#i just got the email today from sans press!!!!

[synonymsfordismember]

SATELLITE OFFICE NOMINATED FOR PUSHCART

[thebloodbrothers-archive]

Interview with Jordan Blilie of the Blood Brothers by Scott Batiuk

(transcribed from sandiegopunk.com on 07/19/2002)

The Blood Brothers signed to ARTISTdirect Records, and Ross Robinson is producing their next album. Ross Robinson of all people, though. His production is responsible for making bands like Limp Bizkit and Korn the multi-platinum monstrosities they are today.

But have you heard March On Electric Children (the Blood Brothers newest album)? The perfect pick-me-up when you're suffering from a bad case of the Warped Tour blues; for when you think the world is doomed to be permanently overrun by boring, cookie-cutter pop-punk and all of its mall/jock-core brethren.

There's two vocalists. Both sing, both scream. But not in a Linkin Park brand of vocal wackness. It's more like that screaming humanoid creature in Aphex Twin's 'Come To Daddy' video. Except it hopped up on goofballs. And there's two of 'em.

The lyrics:

'The flock of grinning octopi drop like tears from a varicose thigh singing''do you want to live forever? Nail your crotch to the hive of pleasure!''

or:

'The theater wails like deceased violins, high heeled castanet clicks rape harmony. Youth decays in 4/4 time.'

March On's guitars alternately bludgeon and hack you to pieces; jittery bass segments; jangly keyboard whines and seething undercurrents of static; it's blistering, grimy, and unwholesome.

But Ross Robinson and ARTISTdirect'

Well, the Locust signed to Epitaph-subsidiary Anti. Cattle Decapitation signed to Metal Blade. Is this a sign that the bigger labels are starting to wake up a little bit? There's no way in hell this stuff is going to catch on in the mainstream, is there?

I guess we'll see what happens when the new albums come out. In the meantime, San Diego, go watch the Blood Brothers play Oops! The Tour with the Locust, Harkonen, Arab On Radar, and Lightning Bolt at the Epicentre on 8/7. You'll be hard-pressed to find a freakier, more fucked up night of music this side of a Creed concert. But in a good way.

Scott: Some people describe your guys' music as hard core. Some people say it's punk. What does Jordan say?

Jordan: Oh, what does Jordan say'um, I'd say it'd be kind of just a terrible hybrid of both. I think that there's elements of both in our music, but I don't think that either one would really predominate.

S: For March On, you guys did kind of a concept album.

J: Yeah.

S: Are you going to do that again for the next one?

J: No. We actually did the exact opposite. Whereas all the songs are tied together on March On, we just tried to make every song as unique to itself as we possibly could. It was a fun thing to do for that record, but it was also a little bit limiting as well. You can't really get that many ideas out using that format, so we just wanted to make every one as different as possible.

S: What was your first reaction when you found out that Ross Robinson (Korn, Limp Bizkit, Vanilla Ice) wanted to produce your record?

J: We erased the email that was sent to us and just kind of laughed about it. And then later on, we started to think about it more, and then we just eventually called 'em back and got a hold of him. We thought this was kind of ridiculous and funny at first. We didn't take it too seriously.

S: Honestly, how the fuck did that happen? How did Ross Robinson get into you guys?

J: One of his friends, he's this guy named Casey, he sings for a band called Amen, and he acquired our CD and liked it and passed it on to him. So then Ross had his manager email us, and that was how it all pretty much started.

S: That's just so weird, 'cause I mean, that guy did Vanilla Ice's record!

J: I know (laughs). I know. I mean, it was pretty bizarre. We were all a little bit taken aback.

S: So is ARTISTdirect giving you total freedom for artwork and music and everything?

J: They just pretty much fund whatever we want to do. Like now they're giving us tour support, so tour's a lot more comfortable than it has been in the past. You know, recording budget and stuff like that. What else'I mean, pretty much everything that a band would need to be a band, they basically provide.

S: Do they ever shoot down ideas like on the artwork, for example?

J: No. No. They're perfectly content with what we want to do. They pretty much made that clear to us right off the bat. We just recorded the record and we did like 13 songs, 12 of which are going to go on the album. You know, there's no one there telling us to 'Write more of this sort of song. These need to go. Where are your choruses? Where are your verses?' Pretty much, all of our lyrics are going to be as fucked up as they always have, and our music as well. The artwork will probably go along with both.

S: So how much say did Ross have then?

J: Umm, let's see'he would offer ideas, like you know, say we were playing a part like six times, he'd go, 'you know, I think maybe you guys should play it four.' We'd try it out, and if we liked it that way, we'd work with it that way. If we didn't, we'd just say no, we don't want to do it this way, we want to do it our way, and it was perfectly fine. There was never any pressure to do anything that he wanted us to do that we didn't want to do. It was more like just having another objective person to bounce ideas off and maybe to get us to think about things that we hadn't really thought of between the five of us. The whole experience was really open, really constructive. I think we all walked away from it feeling good. It was really positive.

S: So, for the record, your next CD will NOT be rap-rock?

J: No. Well, I mean, I HAVE been honing my skills as an MC a bit. But'no.

S: Maybe for the future?

J: Yeah, you know, maybe the next one after that.

S: It's just weird. What do you think it means that a bunch of bands like you guys and the Locust, who are pretty inaccessible, are getting, not major, but bigger label interest? Why do you think this is happening?

J: I just think that music has become so fucking stagnant in the past 5 years that labels, especially like upstarts, are looking to sign bands that sound completely different from what's out there right now. That's pretty much the only possible reason I can see why anyone would want to sign either us or the Locust.

S: You don't think it's gonna be the big hit sound of the summer? Like if I turned on MTV2 and I saw a Locust video, I'd probably shit my pants.

J: (laughing) You'd love it wouldn't you?!

S: It would be cool, I guess, but I don't know how I would respond to that.

J: No, it's like there's nothing I want more than for, you know, just to be cruisin' the beach, you know, spring break, Daytona, Fort Lauderdale, and have our songs be the soundtrack for that. Basically that's what it boils down to.

S: Yeah, and then next thing you know, you're gonna have the Vans OOPS! Tour.

J: (laughing) Yeah, yeah, exactly. We'll be hittin' you know, some domed parking lot'summer, you know'

S: Carson Daly will be emceeing it and everything.

J: Mm hm.

S: So, what do you guys think of the Punk Rock Tour of the Summer aka the Warped Tour?

J: (laughing) The Warped Tour! I DON'T think about it. There's no bands on there that interest me whatsoever (laughs). I mean, the Warped Tour! It's pretty ridiculous to me.

S: It's laughable, but it's amazing how popular it's become and'

J: Yeah, because I remember it like a few years ago when I was still, even in like junior high, early high school, it seemed to be something that was actually an alternative to what was going on at the time. Namely Lollapalooza or any of those big rock tours. It was something that I thought was actually pretty cool. I mean, I remember Rocket From The Crypt did a year. I don't know who else. I stopped paying attention to it. Now, like you said, it's just completely laughable.

S: I keep thinking that it'll die out soon, but more and more of the generic, mediocre pop-punk shit just keeps comin' up.

J: I mean, you hope it would die, but you know (laughing), it just doesn't seem to. You're right.

S: And I really wish someone would just take a shit on Good Charlotte.

J: You know, really. Especially'especially, have you seen their show that they host?

S: Oh that's AMAZING.

J: (laughs) It's jaw-dropping entertainment right there!

S: It's like I'm repulsed. It's disgusting you, but you have to keep watching.

J: Yeah. Or you could just turn it off (laughs).

S: (laughing) Well, I don't know. Maybe if you're weird like that.

J: (laughs)

S: So if someone was stuck in a rut of that generic, mediocre pop-punk stuff, what would you recommend to get them out?

J: Uh, Liars. Chromatics. Electric Light Orchestra. Anything old. Neil Young. Pretenders. Let's see'Pretty Girls Make Graves, Cancer Conspiracy'uh, who else'that's about it. I don't really listen to that much new music. Hip hop. Nelly. Go pick up Nelly's new CD. I mean, you can at least dance to it, you know?

S: It sure is 'Hot In Herre.'

J: Yeah, I mean totally! That's my summer anthem right there.

S: I could go off on that, but I don't want to take up too much more of your time here. Um, so you guys are doing the OOPS! Tour in the next couple weeks right?

J: Yeah, we hook up with that I think in about'I think it's like nine days now. We meet them in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and then just go through the mid-west, and then back home.

S: That seems like it's going to be the freakiest tour you're gonna see this summer. Kind of like the opposite of the Warped Tour.

J: Yeah, yeah.

S: What do you guys have in store for all the kooky kids who come out to that?

J: Ummm'I don't know, we're just gonna play our songs, hopefully reasonably well. Um, you know, I mean, stage dives abound, brah! Let's see, what else'I mean, we don't really have any gimmicks planned or anything like that, but it should be fun regardless. I think that just watching us is fine enough.

S: Obviously, obviously'.

J: (laughing) I'm joking! I'm just kidding.

S: I mean, the tight pants and everything, you can't'

J: Oh yeah! You can't go wrong with that!

S: I really think you guys should go for the drummer in the cage, upside down, fireworks type thing.

J: Yeah, yeah, totally. Spin him around a bit. Mark told us that he wants to be spinning.

S: (laughs) 'Cause I mean, what good is a show if the drummer isn't spinning in circles, you know?

J: I know. No shit. Really

[nityarawal]

8/19/2023

I'm Not Your Receptionist

Are You Dead?

Morning Songs

Waited On Hold

3 Days Straight

To Confirm Trial

Back And Forth

To The Library

Charging Phone

Telling Alibis

I'm Not Your Receptionist 

Said The Clerks

Not One Alibi

Showed Up At Court

Not One Alibi 

On The Phone

No One Wants 

BS Your Sellin'

Mr. Stapleton

Wanted A Continuance

Rape

Murder

Dr's Threats

But Don't Your Eyes

Work Sir

No Research

No Retaliation

No Suppanaes

What Did You Do

No Victim Reports

DA Disclosures

Who Fixes

Your Mess

"Bless This Mess,"

I Re-endacted Probate Lies

You Made Murder 

A Foul Pride

Parade

Are You Dead

No Knowledge

What Is A Probate

The PD Asked

Ignorant

Of Law

Yesterday

Let Me Google 

That For You

A Realtor Anyway

I'm Not Your Receptionist 

The Clerk Back Talked Me

I'm Not Your Receptionist

No Management

Here

I'm Not Your Receptionist

No You Are Not

Who Hired You Anyway

I'm Not Your Receptionist

She Threatened

With A Deputy 

I'm Not Your Receptionist

She Said

And The Backstory

Was

She'd Rather Murder

Moms And Me

Jealous Dyke

With Infertility

I'm Not Your Receptionist

Says Riverside Courts

San Diego PDs

I'm Not Your Receptionist

Says IEHP

I'm Not Your Receptionist

I Have A Gag Order

You See

Pimps Got Me

Everytime You Call

A Gun Up Against

My Back

As I Type

Your Transcripts

Hoping AI

Will Take Over

Record

Give Me

Ease

I'm Not Your Receptionist

She Says

With A Dick

At Her Back

I'm Not Your Receptionist

Does He Smell

I'm Not Your Receptionist

Are You Allergic To The Dick

I'm Not Your Receptionist

Is It Because Of What The Judge Did

I'm Not Your Receptionist

But Why Not My Dear

Why Such A Mommy

Hater

You Know Your Parents

Brought You Here 

I'm Not Your Receptionist

Then Get Another Job

I'm Not Your Receptionist

Learn How To Network

Google Stuff

Or Send An Email

With Files

For A Suppanaed 

Trial

Investigation

Now Complete

After 7 Years

Of Mediocrity

I'm Not Your Receptionist

Not To The Judges

Either

No Transcripts

Just Dumping 

Covid Matter

Nanoparticles

Heavy Metals

Brain Broke

With Courts

Seems You Have PTSD

Trauma

Bonding

No Empathy

Compassion

3rd Eye Burned

Out

On Drugs

Like Lahaina

Mother Maui

Only Ashes Left

Dust

I'm Not Your Receptionist 

So Why Doesn't 

AI Take Over

I'm Not Your Receptionist

"It's Britney Bitch,"

She Says Again

Calling

Appealing

I'm Not Your Receptionist

Then Why You

Taking Our Calls

Interfering

I'm Not Your Receptionist

Says The Clerk

Clearly 

We Wish You Were

I'm Not Your Receptionist

Says Court Clerks

Above It All

I'm Not Your Receptionist

Clearly

Because Our Courts 

"Went To Sh**

In A Hand Basket,"

Brits Say

Of Germ Warfare

From UK

Not A Receptionist

Not A DishWasher

Not A Nanny

Mom

Got No Credentials

Not A Dr

Not A Lawyer

Not A Mother

Not A Court 

Contender

Just A Silencer

For Dr. GARDNER

Pedophile Rapes

Dyke Defender

Yeah- We Got Your Number

CPS

And We're Reporting

Court Murders

All Your Probate Murders

Today

Stealing Mothers

Children's Estates

With Foul Play

Bribes

In The Dark Holidays

Burned Out Of Maui

Anyways

Courts In The Dark

Neglecting Moms

Kids

Not A Receptionist

Says Another Civil

Servant

Not A Receptionist

No You're Not

Won't Cooperate

Never Trained

Won't Liquidate

50 Billion Dollar Government

Moles

Spies

Breeding Whores

Stop The Rapes

Gigolos

Not A Receptionist

Not An Officer Of

Court

Press A Button

Then

We Don't Need You

Just AI Hurry

Calculate

Today

Divorce Dissolutions

With X Grace's 

Do Your Job

Not A Receptionist

Well I'm Not Dead

Why'd Court Put

A Probate

On Millions Of Heads

I'm Not Dead

Are You Dead

Did You Enjoy

Maui

Fires

Are You Dead Now

900 Lost

800 Body Bags

Ready To Go

Bury Sins

No Obituary

Or Testimony

From Silencing Defense Team

Raiding You

And Me

In Riverside

With Coroner Sheriff

Faggoting Up

Law Enfocement

With Bigotry

Are You Dead Now

Because We Need 

Your Homes

And Our Homes

Back

Every Attys Office

From Clerk To President

Are You Dead Now

We Need You Homed

Hospital Beds

Taxes To Pay

Leave Our Homes

Are You Dead Now

Mr. Judge 

Now

For A Probate

Did Hurricane Hillary

Blow Your Courts Away

Wife Murder

No Monica's Left

To Blow

Are You Dead Now

For Rotating

Magistrate Judges

Murder

Are You Dead Now

Mr. JUDGE

Now

Sanctioned

Your Honor

Judith Clark

Judge Davis

Commissioner Ratekin

Mok & Brower

Sawbraw

Immigration

Trans

Construct

Are You Dead Now

Maybe You Should Be

Is That Why

A Good Samaritan

Gave Me $20 Dolla'?

Add 8 0's And We'll 

Call It Even

Mr. X

On The Triple

Please

Mahalo

Elon

Peace

Pau,

Nitya Nella Davigo Azam Moezzi Huntley Rawal 

[britishassistant]

I got an idea, Yuu gets sent to the sports devision of their company for a bit because of someone going on like maternity leave or something. Yuu thinks that it’ll be a nice little vacation from constant kidnappings, but no turns out Charon wanted to interrupt the broadcast of the latest magishift game with his overwatch stream, and ortho shows up and yoinks Yuu back to the Charon’s lair so they have a firsthand account on how good Charon is at overwatch and how e-sports deserves their own channel.

Then the next week King and Octo dealer “team” up to flood the stadium, mainly because it’s Kings least favorite team and Octo dealer wanted to advertise a new underwater themed restaurant and poor Yuu just wants a break from all of this water when Royal flush dumps a load of stolen tea into the flooded stadium, because why not.

And when Yuu is sent to write an article on a archery tournament, funded by the famous Vil schoenheit who Yuu has a seat next to and Vil’s been such a sweetheart to them, offering water and a shade umbrella. The Huntsman shows up, smokes the competition and tries to pull a Robin Hood and get a kiss from Yuu for his victory, which vil calls security and huntsman decides to get his kiss later and flees.

Then later Viper takes the sports news office hostage for a bit, something about the Asim family’s magishift team playing today , Yuu becomes Vipers secretary for a bit, being forced to write the negotiation emails while Viper is sitting next to them resting his head on their shoulder, of course someone took a photo of them sitting like that and for the next few weeks, viper got his all his plans ruined by the others.

And on the last day of working in the sports sector, Tsunotaro just had to show up and take Yuu away, demanding attention because he hasn’t seen his favorite reporter in a few months, dragging them off to some abandoned building to tour, picking them bridal style after awhile and after mentioning how they seem a bit lighter than usual, dragging Yuu out to an expensive restaurant to eat and dropping Yuu off at their apartment afterwards like a gentleman.

At least Yuu got paid well after all of this and got some time off (basing that off that sport newscaster and reporters get paid a bit more compared to investigative reporters were I’m from)

Thank you for the ask, dear anon!

Yuu didn’t think it would be an easy few weeks, per say. They know the basic rules of most sports, but not enough about the more intricate details to really feel confident about reporting on them.

But Yuna-san told them it would mean a pay raise while they did it and Yukari-senpai seemed really happy when they agreed to cover for her maternity leave so she could go be with her wife and their new baby boy. How bad could it be?

Yuu should have never asked that question.

The first days of the first week gives them hope, is the sad thing.

They study up so they can accurately report on who scored higher than who in what sport, and what that means for each team in the long run. By the third day, of the largest basketball game the city has hosted in a while, between the home boys and the favorites of the national league, Yuu’s almost feeling confident about their ability to report on it.

Which is exactly when Hermes breaks into the press box to kidnap them halfway through the first set.

They try explaining to him on the way to Charon’s lair why this time it really is important that he takes them back, even appealing to Charon himself once they arrive at his lair.

Unfortunately, Yuu has managed to hit on one of Idia’s bugbears—that anyone could enjoy a dirty, sweaty, “real” sport over the obviously superior E-sports that the net has to offer! He’s a finalist in the first ever Herowatch 2 tournament after the developers shut down the first Herowatch’s servers, but does any of that get mentioned on the news?! No!

Idia decides to rectify this clear mistake by taking the entire basketball stadium hostage, using his drones to forcibly clear the court so he can use the space to stream his e-tournament for the audience’s enjoyment! Surely, with Yuu commentating over this, he’ll be able to wake up so many of these sheeple to how much better e-sports are!!

It takes five hours for Herowatch 2 to let him get to the main menu, only for it to boot him from his team and cause an automatic disqualification in the first minute of the match.

There’s the sound of a controller being thrown against a wall and Yuu and Ortho awkwardly attempting to comfort the supervillain.

Yuu is thinking that at least basketball isn’t as major a sport in the city as Magift. It still doesn’t instill them with confidence when they’re told in week 2 that they’ll need to report on a major Magift playoffs game.

They at least won’t be one of the main people reporting on it—that’s reserved for the big national stations, with professional sports reporters who do this as a career. Yuu will just be down in the press box, scribbling notes for reporting on the game afterwards.

Which, given it’s perfect view of the field and not of the stands, is why they don’t notice the slouching and upright vendors who’ve been handing out free sodas and water to all the fans until it’s too late.

Even as they catch a glimpse and realization dawns, there’s a crackle of static as the announcers’ voices suddenly cut off, replaced with King’s dulcet tones dismissing the game as a wash because he dislikes one of the teams. A chill goes down Yuu’s spine as they hear him go, “maybe you herbivores would understand if it was more literal, yeah?”

Which is when salt water begins bursting from every entrance to the stadium.

The press box is glass, and the door seems to be an airtight fire door of some kind, but Yuu can’t help crying out in horror as the water level rises above the heads of all the fans and players—!

Which is when a scuffle comes over the loudspeakers and Leviathan’s slick voice announces that all the drinks the fans were provided with free of charge and the water the players have been hydrating themselves with were dosed with the same serum that allows tourists to the Coral Sea to breathe underwater.

Yuu watches, nonplussed, as Jade and Floyd in their natural forms place a device down in the middle of the field that somehow unfolds to a full-scale bar, complete with freestanding tables and stools. Azul only gets part of the way through his explanation of his new Monstro Lounge location before Leona steals the microphone back out of boredom, and a scuffle ensues.

All the while, Yuu’s attention is suddenly caught by something dropping through the open top of the stadium, which then begins leeching a brown color into the surrounding water…

Royal is screeching. That tea was meant for the audience and the players to drink, in accordance with Rule 523: Exertions other than crocket must be sated with oolong tea! Now the tea can’t even be drunk, it’s all salty and ruined!

It takes a very, very long time for the stadium to be drained, and Yuu has a migraine pounding behind their eyes from the supervillain’s squabbling by the time they get home.

After this debacle, the option to just write an article on an upcoming archery tournament is practically a relief.

Even more so when it turns out Vil Schoenheit is there. The actor tells them that he’s there to support one of his juniors, and Yuu’s pleasantly surprised to see Epel in the line up, looking like he’s not about to go all evil magical boy for once, actually excited to compete and show off his physical prowess.

Yuu graciously accepts Vil’s offer to sit in his box with him, so they can cheer Epel on together (they privately rationalize it as payment for not letting the actor know his “junior” is actually a supervillain’s minion). It’s nice, getting to chat generally while complimenting or lightly joking about the efforts of each of the participants.

And then the masked archer appears on the field in a plume of violet smoke.

It’s the Huntsman. It’s very obviously the Huntsman, even before his voice praising the beauté of the efforts of the previous archers rings out.

He casually nocks several arrows in rapid succession and lets fly a string of bulls-eyes on every target as he strolls across the field towards Vil’s box.

Yuu’s already standing, with one arm thrown out to shield Vil by the time the Huntsman leans against it, smiling winningly up at them and saying, “Traditionally, it is custom for les plus beaux du monde to give un ‘tit bisou to the vainqueur, n’est pas, Trickester?”

Yuu’s saved from doing much more than stuttering as they fluster by Poison Apple appearing from nowhere (re: Epel’s dressing room) and attempt to drop kick the Huntsman’s head. From there, it devolves into an all out brawl between the two minions.

Vil Schoenheit luckily has a cool head on his shoulders and nerves of steel, because he’s very quick to direct security to take care of the villains and evacuate alongside Yuu, while not looking more than mildly annoyed all the while.

(Poison Queen is seething. It seems both his minions will be needing as lesson in manners and who exactly is allowed to ask for kisses from whom later.)

They’ve learned enough from all this to be preemptively wary when they’re told they’ll be reporting on another Magift game from the studio the next week.

Even though it’s a small game this time, between two local college teams, their heart sinks faster when they hear one of the Asim children is on the more prestigious team, which has also has the Asim Conglomerate sponsoring it and most of the advertisers who are being featured during the breaks.

It’s hardly a surprise when several of the interns and sound crew begin acting strangely, before taking their colleagues hostage alongside some disguised Scarabia minions and shutting off the room from the rest of the building so Snake Charmer and Water Boy can come waltzing in.

Yuu is pretty much resigned to it when the supervillain effectively deputizes them during the broadcast to write hostage negotiation emails that mainly consist of the Asim family signing all the revenue their advertising companies earn over to Snake Charmer.

Water Boy has taken over the actually reporting bit of the broadcast, which seems to have devolved into airing all the embarrassing things the Asim kid on the team used to do when he was little, though how he got that information, Yuu has no idea.

As the day goes on, Snake Charmer seems to have decided that his ideal seating position is stealing Yuu’s chair and pulling them into his lap, hooking his chin over their shoulder as he dictates threats and demands, occasionally dragging his knuckles or splaying a hand over their vulnerable stomach, delighting in the way it makes Yuu jump.

Of course, Snake Charmer seems to have forgotten that the cameras are still rolling. (Jamil will maintain after weeks of sabotaged schemes that it was worth it.)

By the time they reach the end of their tenure, Yuu’s exhausted.

They really don’t put up much of a fight when Malleus appears as they’re walking from the bus stop and scoops them up.

Malleus, noting this odd compliance without even a hint of banter, and how they look worryingly drawn and haggard, decides to cut their building tour short so he can ensure his child of man gets some good (if shockingly expensive) food into them and sees them home for a good night’s sleep.

Yuu, unheeding of the fact that it is two in the afternoon, immediately collapses into bed.

Grim finds them there and curls up on their face to sleep as well.

[cocobeanncteez]

ATEEZ San- Back to you (oneshot)

Genre: angst, fluff, suggestive, university au.

Pairing: badboy!San x reader (fem)

Word Count: 7.3K

Warnings: profanities, alcohol consumption, smoking, mentions of bullying and cheating, drink spiking, and attempted sexual assault.

Except Ateez, all other names are fictional.

"I don't understand how these stupid people party here when we've got exams in two weeks," your bestfriend, Doyeon, muttered under her breath while scribbling down some notes. You both were at a café in your university, studying for the upcoming exams.

You chuckled, glancing up at her from your notebook. "Your boyfriend is one of those stupid people who are partying right now."

She rolled her eyes. "Believe me, I want to smack Yunho with this," she held up her notebook, making you snort. "I'm surprised you don't get frustrated when San is literally doing the same thing."

"Well, it's his life," you said. "I'm not his parent who can nag at him to study."

San and you have been dating for a little over eight months now; other than Doyeon and San's friends, no one else knew about your relationship. Doyeon and Yunho were also dating for a while now. You both didn't really know why the boys didn't want other people to know about your relationship, but you both just went with the flow despite witnessing girls throwing themselves at them everyday. Doyeon was really calm about the whole situation, but you actually weren't even though you never let it show; you were quite worried about San leaving you for other women who were like him. You never understood why he's dating someone like you: the type who rarely parties, rarely drinks, never smokes, decently studies and gets good grades, never gets involved in fights; the opposite of him, basically.

Doyeon was about to say something, but your conversation was interrupted by someone who suddenly sat beside you in your booth, placing a textbook on the table. "Don't mind me, ladies," one of your university's badboys, Kangmin, said. "There was no place to sit, so here I am."

Ji Kangmin was handsome, and a typical badboy from what you've heard. You didn't really know much about him personally, but you knew his friend group and your boyfriend's group were rivals and often got into fights.

"I'm surprised you're here," Doyeon stated, raising an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be at some party?"

"I don't party when exams are near," he said with a small smile. "I know I don't have a good reputation, but unlike other people here who have the same reputation as me, I actually want to score well and decently graduate." You were stunned, not expecting to hear that from someone like him. Well, maybe all badboys aren't the same.

-

"Babe!" San whined sleepily when you pulled his blanket off his body. "God, my head fucking hurts."

"Serves you right for drinking all night," you said, running a hand through his messy black hair.

"But the party was epic," he mumbled, eyes closing at the way you played with his hair.

After a few minutes, San took some painkillers and got up to take a shower. When he finished, he immediately pulled you into a hug. "I missed you," he said, burying his face in the crook of your neck.

You chuckled. "You saw me yesterday morning."

"But that was in class," he murmured, placing soft kisses on your neck, making your heart race. "I didn't get to talk to you."

"Then maybe you should start talking to me in class," you said and immediately regretted it when you felt San tense up.

San moved a step back to look at you. "Babe, you know I can't do that," he stated. "I don't want people to know about us or start—"

"Yeah, I know," you cut him off with a small smile, hiding your disappointment. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"It's fine," he said, kissing your forehead. "Let's go have breakfast, yeah?"

"Um, actually, I have to go back to my dorm," you said, making San frown and ask why. "I've got a study session with Doyeon," you lied; you just didn't feel like being here at the moment.

San sighed, cupping your cheeks. "Babe, you study so much. These exams don't matter much."

Your eyebrows furrowed. "San, these are end of the first semester exams. They're extremely important."

San didn't say anything; he only leaned down to capture your lips with his own. "Stay for a little while, please," he murmured against your lips. Before you could protest, he kissed you again, this time more passionately. He gently pushed you onto his bed, hovering above you before reconnecting your lips. Your hands wrapped around his neck, playing with the hair at his nape. One of San's hands slipped under your blouse, moving to cup your breast, giving it a squeeze. You gasped due to his actions and he took the opportunity to slide his tongue into your mouth, deepening the kiss. Your phone began ringing but both of you ignored it. You were getting wetter by the second and you could feel San's growing bulge pressing against you. When your phone rang for the fourth time, San pulled away with an annoyed sigh. You chuckled, getting up from his bed to get your phone from your bag.

"Hello?" you answered.

"Where are you?! Class is gonna start in ten minutes!" Doyeon exclaimed.

"What? What class? All our classes were canceled for today."

"Mr. Byun said he's gonna take class today. Didn't you check your email?"

"Fuck. I'll be there in five." You hung up and quickly checked your reflection in San's mirror, reapplying your lip balm and tying your hair into a ponytail. San's eyes were on you the entire time.

"Are you ditching your lovely boyfriend for a class?" San asked with a pout. "Especially when you made him get all hard?"

"Yes," you replied with a small giggle. "I'll make it up to you when I'm done, I promise." you placed a quick kiss on his lips before rushing to your dorm to collect your stuff.

-

"Can I sit here?" you heard someone ask, making you look up from your notebook. Ji Kangmin was giving you a small smirk. "Seats are full."

"Go ahead," you said, returning your attention back onto your books. Fortunately, Kangmin studied quietly, not disturbing you even once.

"Why is this so hard?" you muttered under your breath, eyebrows furrowing in irritation due to the differentiation problem you've been breaking your head for.

"Need help?" Kangmin asked.

"Are you good at calculus?"

He snorted, showing you the cover of his textbook. "I'm a math major, darling." Your eyes widened, not expecting that at all. "I thought you knew but you clearly don't," he said with a chuckle. "But I know you're a computer science major." He reached for your notebook, scanning through what you've written. "Ah, so this is where you went wrong," he murmured before explaining everything to you.

After a good three hours of studying, you got up and stretched your arms. Kangmin helped you with a few sums and told you many tricks and tips to save time and make the problems easier to solve. He walked with you to your dorm building since his was right opposite yours. You caught a few people staring at the two of you, but you brushed it off; Kangmin was popular, so obviously they would stare. You had to admit, it felt quite weird to see people staring at you. You were sure they all would react the same way if you were with San.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Kangmin grinned, running his hand through his brown hair. You nodded with a smile before entering your dorm building.

-

You spent the entire week studying with Kangmin and sometimes Doyeon joined the two of you. You were really anxious about the exams, but Kangmin managed to make you calm down a little; you were really grateful for his company.

"So Jihoon asked me out and I said yes!" Hyewon said, making you and Doyeon squeal.

"Girl! I told you this day would come!" Doyeon exclaimed, making Hyewon blush. You and Doyeon teased her for blushing, laughing at how her cheeks got even pinker.

San secretly glanced at you from across the classroom, smiling at the sight of you laughing; he thought you were absolutely beautiful.

"What's he doing here?" Jongho muttered, making San and Mingi follow his line of sight.

"Probably here to find someone to fuck," Mingi said in an unbothered tone.

San focused his attention back on you until that very person tapped your shoulder. "Why the fuck is he talking to my girl?!"

You turned to look at the person who tapped your shoulder. "Oh, hey, Kangmin! What are you doing here?" you asked.

He pulled a notebook from his bag, handing it over to you. "I accidentally took your notebook yesterday, so I came to return it," he said. "Sorry about that."

"Oh no, it's okay, don't worry about it," you smiled. He was about to say something, but your professor arrived, so he had to leave and go to his own class.

After the lecture ended, you had lunch with Doyeon, Hyewon, and Jihoon at your dorm's dining hall. You couldn't help but gush about how great Hyewon and Jihoon's chemistry was; they were the cutest couple you have ever seen.

Your phone rang and you picked it up as it was San. "Hello?"

"Where are you?" San asked, sounding a little annoyed.

"At my dorm's dining hall," you replied. "Why?"

"Come to your room right now," he said and hung up before you could say anything. You quickly had the last few bites of your food before excusing yourself, telling your friends you had some work to do.

You made your way over to your room, spotting San right outside your door, wearing a blue hoodie with the hood up and a black mask. You unlocked your door with your key-card, feeling a little anxious due the serious look in your boyfriend's eyes. He closed the door before moving to sit on your bed.

"Sannie, what's wrong?" you asked, moving to stand in front of him. He stared up at you, staying silent for a while before he took off his mask, tossing it on your desk.

"Why did Ji Kangmin talk to you today?"

"He accidentally took my notebook yesterday so he came to return it," you answered honestly.

San raised an eyebrow. "Yesterday? Why were you with him yesterday?" he asked in a stern tone.

"We were studying. He was helping me with calculus."

San scoffed, getting off your bed. "I'm sure that's not what his true intentions are. Stay away from him." San's words annoyed you.

"And how do you know what his true intentions are?" you asked. "We were literally just studying, that's all."

"I don't fucking like him, Y/N. He isn't a good person and I don't want him anywhere near you. So please just stay away from him."

You sighed, glancing at the tiny cat tattoo on San's finger. "Fine..."

San gently cupped your cheek, making you look at him. He didn't like how disappointed you looked and he couldn't help but think about Kangmin stealing you away from him. "Baby... please trust me, he's just trying to get into your pants." You wanted to tell him that all those girls who flirt with him wanted the same, but you knew he already knew that and he liked the attention he got.

"Okay..." You moved away from him, picking up your textbook from your desk and placing it on your bed. "Do you wanna study with me?" you asked San.

"Nah, I'm not in the mood to study."

"You never are," you snorted, earning a wink from him.

"You study, I'll just take a nap here beside you," he said, placing a kiss on your forehead, lying down on your bed.

"Don't try anything, San," you warned him, lying down beside him. He chuckled, placing an arm around your waist, pulling you closer to his body.

San fell asleep while you studied. When you took a small break, you couldn't help but admire your sleeping boyfriend; he looked so angelic... ethereal, even. You placed a light kiss on his cheek before slowly getting off the bed to go to the bathroom.

When you came back, San was awake. "How long did I sleep?" he asked in a raspy voice.

"Almost two hours," you said, returning to your bed.

"Oh... oh crap! I should get ready. I've got a party to go to tonight," he said, stretching his arms. "Do you wanna come?"

You raised an eyebrow. "You already know my answer to that."

He chuckled, kissing your head. "Have fun studying, babe."

---

"Finally!" Doyeon yelled in happiness. "We're finally done after two weeks of torture!"

"Thank god we have an entire week off," you said, gently massaging your aching wrist.

"These exams were way harder than I expected," Hyewon said and you agreed. "You both are coming for Kang Hyunsuk's party tonight, right?"

"Of course! It's in a huge mansion, you know? Besides, I need to get drunk and laid in luxury," Doyeon said, making you and Hyewon laugh.

You quickly got ready at Doyeon's dorm in the evening before taking a cab to Kang Hyunsuk's mansion that was fortunately not too far away.

The mansion was decorated with LED lights inside and out. The large hall was converted into a dance floor and he even hired a DJ. You were sure more than half of the students at your college was here, and there were certainly a lot of people from the neighboring colleges as well.

Doyeon grabbed your hand, pulling you to the large kitchen where the drinks and snacks were. You both took two shots of vodka each before you greeted some of your classmates. Doyeon was already really tipsy due to her poor alcohol tolerance. On the other hand, you took another shot and you were still quite sober.

"Wow, Y/N, you look so hot!" Hyewon said, approaching you with Jihoon.

You were wearing a lacy dusty-rose bralette with black ripped jeans and combat boots. The bralette showed off more cleavage than you'd usually show, but you were feeling a little extra today.

You noticed Yunho approaching the kitchen with Seonghwa and Hongjoong, his eyes scanning Doyeon from head to toe. You nudged Doyeon with your elbow, gesturing to Yunho with your eyes. She glanced around, eyes landing on Yunho who gave her a smirk. She smiled at him before moving towards him. She whispered something in his ears, making him drag her away immediately. You weren't expecting your bestfriend to ditch you this early, but oh well.

"Hey Y/N," Seonghwa greeted you. "Have you seen San or Jongho?"

"Nope, I came to the kitchen as soon as I got here," you replied, pouring yourself another shot.

"Ah, all right." Seonghwa and Hongjoong took a drink before they disappeared into the crowd.

One of your friends dragged you outside to the area beside the swimming pool; she wanted to introduce you to some people from another university. You spotted San, Jongho, Wooyoung, Mingi, and Yeosang on the other of the pool, surrounded by girls as usual. There were a few guys there and they were all playing a game of spin the bottle. There was a girl sitting on your boyfriend's lap, and that annoyed you a lot. You couldn't do anything about it since San didn't want anyone to know about your relationship. When you got to see the girl's face, your eyes widened; it was your ex-bestfriend, Park Hyejoo. You scoffed in disbelief; San knew who she was and what she did to you in high school, yet he let her sit on his lap. You tried not to pay attention to them by focusing on the conversation your friend was having with the people she had introduced you to. It somewhat worked... until you heard cheers and whistles which caught everyone's attention.

Hyejoo's face was buried in San's neck, no doubt giving him a hickey. He wasn't even pushing her away. You felt your eyes tear up, but you blinked it away. You couldn't look away until she pulled away. And then she kissed him, causing you to gasp.

"Why are you so surprised?" your drunk friend asked you. "She fucks around as much as Choi San does. I even heard they're fuck buddies."

San pulled away from Hyejoo, but he only smirked at her, making no effort to push her off his lap. Yeosang—who was sitting beside San—noticed you watching, and he immediately elbowed San. "You fucked up big time, bro," Yeosang murmured in his ear.

"What do you mean?" San asked.

"Y/N's over there. She saw everything."

San glanced around until his eyes found your disappointed and sad ones. He wasn't even expecting you to attend the party. He scanned you from head to toe, eyes darkening due to the way you looked in that outfit.

"You dumb fuck," Yeosang muttered, low enough for only San to hear. "Are you seriously eye-fucking her right now? Put your damn reputation aside and go talk to her before you fuck shit up more, idiot!"

San excused himself, pushing your ex-bestfriend off his lap, making his way over to you. But of course, he couldn't be seen with you, so he just gestured with his head for you to follow him. Even though you were so upset, you followed him a few seconds later. He stopped at the garden where there was no one; you could still hear the blasting music from here.

San was dressed in all black and he looked absolutely irresistible. You would've asked him to fuck you right here against the wall, but you were damn pissed at the moment.

"Damn, babe," he said, lips pulling into a smirk. "My girl's looking so hot." He reached out to pull you into his arms, but you took a step back. San frowned. "Babe..."

"You knew what Hyejoo did to me," you said with a bitter chuckle. "And you let her sit on your lap." You pointed at the hickey on his neck. "You let her do that to you despite the fact that you have a girlfriend, who is in fact, standing right in front of you!" You would never lash out like this if it wasn't for the alcohol in your system. Hyejoo bullied you a lot in high school to the point where you had to change schools. San knew every little detail of what Hyejoo did, and you remembered how angry he was when you told him about it.

"Babe, calm down, please," San said softly.

"Calm down? You want me to calm down?! That fucking bitch was sitting on your fucking lap the entire time and she gave you a damn hickey! You didn't even stop her!"

"It was just a dare and—"

You scoffed. "And what about the kiss?"

"She kissed me. I didn't kiss back, I swear!"

"And you made no effort to push her off your damn lap even after that, right?"

San sighed; he really didn't want to fight with you right now. "I think you're overreacting, Y/N. Like I said, it was only a dare."

"Yeah, how about I go sit on another man's lap and suck his neck, hmm? I fucking bet you would love that," you chuckled bitterly. San clenched his jaw at your words; if that were to ever happen, he wouldn't hesitate to punch that guy.

"That's not going to happen," he placed his hands on your bare waist, pulling you against his body. "Let's not fight, okay?" he murmured, kissing your head.

You moved away from him, eyeing the hickey on his neck with disgust. "Fuck off, San," you mumbled. "I need a damn drink." Before San could could say anything, you made your way to the table of drinks beside the pool. You quickly downed three shots, eyes closing at the way the liquid burned your throat.

"Woah, woah, slow down there. You'll choke," you heard someone say from behind you.

"Who gives a fuck?" you muttered.

"Well, I certainly do, darling," Kangmin said, moving to stand in front of you. "You look really nice, even though you look like you could murder someone right now."

You glanced at San who returned back to where he was sitting before. Hyejoo started clinging to him, and he made no effort to do anything about it again. You rolled your eyes, not even surprised that your words went into San's ears and left just as fast. "Believe me, I want to," you said, feeling the alcohol starting to hit you harder.

"I don't know who pissed you off, but loosen up, yeah?" Kangmin said, pouring himself a drink. You noticed the tattoos all over his arms, one of them catching your eye. You grabbed his arm, trying to get a better look. "It's a... squirting dick?" you tried to control yourself from laughing.

"My friend's a tattoo artist and he tattooed it on me without telling me," he said with a chuckle.

"I want one too," you whined. "I want one now."

"What? A squirting dick?"

You lightly punched his bicep, swaying a little due to the effect of the alcohol in your system. "No, a good tattoo!"

"You're drunk right now, darling," he chuckled. "It's never a good idea to get a tattoo when you're drunk, trust me."

You pouted. "But I want a tattoo."

He placed his cup on the table and moved his hands to cup your cheeks. "I promise I'll take you to get a tattoo this week, okay? Now, let's go dance, hmm?" You nodded, letting him drag you inside to the dance floor.

San saw everything and his hands clenched into fists. He was so tempted to punch Kangmin and yell at him to stay away from you, but he couldn't risk his reputation like that; he didn't want anyone to know about your relationship no matter what. San went to where you were standing before, taking a tequila shot while he wondered what to do.

"Ji Kangmin and Y/N? Damn!" San overheard someone say.

"I didn't expect him to make a move on her," the other person said. "She's a goody two shoes and he's far from that."

"Kangmin likes women like that actually," the first person said. "And Y/N is very pretty. I'm not very surprised that he went for her."

"Hmm. They do look great together. He seems to like her a lot, no? I saw him walk her to her dorm last week." San's jaw clenched and he quickly made his way inside, searching for you. The dance floor was so crowded, he couldn't even get a glimpse of you anywhere. He tried calling you, but you didn't pick up. He tried calling Doyeon, but she didn't pick up as well.

"Fucking hell," he muttered under his breath, moving through tons of drunk, sweaty people, trying to find you.

After nearly fifteen minutes, he found you sitting alone on of the sofas, head resting on the armrest. "Y/N!"

"Kangmin...?" you lifted your head. "Oh, it's you."

"We're leaving," San said, grabbing your hand.

"No, f-fuck you," you hiccupped. "Go fuck off to Hyejoo." San ignored your words, taking his phone out to book a cab to his apartment. He helped you stand up and pulled you along with him. You wanted to protest, but your body was aching and you really just wanted to sleep.

You fell asleep on San's shoulder in the cab. He carried you bridal style and unlocked his door with the passcode, moving to his bedroom. He gently placed you on the bed and removed your boots. You opened your eyes due to the movement, feeling quite sick. "San..." you murmured. "I think I'm gonna throw up." San quickly lifted you up and took you to the bathroom, holding your hair back while you threw up in his toilet. He gently rubbed your back until you were done.

You brushed your teeth with the toothbrush you kept at San's place, and you took a quick hot shower, sobering a little. San gave you one of his t-shirts to wear and he dried your hair for you.

As soon as your head landed on the pillow, you fell asleep.

-

When you woke up, your head was pounding terribly. You slowly opened your eyes, immediately recognizing that you were in San's apartment; you couldn't remember much of what happened last night. You moved to his bathroom to take a painkiller and finish your morning routine. After you took a shower, you wore one of his black hoodies with one of your shorts that you usually kept at his place.

You felt a pair of muscly arms wrap around you. "You look so good in my clothes," San murmured, placing a kiss on your head. You turned around in his arms, titling your head back to look at him. You were about to wrap your arms around his neck, but your eyes landed on the hickey on his neck, reminding you of the events that happened last night, making you immediately pull yourself away from his embrace.

San frowned. "Babe—"

"San," you start. "Is your reputation that important that you can't even push another girl away when she's throwing herself at you? Especially when you know just how terrible that girl is?" you asked.

San took your hands in his. "Y/N, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have let—"

"But you still did," you argued. "Why don't you want to tell people about us, San? Is it because I'm not like you or your friends? Do you think I'm not attractive enough to be next to you?" He didn't say anything. "I feel like you're just using me," you continued, remembering the amount of times you've heard people say San only screws around. "Do you even love me?" The last question made San freeze. You had fallen in love with San months ago, but he didn't know and probably wouldn't have even noticed.

You waited for him to say something, but he only kept quiet, eyes fixated to the floor. "San, I think we should just," you gulped, eyes tearing up again. "We should b-break up. I really can't tolerate this anymore..." Your words felt like knifes were constantly slicing his heart. "Don't you have anything to say?" you asked, hoping he would fight for you or convince you that continuing this relationship is worth it. You wished he would change.

"How can I when you've already made up your mind?" San murmured, avoiding your eyes. "If you think breaking up is what's best then okay..." he wanted to say much more. He wanted to beg you to not leave him. He wanted to tell you just how much he loved you. But he couldn't. Even if he tried, he just couldn't.

"I'll collect my stuff from here tomorrow," you mumbled, putting your boots on. San could only nod as he watched you.

Before you could leave, San stopped you. "I... I just wanted to ask you... if you ever," he took a deep breath. "If you ever loved me."

You smiled sadly. "It doesn't matter," you whispered, but it was loud enough for him to hear you. "Take care, San," you mumbled before walking out the door, shattering his heart.

-

"You fucked up even more," Yeosang said, watching San smoke a cigarette.

"That's very helpful. Makes me feel great," San stated sarcastically, blowing the smoke to the air.

"No offense, Sannie, but I agree with Yeosang," Hongjoong said. "You should've told her how you felt instead of keeping quiet."

"I know," San sighed. "But she already made up her mind."

"Dude, you're really dense," Wooyoung stated. "She asked you if you had something to say. That translates to 'fight for me.' I don't think you've noticed, but Y/N is definitely in love with you."

San's head shot up. "She wouldn't have broken up with me if she really loved me, Woo."

Seonghwa groaned in frustration. "If I was in Y/N's place, I would dump your stupid ass too."

"Agreed," Yeosang said. "I told you before, San, your reputation is going to fuck up everything. You need to let go of your past as well before it's too late."

"Ji Kangmin's got his eyes on her," Mingi stated. "I heard his friends talking about it."

"Yeah, I heard that too. Y/N is close to him," Jongho added.

San rolled his eyes, taking a drag from the cigarette. "He has nothing else to do other than stealing the girls I like."

"Exactly, and you're letting him do it again," Yunho said, taking the cigarette away from San and crushing it with his shoes. "You have to make a decision Sannie. Either you sort things out with Y/N, or you lose the woman you love to that very bastard again."

---

"So you had the hots for Y/N, huh?" Kangmin asked San while he waited in line to order his drink.

"That's none of your business," San said in a cold tone to his ex-bestfriend.

"I saw you talking to her privately that day," he said, referring to the party you attended almost two weeks ago. San ignored his words. "I don't know what was going on between the two of you," Kangmin continued. "But whatever it was, I'm glad it didn't last long. I want to make her mine."

San scoffed. "You just want to get into her pants."

Kangmin snorted. "Obviously. But after spending two weeks with her, without you around, I'm quite interested. Y/N is gorgeous and has a great personality. She's a rare gem, you know? I bet she'd be just as wonderful in bed and tastes as sweet as she loo—"

San took a step towards Kangmin, grabbing the collar of his shirt. "If you don't shut the fuck up, I'll break your damn face!" San warned.

"Ohhh, I'm so scared," he teased, pushing San away. "Fuck off, Choi San. Someone like Y/N doesn't deserve a bastard like you. You weren't and will never be good enough for her." San chose to ignore him, not wanting to cause a big scene at the café. Kangmin's words stabbed him in the heart. San always thought he wasn't good enough for you, but he never expected to hear anyone say it out loud.

Kangmin's phone started ringing and he couldn't help the smirk that formed on his face. "Hey, gorgeous," he answered, loud and clear. "I'm at the café near your building, getting you your favorite drink and some cupcakes. I'll pick you up from class."

"That won't be necessary," you replied, pushing the door of the café to enter. You instantly spotted Kangmin and made your way towards him, unaware of San who was standing right behind him. "Hi!" you said to Kangmin who hung up once he saw you.

"Hey, beautiful! How was class?" he asked, secretly glancing at San; you still hadn't noticed San as your back was facing him.

"Ugh, tiring. I hate extra classes. I couldn't understand any—" your phone started ringing, interrupting your sentence. You answered the call as it was from your bestfriend.

"Where are you?" Doyeon asked.

"At the café near our dorm," you replied.

"Come over fast, we have to get ready for Hyewon's party. She wants us to come early cause she needs help."

"I'll be there in a bit."

-

"I didn't expect any of them to be here," you said to Doyeon while drinking some whiskey and coke from a red cup, watching your ex-boyfriend converse with his infamous group of friends; they usually went clubbing on Saturday nights. "Aren't you gonna go over to Yunho?"

"I don't wanna ditch you," she answered. You gently pushed her in Yunho's direction.

"Go, I'll be fine."

Before she could reply, Kangmin wrapped his arms around you, startling you a little. Doyeon gave you a wink before making her way towards her boyfriend, leaving you with Kangmin.

"Can we talk?" he whispered in your ear, making sure to move closer to your body once he noticed San watching. You nodded, letting him pull you upstairs. You had gotten quite close to Kangmin these last two weeks; you were really glad to have a friend like him. He distracted you from the pain you felt from not being with San anymore.

Kangmin gently pushed against the wall, trapping you between his arms. You gasped. "What are you doing?"

"I like you, Y/N," he confessed with a smile. "I wanna date you." Before you could say anything, he kissed you. You were a little too shocked, so you let him kiss you for a few seconds. When you regained your senses, you pushed him away. He stared at you, confused by your actions.

"Kangmin, I'm sorry, but I don't feel the same way..."

Kangmin rolled his eyes. "It's cause of Choi San, isn't it?"

"No," you lied. Of course it's cause of San. You were still in love with him. You didn't want to date anyone until you got over him. "I only see us as friends, Kangmin," you stated honestly. "You're a really good friend and I don't want to lose you."

Kangmin sighed. "Okay, let's just forget about this. Let's have a drink, hmm?" You nodded, following him downstairs to the kitchen.

You were talking to one of your friends while Kangmin got a drink for you.

"Thanks," you said, taking the cup from him. You took a sip of your drink. It tasted a little salty, but you didn't mind. You felt yourself relaxing a little while you nodded your head to the music. By the time you finished your drink, you felt pretty lightheaded. You clinged to Kangmin's arm. "Hey, could you take me to the couch?" you requested, words slurred. "I don't feel very good..."

"Of course," Kangmin lifted you into his arms, bridal style. He carried you upstairs into one of the rooms, shutting the door behind him with his foot. He placed you on the bed. "You don't know how long I've waited for this," he said, licking his lips while he took your crop-top off. You didn't know what was happening and your vision was really blurry. Kangmin pushed you onto your back before hovering above you. The sudden movement made your head spin even more, causing you to pass out. "Oh, too bad she couldn't stay conscious for this..." he murmured to himself. He ran his hands up from your jean-clad legs to the soft skin of your abdomen before reaching behind your body to unclasp your bra. Before he could pull the piece of clothing away from your body, the door swung open.

"You fucking bastard!" San yelled, pushing Kangmin off of you. Jongho and Hongjoong were right behind San.

"What the fuck, dude?!" Kangmin yelled. "Get out! Can't you see we're busy?!" His words pissed Jongho off. He immediately grabbed Kangmin by the collar and punched him twice in the nose. Kangmin fell to the floor, holding his broken, bloody nose in pain. Jongho wanted to punch him one more time, but Hongjoong held him back. "Don't. You'll end up killing him."

San started crying when he saw your passed out form; he couldn't even think about what would've happened if his friends didn't overhear Kangmin's friends talking about him spiking your drink. San clasped your bra back and put your crop-top on you before he lifted you into his arms. "I'm taking her to my apartment," he said to his friends.

"I'll drive you," Hongjoong offered.

-

When you woke up, you immediately recognized your surroundings. You had absolutely no idea of how you ended up in your ex-boyfriend's bedroom.

Your head was pounding and you wondered what time it was as it was really sunny outside. Before you could get off San's bed, he entered the room.

"You're awake," he said softly, relief clear in his eyes. "Take a shower and come eat. You must be really hungry."

"What happened? What's the time right now?" you questioned, your heart racing at the mere sight of him in a lilac hoodie and black sweatpants.

"I'll tell you after you eat," he said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "It's three in the afternoon. Doyeon got some clothes for you. There's a spare toothbrush in the bathroom."

"Thanks," you mumbled, getting up to go to the bathroom.

After you took a shower, you made your way to San's kitchen. You took a seat at the dining table, looking at all the different dishes on the table.

"You made all this?"

San shook his head. "I wasn't able to cook today. Wooyoung and Seonghwa made it. They left a few minutes ago." You noticed how tensed and sad he was; you wanted to ask him what was bothering him, but you knew he wouldn't answer your question until you ate.

You both ate in a comfortable silence. You tried to recall the events from last night, but you weren't able to. You frowned, wondering if you really drank that much.

"Are you all right, San?" you asked, settling on his couch after you both finished eating.

He took a deep breath and you noticed the slight dark circles beneath his eyes. "Can I hug y-you?" he asked, voice cracking while his eyes teared up.

You immediately scooted closer to him on the couch, wrapping your arms around him. He buried his face in the crook of your neck while he held you tightly. His body shook convulsively while he cried, his tears wetting your neck. You ran a hand through his soft hair, knowing it would help calm him down a little.

San pulled away from you, wiping his tears with the sleeve of his lilac hoodie. "I'm sorry..."

You grabbed his hand, intertwining it with yours. "What happened, Sannie?"

Hearing you call him by his nickname brought another set of fresh tears to his eyes. Your other hand reached up to wipe his tears away.

"I love you, Y/N," he confessed, more tears rolling down his cheeks. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you that before. I'm so sorry for being a jerk to you and prioritizing my reputation. I fucked up and I regret it so much." You took a deep breath, trying to control your rapid heartbeat while you listened to every word he said. "I felt like dying after what happened last night. I'm so sorry, this is all my fault," he sobbed.

Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What happened last night?"

"O-Oh you don't remember...?" You shook your head. San cleared his throat, trying his best to not to break down again. "Wooyoung and Hongjoong overhead Ji Kangmin's friends say that he spiked your drink after you rejected him." you froze in shock. "They immediately told us about it, and me, Hongjoong, and Jongho rushed over to you. You weren't conscious when we found you. Your top was off and he was about to take your bra off as well, but I pushed him away. Then Jongho punched him. I brought you here after that."

You stared at San in disbelief. "Kangmin s-spiked my drink...?"

San nodded. "He had it all planned. I'm sorry, Y/N... none of this would've happened if he didn't see us together." You were too shocked to say anything; you couldn't believe Kangmin would go this low just cause you rejected him. "Ji Kangmin was my bestfriend in high school. After I got a girlfriend, he acted like a bitch to me cause he wanted her. I really loved her, and she cheated on me with him. He spread a lot of false shit about me after I ended our friendship. When I tried to move on with another girl, he took her away from me too. I didn't want other people to know about us only because he would find out. I didn't want him anywhere near you because I knew he would try to take you away from me. I didn't push Hyejoo away that day because he was watching me and would get suspicious of my actions if I pushed her away. I tried my best to do everything that would keep him away from you, but I still failed..."

You burst into tears, wrapping your arms around San; you had no idea he went through all this. "I'm sorry, San. I should've listened to you when you told me he wasn't a good person," you managed to say through sobs.

"No, Y/N, I'm the one who should say sorry for not telling you all of this before." He held you, gently rocking you back and forth while he cried with you. "Thank you for rejecting him..."

You pulled away, cupping his cheek. "How could I ever date someone else when I'm love with you, San?"

His heart raced in his chest due to your words. "That's why you rejected him?"

You nodded. "And I'm glad I did."

San smiled, leaning his forehead against yours. "Can I..." he hesitated "Can I kiss you?"

"Yes, please."

San immediately captured your lips with his own, kissing you oh so gently. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer. He smiled, causing you to smile as well while you kissed him; you both missed this so much. The kiss was slow and soft, the two of you just wanting to savor this moment. Your hands played with his hair while his hands lazily ran down the expanse of your back. San pulled away, holding you tight against his chest.

"I know I hurt you a lot and I don't even deserve to speak to you right now... but I want to start over, Y/N," San said honestly. "I want to treat you the way you deserve... show you off to the world... I want to make things right between us. These two weeks were pure torture without you, and I realized that I can't... I can't live without you, Y/N. I really need you, baby."

You rested your head on his chest and you could hear his fast heartbeat. "I need some time, Sannie." you noticed him tense up a little and you knew exactly what he was thinking. "And no, this isn't me indirectly rejecting you or anything. I want to be with you, San. I always have and that isn't gonna change. I just need a little time, considering everything that happened." San nodded in understanding. "I promise that I will come back to you."

"I love you and I'll wait for you," San said, placing a kiss on your head.

"Thank you... I love you too, Sannie." He giggled, loving the way you say those three heart-fluttering words. He cupped your cheek to pull you into another sweet kiss, making your heart race again.

The two of you knew that no matter what, you both would always find your way back to each other.

[alectoperdita]

I’ll take #36 for Kaijou, Alecto, please 👀

From small details for fictional kisses prompts

36. stopping a kiss when it gets too heated

A/N: I feel like I’ve forgotten how to write fluff. 🤣

"Hiya, Mari-chan!" Jounouchi exclaimed, flashing a winning smile as he approached the assistant's desk.

"Ah, Jounouchi-san, here to have lunch with Seto-sama?" The woman greeted warmly. Try as Jounouchi did, he couldn't get the executive assistant to drop the honorific, despite her being older than him by a handful of years. Mari valued her professionalism, which was probably what endeared her to Kaiba as an employee.

Plus, she ran a mean-ass Lightsworn deck.

After depositing his bag of takeout on the desk, Jounouchi leaned forward to count the number of used tea mugs cluttering her desk today. Only one. That was a good sign. "Yep! How was his morning?"

"The usual. Oh, but you should know that he's supposed to meet with the VP of Marketing this afternoon."

Jounouchi winced. Much like Kaiba, Saitou was a force of nature. Unfortunately, when you put two of them in the same room, a storm usually erupted. "Gotcha. I'll see what I can do."

"You're a lifesaver, Jounouchi-san," Mari gave a grateful grin as her phone rang. Without missing a beat, she picked it up and answered, "Kaiba-shachou's office. Who may I ask is calling?"

Jounouchi left her to her call. He only paused long enough at the office door to holler, "I'm coming in," before waltzing through them. He left their lunches on the table by the couches and crossed the room to approach the stately desk at the other end.

Kaiba acknowledged his arrival with a flicker of his eyes from his screen to Jounouchi's face and the tiniest smile. "Fifteen more minutes."

Pausing on the other side of Kaiba's desk, Jounouchi tapped his chin thoughtfully and responded, "You get ten. Max."

Kaiba chuckled. "Never negotiate from your desired position."

Rolling his eyes, Jounouchi rounded the desk to peek at Kaiba's work monitor. It was emails, not code or a slide deck, which meant he stood a fighting chance of eating before Kaiba kicked him out. "The only thing I 'desire' right now is some curry udon."

Again, Kaiba cast a quicksilver glance in his direction, which meant he probably had an appetite today. "From Senkichi?"

Jounouchi's grin widened. "Yep. And I got their beef bowl for ya."

He laid a hand on his boyfriend's shoulder. When Kaiba took one hand away from the keyboard to squeeze his fingers, Jounouchi internally celebrated. Having secured that small assurance, he backed away to give Kaiba space to finish his work. For a minute or two, he pressed his face to the window and gazed at the city below. The view from his boyfriend's office was unbeatable. There was no better vantage point in all of Domino.

A chuckle behind him snapped him out of his stupor. He glanced over his shoulder to find that Kaiba had abandoned his work, having spun his chair 180 degrees to observe Jounouchi. Kaiba wore that smirk-smile he favored whenever he won an argument or a casual duel.

"What?" Jounouchi asked his insufferable and endearing boyfriend. That was also the expression he wore when he was on the edge of bragging. Best to just let him get it out of his system so they could both move on with their day.

"Just remembering the first time you came up here. I had to drag you over to admire the view. Now it's the first thing you do whenever you're here," said Kaiba, still unbearably smug.

Jounouchi scratched his cheeks, his eyes darting away from Kaiba's face for a brief second. "Shuddup. It was a lot to take in."

The first time that he had been invited up to the top floor, almost three days after their first date, he was already a nervous wreck. Standing in the middle of Kaiba's giant office after an extended gut-wrenching elevator, his confidence abandoned him. Jounouchi wondered if he was in over his head. Whether in general or by trying to date Kaiba, of all people. Not knowing what Kaiba possibly saw in him, but he knew better than to turn down that kind of opportunity. So his stomach was already flopping like crazy before Kaiba grabbed him by the elbow and guided him to the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Forty stories was a long way down.

It still was, but the funny twist his stomach now did every time reminded him of the high point on a rollercoaster right before a drop.

Kaiba rose to his feet and joined him by the window, where he threaded an arm around Jounouchi's waist and kissed the shell of his ear. "It's a good thing you're not afraid of heights. Might not have worked out so well if that was the case."

He rolled his eyes and ribbed Kaiba's side gently. Kaiba only tightened his grip in response. "Yeah. Protip, trying to scare the living daylight out of your date's not a great move."

"Please, if I was trying to scare you for real, I'd take you to a haunted house."

Despite the warm sunlight, Jounouchi shivered. "Don't you fucking dare."

Kaiba cupped his cheek and nudged his head to the side to catch his lips in a soft kiss. Jounouchi sighed and relaxed into the affection, letting it warm him. Yet his mind kept mulling over Kaiba's words, as he often did out of necessity because he often ran slow behind his boyfriend. With a frown, he abruptly broke the kiss and leaned back without breaking out of Kaiba's hold. His boyfriend made a disapproving noise.

Jounouchi narrowed his eyes. "Wait, what were you trying to do then? What might not have worked?"

"Nothing," Kaiba muttered and tried to close the distance again.

Jounouchi deftly inserted his hand between their mouths, still glaring at his boyfriend over his fingertips. "Bullshit. If you were just trying to impress me with the view or get me to admire it, you wouldn't still be hung up on this. Fess up."

For a beat, it looked like Kaiba might insist on being stubborn. But then he sighed and admitted, "The suspension bridge effect."

"The what now?"

"It's the idea that people can mistake fear or excitement for romantic attraction. Our bodies have similar physiological reactions to them, like elevated blood pressure, sweaty palms, or being short of breath."

Jounouchi nodded. That much was true. The early stages of dating could often be as exciting and nerve-wracking as the finals in a Duel Monsters tournament.

Kaiba continued, "One experiment was done on a suspension bridge, which is why it's known as 'the suspension bridge effect' in layperson's terms. Technically, the theory is more correctly termed 'misattribution of—"

"Wait!" Jounouchi exclaimed. "You were experimenting on me?"

"Not precisely. I was using the theory to—" Kaiba paused long enough to purse his lips. The uncharacteristic show of nerves nearly distracted Jounouchi. "—to hedge my bet."

"You scheming creep, you were trying to Jedi mind trick me into liking you."

"That's hardly an appropriate comparison. I couldn't very well whisk you off to an actual suspension bridge, though I could've. Given that I have a forty-story office, I figured it'd suffice," Kaiba reasoned. "You already liked me somewhat, otherwise you wouldn't have agreed to that first date. I wanted to make sure it stuck."

Silence descended over the office as Jounouchi gawked at his boyfriend. On the one hand, trying to mind game someone into liking you wasn't cool, even if Kaiba was right that Jounouchi had liked him plenty beforehand. Yet, it was almost sweet that Kaiba had cared that much early on to try in the first place?

Kaiba heaved a sigh, his arm falling away from Jounouchi. "How long are you going to hold this against me?"

A grin gradually spread across his lips before he chirped, "Until about two seconds ago."

Kaiba shot him a disbelieving look.

Taking advantage of his momentary confusion, Jounouchi spun his boyfriend and pressed his back against the window. The muscles in Kaiba's torso immediately tensed before he took a steady breath to relax. With another step, Jounouchi pinned the other man between himself and the glass.

"How's that for the suspension bridge effect?" he asked smugly.

Kaiba laughed and wrapped both arms around his neck, fingers toying with the ends of his strands. "Don't forget. I used to regularly hang from helicopters. This is nothing."

Jounouchi rubbed his hands along Kaiba's ribs, eliciting shivers. "True. That's hard to beat. But I could say the same. Cuz being with you on any old day at the ground level is already way more exciting than any random suspension bridge. You're literally the most terrifying guy I know."

"Good," Kaiba purred.

Before Jounouchi could tease him about his warped sense of self, Kaiba yanked his head forward and captured his lips. This kiss was not soft and sweet like the previous ones. It was hungry and demanding, full of nibbling teeth and sensual licks. Jounouchi responded in kind, gripping Kaiba's sharp hips and clasping him against the glass. Kaiba made a faint, approving noise that Jounouchi quickly lapped up as he slipped his tongue into Kaiba's mouth. Jounouchi's heart pounded in his ears, his blood stirring as he devoured his boyfriend. Then Kaiba shifted and hitched one long leg to hug him closer.

Jounouchi broke the kiss to groan, "Kaiba—"

But his boyfriend would have none of that, digging his fingers harder to bring him back for another biting kiss while he hooked his remaining leg around Jounouchi's waist. If not for the window at his back, he would've fallen over. If not for Jounouchi automatically rearranging his grip to support Kaiba's thighs, they would be on the floor.

Kaiba laughed against his mouth. Jounouchi rolled his hips, aligning their groins with one smooth thrust. Kaiba's breath hitched before he mirrored the motion.

Kaiba's lips were still smeared against his own when Jounouchi said, "Fuck. Babe, quit it."

A sharp nip stung his lip.

"Don't call me that."

"Babeeee."

Kaiba finally broke their kiss and tilted Jounouchi's head to glare down at him. The severity that his expression attempted to convey was undercut by the flush dusting his cheeks. "You're insufferable."

"Takes one to know one," Jounouchi shot back automatically. He ignored the burning ache steadily building in his arms from supporting his boyfriend's weight. "But seriously, we should stop."

"Why? I'm taking a lunch break as you insisted."

The next kiss pressed to his lips coaxed as sweetly as honey.

"Curry udon," Jounouchi argued. His stomach growled to back him up. "And you need to eat actual solid food."

Kaiba sighed and let his head fall back against the glass with a dull thunk. As an appeasement, Jounouchi dipped forward to kiss his boyfriend's exposed pulse point. It thumped twice under his lips. Fingers yanked on the fine hairs at the base of his skull, but it was hard to tell if it was an errant twitch or a more purposeful warning gesture.

"Then don't start things you don't intend to finish," was Kaiba's counterargument. But the other man was already unwinding his death grip around Jounouchi's waist and finding his footing again.

Jounouchi didn't release his hold, instead allowing his hands to wander north to grip his boyfriend's rear. Unable to help himself, he gave them a cheeky squeeze. "Promise I'll make it up to you later."

"I'll hold you to that," growled Kaiba before swooping in to devour his mouth again.

[misora-msby]

scarred love.

rating : mature

word count : 4.3k

themes : angst, slight fluff, implied and mentions of sex

notes : based on vistlip’s CLASSIC OPERA // this is my first work on this blog, i hope you enjoy!

“I don’t think he loves me anymore.”

“No way… That’s not the case, I’m sure!”

“That’s what I want to think but…”

Suna could barely believe as he stood outside the bedroom door, hand barely making contact with the handle. Was that really what you thought? 

“I wonder if it’s normal for couples to fall out of love at this stage.”

“Mm… there’s certainly been couples I’ve known like that. They were in love for years but after they got married they decided it wasn’t the life for them and divorced.”

Suna heard your gasp follow the tinny voice from the phone. He had heard of similar stories before but never thought it would happen to him and you. 

Ever since you had gotten together, he was always subtle in his love. He was never the type to outright say “I love you” in public or to boldly proclaim his love for you on social media. Suna preferred linking pinkies while walking or to post photos of your study dates with simple captions like “another ‘10 minute break’” or “we are going to collapse”. 

Despite this, when you were in the privacy of your apartment, he almost never left your side. It was either his head on your lap, his legs laying over yours on the couch, or you sitting on his lap in some way albeit still being relatively quiet. 

So to think you were getting upset with the little attention he was showing recently had him confused. Wasn’t he always like this?

“But Y/N, I doubt Suna-san’s fallen out of love. Isn’t it just that his new job with EJP Raijin is keeping him busy?” 

“Y-Yeah but… he hasn’t said anything about it. He comes back late and leaves early and it just… It just sucks so much! I don’t know what to do!” you sob and Suna can hear the sound of you blowing your nose and coughing through your tears. 

Taking a step back from the bedroom door, the middle blocker moved to the couch and sat for a moment, head in his hands. He knew love couldn’t be perfect. A perfect relationship without fights or problems was just waiting to crumble from the slightest crack in it. But he wanted to at least prevent you from thinking this way. 

He wanted you to know he did love you. 

Later that night, he crawled into the bed, freshly showered and in his pyjamas - an old thin t-shirt and a pair of boxers. You laid beside him in your own pyjamas - one of his big t-shirts and a pair of shorts. 

“Y/N,” he turned onto his side and called your name, causing you to almost jump while attempting to fall asleep with your swirling thoughts.

“Yes, Rin?” 

“You have a free day tomorrow too, don’t you?”

“Well… yes. Why?”

The bed shifted under his movement to hold himself over you. 

“W-Wait a second! Rin! I’m not prepared or anything- mmf!” 

He pressed his lips to yours, his fox-like eyes shut delicately as he kissed you passionately. Before you knew it, his hands moved to your sides and began to lift the edge of the shirt up, but were quickly pushed down. 

“Rintarou,” you lightly pushed on his chest, “I uh… I’m not wearing any nice underwear… A-And I haven’t shaved. Can I go change and do that?” 

Honestly you were very surprised that he suddenly wanted to do this. Suna was always one to do things out of the blue; your relationship was built on impromptu dates and spontaneous gifts he claimed ‘reminded him of you’, but this really had came out of nowhere. 

You hadn’t been intimate in weeks and you wanted to at least look good for it, but Suna just shook his head. 

“You’re fine like this. I love you however you look.” He leaned back down and began to place kisses along your jaw and neck. 

His kisses were softer than usual, you noted. And his hands weren’t rushing to tear your clothes off like he usually did.

“Rin- ah! Rintarou, why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

“We’re both free tomorrow. Can’t I spend my free day with my girlfriend the way I want to?” he asked, looking up at you through his thin lashes. 

“Still! That gives me more time to go get ready.”

“No,” he shook his head and continued to kiss and bite along your neck and collarbones, leaving his marks of love on your skin, “I want to spend every second that I can with you now that I have the time.”

“Wait a second.”

Suna finally pulled his lips away from your skin, now littered with little marks, “What’s wrong?”

“Since when were you so romantic? It just… Don’t get me wrong, I’m super happy it’s just a little funny…” 

His eyes widened at the sight of tears welling up in your eyes.

“Y/N, are you okay?” he asked, cupping your face in his large rough hands gently. 

“I’m more than okay! No… I don’t know why I’m crying…” you sob softly, rubbing at your eyes. 

Suna chuckled lightly. “Is it because you’re filled with overwhelming love for me?”

“Rintarou!” you whined and hit his chest lightly. “You’re absolutely insufferable!”

“You say that but you were the one who asked me out on our graduation.” 

“...you little shit. I really do love you.” 

“Mm, I thought so. I love you too.” He continued to kiss and strip you.

Unlike your usual nights together which were spent fucking roughly, leaving bodies sore and lightly scarred, tonight was slow and loving albeit passionate as ever. Soft kisses and laughs were exchanged in the dark as Suna made love to you, thrusting slowly while mumbling words of love into your body. 

The next morning, you were woken up by the feeling of a kiss on your forehead. Your eyelids fluttered open and you squinted in the morning light to see Suna sitting on his side of the bed, clad only in boxers. There was also the scent of eggs and toast, and when you looked down, you saw it sitting on a plate between you two.

“I’m no Osamu here. But I think my cooking is still edible,” your boyfriend sighed before flopping down onto the bed beside you and closing his eyes. 

“You actually woke up to cook for me?” you asked, sitting up to look at the sunny-side-ups with broken yolks and the toast that was just a little too toasted for your liking. 

“Surprised myself too,” he yawned before squinting his eyes open, “More like… I wanted to surprise you. And wake you up with a kiss.”

“You’re so cheesy today, aren’t you!”

“I know, I think it’s weird too.”

On that day, you knew he still loved you. And you loved him more than ever before.

But that happiness couldn’t last forever. In the city of Tokyo where sadness and troubles rained down, something was bound to happen. Even the most heavily cemented cracks could once again break under a heavy enough pressure. 

Even if it took a couple of months.

“Rintarou! Welcome home!”

“Mm.”

Your brow furrowed slightly as you noticed his short answer. After shutting your laptop where you were answering some work related emails while waiting for your boyfriend, you made your way over to Suna who was hanging his winter coat by the door.

“Rin, are you alright?”

“Just tired.”

You sighed softly, “You shouldn’t overwork yourself. You need breaks sometimes too, you know?” And reached up to begin massaging his shoulders as you usually did. But he only pushed your hands away quickly, saying, “Not tonight,” before walking further into the apartment.

You bit your lower lip to prevent it from trembling any further while your hands stayed still as if frozen mid air. You were hesitating to tell him what you wanted to say earlier.

“Rintarou… Tomorrow you don’t have scheduled practice, right? I…” you took a deep breath as he turned to face you, eyes dark and heavy-looking. 

“Yeah.”

“I was wondering… Well, I don’t have work tomorrow either so I reserved a place at a nice restaurant for dinner! I think we both need a bit of a break, work’s been so busy and you’re also training so intensely and-”

“No.”

“H- Huh?” you laughed nervously, “What do you mean by ‘no’?”

“It means what it means, I don’t want to go.”

“Rintarou, you can’t just- I can’t- I promise it’s a really nice place! A-And I wanted to spend some time with you…” there was a lump welling up in your throat as you tried not to suddenly pour out your recent feelings towards him. 

The recent frustrations of not being able to spend much time with your boyfriend anymore, the annoyance at the way he would always spend his free time doing self training, the anger towards his schedule which rarely ever allowed you to meet, the sadness of the fact that your shared apartment no longer had the sound of laughter when you two played games or watched silly YouTube videos together...

All that frustration felt like it was just being held up behind that lump in your throat, and to think he would simply dismiss it without a second thought.

“You should’ve asked before you started making plans. I’m going to the gym tomorrow again. We have a match against the Red Falcons in two weeks so I need to become at least a bit stronger,” Suna explained monotonously, as if you should have known that already.

“I- I know but… I thought… it’d be a nice surprise…”

The man sighed and turned to walk towards the bathroom, ready to just shower and go to sleep. He simply could not be bothered to argue with you, thinking this problem would solve itself like it always did. But you had had enough of this issue.

Suna hadn’t even realised it was coming until he felt a small bell keychain hit the back of his head. It fell to the hardwood floor with a loud clang which lasted for far too long, causing him to inhale sharply and turn around, anger and annoyance replacing the bored expression on his face for once. 

“What the hell is-” he was about to raise his voice until he saw the way your features trembled and your eyes had already become red and puffy. His own features softened and his body unstiffened. “Y/N…”

“You know, the least you could do is try to be nice to me!” you yelled, furiously wiping away the tears forming. “You could at least say “Mm, I’m really not free but we can do it some other time.” or some shit like that! But no! I- I’m busy too, you know! I’m trying to get promoted so I don’t have to rely on yer dumb ass all the time, but I still want to make time for you because I love you so much! But I don’t think ya get that!” 

Something in the back of your mind was telling you not to say these things, that maybe you could just talk this out calmly. Maybe you didn’t have to explode, but something else told you this was the only way to get a point across.

“I’m your girlfriend, but I feel more like a roommate or burden at this point! Ya know, even ‘Tsumu’s able to make time for his girlfriend! And- And Bokuto’s always doing his promotions and ads but still makes time for his boyfriend! Ojiro-senpai too! Miyu-chan tells me he’s the one planning the dates! But ya can’t even be bothered to pretend you’re happy I tried ta plan somethin’ for us!” 

Suna knew you really were angry when your dialect started coming out but he just didn’t know what to say. He could only stand there in silence with his head hanging like a child being scolded.

“Rintarou… I love you so much you know… I just wonder these days- no, I just wonder if you ever loved me back the same way.”

Oh, he knew. Ever since that night when he heard you crying on the phone, he knew he wasn’t doing enough. 

“I… I’m sorry.” Suna looked up when he suddenly heard those words from you amidst the sobs and chokes. 

“I already left your pyjamas on the bathroom counter… Please don’t… Just please don’t talk to me tonight.” you hurried to the tiny kitchen to wash your face as he silently made his way to the bathroom, thoughts swirling around in his head. 

Suna stared at your figure silently for a second before bending down to pick up the bell - a cheap gift he had given you for your third month together right after you two first started university. It was old, the string slightly frayed and loose, and the golden paint had chipped in places to reveal the stainless steel underneath it. There was even a dent on the bottom from when you accidentally dropped one of your heavier textbooks onto it. It was old, and Suna had told you countless times it was fine to throw away, but you always kept it. 

The man took it and carefully placed it back on the key rack before heading into the bathroom. He took his time in there, gathering his thoughts as he knew he wouldn’t be sharing a bed with you tonight.

It was understandable really, he hadn’t been a great boyfriend. Suna knew a relationship took work from both sides and he shouldn’t have been as blunt as he was earlier that night. 

One couldn’t count the number of times he had muttered profanities aimed towards himself while sitting in the bathtub thinking about his mistakes. He didn’t know if you would even want to see him tomorrow morning. Maybe it was for the best he just went to the gym…

The next morning, Suna woke up early. Even in winter, the sun rose far too early in Japan for his taste. Sitting up and grumbling, he rubbed his eyes and stumbled to the bathroom to begin his morning routine.

Looking at himself in the mirror as he brushed his teeth, he could only sigh at the sight of the dark circles under his eyes. 

Though you made him sleep on the stiff couch last night, you gave him the shared duvet and his pillow while you took the slightly thinner blanket from the closet. 

Despite the added comfort, Suna could barely fall asleep. He kept twisting and turning, thinking about you. Your pained face, your strained voice, your kindness even when angry at him. 

“I fucked up so bad,” he muttered once he washed his face and stared at his pathetically tired self in the mirror, water dripping from the ends of his hair. Would you want to break up with him after that? He’d understand if you wanted to, though he knew he would never be able to forgive himself for losing you because of some stupid mistake he could have prevented. 

Suna sighed for what felt like the thousandth time in the past 12 hours and dabbed his face dry with a towel. He knew that now would be the hardest bit - entering your bedroom to get his change of clothes.

Opening the door as slowly as possible in order to prevent the loud whiny creaking that he wished he had fixed months ago, Suna walked slowly towards the open closet. As quickly as possible, he grabbed a set of clothes and turned to face the door. Though it wasn’t without looking at your sleeping form on the large bed. 

Your face was puffy, dehydrated from sobbing last night, only emphasised by the wads of used tissues on the nightstand and floor. He noticed your breathing was a bit heavier than usual and your body was curled up as you hugged the thin blanket as close to yourself as you could.

The sight pained him intensely. 

With silent footsteps, Suna set his clothes on his side (the empty side) of the bed and tiptoed out to grab the duvet before returning and carefully laying it over your body. He tucked it right up to your chin as you always liked it and sat on the floor, eyes scanning every little feature on your face. From the smallest moles he loved to kiss to each individual eyelash.

“You’re not hearing this, I guess,” he muttered, looking down at the floor for a moment before looking back up at you, “I thought about it for a really long time. I really should’ve been better to you.”

The silence in the room was deafening. 

Suna gulped and bit the inside of his cheek as he thought about his next words, wondering if you could hear him in your sleep. 

“I always left you alone but you would always be nice to me. When you could, you’d make me bentos and clean the house while I did the laundry. Hm… putting stuff into a machine isn’t anywhere equal to cooking and cleaning surfaces, but I guess that’s another point to make.” 

Suna smiled to himself just a bit at the memory of you running into the bedroom to make him try your new pastries or dinner creations. He always thought you were so adorable in your old and stained apron that sometimes he would just stand in the kitchen to chat with you or watch you cook.

Then he was reminded of the dinner you had planned for the two of you and he suddenly frowned remembering how horrible he acted towards you the night before.

“You never expected me to be perfect since day one. I think I’m the furthest thing from a handsome prince on a white horse. But you’ve always been wonderful to me. And I was thinking…” You were asleep, right? Was it worth it to say such cheesy things?

“I kept wondering if you would leave and I thought I don’t want to lose you. I’m nowhere close to a prince but I thought I want to always be the one who wakes you up with a kiss. Or, I want you to wake me up with a kiss. Either is fine really. But… yeah. I’m sorry. Really, really sorry. ” He was certain you weren’t hearing these things yet there was a dark blush on his cheeks.

Until he saw you shift in the bed. 

Suna swears his heart stopped momentarily as he leaned closer, checking to see if you had woken up. 

Your eyelids slowly opened and you squinted tiredly at Suna, just barely able to see him with how blurry your vision had become. “Rin…?”

The man hurried to his feet, hoping his morning wouldn’t feel any heavier than it already did. 

“I’m gonna give you some space. I’ll be back after my jog.” 

Suna turned to exit the bedroom but was stopped by the sound of stumbling, followed by your warmth around his waist and resting on his back.

“Please… don’t go.”

He stared silently at the floor in front of him. 

“I don’t think you want to-”

“Stay here! …please?” 

Your soft voice broke but mended his heart at the same time. The scratchiness and fear in your voice contrasted with the words that he wanted to hear so badly.

“Did you…”

“Yeah, I heard everything.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Of course I’m still a little mad. But right now I’m just really happy you would say those things when you normally wouldn’t tell me how you feel. So… please, don’t go. Stay with me.”

The few moments of silence seemed to pass in eons as Suna took in a shaky breath before turning to hug you tightly, burying his face into your neck so you couldn’t see his tears of relief.

“Of course I will. I won’t go anywhere, babe.”

Four years have passed since that night. Suna yawns and scrunches up his face slightly at the way the sunlight enters your shared bedroom. Squinting his eyes, he looks around the room and wonders if maybe he should’ve put on a shirt like you did last night to deal with the first bites of winter. Then again, you did take his shirt.

He then looks to you, sleeping quietly by his side. You looked a little like a mess; hair messy, dwarfed in his big shirt, cheek smushed against the pillow, but he thought you looked adorable. 

It’s cold, but he feels warm by your side. 

And when he looks down at your left hand resting under his even in your sleep, the sight of the silver ring with its diamonds adorning your finger makes his heart even warmer.

[winterscaptain]

joint chiefs.

Aaron Hotchner x Gender Neutral Reader

a/n: aunt tali is back for the third night in a row (whoops). this can be a stand-alone, but the original intention was to follow up in the dark, a few years later. it’s totally not necessary to read that one beforehand, but it might be fun! as always, tell me if i’ve screwed up somewhere and i’ll fix it right away :) words: 3853 warnings: swearing, some good kissing, snark, a couple of references that you get bonus points for recognizing some vocab, just in case: CARD: child abduction rapid deployment team, SAIC: special agent in charge, taking six/on your six: covering your partner’s back

ao3 | masterlist | requests closed

+++

You rolled over when your phone rang, answering it right away. “Hotchner.” You checked your watch on its charger. Just after 6am.

Can’t kidnappers wait until the sun’s up?

“We need you in the field today. CARD presence has been requested in Chicago for an all-hands, time-sensitive joint case. Details are incoming, but may be slow to reach you - I have very few myself. When can you be in the office?” The voice of your section chief came at you rapid-fire, and you sat up, rubbing your eyes.

“Yes ma’am. I can be there as soon as my sister-in-law gets here for Jack. I’ll call her now and give you an ETA when I have one. I can’t imagine it will be more than an hour.”

“Thank you. I know it’s a lot to ask with Aaron out on a case as well.”

“It’s alright, ma’am. I’ll be in touch.” You hung up and dressed quickly, calling Jess.

“Got a case?” She sounded terribly chipper for this hour.

“Yeah, I do. I’m so sorry to wake you,” you added lamely.

She chuckled. “You didn’t, and I should thank you. You just saved me from my 7am yoga class.”

“Well, put it on my tab. How quick can you get here?”

“I’ll be there in 20.”

You thanked her again and padded down the hallway to Jack’s room. Kneeling beside him, you brushed some hair off his forehead. It was enough to wake him. He blinked sleepily up at you and reached for you. You wrapped him in your arms, stroking the back of his head. 

“Hey bud. I’ve got a case I gotta go on, but Aunt Jess will be with you until Dad or I get home, okay?”

He nodded, closing his eyes again.

You kissed his forehead. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” he mumbled.

You shot a text to your section chief. Be there in 35 mins.

You made yourself a quick breakfast and a pot of coffee. You pulled a travel mug for yourself and a mug from the cabinet for Jess (It said Someone from San Antonio Loves Me!, but that was neither here nor there). 

Your go bag was already in the car – BAU habits die hard.

Jess arrived in record time, giving you a quick kiss on the cheek and taking her cup of coffee out of your hand. You’d grown close in the last few years, and considered her as much of a sister as Aaron did at this point. 

You slipped out the door as quietly as possible, jumping into the car and driving straight to the Quantico airstrip.

The plane was waiting for you, and you greeted the CARD B-Team as you sat down.

+++

The flight to Chicago wasn’t too long, but you managed to get some sleep on the way.

When you were on your final descent, you checked your email, finding no further information from your section chief, other than a case file for a series of missing children and address for the precinct. You didn’t have any information about the other factions of the joint case. Hopefully it wasn’t those jokers at the State Department. They meant well, but they never played nicely with the bureau.

You almost laughed out loud when you arrived at the local precinct, finding the backsides of both Spencer Reid and Derek Morgan in front of an evidence board.

“Hey, Chief?” One of your SSA’s – Agent Esme Salinger, stepped up beside you. “Aren’t those guys from your old unit?”

“They sure are.”

She snorted. “This’ll be fun.”

The back door opened, and Aaron, Emily, and Dave barreled in, heading straight for the conference room.

“You may be right about that,” you said distractedly. 

Aaron was barking about something in his Unit Chief Voice™, but you couldn’t make out the details as he kept moving. They pinned new evidence on the board right away, not taking any time to clock your presence.

That didn’t last long. Your newest agent, Knowles, jogged up to you with his go bag slung over his shoulder. “Hey, Hotch,” he said, way too loudly, “where should we park the cars?”

You whirled to face him, directing him to park by the other federal vehicles around the side of the building. You stifled your smile as you felt eyes turn to your back.

When you turned, you found the entire BAU grinning at you. You crossed to the conference room, wordlessly asking your team to hold where they were as you left them behind.

“SSA Hotchner. Good to see you again.” you said, approaching Aaron, your hand extended and tone extremely formal. 

He bit back a smile and he shook your hand with an unreasonable firmness. He matched you note for note. “SSA Hotchner. Glad to have you with us.”

You winked at him.

With a wave of your hand, your team trailed across the room and fell into a line at your back like a pack of well-trained ducklings. With a certain degree of pride, you introduced them to the BAU one by one.

“...And this is SSA Aaron Hotchner, BAU Unit Chief.” You looked at your husband with a small, fond smile before sobering and redirecting your attention to your team. “For the sake of clarity, we’ll switch back to my SAIC callsign – Ace – while we’re working with the BAU. Understood?”

They nodded, and got to work, pairing off with your former teammates to determine their plan of action.

Aaron stood beside you at the board. Staring straight ahead, his arms crossed, he asked, “Ace?”

“Yeah – I used all your poker tricks and cleaned them out my first week back at CARD as SAIC.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “Excellent.”

+++

Aaron let himself into your hotel room just as you finished hanging the rest of your clothes in the minuscule closet. He came up behind you, dropping his hands to the waistband of your pajama pants and kissing your neck with a kind of desperate gentleness.

You smiled and tilted your head, bringing a hand up and carding your fingers through the hair at his temples. “Miss me?”

“You have no idea,” he said against your skin.

You turned in his arms and kissed him, pouring all your love and pride into it. He opened his mouth to you, and the way his tongue ran against yours stole your breath. He emitted a low groan when you scraped your teeth along his lower lip and he backed you up toward the bed.

“Planning on gettin’ some tonight, Agent Hotchner?”

He huffed a laugh, his mouth falling to the underside of your jaw and around to the sensitive skin over your carotid artery. You fell back on the bed, and he followed. 

There was a knock at the door. You both froze, his body hovering over yours. 

“Fuck,” you whispered, nearly throwing him off you.

He pressed his back to the wall by the bed, out of sight from the door. There was a shit-eating grin on his face. You rolled your eyes and straightened your shirt, hoping things weren’t too out of place.

Agent Salinger was on the other side of the door. “Hey, Ace. Do you have a minute?”

You leaned against the doorframe, trying to imitate something that looked casual. “Sure. What’s up?”

“Did you happen to bring any Advil with you? I’ve got a splitting headache and I’m out.”

“Sure, give me just a second.”

You left the door cracked and dug your med kit out of your go bag. Aaron tugged on the back of your shirt as you passed, and you swatted at him out of habit. Retrieving a small handful of tablets, you poured them into a little ziploc, sealed it, and returned to the door.

“Here, Salinger. This should hold you over if it continues through the end of the case. If you’re still hurting after we land back at Quantico, go ahead and visit the infirmary to see if they can do anything for you. That concussion’s still healing.” You smiled at her. “We need you sharp, alright?”

She took them gratefully, and gave you a mock salute. “Thanks. You’re the best.”

“That’s why they pay me the big bucks,” you joked. “Anything else you needed?”

She shook her head. “Have a good night, Ace.” She paused, hiding a smile and raising her voice a little, rising up on her toes. “You too, Hotch!”

You huffed and rolled your eyes. “Goodnight, Salinger. Sleep well.”

“Feel better!” Aaron’s voice came from around the corner, and you rolled your eyes. 

“Sleep well, you two.” Then, with a suggestive, curling smile, “Need a wake-up call in the morning?”

You shut the door in her face with a laugh and another farewell. As it closed, you leaned against it heavily. “Oh, I am never going to hear the end of that.”

Aaron turned the corner, loosening his tie. “Now, we’re even.”

You looped your arms around his neck as you remembered that day, years ago.

“You know, for a pair of profilers you guys really suck at sneaking around.” JJ’s voice echoed in your head. 

“I guess so,” you laughed. “This marriage is about give and take, after all.”

He kissed you languidly and you could feel the tension as he did his best to hide his smile. 

+++

“Hey, Hotch, how come you don’t have a cool nickname?” Derek said, grinning behind his sunglasses as they all piled into the car.

“I’d have one if you gave me one,” he quipped. You drove the car in front of him, the window rolled down and your elbow visible where it rested in the frail Chicago sunshine. 

He was excited to see you back in action. With your position as deputy unit chief, your role in the field was limited to emergency situations only. And with the CARD A-Team up in Pennsylvania for the week, you were stuck wrangling the younger agents on your own. 

That said, it was exciting for you to take point, and even more so to work alongside Aaron again.

The difference this time? You were peers. You had the same title, the same posture, the same authority. 

And perhaps most importantly, very little scrutiny regarding possibly-shared hotel rooms.

+++

He knocked on your door in the little pattern he picked up from you, and you opened it with a faux-serious expression. 

“Agent Hotchner, we can't keep meeting like this.”

He raised an eyebrow at you. 

He has a motive. 

You opened the door further and draped yourself against him where he stood in the hallway, continuing dramatically, “What will the people think?”

With surprising, but still gentle, force, he pushed you back into the room and pressed you against the wall. There was a click behind him as the door swung shut. 

You gasped, and your hands were suddenly over your head, locked between his fingers. 

“I think,” he said, wet, breathy kisses trailing down your neck and behind your ear, “the people will be appalled,” his lips closed around your skin as he painted marks over your collarbones, “by the unprofessional,” he released your hands, dropped to his knees and raised your shirt, “shocking,” he laved kisses across your stomach, “and unbecoming conduct of two senior agents.” His final words were delivered against your left hip.

You wound your hands in his hair and inhaled shakily. He pressed kisses and swept sweet bruises into your skin until you couldn’t feel anything but him.

When his mouth ghosted over you through your pajama pants, you knew exactly where the night was going. 

Your knees gave out, and you dropped into his lap, straddling him. You traced a hand down the side of his face, over his jaw. He leaned into it, and you roughened, taking his chin between your fingers With a firm, controlled jerk, you brought his lips to yours. His hips twitched, and you bit his lower lip in retaliation. 

He let out a low moan in his chest and his hands rucked up your shirt. They splayed across your back and shoulders, calloused and familiar. 

Allegedly, you made it to the bed at some point. If your exhaustion the next morning wasn’t enough evidence, the duvet on the floor and the pillows on the wrong side of the bed would happily testify to the lack of sleeping you did once you got there. 

+++

The next day at the evidence board found you and Aaron with identical, massive cups of coffee. 

Agents Salinger and Knowles sat at the table the next room over, reviewing interviews with JJ. 

“Do you think they ever, you know,” Knowles made a vaguely obscene gesture with his hand, and Salinger covered her mouth to hide her laugh. 

JJ didn’t look up from her notes, but replied, deadpan, “You have no idea.”

The younger agents snickered and watched you two work. 

It was easy. Even considering the stressful, time-sensitive nature of the unsub’s escalation over the previous four hours, you both moved around each other with a grace that only came with time. 

+++

A critical error. 

That’s the only thing you thought when you busted into the unsub’s house, minutes after your agents. The unsub was nowhere in sight, and Salinger was on the floor with her partner, putting pressure on a mild wound on his forehead and temple. 

Your jaw tightened and you shot them a look. 

I’ll deal with you later. 

Later came faster than even you could have imagined. You rounded the corner of the precinct to find Aaron laying into your agents for their screw-up back at the house. 

You stepped up to them with purpose and put a firm hand on Aaron’s arm. 

“Hotch, can I speak with you for a moment?” you looked at your agents and then back at him. “Privately.” 

It took everything in you to resist slamming the interrogation room door behind you. 

“What on this God-given green Earth made you think it was appropriate to discipline my agents?” 

He took a deep breath before replying and dropped into what you, usually fondly, referred to as Lawyer Mode. It was far less endearing in that moment, and only served to further piss you off. “Their mistakes cost us an arrest today. With this level of escalation, we could have two more missing kids by sundown. They needed to be made aware of their critical failure.”

You pressed your hands to the cool table, realizing you two were facing off over the surface like two cowboys in an old Western.

This town ain’t big enough for the both of us…

“Do you think I don’t know that?”

“No, I think it’s time sensitive and needed to be addressed immediately.” He crossed his arms. 

Damn it. 

You changed tactics, opening your shoulders as you braced yourself on the table. “I’m acutely aware of the time-sensitive nature of this case, which is why I was waiting to reprimand them until they had the time to actually process it. They’re young. They get caught up in it, and Salinger is particularly prone to amplifying rejection, so she’ll be unwilling to take risks until we fly home for fear of inspiring your ire and my disappointment. They fucked up, I know. But I know my team, I know how they need to be handled so we can continue working on this case. You don’t.”

The frustration had drained out of him during your tirade and was replaced with contrition. You were right, and he knew it. You softened your tone, but only a little.

“Aaron, I need you to trust me to handle my team effectively. I don’t need you to step in on my behalf.” Your frustration crawled up into your throat, and you begged your tears not to betray you. Swallowing, you collected yourself and stared him right in the eye. “You undermined my authority today. Please don’t do it again.”

His mouth pressed into a thin, remorseful line. He looked down at the table and took a deep breath. Meeting your eyes again, he said, “I respect and value your leadership and your position. You are, and always will be, the best person to lead your team. I got caught up in my frustration and failed to consider the optics and the specific needs of your agents. I’m sorry.” He rounded the table, crossing to you. “It won’t happen again.” 

There was silence for a moment. Then, Aaron crossed the chasm between colleagues and spouses and reached for your hands, running his thumb over your wedding ring. It was a silent reminder, for both of you. 

Fight nice.

“Thank you.” Sighing, you brought one of your hands to the lapel of his suit jacket, fiddling with it just for something to do as you spoke. “You need to apologize to my agents for overstepping and emphasize that you defer to me on all aspects regarding CARD involvement in the case.” 

“I can do that.” His lips quirked up into the smile you loved, the smile that only you saw. “Forgive me?” 

You heaved a sigh. “I guess so.” He met your eyes and you broke, a little smile threatening at the corners of your mouth. “Let’s get out there and save some kids today, yeah?”

He released your hand and crossed the room, opening the door for you - a wordless agreement, as well as a reiteration of support you so deeply cherished. 

+++

It only took you another hour to locate the unsub - even though he used forensic countermeasures, he wasn’t all that bright. One swipe of his credit card, and Garcia had him in her clutches. 

You raced to his location. Aaron drove the lead car with Derek behind him, and you brought up the rear with the rest of the team. It was more than a little thrilling to drive impossibly fast, sirens wailing, headed to end this man’s reign of terror on Chicago families. 

Throwing the car into park strategically perpendicular to Derek’s SUV, you jumped out of the car and drew your weapon. You took Aaron’s six through the front of the house, a calm settling over you as the pair of you fell right into line. 

Aaron found the unsub in the back bedroom, with a knife held to the most recently kidnapped child. You squared up just off Aaron’s left shoulder for a clear line of sight, avoiding his right side. If you had to fire a shot, the last thing you wanted to do was aggravate his bad ear. 

Out of the corner of your eye, Derek lined up a clean shot through the window. He knew to wait for Hotch, who had started to talk the unsub down, before taking any action. 

Your heart swelled with both pride and affection as Aaron successfully and handily de-escalated the situation and made the arrest himself. He passed the unsub off to the local officers, and you both continued searching the house for the missing children. 

JJ found them first, unharmed and terrified, in a hidden shed out back. She deferred to you, and you called your team over to perform a quick trauma eval on each of the children. 

Knowles and Salinger, still twitchy from their earlier run-in with Aaron, settled down once they were able to perform their designated duties with their colleagues. 

When they were finished, Aaron pulled them aside and spoke quietly with them for a moment. Salinger’s mouth twisted into a little smile, and Knowles took a deep breath. Every once in a while, one of them looked over at you as Aaron spoke. 

After a final set of smiles and nods, they exchanged handshakes. Aaron looked significantly lighter as he approached you as you leaned on the SUV. With your sunglasses on, you looked decidedly and federally important. 

Aaron settled in beside you, slipping his sunglasses over his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest. You bumped his shoulder, and kept your voice low. “It was nice to work together, again.”

A ghost of a smile crossed his face, but it was one only you (and maybe Dave) would notice. You could carry on entire conversations without physically acknowledging each other just as well as you could communicate without words at all. Aaron stayed focused on something in the middle distance as he replied. “It was.”

“It’s nice to know you’re still good at your job without me.” You bit back a smile as your eyes tracked your team, wrapping everything up. 

You could almost hear his eye roll. “Glad to hear my performance is consistent and up to your standards.” 

“Your performance is always consistent and up to my standards.” 

The double meaning was not lost on him, according to the dimple that pressed into his left cheek. 

After a moment of silence, the humor dropped from your tone. “Sorry I got mad at you.” 

He huffed a laugh through his nose, his face unchanged. “I deserved it.” 

“You did,” you agreed, “but I forgot how much I dislike getting upset with you in the field.” 

“As opposed to getting upset with me at home?” 

“Exactly.” 

+++

Knowles and Salinger placed a bet on something while you were all in the car, but you weren’t sure what it was. You shook your head at their antics, feeling very much like a parent all of a sudden. 

When you all landed in the hotel lobby, BAU and CARD combined, Hotch checked his watch and said, “We’re all taking the jet back together. Adjust accordingly. Wheels up in thirty.” 

With a smug grin, Salinger collected her cash from Knowles. 

You exchanged a glance with Hotch, one full of long-suffering understanding, and shook your head. 

+++

To save on space, it only seemed reasonable to cozy up to Hotch on the flight home. The three extra bodies meant that almost every seat was full, and sleeping in a ball was the only option. 

Your head rested in Hotch’s lap, pillowed on his suit jacket, while the rest of you curled up on the seat beside him. A case file rested lightly on the side of your head as Aaron reviewed it, flipping pages every once and awhile.

Your phone rang, and Hotch pulled it out of your pocket before you could reach around for it. 

“Hotchner….Hey buddy...Yeah we’ll be home really soon. We’re on the plane right now…” He checked his watch. “It’ll be past your bedtime when we get home, so we’ll come in and say goodnight to you really quick, okay?...Alright. See you soon. I love you.” 

He hung up and tossed the phone on the seat, reclining and stretching his long legs out in front of him. You tapped his knee. “How’s the kid?”

He chuckled. “Good. Apparently there’s mac ‘n cheese for dinner. It’s very exciting.” 

You hummed contentedly, bringing your arm up to rest on his knee as you endeavored to get a little more comfortable. 

Aaron’s hand landed on your shoulder, and he squeezed once. “Missed you.”

You covered his hand with yours. “Missed you, too.”

+++

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(if y’all have been up in my masterlist recently, i added you to the tags. i also love you. pls let me know if you want to hop off the tag list anytime - i promise you wont hurt my feelings!) also some tags aren’t working - make sure you’re able to be tagged in posts in your settings!

[atsunflower]

Rated: SFW

Author notes: fucking finally, I'd say. Sorry it took me so long to post it after I decided to revamp this series. Here goes my belated 300 special med student!Kuroo. Please note that this is written based on the med school model we have here, in wich we get the MD degree right away, without the pre-med division they have in USA.

PS: DAI¹ stands for diffuse axonal injury, a type of brain damage caused by violent shakes (acceleration/deceleration/shaken baby syndrome) of the head. No worries, banging your head against a hard surface isn't supposed to give you it. If you get confused by any medical terms, pls hmu!!

Warnings: me trying to be funny. Cursing (reader swears like a sailor here).

I – Lehninger principles of biochemistry

Previous || Next

Your head was throbbing. The professor's voice dragging through your ears made the discomfort you felt even bigger.

The first class of the day have barely started and you were already regretting leaving your bed.

You let out a shuddering breath while your fingers found their way to your temples. You massaged the area, trying to ease the headache.

"You look like shit" the voice came from your right. Shirabu gave you a sideways glance before going back to his notes. "Let me guess, your neighbor again?"

"Yeah, the bastard was up all the night. I still can hear his bed pounding into the wall and the girl trying to muffle her voice" You groaned.

"Ew. Gross" The blonde's face contorted in a grimace "Am I the only one weirded by the fact you never saw the guy?" He asked frowning.

"Hell, no. But I don't think I wanna meet him anytime soon." Your reply was earn; you wouldn't know how to react if you ever saw the said man. "Besides, the guy has this strange schedule. He leaves early in the morning and comes back late at night, it's kinda weird"

"Weird is the way you know him so well and never saw him before" You ignored your him and turned your attention back to the professor. Twenty minutes into the lecture, the door was open and a raven hair peaked from it, sitting on the desk available in the front row.

You mood automatically got worse just by the sight.

"You're staring" Shirabu's uninterested voice ringed in your ears again "Why don't you admit you have a thing for him already? It would make our lives a thousand times easier"

"I just dislike him. I can't stand that dumbass" You retorted grimacing while scribbling down in your notebook. God, you hated biochemistry.

"Yeah, keep repeating that and someday you'll believe it."

"Why you all keep saying it?" You winced at the high pitch of your whisper "The guy ain't special. He is an asshole, honestly"

"Deep down you only say it because he told you were 'just okay' in our first week of freshmen year" The male gave you a pointed look. "I know it's you just being petty, but it's pretty obvious you have a crush on him"

"Hell no, I'd rather have the whole Lehninger shoved down my throat" Your classmate scoffed by your side, resuming to his notes.

"By the looks Haruno-sensei is sending in our direction, it's going to happen anytime soon."

"For this term, you'll send me an essay about peptides with especial focus on physiologically active ones and their major role on human organism." The professor said, sending a stern glare though the class. "Pay attention to the next slide. It contains a table with the pairs I've assigned for this paper"

What the hecking heck?

Your mind went blank but you still heard Shirabu snickering by your peripheral. For such a stoic man, he was pretty out of character today. That little shit.

"Beware the addressed pairs won't be changed in any circumstances. Don't even bother to try" The woman said as she addressed the whole class a cold glare. Goddammit med school and its goddam professors. "You now can discuss this paper. Remember this essay is worth half the grade"

"Fuck" you cursed as your forehead banged onto the thick textbook.

"Whoa, be careful" The teasing voice made you painfully groan "We don't want this pretty brain of yours getting a DAI¹ before we start this paper"

"It's too early in the morning to deal with you, Kuroo" Your retorted came muffled as you pressed your face even flatter into the book. 

"It's too early in the morning for you be ranting about everything but you don't hear me complaining, kitten" He jabbed at you, laughing it off as mere teasing "Is it fine if we start the paper on this weekend? I gotta volley practice the whole week."

"Sure. Wanna meet up on the public library?" You asked gathering your things, as you turned to Shirabu and saw him cocking an eyebrow at you.

"Fine by me" The male scratched the back of his neck, giving you an awkward glance "Actually, I wanted to ask you phone number" You stiffened "Aw [Surname]-chan, C'mon! You know it's easier."

"But what for? You already have my institutional email"

"You're too formal for your own good, woman" He handed you his phone, nudging the device into your palms "Where do you think this strict act is going to take you?"

You rolled your eyes at him again.

"Actually, Kuroo-san" You made a pause, voicing the words with candour "I want chaos and world domination. But in order to do it, I need to overthrow the dean first" You said while punching the numbers onto the chapped screen of his phone. The ravenette snorted at your reply.

"Oh shit, you're so weird!" And he left out a hyena laugh.

"Way to impress a girl, huh" 

"Only the ones I'm trynna woo" The male smirked when he saw your dumbfounded face.

"Huh? Big words coming from a nerd" You brushed off his provocation. You knew he didn't mean it, but you couldn't prevent your heart to skip a beat.

"Oi, [Name]! What do you mean?"

Surprisingly, the week went smoothly. No Kuroo incidents nor professors bitching over the struggling students.

It was saturday and you were more than ready to spend a whole day inside the library with the ravenette.

Sarcasm? Check.

It wasn't like you hated him. If you were to be honest, it was the other way around — but you would never give Shirabu the taste of being right.

Kuroo just had a special way of getting under your skin. He knew what buttons to push and how to make feel flustered.

You were indeed whipped for him in your first year, but he was an asshole back then — It was kinda comprehensible though: being new to the infamous uni life, freshmen were always seeking acceptance from other people.

Kouhai trying to impress their senpai.

Jocks trying to make a number on the female population.

You trying to grab the attention of that hot guy from welcome ceremony — yes, the one who ended to be the bane of your campus existence.

Yada yada.

But when Kuroo turned you down — without you confessing first, you may add —, your pride was incredibly hurt. You then declared war. Best way to rile up a med student? Make your grades better than theirs.

But of fucking course Kuroo wasn't your regular med student. The competition only provoked meaningless banter — and it annoyed you even more because you couldn't get into his nerves the same way he did to you.

"Oi, [Surname]! You good there?"

"Yeah, yeah, get back to the damn peptides" You definitely despised biochemistry.

You rummaged through the books sprawled over the desk, searching for your Lehninger copy.

"Where the fuck that huge ass book went to?" You murmured, getting ready to go check on your backpack.

Glancing towards your classmate's direction, you spotted it under one of the textbooks he was using, but before you could reach for it, you felt hands gingerly wrapping around your chin, making your eyes lock into his stare.

"What are you doing?" You knew the warmth in your cheeks wasn't being provided by his body temperature.

"Conducting an experiment" He said as you melted under his attentive stare.

"Huh?"

"You know, they say exchanging looks causes an increase on Oxytocin synthesis in hypothalamus" The male smirked when a vein popped on your head, your brain recalled that science paper about the physiology on human and dog interactions. You wanted chaos and world domination — but in order to make it, you had to kill Kuroo first.

"Are you fucking calling me a dog?" You squinted at him, ready to fight. He laughed as your slapped his hands off of your face.

"Oh, come on, it was just a joke. You know the hormone of love doesn't work this way." His hyena laugh made presence as the bibliothecary gave you two a dejected stare.

Just a joke, huh?

For a med student, Kuroo Tetsuro would make a shitty doctor if he didn't know how bad his smile was for your heart.

General taglist: @ohmythatmiya @imomomi @neonghxst @differentballooncollection @raenebalgaire

Taglist is open. Send an ask if you want to be added.

[autumnsart22]

Oikawa x reader ch. 13

Sorry for the late update, but it’s still Sunday so I’m good lol. Hope you enjoy!

As I wandered out of the club, I ignored all of the drunken yells and shouts calling me back to the dancefloor. I kept my eyes forward, barely even able to see straight as I walked with single minded determination towards the exit. I needed to get out of this club. 

Right as I reached the door, the dark haired girl from before appeared right in front of me, a sultry look on her face. 

“Hey, you’re leaving already?” She wrapped her arms around me, and it took all the strength in my body to not shove her as hard as I could. 

Go back to that dumb bitch you were with before if you want to feel better about yourself!

I clenched my jaw, but effortlessly pulled her hands from around my neck, walking away without a word. 

When I finally got to my car I sat in numb silence, unable to make myself move. I couldn’t stop seeing the shocked and hurt expression on Y/n’s face right before she walked away from me, telling me she wanted me out of her life forever. I hadn’t meant what I said, not even a little bit. I wanted to tell her that, to chase after her and call her a million times until I got the chance to explain.

I pulled out my phone, dialing her number before I could think, but it went straight to voicemail. 

“Hi, this is Y/n! Sorry I can’t answer the phone right now, but I’ll call you back as soon as I can…” 

My chest ached. Taking a few deep, heaving breaths, I rested my forehead against the steering wheel, trying to relax. It would be fine; I would just call her again tomorrow and explain. Everything would go back to normal. 

There was a loud tapping on my window, and I jolted. Iwaizumi stood outside, gesturing for me to open the door. 

“Get into the passenger seat, Shittykawa,” Iwa snapped, and I decided not to argue, silently moving to the other end of the car. Iwaizumi took my place on the drivers side, starting the car and putting it into reverse. 

We drove in silence for a long while, neither of us sure of what to say. 

I was the one who ended up speaking first. “She’s never going to forgive me, Iwa.” 

My best friend shot a glare at me, looking annoyed. “Don’t be stupid.” 

“You don’t understand. The things I said…” 

“Oikawa, neither of you handled the situation well at all, ok? That doesn't mean you won’t forgive each other.”

“What do I do?”

He sighed, leaning back. “I have no idea. That’s up to you to decide. For right now, I’d give it a little bit of time for you both to get some space, and then figure out a way to show that you’re sorry.” 

Space? Time? I didn’t want either of those things. But I knew that Iwaizumi was right in that regard. Both of us needed to cool off, even though I didn’t want to admit it. 

Iwaizumi pulled up in front of my house, face hard even though I could see the glimmer of concern in his eyes. “You going to be ok?”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah, I’ll try.” 

✨✨✨✨

Y/n POV: 

It had been one full week since the horrible night at the club, and I hadn’t spoken to Oikawa once. The Sunday after the party, I cried every hour, and I ended up emailing coach Nobuteru asking for a few days off like a coward. I must have sounded pretty pathetic, because he ended up giving me the whole week. 

Avoiding practice didn’t mean I could avoid Oikawa all together, even though Seijoh was pretty big. In fact, I felt like I saw him everywhere throughout the school day. I began to keep my eyes peeled for his familiar tall figure and fluffy hair, turning around whenever I spotted him. It caused me to be late to a few classes, but it was better than the awkward interaction and the pain that would have ensued otherwise. 

What hurt the most was the fact that he didn’t seem that upset. Whenever I saw him, he was usually surrounded by people (mostly girls) talking and laughing like there was nothing wrong. Maybe to him, there wasn’t. Did I really matter that little to him? 

He also made no attempts to contact me or talk at all. I had received one call at 2am on the night of the party, but after that, contact went dead. 

My only form of communication was Iwa, and we both had made a silent pact to not mention HIM. Instead, we spent a few afternoons taking walks, going out to lunch, or eating snacks in his car while listening to angry rap. I was happy that I got to be with Iwaizumi without Oikawa as a constant distraction for once. I felt like we got closer because of it, and it became easy to talk to him about how I was feeling (excluding any mention of HIM). In return, he told me more about his mom, and eventually wanted me to meet her. We ended up visiting her in the hospital after school one day, and I held Iwa’s hand the whole time. She was in a deep sleep, but Iwaizumi told her about his day, and I introduced myself. As we left, I promised that I would take care of her son. 

Seeing Iwa’s mom made me realize how ridiculous the fight with Oikawa was, and how pitiful I was being. I refused to be the girl ruining her life over a boy. 

I couldn’t stop my chest from hurting though. 

Not working as Aoba Josiah's manager freed up a lot of my free time, and I ended up going to most of Karasuno’s practices after school. Being with the team lifted my spirits, especially when I noticed Hinata and Kageyama holding hands. 

They had noticeably improved, better than I had ever seen them. They worked as a coherent team, picking up each other's slack when one of the team members fell short, to the point where I was blown away. I wished I could be wholeheartedly happy for them, but all I could think about was how Aoba Johsai would have to face Karasuno in the finals. When had I become so loyal to Seijoh? 

Oikawa POV: 

The week after the party was hell.

The first day back at school I had a plan to corner Y/n after practice, but she ended up not showing. When I questioned Iwaizumi about it, he told me that she had decided not to come for the rest of the week, but if I wanted a reason, I would have to talk to her myself. I tried pressing him for more, but he was like a concrete (iron) wall. I clearly wasn’t going to get any help from him. 

After that, I looked for her everywhere in the halls, hoping to get a moment alone to talk. I spotted flashes of her a few times, but she always seemed to be moving away from me and I was always with people, so I couldn’t run after her. I considered calling her a few times, but chickened out, not sure if I would be able to handle her declining my calls. Iwaizumi had said to give her space anyway, so maybe I should wait. 

But I couldn’t get the image of her tear stained face out of my head though. Every moment, even as I faked smiles and laughs, my chest physically ached. I felt like I was being torn up inside, watching her slide farther away. 

On Friday after school, I headed to the office to get some permission slips signed for an away practice game coming up. My headphones blasted the 1975 into my ears, drowning out anyone trying to talk to me as I strode down the hall. A few girls stepped in my way, but I gave them apologetic smiles and kept moving. I was already late for practice, and I knew coach Nobuteru was going to make me run extra laps as punishment. 

I stepped into the cool office, breathing in the smell of copy paper and air freshener. My entire body froze as I spotted Y/n standing by the front desk, speaking to the woman behind the counter. 

As I approached, the woman paused in her conversation with Y/n. “Oikawa-san, it’s wonderful to see you!” I watched Y/n visibly stiffen, turning slowly to face me. I watched her face twist with some emotion I couldn’t name when she saw me, and I attempted a bright smile. 

“You as well, Ms. Suzuki. I was just here to get these papers signed.” I held them out, and the registrar smiled. 

“Of course,” she said, before turning back to Y/n. “I’ll get those copies you wanted if you just wait here a moment.”

Y/n gave a strained smile, pulling out her phone as the woman disappeared into the back office. I noticed her fingers trembling slightly as she scrolled through instagram. 

WhatdoIsaywhatdoIsaywhatdoIsay…

“Why haven’t you been at practice?” I blurted, my voice coming out all wrong. I sounded like I didn’t care. 

She swallowed twice, not looking at me. “I needed some more time to focus on my homework.” 

Liar, she was such a dirty liar. She had never struggled with homework before, and she was one of smartest people I knew. 

“You--” 

Ms. Suzuki emerged from the back office, smiling brightly as she handed Y/n and I back our papers. The second my manager got her hands on the copies, she turned and practically sprinted from the office. 

“Y/n wait--!” 

The door slammed and she was gone. 

      ✨✨✨✨

Y/n POV:

I sat on my bed, trying to finish the math packet I had gotten in class today. The work wasn’t very hard, it just took a long time, and my brain felt dead. 

I was also majorly distracted. I couldn’t stop replaying the encounter with Oikawa over in my head, the horrible awkwardness and the sickening feeling when he smiled at me like everything was normal. I felt like a coward, unable to face him. I was sure he thought I was deranged after I had quite literally sprinted from the building. 

My pencil broke on the page, and I cursed, throwing the useless thing aside in frustration. As I reached for another on my bedside table, I heard a knock from downstairs on the front door. My mom was out at a business conference in Osaka, and my father was in his office working, so he wouldn’t be able to get the door. 

I groaned rolling to my feet. Who the hell would be knocking at this hour? 

I padded down the stairs, rubbing my eyes and stretching as I walked to the door. When I opened it, I felt my stomach explode and fly right out of my mouth as I blinked up at Oikawa standing on my porch. 

“Hey,” he shifted awkwardly, looking a little shy. He wore adidas pants and a regular white t-shirt, a black beanie covering his hair, and I was suddenly overly aware of my disgusting yellow pajama shirt and pink shorts I wore. 

I didn’t respond, my brain unable to catch up. 

He cleared his throat and stepped towards me, eyes on my face. “Y/n… I came here to apologize.” 

I let out a slow breath. “W-why?” I could feel tears already coming, but I clenched my fists. No crying. 

“Why what?” 

“Why are you here to apologize? I thought you didn’t care, and wanted nothing to do with me.” 

Oikawa’s eyebrows scrunched together. “You keep saying that...why do you think I don’t care about you? I do, a lot.” 

My hands were shaking. “I--” 

He stepped closer, towering over me, and I had to lean my head back to see his face. “Y/n, I wish I could take back what I said. I didn’t mean it, and I never want to make you sad again.” 

“It was my fault though. I shouldn’t have…” I trailed off, unable to look at him. 

“You-you had no obligation not to kiss Ushiwaka.” His jaw clenched but he continued. “I overreacted and blamed you. Please accept my apology? I don’t want to lose you.” 

My lower lip trembled. “You’re so…” I sniffled and looked away. “You don’t need to apologize. We both reacted badly.”

“But you’ll forgive me? I can’t take not having you around. This week has been hell.” 

I blinked, my face growing hot. “But I thought...” 

“What? That I didn’t care about our fight?” 

“I-I mean, you didn’t look that upset…” 

Oikawa let out a frustrated breath. “You don’t know anything.” “Then tell me.” 

His eyes were dark, his breath washing across my face as he leaned towards me. “I missed having you around, Chibi-chan, so much I could barely breathe. I don’t ever want to be the one to make you cry again, ok? I do care about you. Don’t forget it.”

I let out a half sob, half laugh, and my head fell forward to hit his chest. “Ok,” I whispered. “I’m sorry for walking away from you, and for kissing that dibshit. I didn’t mean for it to hurt you.” 

I gasped in surprise when he crushed me in a hug, his face buried in my neck. “I forgive you,” he murmured in my ear, and I relaxed, breathing in his familiar smell. 

After a long moment, he pulled away and I shuffled awkwardly. “Um, do you want to come in?” 

He grinned and shrugged. “Sure.”

He trailed behind me, kicking off his shoes and following me up the stairs to my bedroom. I flicked on the light, suddenly feeling extremely self conscious. My room was pretty simple, but it suddenly felt way too childish. I bit my lip, blushing furiously, but Oikawa looked delighted. 

“Is this you as a baby?” He grinned down at a picture of me dressed in a pumpkin costume when I was two. “You were so cute!” 

I smiled shyly, pulling him away and flopping on my bed. It was big enough to fit both of us shoulder to shoulder, and I opened my computer and pulled up Netflix. “Do you wanna watch something?” 

He nodded, scrolling through the list of movies available. “Horror?” He grinned wickedly. 

I rolled my eyes. “You hate horror movies, and so do I!” 

He shrugged. “So? Let’s just give it a try.” 

We ended up starting to watch the Grudge, which was about a cursed house and a ghost haunting and murdering everyone who entered said house. 

It was not the right decision. Oikawa hid his face for most of the movie and screamed like a child at the jump scares, and I was so freaked out I clutched his arm in a death grip, so hard he probably lost circulation. 

We stopped halfway, unable to continue, and Oikawa whined that he was too scared to go home alone now. I laughed, not arguing, because I didn’t want him to leave either. 

“I have ice cream downstairs, so I’m going to go grab it,” I said, rolling off the bed and heading to the door. The second I saw the dark, creepy hall, I insisted Oikawa come with me. Especially since it was his fault we had watched the movie in the first place. 

We held onto each other's arms as we slowly crept down the stairs, listening for any sign of ghosts or serial killers. I almost had a heart attack when my cat crept past us, which made Oikawa laugh his head off. 

In the kitchen, I snatched two spoons and sat on the floor, leaning my back up against the cupboard. Oikawa sat next to me, his long legs stretching way farther than mine. The ice cream tub was massive, easily shared between two people, and we munched on it in comfortable silence. I thought it was weird that I could be so happy sitting on the kitchen floor eating ice cream at 3am with Oikawa, more happy than I was during most other exciting moments. How did he do this to me?

“I’m glad you’re here, Tooru.” I turned to look at him, watching his face redden. Did he not want me using his first name? Shit, maybe I’d gone too far…

He cleared his throat before staring at me earnestly. “Me too.” 

I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. 

Chapter 12

Chapter 14

[enmstorytime]

The Vulnerable Writer: Chapter 3

I stood at the front of the classroom the next afternoon, looking out over the men, who were definitely more attentive than they had been before. I assumed that Cody and Seth had spread the word about seeing me naked, and maybe they had shared a few more details too. 

I gulped as I thought about the decisions I had made this morning:

I had emailed Cody to start with my pants, because I wanted my students to know that I meant business. When I got out of the shower, I pulled on a tight jockstrap, because I wanted to further stress the fact that I meant business. I told myself that I would only wear a jockstrap this first day, then I would wear more modest underwear to class, but I wondered now if they would allow me to cover up anything that I revealed. I doubted it. And standing in front of them, with all of their expectant faces, I wondered if I broke whatever rules they thought existed, it might encourage them to break the rules and just steal all my clothes during the next class.

"Professor," one of the men on the back row said, cutting into my thoughts. "I heard that Cody did a great job of being vulnerable in his last essay."

He paused, and the meaning was clear. I had a debt that I had promised to pay, and the time to start undressing had come. I had debated whether I would start or end each class with the undressing, but it seemed like my students had made that decision for me, because all eyes were trained on my body, waiting.

"You're right," I said, swallowing, trying to prepare myself. "But I need to set some clear rules for how this reward system is going to work."

The class grumbled, and I knew that they could tell I was stalling. Still, I needed to set the firm rules now, while I had all of their attention.

"There is one of me, and there are twenty of you," I said, having done the math, and understanding that if nine students did what I asked before the next class, I would be completely naked, and that counted each sock, each shoe, my tie, my undershirt, and my suit jacket, as their own article of clothing. "My goal as a teacher is to motivate every single one of you, so I need to add one rule."

I could see a few students in the back shake their heads, and I knew that they had done the same math, and they were planning to sit back and watch as their classmates took away my clothes.

"Every student who writes a vulnerable essay for this next assignment will get to take an article of my clothing," I said. "However, my underwear is off limits until I get a vulnerable essay from every single student in this classroom."

My students grumbled.

"Professor," Cody asked from the front row, leaning forward. "Does that mean that we all have to be vulnerable on the same essay, or is it more of a cumulative thing? Since I've already turned in a vulnerable essay, do I have to turn in another one for the class to get your underwear?"

"Obviously, I want you all to keep writing vulnerably," I said. "But I also understand that college students are busy and there are going to be times for everyone in this classroom where you have other priorities, so I'm going to make it cumulative."

The class cheered, but Seth had raised his hand.

"Professor?" Seth asked. "What happens when you're just in your underwear, and someone writes a vulnerable essay. What reward will they get?"

"The goal is to keep you motivated," I said, gulping again about promising the reward I had thought of the previous night. "So, if you've taken an article of clothing already, or if I'm down to my underwear, but the underwear isn't gone yet, I have two possible rewards. The first one is that at the beginning of class, you can come to the front of the class, and look down the front of my underwear. It'll stay on, but you can get a sneak peak to help encourage your classmates. Or, your other option is you can schedule a five minute conference in my office, where I will meet you sans-clothing."

The class cheered again. However, Cody had raised his hand again.

"I have one last question," Cody said. "I know that last time you said that we would get to take each article of clothing off of you, but how will that work with your underwear, since we won't get to take that until we've all written a vulnerable essay?"

"I think that should be a community activity," Seth said, smirking at me. "We should all get to work together to tear your underwear off. That way we all get a souvenir."

The class cheered at Seth's suggestion, and I felt my cock stiffen in my jockstrap, the tip pushing its way out from the waistband. The idea of having twenty men circling me, fully clothed, tearing away my final piece of clothing and leaving me stark naked in front of them excited me more than I wanted to admit. I needed to get myself to calm down before Cody claimed his reward.

"Are you done stalling?" Cody asked, already starting to stand. 

"There's one more rule," I said, and the class groaned. "I'm agreeing to get naked for you, but I am still your teacher. You will not take pictures of me without my permission and you will not touch me without my permission. Understood?"

"Is there a way to get you permission?" A student asked from the back row and the class laughed.

"There might be," I said, angry that my penis was still very inflated at the idea of giving more students the chance to touch my body.

"Great," Cody said, lunging toward me before I could find another way to stall the inevitable.

The class fell silent as Cody unbuttoned my slacks, and then his fingers brushed over my crotch as he fiddled with my zipper.

"Feels like someone's excited," Cody exclaimed as his fingers pressed against my crotch, the zipper sliding down.

The class catcalled and cheered, as Cody grabbed the waistband of my slacks with one hand and used his other hand to push my shirt up to my belly button to make sure the class could see the slow strip-tease.

The tip of my firm cock, still sticking out from the waistband of my jockstrap was the first thing they saw as the slacks inched down, and the class screamed with delight. I flushed, but continued to hold my hands out to my sides to allow the show. I had to keep reminding myself that this would all be worth it, if it meant my students would find enjoyment in their writing.

Slowly my jockstrap grew more and more exposed, the navy clinging tightly to the shaft of my erection. I knew there was little left to the imagination, but I knew that this much exposure would light a desperation for my eventual nudity in most of my students.

Then the air started to lick at my thick thighs, as Cody still slowly slipped the pants down to reveal each thick hairy thigh. I could feel the eyes on my legs and crotch, hungry as more and more skin showed. 

My slacks now slipped past my knees, but Cody was holding on, preventing them from just sliding down to my ankles. He wanted his classmates to get a show, and so did I. He controlled their fall, revealing my veiny runner calves slowly, until finally he let go as the slacks pooled around my ankles. 

For a moment, everything was silent, my students hardly breathing. None of us could really believe that I, as their teacher now stood pantsed, the tip of my very firm penis still in sight, while the rest of my privates were still fairly exposed in what was clearly my skimpiest jockstrap: a navy pouch too small to hold in my full erection.

Then my students cheered once more, and Cody stood next to me, still waiting to claim a second pair of my slacks as his own. 

I had planned the next step too, but I was debating it. I hadn't planned on my students seeing the tip of my penis, but they had, and I wondered if that would be enough. But I decided to follow through with the original plan, and I turned my back on the class, letting them take in my bare ass framed by the elastic of my jockstrap. Then I bent over slowly to pull the slacks off.

My face burned as I felt my ass cheeks separate and my students gasped and cheered as I pulled the slacks over my shoes. I stood once more, turned back to face them, glad that my ass was once again out of sight, and glad that my shit had fallen again to cover the tip of my dick. 

"Let's get started with today's lesson," I said.

I looked at each of their faces, and knew that it would only be a matter of weeks before I was teaching the class butt-naked. 

[lnarizakis]

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧COACHES DON’T PLAY

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER #4: DAILY BULLETIN

HOT OFF THE PRESS ! Thanks for reading our online daily bulletin! Here you can read everything that has happened this past week, along with anything going on today. Not what you're looking for? Please view the masterlist [here]!

EXTRA ! miya osamu x fem! reader. 1k+ words. original characters.

“So. Ya got the girl.”

Osamu, being the one who claimed the top bunk for the night, stared up at the ceiling, his hands clasped behind his head. He hummed, nodding, even though Atsumu couldn’t see him.

“Yeah, I did. I dunno, man.” Atsumu, in the lower bunk, turned to his side and stared at the wall, listening to his brother who sounded like he was about to recite his entire life story leading up to this moment.

“Ya don’t seem happy about it, dude,” Atsumu said, interrupting his twin before he could continue any further. “Is she just some prize to you?”

If Osamu was feeling gaseous at the moment, he would have farted on his brother through the small gap between the bunk bed and the wall because of the extremely false statement Atsumu accused him.

“Hell no, 'Tsumu. I genuinely like her. It’s just that, lately, ever since I confessed to her, she’s just been up my ass over the little details about everything. Ya get me?” Osamu turned to his side as well, staring out at their empty, dark bedroom. He sighed.

“For real? She doesn’t strike me as that typa person.”

“Well, neither did I,” Osamu replied, closing his eyes. “I think I’m gonna sleep now. G’night, I guess.”

“Y’know, ’Samu, you should write a letter ’bout it to (Y/N). It’ll make for a hella good follow-up letter for next month’s issue,” Atsumu added, before drifting off to sleep as well.

The next morning, when Osamu arrived at school with his brother by his side, Asai met him by the shoe lockers. She walked up to him, an infuriated expression for some odd reason, and her hands were comically placed on her hips. Asai placed a single finger on his chest as she stared up at him with a fiery glint in her eye. Passersby stared at the two of them, amused at the scene. Osamu grew a little flustered (or, perhaps, it was embarrassment or fear) under her gaze.

“You were s’posed to walk me to school today. Didn’t we agree on this?” Asai asked him. It almost sounded like she was scolding him, and Osamu accepted the slander like a punishment.

“We did, but I couldn’t tell if you were talkin’ about today or tomorrow,” Osamu said as calmly as he could manage without wanting to lash out at her as equally as she had with him. “It’s ’cause you were goin’ on about somethin’ else while we were planning. And, I dunno, I guess I just didn’t ask for clarification.”

Atsumu, still by Osamu’s side, muttered loud enough for his twin to hear, “Sounds like you’re the one at fault, bro.”

Osamu rolled his eyes, knowing damn well that if it weren’t for Asai planting fear in him, there would be better communication between the two of them. Yes, that’s right: Osamu grew to become scared of his girlfriend. And he just might take that advice Atsumu gave him last night.

“What did you roll your eyes at, me?” Not only was Osamu’s girlfriend a stickler for the little things, Asai was also quick to assume things, which definitely didn’t sit right with Osamu. He had to exhale out as slowly and as calmly as possible in order, once again, to restrain himself from lashing out at Asai.

“No, my love.” The pet name rolled off his tongue as sweetly as honey and as staged as a musical performance. There was no way he was going to make himself the center of attention again—and for the same reason, too. “I was rollin’ my eyes at Atsumu over there,” he motioned to Atsumu, changing his shoes by his shoe locker, “‘cause he made some dumb comment.”

Asai backed down from her aggressive stance, crossing her arms and releasing her fixed gaze from Osamu. She looked away, then uncrossed her arms as she took hold of her boyfriend’s hand.

“C’mon, love. School’s about to start soon.” She pulled him to his shoe locker—he hadn’t even changed his shoes yet. Once he had done so, the two made their way to the second years’ hallway where she would show the entire world who she belonged to—or perhaps who belonged to her.

✫’ﾟ･:*:･˙

Several days later, on a hot afternoon after school, (Y/N) sat in the newspaper club room, with the air conditioner on to the max. Her blouse was un-tucked out of her skirt, and she could feel a layer of sweat dousing her forehead. Nothing in the hot air could match the burning feeling she was getting in her chest as she read the email on her computer screen.

She didn’t have to write a response for this, right? There’s got to be some other letter she could answer. Of all the letters she could have read, why did her fellow club members choose this email for her to draft a response? One of her legs bounced from the anxious feeling rising and bubbling in her stomach. (Y/N) was extremely nervous about how writing a response for this letter could incite a deal of damage to her reputation as someone who not only makes relationships, but also ruins them.

Staring at the anonymous letter in front of her, and as she picked apart each word of it, (Y/N) knew that this letter was far from anonymous as the email made itself out to be. It was, without a doubt, from Miya Osamu.

Just one problem: how was her editor going to feel about this?

Dear Dating-san,

I’m going anonymous because I don’t want my girlfriend to find out I’m writing a letter to you. Before my brother sent a letter to you I didn’t know much about her even though I liked her a lot.

Now that I’m dating her, I didn’t realize how much of a toxic person she was and I want to find some way to break up with her and I don’t know how. Even my brother says I’m still really distracted because of this. What should I do?

Thank you,

Anonymous.

taglist: send an ask to be added ! [ @lcaita​ @reogou​ @alienvarmint​ @annalyn-annalyn​ @kunimwuah​ @akaarin​ @wansseul​ @anime-simp​ @dorkyama​ @keiyoomi​ @studywoo​ ]

[jinmukangwrites]

Bruised (1/?)

For @batboycentral <3

Whumptober day 10

Internal Bleeding

Ao3

Warnings: blood, nosebleeds, illness

-o-o-o-o-

The first time he noticed it, he didn't actually notice  it. Like, bruises were common in Tim's line of work. Sometimes, he'd wake up in the morning with enough purple splotches to almost look like he was trying out Cheetah cosplay.  Not  remembering where a bruise came from was just as frequent. When you went out close to every night to fight common street crime you're going to get hit very often. So often, that really, it would be impossible to remember where you've gotten every single bruise, cut, and ache. 

Tim waking up this morning to see his legs had large, dark bruises polka-dotting his pale skin was nothing out of the ordinary. 

He just looked at them, shrugged and wondered if he got that bruise sparring with Kon or if it was from stumbling on one of his lands last night while swinging roof to roof. 

Then he continued with the rest of his day, not even thinking about them. They were just bruises, what was the point of wasting brain power thinking about them? 

The second time he noticed it, he still didn't actually connect the dots. The only difference this time was that there were bruises on his arms as well. 

"That looks painful," Bart pointed out, literally and figuratively as Tim made himself breakfast that morning. He had to practically dance out of the way from having the bruise on the outside of his bicep poked. 

"It's just a bruise," Tim said, retreating from the Tower's kitchen counter with a bowl of cereal clutched in his hands. "People get them all the time."

Bart hummed and followed Tim to the table with a spark in his eyes that Tim didn't like. He'd have dodging practice early today, he guessed. 

Bart sat down next to Tim, kicking his legs under the table. "I don't get bruises like that. It's big"

"Because you're superhuman with a heightened healing factor," Tim deadpanned before stuffing his mouth full of captain crunch. 

"Oh yeah, I forget that sometimes."

“How do you just forget you have superpowers?!”

The third time he noticed it was when he actually began to wonder about it. For the past three days, he'd been  covered  in bruises. On his sides, limbs, even a persistent one on his cheek. And yes, he was used to being covered in bruises, but the bruises were starting to look strange, covered with little red dots that gave him the impression of acne hanging out right below the layers of his skin on his legs and arms. And it felt like he was getting bruised for  every  little thing. Cassie playfully punched his arm a little while earlier and he soon found himself scowling in the mirror, poking the dark stain of skin. Cassie punched hard, sure, but she knew her strength. Even when she was roughhousing, she knew how to make it so no one got hurt. 

And then, there was the fact that he woke up this time with bruises once again, but he hadn't gone out the night before. He stayed in to hack into the mainframes of various potentially corrupt companies of Jump City and their neighboring city of San Francisco that they occasionally patrol from time to time. He didn't do  anything  last night to warrant bruises. 

The third time he noticed it, he was more careful with it, because Tim  wasn't  dumb. He wasn't oblivious to his own body. His spleen was missing for crying out loud! That could change things about his health and how he pursued both his everyday life and his  night life. Common illnesses could be deadly. His body just didn't function the way it used to. 

But now, it wasn't just the bruises. It was also the new episodes of lightheadedness and weakness that he just… couldn't explain. He slept. Not a full 8 or even 7 hours of sleep every night but he still  slept  . He ate food. Good food, especially for dinner. Meats, vegetables, the whole shebang. It was impressive, actually, how well everyone at the Teen Titan's Tower ate, especially for being a bunch of, well, teenagers .

He shouldn't be that tired. Standing up shouldn't be a chore like it was beginning to become. 

And the others were noticing as well, which only served to worry Tim more about his own health. 

"Woah, you good?" Kon asked, grabbing Tim by the shoulders as he stumbled up from the couch and almost fell immediately backwards. 

Tim slapped his hands off, even though normally he always welcomed the company of Kon, but he was close to panicking. Something was wrong, and he was afraid to figure out what. "I'm fine," he replied, trying to keep a fearful snap out of his voice. Judging by the way Kon scowled, Tim wasn't to be believed. "I'm just… tired."

"Tired"?" Bart asked, zipping up from the couch and ending up right in front of Tim in the blink of an eye. Bart was scowling, looking up at Tim with narrowed eyes. "Tim Drake? Tired? I don't believe it."

"No, Tim's always tired," Cassie put in, her voice carefully level to the point Tim almost winced. "Tim admitting to being tired? Feels almost like sacrilege."

Bart nodded, like that was what he was thinking the entire time and Tim had to swallow down a deep sigh. He sniffed and stepped away from the others, folding his arms across his chest. "I think I'm just coming down with something." Oh no, Kon's frowning. Tim quickly continued, sniffing again.  Maybe. It's not a big deal. I'm just a little more tired than usual-" Tim sniffs once more as something wet begins to slide down the inside of his nostrils. Great. A runny nose? He reached the back of his hand up to his nose and wiped. "And feeling a little weak. But that's it. Just…"

All three of them were staring at him oddly now. He frowned.

"What?"

"Tim…" Cassie started, "your nose is bleeding."

"What?!"

Tim looked down at the hand he had used to wipe under his nose, and to his shock he saw a thin streak of red trailing down over his thumb joint, parallel to his pointer finger. Right next to one of his strange bruises.

He reached up to his nose, wiping once more. His eyes widened when his hand came away with more blood. He sniffed again, only this time he brought his hand back up to his nose and kept it there. "I'm gonna...  um…" 

"Go," Kon said, "we'll talk after."

Tim nodded, knowing there was no way his friends would let him off the hook now that he admitted to not feeling the greatest. He quickly rushed past them—sniffing and sorely hoping no blood would drop down onto his shirt and stain it—and eventually found himself inside one of the many bathrooms built into the Tower. Using his free hand, he grabbed a tissue and painstakingly folded it up a few times. He leaned over the sink as he finally let the hand cupping his nose fall away, and instantaneously a few drops fell into the sinks porcelain. He swiftly pressed the tissue over his nose and turned on the water to wash his now blood streaked hand. The water ran crimson to pink and back to clear. He turned off the water and carefully closed the toilet seat lid to sit down on the shaggy purple cover. He kept the napkin pressed tightly over his nose and leaned back against the wall, breathing through his mouth and fighting the dizzy feeling settling in his brain and on his chest. 

He could taste blood in his mouth. He hoped it was because the blood was dripping the wrong way down into his throat and not because of alternate reasons. He could see the dots. He didn't want to connect them. Not yet. He just had to wait for his bleeding nose to stop. Then he could start sorting out the symptoms. 

Unconsciously, he brought his free hand to his side, under his armpit and above his stomach, then ran his fingers over the scar placed there under his cotton tee-shirt. 

Please don't be related. Please oh  please don't be related. 

He exhaled, swallowing blood, and dragged his hand away to pull out his phone. He ignored the Google app and instead began to distract himself by checking the notifications on every other app he owned. Tumblr, Discord, Instagram, all of them. Every so often, he'd pull the napkin away from his nose just to immediately put it back when blood attempted to drip down. Eventually, he ran out of apps to laze through and opened his Email, however he immediately gained a headache when he saw most of them belonged to Wayne Enterprises. 

After quickly changing the napkin for a new one once his fingertips began to feel wet, he opened the Play Store and downloaded the first mindless game he could tap on. 

He was in the middle of figuring out where the sevens could go in his solitaire game when a knock on the door caught his attention. He lowered his phone and turned towards the door. "Yeah?" He yelled, his voice nasally thanks to the tissue still squeezing his nostrils shut. 

"You good?" 

Kon's voice. He sounded concerned. 

"Um, yeah?"

A beat of silence. Then a clearing of a throat. "You're still bleeding?" 

Tim almost hummed, but that would shoot gore out of his nose. So he clicked his tongue instead. "Yeah. A- a little."

More silence. "Do… do noses usually bleed this long?" 

And not for the first time does Tim regret making friends with mostly superheroes who are, in fact, super. With their indestructible skin, healing factors, and amazing feats of strength, it was sometimes hard for them to comprehend how plain old humans with no abilities acted in certain situations. What plain old humans with no abilities needed to keep physically healthy. He loved his friends, no doubt about it, but questions like  do noses bleed for this long  gets his head spinning with the realization that this was his life.

Tim tucked his phone away in his pocket. "Um, depends. Really." 

He should open the door. Talk to Kon face to face. He sounded genuinely hung up on Tim's health. Talking directly with each other should help calm Kon down at least. He put his hand on the counter next to him and used it to lift himself up. 

Once his butt left the toilet seat, he knew he had just made a mistake. The world swirled and his head suddenly began to pound. He wasn't sure if he blinked, or even blacked out, but he did know that one moment he was halfway to sitting and the next he was on the ground with his legs crumbled beneath him, blinking cobwebs from his dizzied brain as the door suddenly slammed open. 

And that was another thing about being a part of both a team and a friend group of supers. They sometimes underestimated how much a plain old human with no abilities could take. Though this time, Tim was pretty sure the worry on Connors face was for good reason. Those poor door hinges though… they’d need replacing...

There was a warm, copper tasting liquid dripping down over his lips and off his chin. During the confusion, his hand holding the napkin had ended up limp by his side, his body having forgotten to hold it over his nose while he blanked out and fell. At the back of his far away head, he knew that the amount of blood dripping from his nose, especially considering how long he's sat here with his fingers pinching it shut, was way more than what should be normal. 

It took a tremendous amount of energy to lift his eyes up to Kon, who at this point had ended up in front of Tim, kneeling with hands lifted and eyes wide. 

"Are you okay?" Kon was asking. His voice teetered the line of hysterics. 

Tim brought his hand up to his face and tried to wipe away the blood to open his mouth, but all he did was smear the liquid over his hands and face. His heart pounded as he leveled his gaze into Kon's eyes. He thought of the bruises, and rash like dots on his arms and legs. He thought of his spleen, of the lack of it. He thought about his compromised immune system. He thought about the dizzy spells. The weakness. He thought about how his nose should have stopped bleeding by now. 

"I think… I think I need a hospital.

-o-o-o-o-

End of chapter one. More will update after whumptober is finished. Please do not ask to be put on a tag list.

[apenapaperandadoofus]

college au (spicy)

Yoosung x MC? 👀

Oop I see you there nonny :0

MM college AU (Yoosung x MC) nsfw-ish wink wonk

Warnings: uhhh lote of fluff and also sum drinking so uh yeah (idk if I should put it as a warning but there ya go anyway, just in case!)

You bitterly congratulated yourself as you looked at the text message you just received from your classmate.

Basically you had overslept, playing games too late at night(or should we say morning? You went to sleep at 4am and your class was at 7!) You didn't hear your alarm and basically missed your first day of class!

To be fair, you had planned on going to sleep at 12, but all of a sudden this bastard stole your loot and you wanted v e n g e a n c e

Sadly you weren't able to find the guy and had to cool off by playing a few rounds of LOLOL and just massacring the enemy team. Still, you swore to get back that amazing item you had just received.

The thing was, the first day of class, your professor had actually given everyone a group project! Yes, he was one of those teachers -_-

Since you hadn't been there you weren't able to group with your friend, and you had gotten paired up with people you didn't really know. You weren't super good at making friends, so you were getting a bit nervous, and you also didn't want to loose the whole percentage of the work, since you did have to get good grades!

A few weeks later, the group (who had already made a group chat a few days after you missed class, there were a total of five people with you included) and you all decided to meet at the coffee shop near the campus to talk about the project. It was due in two days, and you already had most of your part of the work done thankfully! We stan being responsible (a/n says the procastination queen LMFAO SORRY)

When you made it to the coffee shop, you only saw a total of two people there. One of them was a plain looking dude, with brown hair wearing some purple glasses, and the other one was a blonde boy who immediately made you think of a golden retriever! The two guys looked up at you, with the blonde one immediately standing up and introducing himself.

"Hi! Uhm, my name is Yoosung! Yoosung Kim! Nice to meet you!"

Oh my goodness he's adorable... though where have I heard that name before...?

You introduced yourself and told him your name, replying that it was nice to meet him too!

As you sat down beside him, you couldn't help but sneak glances in his directions. He was very very cute, his purple eyes looking all happy and excited all the time. Yet sometimes you could see a hint of.... hopelessness. You wondered why.

It turned out, that the other group members had suddenly called in sick, or said they had a family emergency. Not only that, but the plain guy with glasses gave you both an usb and mumbled that he actually had to go somewhere else today, but that he had his part of the presentation done and was in the usb.

Of course that did not make any of you happy at all. Yoosung looked as if he was about to either cry or punch someone, maybe both, and you werw mad that your teammates were so useless. But you tried to stay positive, I mean hey, now you get to spend time with the cute guy alone!

The two of you seemed to be the only ones to have done any work, the glasses dude's presentation was....let's just say wrong information and a white background with a yellow sans font. No I'm not joking.

"AGHHH this is impossible! How are we going to get all this work done in two days!? This is three people's part of the project, and it's not exactly short! Were gonna be here all afternoon!" Yoosung sobbed, as he covered his face and laid his head on the table.

"H-hey it's alright! We can uh...we can do it! I'm sure it won't take that long!"

It did take that long.

In face, it was 3am when you finished and had to leave the place because it was closing, so you had to go to your room and finish it there.

As soon as you were done, you both let out a tired victory yell and you fell back on your bed.

"Oh,hey Y/N, could I borrow your computer for a second? I just gotta check something that can't really wait..."

"Sure!" You gave him a thumbs up and rolled on your side to face Yoosung who was probably checking his emails.

You were not prepared for the scream that he suddenly let out.

"YOOSUNG!? IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT!?"

He flinched when he heard your voice and slowly got up from the chair, pointing a finger shakily in your direction.

"Y-you....y-y-you a-are....TortillasRock320?"

You immediately sat up upon hearing the username you had made when you were 13 suddenly being said. Then you nodded. "How...how do you know me...?"

Yoosung's face became paler and you could see him start fidgeting a little before he pointed at himself.

"S-Supeman...Y-Yoosung...."

You immediately let out a gasp, shocking the poor boy and you stood up. "YOU!! YOU STOLE ALL MY LOOT IN LOLOL!"

"IMSOSORRYIDIDNTMEANTOITWASANACCIDENTITRIEDGIVINGITBACKBUTYOUATTACKEDMEANDTHENIJUSTPANICKEDANDLOGGEDOFF."

"I...ugh....dammit. it just had to be you didn't it?" You rubbed your temples and then Yoosung looked up from the ground.

"U-uhm...I could give it back...and uh...maybe get you some food?"

"Food isn't gonna cut it, as much as I love it."

"W-well how about we go and eat in a few days f-for now and then uh...we couldddd....think of something else!" He looked at you with a big smile and who could say no to that face?

So you exchanged phone numbers. It was just meant to try and see whenever the two of you could meet up for some food, but then it became into LOLOL discussions, and just talks about everything and anything. He talked a out his family, his friends, and his struggled with school, with you eventually telling him about your struggles as well. Before you knew it, the two fo you were speaking every single day, at any hour, and you had found out so much about each other. Not only that, but you had eventually become attracted to him.

Finally, vacations came! And the two of you decided to celebrate it by going to a bar with your friends! But then the two of you left because there was too many people, so you bought some beer and went to a nearby internet cafe to play....you guessed it! LOLOL

The two of you had such an AMAZING time, taking shots everyone one of you got killed, or destroyed a tower, or killed one of the dragons, or....well eventually it was just you two drinking and playing.

When you were done it was about 1am, and the cafe closed so you decided to go to Yoosung's place to maybe play there. But then, as the two of you drunkenly made it up the elevator, you suddenly remembered that Yoosung owed you from stealing your loot!

"Hic! Y-Yoosung...l-listen to me y-you brat. You oweeee me a wishhhh."

"Huh?.....oh wait...yeah I d-do right? Bec- hic! Becauzeee I stole your loot last t-time right??"

"I k-know what I want. L-lets just go to y-your apartment first....hic!" You smiled evilly as you thought about what you would do.

You grabbed Yoosung's hand, and he led you towards his place. After laughing and fumbling with his keys for a solid 2 minutes, Yoosung managed to open his door! He mockingly bowed and said "Y-you firstttt~" which made you courtesy and giggle replying "Wh-what a gentleman!"

You waited for Yoosung to close the door, and then he turned around to look at you with a big smile on his face.

"S-sooo Y/N! What...what do you want me t-to do?" He asked.

You made your way towards him and smirked. Then before Yoosung could reply he let out a help as you grabbed him by the hair and made him kneel in front of you, in all fours. "Yoosung. I want you to be my....servant for a day. I want you to do anything I ask you to."

Yoosung gulped and shyly looked up at you, his entire face red. "I...I should? Anything?"

You chuckled. "Yes. You owe me remember? That was a pretty rare item, the one you stole for me. So you should....pay...for what you've done, don't you think so?" He slowly nodded and you pet his head. "Good boy~ Now how about we start by....you taking your clothes off."

Yoosung's eyes widened, but you tightened your grip on his hair and he slowly started undoing his shirt buttons. Then he looked up at you again. "U-uhm...Wh-what else should I do...?"

"Mmm how about you take your pants off now? And do it quickly Yoosung, we don't have all day."

He nodded and took his pants off, kneeling in the ground only in his boxers, and then, in the heat of the moment (you don't exactly knew what took over you) you pressed your foot between his legs, making Yoosung let out a surprised gasp.

"Oho~ You like this don't you? You're hard." You chuckled and pressed harder between his legs, and Yoosung let out a moan.

"I'm...ngh! S-sorry, I d-don't really understand why it's...it's like that uhm.. I'm sorry."

You chuckled and knelt beside Yoosung, cupping his face in your hands. "Yoosung you don't need to apologize. It must feel hot down there...how about we make you feel good?"

Yoosung became even redder, but he looked to the side and covered his mouth with the back of his hand, shyly nodding at you to continue.

You smiled and took Yoosung's underwear off, his member already hard, and slowly, you started licking the tip making Yoosung moan.

"MNGHHH! Y-Y/N!!!"

"Mhmm? What ish it Yoosung? Mmph..." You replied, looking up at him while having his member in your mouth.

"Y-you're....s-sucking...it! Ah! I- I'm....if you do it with your tongue like that...I'm going to...-mmmgh!".

He's adorable, you thought, as you sucked harder and harder. Soon, Yoosung reached his climax, and you mischievously smirked. "I'm glad you enjoyed it...now how about we go to the main course? I deserve to feel good too, you know?" You said, as you took your jeans and underwear off.

"H-huh?! N-no, wait I just ca-AHHHHN~"

Yoosung gasped as you slowly took him in, straddling him. You tangled your fingers in his hair while Yoosung gripped your hips, his hands trembling.

"I'm....I'm moving now, ok Yoosung?"

Yoosung moaned as you started grinding your hips against him, your hips moving quickly up and down on their own. You laughed and leaned your head back, making Yoosung look confusedly up at you.

"You're just so adorable Yoosung!....I really like you, you know?"

Yoosung stared at you, and then he quickly grabbed your head and pulled you in for a rough kiss.

"I...mhm...I've liked you...too...mmm...for a very...very long time...Y/N." He whispered between kisses. "Agh! Y-you suddenly tightened up, down there....mhm it...it feels really good." He said as he looked at you, his eyes teary and full of lust.

Goddamn this man.

"Yoosung...I...I like you too!" You felt your face heat up a bit, and Yoosung quickly pulled away to look at you. Then, he tightened his grip on your hips and quickly started moving up and down

"Y-Yoosung!!!! Y-you're moving t-too fast! Mhm!!! I can't!! Too fast! Too fast!"

"Y/N...Y/N...." He whispered, burying his face in the crook of your neck, as his thrust became faster and harder.

"I'm going to...." You gasped.

"M-me too! Let's...let's do it...together!"

You pulled Yoosung in for a kiss and the two of you moaned as you both reached your climax.

The two of you held each other for a bit, until Yoosung got cold and he carried you to his bed. The two of you kissed each other for a bit, before falling asleep.

The next morning you found Yoosung on the corner of his room, his ears all red while he hugged his knees.

"Uhm....Yoosung! Mor...ning...?"

He flinched as he heard you and then he slowly looked up. Before you could ask him what in the diddly darn heck his ass was doing in there, he got up and bowed.

"I'm so sorry!!! I'm sorry about, about yesterday I was drunk, and then I just got really excited and kept going even after you said it was too fast, and I also said all that weird stuff and I'm just, I'm really really sorry!!"

You were taken aback for a minute before you smiled and made your way towards him, making him look up at you. "Yoosung...you don't have to apologize for anything. I know we....we were a bit uh...well we were really drunk but... I still stand by everything I said yesterday. I do like you. I...I like everything about you Yoosung."

His face became red, bue eventually Yoosung slowly and shyly smiled at you. "You...you really do?"

"Yessir."

"Heh....I'm...I'm so happy Y/N...I really like you too!"

He cupped your cheek and the two of you slowly got closer and closer until your lips were touching in a chaste kiss. When you finished Yoosung chuckled, still red in the face. "So uhmm...does that mean we're a...couple now?"

You smiled and poked his cheek. "Yup! And there's no going back after this, you hear me?"

"Y-yes! Of course I'd never think of it!"

"Good! Now how about we go back to bed...and have a little fun hmm?~"

Yoosung smiled and pulled you towards him, smiling. "That doesn't sound too bad...and we're on vacation right now, so I don't see any reason we shouldn't stay in bed and do...that all day."

You laughed and Yoosung picked you up bridal style, gently throwing you in his bed and pinning you down.

The two of you officially became a couple that day! Yayyy!

Also btw you got an A- in the assignment so good work fellas ;)

The end!

[lastsonlost]

Oh my God Elon said something we don't agree with. God I hope Apple and Starbucks disagrees with you too.

Owning a Tesla, the luxurious electric car, is a major liberal status symbol. It signals nothing more than good taste — the perfect balance of wealth with care for fossil fuels. But the man behind the brand is crafting a very different persona online that may now prove to be a challenge for his fans.

Elon Musk, the bombastic head of Tesla and SpaceX, exhorted his 34 million Twitter followers on Sunday to “take the red pill.” The comment was quickly embraced by his followers, including Ivanka Trump, President Trump’s elder daughter, who announced that she had taken the pill already.

The exchange referred to a scene from “The Matrix,” the 1999 science fiction action film. But the meaning of “red pill,” and the idea of taking it, have since percolated in online forums and become a deeply political metaphor. And with Mr. Musk and Ms. Trump, the phrase is now lodged more fully into the mainstream.

So Tesla owners are having to grapple with a car that carries a few new connotations.

“Honestly, Musk is becoming a liability and the Tesla board needs to seriously consider ousting him,” wrote Markos Moulitsas, author of “The Resistance Handbook: 45 Ways to Fight Trump.” “And I say that as a proud owner of a Tesla and a SpaceX fanatic who truly appreciates what he’s built.”

So what is the red pill?

[ I hope your fuckings Tesla explodes. You don't have to be in its but you should be forced to walk everywhere.]

In “The Matrix,” the movie’s hero, Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, is given the option to take a pill that lets him see the truth.

The world he thinks is real turns out to be an entertaining lie; his body is actually trapped in a farm where people are being used as human batteries. Taking the blue pill would let him return to living in the ignorant but blissful lie, while taking the red pill would launch him into an arduous journey through a brutal but fulfilling reality.

The idea of taking the red pill later grew to mean waking up to society’s grand lies. It was embraced by the right, especially by members of its youngest cohort who organized and spent their time in online forums like Reddit and 4chan.

The truth to be woken up to varied, but it ended up usually being about gender. To be red-pilled meant you discovered that feminism was a scam that ruined the lives of boys and girls. In this view, for a male to refuse the red pill was to be weak.

Red Pill forums were often filled with deeply misogynistic and often racist diatribes. The more extreme elements splintered into groups like involuntary celibates (“incels”) or male separatists (Men Going Their Own Way, or MGTOWs). Conferences like the 21 Convention and its sister convention, Make Women Great Again, sprang up to gather red-pilled men. Being red-pilled became a sort of umbrella term for all of it.

As these conversations seeped into the mainstream, pulled along by a host of other internet language from message boards to establishment Republican conversations on sites like Breitbart, the meaning broadened and got watered down. To be red-pilled can now mean being broadly skeptical of experts, to be distrustful of the mainstream press or to see hypocrisy in social liberalism.

What’s going on with Elon Musk?

Mr. Musk has been pretty wild online for years now, which has made him a major internet celebrity with devoted fans who call themselves Musketeers. There are fan pages like Musk Memes with nearly 100,000 followers, and a Reddit page with 200,000 members in constant, extremely active conversation.

Most recently, Mr. Musk has been a prominent skeptic online of the coronavirus, calling the response to it a “panic” and “dumb” and wrongly predicting close to zero new cases by the end of April. As of Tuesday, there were more than 90,000 deaths from the virus and more than 1.5 million cases in the United States alone.

The night before Tesla’s earnings were released last month, Mr. Musk tweeted an anti-lockdown rallying cry: “FREE AMERICA NOW.” He had a showdown with local lawmakers, threatening to move Tesla headquarters out of California and deciding to reopen a Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif., despite the local county’s restrictions to prevent the virus from spreading.

When State Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez objected on May 9 with an obscene tweet, Mr. Musk responded, “Message received.”

Defending his reopening of the Tesla factory, Mr. Musk wrote on Twitter that he would be on the factory floor and offered himself up to authorities. “I will be on the line with everyone else,” he posted on May 11. “If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.”

This month, he and his girlfriend, Claire Boucher, the musician known as Grimes, had a child and named him X Æ A-12. And Mr. Musk announced that Tesla shares were too high and that he was selling almost all his possessions to the point of owning no house.

“We have a phrase, it’s E.M.M. — Elon Moves Markets,” said Bill Selesky, an analyst at Argus Research who tracks how Mr. Musk’s messages impact Tesla’s stock price. “People want to listen to him no matter what he says. He tends to be thought of as a great visionary.”

Mr. Selesky said even Mr. Musk’s detractors parsed every tweet and utterance. “Plus, if you have a Tesla, nobody can ever complain about you because you’re good for society,” he added.

This leads back to Mr. Musk’s message on Sunday, telling his followers to take the red pill.

Do ‘The Matrix’ creators like this?

No. Lilly Wachowski, a “Matrix” co-creator, told Mr. Musk and Ms. Trump in colorful language on Twitter that they could take a hike.

Is ‘red pill’ a Silicon Valley thing?

To some extent.

There has long been a strain of men’s rights activism in Silicon Valley, exemplified by James Damore, a former Google engineer who was fired after writing a memo arguing that the reason there are fewer female engineers is biological differences rather than discrimination.

Mr. Damore became a folk hero for a simmering movement in the technology industry of people who thought the efforts toward 50/50 representation at tech companies were absurd. Cassie Jaye, who calls herself a former feminist, made a 2016 documentary about the Red Pill community and said it had flourished in the tech world.

But the more common phrase in Silicon Valley to signal contrarian thinking is “narrative violation,” which is often used to describe an event that cuts against the mainstream media’s consensus on a topic. The idea is that there is a story being told about the world and how it works, but that the story is too simplistic to be entirely true and an event occasionally pops up to remind people of that.

Why does any of this matter?

Few products today are as deeply entwined with a person’s brand as Tesla is with Mr. Musk, and so his comments can feel personal for Tesla drivers.

“As a Tesla owner, a 47-year-old male recovering from Covid-19, and someone very concerned simultaneously about the environment, the economy, my kids’ and my parents’ future, this ain’t great,” said Jeff Guilfoyle, a product manager at FireEye in San Diego. “This disease is no joke, and the long-term health impacts are unknown for survivors.”

Many have implored Mr. Musk online to stop.

Raja Sohail Abbas, the chief executive of an outpatient psychiatric clinic in Allentown, Pa., wrote: “I am a Tesla owner and love the company. You have to stop being an idiot about this.”

“Tesla owner and Fan here, but this was a disappointing tweet despite the frustrations of and holdups,” added Alex Goodchild, a D.J. in Brooklyn. “Words are weapons especially when used during situations like the one we’re currently experiencing. You sound just like Trump in this tweet.”

The debate has riven the Tesla community.

“The last two months, there’s been this polarization in the Elon Musk fan club,” said Paula Timothy-Mellon, a technology consultant who moderates that LinkedIn-based fan club, which has 22,000 members. “There are those who are believers in these California guidelines and there are those in favor of his push to re-open Tesla.”

“As a Tesla owner, a 47-year-old male recovering from Covid-19, and someone very concerned simultaneously about the environment, the economy, my kids’ and my parents’ future, this ain’t great,” said Jeff Guilfoyle, a product manager at FireEye in San Diego. “This disease is no joke, and the long-term health impacts are unknown for survivors.”

Many have implored Mr. Musk online to stop.

Raja Sohail Abbas, the chief executive of an outpatient psychiatric clinic in Allentown, Pa., wrote: “I am a Tesla owner and love the company. You have to stop being an idiot about this.”

“Tesla owner and Fan here, but this was a disappointing tweet despite the frustrations of and holdups,” added Alex Goodchild, a D.J. in Brooklyn. “Words are weapons especially when used during situations like the one we’re currently experiencing. You sound just like Trump in this tweet.”

The debate has riven the Tesla community.

“The last two months, there’s been this polarization in the Elon Musk fan club,” said Paula Timothy-Mellon, a technology consultant who moderates that LinkedIn-based fan club, which has 22,000 members. “There are those who are believers in these California guidelines and there are those in favor of his push to re-open Tesla.”

Driving a Tesla often carries great symbolism for the owner (and observers).

“If you own a Tesla, you feel you are directly connected to Elon Musk and people think that Tesla owners are directly connected to the politics of the C.E.O.,” said Sam Kelly, a Tesla owner and investor based in Spain who posts under the name SamTalksTesla.

He added that he did not think the red pill comment meant any big new political awakening from Mr. Musk.

Asked to explain his thinking, Mr. Musk pasted an image of the Urban Dictionary definition of red pill in an email. It read:

“‘Red pill’ has become a popular phrase among cyberculture and signifies a free-thinking attitude, and a waking up from a ‘normal’ life of sloth and ignorance. Red pills prefer the truth, no matter how gritty and painful it may be.”

Seriously get a refund, buy a prius and

GET THE FUCKS OVER IT!

[ryqoshay]

Tri-Arame: All Work, No Play

Primary Pairing Trio: YuuAyuSetsu Words: ~3.1k Rating: G Time Frame: The end of their second week of college Story Arc: Setsu’s Ceaseless Study Session Study All Day? Study All Night? A Nap a Day All Work, No Play

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Author’s Note: My original outline for this arc stopped at the previous chapter, but as I was was close to finishing, I realized there were still a couple threads I wanted to tie up. So here we are.

Also, this is the first chapter I’ve written that flatly gives the name of the company employing Setsu, instead of my former vague hints. For readers unfamiliar with my other work, How to Handle a Nico, Egao Jōshō is an idol production company founded by Nico and Tsubasa and it is probably my favorite point of connection among my three non-AU fics.

Also also, Heavenly Life is a doujin created by Riko.

----------

Ayumu opened her eyes and reached up to the headboard to grab her phone. The device she touched first happened to be Yuu’s, but that was fine. She unlocked it and checked the time. It was Saturday, so she could sleep in a little longer, but there were things that she wanted to do before the Live that night.

She pushed herself up to her hands and knees and crawled backward to the end of the bed. There, she climbed over the footboard, which she was thankful wasn’t much higher than the mattress. Standing, she took a moment to look at the other two girls still in her bed, as she had every morning this week since Setsuna started joining her and Yuu.

Part of her couldn’t get over how adorable they were, snuggled together like that. Setsuna had pressed herself almost flush against Yuu’s back. Ayumu wondered if she was worried about rolling off the edge or if her bond with Yuu was just that strong that she was comfortable doing that.

And that was the other part. Ayumu couldn’t help feeling a little left out, wondering why neither would do that with her. Would it help if she turned the other way? But she liked facing Yuu, seeing her face before falling asleep and again upon waking. And if the other two ended up swapping, she was certain she would be just as happy seeing Setsuna in the same way.

Maybe Yuu was hesitant? No, with as openly affectionate as Yuu had been with her the entire time they had known each other, that simply could not be the case.

Maybe Yuu was waiting for Ayumu to make the first move? That still didn’t seem likely, but it was probably more possible than the other option. Perhaps then she should make that first move and snuggle against Yuu? Maybe even tonight?

Heat gathered in Ayumu’s cheeks at the thought of doing what Setsuna seemed to have no issue doing. But why? It wasn’t like Ayumu hadn’t initiated physical affection on numerous occasions, from simple hugs, to leaning into Yuu while watching something, to holding hands while walking. Heck she’d done most of that with Setsuna as well. Why did it feel different when it involved a bed or sleeping? Was it because it implied other activities? Activities she had certainly imagined multiple…

Ayumu shook her head in a vain attempt to dissipate the deepening blush, or at least shake loose those thoughts. Turning on her heel, she headed toward her dresser to begin her morning routine.

----------

“Alright, we’re heading out.” Ayumu announced after she had finished putting on her shoes. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us, Setsuna-chan?”

The girl still sitting at the kotatsu in the middle of the room looked up from her laptop. “I’m sorry.” She declined. “I just don’t want to fall behind.”

“But are you actually behind at this point?” Yuu inquired.

Setsuna blinked as though not expecting the question. “I’m… I’m not sure…”

“You’ve been studying almost non-stop for two weeks, Setsuna-chan” Yuu continued. “And while your determination is admirable, surely they can’t expect everyone to be so diligent, or even be able to dedicate that much time.”

“Hrm…”

“Perhaps you could email your instructor?” Ayumu suggested. “Or your program mentor? Surely one of them would be able to let you know how your progress compared to other students, or just general expectations.”

Setsuna considered the idea for a moment. “I can do that.” She confirmed after a moment. “But I probably won’t hear back from either until Monday. So, while I would love to join you two, for now, to be safe, I’ll stay here today.”

“Alright.” Ayumu relented. “We’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Have fun.” Setsuna replied before turning attention back to her screen.

Yuu closed the door behind them and she and Ayumu began heading down the hall.

“I hope we can at least convince her to come to the event tonight.” Yuu said quietly.

“Yeah…” Ayumu agreed, wondering what they could say or do to convince their stubbornly studious friend.

----------

Setsuna stretched and yawned before checking the time. A quick break should be alright, she decided and pushed herself out from under the table. She then made her way over to the kitchenette area where she filled the electric kettle and turned it on.

As she prepared the coffee grounds, she considered how much she had consumed recently. Ayumu was diligent in keeping a fresh supply despite rarely drinking it herself. Setsuna smiled at the thought of her friend’s kindness and decided she should get the next supply. She considered what places she could stop while on the way to the studio but then wondered if she should just have some delivered.

With a fresh refill of caffeine in hand, Setsuna headed back to the table to resume her studies. But before that, she quickly opened a new browser tab to check where she could order coffee online.

----------

“We’re back.” A voice announced as the dormroom door opened.

Setsuna looked up over her laptop and smiled as her friends entered. “Welcome back.”

“We got something for you, Setsuna-chan!” Yuu said excitedly, yanking off her shoes before moving quickly across the room. “Kope pan!” She pulled the sandwich out of her bag and presented it proudly.

“Thank you.” Setsuna said, accepting gracefully.

“Yuu-chan actually bought it.” Ayumu pointed out as she moved to the cupboards.

“Well, yeah, but Ayumu was the one to pick it out because it reminded her of Yotomi’s favorite. So, it’s from both of us.”

Setsuna chuckled at Yuu’s insistence as she inspected the package. It did indeed look similar to the snack commonly ordered by the protagonists of one of the anime series they had watched last season.

“Anyway, we decided to make a meal out of it all and picked up some other stuff.” Yuu began to pull other food items from her bag.

“And we brought it back here because we thought it would be more fun to eat together.” Ayumu added, arriving with a set of glasses. She distributed them to each place at the table before producing a bottle of one of her favorite brands of tea from her bag.

“Thank you.” Setsuna said again, feeling warmth spread in her chest at her friends’ thoughtfulness.

“And there’s one more thing.” Ayumu pulled another item from her bag and held it out.

Setsuna’s breath hitched as she recognized the latest book in the Heavenly Life doujin series she had been following online since before it had even started being published in physical form.

“I… I didn’t realize the new one was out…” She admitted, accepting the book.

“Mm.” Yuu nodded. “Earlier this week, it seems. I missed it too because I’m used to relying on Setsuna-chan for release schedules.”

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s no biggie.” Yuu dismissed. “I know you were busy studying. Though I will admit I’ve missed our anime nights lately.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Stop apologizing.” Yuu reached out to gently swat Setsuna atop her head. “Anyway, I got a copy for my collection and Ayumu bought this one for you.”

“Yes, but Yuu-chan had the idea to look to see if there was stock left” Ayumu interjected “and was the one to find them, so that’s from both of us as well.”

Setsuna chuckled at her friends’ insistence on sharing credit.

“Thank you, Ayumu-san, Yuu-san.” She turned her head to address each as she said their names before returning her attention to the doujin in her hand. “I’ll pay you back in…”

“Nope.” Yuu interrupted.

“Eh?”

“If you insist on doing something in return, just come with us next time.” Yuu grinned.

“Once your mentor or instructor is able to tell you how far ahead you are.” Ayumu added.

“Mm?” Setsuna questioned.

“I think it’s a safe assumption to make, based on how hard you’ve been working.” Ayumu explained. “But Yuu-chan is right, we do miss hanging out with you, Setsuna-chan.”

“I’m sor…” Setsuna cut herself off as she noticed Yuu’s expression of disapproval. She glanced back down at the doujin in her hand, causing a spike of excitement. “Anyway, I’m really looking forward to reading this.” She said, unable to resist opening the cover for a sneak peek at the first few pages. “And talking about it with… eh?” Upon looking back up, she noticed Yuu’s expression had changed, becoming more wistful. “Yuu-san?”

“Mm…” The green-tipped girl shook her head. “I was just realizing how much I missed seeing that smile.”

“That smile?”

“The one you display when you’re reading manga, or watching anime, or talking about a series or character you like.” Yuu explained. “I haven’t seen that in like two weeks.”

Oh…

Yuu chucked as she thought of something. “<All work and no play takes Setsu’s smile away.>”

“Mm?” Setsuna blinked. She wasn’t unfamiliar with the phrase, but she could have sworn it ended differently. And why did Yuu say it in English? Was it to make the rhyme? Still, she had understood the words and as their meaning processed in her mind, Setsuna felt heat gathering in her cheeks.

Yuu reached out a hand. “<Come and play with us, Setsu, forever and ever and ever.>”

“Yuu-chan, I don’t think Setsuna-chan has seen that movie.” Ayumu said.

“I haven’t either.” Yuu laughed. “I just know the meme. You do to, apparently. I mean everyone does, right?”

“Uhm…”

“Anyway, anime can wait for bit. Tonight, Emma-chan is performing.”

“I know.” Setsuna nodded. “She and I have talked about it several times this week during training.”

“And Ayumu and I are going.”

“I know that as well. I gave you two the admission passes.”

“I think Yuu-chan is trying to ask, without actually asking, if you were coming with us, Setsuna-chan.” Ayumu explained.

“…” Setsuna paused to consider her response. Of course she had figured out Yuu’s intentions, but she retained her reservations.

“I really think you owe yourself a night off every once in a while.” Ayumu continued. “Despite the meme, Yuu-chan does have a point, that you shouldn’t dedicate all your time to work and should leave at least a little time for play.”

Before she could respond, a soft ping sounded from the speakers of Setsuna’s laptop. She glanced down at the notification that popped up on the screen. “Eh?” she uttered.

“What is it?” Yuu inquired.

“It’s a replay from my instructor.” Setsuna scanned the message quickly. “He says I should go to the concert.” She heard Yuu make an excited noise. “He was actually going to contact me on Monday to see if I was alright because I am apparently a lot farther along than any other student he has seen take the course and he wanted to make sure I wasn’t overdoing things. But then he saw my email and he wanted to make sure I didn’t miss an opportunity to see my friend’s performance.”

“Sounds like you have a good instructor” Ayumu spoke up “who cares not only about your success in class, but also about your personal wellbeing.”

“Emma-chan is going to be so happy you’ll be able to make it.” Yuu said.

“Karin, Kanata and Kasumi-chan will also love seeing you again.” Ayumu added.

Setsuna smiled. “They’ll all be happy to see Yuu-san and Ayumu-san as well.”

“Well yeah, but we’ve already established that we’re going.” Yuu pointed out. “Setsuna-chan was the one holding out on her decision.”

“… Sorry… Oh, uhm…”

Yuu laughed again.

“I’m glad you reached out to your instructor.” Ayumu said.

“Well, I did want to go tonight…” Setsuna admitted.

“And we’re happy you decided to come with us.” Yuu grinned. “And since the concert’s not until after dinner, you still have the rest of the afternoon to study if you want.”

Setsuna nodded.

“Or…”

“Or?”

“You can take a short break to watch an episode of anime with us while we eat?”

“I’d like that.”

Yuu’s smile grew as she pushed her meal over to Setsuna’s side of the table. She then crawled over to squeeze in beside the raven-haired girl. On the other side, Ayumu was moving her food as well before fitting herself in with the other two. Setsuna opened a new tab in her browser and brought up her favorite streaming site where she found one of the series they had been watching that season. The three settled in comfortably as the opening song played.

----------

“That was an amazing concert!” Yuu said for the umpteeth time that night as the three girls entered Ayumu’s dormroom. “Emma-chan is a wonderful pro idol! And the event overall really makes me look forward to your first Live, Setsuna-chan.”

“I would have participated this weekend,” Setsuna admitted “but…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, classes and stuff.”

“I could request a slot next weekend though.”

“I’ll be sure to be there to cheer you on.” Yuu grinned.

“I’ll come too.” Ayumu spoke up. “I also want to support you for your first Live, Setsuna-chan.”

Setsuna smiled. “Thank you. I’ll be sure to practice hard this week so I can shout my love as best I can on stage.”

Yuu yawned. “Anyway, I’m going to go take a quick shower and get ready for bed.” She headed to Ayumu’s dresser to grab a set of pajamas.

“That’s a good idea.” Setsuna said. “I’ll see you two to back here in a bit.” She then headed to her room to prep for the night.

----------

“Perfect timing, Setsuna-chan.” Ayumu said as Yuu got up from her hair drying session.

Setsuna smiled and sat down.

“I’m surprised you’re not pulling your laptop over so you can study.” Yuu teased.

“Oh, I, uhm, was actually just going to go to bed tonight.” Setsuna admitted.

“Oh? Not going to stay up until the wee hours of the morning again?”

“Uhm, not tonight…”

“Setsuna-chan wore herself out cheering at the concert, eh?”

“A little…”

Yuu laughed. “Well, I suppose I can’t blame you though. I did too.” She glanced up. “And I’m pretty sure Ayumu did as well.”

Ayumu felt a bit of heat in her cheeks. “It was just so much fun.” She explained as she ran a hand through Setsuna’s hair. “It’s been so long since I’ve been in the audience, I’d almost forgotten how much energy it can take.”

“Though it is wonderful to be see things from the audience’s perspective.” Setsuna decided.

“That is true.” Ayumu agreed.

“It’s the best.” Yuu stated.

“Hrm…” Setsuna pondered. “I’m not sure I can fully agree with that. I am quite fond of performing on stage.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Yuu conceded. “Ooo, I’m really looking forward to your first performance as a professional idol, now.”

“As am I.”

“How about you, Ayumu?”

“Me? I thought I already said I wanted to see Setsuna-chan’s performance as well?”

Yuu shook her head. “No, which do you prefer? Being on stage or in the audience?”

Ayumu paused. Granted it had only been a few weeks, but she honestly hadn’t thought about performing since their final Live as school idols. However, “I think I would have to agree with Setsuna-chan; both have their appeal, but there is something special about being on stage.”

“Well, if you ever miss being on stage,” Setsuna mused “Egao regularly invites former school idols as guest performers.”

“Eh? Really?” Ayumu hadn’t considered the possibility.

“That’s true.” Yuu chimed in. “We saw one perform tonight.”

They had? Ayumu realized she probably should have paid more attention to the program. Obviously, she had made sure to watch Emma closely, but otherwise, she had been a bit overwhelmed by the crowd and catching up with her former club members.

“Anytime you want, just let me know.” Setsuna continued. “I’d love to sing with you again, Ayumu-san.”

“I… might have to take you up on that sometime.” Ayumu decided.

“I’ll be sure to be there to cheer you on.” Unsurprisingly, Yuu repeated her offer of support.

“Thanks, Yuu-chan.”

The three continued talking about idol performances, both ones they had enjoyed in the past as well as ones to which they looked forward in the future. And as much as Ayumu wanted to prolong working Setsuna’s hair, it was eventually dried and properly brushed, so the session needed to end.

It felt a little strange as Yuu and Setsuna effectively lined up behind her as Ayumu crawled into her bed, after two weeks of them joining later, or just one week for Setsuna. But by the time Ayumu had settled down, Yuu was already halfway across the bed to her usual position and Setsuna had a knee on the edge as she waited for room to be made.

Was tonight actually the best night to experiment with snuggling? Would Yuu tease her?

“Ayumu?” Yuu apparently noticed the change in her expression.

Ayumu steeled herself for the next move and reached out to place a hand on Yuu’s shoulder.

I want to cuddle too, Yuu-chan. Ayumu pleaded silently. You cuddle with Setsuna-chan and we’re both equally important to you, so you can cuddle with me as well, right? Please don't make me say it out loud though, it's hard enough making the first move! And why do I have to anyway? Geez… Yuu-chan you can be so dense sometimes…

Finally, Yuu smiled, seeming to understand. She slid an arm around Ayumu and pulled the two of them together before nuzzling in under Ayumu’s chin.

Wait, no, I wanted to be the one to… oh well…

“Mm?” Setsuna’s hum sounded confused. Perhaps she hadn’t expected Yuu to move away from her? And did Ayumu detect a bit of disappointment in her tone as well?

Sorry, Setsuna-chan, I didn't mean to make you feel left out. Ayumu thought to herself as she moved her hand off Yuu’s shoulder, reached past her, found Setsuna’s arm and pulled gently. The other girl let herself be guided forward to the position Ayumu commonly observed in the morning. Now, they were even more crowded than before, and yet…

“This is nice…” Yuu murmured as though continuing Ayumu’s thoughts. “Good night, Ayumu, Setsuna-chan.”

Ayumu and Setsuna responded, almost in unison, causing Ayumu to giggle a little.

Yuu didn’t end up teasing her. Strange. But maybe it was because she had wanted the same thing? And if that was the case, Ayumu was still a little confused as to why Yuu hadn’t tried to snuggle with her before. In any case, at least they were now, so she then pushed that concern out to make room for more pleasant thoughts.

Ayumu closed her eyes and enjoyed the comfort of falling asleep nestled together with the two girls she loved.

----------

Author’s Note continued in Followup post