur like "boop!"

And Chongyun comes by, bc u at edge of town, and the villagers mentioned a strange new traveler settling here

He immediately feels a wave of that same feeling he used to feel when the Creator god had their eyes on him, or would assist him in battles

So poor boy almost overheats trying to climb up the hill to ur house

And is like "??...Creator??"

Then kinda stops bc ur just like-

"Boop!" "Boop!" "Boop!" ☺️ LMAO

And then u finish planting seeds, get the watering can,,

And everytime u pour it just-

... "EJACK! Come, water!"

(Ur saying it so fast too, and he's still somewhat farther away, so he cant rlly hear that well too)

...

And its just so incomprehensible to Chongyun he's deadass like "A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE??!"

So of course,

He waves, 👋

And ur like omg icy boy!! :D 🧊💙

But u dont say anything yet, and then he starts,, miming?? He points at u? Then like?? Points up? The sky?? Then like, mimes swinging his claymore???

(ARE U THE CREATOR??!!)

U look up, very confused 🧐

He seemes frustrated.

Then he just kinda, bows and leaves?

...

...oh no.

Do Teyvat people speak that crazy language that u saw in game?

Instead of English??

Well.

Shit.

...

.... U havent rlly talked to anyone in Qingce yet since u just got here in Teyvat like a week ago

And found this abandoned house

♧

It just gets worse 😭

Bc slowly, one by one,

Each playable character in Liyue comes to attempt to talk to you

(And since u have a farm, and they keep giving u food/goods? For some reason?? U still dont need to go into town)

☆

At one point, even Zhongli shows up

And thru complex miming and hand motions u think he means dont worry abt him? Like just go back to what u were doing?? Okay??

U guess he's just gonna chill here for now?

...

...Zhongli just kinda,, squints, and puts his hand on his chin in his classic "thinking very hard" face

So ur tending to the garden saying,

" FREDDY! You're supposed to be on lockdown!Vanessa...I'm... a Material Gworl✨️"💀

...Just, on an endless loop LMAO-

...

(Hes trying to see if he recognizes any part of ur language, poor old man 🤔🤔😭)

♤

And it just snowballs even more, and now,

None of you have even tried to say a word to each other. 🤡

(Other than ur vocal stims)

...

Keqing: "Perhaps, it's similar to Fontaine's native language?"

You, in the background: "🎵 dUdE,,, sHe'S jUsT nOt InTo YoU 🎵" (mimicking the autotune and everything)

Ganyu & Keqing: "..."

You: " 🎵 gOtTa MoVe On, mOvE oN-🎵 Hurricane Katrina?? More like Hurricane Tortilla!"

Ganyu & Keqing: "...Can't be,"

"what else do we got? Should we call Yunjin to better mime for us??"

♡

Xiao's the first one to even get close to knowing u can actually talk to each other, bc he's always checking in on u most often <3

And he only heard u bc u swore u heard a monster outside ur house one night and came out ur house with a pitchfork, very nervous,

"...Hey there demons.. it's me.. ya boy."

(And u just keep stimming that out of nervousness to make urself feel better as u check around ur house lol)

Xiao: "??? Demons???!! WAIT-"

♧

By then, it literally took like 6 months for yall to finally have a real conversation 💀💀

...

(Chongyun got so embarassed bc he was one of the first few to misunderstand he overheated rip🙏)

Im. So. Sorry. This. Is. ✨️Ass✨️

Twas the best scenario i could come up with, im telling yall, im not as funny as the ppl who send in these asks 😔

Keep in mind, I never claimed i was funny or a good writer, u cant hold it against me lol /lh

Lower ur expectations LMAO

Well i hope u got sm enjoyment outta this anon, sorry abt the quality!! :)

Cheers,

🌒🌊🌧Aquarius♒️🌌🌘

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littlespacereader · 11 months ago

Note

Hi! Can I request a fic of cg! Hobie brown and little! Reader? Reader is shy when they regress, which causes a lot of miscommunications between hobie and them (like needs such as eating,potty, changing etc) so he makes the reader communication cards so they can both understand each other? Thanks!

Ahhhhh!!!! So cute!!! I absolutely love the idea of using cards to communicate. It’s so hard sometimes when your regressed to properly articulate how your feeling or what you need. This idea is so cute and super helpful! I absolutely loved writing this so I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for the request!

The Talking Cards 🕷️🃏

Caregiver!Hobie Brown & GN Little!Reader. (SFW)

Tags - accidents, miscommunication to communicate, comfort, communication cards, dips

Nicknames - darling, sweet one, sweetheart, sweetie

When Hobie first met Y/N he noticed how shy they were about their regression. In fact, he didn’t know about Y/N’s regression until he accidentally stumbled upon them regressed in their shared apartment.

After that day and a long talk when Y/N wasn’t regressed, Hobie officially became Y/N’s Caregiver!

He loves it, every second of it. But lately, there’s been a few bumps in the road.

It started at the dinner table one night. It has been a long day for the two so stayed in for the night and ordered takeout. Y/N sat quietly except for the occasional squirm here and there.

Then suddenly they were in a panic, pulling on his arm and whining.

“Y/N, what’s wrong darling? What’s going on?” Hobie asked but Y/N didn’t say a word. They just kept pulling on his arm and whining.

“Y/N, you gotta talk to me. What going on?”

Y/N just shook their head as tears started to fall from their eyes. Suddenly an answer to the panic became known as Y/N’s lap got darker and the sound of liquid started to hit the floor.

“Oh darling. Oh sweetheart I am so sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you needed to go potty.”

Y/N just continued to cry, unable to talk. Hobie felt horrible, absolutely horrible about the whole situation. He felt like it was his own fault. That maybe he should’ve known somehow.

Regardless he took Y/N into his arms and comforted them. “I’m so sorry Y/N. I promise I’ll make it better. You’re okay.” He comforted. After that he helped them get cleaned up.

The next time it happened was in the afternoon a few days after. Y/N was peaceful playing in the living room while Hobie was tuning his guitar. After a little while Y/N came over and started pulling on his arm to get his attention.

“Hey darling, what’s going on?”

They didn’t say anything. They just looked down and started to blush.

“Alright, ummm…you need to go potty?” He asked, starting to guess.

That got no response.

“Okay, ummmm…you need a change?” He asked again.

No response.

“Huh? Not that either.”

Finally something did the talking. Y/N’s stomach let out a big growl, taking it upon itself to speak up. The noise caused both Y/N and Hobie to giggle.

“I guess your stomach had enough! Alright sweetie, you heard your tummy. Let’s get you some food.” And with that he picked his little one up and carried them into the kitchen.

After that Hobie took it upon himself to come up with an idea to the situation. It wasn’t Y/N’s fault. He knew his little one was shy when they regressed.

He also wasn’t frustrated. He, more than anything, wanted to do everything he could possibly think of to accommodate and better take care of his little one. So, while cuddling up with Y/N one night, the idea struck him!

The next morning he got to work. Y/N watched him with a carful but curious eye. They couldn’t help but wonder what’s got their Caregiver so proactive?

Finally once finished, Hobie walked over and sat beside Y/N on the couch.

“Listen, I’ve been putting a lot of thought into things lately. And I want to start off by saying I’m not mad or frustrated or anything of that sort. I’ve just been worried that I haven’t been able to take care of you properly because I can’t understand your needs. I understand that when it comes to your regression you don’t know how to articulate things properly and it makes it hard for you to speak. So I came up with a solution.”

He handed them a stack of cards. Each card has a phrase or word in bold letters at the top with a picture of whatever it was describing. All the cards were attached to a ring so they could stay together.

“See, everything you could possibly ask for or need is on these cards. And if there isn’t one that’s on the card then I can asked yes or no questions and you can use these card to say yes or no. How does this all sound to you Y/N?”

Y/N looked at the cards in awe. They were the perfect solution! They carefully looked through all the cards before settling on the card that read “good” with a thumbs up drawing.

Hobie smiled and wrapped his arm around Y/N. “That’s good to hear.”

The cards became a huge success! Now they could better communicate with each other without one or the other feeling confused or not being heard.

One night Y/N pulled on Hobie arm and held the “potty” card up. Immediately Hobie was on his feet helping his little one to the toilet.

Another day they were hanging out watching tv. But a new program came on and was too loud, so Y/N pointed to their card which perfectly said “too loud”.

Y/N stomach didn’t need to speak for them because now with the “snack” card they could properly tell Hobie how they were feeling.

Lastly before heading to a gig Y/N pulled on his sleeve and handed him the cards before looking down. The top card read “change” sign a little drawing of a diaper. Even at their most shy moments like a diaper change, they could still communicate their needs.

After changing Y/N into a fresh diaper, Hobie handed Y/N their cards back. “Here you are darling.”

Y/N smiled and flipped through the cards. Finally they settled upon one and turned it towards Hobie. It simply said “Thank you” with a drawing of a heart.

Hobie smiled and winked, “Anything anytime for you darling.”

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damn-stark · 1 year ago

Text

Chapter 7 The ballad of a Jujutsu sorcerer

Chapter 7 of Sugar

A/N- I really love how this chapter turned out!!

Warning- Swearing, fluff, ANGST, talks of blood and death, violence, long chapter.

Pairing- Suguru Geto x Gojo!fem-reader

Episode- 2x03-2x04

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

“Suguru…”

He blinks at the sound of his name softly leaving your lips. He parts his lips and looks into your eyes. He notices that you’re beginning to look nervous about something by that one look so he doesn’t say anything, he waits patiently for what you had prepared.

“I—” you cut yourself off before you could finally express yourself because your phone suddenly begins to ring.

Even so, you don’t want this to ruin the moment so you quickly pick it up and decline the call to return to what you can’t hold back anymore.

“Sorry,” you laugh softly. “Suguru—”

Once again your phone fucking rings, this time though since the person seemed desperate to reach you, you pick up the phone and read who it is; Ieiri Shoko.

Fuck her.

You answer the phone and turn sharply on your heels to begin walking down the path instead. “I was in the middle of something,” you greet your friend coldy. “It better be urgent.”

Suguru follows you at your side and without needing to say anything he reaches over and takes your hand in his, basking your cold hand with his warmth. It usually would make you smile, but because of the persistent third wheel on the phone, you don't.

“Sorry,” Shoko excuses her interruption. “It’ll be quick promsie. I just need to know where you put your nail polish? The expensive one, the very dark red one? I chipped my nail today so I want to paint them again.”

You sigh deeply and feel Suguru glance at you with worry because of it.

“It’s in my room,” you grumble and begin to examine the street now since the moment was ruined. “It’s on my vanity.”

Shoko snickers and probes. “What were you doing? Oh! Did I interrupt something?” She teases you. “I thought you were supposed to be working not inside Geto’s pants.”

You groan and move your phone away from your ear to begin rubbing the bridge of your nose out of frustration. Suguru fills with more concern, but it doesn’t seem to be urgent so he waits for you to end the call to ask instead.

“I am working,” you sneer back at the phone after you press it against your ear. “I’m working, Shoko. That’s what you interrupted. Is that all? Or?”

“Yep, that’s all I needed, so I’ll go into your room, drop off some fashion magazines you like buying, and leave, okay?”

Your annoyance falls and an intrigued smile tugs on your lips. “Wait? Really? Is it the new edition?” You ask excitedly.

“Yeah, they began selling it today so I got one,” she says.

You squeal and catch Suguru by surprise. “Okay, okay,” you exclaim. “Don’t look through it, we can look at it together when I get home, okay?”

“Understood—”

“Oh, and Shoko,” you cut her off as you remember her gift you bought her. “Today we passed by this very cute boutique, I bought us matching halter tops! Summer’s approaching so I thought we’d look very nice! Of course they’re different colors so they won’t confuse us.” You chuckle, causing Shoko to scoff softly.

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want that,” she says. “Well now I can't wait to see it.”

You grin and share your glee with Suguru before you focus back on your friend. “We’ll look super cute. Anway, I have to go. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay? Goodnight, baby.”

“Goodnight, baby, and be careful. All of you,” she redirects sweetly, letting you end the call and put your phone away again so you can put all your focus on your surroundings, and any potentially suspicious people.

“Everything okay?” Suguru finally asks.

You nod as you secure your hold around his hand. “Yeah, she just needed something from my room.”

Silence follows and what you were about to tell Suguru comes rushing back to the front of your head, causing you to once again slowly grow nervous and fearful. Albeit now the courage and blinding hope that was pushing you to express your true feelings is dwindling thanks to that call.

“What were you going to say before?” Of course Suguru doesn't forget to bring that up. He’s so sweet that way…damn.

“I…” you trail off and glance at him, managing to meet his gaze as he watches you from the corner of his eyes.

You really want to say those three words, you want him to know that you appreciate him, that you love him, but that bravery is gone and you’re doubting yourself again. So you push it away and bring out something else instead.

“I recently came to a realization about something.”

“Oh,” he breathes out softly without the slightest knowledge of what you wanted to say. Which is good, you would’ve hated seeing him upset—“What is it?” He queries.

You swallow thickly and drift your gaze away to continue looking around. “After school,” you begin to share with some sense of disappointment since you’re a coward. “I'm going to leave and start a community just for sorcerers. A paradise if you will. They won’t have to fight there if they don’t want to, they won’t have to suffer. I’ll have a school too.” You begin to smile softly at the recurring dream that’s been occupying your mind as of late.

“Students will go out but with an adult chaperone at all times, even if they’re classified as a special grade,” you continue to share. “People can stay however long they want. All kinds of sorcerers can stay and…it’ll be okay to be scared of curses there. I have the money and connections to do it. But…the most important rule will be that non-sorcerers can’t live with us.”

Yes, that's your truth. You don’t hide from it out of shame of what he’ll think.

Albeit you do look over at him to quickly read what he’s thinking. However, when you look at him he’s already looking at you and he doesn’t seem to be bothered or disgusted by that rule. His eyes are soft and awe-struck. And a soft smile plays on his lips before he laughs.

“So you’ll be a communist?” He asks.

You freeze in your steps, causing Suguru’s hand to slip from your hold as he stops a few inches in front of you to wait.

“Well,” you utter a bit in disbelief. “I never thought of it that way.” You pause and sigh deeply. No matter how you try to think of it, there’s no way around that.

Then again, you don’t mind becoming that if it means fulfilling your dream. Besides other sorcerers and your family, what has this world ever done for you?

Nothing good.

“Well,” you break your stunned silence and begin to smile without shame. “Will you try and stop me, Jujutsu Sorcerer?” You tease him and break away from your spot to hug his arm and turn him around to continue walking down the path. “Because if you are, you do have to know that I will fight with tooth and nail to keep my people safe.”

Suguru chuckles. “I won’t expect it any other way,” he says in a sweet voice. “That’s why I love you.”

What?

Suguru stops walking, and lets your hand fall down his arm so you can hold his hand as he stops walking.

“I love you…more than anything,” he says again, letting your brain know that what he said mere seconds ago wasn’t some fever dream. Making your heart begin to pound in your chest, and making a breath escape past your lips at the sound of those words.

Sure he’s confessed his feelings for you when you started dating, he poured his heart out in a way you never thought possible. But nothing beats hearing these three words spoken to you. It’s why you can’t hold back anymore. You don’t have to fear that you’re pressuring him or fear him not feeling the same way. You can share what you’ve been holding back, you can pour your heart out.

“I love you,” you confess in a shaky voice. “I wanted to say it before, I did. And I know that sounds weird now because you said it first, but I was just scared, I didn’t want to pressure you, or have you not feel the same.”

Suguru laughs softly. “That’s ridiculous,” he rebuttals lightheartedly. “You knew how I felt since the first day. And every day beyond that, I haven’t really been discreet.”

Happy tears fill your eyes, and you slowly nod your head. “I know,” you whisper. “But I was still scared.”

“You have nothing to fear, darling, I love you,” he says again whilst he cups your cheeks to then pull you in for a passionate kiss under the stars.

He’s so gentle and slow to make sure he can linger in the taste of your mouth for as long as he can before you have to part away. But when the time does come to pull away though, you slide your hands to the back of his head and pull him in again to move faster and in sync. You pull him back against a tree and slither your hands down to his neck.

Suguru slowly moves his hands down to cup your jaw, but moves one hand futher down until he reaches your shoulder and pulls back from your kiss.

You’re both aching for more, but this isn’t the place, nor is this the right time. So you have to be content with leaving things in the heat of the moment.

“I love you,” you whisper happily against his lips. “I’m glad life let us cross paths, Suguru Geto.”

Said man flashes you a soft smile before he leans in and presses a kiss on your forehead. Blissful tears escape past your eyes, and when Suguru pulls back he chuckles softly before he wipes them away with his thumb.

“Come on,” he whispers. “Let’s get back to work.”

You sigh deeply but follow after him with your hand interlaced with his, and never for a moment in your nightly patrol do you let go of each other. Never do you feel any sense of danger, nor do you see it, so it does mean that your patrol was pretty boring. But since you were with Suguru, he did make your boredom feel less so, because you know without a doubt that if he wasn’t with you and you did this patrol alone, you would have left your post or jumped in the ocean. One of the two.

However, through the patrol, that sensation in the back of your neck returned for a brief moment. Since you were with Suguru and you were watching the streets together though, you completely ignored it and instead kept asking yourself if it was okay if you never let go of the hand you held.

——

*THE NEXT DAY*

Why is it so hard saying goodbye to someone you barely know?

It’s not like you didn’t know what this mission involved. You pondered the reality of it all. It’s a necessary action. For the greater or good.

Yet as you look at her now; her young face and her gentle smile, you feel even more somber about her fate than before.

“It was a pleasure knowing you, Riko,” you tell her softly. “Thank you for everything.”

Riko blinks in confusion and presses you for clarification. “What for?”

You swallow thickly and then whisper. “For what you’ll do. Thank you.” You want to tell her that you’re sorry for not doing more for her; she deserves to live a longer life after all. But you just stay quiet out of fear that what you do say will make her begin to regret what she’s come to terms with for so long.

“Oh,” Riko breathes out before she smiles wider at you. “You’re welcome. And thank you for showing me such a good time, I had so much fun yesterday. I hope your life is as good as you are.”

You beam at her and hold her gaze for a second longer before you throw your arms around her and embrace her gently. Riko seems to get surprised by your action, but she doesn’t question returning your embrace.

Neither of you say anything else on any matter, nor do you pull away quickly, Riko actually holds onto you a little harder. As if she didn’t want to let go.

But she had to so she did and kept her eyes downcast as you moved away before you could try and convince her not to do what she was fated to do.

“Miss Kurio it was nice knowing you,” you direct at the caregiver. “Take care.”

The world is big but there’s a chance you might see her again, plus she’s not the one dying so a simple goodbye for her is more than fine.

“And you too Miss Gojo,” she redirects sweetly.

You offer her one last time before you walk over to Suguru and shoot him a gleeful smile. “I’ll see you later. Be careful okay? I love you.” You grin at the sound of those words coming out of your mouth and completely ignore Satoru’s discomfort.

“I love you too,” Suguru says back with ease and a smile. “Text me when you’re done with your mission.”

You nod and save your affection for later, instead you lastly walk over to your brother. “Be careful, okay?”

Satoru sighs and brushes you off. “Always am. Let me know when you’re on your way home.”

You nod in agreement but let your gaze linger on his exhausted face for a while longer. You try not to be any more overbearing than you already have been, so you don’t tell him anything regarding his needs after not sleeping for two days. You just offer them all one last smile before you turn away and join Haibara and Nanami waiting for you to go on your missions.

As to what they were? Many simple ones that could be done by the managers, but Satoru meddled so you’re here now, walking to a high school, yawning on the job every few minutes.

“How hard was your mission yesterday y/n?” Haibara asks as he looks at you over his shoulder.

“Well,” you roll out slowly, and hide the truth or else Nanami would be even more annoyed than he already is. “Not as hard as Satoru’s or Suguru’s. I slept like three hours last night, they didn’t. So I’m glad their mission is almost over, they’re running on fumes. Especially Satoru.”

Haibara hums softly and looks at the high school entrance ahead. “I suppose even the strongest can exhaust themselves,” he says.

Nanami scoffs. “Of course they do. What kind of comment is that?”

Haibara shrugs. “Well, when you perceive someone as strong like Gojo and Geto, it’s easy to think of them as invincible,” he shares thoughtfully. “I know they aren’t so, they’re like us in every sense.”

You smile softly before you skip ahead to fall beside him and pat his shoulder. “That’s a good way of putting it Haibara.”

“No,” Nanami cuts in in his deep voice that sounds super nonchalant. “Not at all. They’re not invincible…at least not yet,” he mumbles. “But they're not like us, they’re stronger. We aren’t, we probably won’t ever live up to them, we can get close to their level and that’s okay, but they’re different people completely. They will forever bear a heavy weight.”

Is that supposed to be his way of comfort? Or a lecture?

“No,” Haibara argues in a kind but confident voice. “I know we can never live up to be like them. I don’t want to be like them, but they are still like us. Strength doesn’t take away from what they feel. They’re not robots, Nanami. And I think that as friends and fellow sorcerers, it’s our job to at least share some of that weight they carry.”

You begin to smile wider and nod. “Yeah, I agree,” you interject. “They’re strong, we know that. But it’s like Haibara said, we still have to be there for them too. Doing it alone after all sounds pretty sad.”

Nanami sighs and mutters back, “yeah, you guys are probably right.”

Haibara and you share a quick knowing look before you both break out laughing. He has such a morbid way of thinking, but when Haibara and you talk to him he’s so easy to persuade. That or respects the thoughts of Haibara and you. You like to think that. You respect some of his after all.

“Anyway,” you drag out and focus back on your mission. “Where is this curse again?”

“Back of the school,” Nanami says. “Good. I didn't want to run into anyone. They’re always so nosy.”

You scoff and nod in agreement. “Tell me about it.”

Once you walk past the school gates, you meet up with the school principal and he points you to the location that has been giving them trouble. He said he can’t see what lurks around, but the lights flicker, there’s this horrid smell that wasn’t there before, and the students are getting hurt and breaking bones around the area. He said one of the students even tried to jump off the roof; the student didn’t know why, nor did they want to, but it felt like something was luring them to do it.

The principal didn’t say why everything began to conjure up, he was tight-lipped about that, but your manager let you know that an accident with a bullied student happened there a few weeks back. So now you’re here.

Alas when you do make it to the back of the school, all you find is one single curse. It’s tall and has one eye on its narrow head, it has long arms, and a crooked neck. You thought it’d be scarier, but It’s one that could be exorcized by either one of you with ease.

As to who? You play nose goes and Nanami loses all three rounds.

“This is a stupid mission for us,” Nanami grumbles. “It should’ve gone to the first year at Kyoto. He is alone after all.”

You swing his blade bag off your shoulder after you helped him carry it since he’s had to carry it all day yesterday, and you then hand it to him as you respond with annoyance. “Yeah well, my brother meddled.” You sigh and walk back to sit on the sidewalk. “Anyway, I don’t know how you carry that thing around all the time, Nanamin.”

“I can’t go around parading my sword,” he says as he strides over to the curse with his weapon in hand.

“I know,” you retort and swing your leg over the other before you lean back. “But maybe you could order a nice coat and hide your weapon in there.” You begin to smile while he kicks the curse back.

“You could get a cool leather jacket and be like Blade!” You exclaim and watch Haibara stand beside you. “So when you’re out on missions you just throw open your coat and pull out your sword like a badass. Or-or,” you snicker, whilst Nanami swings his sword twice across the curses chest. “Open your coat to slowly reveal your blade.”

“Nanami can totally pull that off!” Haibara interjects with the same amount of excitement. “He already acts so mysterious, that would only add to his cool exterior.”

You both chuckle and miss the way Nanami exorcizes the curse with one last blow.

“Nanami, the power of a curse, the soul of a human, and the heart of a hero,” you quote in a deep voice, making Haibara laugh harder, and making Nanami smile softly at the ground.

“You just need some cool shades,” you point out. “I’ll get those for you. And you have to say it! I promise you, you’ll be dead by dawn.”

“How do you know so much of that movie?” Nanami asks as he walks towards Haibara and you. “It’s weird.”

You sit up and shrug nonchalantly. “Satoru and I watch it a lot. It’s one of our favorite movies. We should watch it tonight actually!” You suggest. “We can make something to eat and have a cool movie night with all of us. I'm sure the guys would appreciate it after they’re finished with their mission.”

“Yeah, I’m so down,” Haibara is the first to agree. “We can make some rice balls, and some dessert for them,” he suggests as he reaches his hand out to you when Nanami reaches you, and you instinctively take it and let him help you to your feet so you can start heading out, and go onto your next mission.

However, just before you can reach your next destination, while you were walking down a city street, that sensation on the back of your neck returns. It lingers now and tingles. You find the instinct to look back again, and that’s when you see him, the same man from the restaurant yesterday.

It can’t be a coincidence can it?

He was in Okinawa yesterday, and now he’s walking down the same street as you in Tokyo? You could say he was after the Star Plasma Vessel, but she’s not with you anymore, that’s obvious, plus the bounty is down already so there’s only one reason; he’s after you.

So now it seems like you’ll have to find out what he wants.

“Dark-haired shaggy man at 6 o’clock,” you share only loud enough so your friends can hear you. “He’s been tailing me since Okinawa.”

Nanami discreetly peers back to take a peek at the man still behind you who's trying to pretend he isn’t after you by pretending to be busy on his phone.

“You sure?” Haibara asks.

You crack your knuckles and nod. “Yep.”

“Okay,” Nanami interjects. “There’s a set of alleyways coming up, lead him in there. We’ll follow your lead after that.”

They didn’t need further explanation, nor did they doubt you for a moment. They believe and trust you, it’s why you love and appreciate them. It’s why you wish that you’ll never stop working together while you remain at school. They’re your partners, your best friends, your family.

“There’s a mini mart up ahead,” you point out discreetly. “I’ll walk in there, you two keep walking, pretend we’re breaking apart for the day.”

“Gotcha,” Haibara responds with comprehension.

You keep looking ahead as if you don’t notice a thing, and when you approach the mini-mart you drift away from your friends, and they do as you asked. The guy doesn’t follow you inside, but he’s probably waiting outside in the alleyway next to the minimart, so you buy whatever snack catches your eye to keep up the act. Before you can exit the store after paying, you pull your iPod out and put your earphones in to pretend to listen to music and look oblivious.

The moment you walk out, just like you predicted, the shaggy-haired man is in the alleyway, leaning against a wall and smoking a cigarette. You keep your eyes downcast, but you feel his stare as you slowly approach the alleyway. The only reason you look up is to pretend and question your route, but once you look like you figured out to take the short way you look down and turn to the alleyway.

Once you’re about halfway down the alley, you hear the man’s feet shift against the ground before you hear his footsteps trail after you. Thus, just before you can turn left into another alley, you stop in your tracks instead and finally raise your head to look at the distant street ahead.

The man’s footsteps continue to approach you, most likely to keep up his act, but you quickly turn around to face him as you pull your earphones out and let them hang over the long loose white skirt that you wrapped around your waist.

“I hope you have a good explanation as to why you’re following me, creep,” you finally address the man, and he pretends to be startled by your question.

“I,” he stammers out as he comes to a slow stop. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just trying to get home.” He then tries to walk past you, but you step in his way and bring him to a sudden halt.

“Who are you?” You press him. “And why have you been following me since Okinawa? I’ll give you three seconds to answer me.”

The man holds your gaze with his jaw clenched for a few seconds. He doesn’t part his lips to try and speak, he doesn’t move. He narrows his gaze into a glare to try and display himself as brave and fearless, but beads of sweat begin to form on his forehead, and that clenched glower is beginning to falter.

“3,” you begin to count down with a menacing smirk tugging on your lips. “2.”

The man’s eyes widen and before you know it he throws his hands out and shoves you back.

You scoff in disgust and collect your footing right away. You then lift your eyes as you brush off the dirt the non-sorcerer man left on your shirt, and see him try to sprint the other way.

Nevertheless, before he can even reach the end of the alleyway, Haibara walks out of hiding and blocks his path as he walks toward the fearful man.

The shaggy man comes to a stop and begins to step back from sweet-looking Haibara when he notices the button on his coat. He then looks back for an escape with thick beads of sweat running down his forehead and finds it in the other alleyway at your left.

But he’s not turning there is he?

The man spins around again and sprints past you to try and run into the alleyway.

“I knew it,” you sigh out and slowly turn to watch the man reach a stairwell on a tall and wide building. “How predictable,” you mumble, and then place a hand on your hip before you peer over your shoulder as you hear Haibara approach your side.

“Boast up?” You ask him calmly as you look back at the man frantically trying to climb up to the building's roof.

“No, I’ll climb,” Haibara assures you.

You hum in comprehension and notice that the man reaches the top now.

You don’t hurry to move, you know Nanami is there to greet him. After all, you all assumed he wouldn’t want to risk getting trapped in the alleyways since he would come across Haibara at one end. So what’s his next move? Climb up because he didn’t think you’d be that smart. “You’re just teenagers after all”.Tsk.

Non-sorcerers are so predictable.

Regardless, you move from your spot a few moments later, once you know Nanami has begun to interrogate the man with his deadpan voice and nonchalant expression. Rather than climbing up though, you manipulate the air around to swiftly throw you up to the roof.

The moment you land you see Nanami walking the shaggy man back towards the edge of the building.

“Tell me what you want with her and we’ll let you go,” Nanami asks with nonchalance. “Simple.”

The man’s heels hit the edge of the ceiling so he stops and looks back with panic in his eyes. You begin to approach them and immediately catch his attention, but trigger no response.

He’s tightlipped, that’s so fucking annoying.

“Unless you like things the hard way,” Nanami says menacingly. “I can make things hard.”

You reach Nanami’s side and notice his shoe print on the man’s shirt. Ha! If only you could have seen Nanami kick the man back. He’s so cool.

“You’re Jujutsu students,” the man says in a trembling voice, and shifts his eyes past Nanami and you as he sees Haibara finally on the roof.

“You can’t hurt me.” The man snaps and lets a faint but smug smile tug on the corner of his lips.

You mirror his gesture with more confidence, and without needing to be told anything, Nanami moves to the side to let you take his place in front of the man.

“No,” you direct at the man sweetly. “We can’t hurt you. But we can for sure as hell come close.” You then gently lift your hand whilst you summon air to gather in your palm, and proceed to flick the man’s chest.

The tap wasn’t hard on his chest, but the air you threw out with that simple action shoved him off the roof as if he had been shoved back by something cold and heavy.

Now you should use the air you can manipulate to create some barrier to catch him before he can hit the ground, but…it’s as you’re watching him fall down into the abandoned ally that you begin to feel relief at the slightest thought that this non-sorcerer could die…

In the back of your head you know you shouldn’t feel the way you do. Sure being a sorcerer doesn’t mean walking down a righteous path, you don’t have to tolerate non-sorcerers either, but while you're a student you cannot harm any non-sorcerer, unless they're your target. They’re the ones you’re meant to protect after all, and yes your own personal mindset has changed from when you first got here, and it also no longer aligns with what the school likes to follow, but you know it’s wrong thinking the way you do.

It’s why you do feel a hint of remorse for feeling the way you do over the man’s potential death; even if you don’t like non-sorcerers.

Yet, that’s still not why you catch him before he can hit the ground. You do it for your own personal gain.

“Tell me,” you yell out as you jump off the roof to swiftly land on the ground to be closer to the shaggy man. Nanami and Haibara follow after you and stick at your side. All while you use the air to lift the man up a few inches so he can see that it’s still quite a drop from where you have him hanging.

“Who sent you,” you sneer and tilt his body down so he can meet your glare. “What do you want?”

The man nervously swallows back before he parts his lips. “Toji Fushiguro,” he finally spills. “He said if his mission failed…that…he'd send me a message and I had to take you by force.”

Toji Fushiguro? Toji Fushiguro?

That doesn’t ring any bells.

“Who is he?” You spat out in confusion. “Who is Toji Fushiguro?”

The man drops his head, making Nanami step forward and grab the man’s collar to yank the man up. “Answer the question,” he demands in a threatening voice.

“I,” the man stammers. “I don’t know. He’s someone that hired me for the job to take her if all fails...I just wanted the money.”

He just repeated himself. He didn’t say why this Toji guy needs you. And it’s doubtful he knows what plans his contractor has.

Could this be related to Riko? But they’re at the school now. They’re safe. So…

“What do they need me for?” You probe as you step closer to the man.

The man's eyes shift to you and he opens his mouth, but before he can even answer, the man suddenly throws his head on Nanami’s nose, causing him to yelp out and back away to grab at his offended area.

You try to react, but since the man wasn’t restrained whatsoever, just propped up basically, he manages to pull a knife out and swings it across your face.

You cry out and stumble back, and accidently let the man go since you lose concentration. Haibara looks over at Nanami and you both grabbing at your wounds and steps forward, while the man makes a run for it even if it looks like he hurt a couple ribs on impact.

And if that's true then he won't make it far.

“Nanami, y/n, what do you need me to do?” Haibara asks with concern as he walks over to you.

You shake your head and stick your hand out to stop Haibara before he can reach either of you. “Go,” you command him instead. “We’re okay. Go, try and catch him. We need to know why they need me.”

Haibara hesitates for a moment before he listens and runs after the man, leaving you to slowly drop your hand covered in your own blood, and use RCT to heal what the man did.

That technique would’ve worked that day that the non-sorcerer took you captive. Albeit you were too scared and broken to even think about it, or actually turn your negative cursed energy to positive. It works like a charm now though. What a relief.

However you are upset you can’t help Nanami heal like Shoko can.

“Nanami,” you call out and approach him as he snaps his nose back into place without as much as crying out, he hides his pain. “Are you okay?”

Said guy turns to face you with his gaze narrowed. “Go,” he brushes you off. “We have no time to waste. I’ll circle around to surround him.”

You study his nose but all you see is blood staining his upper lip now, so you just let out a deep breath before you take the long way out of this alleyway.

Once you’re out on the sidewalk you don’t see Haibara, nor the guy, but you see people stopped and looking behind them with shock, confusion, and some fear.

It has to be him. He rammed past them.

Too easy.

You run down the path that the passersby have opened after the man passed them. You cross an intersection and notice that the light is green, you can see cars speeding forward right towards you, but you simply stick your hand out and manipulate the air to create a barrier that stops the car from hitting you as you run to the other street. People honk and curse at you, but you just flip them off and follow the clues the man sloppily leaves behind.

Luckily the man doesn’t make it far, a random woman seems to figure out that you’re after him and points to an alleyway in between a theater and a restaurant.

You offer her a stiff thankful nod before you turn into the alleyway that has two possible ways out; the path you entered, and one turning the corner.

Haibara is after him, the guy knows that. He also knows Nanami is in this chase too, so running won’t get him anywhere, especially because he’s just a mundane non-sorcerer. So he’d hide if he was smart.

Where though? The theater is the only building here with their roof access open, the other one is locked. He could be there…

But he’d be trapped, so no, he’s down here.

“Tell me why they need me, I'll make it worth your while. Promise,” you taunt him as you slowly walk down the alleyway. “I bet my family could even outmatch what that Toji guy was going to pay you. Or I can.”

There’s silence, but you know he’s around here. He might even be hiding around the corner, so you quicken your stride and look over.

There’s multiple trash cans around the corner, he can be in one of those. It’d be hard to know since the trash is scattered on the ground. You’ll have to check—But…you also don’t want to get your hands dirty by touching those cans. Gross.

You shift your feet to turn and face the alleyway, but before you can move your body you then catch the man descending the theater's roof access.

“You’re going to tell me now—” You come to a harsh stop as the sound of a loud bang rings in your ears seconds before something small and sharp impales your lower back.

You try to react, see what happened, but all you can muster is silence for a few dreadful seconds. A deafening silence that’s accompanied with a blurry vision, and the feeling of your heart pounding in your chest so loud you hear it in your ears. In those few seconds you also don’t feel pain, all you have is the realization that you got shot. You just got shot by the non-sorcerer who was just sweating and stammering out of fear.

A…non-sorcerer hurt you…again. Why?

Yet you can’t even ask, nor entertain that thought anymore because your shock comes to an end, and that pain you didn’t feel before slams all over your back. Not letting you pinpoint where you got shot, not letting you stand on your feet, and knocking you to the ground where you begin writhing in pain.

“You asked,” the man shouts, or mutters, you can’t tell, the pain makes your heart pump louder in your ears, and the pain clouds your head.

“Why you,” the man continues. “Well, you were Toji’s trump card. The brother's prized jewel was Toji’s bargaining chip.” He approaches you and uses his dirty boot to flip you over so you can face him as he towers over you. “Considering I haven’t been called, his plan worked.”

You manage to sneer at him. “What?”

The man shrugs nonchalantly and snickers. He acts so tough now. Just he wait until you heal….

However, as you try to use RCT, the pain only heightens on your back and makes it feel like it’s ripping your insides.

“I wouldn’t,” he says now. “I have my trump card too. You can never be too careful with…people like you.”

You curl your lip into a snarl and throw your hand around his ankle. “I’ll kill you,” you seethe and begin to tap into your fire technique to create your fire-made snake so his blood could boil, but Haibara appears down the alleyway and makes you stop.

“Y/N!” Your friend shouts, making the man jump and then kick your side so you can let go and he can try to escape the other way.

Albeit it seems that before he can make a quick escape, he’s thrown back by none other than Nanami who finally catches up.

“Nanami!” Haibara calls out with slight panic as he falls beside you. “It’s y/n!”

You grab Haibara’s arm and shake your head. “No, let him,” you say through pained groans. “Something’s wrong, we need more information.”

Haibara meets your gaze with concern and then glances over at Nanami. You can’t see Nanami’s reaction, but you hear his fist slam against the man’s flesh.

“Just,” you stammer out. “Get the bullet out. I can heal once you do.”

Haibara’s eyes fall to the blood creeping out of your wound and nervously swallows thickly.

“Haibara,” you snap him from his stupor. “Please.”

Your friend looks at you again and nods before he uses his other hand to grab the back of your neck to try and pull you up. You try to help him by at least shifting your body, but that’s when you notice something awry with you. With your legs…

“Haibara,” you breathe out and grip onto him as fear mixes in with the pain. “I…can’t feel my legs. I can’t feel them.”

Haibara stops what he's doing and meets your gaze with a horrified look. “It’s okay,” he sputters out and lets your hand go to reach for his phone. “We’ll call our manager and take you to Shoko. Nanami!”

Tears roll down your face and everything around you once again blurs, the sounds around you don’t register. You know you’re moving, after a while you leave the man behind and return to the school with urgency, but you don’t actually register the ride home, or the panicked conversations Nanami has with Shoko on the phone. Not while all you feel is your blood pumping in your ears, and the same obilitering pain on your back; as if someone is continuously turning and twisting some sharp blade inside you.

You especially don’t register anything while you also feel something more damaging between all of it, something that’s making itself more present…anger.

It consumes the worry you initially had for your brother, for Suguru and Riko, since it all seems connected. Instead that anger drifts your focus on something else, something you can’t quite make out yet. Especially not while the pain suddenly heightens.

An agonizing pain hits you, and your throat stings as you bellow out when you feel something cold digging through your bullet wound.

It feels like you're on fire, but then it all goes black. There’s some relief, but it’s too quick because you then open your eyes and hear yourself crying because of the pain. You can even hear other voices, but they’re muffled.

“You’re hurting her!”

As far as you can tell that was Nanami, but it’s hard to identify because it all goes black again. Like before it’s only for a short while, but this time when you wake the pain is gone, instead, you feel instant relief; there’s no more stinging or burning sensations. It doesn’t feel like something is tearing you apart from the inside, it’s all gone and there’s sweet, sweet relief as your eyes flutter open.

“She’s awake,” you hear Haibara clearly, there’s no more thumping blood in your ears. He then appears in front of you and you feel joy that you can see clearly again. “Y/N,” he breathes out with relief. “You’re okay. You scared me for a moment there.”

You relish in the ease that runs through your veins, that washes over your muscles and manage a genuine smile. “I was scared there too. Where’s Nanami?”

Haibara grins and points back. “Over here. He's happy you’re awake.”

You turn your head and see him look away so you won’t see his face as he speaks. “Yeah,” he mutters, making you laugh softly before you blink and take note of the bright lights above your head, the bland white walls around you, and the screen at your sides. You’re in the medbay, so where’s Shoko?

You sit up and Haibara grabs your arm just in case you’d fall, even if the RCT Shoko used did not leave any aches. You feel brand new, thankfully.

“Where’s Shoko?” You ask and lower your gaze.

“She went to wash up and smoke I think, she was a bit stressed,” he shares. “She said that the bullet that the guy used was a cursed tool. That’s why you couldn’t heal yourself and take it out.”

You figured out that much. The actual question you’re asking yourself is where that non-sorcerer got that kind of weapon. That man that hired him?

If so, who is this Toji Fushiguro? And what does he want?

Now that your mind is clear and not invaded by pain, you actually begin to figure that out.

Considering this is all happening today, and they wanted you as leverage for Satoru, they’re probably after Riko.

So where is she? And where is your brother and boyfriend? They should be below now waiting to deliver Riko to Tengen, so they should be safe…right?

“Have you talked to Suguru or Satoru?” You blurt and snap your eyes up to look at Haibara.

Your friend quickly meets your gaze and goes serious and stiff. Which is his giveaway that he’s hiding something.

“Spill it out, Haibara,” you press him.

Said man lets out a deep breath and clenches his fist. He remains quiet for longer than you liked so you look over at Nanami sitting by the bed and press him. “Tell me Nanami.”

Nanami slowly raises his head and meets your gaze, unlike Haibara he doesn’t try to protect you by hiding the truth, he says it because he knows you won’t know some form of peace until you know.

“The man we were after said that the Toji guy was going to kill the Star Plasma Vessel,” Nanami says. “When we got to school, we found the courtyard destroyed and buildings in pieces…”

Your eyes slowly widen in disbelief, and your heart gives one hard ba-dum as you feel it creep in again…fear.

“But you didn’t see anyone out there?” You ask quietly.

Nanami shakes his head. “No. At least we didn’t check. We were too worried about you to check.”

It’d be obvious to figure out if there was people fighting outside, so it means…did they make it down to the tomb of the star now? Are they safe?

You have to know. There’s too much of a mess to not go check.

Thus you swing your legs over the edge of the bed. Haibara is caught off guard but he reacts quickly with concern.

“What are you doing? You have to stay here.”

You slide off the bed and shake your head. “No. I’m going to go find them. They might need my help.”

“Help?” Nanami asks. “If that Toji guy had our strongest students do that much destruction then you’ll only get in the way.” He’s harsh but honest.

Yet you don’t care for his honesty now. Not when it involves Satoru or Suguru.

“I don’t care,” you rebuttal softly and begin to walk away. “Oh and thank you guys,” you change the subject abruptly so they won’t continue to argue. “I know we still had missions to do, so thank you. You really saved me. I’ll see you guys later. I’ll let you know if something’s wrong.” You open the curtain that gives you privacy from the rest of the medical bay and actually come face-to-face with Shoko.

“Where do you think you’re going?” She asks and crosses her arms over her chest as she shoots you a pointed look.

“I’m going to find my brother and Suguru,” you let her know.

Shoko holds your gaze and stays put for a moment. “You should be resting,” she points out.

“You made it so I really don’t have to,” you rebuttal lightheartedly. “I’m okay because of you. So now I’m going to make sure my brother and Suguru are okay.”

Shoko sighs and steps aside. “Careful, you idiot. I healed you once today, I don’t want to heal you again in the span of one day.”

You smile at her and shake your head. “I’ll be okay,” you assure her. “I’m sure they have it under control.”

Without wasting another second you then hurry out. Not caring that there’s a tear in your jumpsuit now because of the bullet, or that the bottom half of your body is stained with blood.

You run over to where the tomb is because you hope that’s where they’d be. But the closer you get the more your fear begins to consume you, making it hard to breathe, making your hands tremble, and making a pit to grow in your stomach as if you’re expecting the worst when you keep telling yourself that it’s all going to be fine.

When you walk in the elevator shaft that goes down to the tomb, you try to listen or feel for any sign of struggle, but there’s just silence. It should give you relief, but you feel worse.

They better be okay….

They are, you tell yourself. And keep telling yourself that the entire way down. When the elevator hits the ground and it dings as it begins to open the door, you begin to move out with a straightforward vision. You step out and strain your ears to listen, and squint your eyes to see through the dim hall that you don’t notice the blood on the ground until your feet splashes in it.

“Fuck,” you breathe out and freeze. You’re scared to look down, but you need to know, so you slowly lower your gaze and gasp softly the moment you see Kurio on the ground with a pool of her own blood around her.

Is Toji here?

“Kurio?” You call out quietly.

The woman doesn’t move, you watch her back to see if it’d move as she breathed, but she lay still and silent. You then bend down to see if she’s just weak, but as you check her pulse, her pulse doesn't pump.

She’s dead. Which means…that Satoru and Suguru could be in danger. You’ll have to come back and cover her body later so someone can come and carry her out. For now, you stand up and run down the hall. The closer you get to the end, the brighter it gets, but there’s still no sign of any battle, there’s no voices.

You only hope that Riko—

Before you can finish your thought you come to a halt the moment you step out of the hall. You feel your heart immediately sink while your breath catches in your throat at the sight of…Riko on the ground with blood around her head.

Like Kurio she doesn’t move, not even to breathe. Yet you still call out for her with hope. “Riko?” You take a step forward and only see more dark scarlet blood. “Riko?”

She doesn’t answer so when you reach her you fall on your knees beside her. You notice right away that her eyes are open and still. She’s so incredibly still. But as you touch her cheek she’s still warm.

“Riko?” You call out quietly and with a crack in your voice. “I’m here. It’s Y/N.” You grab her shoulder and turn her to her back. “Riko…” You trail off and slowly check for her pulse on the side of her neck. You immediately don’t feel any sign of life, but you keep your fingers pressed against her neck as if that would change the cruel truth...Riko’s dead too.

And not dead as in she’s joined Tengen, she got shot in the head and died before she could actually reach Tengen. Then again it’s not like you cared if she joined Tengen or not, you deeply hoped she wouldn’t, you wanted her to enjoy her life, to live and enjoy her teenagehood because regardless of all the bad that you face, being one is not that bad. You wanted her to see that, you wanted her to live…

But she’s dead now. She’s actually gone.

“I’m sorry,” you whisper to her shakily. “I’m sorry it had to end this way.”

Tears stream down your face, and in that moment footsteps also begin to approach up the stairs ahead. You don’t even question that it might be danger and shoot up thinking it’s one of the two guys.

“Satoru?” You call out and walk around Riko to approach the staircase. Yet that’s when you see that who’s approaching isn’t your brother or Suguru, this a tall muscular man with short greasy black hair, a scar over the corner of his mouth, and a worm like curse wrapped around his shoulders.

This must be Toji Fushiguro. And if he’s so gracefully walking up the stairs then does that mean that Satoru and Suguru are…no…They’re probably just hurt. But how?

Is this man really that dangerous that he could outmatch Satoru and Suguru, the strongest there is?

It can’t be possible.

Nevertheless, while you’re lost in your running thoughts, the man looks up and spots you, and immediately stops in his tracks.

You lock eyes and narrow your gaze, and fist your hand to get ready to fight if need be.

“Look at how much you’ve grown,” the man says in a deep voice. “I almost didn’t recognize you, y/n Gojo.”

You knew he knew of you because he was the one that hired that goon, but this seems deeper than that. How?

He notices your confusion and scoffs before he continues to speak. “You wouldn’t recognize me, you were just a little girl when I saw you walking hand in hand with your brother several years back. He looked back at me, but you only cared about him so you didn’t even bat an eye my way.”

Okay? That only leaves more fucking questions, but you don’t bother to ask any related to that. “How?” You deadpan.

Toji blinks and squints. “How what?”

You glance back at Riko and then glance past his shoulder to look at the gap in between the lined-up buildings that are laid in several rows behind him. Toji follows your line of gaze and then huffs with a smirk tugging on his lips.

“Oh,” he breathes out and looks back at you. “You’re asking about them. Well does it matter?”

You can’t sense any kind of cursed energy on him, nothing of the sort, so it must mean one thing. “Heavenly restriction?” You ask.

Toji places his hand on his hip and his smirk deepens. “So you have more than just looks,” he quips.

You’ll have to be careful then, who knows what he’s gifted with. It’s why Riko’s dead, it’s why…Satoru and Suguru aren’t after him at the moment. He must be insanely gifted by his heavenly restriction.

Which means you can’t fight inside. Closed quarters restricts your cursed technique too much.

“I gotta ask one more thing,” you interject with your glare burning into him. “Do you mind if we take this outside?”

Toji chuckles. “You have your brother's boldness, I'll give you that. But,” he sighs. “I have things to do, girl. Plus, you’re weak, it'd be a pitiful fight.”

You scoff, and open your fist to use your cursed technique and manipulate the air inside this large corridor to turn calm resting air into gusts of wind that gather in a growing orb on your palm.

“Is that so?” You sneer. “Why don’t we try to find out.”

Toji doesn’t move, he doesn’t seem shocked by your technique, or the growing orb of air growing bigger on your palm. He steps up one stair and calmly parts his lips. “Has your brother not told you to not pick fights you won’t win?”

You ignore him and begin to lift your hand to point your palm at him, but he interjects with a malicious smile on his face.

“I killed Satoru Gojo,” he interjects. “And injured the other guy with the weird bangs, what makes you think I won’t kill you too? Sure the Gojo clan will be up my ass, but it would be good to rid this world of at least one damned Jujutsu clan.”

Did he just say he killed…your brother?

“What?” You mutter coldy, and slowly release the air you had begun to gather on your hand.

Toji grins. “Yeah, a monkey like me killed your brother,” he says again in a teasing tone.

You tap into your fire, making the dragon mark on your arm begin to glow. You want to use it against the man who said that killed your brother, but as you think about what he said you have no strength to fight back. You stay there frozen, staring at the ground with disbelief, feeling all the warmth that this room holds vanish. The warmth that your body keeps disappears, and the warmth that this earth holds fades away, leaving you and this earth cold and frigid at the thought of your brother dead.

Toji recognizes your shock and walks right past you. When he’s behind you he interjects one more time. “Let’s run into each other again once you’re stronger. I’d like to pick up on your offer then. For now…my condolences.”

You don’t bother to look back or respond. He leaves and you continue to stand there frozen in disbelief.

Satoru can’t be dead. He…can’t be gone. He didn’t leave you behind. Please don’t let it be true.

He’s still alive, you know it, you’re sure of it. You have to think that way because you know if you don’t you’ll break. It’s why you push it away, pretend like you didn’t hear those tragic words, and focus on Suguru.

He’s here, you can sense his cursed energy. And Toji did say he hurt him, so you finally break away from your spot and follow the mess a battle left behind, and end up at the edge of a deep gap made near the big tree in the middle of the room.

You look down and see Suguru lying on the ground, so you quickly use your cursed technique to use the air to help you down to where he is. Once you land on the rubble you gasp as you see the long gashes across his chest.

“Suguru!” You call out regardless of whether you see his eyes closed or not.

When you reach him your breaths quicken as your throat closes as you see the blood still coming out of his wounds and blood trickling down his lip. You want to cry too, you want to curl up to avoid the worst, because if he died too then you’d probably cease to exist. There’d be nothing but an empty flesh-made body with a beating heart but no soul.

Toji said he only hurt him, but that doesn’t make you any less right or worried. So you proceed to press your ear against his chest and wait with your breath held.

A second passes before it feels like you can breathe again as you thankfully feel his heartbeat in his chest.

“You’re okay,” you mumble and close your eyes to sigh with relief.

“Y/N?”

You tear your eyes open and lift your head to meet Suguru’s dark eyes.

“Hey Sugar,” you whisper softly before you press your forehead against his and bask in the fact that he’s alive.

Suguru uses the strength he has and grabs your hand.

“Why are you crying?” He whispers softly.

You pull your head back and sniffle. “I was scared. That’s all.”

His lips twitch to a faint smile. “I’m okay,” he mutters.

You laugh softly and nod. “You will be when we get you to Shoko. So come on, I’ll help you up.”

It’s a struggle to get him up since he’s actually very heavy, but he helps you. It’s easy after that, you use your cursed technique to get you back to the stairs. And it’s then that he actually breaks his silence. “Y/N…Satoru is—”

“He’ll be okay,” you cut him off and secure his arm around your shoulders as you begin to climb the stairs. “He’s strong. I know he’ll be okay.”

“Y/N,” he says again, this time with pity that gets you upset.

“I said he’ll be fine!” Your bottom lip trembles and tears fill your eyes again. “I’m sorry…I just need to believe it…I can’t think otherwise. I won’t be strong enough to face that truth. So for now please just let me believe my brother is alive.”

You feel Suguru’s pitiful stare before he whispers, “okay.”

“Okay,” you whisper back.

Shortly thereafter you reach the top of the stairs and Riko’s body is gone. All that's left is a puddle of her blood and her torn headband. You don’t comment on it, nor does Suguru. You just see him look at the spot where she had been last.

What could you say? He’s probably beating himself up over what happened, he lost, what can you say that’d comfort him? It all sounds like it won’t help him.

“Are you okay?” Suguru asks quietly, breaking you from your stupor. “Besides all this I mean. You’re home early.”

He’s the one bleeding out and he’s worried about you?

You sure are glad he’s not dead. He’s one of a kind.

“I…got shot,” you share, making him snap his eyes at you, showing his shock and confusion.

“After my second mission,” you continue to explain. “I spotted this man who had been following me since Okinawa. We confronted him—”

“Since Okinawa? Why didn’t you say anything?”

You shake your head. “Let me finsh,” you brush him off. “We confronted the guy about it and he said he was hired by Toji Fushiguro…the guy you just fought. He said if Toji’s plan failed he’d use me as his trump card against my brother. He ran after, we chased him, cornered him and he pulled a gun out and shot me…fucking non-sorcerer shot me,” you mumble.

“It hurt like a fucking bitch,” you continue. “But Nanami and Haibara brought me home, and Shoko healed me,” you finish. “So we both have had quite a fucking day.” You meet his gaze and sigh.

“Yeah,” he says. “It seems we have.”

You reach Kurio’s body now, and again, neither of you comment on it. All you do is stop to pull off your long white skirt and cover her with it before you walk in the elevator with Suguru draped at your side. The ride up is quiet, the way to Shoko stays that same way as well since all you can both think about is Satoru. One of you thinks of his death, the other denies the truth and clings onto the hope that he’s okay.

Unknowingly one thought you both do share is gratitude that one another is there.

And you wouldn't have left his side until he was healed, but you can’t go on without making sure your brother is okay, or if he’s actually…gone. So when you enter the medbay again you sit Suguru down, and just interject over your shoulder as you turn to walk back out the door.

“I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going?” Shoko asks.

You stop when you reach the door and respond hopefully. “I’m going to find my brother.”

No one stops you or tells you otherwise. They don’t follow after you, nor do you ask for help. You walk to the destruction out in the courtyard and see Nanami and Haibara trying to get rid of the fly heads that swarmed the courtyard. Yaga and a few other teachers are out here too, but no one says a thing to you, they’re careful since they also know what happened.

It’s like they expect you to react badly. But that can’t be further from the truth, after all your brother's killer stood in front of you for a while and you didn’t react. Even if you were known to overreact (which you don't), this moment isn’t one of them. You’re barely hanging on as it is.

And when you see all the open field, the flat land littered with rubble, you expect to see him there, sitting or standing, laying even, but when he’s not obviously in front of you, it—everything…well you can’t even explain what you feel besides desperate.

He’s eveything to you. He’s the good of this world because when you hated your life he was always there to make it better, to hold your hand and comfort you after your parents showed you only cruelness. He was your warmth and your strength.

For so long he was all you had, so if he’s gone, who are you in this vast world? Where are you? You’ll be lost without him.

He’d always find you when you were lost. Late as always, but he always found a way to you.

So you plead now to whatever higher being that exists that he’ll find a way to you. You’ll wait at home if need be, you hate your fucking house, but you’ll go back to wait for him there. You’ll wait at school, where his blood lays drying to the rubble first though. If night comes, if summer passes and fall dries the leaves then you’ll continue to wait.

“Y/N?” Haibara whispers.

You hug your knees tighter against your chest but don’t bat an eye his way. “I’m waiting,” you mumble.

Haibara climbs onto the piece of rubble you sit on and takes a seat beside you. He doesn’t say anything right away, he just exhales softly before he drops his shoulders and looks up at the sky.

“Regardless of today's events,” he interjects softly. “It is a pretty day. Aren’t these kind of days your favorite?”

You glance up but the sky isn’t as blue as before. It looks kind of dull. “I’m currently debating,” you retort and lower your gaze to watch the grounds in case you’d see your brother.

“I have a younger sister you know,” he says, making you slowly look over at him.

“I remember you mentioned her before,” you fill the silence that followed.

“She can see curses too, so I forbade her from following my footsteps,” he pauses and swallows thickly. “And I know,” he continues and lowers his head to meet your gaze. “I can’t relate to what you feel, or compare to the bond you share with your brother, but I know if something happened to my sister I’d feel the same.”

Tears fill your eyes and a wobbly smile tugs on your lips as you interject. “But you’re strong, Haibara. I see it, you have the strength to protect your sister from all the bad. I…never could protect my brother, I always needed him. And maybe if I was stronger I would have been assigned with him and Suguru, I could have helped him and been here, but…I am not strong.” You shake your head and feel your bottom lip tremble as you feel the need to cry. “And if he’s actually gone then…I don’t know who I’d be. If I was stronger I could have avoided this or-or had it so it was me, not him.”

Haibara scoffs softly. “You really think Satoru wouldve let that happen?” He asks.

You laugh softly and shake your head. “No. But I would’ve tried.” Now you’re dangling over the edge of the abyss.

Your friend hums and lifts his head to watch a little bird fly by, you let your gaze fall and watch the grounds again.

“You said you wouldn't know who you’d be if your brother was gone,” Haibara whispers. “I think I know who you’d be. You would be you.”

You blink and meet his gaze again with tears running down your cheeks.

“Of course you’d be a little different, loss will do that,” he continues to say. “But you will always be yourself.”

“How do you know?” You question. “He’s all I know. I owe my life to him. He’s my home.”

Haibara meets your gaze once again and smiles softly now. “I know because the love you have for your brother is something that you’ll always have,” he says in a soft voice. “In order to carry that, to carry his memory with you, you have to keep fighting to live and keep your heart to be you. If you don’t then that’s when you lose.”

He’s so young and not so wise yet, but can you blame him? He’s young. Yet he always seems to know what to say, maybe it’s because he’s an older brother. Satoru always knows what to say, or do, sometimes he may not communicate it right, but he does share that same trait with Haibara.

“Thank you,” you tell your friend as you wipe the tears off your cheeks. “Can I hug you?”

Haibara grins and nods. “Of course, go for it.”

You smile wider before you throw your arms around him. “Thank you,” you whisper again.

Haibara hugs you back and rubs your back. “Of course, that’s what friends are for.”

You smile softly and tighten your hold around him.

“Besides,” he adds. “I don’t believe your brother is gone, he’s strong. He’s not here either so I know he’s fighting. We’ll see him soon enough.”

You pull back and sigh shakily. “I hope.”

“Y/N?”

You gasp softly and feel your lips twitch to a comforted smile as you hear Suguru call out for you. You look over to where his voice comes from and immediately where there was bleak and dullness, the sky regains its bright and soft color. Your once-racing heart slows down to a calming beat. Those breaths that once felt so hard to take, ease back to normal.

As Suguru gets closer to the crater you now notice he’s carrying clothes in his hand. You also see that he’s wearing clean clothes now, he no longer has blood or marks on his face. Yet he still wears a melancholy look that you noticed before too.

“Thank you,” you direct at Haibara again as you stand up.

Your friend pushes himself up and offers you a gentle smile, letting you jump over the gap that was in between the rubble and the rest of the ground. You then meet Suguru halfway and see he’s holding your clothes.

“How are you feeling?” You make sure to ask first before he can say what he needs to say. “Any lingering effects?” You ask and reach over to grab his arm to study him.

Suguru shakes his head. “No, I’m fine. Thanks to Shoko.” He glances over at the rubble and studies the field for a moment in search of his best friend.

“When I got here all I saw was a puddle of his blood,” you let him know, and pull his gaze back to you. “He’s going to be okay.”

Suguru hesitates before he nods softly. “Yeah,” he whispers unsurely. As if he’s only trying to comfort you. “He will be.”

You sigh and slide your hand up to grab his shoulder. “He will be,” you assure him now that Haibara has filled you with hope.

Suguru holds your gaze as he lets out a deep breath, and you feel his shoulders fall before he nods lightly. “Yeah,” he whispers.

You offer him a soft smile and raise your hand to caress his cheek even if there could be people watching. “I’m glad you’re okay. You scared me.”

The corner of Suguru’s lips tug upward just slightly before he grabs your hand and strokes your knuckles.

“I brought this for you,” he says and pulls your hand down so he can place it on the clothes he’s holding—“I want you to come with me to recover Riko's body.”

You blink and your soft smile fades, whilst your heart sinks now. Suguru notices your change in emotions and begins to caress your knuckles with his thumb since he didn’t actually let go of your hand when he made you grab your clothes.

“The Star Religious group has many facilities,” he adds. “But I’m willing to go to each one until we find her. She deserves better than that.”

You nod without hesitation. “Yeah, she does,” you agree. “I’ll go with you, but…what if we run into Toji?”

Suguru’s gaze hardens. “Then we kill him.”

“That’s if Satoru hasn't gotten to him first,” you mention to keep yourself hopeful and avoid falling into the abyss you still dangle over without actually knowing if Satoru is okay or not.

“Yeah that's right,” Suguru agrees in a tone that lets you hear his doubt.

You want to ask him why he’s so sure that Satoru is really gone, it pisses you off that he’s not hopeful, but you remind yourself that people are different with the way they process loss, plus Satoru is his best friend. If he’s too hopeful and you meet disappointment then it will hurt a lot worse, so he probably just doesn’t want to get his hopes up for his own sanity. You need to remember that.

——

*LATER*

Upon going to the first Star Religious facility you started off with blazing hope, but when that turned out to be empty, that light flickered. You went to the second location and when you found nothing there too that flame within you began to dim, but you kept holding onto hope that you’d find your brother.

Yet you went to the third one and that was empty too. Now you’re going to the fourth one, the sun is going down and taking your hope along with it.

As for Suguru’s hope? He kept on a straight face each time, only letting flickers of disappointment show visibly when you’d come across an empty building. However, you know him well, you’ve been intimate and vulnerable together, you can see his sorrow behind his seriousness. And you can guess what he might feel, you can’t be completely sure but from what’s happened you like to think you know.

Plus seeing him be that way adds to the ache you already feel, especially because he’s a lot quieter than usual. You can’t just continue going without at least trying to help in the way he helps you.

“It’s not your fault you know,” you interject and blink to look at him looking at the street ahead. “What happened today wasn’t your fault, Suguru.”

Said man sighs deeply and his gaze hardens. “How can you say that when Riko is dead? When Satoru is gone too.”

You swallow back nervously and avert your gaze. “Because you couldn’t know it would happen,” you tell him softly. “Toji Fushiguro was gifted with Heavenly Restriction, there’s no way you could be prepared for that. But you tried, you fought and that’s what matters. It’s what Satoru will see. It’s what I know.”

Suguru looks over at you, and you look at him with a faint assuring smile. He doesn’t say anything, his sorrow doesn’t vanish at the sound of your words, and it’s doubtful his guilt disappeared either.

“Look,” you add. “What happened today is an accident in life we will have to live with. So the best you can do is learn from what happened and be better. Blaming yourself won't lead to anything good.”

Suguru holds your gaze and exhales deeply before he nods softly in comprehension. Who knows if he’ll listen to you, but you hope he does take it into consideration.

“Thank you,” he says quietly.

You offer him a wider smile. Yet that quickly falters as you look into his kind eyes and remember something that happened to you. Something he might find…disgusting.

Suguru notices your falter because of course he does, and doesn’t hesitate to probe. “What is it?” He asks.

You could keep quiet and not tell him anything you felt about that non-sorcerer today. He doesn’t have to know of your defection, he’s so…righteous after all, he’s so good, he’ll lose interest, he’ll hate you. You couldn’t live with that.

But…you said you don’t want to be the partners that hide things from each other out of fear of judgment, or out of selfishness. You don’t want to keep secrets from him, so he needs to know. And if his heart changes the way it feels about you then…you’ll have to live with it.

“Today,” you begin to say quietly. “When we were chasing that non-sorcerer that had been spying on me. We needed to get information out from him but he wouldn’t speak. So I…threw him off the roof, I caught him of course, I just wanted to scare the information out of him, and it worked. Kind of. But that’s not the point…” you pause and let out a shaky sigh. “The point is that…when he was falling I…felt relief at the thought of his death.”

You keep avoiding Suguru’s face out of fear. You even walk a bit ahead to avoid even catching a glimpse of his reaction.

“Well,” he breaks his silence. “He hurt you…it’s normal.”

You shake your head and mutter. “No. He hadn't hurt me yet.”

Suguru hums, and you feel as if someone clutches onto your heart. You don’t want him to hate you. Not him.

“Do you regret it?” He asks in a quiet voice. “Feeling the way you did.”

You sigh and nod. “I did,” you say the truth. “I felt remorse because I knew it was wrong, because it’s not what I’m supposed to feel as a Jujutsu Sorcerer.”

“That’s right,” he agrees. “And as long as you know it’s wrong, as long as you feel remorse then you can work on what you felt.”

You nod, but you don’t feel relieved yet. “You don’t hate me because of it. Do you?”

Suguru stops walking, so you do too, and slowly peer back to look at him. You’re afraid to read his reaction because you know you’d see what he truly felt, but you have to so you slowly lift your eyes.

And surprisingly when you do meet his gaze he’s looking at you with a soft look and a faint smile. “No,” he reveals. “I don’t hate you because of it. Do you really think I would?”

You shrug and slowly turn to face him completely. “You’re a good person, who feels strongly about your views of this world and your place in it. You often butt heads with Satoru because he contradicts that. So…yes I was scared that you’d hate me because of it.”

Suguru exhales and drops his gaze for a moment. “I could never hate you,” he assures you as he meets your gaze. “If our views in this world change then…they do, I can’t force you to feel the way I do. You have your reasons to feel the way you do, I can never make you forget that. Would it change things? Maybe, but I wouldn't give up on you because of it. That’s not what love is, is it?”

That grip around your heart disappears and you finally feel relieved. But you can’t smile yet. “I don’t know if I will ever go back to the way I felt about non-sorcerers, so please don’t feel like you have to stay with me because you want to avoid hurting me. It’ll hurt, but sometimes we can’t agree to disagree. So please always be honest with me.”

Suguru holds your gaze and nods without hesitation. “I promise I will.”

You offer him a tiny smile and a soft nod. He returns your gesture before you both begin to continue towards the fourth facility with your hands brushing against each other.

It’s not a long ways away now, you made sure to have the manager park the car as close as they could without potentially alerting anyone. But even still the walk felt eternal with your nerves as high as they were.

When you could finally see the facility you looked out for any sign of Satoru, but all you found past the perimeter was that worm-like curse Toji Fushiguro had wrapped around him. It was cut in half and dragging itself away. Which could only mean one thing…Satoru should be around here, and Toji should be taken care of.

Why else would his curse be here without him?

Then again would curses have any sense of loyalty? Without being controlled that is.

Who knows. And who knows how Toji got this curse to bond to him. It doesn’t matter now anyway, his curse is here, bleeding out and stopped in front of Suguru and you. It even lifts his head and tilts it.

“Mommy!” It says, making your shoulders jump out of surprise that it spoke—“Hug me!”

You can’t decide if you feel disgusted by it or strangely awed by the curse. It’s kind of ugly cute.

“What…are we going to do with it?” You ask quietly as if the curse would understand.

Suguru looks at you with the same disbelief he looked at the curse with. “What do you mean what we’re going to do with it?” He asks.

You shrug and point at it. “I could, I don't know, exorcize it, or you could…keep it.” You both then look over at it and Suguru’s disbelief turns to slight disgust. He doesn’t answer you so you begin to lift your hand off your side to get rid of it with your fire.

However, Suguru reaches his hand out and summons it into a ball first. You didn’t think he’d absorb it then, he usually doesn’t like to when you’re around; even after you assure him over and over again that you don’t mind whatsoever, but this time he does swallow the curse.

“Satoru must be here,” you mention as he takes a minute. “I think we found the right place. Come on.” You break away from where you are and eagerly follow the trail of blood the curse had left behind. Suguru tows behind you, urging you to be careful, but those warnings don’t hit your ears with your heart pumping as fast it was with anticipation.

Once you make it past the gate and inside the outside courtyard, you find the reason the curse was out in its lonesome. You find Toji dead in front of a big hole made to the facility's wall. He has half of his torso missing, and his hand is disregarded in front of his body.

You’d say you feel bad, it looks like such a bad loss, but he killed Riko. He won’t get any sympathy from anyone. Actually, you feel happy because it means your brother should be here.

Thus you run inside. The entrance of the facility is empty, but you follow the signs that point to a main hall, you rush down some steps that lead to a corridor lit by eerie red lights, and find metal doors at the end of it.

“Y/N, wait,” Suguru calls out, but again you don’t listen, you run to the doors and pull them open.

It’s only when you open them that you actually stop. Not out of disappointment like the other three times, this time there’s actually people inside, you finally found the right one. You stop because you see non-sorcerers filling the room with thunderous applause, because you see them smile as if they’re proud of something. Yet you don’t know what.

As you slowly walk in the room that thunderous applause seems to get louder, deafening so. You want to investigate more, find what has them all excited, but you notice the crowd begin to part and stop to watch.

When the row of non-sorcerers in front of you breaks apart you finally see what they’re making way for, it’s Satoru. It's your brother, he’s alive, stained with blood, and with his head down, but he’s walking towards you with…Riko’s body.

She’s covered but regardless, seeing her lifeless body in your brother's arms takes away every bit of excitement you felt upon seeing him after you feared he died.

“You’re late, Suguru,” Satoru breaks you from your stupor. “No, I guess you got here fast. There are several Star religious group facilities in the city, after all,” he says and stops walking before you. He then lifts his head and you see how completely numb he looks.

“Satoru,” Suguru calls out in disbelief. “Is that you? What happened?”

“I see you already saw Shoko,” your brother changes the subject.

“Yeah,” Suguru says. “She healed me. I’m fine now.”

How is Satoru fine? Toji said he killed him, and Shoko didn’t heal him so…does that mean he healed himself at those last minutes?

That has to be right, nothing else explains why he’s here.

Then again, not like you care, all that matters is that he’s alive.

“Satoru,” you finally call out with relief, and finally manage to look away from Riko.

Your brother blinks and meets your gaze.

“You’re okay,” you point out. “How?”

“I finally figured it out,” he mutters in that same expressionless voice. “How to use Reverse cursed technique.”

“Good,” you assure him. “I'm proud.”

He hums and blinks slowly again to look back at Suguru behind you.

“Me being safe doesn’t help anything here, does it?” Suguru says.

“I screwed up,” Satoru cuts in, making your breath catch. He just never likes to admit that—“you’re not at fault.”

“Let’s go home, Satoru,” you interject softly and with worry.

“Suguru,” he interrupts coldly. “Should we kill these guys?”

You freeze but still glance around at all the people gathered around and still clapping with stupid smiles on their faces.

“The way I feel right now,” Satoru continues saying. “I doubt I’d feel anything about it.”

“No,” Suguru doesn’t hesitate to answer. “There’s no point.”

The non-sorcerers continue to clap, louder and louder. They don’t stop smiling either.

“It looks like there are only common followers here,” you hear Suguru say, whilst you watch them all still clapping and barely notice Satoru begin to walk past you—“The masterminds who know about our world have probably fled already.”

Then why are they still here? Clapping. Smiling.

You didn’t know why they celebrated before but now you do. You finally know and it disgusts you. They all disgust you. She was innocent.

“And unlike with the bounty they won’t be able to talk their way out of this,” Suguru adds. “The organization had problems to begin with. It’ll dissolve soon enough.”

“No point huh?” Suguru retorts once he’s past the metal doors. “Does there really need to be any point at all?”

Suguru doesn’t respond right away now, he stays quiet so you turn with your head high and made up about the thing that troubled you before.

You no longer feel remorse for wanting that non-sorcerer dead, nor do you feel bad for feeling disgusted by these non-sorcerers clapping and smiling over an innocent girls death. They’re…below you anyway, they’re not worth saving. They’re just mundane non-sorcerers after all.

“It’s very important that there is,'' Suguru finally responds to Satoru's question, causing you to stop under the door frame. “Especially for a Jujutsu Sorcerer.”

You know your point to all this. You’ve known now for a while; fighting for people like you. Getting stronger to fight for them to have a better life from the curses non-sorcerers create, from the evil you’ve seen. You’ll get strong for yourself and for your family. So you don’t lose again. That’s your point.

“Y/N?” Satoru calls out.

You look up at him and hum in response.

“Let’s go home,” he says.

You look back at Suguru still standing inside the hall and hesitate for a moment, you wait until he moves before you move and respond back. “Yeah, let’s go home.”

A/N- Don’t you guys love it? A cult leader and a communist in the making? Also that worm is now their child. Let’s hope is not a child of divorce soon…

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tinytinyblogs · 1 year ago

Text

Minhyuk As Your Boyfriend

Boyfriend

(n.) A person who 90% of the time annoy you, and 10% of the time makes you forget the 90%

Monsta X Masterlist Here

He loves playing games with you, and he'll happily spend all day doing so. You'll both scream so loudly when you lose, but I hope your neighbors don't mind! You and Minhyuk are the loudest gamers in the neighborhood. You scream and shout and cheer so loudly that your neighbors probably think you're crazy. But you don't care, because you're having too much fun. You'll spend hours playing your favorite games, whether it's Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., or League of Legends. You'll trash-talk each other and laugh at each other's misfortunes. You'll even get a little competitive, but it's all in good fun. When you finally lose, you'll both scream and shout in frustration. But then you'll laugh it off and start a new game. You'll never get tired of playing games together, because it's always so much fun.

Minhyuk knows how to make you smile, and spending time with him is always so much fun. So when he's away for a few days, you might feel a little bored. But don't worry, there are plenty of things you can do to keep yourselves entertained.

Minhyuk suggested adopting a puppy on a whim, and you thought it was a great idea. You spent the whole day running around the house taking pictures of the puppy, trying to get the perfect shot. You and Minhyuk had been talking about getting a puppy for a while, but you never really took the initiative to do it. But one day, Minhyuk came home from work and said, "I think we should adopt a puppy." You were a little surprised, but you were also excited. You had always wanted a puppy, and you knew Minhyuk would be a great dog dad.

This man will be extremely worried if you get sick or if he sees you crying in front of him. He will do whatever it takes to take care of you, even if it means googling how to take care of you or calling Kihyun at 3 a.m. in the morning. He will hold your hand and tell you everything is going to be okay. He will get you a warm blanket and a cup of tea. He will stay up with you all night if he has to. He will do whatever it takes to make sure you feel better. He knows that you are his priority, and he will do anything to make sure you are happy and healthy. He is the most caring and supportive person you know, and you are lucky to have him in your life.

Minhyuk would love to take you to all the cute and aesthetic places in town. He would start by taking you to a cafe with a beautiful view. You would order coffee and pastries, and you would sit outside and people-watch. Then, he would take you to a flower shop, where you would pick out a bouquet of flowers for each other. After that, you would go for a walk in the park, and you would take some couple photos in front of the fountain. For dinner, he would take you to a restaurant with a romantic atmosphere. You would order your favorite dishes, and you would talk for hours. After dinner, he would walk you back to your apartment, and he would kiss you goodnight. Minhyuk would be so proud to be your boyfriend, and he would want everyone to know it. He would show the members the couple photos he took of you, and he would tell them all about the date. He would tell them about the food you ate, the things you did, and how much fun you had together. He would be so happy to have you in his life, and he would want to share his happiness with everyone.

Minhyuk is so proud to be your boyfriend that he can't help but brag about you to his members. He'll tell them stories about your dates, your conversations, and even your quirks. At first, they'll be happy for him, but eventually they'll start to get tired of hearing about you all the time. They might even start to tease him about it. But Minhyuk doesn't care. He's just so happy to have you in his life, and he wants everyone to know about it. Even though the members might get tired of hearing about you, they would still be happy for Minhyuk. They would know that he's found someone special, and they would be supportive of his relationship with you.

Your relationship with Minhyuk is always exciting and never dull. You always have something to look forward to, whether it's a new date night, a weekend getaway, or just spending time together at home. Minhyuk always knows how to make you laugh, and he always makes you feel loved and appreciated. You feel like the luckiest person in the world to have Minhyuk in your life. He is everything you could ever want in a partner. He is kind, funny, supportive, and loving. He always puts your needs first, and he always makes you feel special. Minhyuk tells you that he loves you more and more every day. He says that you are the most amazing person he has ever met, and that he can't imagine his life without you. You believe him, because you feel the same way about him.

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steddieas-shegoes · 2 years ago

Note

Hi! I love your writing so much! My request is just more of Eddie's water exposure therapy! I'd love to see Robin and Steve help and see how things play out. If not, that's totally cool too! Thanks for sharing your writing in the first place!

THANK YOU!!! You know what is super funny is I was working on this when you sent the other request yesterday. I loved exploring more of this post, and I think maybe I could keep doing so if I have time someday. I hope you love it! - Mickala ❤️

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

Eddie was committed to getting through this, he was.

It’s just that he hadn’t really thought about how fucking difficult it would be to have to do it with Nancy.

Nancy was strong-willed and badass and if Eddie was ever gonna be interested in women, it would be Nancy fuckin’ Wheeler.

But sometimes, like today, he needed someone soft. Someone who was okay with taking things slow.

She knew something was off the moment she walked in the door, but she didn’t comment on it until he was hovering by the sink in the bathroom.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know if I can do it today.”

“Why not?”

“It’s just not a good day.”

“Sometimes those are the days you need to push yourself most.”

“And sometimes I just need a break! We’ve been doing this for five days. I’m tired.”

He was tired. And he was frustrated. He had a setback one day three that he still hadn’t completely recovered from and he barely slept last night and Wayne forgot to save him the leftovers he wanted so it was just a shit day.

“What if I get Robin?”

“I don’t see how that will help.”

“Sometimes a small change can help. She already said she’d do whatever you need.”

“Does she realize I’m naked? I feel like she must not know I’m naked. I don’t even think she’s seen Steve naked, and they practically live up each others’ assholes.”

“Thanks for that image.” Nancy shook her head as if she could shake the image out and forget it was ever there. “So. Robin or me?”

“Robin.”

And despite Eddie being kind of convinced that Robin wouldn’t actually come, she did. And she brought him gummy bears as a reward.

Nancy didn’t give him rewards.

Maybe Robin should be in charge.

Nancy went over things with Robin again, explained that today was a full minute under the water, that he had to be fully submerged except for his head, and that he did have to be naked.

“Well. If I must see a dude’s junk, I guess I’m glad it’s yours.”

“Gee, thanks, Robin,” he said as he stripped.

If he thought too much about it, he’d lock himself in his room and just never shower again.

But Robin turned away as he stripped to give him some semblance of privacy and he was grateful.

Nancy waited in the hall, said she’d be there if they needed her, but would rather keep it to just one of them in the bathroom with Eddie.

Robin turned the water on.

“You like hot or warm?”

“Hot.”

“Good. Give it a minute.”

The water hitting the shower floor was apparently enough to have him losing his shit today. He tensed up and waited with a towel wrapped around him, watching as Robin kept testing the temperature of the water every ten seconds.

Finally, she smiled at him and nodded.

“Do you want me to talk or just count in my head?”

“Usually Nancy just counts out loud.”

“Does that help?”

“It doesn’t not help.”

“Would something else be better?”

“Uh. I guess try talking?”

“You got it.” Robin opened the bathroom door for a moment, said something, then closed the door again.

“Nancy’s got a kitchen timer ready to start when I knock on the door. You ready?”

“No, but I have to be.”

“I got all day.”

It did help to hear that. He knew, logically, no one would rush him, but sometimes he was worried that they’d give up on him if he took too long.

Like, he knew he was already pushing his luck just having them around for his everyday theatrics, so this was just icing on the cake.

But Robin didn’t make him feel like he had to worry about that and that already helped.

It’s not that Nancy rushed him, it’s just that she was a very straight to the point person. In or out. Shit or get off the pot.

Robin was the opposite in a lot of ways.

More of a, we’ll get there when we get there and we’ll stop to look at flowers on the way, kind of person.

She just watched as he stood by the shower, playing with his hair.

He took a deep breath, dropped the towel, and got in.

“Alright, good! You let me know when you’re in the water and I’ll knock and start chatting.”

Eddie could do this. He could.

So he did.

“In.”

He heard Robin knock as he clenched his teeth together and felt the water run down his shoulders and back.

Robin had picked the perfect temperature, not scalding, but hot enough to leave his skin pink. Just like he liked it.

“That’s how Steve likes his baths, which I tell him all the time is why he gets so lightheaded. You’re cooking yourselves. I’m realizing that I might be the emotional support bathing bestie. I sit with Steve when he has baths and now you with the shower. Is this all I’m good for?”

Eddie let out a strangled laugh.

It was helping, but he was still struggling to focus on anything except how stifling the water felt, how the steam building around him was starting to feel too much like fog and the drops were feeling too much like his own blood spattering on his body.

“Time?” He managed to croak out.

“Nance! Time?”

“20 seconds!”

“That’s not bad! Tell me your favorite Metallica song right now.”

He knew the answer. He opened his mouth to do it, but couldn’t say anything.

“Eddie? You okay?”

He tried to speak again, but it was just a whimper.

The water was too much.

He jumped out of the shower, nearly knocking Robin over in his escape.

He was shivering, though his skin was hot to the touch from the water, and Robin was already recovering and wrapping his towel around him.

Nancy was opening the door, worried eyes peeking around the corner.

“Listen to my voice, Eddie. Take in a deep breath. Slowly.”

It was easy to listen to Robin.

She didn’t hesitate to wrap him up in her arms, rubbing her hands up and down his back as he tried to breathe.

Nancy was standing in the doorway, not saying or doing anything, just a silent presence there to assist if needed.

He could feel Robin’s heart beating hard in her chest, so hard it felt like it was trying to jump into his chest.

But he was calming down now.

He pulled away and sat down on the floor, towel still loosely wrapped around him.

Robin shut off the shower, quickly joining him on the floor and waving Nancy away.

“You’re good at this.”

“Well, somebody has to be there for Steve when he’s having a bad day. I’ve gotten plenty of practice.”

“Is he this bad?”

“Oh, on his real bad days, he’s worse. And yes, you absolutely should hold that over him. Maybe then he’ll accept help from someone other than just me.”

He rested his head on her shoulder, smiling when she rested her head on his.

“You should have him come help.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why? Because you have a big stupid crush on him?”

“Why, yes, Robin. That’s exactly why.”

He knew she was rolling her eyes, but he didn’t care.

“You’re both so stupid, it gives me a stomach ache.”

Eddie didn’t think about what she said, just sat in silence as she started playing with his fingers.

“Want me to come back tomorrow?”

“Yeah, please.”

————

Robin came back for three days in a row, and Eddie managed to stay under the water until the timer went off every time.

He was scared to think about what would happen if he started to fail again.

But with Robin constantly talking his way through it, he couldn’t worry for long.

————

“Eddie.”

Oh no.

Robin’s voice was so scratchy, and dull, and not Robin.

She was sick.

Nancy wasn’t available today or tomorrow.

He couldn’t do this alone.

“It’s okay, Robs. I’ll…call Steve.”

“Good. Sorry again.”

She didn’t sound nearly as sorry as when he first answered the phone, but it wasn’t worth arguing about.

He paced the floor of his room for nearly ten minutes before he gave in and just dialed Steve’s number.

“Harrington residence, Steve speaking.”

“Oh, you have one of those homes. Gross.”

“Eds!”

“Hey, Stevie.”

Eddie knew his face was doing that stupid smile he only did for Steve, a combination of fond and content that he’d never been able to give anyone else.

“Everything good?”

“Well, kinda no?”

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked quickly, his tone changing from casual excitement to concern.

“You remember what Nancy told you about the uh…exposure therapy?”

“Yeah, how’s that going?”

Eddie sighed. Steve was so fucking nice all the time. It wasn’t fair.

“It’s not terrible. Robin’s helped for a few days. But uh.”

“What is it?”

“Robin’s sick and Nancy’s out of town. I can’t skip a day, especially not when I’ve been on a roll, ya know? So I was wondering if maybe, and you can say no I’ll do it alone if I have to, maybe you’d be willing to come play therapist?”

That wasn’t so hard. It was awkward, certainly, but not too bad.

“I’ll be right over,” Steve said quickly and hung up.

Eddie didn’t mean right this second necessarily, Jesus.

But if Steve wanted to help this badly, then who was he to stop him from rushing over?

And rush he did.

It wasn’t 15 minutes later that Steve was at his door.

“Where’s the fire, man?”

“Huh?”

“Never mind,” Eddie smiled at him. “Do you remember what Nancy said about all this?”

“Yeah. How long are you up to?”

“Minute and a half. Or I have to turn the water on and adjust the temperature myself and do a minute. But I don’t wanna try something new today, so minute and a half it is.”

Steve nodded along, but Eddie swore he looked nervous. Like he was hesitant to even be here. He needed to offer him an out.

“Listen, I can just wait. Skipping a day or two isn’t really gonna make a big difference in the long run.”

“No!” Steve suddenly shouted. “No. I want to help. I want to be here for you.”

“Oh,” Eddie looked down at his feet, hoping it would hide the blush on his cheeks. “Okay then.”

So he led Steve to the bathroom. He set the kitchen timer but didn’t start it yet.

Steve was standing by the shower, shifting his weight between his legs anxiously. He looked more nervous than Eddie even felt.

“Nancy and Robin usually turn the water on and make sure it’s hot for me. Robin said it’s like how you like it?”

“Got it.”

He turned to the faucets, adjusting them for a few seconds and then pulling back as he waited for the water to heat up.

“You can strip, I’ll turn around.”

“Oh. Okay. Sure.”

Eddie knew he sounded ridiculous.

You’ve taken showers before, idiot.

But the difference here was that Steve was about to be here to see him at his weakest, at least emotionally. And he’d be naked.

Going off of how much Nancy and Robin had to see of him, Steve would be getting an eyeful too.

“You okay?”

Eddie shook himself out of his thoughts.

“I’m okay. Sorry.”

He threw his shirt off and unbuttoned his pants before he could overthink it.

Steve had seen most of him when he was helping change his bandages after the bats snacked on him. It wasn’t a big deal.

Steve at least pretended to be paying more attention to the water and floor as he pulled his legs from his pants and slid his boxers off.

“Water’s good. You ready?”

Steve looked at his face, clearly avoiding any chance of seeing anything below the waist.

Probably locker room courtesy or something, though if you asked him, making eye contact was way more intimate than accidentally seeing someone else’s dick.

“Ready.”

Steve moved to the sink as he got in, probably grabbing the kitchen timer to start it the second he got under the water.

It took him a minute, the hot water hitting his toes gently.

But he took a deep breath, turned his back to the stream, and backed into the water.

“I’m in.”

The first part was getting easier to do, he’d admit that. It was easier to stay in the moment while the water first started hitting him, easier to speak for the first 15 or so seconds before he was completely soaked.

But then it was quiet. He couldn’t hear anything except the water beating down on him and the shower floor.

Steve wasn’t saying anything and Eddie didn’t know how to ask him to.

He didn’t want to sound needy, Steve was already giving up time out of his day to be here at all.

How long had it been? Probably not that long.

It felt like years.

The water was the perfect temperature, and that kind of helped him remember this was a shower, not the end of the fucking world.

The end of the world doesn’t care about your comfort.

Steve does though.

But after another ten or so seconds, the buzzing in his ears got louder, he could feel his body shaking as if the water had suddenly turned ice cold, and the thoughts rushing through his head were more memories he wished he could forget.

He still felt the water, but it wasn’t water anymore. It was blood and bats and doctor’s hands trying to just stop the bleeding.

And then he felt actual hands on him, a body against him pushing him so the water was barely touching him.

He took a gasping breath and collapsed against them.

Steve.

He was fully clothed, like he’d panicked and jumped in without thinking about it at all. He had his arms wrapped around Eddie tightly, not leaving an inch of space between them. He was muttering something, but Eddie couldn’t quite hear what it was.

He let himself be held, no longer in panic mode with his human shield protecting him from the water.

“How long?”

Steve was rubbing his back, spreading a new warmth against his skin and helping, always helping.

“One minute.”

Eddie sighed. He didn’t wanna tell Nancy that he failed today.

She wouldn’t make him feel bad intentionally, but she got this look on her face when he didn’t make it to the timer going off like she wasn’t sure he could get through it.

“You wanna get out?”

“Please.”

Steve pulled away so he could shut off the water and Eddie got a good look at him.

He was soaked, his clothes sticking to him uncomfortably, his hair matted down against his head.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. I made the choice.”

He did, yeah. But he probably felt obligated to, and that’s not really making a choice, is it?

“Eds, look at me.”

He’d been looking at the floor, kind of hoping it would just swallow him up for good, but managed to pull his head up when Steve asked.

“I’ll always, always, make the choice to help you. Okay?”

Eddie bit back a sob as he nodded, and Steve pulled him against his chest again.

“You have no clue how much I wanna be here for you. When Nancy called, I practically begged to be here, did she tell you that? But she said it wouldn’t be helpful if I jumped in the moment you needed me.”

“Helped now.”

Steve squeezed his arms.

“Yeah. She won’t be happy with me. But you weren’t answering and when I looked in, it’s like you weren’t even here. I didn’t know what else to do.”

Eddie nodded. That lined up with what he’d been feeling, seeing.

“We should get out. You’re shivering.”

Steve guided him out of the shower and wrapped the towel he’d left hanging up around him, rubbing along his arms and back to help get him warmer faster.

Then he was taking off his shirt and removing his belt and Eddie’s brain couldn’t catch up.

“Uh.”

“Sorry, do you have some clothes I can borrow while I put these in the dryer?”

“Uh. Yeah. Sure.”

Steve smiled at him like he didn’t just break his brain in half.

He managed to walk to his bedroom, grab a shirt and sweatpants, and walk back to the bathroom with only a single thought running through his mind: he’s wearing my clothes.

“Thanks,” Steve said as Eddie wordlessly handed them over.

And then he realized he forgot boxers.

Steve would be wearing his sweatpants with nothing under them.

He knew the noise he let out was close to a squeak, like a fucking mouse or something, but he couldn’t hold it in. Steve didn’t acknowledge it, hopefully didn’t hear it at all, as he focused on getting his soaked jeans off his body.

Then his boxers came off.

Eddie really did his best not to look. He did. It would be so rude to stare.

It would be even more rude to say something.

So he did both.

“Jesus Christ, Steve. The girls weren’t kidding were they?”

Steve’s face was bright red, but he didn’t look up until he was pulling the sweatpants up his legs.

“I guess that depends what they were saying.”

Eddie was still standing with his towel wrapped around him, eyes wide at everything that had just happened.

“For one, that you’re pretty well-endowed. I thought they just lacked experience. Maybe I’m the one lacking experience. Maybe you’re just huge.”

Steve was smirking at him, the confidence of the king coming back as he listened to Eddie.

“That so?”

“God, yeah. I’m never gonna be able to be with anyone again after seeing that.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

Steve was stepping into his space now, still shirtless, still smirking.

“I mean, look at you. How could I ever be satisfied with someone else inside me when I could have that?”

Oh. Wait. No. He wasn’t supposed to be saying this out loud.

Steve’s hands were on his hips, though.

Gripping him tight, like he had no intention of letting him go.

“You want that? With me?”

Well, might as well lay it all out there.

“I want everything with you. Anything you’ll give me.”

“Everything?” Steve was still smirking, that asshole. “So if I wanted to take you out on a date…”

“A date?”

“Yeah. To dinner or something.”

“We can’t go on a date, Steve. We’re two men in bumfuck Indiana. We’d be killed.”

“How about I make you dinner? My place. Tonight?”

“You’re fucking with me.”

“I’m not, but hopefully I will be,” he said with a wink.

“Steve. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. I’m like, kind of in love with you, full disclosure, and I’m not sure I can handle one date, a fuck, and then you never wanting to even talk to me again.”

Steve watched as he rambled, running his thumbs along Eddie’s hips like he was trying to keep him calm.

“Full disclosure, I’m kind of in love with you, too. I mean, I did just jump in a shower fully clothed to make sure you weren’t gonna hurt yourself. I’d do it every day if I had to.”

Eddie searched his face for any sign of a lie. Steve was easy to read, or at least he was to Eddie.

But Steve was giving him a fond smile, and moving in closer, and Eddie didn’t see any sign of a lie.

Steve’s hand cupped his jaw. He was looking at him like he was special, and Eddie wasn’t sure what to do with it.

And then Steve was kissing him.

He dropped the towel. It was accidental, but he wasn’t going to interrupt any of this to pull it back up.

Steve was an intense kisser. He should’ve known.

He put everything he had into it. He kissed with his whole body, quite literally putting his back into it as he pushed Eddie against the wall.

But Eddie wasn’t doing this in his bathroom. Despite the fact that he was very obviously willing to, he wanted to have the date first.

He pulled away, but stayed in Steve’s arms. He wasn’t quite ready for complete separation.

“You’re making me dinner tonight?”

“I’m making you dinner tonight.”

“And it’s a date?”

“It’s a date.”

————

Steve came every day after that, even on days when Robin or Nancy were already there.

He sometimes waited in the hall as backup, but usually he stayed in the bathroom and talked to Eddie, who’d managed to get up to three whole minutes in only a few weeks.

When he finally made it to five, Nancy handed it all over to Steve.

He started taking showers with Eddie. Washing his body and hair so he could have more positive thoughts.

By the end of the year, he was taking regular showers.

He still had moments where he panicked, of course. He still sometimes had to cut them short because of a specific memory.

He still sometimes went a few days without because he couldn’t build up the courage to get in.

But Steve was there. They all were.

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #nancy wheeler #robin buckley #exposure therapy #requests #its about the HEALING

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fabbyf1 · 7 days ago

Note

hi kate!! hope u good and hope u had a great birthday as well🫶🏻

in the last few weeks/ months i was super busy so i don’t actually know what happened here on tumblr so (all of this just to simply ask) when you are going to update the fic lol

i know that you are busy to ofc! i just hope everything is okay! and just can’t wait for another chapter

i’m sorry if i sound rude that it not my intention!

love u queen🫶🏻👑

hi bestie! i know you're not being rude or rushing me. i honestly just don't know how to answer your question. if i had an ETA, i would share that with everybody, but i just... don't have much written.

i'm really struggling right now mentally with writing. it's not fair to you all, and i promise i am trying to work through it, but i am still struggling. nothing is flowing and my words aren't coming and i'm frustrated and upset about it all the time.

i was worried this was going to happen when i started posting as a WIP, and i know you all were worried about it too... which is why a lot of people have chosen not to read it as a wip (which i totally get) and now i've just proved all of the wip haters and myself right.

i'm sorry i don't have anything to show you right now. i really wish i did. it is keeping me up at night and looming over me every day.

i know a lot of people love this fic, and it has an enormous amount of work subs on ao3, and i don't take that lightly. i wish i had something to give you right now. i hate letting you all down.

#mastermind fic #kate's crying again on main

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crystalsnow95z · 9 months ago

Text

Request:

Kk, I know it's rlly weird and specific, but I had this idea

1 of the members cooked a meal for Hobi cuz hes been too busy working on a song and hasn't been leaving his studio much to eat, and he gets food poisoning from it, but he down plays it until he gets back home trying to shower and gets so sick one of the older members need to help him wash up. I rlly love your stories w/the gentle washings ♥︎

I put my Playlist on shuffle and the first voice I heard would be who cooked for him. The first song to pop up was like crazy, making Jimin our cook.

Tw: emeto

Hoseok listens to the chorus for the sixteenth time after tweaking it once more, still feeling unsatisfied with it. There's something missing, but I don't know what.. maybe I need more adlibs? Or drums? I don't know..

Hoseok sighs, throwing his headset onto the desk and leaning back in his chair, running his hands through his hair. "This is so annoying..why can't I get it right? I wanted a demo by the end of the week.. I'll be too busy.."

Hoseok's stomach gurgles uncomfortably, reminding him that he hasn't eaten since breakfast. He picks up his phone, seeing three missed calls from Jimin. Aish, I was supposed to meet up with him a while ago..

Hoseok checks his messages, seeing two texts from Jimin.

Are you still in your studio?

Have you been in there since after our recording session Hyung?

Hoseok quickly replies to his messages, hoping Jimin isn't upset at him for forgetting about him.

I'm so sorry Jiminah, I completely lost track of time. If you still want to practice I'm still in my studio.

Jimin is relieved when he hears his phone go off seeing the notification of Hoseok messaging him back. He's overworking himself.. he got up early to work before practice and went right to the studio after we recorded the rough draft of the b side tracks..

Stay there, I'll meet up with you in the studio. I made us dinner since I figured you'd forget. Are you hungry?

Hoseok only takes a minute to reply back to him, making Jimin smile.

I'm starving. I only had rice and coffee today.. You're an angel. I love you.

Jimin gathers up the containers of food he prepared and puts them in his backpack, calling Hoseok to keep him company on his walk to the company building.

"Jimin." Hoseok uses a deep voice when he answers smiling when he hears Jimin hold back a giggle.

"J-hope.." Jimin mimicks him, pulling his hat farther over his face when he leaves the studio. "How are you? Is the song going well?"

"I'm so frustrated. I just can't seem to get this song right. I know what I want in my head, but I can't seem to replicate it.. I don't know if I can make it work.." Hoseok shares his concerns with the younger member.

"Maybe you need to take a break from it, hyung. It's not like you have a time limit or anything. You're gonna spread yourself too thin with the new group album dropping next month."

The two stay on the phone until Jimin reaches Hoseok's studio, the older member greeting him with a hug. "I'm sorry i didn't meet up earlier."

"I told you Hyungie, it's no big deal. I'm not worried about it, I'm only worried about you working so hard that you aren't eating properly." Jimin scolds him when he hears Hoseok's stomach growling.

"I know, I know.. I'm sorry. I totally lost track of time. Thanks again for making food.." Hoseok watches eagerly as Jimin pulls out containers from his bag.

"Do you want me to go warm it up for you hyung?" Jimin asks, but Hoseok was already picking up a container. "Guess not.." Jimin giggles, watching Hoseok eat his home-cooked meal. "Is it good?"

"Yeah, the meat is super juicy and the sauce is so good..i love it." Hoseok takes another bite. "After we eat I'll help you master the choreography. Okay?"

"Don't rush hyung. Enjoy your meal. We can always change it to tomorrow. I just wanted to be sure you ate. Hobi-hyung you're making a mess.." Jimin smiles fondly, getting a tissue to wipe some sauce from Hoseok's chin. I would've made more if I realized how hungry he'd be.. I'll just eat some rice and let him have the rest..

"No Jimin-ah, you need to land on your right leg. Like this." Hoseok demonstrates the part that Jimin messed up, his stomach sloshing from the quick spin biting his lip.

"Ah, I get it.. okay, okay.. let me try it one more time." Jimin restarts the song, quickly moving into position. Hoseok doesn't join in for this round, opting to watch while sitting against the mirror, wrapping his arm around his aching middle.

Why do I feel so sick? I was fine earlier.. just a little tired..was the chicken too greasy? Did I eat too much?

Hoseok quietly burps to try to ease the pressure in his stomach, but it only made him feel worse, a sour taste filling his mouth. He tries to stand to get water, but moving only made the nausea worse. Please..I don't want to throw up..

"Hyung i think I did it.. perfect this time!" Jimin pants, going to the camera to turn it off when he noticed Hoseok didn't do it. "Hyung?"

Hoseok turns his head to look in the direction Jimin's voice came from. "I'm sorry Jiminie, I spaced out for the last bit..I'm sure you did great."

"Are you okay Hyung?" Jimin takes a seat next to Hoseok, rubbing his shoulders. "You look pale.."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm just tired, and I think I ate too much.. my stomach hurts.. I shouldn't have binged like that.. dancing after eating probably didn't help." Hoseok rubs his hand across his bloated belly, ignoring the nausea that bubbled up inside it. "Show me the practice video."

"You aren't feeling well?" Jimin frowns, forgetting all about the choreography. He places his hand on Hoseok's forhead, then his own relieved when he doesn't feel any difference."When did you start feeling sick?"

"Um.. When we were practicing the chorus.. the jerking movement before the jump..The movement made my stomach flip.. I think it's because I'm actually full, and I usually practice on a mostly empty stomach. It's no big deal."

"That was an hour ago Hyung. You should've told me.. we can always practice later if you aren't feeling well..you don't have to force yourself." Jimin scolds him softly, guilt making his own stomach flutter uncomfortably. I should've noticed something was wrong..I could've had him home resting by now..

"It's not a problem, Jimin-Ah. It wasn't a big deal. I'm fine I just need to sleep it off." Hoseok reassures Jimin, putting his hands in his hoodie pockets to be able to rest his palms on his stomach without Jimin noticing.

"I'll call us a cab.." Jimin gets himself some water while he waits for the company to answer, offering it to Hoseok after taking a drink.

Hoseok's stomach churned at the thought of adding anything else inside of it, pushing the bottle away with a little head shake. "I'm good..I just want to get some fresh air.."

"Sure Hyung. We can wait outside.." Jimin gently leads Hoseok outside, letting Hoseok lean against him while they walk. "You should shower and get to bed as soon as you get home.."

"Yeah... I will..don't worry.. I'm feeling a bit better now.." Hoseok lies, trying to get Jimin to relax. I hope i don't throw up in the taxi..

Hoseok sits in the shower, letting the water cascade down his back. He finished washing ten minutes ago, but his stomach refused to settle. I hate throwing up, but I can't keep fighting it..

Hoseok gets to his feet, using the wall to balance himself, the nausea hitting him like a freight train. The chicken Jimin prepared for him comes up all at once, spraying out of him, hitting the shower tiles. Sh*t...

Hoseok feels his stomach clenching again, another mouthful of sick coming up. 'Hyung.." he whimpers, falling to his knees when they buckle underneath them, tears stinging the corners of his eyes when he feels his stomach lurching again, the thick bile splashing around him. "Hyung!" Hoseok calls desperately as he tries to rise to his feet again, wanting to escape the smell that only made him feel worse. Hoseok forces himself to his feet and leaves the shower, kneeling on the ground in front of the toliet, gagging up another thick mouthful of sick.

"Hobi? Are you calling.. Aiggo.. Hoba.." Jin turns off the shower and gets a towel, draping it over the shivering rapper. "It's okay baby, hyung will take care of you.. I'm going to dry you off okay?"

Hoseok gripped the toliet seat, his body trembling with effort to keep sitting upright. "Hyung.." he whines as stomach pushes up another thick mouthful into the toliet. "It hurts.."

"It's okay, it's okay.. hyung is here now, just relax and let it happen, you'll only feel worse if you try to fight it baby.." Jin gently wipes the towel across Hoseok's body to dry him.

"I want it to stoo-urp..." Hoseok whines as he burps up another mouthful of sick, reaching for Jin's hand.

Jin rubs his thumb across his knuckles. "Hoba.. your hair is still coated with soap.. we'll have to rinse it.."

"I just want.." Hoseok's words are stopped by another heave, only foamy saliva coming up.

"I know, I know.. it'll be over soon, and then we'll get you cleaned, dressed and in bed. Okay?" Jin gently scratches Hoseok's spine, feeling the tension in his muscles as another heave comes.

"Is that Hoseok-hyung?" Jimin asks when he hears the sound, his stomach dropping when he sees he was correct.

"Jimin-ah get him some pajamas so we can get him dressed and in bed when he's settled down please?" Jin quickly sends the younger member away, knowing Hoseok wouldn't want Jimin seeing him like this.

"Yes hyung.." Jimin hesitates to move, eyes glued on the trembling rapper. Hoseok's face was completely hidden by the toliet bowl, Jin's hand on his chest holding him up.

"Jimin go." Jin uses a stern tone to get the younger moving. "And bring a water bottle too."

Jimin doesn't make Jin ask a third time, quickly going into the kitchen to get a water bottle.

"Is that Hoba in the bathroom?" Yoongi asks, making Jimin jump.

"Aiish! Hyung don't sneak up on me like that!" Jimin, close the fridge, sighing."It is.. Hobi-hyung said he wasn't feeling well earlier because he ate too much, but maybe it was the food i made.."

"He hasn't been eating much lately trying to prep for the new album.. he probably just overdid it. You're a pretty good cook Jimin-ah." Yoongi comforts Jimin, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You should bring the water to Hoba.. it sounds like he's settled down.."

"I..I'm done.." Hoseok whispers, falling backwards into Jin's chest, panting heavily. His muscles burned with each breath,overworked from the ordeal. "I'm...sorry..i..I.."

"Shh..Shh Hobi.. don't apologize to me.. just focus on catching your breath okay?" Jin speaks softly, wiping some soap from his forehead before it could drip into his eyes, careful to not make Hoseok have to move. I need to wash him.. hopefully he can stay up long enough..

"But..you're..s..s..soaked.." Hoseok says through chattering teeth, pulling the towel Jin draped over him closed for warmth.

"I don't care. It's just water." Jin hugs his shivering dongsaeng close to his chest. "Just take deep breaths..relax Hoseok-ah..it's okay.."

"I got a pair of pajamas and water hyung." Jimin enters the bathroom, the tightness in his chest loosening when he sees Hoseok stopped."Here Hobi-hyung.. take a bit of water, wash your mouth out." Jimin holds the water by his lips, letting him get a mouthful to swish around, the sickly member spitting it into the toliet. "Do you need any more help?"

"You can try to clean the shower up for Hobi. If you can't do it, it's no big deal. I'll get it after Hoseok catches his breath." Jin didn't want to let Hoseok go, and Jimin knew it.

I can't be squeamish now..hyung needs me..it's not a big deal..

"No, no I can do it." Jimin takes a deep breath, holding his breath as he opens the shower door, gagging at the sight, an acid tang filling his throat. He closes his eyes turning on the shower to try to wash as much as possible down the drain. "I'm okay."

"I'm sorry Jiminie.." Hoseok's voice comes out as a raspy whisper.

"No hyung, it's not your fault.." Jimin rejected his apology, speaking in a soft tone. It's mine..

"Finished.." Jimin says removing his gloves and throwing them in the trash, tying up the bag. His stomach fluttered uncomfortably, feeling nauseous from the smell that still filled his nostrils despite the fact he cleaned all the traces of sick.

"Thanks Jimin-ah.." Jin gently pokes Hoseok's cheek, the sickly member dosing off while waiting. "Baby I need you to move for me."

Hoseok sleepily blinks groaning when he tries sitting up. "I'm cold and it hurts to move..."Hoseok whimpers, feeling his muscles burning. "Hyung.."

"I know.. I know.. just bear with me a little longer, and you can sleep.. Jimin-ah, could you do one more thing? At the end of my bed, there's a heated blanket. Could you get it and plug it in for Hobi?" Jin asks softly, helping Hoseok move to the shower floor, removing the shower head.

"Of course. I'll get it." Jimin leaves, relieved to be given another task, taking the trash with him.

"I'm going to turn on the water okay?" Jin warns, not wanting to frighten his dongsaeng with the sound of the water. He checks the temperature before covering Hoseok's eyes, gently removing the soap from his body. "You're doing good Hoba.. just keep your eyes closed okay?"

Jin washes all the soap from his hair, then gets a bit of soap to wash the sweat that covered Hoseok, moving his hand across Hoseok in small circles. "Don't fall asleep.."

Hoseok tries to take shallow breaths to try to prevent further agitating his sore muscles. I don't think i could right now...

"Now one more rinse.." Jin sprays the water over his body once more before turning it off, removing his wet shirt before going to help Hoseok out of the shower.

The warm water felt nice on his chilled skin, but as soon as Jin turned it off the trembling started up once more. "C-Cold.." He whispers, hugging onto Jin.

"I know baby.. I'll get you a heat pack after we get you settled in bed.." Jin brushes Hoseoks hair away from his face, getting the towel to dry Hoseok as quickly as possible. "We're almost done baby.."

Hoseok nods, letting Jin dry his hair.

"Do you think you can sit up so I can get a shirt on you Hoba?"

"Yeah, yeah..I got it.." Hoseok slowly moves off of Jins chest, leaning against the shower door while Jin unfolds the button up, leading Hoseok's arms into the holes. "I'm sorry I'm being a burden.." he whispers while Jin works the buttons into their proper holes.

"Don't say such nonsense. You're not being a burden. You just need a little help, that's all." Jin sits Hoseok on the toliet, drying his legs."Let's finish getting you dried and dressed. I'll lay with you until you fall asleep."

Hoseok thought it was over after the one time, but he was wrong. Beads of cold sweat covered his body as his stomach cramps up, leaving his head swirling when he tries to sit up, wrapping his arm around his bloated middle as a wet burp comes, leaving a nasty film coating his mouth.

"J-jimin-ah.." Hoseok tries to call for his roommate, but his voice comes out as a small whimper. He knew if be tried to stand whatever was left in his stomach would come back up. "Jiminie.." he tries louder, the urgency in his voice waking up Jimin.

"Hyung..whats wrong?" Jimin's voice comes out as a raspy whisper, turning to his side to face Hoseok's bed.

Hoseok tries to speak, but he feels the bile pushing its way up his throat, his stomach releasing a high-pitched gurgle. "Nm..." he presses his palm over his mouth as another burp comes whimpering when he swallows down the sick that filled his cheeks. "Sick..Jimin-ah.."

Jimin instantly gets up when he hears the desperation in Hoseok's voice, blindly feeling for the trashcan in the dark, crawling onto Hoseok's bed when he finds it placing it in front of Hoseok just in time for him to heave into it.

Jimin runs his hands through Hoseok's hair, pulling it back so Hoseok wouldn't have to suffer through another shower. "It's okay, it's okay.. I'm here.. " he tries to say soothing things, his heart sinking when he hears the soft whimper followed by the splash of sick onto the plastic bag inside the bin.

He continued to dry heave despite the fact earlier he emptied everything he had in his stomach, nothing coming up but strings of foamy saliva.

Jimin goes behind Hoseok, letting him use him as support until his stomach settled down once more. "Are you done Hoba?"

"Mhm.." Hoseok hums deeply, clearing his throat. "I'm okay now.."

"Is there anything I can do to help? Do you want the heated blanket on? You want some water? Or-"

"I want to stay like this for now.." Hoseok whispers, turning on his side. He could hear Jimin's racing heart and feel his unsteady breathing on his forehead as he tried to calm down too. Being here with me is enough..

"I'll stay here all night if that's what you want.." jimin uses his sleeve to wipe the sweat from Hoseoks forehead. "But you have to let me lay down too okay?"

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