#i needed to stop and think about naruto for a bit before i went crazy

[im-still-watching-anime]

kakashi: sorry kids gotta go, i’ve got a date with gai

naruto: but you guys just went on a date for lunch

kakashi: yeah honestly you guys just seem to be in a particularly devious mood and i’ve determined my chances of getting in trouble by association are lower with him today

[nightowlfandom]

Kakashi Hatake- Cheeky

 ANON ASKS

Hey author-chan how are you? Well I saw that your requests are open and I would like to know if you write to Naruto and if the answer is yes, could I get a Kakashi x f!reader imagine/oneshot with prompt #19, please?

I ended up asking her to choose a couple more prompts, aaannnd here they are!

#19- Hmm, who you tryna’ look sexy for babygirl?

#20- Don’t finish that sentence darling…it won’t end well for you

#27- I couldn’t stop thinking about you all day.

#30- Dance for me. I’ll sit right here and you put on a show, okay?

 #47- You’re too cheeky for you own good, kid.

warning.....I will fuck up your day. Might be OOC but almost all my shit kinda is imo lol Does anyone really care?....he spits in your mouth..... I am sorry for absolutely nothing.

CHECKOUT MY MASTERLIST HERE!

Leggo

...

“Watch it, Kid!”

“Why don’t you walk where you walk!” you caught the throwing star between your two fingers as it was hurled back at you. “You’re cutting into my training time.” you rolled your eyes.

“Damnit Y/N you could have taken my eye out.” Kakashi groaned. “Be careful with that thing!” 

“Like that would have been a bad thing.” you scoffed. “Get out of the way next time.” you rubbed your shoulder. “If you weren’t in my line of vision, you wouldn’t have almost got caught in the crossfire.”

“You know you love looking at me.”

“How can I when no one ever sees your face.” you burst out laughing. “What kinda mug you got under than mask, huh?” you challenged. 

“You’re too cheeky for your own good kid, someone outta bring you down a few notches.”

“And just whose gonna do that.” you rolled your eyes, turning away from him.

You ignored his answer and bent over, stretching to touch your toes. “My back.” you groaned. When you stood up straight again, he was staring at you. “You need something?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” he blinked(...or winked?) at you.

“I can’t tell if that was a wink or not...” you raised a brow.

“Good.”

“You’re a real-”

“ Don’t finish that sentence darling…it won’t end well for you “

He walked off, undoubtedly wearing a self-satisfactory look on his face.

“How does she put up with him?”

“Damn, I thought she was really gonna kill him for a minute.”

“You’d think those two liked each other with how much they argue backed and forth.”

“It’s not nice to gossip.” you called behind your back to your comrades. You shoved the throwing star back into your pouch and walked off. Kakashi Hatake and Y/N L/N were always the talk of the town. One was always getting on the nerves of the others.

....

You were relaxing in your house after a long day of training. It was good to work out your skills while nothing was going on. You never knew when something was gonna happen. You stretched your arms over your head as you walked into your kitchen. 

“God I’m starving.” you sighed. Before you could dig through your fridge, there was a knock at the door.

“I’m coming!” you called, knowing they could hear. As you neared the door, the knocking only got louder. “Geez Hold on-!” You yanked the door open to see Kakashi awkwardly standing there. He wore his authoritative demeanor.

“Y/N, may I come in?” he spoke. You almost peaked behind his shoulder, people were walking around outside. ‘We must talk.”

“Sure.” you made room for him to walk in. Just as you closed the door, you were pushed up against the door. He yanked down his mask to show that daring smirk. You felt his lips brush against yours. Kakashi wrapped his arms around your waist, hoisting you up and pushing you even further against the door.

“ I couldn’t stop thinking about you all day. “ he moaned against your lips. “Shit you drive me crazy.” he growled.  “I bet you thought your little show was cute.”

“Got your attention didn’t it?” you giggled through the friction. “If we’re gonna sneak around, might as well make it fun for me too.”

For the last several months you had been more than casual with Kakashi. He trailed his hand down your spine, resting at the base of your back. 

“I have half a mind to punish you.” he began kissing down your neck. “But I missed you so much.”

“So does that mean you can stay for the night or do you have to wrangle those three morons again?” you melted into his tough as the thoughts of the Three Stooges getting into trouble that required Kakashi to clean up....again. 

“I’ll stay if you want me to.” he began kissing your cheeks, forehead, nose and lips. He kept rotating around each area of your face. To answer his question, you helped him out of his jacket. “Hm, okay then.” he smirked. 

“I don’t need to tell you where my bedroom is do I?” you stepped away from him.

... (Two days later)

Training in the woods wasn’t so bad. But training while Kakashi dragged his students along was gonna drive you absolutely crazy.

“Y/N! Y/N!”

“Yes. Naruto.” you seethed. ‘What can I do for you.”

“I’m gonna be the best Ninja in the world! You just watch! I’ll be able to beat you one day!”

“That’s great buddy!” you tried to laugh. Cute. No one could compare to you when it came to throwing sharp things at a target. You walked by Kakashi sending him a harsh glare. You walked ahead of the group. No one could see it, but your annoyance made him smile a bit. You stopped in front of a three, pinning a target to it before walking a good 30 feet away from it. You went into your pouch and took out a throwing star.

With a single flick of the wrist you threw it, watching it slice through the air and hit the target right in the middle. You walked back another few feet and did it again. Good to know you hadn’t lost your touch.

“Wow. Miss Y/N sure knows what she’s doing.” Sakura whispered to Kakashi. “I can see why everyone raves about her,”

“Yes. She is very capable, Sakura. She has impeccable precision.” he commented. Although he was thinking something completely different. Everyone watched as you took out your annoyance on the bullseye target, When you had ran out of stars, you trudged back up to the tree and yanked each one out.

Later on, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto were all napping. All had passed out at some point after some extreme training courtesy of Kakashi. As for you, you were sitting by the lake, getting some much needed recreation. You had just gone for a swim. The ice cold water felt perfect. 

You stood up against the tree facing away from everyone. You were prepared to get back into the water when Kakashi came up, slowly ridding himself of his shirt as he did.

“Going for a-” you were cut off as he pushed himself against you, claiming your mouth in a kiss. Not that you weren’t totally happy, but his students were literally napping less that 50 feet away from you both.

“W-wha are you-?”

“Shhh.” Kakashi pulled down his mask then got down on his knees as he fumbled with your panties. “If we’re gonna do this, you gotta be quiet.”

“You’ve had some pretty dumb ideas but-...fuh.” you cut yourself off as you felt him trail his hands up your thigh. He pressed small kisses down your thighs. You were still soaking wet from the water, so your skin was slippery. He pulled your panties down, placing small kisses along your heat.

You dared peek over your shoulder. Everyone was still sleeping, but you found it hard to focus. Kakashi gently drove his tongue into your slit, causing a sharp gasp to escape your lungs. Your legs shook as his tongue flicked against your clit.

“Kakashi~” you shuddered. You found yourself running your hands against his silvery white hair. He grabbed your leg and hooked it over his shoulder. “We could get caught!”

“Exciting isn’t it?” he giggled. “You just have to stay quiet.” you felt his fingers slither inside you. “ Come on Y/N... Dance for me. I’ll sit right here and you put on a show, okay? “ he moaned, sloppily dragging his tongue up your slit. “Shit- You’re so fucking good, Y/N. You’re soaking.” he laughed evilly. 

“Whose f-fault is that!”

He slapped your ass, making you gasp again. You could just picture that shit eating grin on his face. 

You were made to stand up straight as Kakashi rose to his feet. He hoisted you up, wrapping both of your legs around his torso. You hadn’t noticed that his pants had dropped around his ankles. You felt his painfully slowly slide himself inside. 

“They’re still sleeping.” he grunted, slowly thrusting into you. “Fuck I needed this.” he moaned. “I need you~” he coughed. “Kiss me.” 

He, in a hurry, sloppily kissed you. Your tongues clashed. You faced heated up from the lewd sounds your mouths made as they clashed together. Kakashi pushed your further against the tree. 

“Kakashi..” you were able to muster. 

“Open your fucking mouth.” he cut you off. “Now...” he growled. 

You obediently did as he asked, sticking out your tongue as Kakashi let a line of drool go from his tongue to yours. He claimed your mouth again while he dug his nails into your thighs. His cock twitched inside of you as his thrusts grew sloppy. 

You couldn’t even talk through his kisses. Your insides clenched around him, feeling yourself grow more and more sensitive at his touch. You didn’t care how loud you were anymore and he didn’t either. 

“I’m gonna- I’m gonna fucking cum. I’m gonna- ARGH-” 

You felt him practically bottom out inside of you, cumming inside your depths. To avoid making any sounds, he kissed you again. With one harsh thrust, you came too. You heard those lewd watery sounds as liquids dripped out of your pussy, down your legs. Poor plants. 

“Kakashi~” you moaned again.

“It feels good?” he talked down to you in a babyish voice. “You like my cum inside you don’t you.” he spilled the rest of himself into you tightness. “And they’re still sleeping.” he smirked. “You were worried about nothing.”

“Shut up.” you rolled your eyes. You whined as he slowly removed himself from you. 

“It’s running down your leg.” he laughed. “Shit, you’re so sexy.” he dragged his tongue down your neck. “Shit-”

“You’re lucky we didn’t get caught.” you shakily spoke. “And you call me the cheeky one.”

“Hm, don’t be like that, babe...or else I might not to easy on you this time.”

(This one was not so much hardcore, but it was something, so I’m all caught up with requests I think! Does anyone here fucks with Haikyuu?.....Can I- Can I write for Haikyuu?)

[brrahbrrahcharacterimagines]

Groceries (Might Guy x Reader)

MASTERLIST

Pairing: Might Guy x Reader

Word Count: 2723

Warnings: very minor angst, food mentions (TW for EDs)

A/N: Hope you enjoy! I've been so thirsty for Naruto characters recently it's not even funny

Also, this was originally two parts but I've combined them into one so let me know if the transition doesn't work!

Growing up in Konoha you always felt safe. You knew there were experienced shinobi there to protect you. As a little girl, you would see them walk down the streets and watch in awe as they passed by you.

Despite everything you had seen in terms of violence, you still felt safe in the Leaf Village. There had been some tense battles, but the leaf shinobi always prevailed.

It was a day more peaceful than most as you made your way down to the store. You only needed a few things, but with the nice weather you decided to take advantage of the day instead of waiting for the grocery list to get longer.

Smiling, you walked into the store to the tune of children laughing and birds chirping. It was like you were in a movie.

You made your way down the aisles, picking up the items you needed as you went. Milk, eggs, noodles, and more went into the small cart in your hands as you browsed. Lost in your own world, you didn't see the other cart as it came around the corner at the same time as your own.

The carts crashed into each other, you and the other person with them. It almost winded you, both from surprise and the force of falling into the cart.

"I am so sorry!" You explained, looking up to the man you found in front of you. Luckily, neither of your groceries seemed to have sustained much damage. You found yourself surprised to be met with the most gorgeous dark eyes you had ever seen.

"It's no problem!" Said the man, flashing you a confident smile with a thumbs up. "No damage done."

You felt a hot flush rise to your face, but thankfully the man didn't seem to notice.

"Thank you," you said in a fluster. You weren't sure what you were even thanking him for, not yelling at you? It was then that you took notice of his outfit, especially the band around his waist. "Are you a shinobi?"

The smile stayed ever-present on his face.

"Yes I am! A jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village!"

If you had just half the enthusiasm of this man, you think you would be running on empty in less than five minutes. Hearing he was a jonin, you were impressed.

"Well, thank you for all that you do," you offered, moving to continue your shopping.

Although your interaction was brief, you couldn't stop thinking about it as days passed. Something about his eyes, and his confidence, drew you into him. You tried to brush it off, seeing as it was such a simple interaction, but it was impossible. Even trying to tell yourself that he didn't remember you wouldn't work; there was still a part of your brain that would never quiet down.

You had never minded being a civilian in Konoha. Sure, when you were younger you had thought about being a konoichi, but those were just the thoughts of a child. You never pursued it. You were happy with your career, teaching young children in subjects other than jutsu.

Despite your happiness, you began to wish that you had gone to the academy. Then you would have been able to find the man who was plaguing your thoughts. Even after that, you might have been a real option for him. You knew shinobi tended to mostly be interested in other shinobi.

You didn't know why it upset you so much. You didn't even know the man's name, and yet you were sad that you might not be his type. Feeling a bit pathetic, you found yourself in need of another grocery run. Trying to ignore the thought that you might see him again, you made your way to the store.

Sadly, at least for that persistent, gremlin part of your brain, the trip was rather uneventful. At least, until you found yourself in front of the produce.

You were trying to eat healthier, but it was hard. It wasn't that you didn't like your body, you just wanted to feel better in your own skin. As you stood there pondering, a male voice scared you from your thoughts.

"Excuse me."

You turned, disappointed to see a man with silver spikes instead of the dark bowl cut you had hoped for. You mumbled a sorry, stepping out of his way.

"Careful Kakashi," boomed another voice, "I'd keep your distance from that woman's cart if I were you."

Now that is the voice you had been hoping for.

As you turned, the tall man immediately caught your eye. You blushed at his words, remembering your initial encounter. The other man, Kakashi, looked at you with confusion. He grabbed what he needed before walking away, leaving you and the other man alone.

"So what brings you back here?" He asked. Normally you would have thought of this as awkward conversation, but your heart leapt at the opportunity to talk to him again.

You sighed, "I'm trying to decide what I want. I wanted something healthy but I didn't want to just start grabbing vegetables."

"Then you're in luck," he grinned, "I'm somewhat of an expert. Try some blueberries, they're a superfood." He grabbed a package, placing them in his own cart. "They're on me today."

You tried to protest, but he wasn't having any of it. You made your way through checkout, paying the rest of your items before meeting back up with the man.

"Thank you," you told him, looking back up at his deep eyes. Pausing for a moment, you realized something. "I don't even know your name! How could I thank you for buying these before me without even learning your name?"

The man chuckled, extending his hand out to you.

"The name's Guy," he said loudly, shaking your hand. "Would it be crazy to ask for your name in return?"

You blushed as you grabbed his hand, his grip firm yet his hands soft.

"Y/n," you told him. He smiled.

"That's a beautiful name." His words did nothing to help calm the blush on your face. You were sure he knew exactly what he was doing to you based on the color of your cheeks alone. Suddenly Guy grew rather sheepish. "I know how this is going to sound, but would you want to come by my place sometime?"

Your eyes widened. After all this time wondering what this man was really like, he was just the type to invite you into bed with him immediately? Admittedly part of you was curious, but you weren't stupid.

"Excuse me?"

Now it was his turn to blush.

"Well I know how that sounds," Guy said quickly, trying to get his words out faster than he could think. "But I just meant to make you dinner. I could show you how to cook some vegetables so that they aren't all that bad."

Immediately you felt bad for assuming the worst, offering him a small smile.

"I would like that."

He smiled back at you. Guy gave you his address as the two of you decided on a time before parting ways. You couldn't help the giddy grin that covered your face as you walked home. Your date couldn't come fast enough.

---

In the days leading up to your date with Guy, it was all you could think about. You told yourself that was fine, since you were obsessing over him already. At least now you had a reason to.

The day was finally here, and as the hours ticked away you found yourself growing more nervous. Deciding what to wear was a challenge in itself. Did you want to try to dress up nicer, or would that be too much? Yet at the same time you worried dressing too casual would give him the idea that you weren't as interested as you were.

You tried on just about everything you owned, settling for a dress that made you feel pretty. It was fancy enough to make you feel like you were trying, but still casual enough that you would be comfortable.

You looked at the clock, seeing that you still had ample time before you needed to leave. Sitting down, your mind wandered. What would tonight be like?

in your mind you ran through a myriad of scenarios. If you didn't like the food he cooked, you would have to just stomach it and hope for the best. Based on what he told you at the store though, it seemed like he would know what he was doing. Still, you worried that something would go wrong.

Above all, there was a bigger question ringing out in your mind. Would he try to kiss you? And, would you want him to?

The seconds turned to minutes as you pondered, the minutes turning into hours until it was time to go. You collected your things, making sure to grab any and all essentials before you left. You had already told your friends who you would be with, going as far as to give them the address should anything go wrong. Guy seemed like such a nice guy, but you could never be too careful.

Locking the door to your apartment behind you, you set off. It was early in the evening, and the sun was just beginning to set in the sky. You were thankful you wouldn't have to walk in the dark. You knew there were plenty of shinobi around, hell, you were even meeting one right now. But even then you felt uncomfortable walking home alone at night, surrounded by darkness.

It was a shorter walk than you anticipated, and before you knew it you were at his place. Taking a deep breath, you reached up to knock on his door. It seemed like a nice enough part of town, and his place itself was well-kept especially considering how much time you were sure he spent on training.

You heard Guy's loud steps make their way to the doorway, pausing on the other side before the door swung open. His usual confident smile was on his face, but instead of moving his mouth into words he just looked at you. You felt yourself growing red under his gaze.

"Hello Guy," you said softly, looking up at him.

-

Guy had been making the same amount of preparations as you, if not even more. He planned the meal out carefully, even practicing it the night before to make sure it went well. He had spent more time than usual perfecting his hair, making sure not a single strand would be out of place. He had even thought of exactly what he wanted to say when he opened the door.

Hello Y/n, he would say as he smiled at you. You look more beautiful every time I see you.

Sure, it was more forward than he had been with you before. This was a date after all, and he wanted to make how he felt about you clear from the start.

That plan went right out the window when he saw you, your sundress captivating him. It looked so cute on you, and at the same time there was something about it that sent a wave of tingles between his legs. To put it simply, he was speechless.

He knew he should say something but he couldn't, enraptured by the way you looked in his doorway.

"Hello Guy," you said to him. That sweet voice of yours would drive him crazy someday, and he knew that. He loved hearing his name fall from your lips, hoping it would be far from the last time. Everything about you made him fall for you more.

Despite his thoughts about your voice, your words were enough to stir him to action himself.

"Hey," he said.

Really Guy? He thought to himself. You're the Blue Beast, a strong shinobi. And yet all you can say to a woman is 'hey'?

You giggled at him, and he felt a smile creep onto his face.

"It's good to see you again," he continued. He decided to dial back the forwardness, realizing he had already kept you waiting outside for too long in his daze. "Come on in."

-

You followed Guy into his home, taking in the delicious aroma filling the rooms.

"I don't know what you're making," you stated, "but it smells amazing."

Guy beamed with pride, ushering you over to the kitchen.

"It's my favorite." He told you. "A spicy, vegetable curry."

Thankfully, you didn't mind spicy. In fact, you enjoyed it. Your mouth watered, taking in the sight and smell of the food in front of you.

"Actually, it should be just about done." Said Guy, stirring it all for a final time before putting it onto beautiful dishes to serve.

He had already set the table, candles and all. He pulled the chair out for you, pushing you back in as if you weighed nothing. He sat across from you, and the way he smiled at you made you weak in the knees. It's a good thing you had already sat down.

You wasted no time, digging in. And it was delicious.

"Oh my god Guy," you said in near disbelief at how good it was. You could see his expression perk up. "This is amazing!"

"I'm glad you like it," he chuckles, eating his own.

The rest of the meal went off without a hitch. You talked about your job and his, bonding over your love for your respective students.

"Maybe sometime I can come watch one of your training sessions," you mentioned. "I would love to see you teach them."

Guy smiled, "I would love that." The sincerity in his tone took you by surprise. While you knew he was never joking with you, there was always some sort of bravado to his speech that now was missing.

You helped him clean up despite his protests. You told him that if he cooked, you would at least clean up. It was only fair, after all. You scrubbed the dishes, oblivious to the way Guy was looking at you.

He never would have admitted it to anyone but himself, but he was falling in love with you. He had no problem picturing a life with you. Coming up to you at the end of the day, sharing a meal together. He wanted everything that life would bring him.

"Well," you said, finishing up, "I should probably get going."

"Let me walk you," insisted Guy. "A lady such as yourself should never walk alone at night."

He offered his arm to you, and you accepted it with a shy smile. You could feel his prominent muscles under the fabric of his outfit, and you could feel your face growing warmer. You were thankful for the darkness for obscuring your face from him, hoping he couldn't tell.

He could tell.

As the two of you made your way back towards your own apartment he would flex his muscles every so often, loving the way your face would flush. A couple of times he timed it right so that you were speaking, making you stutter.

The walk ended much earlier than either of you would have liked it to. Suddenly your heart started racing. You could answer your questions from earlier clearly.

Would he try to kiss you?

You sure hoped so.

Would you want him to?

Definitely.

You paused in your doorway, letting go of Guy's arm. You looked up at him, flashing him a genuine smile.

"I had fun tonight."

He reciprocated your own expression with a smile of his own, "me too."

You both paused for what seemed like the longest second in the world. It was as if he was building up the courage to actually go through with what he wanted to. He cleared his throat.

"Y/n, may I kiss you?"

You nodded your head and he lowered his lips to yours slowly. As you pressed your own lips to his you couldn't help the gasp that escaped them.

That's a sound I'll keep replaying... thought Guy.

He pulled away sooner than you would have liked, but he was a gentleman.

"I'll see you soon." Guy ended his sentence with a wink, sauntering off as you went to go inside.

"I can't wait."

[deidearly]

Prompt Dump, Naruto.

Pairing: Uzumaki Naruto x Reader

Prompt: Reader breaking into Naruto’s room through their window (prompt via https://atsuzaki-playground.neocities.org/)

You couldn’t stop yourself from thinking how he would run to you, calling out your name from the top of his lungs, once he’s back from his mission. Uzumaki Naruto, your best friend, used to be despised by almost all people here in Konoha. But things have changed—his smiles bloom more often, and his warm presence is always awaited by many, including you.

Naruto has been pretty occupied with a lot of missions lately and as much as you wanted him to loosen up even just a little bit, his optimism never fails to melt your worries away. “Don’t worry, Y/N. I’ll be back before you know it!” was what he promised you days ago.

He never breaks his own promises, right?

This one was different, however. You heard from the others that Naruto’s mission was a tough one, many people had been injured. Averagely speaking, Naruto would come back to the village less than a week—with his usual sheepish smile that would greet you at the main gate, but why did this one take longer than usual? Severe thoughts started to haunt you, forcing you awake at night.

You were woken up the next morning by the sound of birds chirping outside. “Finally,” you whispered to yourself. Konoha had been poured by heavy rains, dark clouds were surrounding the village—as if it also worried for Naruto’s whereabouts. You took the decent weather as a sign that it’s going to be a better day, and something good you had been expecting would happen. Without hesitation, you rushed to the front gate as your heartbeats grew faster.

“Oh, Y/N. Late for something?” a sweet voice stopped your steps from behind. You turned around, familiar with the voice that belongs to your pink-haired friend. “Sakura, I was just—“ you were about to answer her question when a sudden ache rushed, and it successfully paused you from speaking. Sakura was also assigned on the same mission with Naruto. With her right in front of your sight, it only means one thing, he’s back. “Where’s Naruto, Sakura?!” you yelped, followed by a soft smile from Sakura.

Your footsteps were louder than usual, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the whole village knew where you’re going. Sakura told you that the assigned team had arrived back at dawn and everyone immediately went back to their places. It’s very understandable, since the mission itself was hard and the chosen ones must’ve needed a rest. But you had no intention to stop yourself. Smiling ear to ear, you headed straight to a house—a messy house that, somehow, always smell like a freshly-cooked noodle. This time, though, you didn’t bother to knock on the front door. Pulling a full stunt, you climbed up to the window instead.

“Wake up, Naruto!”

The owner of the name jolted from his rest, surprised by a presence that had been casually watching him asleep. “Y/N! How did you—“, “As usual, you left your window unlocked.” You sneered. Naruto took his time to process what had been going on as he was rubbing his eyes. After making sure your breath was steady enough to talk, you decided to sit on the edge of the bed. Naruto followed your eyes, a smile started to grow. “Y/N, I was about to visit you later, you know? But a nap had to be taken! There are so many things that I want to tell you. The mission was pretty crazy—“

“I miss you.”

Just when you thought your voice was inaudible, Naruto froze. Realizing the sudden silence, a heat was sent to your entire body, making your cheeks blushed, “Uh… W-what… You were saying?” you asked abruptly as you’re trying to hide your face without being questionable. Upon seeing you flustered and red, Naruto ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry for making you worried. But, hey, I’m here, you know? Uzumaki Naruto never breaks his promise and you, Y/N, know that for sure!” he grinned.

You felt like all of your distress had been lifted. The person you missed the most was finally within your touch, once again. It’s like the sky was trying to tell you that the sunshine himself, had arrived, and you had nothing to worry about anymore.

“Say, how about we get ourselves some delicious pork ramen and I’ll tell you everything. My treat!” he stood up, reaching out his hand to take yours. You nodded, shooting him with the widest smile as you took his hand, and everything was fine.

[raendown]

Another follower milestone gift fic. This one is for @sarcastic-mommy for the prompt word obdurate.

Pairing: MadaraSakura Word count: 1249 Rated: G Summary: Sakura knew a lot about Madara before they ever even met. Loved him, maybe, from the first time they talked.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header!

Hard Headed, Soft Hearted

She saw him for the first time on the day Madara moved in to her building, scowl in place because he hated this town, hated having to leave his home, and Sakura remembered laughing from her window as she watched this new guy with crazy hair argue with his own boxes like if he could only yell loud enough they might pick themselves up and walk right in to the elevator for him. She remembered wondering why there was no one around to help him move but it was none of her business. The wondering only lasted about a month until half the building jolted upright at three in the morning to the sound of uninhibited sobbing while a man’s voice rang through the hallways saying, “But you didn’t tell anyone you moved again! Are you moving on? This is so healthy for you, Maddy! I’m so happy I found you!” 

By then the sound of Madara’s shouting was familiar enough that Sakura went back to sleep, perfectly assured that everything was okay. He didn’t sound angry. Sakura didn’t bother to question the way she already knew his moods by the tone of his yelling. 

It was something close to a year of living in the same building but a floor apart before they actually met officially and Sakura found herself laughing again as she gave her name, amused at the flabbergasted expression on Madara’s face when he offered a grunt of “Uchiha Madara” and all she could say in return was, “You should call Hashirama more often.” It wasn’t like he lived his life very quietly but Sakura grew up with two boys for best friends whose default volume was screaming in each other's faces. She was used to it. 

After that it was like the universe began carefully pulling at their strings, dancing the two of them back and forth through life only to trap them in that same dingy elevator together time and time again, never anyone else around and always such a coincidence that they managed to be there at the same time. Their schedules didn’t even line up. Yet there they were again and again until finally Madara scrubbed at the back of his head and asked if she wanted to stop off at his floor for a while. Sakura asked him why he’d waited so long. 

There were a lot of things about Madara that she knew before they ever met, things she picked up from the voices that shouted through the floor while she did her yoga routines and scrubbed out the bathtub. She knew that Madara liked his coffee black, knew he couldn’t stand his best friend’s little brother, knew he’d grown his hair long because his baby brother asked him to. She knew that same baby brother had passed away the year before they met and Madara had run to three different cities trying to escape the pain before he landed here in her old ass apartment building. There were a lot of things she knew. But knowing something and experiencing it for yourself were two very different situations and if Sakura had thought she knew what stubborn meant before, well, now she was convinced the definition of that word should be changed to simply a picture of Madara’s face in the dictionary, scowling like he was now over the rim of his soup bowl. 

“Do you or do you not live in the twenty-first century?” she asked him with a roll of her eyes. “You’re so old fashioned sometimes that I think about buying you a pocket watch. Or an ear trumpet.”

“I am not! And my hearing is fine!”

“You think women can’t propose to men? Hello? Get with the times, grandpa.”

Either it was the heat in her eyes or maybe the way she wielded her soup spoon like a tactical weapon but something made him sit back in his seat, crossing both arms over his chest with a snort, looking away like her gaze was too heavy to hold. 

“I never said women can’t propose to men, I said I don’t want you to propose to me.” 

“Still kind of a pig thing to say.”

His eyes flashed back, all fire and brimstone with the anger he carried always just beneath the surface. If she didn’t love it so much Sakura thought maybe she would hate it except she couldn’t ever imagine hating anything about Madara. Not even when he glared at her the way he did now, soup pushed to one side and one hand coming out to point accusingly in her direction. 

“Take that back,” he demanded. “I am nothing if not a gentleman.” 

“Yesterday you let the apartment door slam in my face while we were leaving,” Sakura pointed out. Then she bit the inside of her cheek as he flailed the hand between them. 

“I thought you had gone back inside! You said you needed to grab your purse!” 

“Okay, I’ll give you that.” After all, he couldn’t have known she meant the one that was sitting right beside the door. She did have a lot of purses. He complained about that all the time. 

Madara snorted. “See? Now take it back.”

“I don’t get what the big deal is! We talked about it, we’re gonna get married someday, what’s so bad about it if I’m the one who gets a bunch of roses and goes down on one knee and all that crap?”

And for all the things that Sakura knew about Madara, now and before they ever met, there was one thing that she often forgot in the heat of the moment when his voice reached impossible octaves and his volume attracted yet another call in an endless succession of calls to the police for one more noise complaint. Sometimes she just forgot how soft his heart was underneath all that bluster. It struck her again now, like it had so many times before, watching his face burn a sudden cherry red, pushing away from the table abruptly to stomp across the room and dig his hand around in that one broken light fixture they just never got around to fixing. 

When he pulled out a tiny blue velvet box Sakura could swear all the oxygen in the room vanished. 

“You can’t propose to me,” Madara growled, shaking the box like a threat. “Cause then I can’t propose to you! Quit ruining my plans, Haruno!” 

“M-madara…”

Pouting, he cradled the box to his chest and stomped off towards their bedroom with his nose in the air. “Now I have to find another hiding place for this. Vile woman. You know you make my life so damn difficult. Hmph. No, don’t get up, I have to call Hashirama. We need a new plan now.”

Lukewarm soup splashed across her work blouse when Sakura let it slip from her fingers and fall down in her forgotten lunch. She didn’t notice. For a minute or so all she could do was blink sightlessly while her brain tried to catch up to the revelation that apparently her boyfriend had been planning to propose. And that she’d ruined the surprise. Eventually a smile stole across her face and Sakura leaned back in her chair, peace stealing through her veins and warmth in her skin that had nothing to do with the sun streaming through the window. 

Gods but she loved that he was stubborn enough to do it right even when he didn’t have to. 

[the-kaedageist]

I was tagged by the lovely @mllekurtz for this - thank you for thinking of me! I’m always happy to navel gaze about my writing, haha.

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 46 works total!

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

~373k (woah)

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

I have a TON of fandoms listed since I participated in Yuletide a lot about ten years ago and I wrote a lot of one-shots for fandoms here and there in the 00s a lot and moved them all over from LJ to AO3 in the early 10s. I have 19 fandoms listed on AO3.

The top ones I’ve written in recently are: the Flash, Critical Role (obviously), a little bit of The Magnus Archives (although I have a wip that’s 23k words long that I should really finish), and exactly one Scum Villain fic - I really should write more of that.

4) What are your top five fics by kudos?

- Suspicious Behavior (Naruto, SasuNaru, 3,301 words)

I wrote this in 2006 when I was 20 and somehow it is still popular today? I still get comments on it? Sometimes people bookmark it with comments like “THIS IS FROM 2006 WTF???” and I laugh. It sure is! I haven’t read it in years but something about it must still appeal, go figure.

- Rules of Endearment (Inception, Arthur/Eames, 1,739 words)

I wrote this as a fill on the Inception kink meme in like, 2010. I barely remember it but it still does the rounds on AO3 sometimes too. Honestly, I don’t even think I’ve reread this in about five years. My other Inception fic is better but it totally does not have the kudos of this one; that’s the capriciousness of AO3! (On LJ, my other one, with dreamscape field trips, was more popular. What a weird world.)

- all you want all you need (I could be your everything) (Scum Villain, moshang, 2,404 words)

This is one that’s more recent! Hurrah! I wrote this in May. I definitely need to write more in this fandom.

- fist-fighting with fire just to get close to you (Critical Role, shadowgast, 3,079 words)

I posted this right at the height of shadowgast madness at the end of C2 and have the kudos to prove it. This fic took me over and wouldn’t release me until I’d written all 3,000 words of it in one sitting.

- So Magic About You (Critical Role, shadowgast, 1,699)

Wow, all of my top fics are short. I need to write more long fics in bigger fandoms. This was also written during the peak of shadowgast furor.

5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I absolutely try to! Every once in awhile I won’t on a really old fic or I’ll miss one, or I’ll take 7 months to respond to someone if I’m in a hiatus or whatever, but my intention is always to reply to my readers. I’m sure if I ever ended up deluged with comments like some of the cnovel fandoms end up being, I might stop this practice, but for now it’s manageable and I love each and every one of them.

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Honestly...considering I don’t remember a lot of my fics from before 2010 very well at all...none of them? I don’t really do angst.

OH ACTUALLY!!! The angstiest fic I ever wrote isn’t even on AO3 - I THINK it may still be on my old fic LJ? I wrote the very first Mohinder/Sylar fic (that I know of) for Heroes back in 2006/2007, immediately after the episode aired that had them together for the first time, and I made it a serial killing roadtrip where Mohinder was clueless but eventually figured it out? Except I decided NOT to have them fall in love because I was like, “that’s weird, they have crazy chemistry but I’ll keep it gen” and then they went on to be the biggest pairing for that show, lol. Anyway I THINK that ended angstily? I was 20.

My kingdom hearts fics are all kind of angsty too, I wrote them during a period where a friend of mine had just died when I was 19 and I basically used them to process my existential grief, but they all end on a hopeful note so I don’t think they count.

7) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK! My very first fanfic, back in 1999, was a Sailor Moon/Star Wars crossover that actually got a large enough following that people emailed me some fanart, another person wrote a spinoff, etc. I was 13? It was a wild time. I met two of my best friends through that fic, and back then, everyone had to send EMAILS to each other to give feedback.

8) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I actually discovered a really scathing review of one of my Flash fics back in March which was what kick-started my determination to have a better relationship with my own writing - if something like someone badmouthing my fic where they didn’t think I would see it made me feel so awful, then I needed to learn to love my own writing enough that nobody would make me feel that way. It’s been really paradigm-changing, in a really good way, although I would not have guessed it would have been so!

9) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I write smut but as part of longer fics, rarely as stand-alones (although I have been writing hornier one-shots lately so who knows, maybe I’ll eventually go all in). I do have a couple E-rated fics though.

10) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I did find one of my fics on one of those sites that tries to sell fanfic that’s harvested by bots, like 5-10 years ago? I think I sent a lot of emails to have it taken down. It was awhile ago.

11) Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don’t believe I have, or if I have, I’ve forgotten. We’re talking about nearly 20 years of my life here so my memory is a bit foggy.

12) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I haven’t formally co-written a fic before, but I’ve tossed the idea around with people in the past.

13) What’s your all time favourite ship?

There is no such thing, I go in waves of hyperfocus. I have so many ships I love and for so many different reasons.

14) What’s a WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Either my TMA fic (the 23k one) or my shadowgast time loop fic. I may actually end up finishing both of them though, I’m writing so much lately!

15) What are your writing strengths?

I think I’m a very strong writer when it comes to wacky hijinks. This has always been my writing strength, and while it gets a bit more sophisticated as I get older, you can see just from some of my Critical Role fics that it’s still the genre I default to. (Fist-fighting with fire and my fjorjester/blumenduo fics probably showcase this the best. You’d THINK it would be Tusk Love, but that actually ended up somewhat serious despite the wacky premise).

I also think a lot of my fics (although not all, mostly the long fics) tend to have scenes composed in an almost cinematic way in them because I see a lot of them as movies/TV in my head. I’ve been complimented on this before and it was one of my favorite comments to ever receive.

16) What are your writing weaknesses?

I have a pretty utilitarian approach to word choice and language that sometimes makes my writing plain and simplistic; this also uses me to overuse the same few words a lot. A lot of times I am writing to shove a scene that I’m seeing in living color in my head out on the page; the words are secondary. I do tend to go through on my edits and fix a lot of the word choices, change phrasings, and get rid of the plainness of the language, but it’s definitely a weakness of mine.

I also write by the seat of my pants with regards to plot, which means the story forms as I write. Even if I write an outline, if I outline any more than 1-2 scenes ahead of where I currently am, the story always changes. This is maybe not necessarily a weakness, but it is one of the main reasons that I post my fics only once I’ve fully completed them - it allows me to go back and make sure the plot twists are adequately hinted at, the story is paced well, etc.

17) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I usually don’t do it other than the occasional one-off. If characters are speaking in another language, I usually just write their dialogue in English and then include “they said in Zemnian” or whatever. I will occasionally have Caleb swear or use a pet name or whatever in Zemnian but that’s the extent of it. I don’t mind it in other fics, but I don’t want to butcher languages I don’t speak so I avoid it as much as possible!

18) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

As I mentioned above, Sailor Moon! (Well technically, and Star Wars, but the crossover was in the Sailor Moon universe and my main character was a Mary Sue named Sailor Alderaan. I don’t think it exists on the internet anymore but the wayback machine may still have it. Please don’t look it up.)

19) What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

Oh GOD. What a question. Probably “The World is Not Enough”, my 90k fic for the Flash. Despite starting with an absolutely ridiculous premise (does this sound familiar?), I think it is by far the best plotting, pacing, and relationship development I’ve ever written. Oddly, despite being a fic I’m insanely proud of, it’s just never gotten a lot of attention even in that rarepair side of fandom...my other two fics for that pairing are pretty popular but that one just gets overlooked a lot.

---

I’m exhausted from a LONG day and have no idea who has been tagged and who hasn’t, so please consider this an open tag for all!

[villainousqueenofhearts]

Got You in My Clutches (YanKabuto x Reader 18+)

Part 2

Warning this contains Rape and possibly more. 

Au to Together At Last and Tainted In Lust.

I hope that you guys enjoy this lovely lemon that was brought to you by hentaifangirl69 sponsored by pervertedthoughts.org which was made possible by viewers like you

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~Time skip, Reader’s P.O.V ~

A few days have passed since my brother went missing, I’ve questioned Naruto due to him being the last to Sasuke but he said that he hadn’t seen Sasuke at all.

I called my parents and Itachi to alert them to Sasuke’s disappearance. Itachi got here faster than I thought that he would when I told him but our parents are still trying to get back as soon as possible, Itachi and I have looked practically everywhere we could to find Sasuke but to no avail.

With each day my hope of finding Sasuke shrinks bit by bit but no matter what I won’t stop trying to find him, was the thought that ran through my mind with determination as I searched the west side of town while Itachi searched the east.

As I continue to walk around town I put up posters along the way but just as I was about to walk away I heard a familiar voice speak. “Missing person huh? Now that doesn’t sound right” Out of curiosity as to what they meant by that I turned around to spot Kabuto.

“What do you mean?” He turned to face you while adjusting his glasses.

“I’ve seen him just a while ago” My eyes widen as I grabbed him by the shoulders.

“WHERE?! Where exactly have you seen him?” I practically shouted at him.

He calmly grabbed my hands and gently removed them before replying to my questions. “Not far from here actually” Stopping to fixing his glasses he starts back up with what he was saying. “I could show you if you’d like?” 

Stepping closer I firmly nodded my head. “Yes, show me”  I was so busy with the thought of finally finding Sasuke that I completely missed the slight smirk and evil glint Kabuto had as he lead me to an ally a few blocks down and when we got there I saw a dark figure hunched over with his knees brought up to their chest foolishly thinking that it was Sasuke I ran over to them while excitedly shouting Sasuke’s name. “Sasuke!”

But when I finally got over to him and pulled off their hoodie I had a confused look on my face as I stared at them.  “Sorry, dearie but I’m not Sasuke” His smirk was off-putting as he placed his hand on his hip.

“Orochimaru-Sensei? What are-” I was cut short when I felt something get injected into my neck, feeling my consciousness fading fast but before it did I felt myself fall into someone’s arms.

“Well that was easier than I thought, you really were too trusting” Kabuto shook his head in a mock disapproving manner before smirking again. “Well, I guess that worked more in my favor though” He finished not that I heard much of it remembering that I mentioned that my conscious was fading? Yeah, you do.

When I came to I woke up strapped to some weird chair and in front of me was a TV well two TV’s actually both were currently off, I carefully examined the area in hopes of finding something to aid in my escape but nothing looked like it would work couldn’t even knock my chair over.

After god knows how long someone finally breaks the somewhat silence, I tried to turn my head back as far as I could but could only see a bit of the person which was enough to figure out who it was. 

“Kabuto” I glared but he clearly couldn’t see it properly due to the angle.

“Just as timed” He stepped over to my side looking me over and double checking my ties. “Mmm definitely won’t be breaking out of these, good”  He did a few other things as well that I couldn't see until a thought came to me.

“Did you...did you kidnap my brother?” He got up and dusted his hands.

“No” I felt relief only for it to be crushed.

“But I did assist in helping him get abducted” He smirked and walked over to a table grabbing a remote.

“Why? For money?” I laughed. “Good luck with that our parents won’t pay a single cent” Not because they don’t care but because they will do everything in their power to get us back.

He had a thoughtful look that was clearly fake before speaking. “You know I don’t think Orochimaru’s reason for abducting Sasuke was for money” 

“Then why? Huh, why all of this?” I pressed to find out which caused him to smirk. “You know I could show you better than I could tell you” Grabbing one of the remotes next to him switching on TV 1.

And what I saw was sickening Orochimaru and Sasuke who looked like he was fighting back moans and more soon the camera zoomed in closer on Sasuke and Orochimaru mentioned that I would be watching this video.

He glared at Orochimaru to which Orochimaru asked if there was anything he would like to say but Sasuke only looked away with a look of shame and a mix of hate. Orochimaru brought the camera over to himself and smirked. “Well, ____ it doesn’t look like your precious brother has anything to say pity but nothing that can be done” He then reached over the pet Sasuke’s head causing Sasuke to pull away. 

“You know he did try to get out of this life he even tried to make a deal with the cult….” He cut to me tilting his head with a smirk. “Would you like to know what the deal was?” I raised a brow while still keeping a glare.

“I’ll take that as a yes” Turning on the second one this time Naruto showed up on it and horrible stuff was happening to him too. “This is what became of your boyfriend last Saturday all because of Sasuke” He shut it off when Naruto said that we ‘re through.

“Why?” Feeling absolutely broken that was all I could manage to say, I felt him brush some of my hair out of my face.

“Because of you” I looked at him wondering how could this all be my fault?

“What? You never noticed?” He chuckled. “My _____ you are too oblivious it’s almost pathetic if it wasn’t so cute” My anger only grew as he mocked me.

“Noticed what?” He shook his head before answering. 

“Your brother loved you and I don’t mean in a platonic way ” I shook my head in disbelief.

“No, no your lying!” I refuse to believe that. 

“That’s your choice but personally I can’t say that I blame him, I mean it’s because of my want for you as well that I help set all of this up” As he said this I held a look of disgust.

“What why? We barely talked” 

“Ah but the few times we did were enough for my heart to be completely under your spell” That’s just stupid, I’m pretty sure it was four or five times that can’t be enough.

“Regardless I will never return your sick version of love” He stood up and went over to grab something again.

“I’m completely content with just having you so you returning my feelings is unnecessary but would have been a nice bonus” He held up a syringe with some kind of weird liquid in it and with each step he took towards me I moved further back into my chair and still tried to move even more even when I ran out of room it just offered a slight comfort that was short lived.

The moment that needle pierced my skin then I suddenly felt hot all over with a certain needy feeling down below. “My such excellent results” He pushed up his glasses causing a sinister gleam to appear on his glasses.

“Make it stop” He crossed his arms.

“Well, there’s really only one way to do that” He stooped down looking me dead in the eyes. “Which you may not like at first but I assure you that you will grow to” 

I knew what he meant but there was just no way I could do it right? Not after everything he’s done to Sasuke, to Naruto. 

“But I won’t force you to do it the choice is all yours” He awaited my answer which I tried to think over as carefully as possible, thinking this over was getting harder and harder to do, this was so unbearable that I was sure if I said no I 'd just die, I mean how could I not? It was just so strong.

Not being able to go on I said what I knew he wanted to hear. “Fine just make it go away,” I said with no choice but to give in.

He smirked as he started stripping. “Gladly” Once he was naked he got down lower and started fingering me making me moan uncontrollably. He would scissor, wiggle add an extra finger anything that would give me pleasure and boy did it, I was at the edge of my seat with every move he made but just as I was about to cum he stopped.

“What the hell?” I shouted with need.

“I’m not ready for you to cum just yet first I want to do a few other things” He opened a drawer pulling out a few sex toys that he quickly put to use.

He stuck something up my ass then pressed a button causing it to wiggle around the feeling was odd but pleasurable nonetheless then he added a dildo into my pussy activating it as well making more pleasure surge through me.

I screamed out my moans to which he liked, I could tell by the look on his face that he did. “My your reactions are just perfect” His glasses shone in a mad scientist way as he added a smirk to go along with it. “Couldn’t ask for better ones”

He got closer and opened my mouth placing his cock into my mouth and for some odd reason I started sucking, licking and bobbing causing it to twitch like crazy soon enough he came but yet again before I could he'd stop but before I could complain he kissed me while jerking his penis into me with so much force I’m surprised the chair survived.

Our tongues fought one another as his hips thrust giving me so much pleasure but it didn’t just stop there he would bite and pinch all the right places and the harder he went the more pleasant it felt.

While he was licking my neck I felt a knot build up and this time I prayed that he would finally let me cum which he did.

I was so thankful and soon he came as well and as his warm seed spread inside me I couldn’t help but twitch.

“Now doesn’t that feel much better?” He stepped back as I just nodded.

“Knew that it would” He lean close to my ear biting it a bit before whispering in it. “Would you like to do more?” I looked at him slightly and nodded bringing a side smirk to his face.

“Just what I wanted to hear” He pressed some button that brought out more stuff. “Cause I have so much more that I want to test out on you”  A smirk that would put any mad scientist to shame came to his face as he stood in front of me before moving to all of his playthings that he couldn’t wait to try.

_________________ 

DONE FINALLY! This took forever.

[coolkat122]

Twisted Teeth: Vampire Gaara x Reader Chapter 2 Part 1

It was originally going to be just one long one-shot, but I thought it best to break it up...which might lead me to going back and editing part one then, in case it's not flowing right.

________________

I had a lot of work to do this morning and found it almost near-impossible to catch a break and when I did Naruto showed up, and I really didn't want to leave, but I had to.

So as much as I didn't want to, I cut our fun conversation short and went out hunting for Gaara's food, I went the extra mile and caught three rabbits for him in case he was really hungry.

"Hey, it's me, I brought you some foo-" I paused in my sentence having seen that, my troubles were for naught, made clear by the two bunny bodies that were discarded in a corner.

Gaara who was looking better though still frail lifted the covers off of his body by a little to peek his head out, he looked at me and towards the three rabbits in my hand and made a gesture for me to bring them over.

"You're still hungry?" Gaara nodded.

"They're too small to supply me with the amount that I need" I bit my lip as I handed the rabbits over, quietly debating if I should ask the question that was on my mind.

Feeling like the answer was yes, I asked, "Just how much exactly do you need?" Gaara who had just bit into the rabbit, draining it of its blood, replied as I looked away. 

"What I caught and what you brought me will be enough for the day" That doesn't exactly answer my question, but I left it at that.

"Alright, good" I sat down by the table, Gaara after finishing off the last bunny, sat up even more in his bed, watching me from his side of the room.

"Thank you for the meal" I cut my eyes toward him and gave a slight nod before averting them.

"....is something the matter?" Gaara asked, but before I could reply no, he answered his own question.

"Does the blood bother you?" I gave a tiny strain smile with an awkward laugh.

"Yes, a little."

"Then I will go wash up and refrain from doing this around you in the future" Gaara rose up from the bed and headed toward the bathroom.

I found it nice that he cared enough to wash himself up and was even going to not eat in front of me, I'm not sure if Gaara was just naturally this considerate or if maybe my kindness is rubbing off on him in such short time!

Either way, I'm grateful and really appreciate it, when Gaara got back he was relatively clean, you know besides his clothes which were still very dirty from his fight with the hunters and the dirt.

I think now is the time to perhaps bring him a change in clothing? Maybe Jiriaya left some behind?... I suppose I should check, I stood up from the table and went looking through his old dressers. 

As I was hoping I did find some clothing, but uh they weren't going to fit and were pretty dirty them-self... covered in webbing and so much dust, so the purpose even if they did fit it would have been pointless in the end anyway... 

Er, well, I guess, I could wash these and he could wear them regardless of their size? I shrugged pulling out a pair I thought he would look good in and proceeded to go clean them.

Gaara surprisingly followed me outside where the sun was still pretty much out and about, "I thought vampires perished in the sun?" kinda went out of my way to ensure that there wouldn't be a chance of him getting even a tiny bit of it on him... feels pretty pointless now.

"...I'm only half" I titled my head to the left a slightly confused, I was unaware of half-breeds among vampires and really didn't even know that they could breed. 

I thought being undead kinda put a stop to certain "things" if you catch my drift... shows just how much I know about vampires...

"I.. I didn't know that was a thing" I regrettably voice my thoughts, that now that I was hearing them out loud sounded a bit insensitive or maybe I'm just overthinking it?

"It is rare, not many are capable of it, unfortunate for some or so I've heard, wheres a blessing for others"  Gaara sounded a bit off when talking of this, but I didn't want to push, though I think I can guess on where he stood on it.

At least judging from his tone when mentioning certain parts of the topic, "I see... not too different from humans then so that's interesting" I offered my best smile and bright side take on the subject as I washed the clothing.

"... I guess that's true..." Gaara fell silent after that, which I guess is normal for him since he seems to be the quiet type, much like my friend Shino... though in Shino's case, I'm sure he would love to talk more if someone would let him...

"I'm glad you think so... I find it kind of nice that we have similarities in our species, I never really give it any thought till now... but I'm am pretty curious to just how much more we have in common?" I took a slight pause in washing the clothes so that I may gaze upon Gaara as I begin to ask him my question. 

"Aren't you?" 

"I am...now" A smile broke out on my face, happy to hear he felt the same as I returned back to cleaning, it didn't take me long to get them as good as new, so I smiled happily and begun hanging them up to dry. 

"Shouldn't be too long till they are dry, but if they aren't by the time I have to go home, you can always just get them yourself" I turned to face Gaara who was still watching me from four feet away. 

"Is it really okay for me to wear those?" I placed my hand on my hip as I shot him a smile. 

"Why wouldn't it be? Jiraiya has long since abandoned them and I don't see Naruto wearing them any time soon so what's the harm in you putting them to good use?" I raised a brow, expecting a response, but he remained silent so I took it as him accepting my points.

So with a happy little nod, I lead him back into the cabin with a cheerful hum, I went straight for the table and pointed toward the other chair for Gaara to sit on, like I wanted he followed my little wish and sat across from me. 

I placed my elbows onto the table leaning forward as I rest my chin onto my palms, gazing at my red-haired friend while probably looking pretty goofy from how I'm smiling.

"You know... when I saved you, I never imagined I would become such fast friends with you... it's really such a crazy thing that I'm finding it hard to believe even now" Gaara's face showed shock as he leaned back a bit in his seat with eyes wide.

"Friends? You think of me as a friend?" This time I was taken back and was starting to feel silly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, was I out of line? It just kinda felt like maybe we were so I-" Gaara's eyes were locked onto me as I fumbled around on finding what to say.

"I... I don't think you were... I just wasn't aware you felt so fondly toward me?... and besides" Gaara paused glancing down toward his lap for a moment before staring at the wall dejectedly. 

"I've never had a friend before... is this perhaps what it feels like to...have one?" Gaara broke away from the wall to look at me with curious, sad green orbs, I felt pretty sad for him when I heard that, though if I'm being honest I suspect that he was a rather lonely fellow from our previous talks.

Smiling sweetly at my new friend, I assured him, "Yes Gaara, this is what having a friend feels like" a tiny smile made way onto his lips and it was precious. 

"I see..." He said in a low, tender voice, it was so sweet and gentle, with a hint of a faint blush upon* his cheeks, I couldn't help but break out into a wide grin.

'Gaara, I promise you I'll be the best first friend you've ever had and when I'm sure that you're ready, I'll help you make even more~' I mentally vowed to Gaara to help brighten his world and fill it with some much-needed love.

~~~~

Before I had known it Gaara had made a full recovery and weeks had flown by since I found Gaara that one fateful night, I thought by the time he would get better he'd pretty much leave and just pay me visit from time to time, but.

That wasn't the case, he asked for my permission to stay in Jiriaya's cabin a little longer so we could continue to spend more time together, I told him yes, obviously, we were friends now and I wanted to get to know him better, which.

I did and like I had hoped from spending as much time as I could with him when I could sneak out or had some excuse to leave the village for a bit, I would go to the cabin and meet with Gaara as he slowly opened up to me more and more with each visit. 

Gaara would share and tell me something new and fascinating about vampires, and of himself, this would contain some times sweet and fun information, but it would also yield sad and painful to hear knowledge about him, those times were bittersweet little moments, between us, that I still hold dear nonetheless.

Though as I'm sure you could guess, sneaking out to visiting him wasn't exactly easy, I couldn't be seen going out as often as I was, I didn't exactly have an excuse for it all of the time, it's not like I was a hunter despite knowing a few tricks from my grandfather who was one. 

My friends and family would get suspicious as to where was I going and why was I suddenly interested in going outside of the village so out of the blue, if I were caught doing it as much as I was.

It's not as if I could tell them of Gaara, neither party was ready for that step yet, Gaara still needed more time to adjust to human companionship among other things and I somehow have to figure out to ease them into the idea of a friendly vampire.

I'm sure Naruto would be more than ready to welcome such a thing, but the others... hmm well, some convincing was in order... Especially Sasuke.

That boy is from a well know vampire hunting clan after all... wait a second... who exactly were the hunters that were attacking Gaara and just why was he being attacked?

Where I found him wasn't all that far and if I recall Sakura mentioned that Sasuke and a few members were out on a mission from a nearby town to take care of some vampires...

I bit my lip from concern that maybe that vampire could have been Gaara and his attackers could have been the Uchihas... oh lord, please no.

Taking a brief break during my walk toward my sneak-out spot, I stopped to think of what I should do if what I feared were true, how would I go about it then?

It would make everything so much harder which was something that was already going to be quite a challenge given how feared and hated vampires are, and I already knew that Sasuke was going to be the hardest to get on board with this.

 'Darn it all!' I frowned as I chewed on my thumbnail out of frustration. 

To be continued ➡️

[hiraemy]

dear dream

“After spending half of your life with your crackhead friends, the last year of highschool finally pounds on your door. At first, you’re more than eager to finally finish school without regrets, but as the year comes to an end, you realize that you’re running out of time.”

tags:  fluff, comedy, a bit of angst, 7dream assemble, highschool!au, bestfriends!au, a lot of references to HSM, Camp Rock, MCU, disney animations, and Naruto (you don't have to know all of them, those are just extras)

warnings: a lot of swearing, drinking, shitty past relationships, mentions of mental problems, implied parents issues

word count: 25,5k

10 Months Until Graduation

“I’m sad and lonely, can someone please—  “ 

“No.” Renjun interrupts you, not even letting you finish your sentence. You pout, showing him your best puppy face and your cringiest aegyo, but he doesn’t bat an eyelash, already used with your bullshit “For fucks’ sake, what is it?” 

“I need human contact. 'had a sad, depressing thought last night.” You whine, dramatically leaning your head on his shoulder and making a scene. Renjun doesn’t waste a second before pushing you off him, and you just sulk around for the sake of drama. "I'm going to die as a single cat-lady"

“And? I like being single, and I also like cats, so I don't see the problem here” Jeno pops his tongue out, trying really hard to open the kimchi jar his mom packed for him. You blink twice at that, but you decide to not question why the fuck Jeno has a big jar of kimchi to eat at 9 fucking am, preferring to focus on your issue. "There's more important things to think than getting laid. Exams and Basketball, for example,"

"I disagree, but do your best" Donghyuck mocks him, fake saluting as he takes a bite of meat in his mouth.

"I don't see why you're making a scene" Renjun groans, also taking the time between bites of food to voice his opinion "It's just high school. You'll have an awfully long time to find your destined one later on life. They say that high school relationships never last long anyway,"

“First of all, fuck you Renjun,” You narrow your eyes at him, the male snickering amusedly at you, making you roll your eyes. “C’mon, guys. It’s senior year, there’s prom! I just realized no guy in this school will have the guts to invite me because of my fuckin’ ex and all of you"

"Why are you blaming us?" Jaemin asks, quite bewildered. You shrug at him.

"Dunno. Why don't you tell me? I don't understand how the male species work!" You roll your eyes, poking your vegetables with your chopsticks, but not making any move to take them to your mouth. "Just heard some guys in the tennis club sayin' that the expectation bar was too high because I hang out with you. It doesn't even make sense, what the fuck?!"

"I still don't see how your love life problems involves us—" Renjun chips, drinking his juice.

"You guys do know that you have to invite someone, right?” You wriggle your eyebrows at them, grinning like a mad woman. 

“Not going to invite you.” Hyuck immediately deadpans and you roll your eyes at him

“Ew! Are you insane? I’m not going with you— That’s, like, incest!” You pretend to vomit, scrunching your face. "I'm not asking any of you to invite me. I'm just saying that, if I don't get a date to prom, I'm going to concentrate all of my efforts on getting y'all a date!"

"Ten bucks says you'll forget about this plan in less than two months" Jisung raises his eyebrows and you gasp dramatically at him

"I'll give her five weeks" Chenle grins and you also give him your best betrayal look. “Well, Jisung and I are going together anyway, since we're not actually seniors—” Chenle announces, exchanging looks with the younger one and crossing their arms in the most bro-way possible. "By the way, how are we going to sneak in?"

You try to ignore them for the sake of your sanity and you narrow your eyes at the rest of the group, half-expecting them to say something.

“Chill, we have more than half of the year to get a pair.” Mark says with his mouth full of watermelon, making you crunch your face in disgust at him. 

“Why are you so obsessed with prom anyways? It's not, let's say, mandatory to every girl to have someone to escort them to the party. It won't be a big deal if you go alone” Jaemin shrugs and you glare at him

"It's not about having a date to prom. The point is, we're graduating! We have to make it special, right? A night to remember, the night of all nights and everything! We're ending highschool—"

“If we pass, which is not easy as you sound—” Mark shivers, but you ignore him for sake of your speech

"...and we have to make it special! So, I'm getting y'all dates to prom!"

“Can I quit?”

“Shut up Injunnie. And no, you can’t”

9 Months Until Graduation

It’s a sunny, tiring day. You’d gone through two tests today, one in chemistry and another in physics, and you were sure you’d failed both of them. You and the rest of the squad go to a nearby coffee shop, your mind still working non-stop in a foolproof plan for setting up your friends with someone, lowkey feeling bitter about Chenle, who was right saying you were almost giving up in less than five weeks.

You realized too late that your friends were hopeless when it came to their love lives. You tried playing cupid, but no one was successful, except for Donghyuck, who had a notorious reputation of being a fuckboy. Jisung was too shy to even talk to the girl. Chenle had absolutely no chill, treating the girl in a bro way. Jaemin was lowkey rumored to be gay because of the way he interacted with Jeno, and those rumors made no one take you seriously when you asked to go on a date with him. Jeno’s love was clearly limited to his three cats, Bongshik, Seol and Lal. Renjun didn’t even try. 

So, in summary, Mark was your last hope.

"Go ahead, she’s single" You said, pointing to a pretty girl that was in the waiting line for her iced tea. Mark awkwardly stood up from your table, moving almost like a robot to talk to her.

“So… Sooyoung, right?” His face is a mix of embarrassment, cringiness and fake confidence as he leans on the wall awkwardly, trying for the cool guy image but doing poorly on it. The girl is confused and takes a few steps back, slightly creeped out.

“Hmnn, no? I’m actually Soyeon, but nice try, I guess...”

Donghyuck had his fist stuffed into his mouth trying to conceal his snorts. Jeno and Renjun had curled into themselves, heads buried in their arms, hiding behind the backs of two unsuspecting girls on the table ahead of them. Jaemin was smiling openly, whispering new ideas, while you try to suppress a giggle behind your hand. Chenle’s rich ass is recording everything in his iPhone 11 Pro Max with 512GB, making sure he captures everything in the highest quality possible— even if all of you know it will be blurry in the end, because he keeps giggling and his hand is shaking—  and Jisung is half amused, half cringing at all the judging stares they’re receiving from everyone else in the store.

“Oh, yeah, right, Soyeon, totally knew that, hahah!” Mark’s glare turns back to your table and sends a middle finger behind his back, and everyone loses their mind. He messes with his hair, trying really hard to not cringe as he speaks the next sentence. “So...  I’velostmyphonenumbercanIhaveyours— ”

“What?” Soyeon frowns and Mark turns so red that Jeno chokes on his own saliva and Donghyuck has to muffle his laughter on his hoodie. Renjun pokes you and points towards his phone, who has Jaemin’s contact on it. The other boy is messing with his settings, changing his ring tone and putting on the loudest volume possible. He gives Renjun a thumbs up, exchanging a smirk with him.

“I’ve lost my phone number, can I have yours instead?” The poor boy manages to say, regretting all of his life choices. In that exact moment, Renjun presses the call button,

“Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy~ But here’s my number— ”

Call Me Maybe blasts off as Jaemin’s ringtone making everyone crack up, even Soyeon, who seems to understand the situation in the moment your squad— aka, mainly you, Donghyuck, Chenle and Renjun, — falls to the ground howling. She glances at your group and gives a peace sign to Chenle's camera(that now was in Jisung's hold), amused as fuck. She gives Mark a pity pat on the back and leaves him behind with slumped shoulders.

“I hate y’all” He says as he comes back to your table, sitting next to you and burying his head between his arms. You give him a pat on the head, smiling slightly.

“Well, at least that was funny” You tease, sipping on your iced cappuccino. “Never thought I would see someone being more awkward than Jisungie when it comes to speaking with girls, what the fuck”

“Sooyoung, right?” Renjun mocks, not bothering to hide his cackles. Jaemin mimics a disgusted expression, putting his hand on his chest 

“My name is Soyeon! How dare you?!” He overreacts, slapping Renjun’s shoulder sassily. You laugh as Mark’s nose scrunches painfully

“It’s not my fault!” Mark whines, cheeks red. You sigh, shaking your head. Again, your friends were hopeless after all.

“I give up,” You admit bitterly, pouting when Chenle smirks. He extends his hands to both you and Jisung, wriggling his fingers quite cocklily. Both of you groan as you give him a ten dollars bill each. 

8 Months Until Graduation

You don’t know how the fuck things turned out this way. At first glance, it was one of those days where you’d think that nothing could go wrong— and that’s exactly when everything went to shit. 

You were okay until now, it had been a long time since one of your ex-friends wasted their time spreading rumors about you. But today, at least half of the entire school was somehow convinced that you were some kind of child problem who raided innocent convenience stores? 

Donghyuck was also in deep shit. He had this fling going on with some girl you didn’t know personally, and he was really interested in making things serious with her, something that wasn’t very common to happen in his fuckboy life. Then, karma came kicking his butt, the girl saying she didn‘t want to have any serious relationship right now.

Jisung was lowkey in one of his bad days, when he’d let mean comments get into him. This time, he was feeling bad about the boys in his and Chenle’s class, the assholes ones. In general, Jisung was a shy kid, so the other kids took that as an advantage to make fun of him behind his back, and today, they messed with his lunch box when he wasn’t looking. 

You don’t know who suggested it, but at the end of the day, all eight of you were buried under the blankets in your house. You pushed the sofas to the wall, leaving enough space between the couches and tv to lay down mattresses in the floor. Chenle bought enough snacks for all of you, including McDonalds fries for Jisung, and Haribo gummy bears for you. 

Avengers Endgame was playing on the big screen, a classic that you’d watched and cried a million times before, being a great fan of the MCU and the greatest Iron Man agenda between your friends, who were all Captain America supporters, except for Donghyuck, who was your only ally in this war. 

Talking about Donghyuck, the boy was feeling especially cuddly tonight. He convinced Renjun to lay down on the couch with him, but both of them were fighting constantly to see who was going to be the big spoon (Renjun won). Jisung and Chenle were sitting down on the mattress, with their backs also on the couch, taking their sweet time with the food Chenle had bought. They weren’t paying that much attention to the movie, but rather, making fun of Renjun and Donghyuck arguing. Jaemin and Jeno took over another couch, and the pink haired boy had his legs all spread over Jeno’s lap without a care in the world. Jeno didn’t seem to mind that, tapping rhythmically on Jaemin’s knee while paying attention to the movie. You and Mark were laying on the mattress, at some point, you had asked him to cuddle as you were lowkey feeling needy for human contact. 

Welp, no one can be a cold hearted bitch for too long, you thought amusedly.

The mess of limbs was strangely comforting. You had your back pressed against his chest, his arms wrapping around you firmly, keeping you close enough for you to feel his muscles moving when he took a deep breath. For a moment you wondered if his arm that was under you didn’t feel numb because of your weight, but you didn’t ask, as Mark never voiced a complaint about that.

"Y'know, I lowkey feel like you're the Black Widow of our group," Mark whispers as the camera zooms on the red haired woman's worn out state in the Vormir planet. You blink slowly, confused, turning your entire body to face him, adjusting your position, so now you can snuggle into his warmth, your hands slowly finding a good spot to rest in his back.

"But she’s the one that dies in the end? Are you implying that I’m gonna die?" You tease, smiling at how Mark quickly becomes flustered. 

"That’s not what I meant!" He whines, playfully pinching a bit of your skin. "It's just that you share a lot of things. Like, she dies for the sake of her family—"

"Yeah, she still dies. Am I supposed to be flattered by that?"

"Oh god, shut up and let me finish" He groans, the muscles on his neck moving with the deep sound he lets out of his throat. You try to not focus too much on that, concentrated at how his face muscles move at each unique expression he makes. "Natasha is one hell of a woman, no one can deny that. She's strong and badass, and sometimes, her humor actually reminds me of you? The part when she dies, she is sacrificing herself for the soul stone and for all of her friends-slash-family, because she wants all of them back, even if she doesn't know if the plan is going to work out in the end"

"Hmm, that's true" You hum in agreement, raising your eyebrow questiongly. "But I still don't get how you think we look alike. Except for being the only female in a group full of testosterone, of course,"

"You're pretty, strong and badass." Mark says, as if stating the obvious. You feel your heart beating faster, being your turn to feel flustered with his straightforwardness. "And I think you would be a team player too, the type of person to go to that extent to save everyone else, to put a hundred percent of faith in your family just like that" 

"Wow," You chuckle nervously, looking away for a moment to recover your posture. You fake a cough on your fist, staring at the screen— That’s the exact scene where Natasha's sacrifice happens, the beautiful scenario and its color palette stunning you for a single second. Then, you remember that you’re still talking to Mark in hushed whispers to not annoy anyone else, and he half-expected you to continue the debate. "Hmmm, If I’m Natasha Romanoff, I guess you would be Peter Parker, then?" 

"Why?" His eyes shine with curiosity at your words, and you can't help but to feel lured in his gaze, almost as if he was some time of magnet you couldn’t take your eyes off.

"You're almost the real life version of him," You let out a tiny chuckle, impressed with your own analogy. "You're both nerds, awkward as fuck, but still a sweet and pretty good looking bastard— Like, how the hell can you get the best of the two worlds? Being handsome and smart at the same time, that's like, cheating, but in real life" You complain pettily, pretending to be upset just for the sake of drama. 

Mark smiles, and you’re shy enough to let the topic die just like that. You turn around  again, thanking the gods that the room was dark, so no one could see the color difference in your heated cheeks. His hands never leave your waist, and you feel safer than ever in his arms. 

"Are the babies asleep?" Jaemin asks after the post credits scene finishes, the black screen of the tv staring back at them.

"Chenle and Jisung passed out before the Battle of Earth, pussies" Renjun teases, taking the opportunity to jab freely at the unsuspecting boys. He looks at you and Mark, both of you in deep slumber in each other's arms. "Awww, how cute. I'm going to puke, but it's worth it"

"Indeed" Jeno nods, smirking at your peaceful expression. Mark moves around his head and groans, making the four awake boys tense up, afraid of the older waking up. He mutters something incomprehensible under his breath, but quickly settles in burying his nose on your hair, making everyone let out relieved sighs.

"Well, now that the babies are all asleep, it's time for us to watch some real grown man stuff" Donghyuck states, taking the tv remote on his hand.

"Are we going to watch Frozen or Tangled?"

"Tangled, what type of guy do you think I am?"

7 Months Until Graduation

“I’m going to die!” Donghyuck cries dramatically, shaking you by your shoulders and you just let him do whatever he wants, your head bouncing to every direction possible without resistance, soul almost dead at this point. “I’m going to be crushed— Oh dear lord, please, save me from being stomped by giants on court—”

“Oh shut the fuck up, no one has ever died playing basketball” Renjun sasses him. Renjun would never admit, not even on his deathbed, but he was also scared shitless of the players of Busan High.

He was pretty sure he had a clear reason to be intimidated, after all. One of the players was almost 2m, and at least four of their team had over 185cm. As if that wasn’t enough, they were built like titans, not resembling high schoolers at slightest.

“Is this fucking anime?” You couldn’t help but hiss, making people laugh at the bitter tone you had. While Busan’s players were all damn trees, Jeno, Donghyuck and Chenle were at the average height for teenagers— something between 170 and 175. The only member on their team that was above 180 was Yukhei and some another freshman that was almost 190 or something, but that freshman wasn't exactly on the good side of the ability spectrum, so he was pretty useless.

“Think positive” Everyone turned to Mark, waiting for him to finish his sentence. He scrunched his nose and seemed to think hard, trying to come up with an excuse “If everything goes to shit, you can sub Renjun in. A great strategy if you were to ask me, because they won’t notice him running between their long ass legs!” He grins proudly at the reactions, being successful at helping their friends to relax before the game. His bliss barely lasted three seconds before Renjun had him in a chokehold, making everyone burst out laughing again.

“Being serious, now,” Jeno’s face morphed to an early defeat with a heavy sigh “I doubt we’ll be able to do something against them. Height is a big advantage in basket. They also say that Busan are the favourites to win the championship, so we're in deep shit”

The changing room was in a tense silence at his words, everyone silently agreeing with him and not quite knowing what to say as comfort. 

"You could say this is a championshit— Ah, Park Jisung, why did you hit me?!"

"That was absolutely horrible, even for you" The younger one grimaces, while Chenle rubs his shoulder, the grin on his face unwavering despite the disapproval of the pun. You were in deep thought, until you suddenly gasp and clap your hands, expression lighting up as having a great idea.

“Let’s dye our hair!”

“Suddenly?” Donghyuck raises his eyebrows, but you just smile at him

“No, no! I’m being serious!” You say proudly, closed fist hitting your open palm “Let’s make a bet! If you guys win, I’ll let you do whatever you want with my hair— dye it the most ridiculous color to ever exist, make me bald or shave one of the sides— you can choose, I don't really care!”

"You already want to do it, there is no point in betting on that" Renjun deadpans. You prompily ignore him.

“Actually, I think that’s a good idea—”

“Great! Jaemin will also do it with me!”

“What?! I never said anything—” He protests indignantly. You give him a smug peace sign

“Ya, hyung is screwed~!”

“Oh, am I hearing right? Our Jisungie will also do it for the sake of the team? What a cutie!” You tease him in aegyo, making it extremely cringy as your fingertips poke him from the sides.

“Cutie? Ha, never in a million years—”

“Ah, Injunnie, no need to be shy! We all know you also want to do this~!”

“Ah, shit—”

Before you could trap Mark into dying his hair, the manager from the basket team came into the room searching for the three missing players. Donghyuck, Chenle and Jeno stood up from the bench and were about to leave, before Mark called up to them, silently pleading with the girl to give him more time. She sighs heavily and nods, lifting three fingers to wordlessly say that you had three minutes.

“Hey, come here for a second~” He said cheekly, forcing everyone to form a circle and join hands in the middle “Let’s cheer up, will ya? Nothing is lost until the very end as long you have hope. You guys can win, believe it"

"Is this Naruto or something?" You joke, raising your eyebrow and high pitching your voice "I'm gOiNg tO bE hOkaGe, BeLieVe it!" The boys laugh at your impersonation as you made a hand sign for the sake of anime weeb antics

“Stop that, I’m being serious!” Mark whines, nudging you slightly on the shoulder.

“Hyung, are you daydreaming?” Chenle deadpans and everyone bursts into laughs again 

“Maybe? Dreaming or not, I still believe in you—” He sighs in defeat "...dattebayo."

“That’s cheesy” Donghyuck teases, his face reveals how touched he actually is. 

“That’s cringy as hell, but lowkey heartwarming. How the fuck?” Jeno is exasperated. “Fuck it. Our dear Lee Markie took the precious time of day to bless us with this amazing and inspiring Naruto speech, so, daydreaming or not, let's win this shit, dattebayo!” Jeno laughs with his whole chest and we all cheer.

"By the way, if we actually win, you're going bald" Donghyuck nudges you, making you whine dramatically. “A bet is a bet. No backing down, pussy”

“Ha, as if!”

"Hm— Three minutes are up, can you please, wrap this up?" You tilt your head to see the manager, awkwardly standing on the door. She seems uncomfortable interrupting your group moment, so you take pity on her and gather everyone’s attention on you again.

"Alright~ Let's do a cheer" You say you stand up, closing your fist and motioning to everyone to form a circle. "What are we going to say? Team 7? Konoha Ninjas? Ninja Alliance? Or maybe we can do something like Wildcats? Like, from High School Musical—"

"Hell no!" They groan and you giggle satisfied with their reactions. Chenle mutters his suggestion quite hesitantly "Well, if we're aiming to win, let's do this properly. So, how about Dream? Because we're being highly illusional, or whatever—"

"I like that" Jeno encourages him, putting his arm around Chenle's shoulders reassuringly. He sends a look to Mark, eyes turning into crescent moons “Hyung, you can do the honors~”

“Alright, let's wreck this shit. Yo, Dream!”

“Jjeoreo! Juja! Fighting!”

“Am I allowed to reference High School Musical 3 now?” You ask no one in particular, although Mark, Jisung and Renjun all let out a groan at your antics. Jaemin just chuckles, amused. "This is just too perfect to let it pass without any references. Senior year, tense basketball game and everything. We just need someone to dramatically shout some encouragement out of nowhere"

"Are you going to suddenly sing Now or Never?" Jaemin teases, but he instantly regrets when he sees the look on your eyes. "Wait, shit, don't do that!"

"Why? It's a great idea!" You whine, smiling. Your voice is drowned by the screams and cheers, but you still hum to yourself as you watch the fast-speed plays in court “This is the last time to get it right, this is the last time to make it all night—”

“First of all, you got it wrong. It’s this is the last time to make it or not, not all night. If you’re going to sing this shit, at least do it right” Jaemin scolds lightheartedly and you pout at him, sticking your tongue childishly

“Whatever— Oh, NICEEEE CHENLE!" You suddenly scream at the top of your lungs, also hearing the boys screaming excitedly with his successful basket. After that, Jeno made an awesome steal that made the crowd roar again, passing it to Hyuck, who scored a 3-pointer. Everything was great until Chenle was knocked back harshly by the 2 meters guy, falling on his back into the ground.

You swore loudly, worry consuming you, but Chenle was okay. He got up with Yukhei offering him his hand and the referee gave the team two free throws, which were the points you needed to tie with Busan High.

"Quick, Jisung, you have to stand up and shout Troooooooy!” You nudge his side, teasing him now that you were reassured that Chenle was fine. Jisung looks at you startled, caught off guard. "C'mon, think of that as public demonstration of love for your bestest friend in the entire world—"

"No way" He shook his head, cheeks burning. You chuckle, deciding to take that task for yourself.

“Chenleeee!” You scream in a singing tone, making everyone around you turn their heads. You see the boy squeezing his eyes through the benchers, trying to find where that came from, until he found you and let out a snort of amusement. You’re satisfied when he gives you a thumbs up, even more when Renjun hides his face behind Mark’s back, extremely ashamed of being friends with you.

Even if you made your friends want to lowkey kill you on the spot, you still sang loudly Gabriella’s part everytime Jeno, Chenle or Donghyuck got a free throw in game, which gladly weren't that much. It didn’t matter if your friends had second-hand embarrassment, because in the end, everyone else was extremely amused for your antics. Also, they crushed the Busan team. 106 - 94.

Ps: you were almost sure the school’s cheerleaders also sang with you a few times, chanting WILDCATS as a joke, but Renjun refuses to believe in you. 

6 Months Until Graduation

“We’re really doing this, huh” Jisung cringed at the volume of bleach sitting on the pot, sniffing it and scrunching his nose at the horrible scent. “Hey, Chenle, smell this”

“Why— OH GOD! Park Jisung what is that—”

“I didn’t think you would keep the bet, if I’m being honest” Jeno admitted and you just laughed, taking the coloured dyes out of their boxes

“Nah~ This was a win-win situation for me. I always wanted to dye my hair, and now I have an excuse to do it without anyone coming for my ass!” You say smugly, smirking satisfied as you put all the bottles on the table. 

“By the way, where are your parents?” Mark worries and you try very hard to not grimace, heading into the bathroom to properly prepare the dyes and hiding your expression from view for a few seconds. Your eyes are fully concentrated on the task, so you don’t notice that Mark can see your expression by the mirror.

“They’re out, again. Some meeting in Kyoto or something— I don’t know. But we have the house to ourselves, so it’s okay.” You say it nonchalantly, even if it’s fairly obvious that you actually care about not having your parents here. Before Mark or Jeno can say anything about it, you give them a big smile, passing by them and returning to your bedroom, where everyone is messing around “The bleach is ready! Who wants to go first?”

“Me!” Chenle shouts, jumping in a plastic chair you placed in the middle of the room, with a journal already covering the floor and a towel on his shoulders. You smile tenderly at him, running your gloved hands through his hair and imagining yourself washing his scalp— except for the fact that you had bleach, not shampoo on your hands. You were really counting on the youtube tutorials for this one

“I bought every single color I could find on the shop” You giggle, trying really hard to not forget any step, but also paying attention to Renjun and Donghyuck bickering to decide what game they were going to play on your tv. “What color do you want, Lele?”

“Injun-ah, we’re all tired of playing Overwatch~ Let’s play Just Dance for once~!”

“Are you out of your mind? How can we put that if you all will dye your hair—! The dye will just fly around!”

“Green” Chenle replies with a shit eating grin, ignoring all the noise that the duo were producing “They say, go big or go home, right?”

“Well, technically, we’re in my home already, so—”

“You know what I meant!” You snicker at him, smiling like a proud parent for some random reason. 

“I’m going for pink!” Jaemin decides all of sudden, taking the pink bottle in his hand and messing with it. You gasp dramatically and hit his hand, forgetting that you have bleach on your gloves and making a small splash on his skin

“No, no, crap, you’ll drop it—!” You scold him, scarred for life, and you take the open bottle from his hands, seeing that the few seconds were enough to make a big pink stain on Jaemin’s hands. You sigh like a tired mother

“I know I don’t need to, but now I also want to dye my hair!” Donghyuck pouts, eyeing the bleach on Chenle’s hair as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world. Chenle sends the older boy finger guns, winking smugly.

“Do we have enough bleach for extras?” Jeno asks and you nod, already wrapping aluminum paper on Chenle “This is dumb, and I’m propably going to regret it tomorrow— but screw it, I want blonde.”

“Okay, okay.” You agree, internally screaming, because your hands were going to suffer bleaching everyone’s hair, including yours. “Mark, put something on your phone?” 

“What kind of vibe do you want?” He asks in return. You hum, distracted by the sounds of Call of Duty on the tv, the controller in Renjun and Jaemin’s hands. 

“Dunno. Your call,” Is your response. Since you’re not facing him, you don’t see Mark sending you a shit eating grin before he decides on a playlist.

It’s not long before We’re All In This Together is blasting on your room, the most iconic and cheesy song possible, and you can’t say that you hate it. As Jisung and Donghyuck try to remember the original choreo, accidentally slapping each other in the process, the rest of you scream the lyrics on the top of your lungs, and for a moment, it seems like the world’s problems don't exist inside of your house.

For once in a long time, your house finally feels like home.

 (Chenle and Jisung decide later to try to make a cover of Breaking Free— Jisung as Gabriella, of course, and the charming Chenle Bolton with aluminum paper on his hair. It went viral on your Instagram, thanks, Chenji!)

5 Months Until Graduation

“Would you rather have no ears or no fingers?”

“Totally no ears!” Jaemin giggles, his fingers itching in the air and pinching Jeno’s cheeks with affection “If I didn’t have my fingers~~~I! Wouldn’t! Do! This!”

You choke on your spit, laughing your ass off at the state of Jaemin, his messy pink hair shining a different tone with every light of the party. He was long ago drunk and you and Jeno had to take care of him while everyone else wandered around some random guy’s party. Jung Taehyun? Jeon Taeyeon? You didn’t know exactly his name, but you knew that he was an older friend of Mark.

“Nono~~ y/n~~ You guys know I love you~~ right?” Jaemin whined, giving up on standing still and plopping down on top of Jeno. The sober male sighed and gave a few pats on Jaemin’s back, already tired. You couldn’t stop your laughter and he flipped you off, continuing to sip your drink giddily. You were careful to not be completely drunk, tho.

“Wait a second, it’s that Renjun?” Jeno asks, pointing to a spot far from you three. You squint your eyes and you confirm that yes, it was Huang Renjunnie making out with some girl you didn’t recognise in the middle of the dance floor.

“Junnie? Whaaaat. Where? I can’t see himmmm~”

“Holy fucking shit” You grin like a madwoman, ignoring Jaemin’s frustrated whines and you cup your hands around your mouth “Yo! Renjunnie! Let's! Get! It!” You scream, even if you know no one will hear you because of the heavy bass. You laugh and take a sip of your drink, extremely amused with yourself.

“I’m going to puke…” Jaemin chokes out and you blink in alarm. Jeno sighs and puts Jaemin’s arms around his shoulders, supporting almost all of his weight and standing from the bar with a bit of difficulty.

“I think it’s time to go home, Jaemin-ah” He states, already moving. You follow both of them, catching Jaemin’s phone that he almost forgot behind and putting it in your jeans’ pocket. 

“No! But I’m having fun here~~ I don’t want to go home” He whines, pouting, and you chuckle at his aegyo, making funny faces at the back of his head just for the fun of it

“Chenle and Jisung texted me, they already went home” You speak, cringing at the brightness of your phone when you unlock it. “Mark and Hyuck said before that they were going to crash somewhere, I just don’t remember where. And Renjunnie is having fun~ Not going to interrupt that!”

“Just text him. He’s sober, so it won’t be a problem” Jeno says and you agree “Jaemin, do you think you can hold it for a while? The puke, I mean,”

“Maybe. Maybe yes, maybe no—” Jaemin almost crashes with a random stranger, and you cringe, saying sorry before rushing both of them to the exit

“Very helpful” Jeno deadpans and Jaemin chuckles dreamily. You smile and open your mouth to say something, just to be suddenly startled by a hand on your shoulder

“y/n? Is that you?” You freeze at the voice, grin vanishing off your face. You turn around with a blank expression to meet Hyunjin, his eyes glinting with so much hope that your heart was crushed in a single second.

Jeno notices that you’ve stopped moving, turning around and grimacing at the sight of the other boy. All of the previous cheerfulness disappears from his face in milliseconds, and you can’t say that you don’t share the sentiment. 

“Wow— You look really good tonight” Hyunjin says, eyeing your exposed legs, and you roll your eyes, suppressing the urge to slap his beautiful face

“Yeah, I know” You fire back sassily, glaring at him and trying really hard to not let your real emotions show on your expression. Your chest squeezes painfully at the sight of your ex-boyfriend, and all you want to do at this moment is to cry and shout all your pent-up frustrations at him, but your voice is lost somewhere deep in your throat.

“Blue hair looks good on you” Hyunjin compliments after a few awkward seconds of silence, not even intimidated by Jeno’s glare and your clear discomfort, never ceasing eye-contact. His hand comes closer and cups a lock of your hair, admiring the blue, almost purple shade, and you falter slightly as he pushes it behind your ear.

Deep down, you hope that Hyunjin can see what he has done to you. You hope that he can see the mix of anger, betrayal, heartbreak, disappointment and pain in your eyes. You hope that he knows every seed self-doubt he has planted in your chest since the two of you broke up last year, and that he feels guilty for every painful word thrown on you.

But you also hope for things that you know aren’t right. You search in his dark eyes for something— anything that could convince yourself he still loved you, that he knew what went wrong last time. Even if you passed half of last year crying and moping around the corridors, forcing your friends to give a long pep talk to assure your self-worth every two weeks, ten seconds of eye contact with your ex were enough to break down long eight months of healing, resurfacing old wounds in your heart. 

“Y/n, let’s go” Jeno calls you, breaking the magic between you and Hyunjin. You sigh, reality crashing on you like a heavy, unforgivable truck. You push his hand away quite harshly and bite your lips, already feeling the familiar burn of tears in the back of your eyes. 

“Yeah, right. Sorry.” You mumble under your breath, not sparing Hyunjin a second glance and turning around to the exit, following Jeno with a heavy heart. 

You find a sealed can of beer on top of a coffee table and you scoff, taking it without second thoughts.  

“Fuck, I’m not drunk enough to deal with this shit”

You open the backdoor of Jeno’s car and you help him set Jaemin in the backseat, both of you ignoring the pink haired boy’s drunk whines and protests as you let him lay down with his head on your lap. You also ignore the lightheadedness caused by the alcohol that you consumed and the worried glances Jeno throws you every fifteen seconds. You know that he has good intentions, but you can’t help but to feel overwhelmed with everything— it’s not like you were going to break down any second now!

Okay, forget it. You don’t know if you can hold your tears until you arrive at home.

“Jaem, is auntie at home?” You ask, stroking the pink strands softly. He groans, burying his face on your belly

“Nooo… Don’t take me home… Mom will kill meeeee! She said last time that… if she catches me drunk again, she’s gonna...” He whines and closes his eyes. You wait for him to continue speaking, but it takes a few seconds for you to notice that Jaemin had fallen asleep on your lap.

“Can Jaemin crash into your house for tonight?” Jeno asks, looking at both of you through the mirror. You know that he is hesitant about bringing Jaemin to his own house because his parents are quite strict with drinking.

“Yeah, but I don’t know if I can carry him” You say without making eye contact, looking at the world outside the window. Your fingers make loops in Jaemin’s hair, almost like a nervous tick to ground you in reality. 

“Don’t worry about that, I’m helping you” He states, eyes focused on the road. You don’t notice his eyes looking at you every once in a while checking your facial expression, as your mind keeps backtracking to Hyunjin and your past relationship, along with all the hurtful words both of you exchanged when it ended.

Jeno lets out a sigh, adjusting his grip on the steering wheel and forcing himself to stop looking.

“No one is looking. You can cry now.”

4 Months Until Graduation

“y/n, the smartest and beautifulest person I have ever met—” Donghyuck speeds down the corridor, tacking you and grabbing your shoulders as if there is no tomorrow

“...what did you do?” You deadpan, not taking any of his bullshit. The boy straightens up and moves his neck to search something in the crowd of students that are in the corridor, sweating bullets

“You know Kang Mina, right? Pretty, cute, same biology class as you—”

“And Mark’s crush since middle school?” You add, raising an eyebrow and not really caring for the skinship, since it was usual between you and Hyuck.

“Yes, that one!” He whisper-shouts. “I heard from Seulgi, who heard from Joohyun, who was in the bathroom when Eunwoo and Nayeon were talking about Sejeong, who said—”

“What—”

“Kang Mina is going to confess to me!” You blink, trying to process the information.

“ ‘the fu— Wait, I thought Mina liked Mark back?” You’re open mouthed, the surprise showing clearly on your eyes. Hyuck nods, wanting to pull his hair off his scalp “Did you tell Mark?”

“No! What do you think I am?” He is almost offended, but you just shrug it off. “I don’t know what to do! I didn’t do anything, but Mark will kill me and—”

“Just dump her nicely, it’s not that hard” Donghyuck whines and shakes you again, making you dizzy

“But I don’t want her to confess!” He argues, saying as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “If she confesses, everyone will hear about the rumors— so, the solution it’s quite simple! If we can stop her before she finds me, we can—” Hyuck pauses, his eyes widening and seeing something above your head. “Oh my fucking god, Mina’s coming in this direction!” 

“Ah, Donghyuck, can I talk to you—” You hear her voice, a bit far, and you sigh as you feel a pair of eyes burning on your back. She’s pretty and a really good person in general, but you can’t help but pity her in this moment.

“Put your hands on my waist.” You whisper quickly under your breath and he nods. 

You raise yourself on your toe tips and catch Hyuck’s cheeks on your hands, trying to not cringe outwardly. You place a peck almost on the corner of his mouth, hearing a shocked gasp behind you, and you know that your plan worked. Based on the angle Mina was, she probably thought you were kissing him on the lips.

You’re quick to distance your body from his, disentangling your shoulders from his grasp and you sigh, lowkey feeling bad for the other girl. 

“Is she gone?” Just for the sake of the drama, you pretend to clean your lips from all traces of Hyuck, sticking your tongue out “Disgusting— Really, I thought I was kissing my grandma, what the fuck—”

“C’mon, I don’t kiss that badly~” Donghyuck whines and you narrow your eyes at him, noticing a bit of your lipstick on his face. 

“Shut up!” You made a move to slap him on the shoulder, but he barely moves out of the way, making you huff. “You’re owing me lunch”

“WHAT? But you’re loaded! Why do I have to pay~?”

“Jesus fucking christ—” Renjun plops down on your usual lunch table, dumping his bag on the bench without ceremony. 

“Injunnie, you’re not even christian” Donghyuck snickers, not bothering to swallow before talking. You make a face at that, but you don’t comment on his horrible manners

“Fuck that too. Why the hell is everyone saying that you two kissed in the corridors? And Mina’s name is on the rumors too, but I don’t get how the hell is she involved?” Hyuck chokes at Renjun’s words and you chuckle, deciding just to sip your tea peacefully and watch the drama unfold.

“Well, you see—” In that moment, Mark arrives, a puzzled and slightly annoyed expression on his face. Donghyuck panics even more at the sight of the older male, already planning his testament on his mind. You guess Mark heard what happened too.

“So, you two a thing now?” The canadian boy raises his eyebrow and you double over, fake puking with the absurdity of his suggestion.

“Oh god, please no. I may be single since last year, but I still have standards!” You whine, putting your hands on your chest feigning hurt. You notice Mark’s face changing and he’s not annoyed anymore, just confused. You don’t even know what caused that— It was almost as if he was relieved...?

“So why is everyone saying that you’re together?”

“That’s what I was asking too,” Renjun adds. You and Donghyuck exchange glances, and you shrug it off, silently saying that he should settle this mess on his own.

“Uh— I just needed help to solve something”

“Hi, I’m something~” You can’t help but tease, laughing obnoxiously loud. Hyuck shoves you slightly, but you don’t stop cackling “Relax, we didn’t kiss. I just took one for the team and did a self-sacrifice of my public reputation— By the way I’m a great actress, aint I?”

“No one thinks that,” Renjun deadpans and you pout. “Why the trouble, tho?” Hyuck sighs and you focus on him on the corner of your eye, wondering what he was going to say

“I’m sorry, bro” He decides to be fully honest with the oldest, who is confused as fuck. “Mina likes me and was going to confess. I panicked.”

Renjun is just surprised as you were when you first heard that. You carefully observe Mark’s reaction, expecting him to be angry or hurt, but he isn’t. He has an unreadable expression and just shrugs, shaking his head.

“Ah. It’s okay, I already knew.” You’re dumbfounded, eyes wide and mouth wide open. The other two have similar reactions to yours, and Mark chuckles at that. “I found out last year. Not gonna lie, it hurt like a bitch— But it’s okay now, I moved on” 

“Wow.” Hyuck looks half surprised, half pissed. “So all of the suffering I passed just to make sure you wouldn’t be mad was useless?”

“Yes?” You chuckle, amused. Donghyuck lets out a groan, dramatically falling on the table and Renjun smirks

“You’re a dumbass.” He snorts, making Hyuck whine. You cross eyes with Mark for a millisecond and you send him a smile, which is returned immediately.

“It’s not my fault that Mark fucking Lee doesn’t tell me things!” He cries out, sniffling. “Everything would be a lot easier if I didn’t have to run away from Kang Mina for the entire fucking day!”

“Well, in my defense, my pride was really hurt—” The canadian tries to defend himself, scowling 

“In your defense, I think you should shut up or I swear to god I’m gonna fucking kill you—” 

3 Months Until Graduation

It’s 11:27pm. You should be asleep at this time— or at least, ready to go to bed, but you don’t think you can sleep any time soon. Your gaze is fixed on the ceiling of the bedroom when you hear your phone ringing under your pillow. You stretch your hand blindly under the covers until you find it, not checking the caller before accepting it.

“Noona?” Jisung’s voice breaks the quiet of your house, and you’re immediately alarmed by his tone. It’s almost as if he’s tired, throat hoarse after crying for a long time. You know that tone very well.

“Hi…” You trail off softly, not knowing what to say. You hear a sniff form the other side, making your worry increase ten times.

“Can I come over? ...please?” He asks and you’re already out of your bed, the socks on your feet protecting the skin from the cold floor as you soflty agree.

Exactly seven minutes and forty three seconds after, Jisung arrives at your home. You furrow your eyebrows as you take in his light clothes and the cold weather outside. His nose is red and his eyes are puffy, the usually neat hair reduced to a bird nest. 

“What happened?” You urge him in, catching a fluffy blanket from the sofa to throw on his shoulders and forcing him to sit on your couch. “Where is your car? Where were you? Your house is too far to come here on foot, Jisung-ah!”

“I was at a park nearby, not at home” He mutters, head down. 

You purse your lips, deciding to shut up for now and give him space to think seeing as he doesn’t seem very comfortable to say anything for now. You go to the kitchen and come back quickly with a mug of warm milk and chocolate in your hands, which you give to him. You sit down beside him on the couch, turning on the tv and searching something on Netflix to put as background, while you wait patiently for him to open up. The film starts, and the soft piano music that plays in the start of Inside Out successfully manages to make Jisung relax a little bit.

“Do you look at someone and wonder,” You say simultaneously with the woman’s voice, wiggling your eyebrows playfully at Jisung.

“What’s going on inside their head?” The corner of his lips lift and he completes the sentence, his whole posture softer and slightly happier. You’re proud of his mood change, humming satisfied.

Three minutes into the movie and you hear a sigh escaping from Jisung’s lips. It’s a subtle gesture, but when he moves closer to lean his head on your shoulder, you know that he’s ready to talk. You lower the tv’s volume a bit, just enough to have it as background, but not disturbing your conversation.

“Are you going to forget me?” His voice is small as he speaks with hesitation, as if he fears saying out loud would make it become true.

“What do you mean, Jisungie?” You face him, not daring to point his childish choice of words. 

“In three months, you and the hyungs are all going to college. The next year, it will be Chenle and me, and then—” He chokes, tears staining down his face, and all of sudden you feel your heart break in a million pieces. “Are things going to change? Between us, I mean”

You fall silent at his words. As you think hard about what to say, you rub circles on Jisung’s back, as it is the only thing you can do to provide comfort for now.

“I don’t know, Jisungie…” You admit, sighing heavily as you feel the emotions growing on you. You don’t dare to actually cry, feeling that it would be extremely selfish of you to not be the stable one right now.

“You guys are all I have…” Jisung breaks down, sobbing, and you pull him in a tight hug, hiding your own face on top of his head. “I’m afraid— Noona, what’s gonna happen? Our paths are too different, are we going to depart?”

“I don’t know,” You start, the tap of your fingers creating a rhythm on the back of his head “We all have different dreams— for starters, Mark wants to pursue music. Renjun is going to do art. Jeno? Probably something along the lines of profissional basket. Hyuck is trying for Journalism, I think, and Jaemin is going to be a physician. I don’t think all of us can go to the same college, but that’s okay.” Jisung hiccups “No matter the distance, we’re under the same sea of stars every night. If someday, you feel lost, we’ll be here to guide you. We’ll be your compass and your lighthouse.”

He stays silent, and you make a lot of circles on his hair, tangling the blonde locks between your fingertips.

“There is a saying that I really treasure... Ohana means family. And family means—”

“...no one gets left behind or forgotten” 

“Yeah, that’s right” You let out a weak chuckle, “You’re my family, Jisung. I—, no, we won’t ever leave you behind or forget your name.” You let go of him to stare directly at his eyes. When Jisung looks at you, he’s surprised to encounter a small smile on your lips, despite the light tears making their path through your cheeks. “Time may pass, we may go different ways— But we’re always going to be each other’s home.”

2 Months Until Graduation

Girls and boys are separated during P.E, everyone knows that (it was a pity, because surely you would’ve loved an free-opportunity to throw a ball at Donghyuck’s face), but one day, when the teachers decide to merge the class, you’re dumbfounded. All of the seniors are in the gym, separated into girls and boys on opposite sides of the benches. There are big speakers connected to an old and beatdown radio, making you shudder, lowkey knowing what is going to happen.

“So, as all students already know, the date of your prom is coming soon!” Mrs.Park claps her hands loudly to shush a bunch of girls that couldn't stop giggling, sending a dirty look at the girl's side of the students. 

You pretend you don’t notice Hyunjin staring at you from across the gym, praying internally for every single god you know to save you from this situation. You accidentally make eye contact with Mark and you mouth “save me” to him, forcing a panicked expression, trying to use your eyes, then your chin, and soon you’re shaking your head like a mad-woman to point at your ex, while not actually pointing to him. However, Mark was far from understanding your failed (and pitiful) attempt to use telepathy.

“It’s a tradition of more than fifty years in our school that we vote on a king and a queen for prom. The fortunate pair are the ones to open the dance floor, so, it’s quite mandatory that all students learn how to properly dance, as everyone has a chance of becoming king or queen!” You don’t miss how Hyunjin’s eyes spark with hope at Mrs. Park’s words and you shudder, groaning.

“If you already have a pair, please, go towards them and help yourselves to an empty spot. We have the entire sport court for us, so feel free to use the space, as long as you don’t leave the gym, of course.” Mr. Jung, the Male P.E teacher says. “If you haven't invited anyone yet, you can practice with a friend, that’s okay too.”

“Shit” You whisper dreadfully, your fingertips trembling on the side of your body. As the first students break out from the groups to join their pairs, you try to conceal yourself between the bodies in the crowd, your eyes traveling to anything that could possibly help you.

You could hide under the bleachers and pray that no one catches you. Or you could make a run into the locker rooms. Or you could beg to a random stranger to pretend to be your pair— no, that wouldn’t work, knowing Hyunjin, he wouldn’t stop even if you were engaged to someone.

Okay. Lockers it is, you decide, already turning in that direction with adrenaline in your veins. That didn’t last long, as you feel a cold hand grabbing your wrist before you can make a run for it. You freeze on your track, cursing every single divinity above. You’re certain that they were mocking you in this exact moment, saying something like “oh, look at that dumb, stupid kid!” ang giggling as they watch you suffer.

“y/n. Can we talk?” You slowly turn back, meeting Hyunjin’s dark eyes with your own. They held so much sincerity and fondiness that almost made you believe that maybe, the two of you could be happy. Almost.

“No—” You try to free yourself from him, but his hold on your wrist is firm. You give up and look away, but you can’t force your body to reject his touches. It’s been a long time since Hyunjin last touched you like this, without anger or resentment. For a single second, you’re caught up in the past again, dreaming awake of when you and Hyunjin were the perfect couple.

“Please… I just want to make things right this time.” He pleads softly. When he notices that you refuse to meet his gaze, his hand cups your cheek with all the care in the world, gently turning your head to look at him. You want to scream and cry, but surprisingly, you also don’t feel the need to. 

“How so? Are you finally going to apologise?” You can’t help whispering those harsh words, surprising even yourself by your boldness. Hyunjin has a surprised look, eyes wide and lips parted, but you don’t feel as bad as you’d have felt if it was last year. 

“What—” He mutters, but quickly composes himself, sighing. “Look, y/n, I know you were hurt when we broke up—”

“That’s an understatement.” You interrupt him pettily. He glares at that and you surprisingly feel nothing. If anything, you were lowkey satisfied that you were giving him a hard time.

 “...but I regret that. Everything.” He continues, ignoring your words. You inhale sharply, already feeling the annoyance build up. “I had a long time to process things. Nothing is the same without you— We were the best things that happened to each other. You’re the piece that was missing in my puzzle.”

“Wow. Nice speech.” You force your expression to be blank, your words being filled with all the sarcasm you could reunite. “But you had almost one year to think about things and you only realize that now? That’s impressive, even for you. Einstein would be impressed, ha!”

“It was at that party, two months ago. I tried everything, but nothing could fill the empty space on my chest. On the start of the year, I tried leaving a letter on your locker, but you never answered, so I thought that was it. But seeing you again made me understand what I had lost.” He takes a deep breath and moves his body to come closer to yours, still ignoring every word that you said. “I still love you. Please, y/n…”

“Don’t do that.” 

In a second, you’re out of his arms. Hyunjin blinks, seeming lost, and you scoff. His hand that previously was on your face now is hanging in the air, as you slapped it away. You see from the corner of your eye people hushing around both of you, trying to peep, but you ignore them easily.

“A year passed, and you still don’t understand anything, Hyunjin!” You almost spit the words, glaring at him. “You were the one who broke up with me. You were the one who said you deserve someone better than me, who said that I wasn’t enough for you. You also were the one who thought that I had sex with my childhood friends— oh god, that makes me sick just remembering it— and forced me to choose between them and you!”

“I’m sorry—”

“No, you’re not.” You hiss lowly, self-conscious of the fact that you were still in the gym. “Did you know? Since last year, I have been trying to understand what went wrong with us. I cried, every fucking night for two months after we broke up. I thought the problem was me— Hell, you made sure to highlight in your speech that day—, and for a long time, I hated myself for not being enough! Then, when I thought I was getting better, you come out of nowhere to suddenly say you regret everything? Fuckin’ shit—!”

You’re crying. You realize that too late, aggressively wiping your tears with your blazer. A quick turn of neck and you also realize that, gladly, people didn’t make a crowd around you. However some of the students noticed the argument and were stealing sneaky glances. 

“But in the end, I have to thank you.” You don’t see around any of your friends, and you’re lowkey glad for that. “If you weren’t such a shithead and said all those things now— I think I would’ve never really understood what everyone always says about you, Hyunjin. Hell, you don’t even care about me, you just want someone to kiss your fucking feet!”

You take a deep breath and you’re more than ready to continue your monologue, exposing yourself emotionally after everything, but a hand on your shoulder breaks you from the rush of adrenaline, bringing you down from the adrenaline in your blood.

“That’s enough, y/n…” Mark whispers, squeezing your shoulder as a reassurance, and you’re startled by his sudden appearance. You inhale and let out another sigh, wiping your face again, trying to remove all traces of the previous breakdown. “You made your point, hm? By now, I think Hyunjin understands that things won’t end well if he tries to approach you again.”

You let out a chuckle unintentionally with his slightly threatening tone and both of you walk away from Hyunjin, Mark’s arm wrapped around your shoulders to carefully guide you between the students, knowing that you weren’t paying attention to anything right now. 

You’re lightheaded and a mess of emotions inside. You feel like you’ve said too much, that you exposed ugly parts of yourself that you’d rather no one knowing about it, but you also feel like you didn’t rant enough to be satisfied. Many words are stuck in your throat, feelings that you would’ve preferred to be thrown on Hyunjin’s face like a petty revenge, just to see him flinch, instead of being bottled up inside.

But you’re okay. It hurts, but your heart is slowly healing. You’ll be okay.

“By the way, I already asked, but Mrs. Park won’t let us skip off the slow dance practice… And almost everyone already has a pair, so…” Mark says sheepishly and you let a small smile appear on your face. He shyly offers you his hand, the other one behind his back like a gentleman. You carefully put your hands on top of his, finding amusement on how his doe eyes widen, as if he didn’t expect you to actually take him. 

“I guess we’re stuck together” You complete his sentence shyly

You would kill yourself if anyone else had seen you in this vulnerable state, but when it’s Mark, you guess that you don’t mind his company.

1 Month Until Graduation

It’s been a while since you last used the school’s music room. Senior year and exams were taking a toll on you, even if you tried to deny it, and you almost had no time to properly have fun. 

But exams were over. All you had to do now was wait for the results— and find someone to take you to prom, but you didn’t want to think about that.

“Hi, sweetie-pie!” You say, in a honey-filled tone that would make yourself gag if it were in another situation

“What the fuck, y/n—”

“Shut up, I wasn’t talking to you!” You snap at Renjun, looking at the piano again changing back your expression to the loving one. You lean on the black, elegant, and probably expensive instrument that the school had, giving it a full peck on the lid. “Oh, my love, I missed you too much~ I’m really sorry for not visiting you soon”

Renjun furrows his eyebrows and pretends to puke with your antics and you let out a big laugh by that. He has a paper on his hands with a big logo full of mandarin characters on behind and he stares intensely at it, as if he wished it could bring itself to life and give him the answers he needed. You sit on the piano stool silently, your hands moving swiftly through the keys in a warm-up, without actually playing any song.

“I actually feel like Kelsi” You hum, your voice taking him out of his concentration on the paper. 

“Who?” He raises his eyebrows, confused

“High School Musical. The pianist, shy girl.” Renjun sighs heavily and you giggle at his tired eye roll

“After all these years, you still reference High School Musical at every fucking opportunity you get” He complains, making you grin

“Of course!” You beam, your hands producing a soothing and calm background noise. “We like music. Also, we’re in high school. And, the cherry on top: some of our squad are on the school’s Basketball team, the most cliche thing to ever happen. It’s almost a sign from the gods, saying ‘Do it!’. It’s only natural that I should be following the legends’ example, right?”

“No” He deadpans

“Ah, okay then,” You say, pouting. You shift your attention to the piano again, “I won’t sing or play to you anymore!— You’re also banned from this room. Yeah, yeah, that sounds right— Leave, you’re not allowed to listen what I’m going to play!”

“If you sing any of High School’s discography again, I swear to god—” he ignores your childsh remarks, scoffing and mumbling quite bitterly, also appearing on your peripheral vision and sitting beside you on the bench. You drop the brat attitude and stop playing for a second, making a comfortable silence fill the room. 

“No, it’s not that” Your tone is uncharacteristically soft. You watch as recognition flares in Renjun’s eyes right in the firsts notes you play, and you look away. “It’s been a long day, without you my friend.”

“And I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again” He joins in, the harmonization of both of your voices not failing to make a chill run down your spine. The good kind of chill. You let him continue the song, bobbing your head and smiling slightly. “We’ve come a long way from where we began. Oh I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again. When I see you again”

“Damn. Who knew? All the planes we flew, good things we've been through. That I'll be standing right here, talking to you about another path. I know we loved to hit the road and laugh. But something told me that it wouldn't last, had to switch up, look at things different, see the bigger picture. Those were the days, hard work forever pays. Now I see you in a better place” He raps, but his voice lacks the edge that a rapper normally displays. Instead, his tone is soft, almost singing rather than rapping. That style suits him, you think.

“How could we not talk about family, when family is all we got? Everything I went through you were standing there by my side. And now you gonna be with me for the last ride” You join him, even if your voice is on the weaker side as you’d have liked to let him have this moment solo. He notices this and nudges you, signalling to take the next part.

“So let the light guide your way, yeah… Hold every memory as you go” You sing with confidence and emotion, your voice vibrating, but not cracking. You lock eyes with Renjun, hoping that he could understand all of your feelings. “And every road you take, will always lead you home… Home”

“It’s been a long day, without my friend. And I’ll tell you all about when I see you again… When I see you again.”

Your hands leave the piano and fall limp at your sides. You purse your lips, feeling your eyes starting to water and you suddenly can’t bear to maintain eye contact. Renjun has his neck upwards, looking to the ceiling.

“What’re you doing...? You look stupid...” You mutter, still mocking his position despite your own emotions. You watch him from the corner of your eyes, as a single stray tear escapes and he gulps. You feel yourself breaking apart with him, the pain in your chest being ten times more intense than when you broke up with Hyunjin last year.

“...nothing” He manages to say, his hand searching in the air for a few seconds before he catches your own, intertwining your fingers for reassurance. You also feel your throat closing and you finally let yourself cry, lowering your head and making your hair cover your face from the sides.

“...did you tell anyone yet?” You whisper, afraid that if you say the words out loud, they’ll be even more frightening. 

“...no.” He sobs, covering his face with his other hand. You whip your head back, throwing all your hair behind your neck and rubbing your own palms harshly through your face as if punishing them for breaking down would solve anything. “I don’t even know what to do yet… I don’t want to leave, but—” 

Renjun leans his head on your shoulder, crying freely. You wonder, if the pain on your chest was already insufferable, how was he feeling? You didn't want him to leave, and neither did he wanted to do so, but if things were to this point… How could you ask him to stay? How could you be selfish?

Reality was cruel. Renjun was an exchange student. Deep down, you already knew since the beginning that things weren’t set to be permanent. You knew that he wasn’t like Chenle, whose parents came to live in Korea. Unlike you, Renjun had his own father, mother, sister and grandfather waiting for him to come back to home. Knowing that, how could you hope for him to stay?

You bring him to a tight hug, burying your head on his shoulder and crying your eyes out. You didn’t want to, but you started to fear the future. You wanted time to stop, to never graduate, to never go to college, so you all of you could be together without worries. You were being selfish and you also knew that, but you couldn’t find in yourself the willpower to stop that ugly feeling.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” Renjun chants like a mantra, and you feel a wet patch on the fabric of your shoulder. You don’t mind, as your tears had already formed a bigger stain on his blazer.

“This is not a goodbye” You choke, swallowing with difficulty “We’ll see each other again”

3 Weeks Until Graduation

“Mrs. Park asked me if we could do something to perform in prom” You say as you enter the music room, counting the presence of all seven heads before nodding satisfied to yourself.

“And why should we do that?” Hyuck whines, laying down on the couch and facing you upside down “School is almost over, she can’t bribe us with extra points!”

“Well, I think we all forgot that Chenle and Jisung aren’t seniors, and theoretically, can’t attend prom—” You giggle nervously, tucking a stray lock of hair behind your ear “But Mrs. Park said that if the music club performs, she can let it slide”

“It’s not that bad” Jaemin arches his eyebrow, glancing at the two youngsters and shrugging it off “We were planning on sneaking them from the kitchens, but this works too— It also prevents anyone from getting to jail from food poisoning”

“What the fuck Jaemin” You deadpan, the boy just sending you a peace sign. For the sake of your mental health, you decide to ignore that for a while.

“But it’s still such a bitch” Donghyuck sighs, rolling his body so he is now with his belly on the sofa. He supports his hands on his elbows in the classic flower position, which, may you add, makes him appear more innocent than he’ll ever be. “We have 3 weeks to come up with something original? Are you kidding me?”

“She said it’s alright if we cover something, as long we perform it live” You explain, breathing deeply to not lose your patience

“But it’s no fun if we do it like that~~!”

“Then why are you complaining in first place?!” You bicker, glaring when Donghyuck smirks, fluttering his eyelashes innocently. You roll your eyes and flip him off, making him snort.

“What are you? Five?” Renjun deadpans, shoving the other male on the side. Hyuck pouts, sending finger hearts at him(Renjun ignores all of it.)

“Guys, I think I have something—”

“We all know Lee Haechan has a single-digit IQ” Jeno mocks, earning another whine from Hyuck.

“Don’t use my artistic name like that!”

“Artistic my ass” You pretend to cough, “It’s more like a nickname you made when you were in middle school because you thought it was cool, but backfired badly when you grew up"

“Who even calls themselves Full Sun?” Renjun teases. Donghyuck gasps dramatically, fully sitting up so he can put his hand on his chest.

“Excuse me, Haechan is a fucking amazing name!” He pouts, his reaction making you snort ungracefully

“Guys—”

“Hey, children, let’s stop bullying your friend~” Jaemin speaks in his aegyo tone, taking Donghyuck’s cheeks in his hands and making kissing faces at him “Let’s spread love~”

“No, fuck! Mooooooooom! Save me!” Hyuck screams, terrified. You smirk amusedly and finally turn to Mark, who had already given up on trying to speak. 

“Sorry, what was it?” You tilt your head, noticing the papers in his hand. You take a seat on the office chair beside him, sneaking a glance through the computer and the music files in it. You don’t understand anything about producing, but Mark was good at it, so all of you could record songs even if you were just highschoolers. 

“I have something in my drafts that could help us” He says, giving you the paper with the lyrics on it. Both of you ignore the chaos rising behind you, already being used to the loudness that came up with your group. 

You raise your legs into the chair, sitting cross legged, leaning slightly forward. You don’t even notice yourself resting the back of your hand on Mark’s thigh, fingers playfully wiggling around as a silent request for him to take his hands in yours. He takes your demand in no time, tangling his fingers smoothly with yours in a firm, but gentle grip. You smile at that, a warm feeling consuming your body entirely.

“Puzzle piece? That sounds cute” You giggle, watching as Mark clicks in a file that you see that hasn’t been edited in more than a month. He stretches out for a headphone, putting it on your ears carefully before starting the track. The entire time your eyes are glued to his face, observing each feature in him as he’s distracted. Suddenly, you’re afraid of being caught staring for more time than it should be considered okay for friends, so you quickly turn your eyes to the computer, feeling your chest bubble with something you quite don’t know what it is.

“I started working on it before finals, but I didn’t do much because I had to study” He explains as you squint your eyes through the multiple layers and notes that you didn’t understand. Your eyes travel again to the lyrics sheet, a smile spreading in your lips unconsciously.

“You’re my missing puzzle piece~ Finally I solved it. You filled every piece of my heart, even the scarred part of it to the fullest. And somehow, you’ve become my everything, my missing puzzle piece” You test, the lyrics leaving your mouth quite smoothly with the incomplete song melody. “I liked it” You say, spinning your chair to face the dreamies again, noticing that they had calmed down and were quietly enjoying your voice. You feel shy with the sudden attention and you clear your throat with your fist in front of your mouth to hide it, passing the lyrics sheet to Jisung, who’s the closest. You lowkey miss the feeling of Mark’s hand trapped in yours, and that realization makes you even more shy. You take a deep breath, calming yourself down.

“Jaemin and I to wrote the lyrics” Jeno announced proudly, Jaemin nodding with him

“You did a good job” You smile proudly, raising a high five to both of them. Jaemin came to hit his hand with yours, but you troll him in the last second, changing your fingers to scissors. 

“You’re impossible” He deadpans and you roar with uncontrollable laughter. Jeno smirks, giving Jaemin sympathetic pats on the back

"I did something just for the overall feeling, but it's pretty nothing yet" Mark says, not seeming to be affected by the general chaos. "But I think we can finish it in less than a week? So there will be time to practice,"

“So, what were you thinking about? The melody, I mean” Chenle asked and you gave space for him to come closer, moving your chair. Mark pulled out his guitar supporting it on his thigh.

“Mostly C, E, A minor, G and F” He says the accords as he plays, switching the order to get other verses, but not playing any note besides those. The difference between stroking up and down the strings, along with the occasional change of chords are enough to bring a simple and aesthetic feeling. “Since it’s more in the heartwarming side, I think we could try for an acoustic vibe, y’know?”

“It’s good” Renjun nods, holding the sheets. “”Hello, it’s been so long, isn’t it?” The small piece that I put in my pocket and carry around everywhere, please be with me so it can be fuller and prettier. Na Jaemin, what the fuck are these—”

“Hey!” He protests, pouting “What’s wrong with my lyrics?”

“It’s cringy as fuck”

“The whole song is cringy as fuck, I don’t see your point here, hyung” Jisung mocks, and you giggle, agreeing with him

“But it’s cute” Chenle shakes his head, smiling slightly. “More than having everything, not losing that one thing is more important.” He reads the lyrics, nodding along

“Whoop whoop— Who were you thinking about when you wrote it, hm,~~? Was it me?” Hyuck leans down to support his weight on Jeno’s back, much to the other boy's dismay. 

“Ah. I won’t say, you’ll tease me to the end of the world” He sighs, earning a giggle.

“I knew it!” He exclaims, deep down already knowing the answer without even asking. 

"Ah, shut it, will ya?" Jeno grunts, rolling his eyes. "It's not about just one single person. It's more about us. There's eight of us, a pretty big group, might I say, but it somehow feels empty if a single person is missing. That's why, Missing Puzzle Piece"

"Wow." You say, caught off guard. Your lips curve upwards and there is a soft look in your eyes as you take in Jeno's flustered face by his own confession. "Why are you so good at writing lyrics?" You tease him lightheartedly.

"Maybe it's because Lee Jeno is the most awkward person I have ever seen" Renjun ponders, smirking.

"Nah, that's just Mark. Jeno comes in a second close, he's more like, the type that doesn't know how the fuck are you supposed to express yourself" You argue, Renjun having no choice but to agree with you.

"He's one of those talented composers that uses music to confess their feelings!" Chenle giggles like a teenager girl, poking Jeno's biceps. The latter has a suffering expression, apparently, giving up on having a peaceful environment.

"I can totally see Jeno using music to confess to someone" Jisung ponders out loud, making you cackle. "Imagine this: it's two am, Jeno has a guitar on his lap and is sitting on the couch. In front of him, on the center table, are Seol, Lal and Bongshik. They're the only ones he loves anyway, so he's serenading them!"

You think you're having an aneurysm from the intensity you laugh and shake your shoulders, feeling your belly burn with every snort you let out. Your eyes travel across the room and they stop at Mark’s expression, admiring how his muscle faces contort with every laugh that escapes from his lips. 

“Ah, fuck, why am I being so attacked right now?” Jeno curses, slightly pissed but his body completely still against the couch.

“Don’t worry, Jeno-ah, everyone has their moments” Donghyuck teases. Jeno narrows his eyes at him, gripping his shoulder in a tight grip and applying force enough to make the other boy whine, while giggling happily “Ah, ah, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Please, don’t— Ack!”

“We’re getting off track” Mark warns, although his smile reveals that he’s having fun watching Hyuck suffer. “Guys, let’s focus right now, right? We can mess later”

You’re scared of what this fuzzy feeling in your chest means. But at the same time, you feel safe, as nothing in the world could hurt you. It’s a giant mess of feelings that you didn’t want to tackle right now, so you just let it be.

2 Weeks Until Graduation

All of you were reunited in Chenle's backyard. His house was big enough for you to decide suddenly that you wanted to do a sleepover— More exactly, you wanted to sleep outside. The first option was to go to a beach, but you still had school to attend, so camping on the grass with multiple tents set up seemed fair enough. (Also, Chenle’s parents were the only ones that had a house big enough for eight teenegers and didn’t care if those eight teenagers were screaming and being hormonal kids)

Three tents were set up. You didn’t mind sharing with one of the boys, but Mrs. Zhong was really worried, so you decided to at least give her some peace of mind. You had the smallest tent to yourself, while Chenle and Jisung shared another small one and the others shared the large one. Mark brought his guitar from home and was mindlessly playing with the strings, producing a soothing background music to fulfill the silence. The rest of you were sprawled on the grass, looking at each other, or in your case, the starry sky. There were some lamps on the outside of the house, but you guys chose to put a cheap yellow lantern in the middle of the circle just to set up a sappy mood, almost like a city-version of camping. 

“Did you guys get your exam results?”

For almost a month, all eight of you made a silent deal to never mention college and exam results. It was painful to even consider that you weren’t going to see each other every day, so it was easier to pretend that it wasn’t going to happen any soon. That, and you were silently trying to not upset Jisung. The episode of three months ago was still clear in your head— you hated yourself for it, but his words messed with your emotions. It was hypocritical as fuck of you to assure him that everything was going to be okay when even you didn’t know if it was true or not. You didn’t spill the tea directly to Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Donghyuck or Jaemin, but they already knew that Jisung and Chenle were highkey worried about all of you graduating. 

So, when Jisung finally addressed the elephant in the room— To say that you were tense was an understatement.

“I passed. Seoul National.” Jaemin breaks the silence, a grin on his face. 

“What?!” You exclaim, immediately rolling around so you were on your belly and you could face him. You had the biggest and proudest smile on your cheeks. 

“SNU? Wow” Jeno exclaims, punching him on the shoulder, being joined by both Renjun and Donghyuck. Jaemin whines, but his smile never leaves his lips even once.

“That’s amazing!” You feel your shoulder relax a bit at the news, beaming at him. 

“Yeah. And it’s not that far either” Jaemin adds, you notice that Renjun’s expression falters a bit. You don’t dare to mention his change out loud. At least not for now.

“It’s not a big one like Jaemin, but I passed too. Hanyang University. I tried for Architecture, actually. Changed my mind at the last second.” Jeno giggles shyly and you also beam at him.

“What do you mean ‘it’s not big’?” You whine, being your turn to slap his thighs. “It’s seventh in South Korea! Be more proud of it!”

“I thought you were going to go after basketball” Mark wonders, tipping his head

“I was.” Jeno shrugs at him. “But there are a lot of things to take into consideration when you choose a sports career. The most obvious of them is height, and well— I have 1.77. It’s pretty good for the average korean man, but I don’t think I would’ve made it into a basket team.”

“Ah, true. That sucks, tho” Chenle groans, tucking his leg into himself. “I have 1.78. It’s not a lot either.”

“It happens.” Jeno finishes “I’m not upset about it, actually. I’m really looking forward to study architecture— I have an uncle that works at a construction company and if I do well, he said that he can take me under his wing”

“Well, as long you’re satisfied—” Hyuck pats his back, also using the situation to snuggle into him. “We’re happy for you”

“Thanks” He smiles, his eyes turning into small moons. 

“Music, Sungkyunkwan University. ” You take the cue, announcing proudly with a peace sign. “It’s not the closest, but still is around Seoul, so it’ll be okay. At most i’ll have to take long rides on the train to meet you guys, so it still works”

“Sungkyunkwan is awesome” Jisung’s eyes sparkle and you let out a shy chuckle, nodding “I want to try for them next year, but I’m not really sure”

“Whoa, imagine that? Park Jisung as my super duper cute junior?” You tease, poking his leg. Jisung makes a face at you and you laugh.

“Well, for me, I’m at Kwangwoon. I’m going for Journalism and communications” Donghyuck announces, pulling you closer and forcing you to sit up for him to sneak his arm around your shoulders. “It’s far as fuck from the other Universities here in Seoul, but at least, we’re close.” He says that last part directed at you, making you nod.

“I passed in Music in Chung-ang” You widen your eyes at Mark, but not in the good way

“You’re going to Anseong?” Your voice wavers, but he just chuckles.

“Nope. They have a Seoul campus.” He explains, chuckling “If you guys think Kwangwoon is far, just wait until you see on the map where it’s located—”

“I’m going back to China.”

Mark’s voice dies and you almost break your neck with the speed you turn to look at Renjun. His gaze is fixed on the grass, not daring to maintain eye-contact with anyone.

“Sorry...” He mumbles. Before you can say anything, he sniffles and wipes a stray tear. “I— My parents—” Jaemin engulfed him in a tight hug. Renjun buries his head on Jaemin’s shoulders, sobbing. You don’t even notice when the tears start to flow down your own cheeks.

“It’s okay… We aren’t mad, Injunnie…” Jaemin soothes, tapping the other male’s back.

“It’s just that... I miss them… Too much”

Renjun was an exchange student, you remember again for the nth time this month. His parents still are in China. He was living almost three years on his own, going home only on holidays. You can’t even imagine what he’s thinking or feeling, being conflicted between his biological family and his heart family.

“I got into Sichuan Conservatory of Music. They’re great and have an interdisciplinary background in music and art, so I was really conflicted, but—” He chokes. Chenle and Jisung also come closer to comfort him as he talks. ”I spoke with my mom. She said I could choose to stay in Korea if I really wanted to, but I miss her and my dad too much”

“Oh, Injunnie, that’s amazing…I’m proud of you”  Jeno encourages and you lift yourself from the ground, immediately tackling Renjun, hugging him from behind. After a few seconds, everyone is in a big and messy group hug. You hope that Renjun doesn’t care about tear stains on his shirt the next day.

“When are you leaving?” Jisung’s questions break your heart in countless pieces, making you bury your face even more in Renjun’s back.

“Three weeks after graduation.” He mumbles almost incoherently and you sniff.

The hug lasts a good ten minutes before Jisung complains that his back was hurting from bending it to reach Renjun’s height, making everyone let out a good laugh. Renjun wipes his face and you follow his example. His face is slightly swollen and his eyes are red. You notice that Donghyuck also has reddish eyes, but you don’t comment on that because you’re also certain that you look worse. Jeno was trying to hold it together, but even he couldn’t hide the sorrow in his eyes. Jaemin was consoling Jisung, who was still sobbing despite the earlier joke, rubbing the younger one’s shoulder. Chenle had an arm loosely above Renjun’s shoulders, not crying, but obviously affected by the news. Mark sighs loudly and takes back his guitar, back to playing some random tune on it, trying to make the atmosphere less depressed and awkward.

“There isn’t a campfire here, but…”

You recognize the first strums, as your lips quirk up.

“Camp rock? Really?” You laugh, but your chest starts to grow warm with the choice of music “That’s, like, the cheesiest thing in the story of cheesy things.”

“I hate to admit, but it fits the moment.” Jaemin mutters, a teasing tone. 

“Shut it, both of you” Mark scolds slightly, but you just widen your smile.

“So let’s sing na, nanananana, hey~, yah” Donghyuck starts. He makes eye contact with Mark, and both grin. Mark joins him, their voices blending softly in the night “C’mon and sing na, nananana, hey, ya.”

You sigh, pretending to be annoyed, but the smile on your face can’t fool anyone.

“This is our song, that’s all it matters, cause we all belong, right here together, there’s nothing better than singing along~ This is our summer” You grin, maintaining eye contact with Mark and Donghyuck at all times. “This is our song”

“And this is our song~” When all of your voices join, you can’t help but to feel emotional. All of your hands (except Mark’s) maintain a nice rhythm, clapping as your voices fill up the backyard. Hyuck takes charge of the adlibs, his honey-tone enhancing everyone and perfectly synergizing with all the voices.

You take a look at everyone’s faces. There’s a kind of understanding, even if no one said anything out loud. The song is happy, but it holds an emotional baggage to it as each one of you already knows that you won’t be able to sit down and sing carelessly like this in the future. 

You all sang multiple times together. None of you were professionals yet, but you liked to think that music had an important role in holding your friendship together. You couldn’t count the amount of random moments when one of you was humming a song, and out of nowhere, there was a full choral singing, even if it was the silliest song humankind has ever produced.

“This is our song…” Mark finishes, his hand falling limp on his lap. 

“Wow. Out a whole list of emotional, happy, but sad songs to choose from, you take one from Camp Rock.” Jisung sasses, even if it’s clear that his words don’t hold a real bite. “Real shitty taste, if I must say, even more for someone who’s going to take music”

“Excuse me? Camp Rock is great!” He defends, offended. You giggle at that.

“You’re going to be a professional musician one day. You’ll write your own songs, right? If you don’t do anything else inspired by us, I swear to god, I’m ending this friendship” You joke, nudging his side. 

“I’ll think about it” He smiles at you, making your chest fill up with warmth. His fingers suddenly pause the music and you watch as he gulps nervously and looks directly at the eyes of everyone “Even if we’re physically distant from one another, let’s try to be in touch, right?”

“Yeah…” You mutter along the boys and you lift your head so you’re staring at the stars. They twinkle and shine at you, almost as if they understand the bittersweet situation you have on your hands.

“Markie-poo” The older boy is startled as Hyuck brings back the old nickname he had given him when they were children. “Why don’t you do a chant for all of us?” 

“What— Why me?” He whines and you chuckle.

“You’re the oldest. It only feels right.” Jeno interferes, half teasing, half touched. 

“C’mon, Markie-hyung~~” Jaemin shakes his shoulders, forcing aegyo with a full pout that makes you cringe. Mark groans, shaking his head,

“Ah, you guys—” He scolds, but there is a fond smile on his cheeks. You smile, taking your time to admire your friends.

When you first met Mark, you thought that he was a goody two-shoes. You were ten, and at that time, you were constantly upset with him because he was the type of student that would remind the teacher that she had passed homework last week(and you also weren’t the type that would actually do your work sheet). You don’t even remember when you two started to be actually friends, and you don’t even know where you would be right now if you didn’t have him in your life. 

Jaemin and Jeno kind of came like a package. You’d known them since you were children— since you were five, actually. You remember playing with them sometimes in the playground, bickering because you thought insects were gross, while they loved to hunt for butterflies and bugs. Sadly, you’d moved from the neighborhood when you were eight, and your parents decided that the tiny house wasn’t enough for them. Despite that, five years after that, you find them in the same school and class as you— Also, same class as Mark and Donghyuck. 

Although they were inseparable, they were different on their own. Jeno was more laid back, the chill kind of guy. His humor was underrated— but that was expected, considering that you had a lot of pranksters and screamers on your group—, his jokes sometimes passed over your heads as not everyone had enough braincells to actually understand.

Jaemin had some crazy mood swings. One day, he was the calmest person to ever exist, and another, he spoke as if he was high on drugs and would say questionable things. He was either a patient and loving guy, or he would nag you until you rip your ears off. It was slightly unsettling how good he was at reading you and giving advice, but you wouldn’t have it any other way.

You hated Donghyuck at first. He was a cool guy that made everyone laugh, but you couldn’t stand his teasing jokes at some moments. You and him formed a friendship only when he dropped his carefree mask. You found him crying behind the bushes of the garden because of a mean comment some kid made when they thought he wasn’t listening. In fifteen minutes of real, heart-to-heart conversation, you’d finally seen that he wasn’t just a jokester, and he wasn’t always happy, like everyone else assumed.

Chenle came when you were 13. He was a cute junior, but he had slightly language barrier problems because he didn’t know how to speak korean well. As a canadian kid himself(but living in Korea since he was a child), Mark took upon himself to help Chenle adapt to school, even if their languages weren’t the same. You thought that Chenle was cute— and that didn’t change even now, almost in adulthood—, and you did all you could to help him. He was thrilled and hyped for everything, making your heart melt for him like ice cream on a sunny day.

Jisung came almost at the same time as Chenle. Both of them were in the same class, and Chenle took the other boy to meet his older friends when he realised that Jisung hadn’t any friends in school. Your mother instincts were activated almost instantly. He looked up at you as an example (you were a mess at studying and procrastinated to do every single assignment, but he still idolized you) and you pushed yourself to not disappoint him. You and Jaemin also bickered, trying to compete for Jisung’s love, but at some point you had achieved a mutual agreement of sharing his heart—much to Jisung’s dismay.

Renjun came much later, in freshman year of high school. He first met Chenle, as both of them were chinese, but he had more practice in speaking korean then the other boy at the time he had arrived. He was the one you clicked with the quickest. You thought that he was a shy, innocent boy at first, but his witty remarks matched perfectly your group dynamics, and everyone warmed up to him in no time. 

For three years, the group was complete. You took them for granted— You thought you were going to be each other’s anchor for the rest of your lives, and you’d never separate even if you had the biggest fight. You didn’t consider that you didn’t need a fight to go on different paths. 

The sound of bickering and teasing was so familiar to your ears that you were afraid of the future, when you wouldn’t hear Chenle’s high pitched laugh, or Jaemin’s whines and aegyo everyday. Or Donghyuck’s teasing, Renjun’s sass and Jeno’s deep chuckles. You wouldn’t witness Jisung’s nose crunching when he cringes, or Mark’s entire face blushing when he was embarrassed. You would lose that.

Maybe you were being dramatic. It’s not like any of you were dying— You just were going to college, for fucks’ sake. But you couldn’t help the painful squeeze of your chest, as you were missing something that was still here.Renjun was staying in Korea for 3 weeks after graduation. That gave you exactly a month until you’d have to say goodbyes. 

“Okay, okay, I’ll do it.” Mark gave in. He straightened his posture. “Yo dream!”

A single tear made his path down your cheek, but you didn’t bother to wipe it off.

“Jjeoreo! Juja! Fighting!”

You still had time

Five Days Until Graduation

“Hm, hi—”

“It’s three am,” You state groggily, “Why the fuck are you calling me at three fucking am, Mark Lee?”

You hear a gulp and the line stays silent for a whole minute. You close your eyes for a few seconds, dazed, not even registering the time passing as you’re half asleep. Mark finally speaks after two minutes

“—an we meet up?”

“...what?”

“I said, can we meet up?” He repeats, slightly exasperated. You yawn and he sighs. “It’s important, I swear,”

“...how important…?” Your voice is muffled by the pillows and Mark can’t help but to release a deep chuckle. You swear you’re in dreamland again, as you think that his laugh had some kind of spell that made your entire body relax at the same instant.

“I’m at the front of your home” Your eyes are wide and you immediately jump out of the bed, kicking the warm covers to the floor and rushing to your window. You push the curtains, looking through the glass

“What the fuck— Mark, why are you outside? What in the world—”

“It’s okay. Just come down, please…”

Your eyes soften and you sigh. You have known Mark Lee for more than nine years by now. You were sure you could recognize every emotion that passed in his eyes— That’s why you believe that he holds some kind of emotion that you’re not even aware of, and he desperately wants to hide it from the world. It’s almost like you’re in middle school again, when he lied about being fine, and insisted on being the perfect student, overworking himself to the limit and refusing to admit that he was human too and was likely to fail sometimes.

But it’s also different this time. His chuckle is bittersweet, most likely not sincere, but it’s not a hundred percent fake. The only thing is you can’t point out why you think that.

“Also, it’s cold outside, so wear something warm, okay?” He adds, interpreting your silence as agreement. You catch a hoodie that was thrown on your chair and you wear it over your pajamas, putting your fluffy slippers on your feet. 

You quickly go downstairs, not really caring if you made any noise. Your parents weren’t home anyways, so you didn’t have to worry about that. You unlock your door, only to see Mark in your yard, staring at the road. He’s not looking at the cars, you realise, he’s looking at the stars. Mark has only a white t-shirt, jeans and a black blazer that you guess that doesn’t do wonders, considering the way he hugs himself searching for warmth.

“Wear something warm, that’s what he said” You mock him, but deep down, you’re slightly concerned.  “What are you doing? Come inside, quick!”

“Sorry” He apologises, but you give a light slap on the shoulder as he passes by, muttering something about he shouldn’t apologise under your breath. He makes a beeline for your couch, hiding his face in his hands that were supported on his thighs.

“What’s up with you and Jisung, coming at my home late at night for pep talks?” You try to joke, failing as your voice cracks. Your chest is squeezing and you feel like you can’t breathe properly even if Mark hasn’t said anything yet

“I’m sorry” He mumbles again. You bit your lower lip, frowning.

“It’s all right, you know I don’t mind if you guys decide to raid my home at random times—”

“It’s not that... I’m going back to Vancouver.”

You go blank. Mark raises his head, doe eyes wavering. He’s not crying, but all the pain and despair are clear in his gaze.

“W-what…” Your own eyes are wide. You feel your throat dry and you can’t think of any words that made sense to be spoken out loud, the living room suddenly spinning and closing on you. “As a travel…?” You know it’s not, but you still hoped that, somehow, you had overanalyzed and misunderstood all of his red flags.

“No… I’m moving”

You suddenly can’t breathe. You stumble back to the table room, your knees giving up and forcing you to sit on the glass. The first tears drop from the corner of your eyes, but you barely register them.

“Fuck, I’m sorry—” Mark pleads again, standing up and walking around the room nervously. “I wanted to go to college with you guys— or at least be here in Korea, but—” He massages his forehead, hands dropping down to his lower face to drown a scream.

You force your legs to stand up, slightly wobbling in your steps as you walk to him. You launch yourself at him, circling your arms in his waist and clutching him as if your life depended on that, drowning yourself in the sensation of being squeezed between his own embrace while you had the chance to.

“It’s my grandma,” He talks after recovering his composure, burying his chin on your shoulders. You lay your forehead on his collarbone, afraid of letting him see your own despair “She has alzheimer. We thought she was doing okay, but last night, my auntie called… She said that grandma had an episode. She wasn’t eating, and was almost forgetting how to breathe during her sleep, so she was rushed to the hospital” You finally feel his tears dripping down your hoodie and you raise your hands to his upper back, drawing circles on his skin. “Mum and auntie agreed that granny probably doesn’t have much time… So we’re going back.”

“W-when—” You choke on your saliva, moving away for a second so you could cough and wipe your ugly tears. Mark catches your hands in his, not wanting to completely cease contact “W-when you’re going?”

“...wednesday.”

“But that is—”

“Five— No, actually, four days from now.” His hold gets tighter and you slowly process the information.

“So… You won’t attend prom, right…?” You want to slap yourself for that question, shaking your head. His grandma is passing away and the first thing you say it’s about some stupid party. Wow, way to go, you thought bitterly. “Sorry, ya’ don’t need to answer that.”

“I’m sorry” he shakes his head

“Stop apologising!” You scold, breaking down in tears once more. You feel your shoulders shaking and you try to wipe your face again, but you can’t win against the flow down your cheeks. “It isn’t your fault, so stop being so sweet and caring and everything! Shit, why the fuck am I the one crying—?! I should be the one supporting you, not the other way around…I’m so stupid, why—”

“Don’t say that, you’re not stupid...” Mark brings you again to his chest and you sob, your fingers gripping the fabric of his t-shirt fearing for the future. His left hand snakes up to your neck, making you lean your head on his shoulder again as he plays with his fingers through your hair strands. “Prom is important, I know that… If I could choose, I’d stay one more day, just to wrap things up properly, but…”

He doesn’t finish his speech, his voice dying a bit. You feel a gentle tap on your shoulder, and the next thing, you’re staring directly at Mark’s eyes. Despite the overall depressing situation, he still gazes at you fondly, wearing his heart on his sleeve without any second thoughts. His hand is nothing but caring as he moves the hairs on your face behind your ear, leaving traces of warmth in your skin in the trail. He withdraws a bit, only enough to tinker with his phone quickly.

“Y’know… We were partners at that dance lesson a month ago... And since neither of us has gotten ourselves a date to prom, I guess we’re still in game, right?”

You recognize the first notes of Perfect easily. A little laugher escapes from your mouth, your lips curving themselves to match Mark’s own smile. He drops his phone somewhere on the couch and casually messes up his black hair, somehow managing to make himself twenty times more attractive than the usual, also making exaggerated motions of fixing his blazer before curving down to an elegant bow from the 90’s.

“It’s not exactly what I had in my plans, but…” He reaches out, his hand open right in front of you. “y/n...Can I have this dance?”

You wipe the corners of your eyes one more time before nodding quite shyly, which is a feeling so foreign that you suddenly don’t know how you’re supposed to act. Mark seems to notice that as he takes upon himself to connect your hands, his fingers intertwined with yours and his touch burning through your skin. He lets out a content hum, slowly taking some steps back to reach a free space, far from both the couch and the table. You watch mesmerized as he confidently guides your hands to his shoulders, his arms wrapping around your waist with ease, almost as if your bodies were meant to complete each other. 

You’re dumbfounded, to say, at least. It was almost as if the roles were reversed. Since you were children, you had always been the confident one, while Mark assumed the more awkward type of boy— You’d made fun of him more times than you could count, repeating the iconic quotes he spilled when he was pressured and nervous (“this is so high, it’s like my grades!”). Suddenly, he’s not horribly awkward with skinship anymore, and you don’t know what exactly to think. Did you like it? Yes. Did you hate it? Also, yes.

“Cause we were just kids when we fell in love, not knowing what it was.I will not give you up, this time” You whisper the lyrics, swinging side-to-side. You don’t dare to sing the next verse, though. Mark nods, looking at you as if you were the most beautiful thing he has ever seen in his whole life. His hands are nothing but gentle as he spins you around, something that was never taught in Mrs. Park’s class last month. 

You hate the things he makes you feel. Your heart is full, but at the same time, it crushes within itself painfully every single time you’re reminded that Mark is going back to Canada. His hands made your skin tickle— in the good way. It brings chills, because it’s cold, but it also is extremely warm. You’re hyper aware of his arms circling your waist tenderly, your fingertips squeezing his shoulder with tenderness. Deep down, you already know that this isn’t how friends would interact with each other, but you’re too afraid to acknowledge that, and eventually make things even more difficult.

“We are still kids, but we're so in love, fightin' against all odds… I know we'll be alright this time” He sings, his raspy voice echoing in the walls. You feel the tears coming back to your eyes, “Darling, just hold my hand, be my girl and I’ll be your man. I see the future in your eyes”

You’re tired of crying. You’re afraid that you were being overdramatic with all of this graduation thing, and for a second, you started to question if you were being annoying, all of your self-confidence dropping for a swift moment. You bring your arms upwards from Mark’s shoulders, wrapping them around his neck in a deep embrace, taking the opportunity to hide your face in his collarbones again. Mark lets out a tired sigh, unspoken words flowing around you with a deep melancholy. 

You’re tired of people leaving you behind, you finally realize. Some old memory comes flying in your mind, one time that Jeno mentioned that you might have some abandonment issues, and you had denied it back then with all your might. However, if he said the same thing to you today, you would have no choice but to agree with him.

First were your parents, who had never cared for you in the first place, leaving you behind while they went on long business trips since you were eight. Then your girl friends at middle school, who ganged up on you one day and said that you weren’t cool enough to hang out with them. Hyunjin, your ex, who made sure to blame you for all mistakes made in your relationship. Maybe all of that justified your anxiety of losing your friends, the only ones who had stayed until now. You knew that people could easily keep being friends, even if they were in different countries, because they had the internet to chat even if they were miles apart. A part of you screamed inside, extremely dull as you couldn’t help but to think that you wouldn’t talk to any of your friends if you weren’t in the same classroom everyday.

“We’ll be okay” Mark whispers in your ear, as if he could sense your thoughts going spiral. 

You close your eyes tightly, letting yourself imagine you and Mark, in prom, with fancy clothes. You imagine him wearing a tuxedo, leading you into the dance floor, the fabric of your dress swaying in the air as if you were in some kind of Hollywood movie. Your friends would be cheering you on, and everyone else from school would be looking at you dreamly, as if they wanted to be in yours or Mark’s place. 

Baby, I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms

Barefoot on the grass, listenin' to our favorite song

When I saw you in that dress, looking so beautiful

I don't deserve this, darling, you look perfect tonight

Zero days until graduation

“Yah, if you don’t stop crying, your eyes will get so puffed that not even the best foundation in the world will help you” 

“What you’re talking about, Jaemin, I’m not crying—”

“Yeah, sure, everyone believes that—”

Your last week has passed in a blink of an eye. Before you could even process what was happening, you and the rest of your friends were in your house, drinking and spending your last hours with Mark before he had to leave for Canada.

It was dramatic. Since his flight was at 2 am (who the fuck thought that flights at 2 in the morning were a good idea?), you decided to spend the whole day together. Once every three hours, one of you would burst into tears, mainly you, Donghyuck and Jisung, the crybabies of the group. 

You didn’t go to the airport to see him off. In fact, Mark didn’t let any of you see him— He said it would be more painful that way. That didn’t prevent you from crying your eyes out anyway, and at this point, you think you actually dehydrated yourself from the alarming amount of tears you spent in the last 48 hours. 

“Fuck you then,” You hiss, hearing the laughters of Jaemin and Chenle from your computer. You were on discord, in a server that had all of you, including Mark. Just seeing his name appear on the members’ list made a jab straight into your chest, your eyes watering effortlessly. “—not gonna cry tonight. My tear ducts are dry already”

“I smell bullshit” Jisung pops out of nowhere and you sigh. 

“Anyway, not gonna happen. Not crying tonight, nuh-uh” You shake your head, slightly pissed “First, it’s extremely humiliating to cry on prom— Even more if you’re alone, that’s just… Sad.”

“And who the fuck said that?” Jisung roasts, making you sigh. Ah, so much for raising him, you think.

“I did” You counter, extremely concentrated on your current task: putting on your makeup. The boys were playing PUBG, not bothering to prepare themselves, for now. You still had more than four hours until prom, but you were anxious and couldn’t help yourself. “Whatever, what I’m trying to say here is that I won’t cry tonight. I don’t need to make everything more depressing than it already is, so I’ll just dance my worries away. It sounds like a good plan to me”

“Wow,” Chenle gasps suddenly, and you pause your artwork to briefly look at his icon flashing on your screen— A childhood picture of him holding a giant gun, smiling brightly as if nothing was happening. “Your levels of bullshit just hit the fan”

“Ah, you’re both so mean to me~” You whine, pouting even if they can’t see it. You’re unconsciously trying to deflect the situation, even if you’re not aware. “Both of you are younger than me, but why am I being so disrespected like that?”

“Because you’re lame” Jisung fires and you let out another whine. Chenle yells something about Jisung’s poop hands almost killing them on the game, but you’re not paying enough attention to understand whatever they’re arguing about.

“Okay, now, back to the topic,” Jaemin cleans his throat and you feel your shoulder tensing up. “I’m worried”

“You don’t need to, I’m fine” You’re a bit defensive. Jisung opens his mouth to say something sassy, but you don’t understand what he said, as Jaemin’s voice drowns him.

“I think we know each other long enough to know that’s completely, utterly, totally, entirely, absolutely full of bullshit”

“Wait, doesn’t all of that mean the exact same thing?” Chenle pipes up, confused. Jisung, Jaemin and you let out a synchronized sigh. Right, foreign problems.

“Like I said, you don’t need to worry, Jae” You spoke in a soft tone, halting your hand that was blending the foundation. “I will be fine, I guess. There’s not much to do about Renjunnie and Mark leaving anyway, so it’s no use to waste your time worrying about me.”

“Don’t put yourself down like that,” He scolds, but his words didn’t hold a real bite. It kinda reminds you of how a mother scolds her child— You didn’t actually experience that, but you suppose that’s how it’s meant to be. “It’s okay to feel hurt, even if there’s nothing to do about. I’m just saying that you shouldn’t bottle it up. Renjunnie was really worried these days, because you wouldn’t say anything about your feelings.”

“Yeah” Jisung butts in, only because he didn’t know what to speak, but he felt the need to be verbal. You can almost see Jaemin rolling his eyes in his house, but that thought doesn’t humor you like it should.

“Well, it’s just that...” You start, but you can’t find the exact words to express the mess in your head. “All of us are passing for the same thing, so I feel like it’s unfair of me to be complaining and crying at all times while you guys are not”

“And why the fuck do you think we don’t complain and cry at all times?” Jaemin is quick to counter, making you sigh for the nth time. “Hyuckie didn’t answer anyone yesterday because he was busy crying and eating ice cream while he watched Toy Story 3 and 4”

“Toy Story is sad, it’s normal” Chenle defends, as he cries every time single time too. 

“Yeah, he also cried over Spiderman: Far From Home and the last episode of ICarly. You know, the one when Carly goes to live with her dad and everything” Jaemin shrugs, but you don’t actually see it, you just imagine him doing that. 

“That’s tough, buddy” Jisung mutters

“Well, do you see a pattern there?” Jaemin continues, ever patient “That’s Hyuck’s way to cope with Mark leaving. He’s not that good either, but at least he lets himself feel bad and he talks to someone about what he’s thinking. That’s way more healthier than closing yourself and not talking at all, if you ask me.”

“So, do you want me to spill all my inner insecurities and ugly cry again?”

“Basically, yes”

“What the fuck Jaemin” All four of you chuckle at that, even if it wasn’t the best moment to actually be funny. Somehow, you feel a bit less overwhelmed with everything, as Jaemin’s words helped you understand that you weren’t being annoying, as your low self esteem suggested. You fall silent for some seconds, taking your time to process everything— Chenle shouts again at Jisung for dropping the wrong item and you take a deep breath, their casual bickering grounding you to reality. “... and thank you, I guess…”

“It would make me ten times happier if you kept on talking, but that’s also okay, I guess. Can’t have everything we want,” He jokes, using your own words and a light hearted nagging tone, making you smile a bit. “We can have more deep talk some other time, when you feel like you’re ready. Just, please, don’t cry again. You’re going to have giant dark circles and puffy eyes on prom night,”

“Fuck you, they’re not that bad” You pout, returning to your task of preparing your skin.

“By the way, do you want a ride? Jeno’s mum offered us,” Jaemin changes the topic and you can also hear shuffling and muffled voices in the back “Hey, auntie, I’m talking right now with y/n, can you say hi?”

“Oh, hi my dear!” Mrs. Lee says, giggling. Your heart warms up at the woman’s voice, her sweet image being always kept on your brain as a comforting one. “It’s been a long time since you last came to visit, right?”

“Yeah, since the beginning of the year” You nod, not registering that this was a call and no one could see you. “How are you, auntie? Are you good these days?”

 “Yes!” She shouted, her voice distant from the microphone. You heard water running, so you presumed she was washing something—Maybe the dishes? “I’m proud and very emotional today, you see. I remember taking watch over you, Jaemin-ah and Jeno when you were just children playing in the park, and today, you’re going to prom”

“Ah, yeah, auntie! About that, I was just convincing her to go to prom with us” Jaemin adds, and you can see his scheming face from miles away

“Oh, that’s right, dear!” Mrs. Lee agrees, the water dying down and her voice much closer this time. “Jeno told me your parents were in Japan this week, so we can take you and the boys. I will take a lot of photos, don’t worry!” She giggles and you smile

“Are you sure I won’t be a problem? I don’t want to intrude” You say shyly 

“Nonsense!” Mrs. Lee assures, her tone indicating there was no other option “It’s always good to see you, honey. Don’t tell Jeno, but I love you more than I love my own son~”

“What about me~~?” Jaemin whines, making you both chuckle. 

“At this point, I think you’re like our adopted son” Mrs. Lee muses out loud “Well, anyways, it’s been good to talk to you. I need to iron Jeno’s clothes, so we can speak later~ Ah, Jaemin, can you go bang on the bathroom’s door? Jeno’s taking too long on the shower!”

You chuckle as Mrs. Lee’s voice starts to fade in the background, the male probably walking off to the bathroom. Chenle and Jisung continue to bicker about PUBG, and right now, your heart is unexpectedly warm and fuzzy, unlike the feeling of emptiness you had until some hours ago.

“Yah, Park Jisung, how could you miss that shot?!”

“He was moving!”

“HE WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!”

You and Jaemin snicker, amused with the duo’s antics. At some point, Chenle’s words became slurred enough for you to not understand his chinese accent, while Jisung kept making strange and confused noises. You hear some shuffling on Jaemin’s end, background voices, and something that seems like Jaemin taking off his headphones.

“Are you on the server?” You recognize Jeno’s voice and you suppress the urge to scream in everyone’s ears just to annoy him.

“Yeah? Why?” You doze off for a bit, staring at the wall in front of you expressionless. You don’t understand what Jeno says next, only waking up from your daydream when the Jaemin says “Hey, I’ll have to go now, and it’s better if the kids also start to get ready for prom too.”

“I’m not a kid anymore” Jisung mutters, and you can imagine the pout on his lips even if you don’t actually see it.

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that—” Jaemin snorts, “Anyways, y/n, I’ll text you later whenever we’re picking you up or if it’s better to come here to Jeno’s house”

“Tell them I said hi!” You hear Jeno scream and a smile pops up on your face without even realizing it.

“Jeno said he hates all of you” Jaemin lies shamelessly, and you hear the other boy screaming at him while he laughs his ass off. “Whatever, bye!”

The party was mesmerizing. 

You weren’t going to lie, you’d thought the school wouldn’t spend this much effort on prom, judging by the ex-students that graduated last year, who said the school barely paid any effort on decorating the hall. But his year, they seemed to be redeeming themselves for their previous mistake.

There was an elegant chandelier hanging from the ceiling right in the entrance, each shard reflecting a different light in the walls that made you mesmerized. The hall was decorated in golden tones, giving the ambient a luxurious vibe that really made everything feel like you were finally entering adulthood. Each table had a delicate flower arrangement with candles, which honestly, made you flabbergasted. 

The moment your eyes laid on the dancing floor, you felt an inexplicable unease deep down in your stomach. The lights were perfect, the DJ contracted by the school had only played good songs in the short five minutes you were in the party, and everything was absolutely flawless, so why were you upset?

“Do you miss him too?” Donghyuck’s quiet voice snaps you out of your trance, only then that both of you were frozen right in the entrance, where everyone was taking their pictures. You eye Chenle and Jisung, both going ahead, already saving a table for all of you. Their fancy tuxedo contrasted with their green and pink hair, making a funny sight overall.

“Stop talking like Mark is dead” Jeno laughs weakly, elbowing him. Renjun had his eyes lost in the view, obviously, head flying over the skies. It didn’t need a genius to guess what was going on inside his head.

“It feels incomplete” Renjun mutters, and you swear you saw his eyes watering. You purse your lips and look away, already feeling the emotions wanting to pour out. “I mean, we started as eight. Why are we ending with only seven?”

“Actually, we started with six— Chenle and Jisung are younger, even if we forget that sometimes” Jaemin shrugs off and Renjun rolls his eyes.

“You know what I meant, don’t try to be funny!” Renjun snarls, making grabby hands at Jaemin, wanting to choke him. 

“Well, let’s stop this depressing conversation. I miss Mark, but it’s really lame if we end in ugly tears right on prom night.” You finally say, taking a deep breath. To try to lighten up the mood, you smile teasingly “Ah, by the way, my mascara is waterproof, but I’m not sure about the rest of my makeup, so you fuckers better behave!”

“Won’t promise anything,” Donghyuck chuckles and you slightly slap him. He runs his hand through his hair, making a mess on top of his head, but you had to admit that he looked good that way “We have a show to do, right? Let’s do this, so we’re free to drink”

“They have drinks here?” Jeno raises his eyebrow, surprised. Hyuck smirks knowingly, a shit eating grin that you knew too well.

“Nah, I brought them” He snorted, and you couldn’t help but to laugh along. Chenle and Jisung came back, the latter without his blazer, as he used it to mark the table you were taking as occupied. At the sight of them, Hyuck smiles and raises his fist to the center, nudging everyone to form a circle. “Let’s do a cheer, hm?”

“Who will lead this time?” You can’t help but ask, a bittersweet feeling taking over your emotions. You observe quietly as they gaze at each other’s faces, silently debating who was the most proper one to take the honor. 

“You should take this one, noona,” Jisung says after seconds of silence, making you widen your eyes in surprise. 

“What?” 

“I agree,” Jeno nods approvingly, a proud smile on his face that you don’t quite understand. He exchanges glances with Jaemin, who has a similar expression on his face, and you can’t help but to feel left out of some hidden information both of them have. “It’s only right. The one to lead the cheer has to be some type of leader, and you fit that profile.”

“Ah, fuck” You raise your face suddenly, looking up to the ceiling and wiping tiny tears from the corner of your eyes. Your voice wavers a bit and you hear the boys laugh fondly, a tiny smile also appearing on your lips. “I said I wasn’t going to cry now, why the fuck are you guys making it so difficult for me?” You whine, sounding more like a crybaby than teenager-slash-adult.

“C’mon, let’s end this properly, right?” Renjun laughs and you feel his hand resting on your shoulder, squeezing it softly. You gulp, taking another deep breath and extending your fist alongside the other ones. Your hand is slightly smaller than theirs, but the image of them forming a circle is something you’ll certainly hold deep in your heart for a long time.

“Yo, Dream!”

“Jjeoreo! Juja! Fighting!”

“1, 2, 3… Testing, 1, 2, 3” You send Chenle a pointed look, but the boy just giggles cheekily. You shake your head, smiling with his antics, and you take your sweet time to adjust the microphone stand to your height. 

The lights dim slowly, until nothing could be seen upstage. You sigh, closing your eyes for a second and allowing yourself to take in all the things. Every student’s expectant gaze, some school staff and buffet staff who were also enjoying the moment and the weight of the future on your shoulders. All the uncertainty and fears you held deep inside your chest, along with the unsaid feelings for someone who was out of reach.

For three minutes and forty seven seconds, you let go of all of that. 

“As the world I’m heading towards and matching up to is getting bigger, it makes me feel an emptiness somehow”

“As if solving up the scattered pieces, we are matching up our stories. Inside the empty spot in my heart, there’s a piece called you taking place”

“You’re my missing puzzle piece, finally I solved it. You filled every piece of my heart even the scarred part of it to the fullest and somehow, you’ve become my everything. My missing puzzle piece”

“The fact that I have a flaw, the truth that I am imperfect. All of it makes me feel small. But in between those gaps, we can fill one another with it, so I don’t even realized that it was empty”

“More than having everything, not losing that one thing is more important. Through you, I came to know that”

“You’re my missing puzzle piece, very dazzling, it becomes one scene inside the world that I’ve been trying to put together alone. Like the hands that are interlocking tight together, because without you, it can’t be completed, so that we won’t lose each other, my missing puzzle piece”

The performance runs smoothly, your voices complementing each other in beautiful harmonies. You pour all of your emotions into each part, feeling like you’re letting go of a burden. When the music ends, you feel slightly lost, but at the same time, as if you’d never lose your direction in the future. 

"Thank you, the music club, for this heartwarming performance." The principal says as you leave the stage with a bow. He clears his throat to continue with his speech "Friendships like yours are beautiful and incredibly rare, so I advise you, young ones, to treasure all the tiny moments you spend with each of your friends. High School is the first time you came in contact with a bit of the adult world. And sadly, High School probably is the last time you're still able to be a kid freely, to live without worrying about responsibilities. From now on, you're adults. You're responsible for every action and every decision you take, being them wrong or rightful ones. You're free to choose whatever path you want to pursue in your life, and which ones you will want to have with you in your journey. Hard times will come— but don't forget everything you lived until now. It's okay to lean on your family and friends when things become too heavy to handle alone. Hold each other close, and I'll assure you, you're going to be fine"

You can't help but to feel touched by the principal's words. The corners of your lips curve upwards and you take a quick glance through the faces of your friends, memorizing them in your mind. 

"Okay, now I'm skipping the cheesy part. I'm sure no one wants to hear the long speech I prepared about college and responsibilities anyway" The principal fumbles with his papers comically, erupting a roar from the crowd. He smiles satisfied. "Now, for the interesting part you all waited for! For years now, our school keeps the tradition of choosing a king and a queen to prom. Now, I'm inviting our dear Mrs. Park to come up to the stage to help me announce who is the charming couple who will receive the title of king and queen!"

"Hello, our dear graduates!" Mrs. Park cheered, the happiest you have ever seen her in your life. "As you know, the voting took place one week ago in the end of day at school, and today, we will have the pleasure of meeting our most loved couple—"

You tune her out, the principal’s speech still lingering in your head and making your thoughts run a hundred miles per second. The party’s walls felt too suffocating, almost as if they were closing on you, and you knew you couldn’t stay there for much longer.

“Are you okay?” Jaemin whispered, his hand squeezing your shoulder comfortably. You sighed, shaking your head

“Yeah,” You said, your voice wavering and clearly stating that even you weren’t sure “I just need some fresh air” 

“Alright” He nods, tapping lazily on your head. You take that as a good sign and you flee your group discreetly. You pass the golden arch by the side entrance, admiring silently the shiny decoration that made the hall look ten times more illuminated than it really was. 

When you finally cross security and find somewhere more private, you’re at some kind of garden. It’s not fully in the open, as you can see the tall walls that limit the building, but it’s a nice spot to admire the night sky. The first thing you notice is the chilly air— You clearly remember the weather being warmer when you were outside, so you guess that the sun fully setting was enough to make the temperature drop.

The stars are bright in the sky. They twinkle at you, and for a second, you think that they’re trying to pass a hidden message to you. Strangely, you feel your shoulders relax, releasing all the tension you built for the past minutes just by being with the comforting presence of stars. You close your eyes, breathing deeply and taking a few seconds to calm down the flood of anxious thoughts that invaded your mind. 

“Oh, you’re here”

You go blank. You feel frozen in place, your entire body refusing to move a single muscle. Your eyes are wide open and you feel like you’re not physically able to turn your neck, almost as if there was something on it preventing you from looking behind you. That something was anxiety, you soon realize, ready to cry on the spot.

Your lower lip starts to tremble and you feel thousands of different emotions burning in your chest, ready to burst at any moment. Taking a deep inhale, you shyly turn your head, afraid that the voice was just a cruel prank of destiny.

“Mark” His name leaves your lips along with all the air in the lungs. You don’t cry— You were shocked enough to make all brain power short circuit completely.

Mark Lee stood in all his glory, right here, right now. Less than three steps of distance. In Seoul, not in Vancouver, like you were thinking until a minute ago. You were sure this was an image you would be able to see only in your dreams, but somehow, you were living the real thing, seeing Mark Lee attend the school’s prom. His dark hair was styled handsomely, parted exactly in the middle and showing his forehead for the entire world to see. He wore a black suit, his blazer left open lazily showing off the navy tie and the white blouse under it.

“What— Mark—” You gasp, the words losing themselves in your throat, “Weren’t you supposed to be in Canada right now? What the—”

“Hm?” He raises his eyebrows in surprise, and you’re more confused than ever “Didn’t Jaemin and Jeno tell you?”

“Tell me what?” You shriek, almost screaming on the spot. Mark chuckles at your reaction, making that annoying, warm feeling bubble up again. He takes a timid step forward, so you’re face to face, an arm's distance from him. You hear a tiny voice in the back saying that you were dreaming— Maybe you were still in bed, probably in deep slumber, that was the only fucking way—

“There was a problem in our plane,” He starts explaining, doe eyes never leaving yours. His stare slightly overwhelms you. It’s full of unsaid feelings and memories, and you’re afraid of what will change if you admit your own feelings. “I got one more day until the next flight, so here I am"

"Wow…" You say, not being able to think of anything else to express yourself out loud while trying to understand what the fuck was happening. Mark smirks, amused with your shocked expression and lack of words. "Why didn't you say that sooner? Oh fuck, wait, you said that Jaemin and Jeno already knew? What the actual fuck— Why did you get late? Well, I'm not complaining, since you're here when I actually thought that I would never see you again because you were going to stay with your family and there was no guarantee that you would actually come back, and if you even came back to Korea how was I supposed to deal with— Oof"

Mark efficiently shuts you up by bringing you to his chest by the shoulders, your face hitting his body gently in a hug. He is chuckling fondly, and you note (quite embarrassingly, if you were to add) that you can feel the way his heart beating fast because you were leaning directly on his chest. 

"Calm down, you're hyperventilating" He whispers in your ear, making a chill run down your spine. Again, you have to actively remind yourself to breathe properly. You take in his scent, burying your nose in his collarbone, and you feel his fingers tracing random patterns over the fabric of your dress. "Well, for starters, I was in the airport since midnight— The flight was supposed to be at 2am, but it was delayed to 4am. After that, they delayed again to 6am, and then to 8am. At that point, my parents were pissed and decided to speak with some manager, and he said he was sorry and that he could reschedule us into a first class that was going to leave tomorrow, so boom! Here we are," 

"That's great—" You choke out. Mark's face softens and he removes one of his hands in your waist to carefully wipe something in your face. Shit, were you crying? "Ah, shit, I had a bet with Jisung that I wouldn't cry today. You're making it really hard for me, Mark Lee!" You whine, and the boy just chuckles.

"I guess I'm sorry?" He smiled sheepishly. "By the way, I called Jeno and Jaemin his afternoon after a good nap and told them. Didn't they tell you?" 

"No!" A pout appears on your face. You sigh, wrapping your hands in Mark's waist and burying your head again in his collarbone. For some reason, you really liked the smell of his cologne. "Can I murder them?"

"Nah, at least hear their reasons first. Then you can do whatever you want" He shrugs off. You hear the music booming inside the hall and you don't even notice when Mark starts swinging around lazily. "By the way, you don't have to worry too much, okay? It sounds bad if I word it like this, but I'll be back from Canada in no time"

"Are you implying that your grandma—"

"Damn, I already said that it isn't like that!" He whines, making you chuckle. He sighs deeply, leaning his chin on the top of your head. "I mean, I don't plan on staying in Canada for too long. Even if my parents decide to stay back there, I'm still coming to Korea after all the mess finally gets finished. My whole life is here, after all"

"...whole life…?" You repeat, leaning your head back so you can stare at Mark's dark eyes directly. He blushes, a shy smile appearing on his lips

"Yeah," You smile at him, your chest covered in warmth despite the chill weather "I grew up here in South Korea. I might be born in Canada, but what Vancouver has to offer is absolutely no match for what I already have in Seoul. You and the other kids"

You don't say anything, although it is more like, you can't think of anything good enough to express what you're feeling right now. Mark breathes deeply and his face changes to something more serious. He breaks the hug gently, instead, going for your hands and taking them in his own.

"Y'know, five nights ago, when I told you I was going to go back, I said that I wasn't going to say anything," He shakes his head, as if reviving a memory "I told myself that it would be too selfish to burden you with my feelings and to go away for months or years, with no predictions of when I was going to come back."

"I already knew, tho" You reveal shyly, staring at your connected hands. "Your feelings, I mean"

"Yeah, I'm not the best when it comes to hiding them—" Mark laughs and you chuckle, raising your head to look directly at him again. "Anyway, that night, when I left your house, I felt horrible. You know, those anxious thoughts? I didn't know anymore if I was sure of what I was doing. For one part, I want to see you happy, more than anything in the world. Even if that happiness lies with another person, that would be okay for me as long you were happy and satisfied. But the other half of me is selfish— What if I had lost my chance? What if I messed things up? What if the long time really tears us apart?"

"It won't" You assure weakly, gripping his hands more firmly. He nods, agreeing with you.

"Those were like, 3 am insecure thoughts." He clarifies, "I was going to leave without saying anything, I swear. But this plane problem came up, and fuck, call me stupid or any shit like that, but I feel like it's a sign? Like, really, what are the chances that something happens exactly like this?" 

"Maybe the airport manager is some kind of angel?" You joke, making him chuckle with you.

"Yeah, maybe" He takes a deep breath before returning to his monologue "So, fuck everything I thought was right until like, a night ago. I'm going to be really selfish, and I'm really sorry for it, but... I love you. I don't know how, or when it happened, but I love every part of you, no matter how much you dislike them."

"Mark—"

"No, please, let me say everything at once, okay?" He pleads. You nod, letting him have his moment "I realized it too late. All the protectiveness over the whole Hyunjin thing, I thought it was a normal thing to feel as friends, because the other kids also hated him— But there was a moment that everything clicked, and I was like, fuck, I really like her, and then, it was like a switch being activated. I started seeing everything from a different point of view and slowly it came to me why I wasn't upset about Kang Mina back then. It was never her, y'know? There is such a big difference between the things I thought I felt for her and the things I actually feel for you— Wait, why are you crying again?"

Mark pauses his speech, looking at you bewildered. You sniff loudly, the tears pooling on the corner of your eyes, and you shake your head.

"It's just—" You look upwards overwhelmed, trying to reduce your tears "Sorry, this feels too much like a dream and a nightmare at the same time. I'm scared of what I feel about you— I'm scared that I'll love you too much, and then you'll end up leaving"

"I'm sorry" Mark's face falls and he has guilt written all over his eyes. "I'm being extremely selfish right now"

"No, no, it's okay" You reassure quickly, shaking your head, "I'm just a crybaby, as usual.. Ah, is my makeup fucked up right now?" You chuckle nervously, trying to change the tense mood.

“It’s a bit smudgy here, but you’re still pretty” He says, his thumb wiping the corner of your eyes with so much care that you feel like you’re going to melt under his touch. You take a deep breath, locking your own eyes with his and forcing yourself to maintain them there

“Look, I don’t know if I made it clear enough, but…I do like you—” You shake your head at your own words “No, wait, I think it’s safe to say that I love you at this point. I feel like I’m about to combust every single time, and I lowkey hate it, because at the same time you make me feel funny inside and also trigger a lot of anxious thoughts— Those aren’t your fault, of course, but they still happen every once in a while”

“What are you worried about?” His voice is quiet, almost as if he was stepping on eggshells. You’re again, reminded that Mark Lee was one of the sweetest and most caring boys you’ve ever met, and that he was worried about you.

“I feel like I’m not enough. Like, hell, you’re fucking Mark Lee and I’m just same, old, me” Your voice cracks painfully “Jeno was right— I think I have some abandonment issues, and lowkey speaking, I think I’m a big burden to carry around, even more if you’re going to the other side of the globe in less than one day”

“You’re not a burden” He is quick to counter, his grip on your hand making a good job on grounding you to reality. “Having abandonment issues or not, you’re still you at the end of the day. I think I already said this before, but I love every single part of you, even the bad ones that come around. I’m not going to leave you behind for anything in this world— Fuck, I don’t think I would be able to live with myself if I did that”

“...” You’re speechless, feeling the urge to cry, but also not wanting to ruin what was left of your makeup. Your nose scrunches into a cute pout and Mark lets out a soft chuckle at your funny expression.

“If you’re up to it… I think we could try something?” His voice wavers, slightly hesitant. “You don’t have to feel pressured to agree, of course! It’s just that— I want you to know that I’m willing to wait until we can be together properly. That I won’t meet anyone else, because you’re the one that—”

“Yeah, it’s a good idea.” You cut Mark’s ramblings, a small smile appearing on your lips. His shoulders relax immediately, relieved that he didn’t make a fool of himself. You stood in a comfortable silence, taking your time to process all of the information that was dumped on you in the last fifteen minutes. Mark suddenly gasps and looks at you with wide eyes

“Holy shit, does that mean that now we’re boyfriend and girlfriend?” He squeaks, making you raise your eyebrows at him amusedly

“You were the one who asked!” You can’t help but to tease him, finding extremely cute how his cheekbones moved around in his many expressions

“Oh yeah, right,” He mutters to himself. “Does that mean that I can kiss you? I mean, now that we’re boyfriend and—”

You raise yourself on your toe tips, your hands cupping Mark's cheeks and bringing his face closer, connecting your lips and efficiently shutting him up. It feels strangely like a bunch of fireworks being set off in your chest, with sparks of electricity running in your body by every second. Mark's lips are soft, perfect against your own. All of his previous awkwardness disappears in question of seconds, as he pulls you by your hips against him, your own hand moving from his cheeks to the back of his head, messing with his hair mindlessly. His tongue is the first to ask entrance in your mouth, and you part your lips without second thoughts just to feel his tongue clashing directly against yours in sync. 

The kiss breaks off with your lungs burning, both of your breaths heavy, but that doesn't stop you from giving one last affectionate peck on his lips before backing down with your feet fully on the ground. You give him a bright smile, not paying any attention to how you feel your entire face and neck burning, focused only on Mark Lee and how your heart feels like it's going to burst out of your rib cage soon.

"That was… great," His smile makes his entire cheekbones go upwards, exposing some cute dimples on their way. He looks at you like you're his entire world, and for a second, you're lost in the way his eyes twinkle, almost if they are lost brothers of the shiny stars in the night sky. He leans his head towards you again, his forehead against yours and eyes staring at your soul. His left hand goes to his blazer pocket, taking a red pendrive from it and offering to you.

"What is this?" You take it, fingers carefully touching the device as if they were some kind of lost treasure. Mark grins at you.

"It's called Dear Dream, actually—"

“MARK FUCKING LEE, HOW DARE YOU”

You let out a high pitched scream, feeling someone throw all their weight on top of you, almost making you lose your balance and fall down if it wasn't for Mark and his spidey-sense reflex, supporting you with his arm behind you. 

"LEE DONGHYUCK, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" 

You finally come down to earth after near death experience— Is your heart still beating? Just to be sure, you put your palm on your chest, feeling the unsteady beats combine with the deep breaths. Donghyuck has one arm around you, and another in Mark's shoulders, crocodile tears on his face. You see Renjun running through the entrance, screaming something at the other boy, Chenle and Jisung after him with some big smiles and Jaemin and Jeno at the back, grinning like some twisted version of proud parents™

"You absolutely fucking bastard! How dare you?!" Hyuck shrieks, and you take a step back just to make sure you're not caught in the crossfire, however, you don't let go of Mark's right hand. "I come to make sure y/n hasn’t killed herself and suddenly you appear out of nowhere?! What the fuck— I'm feeling extremely betrayed right now what the hell"

"Hyung!" Jisung exclaims, wide eyed "What are you doing here?" 

"None of you actually know?" Mark gasps, glaring at Jeno and Jaemin, both of them shrugging off "What— I thought I asked you two to deliver the news?"

"Nah, too much work." Jaemin smirks innocently, making his best to show puppy eyes to be let off the hook. "We were like, debating if we should let the crybabies know, because it would be really cool if we were drowning in tears in one moment and in the next— boom! Mark Lee is fucking back! Oh, no, not actually back, but you got the hang of it"

"What do you mean crybaby?" Hyuck whines, still clutching Mark as if he was afraid of letting him go. "I'm not a crybaby, what are you saying? I’m suing you for spreading wrong rumors about my cold, totally devoid of emotions—"

"You're crying" Chenle deadpans, an amused smile decorating his face. 

"Besides, it was a nice surprise, wasn't it?" Jeno grins sheepishly, his hands buried deep in his pockets. "The plan worked— Hyuck is crying, y/n is crying, Jisung is trying to disguise his tears but we all saw it anyway and Injunnie is crying somewhere deep inside!"

"I cried a lot and ruined all of my makeup, I hope you're proud," You sniff bitterly, making everyone laugh at your miss fortune. You feel Mark's thumb caressing the back of your hand fondly.

"Donghyuck has the worst timing ever, I swear to god—" Renjun rolls his eyes, glaring at said boy who whines again in response. You feel the heat going back to your cheeks, suddenly shy under the knowing gazes of your friends

"I dunno what you're talking about?" You pout childishly, hoping that they save you from all the teasing and embarrassment, but of course they won't.

"Good try, our dear y/nnie!" Renjun smirks at you, finding amusement on how your cheeks redden up, along with Mark's neck turning a slight pink colour. "But well, you see, Mark has his lips tinted in red, and he hasn't let go of your hand since we found you two— So tell me, are you finally together after all this time of simping for each other like some kind of dumb Disney movie?"

"Fuck you Renjun," Mark sighs, earning another laugh from the dreamies. He raises your connected hands in the air, showing them to the world, and you watch with a dumb smile as your friends' faces lighten up one by one until all of them have that same genuine smile. 

"It happened?" Jisung mutters rhetorically, awestruck. You feel your eyes water with all those overwhelming emotions, but you limit yourself to a simple nod, curving your lips upward. Mark smiles shyly, not answering the youngest with words, but rather with actions. He gives you a light peck on the top of your head, proud with how their faces soften.

"I'm happy for you. You deserve someone good, hm? Not that our Markie is the bestest example, but c'mon, he's at least decent!" Donghyuck says teasingly, letting go of Mark to envelop you in a bear hug with a little laugh, his hand messing with your hair. You nod against him, not trusting yourself to come up with a verbal response, "I still hate Mark for not telling us earlier that he was coming to prom, but I guess that everything ended well, so perhaps we can forgive him, right?"

"Yeah," You chuckle, amused with Hyuck's antics and your boyfriend's absolutely done expression. 

Boyfriend, hm? That sounded good in your ears.

"Hey, now that we sorted this mess, let's go inside" Jeno pleads, sighing. "We're kinda losing the whole point of prom being outside like this—"

You hum in agreement and all of you set off to go back inside, your hand finding Mark's one naturally as you match each other's pace. He suddenly stops, clearing his throat and successfully gaining the attention of everyone.

"Hey guys, let's do this" His voice is firm, confident. You send him a confused look, but he just smiles proudly at all of you. "Yo, dream!"

it's all flooding back, this is only one part

this is just a bit, believe this is our bookmark

we were swept away by the current so naturally

but i don't want this to sound like

we're about to depart

 if i ever get lost

i won't turn to dust

i'mma call back,

don't forget my tone

whenever you shout out like we used to

hope we always feel like,

“Let´s do it! Fighting!”

[nejiten-lives-on]

What Girls talk about//Nejiten fanfic

day 1 for nejiten month (sfw)

- by me :) @nejiten-lives-on

It didn't take the byakugan itself to tell that Tenten had liked Neji Hyuga.

At this point Tenten was losing all hope, for the past few months she had countless tries to catch Neji's eye. Unfortunately for her, all her attempts to get Neji to notice her failed miserably. Neji had the eyes of an eagle but yet failed to see Tenten in the way she wanted him to. (Or so she thought)

It was a girls day out, & Tenten couldn't wait to have a relaxing day. Hinata, Sakura, Ino, Tenten, & Temari (surprisingly) were all at a Boba shop together. Later on they would go to the Hyuga compound to enjoy a movie together. Then Ino said

"Hey guys, that guy over there is kinda cute, one of you guys should go talk to him."

Sakura growled "Why don't you go talk to him Ino-pig?"

"Because I've been trying to get with your new teammate billboard brow." Ino fired back.

"You must be really good with the guys since you get a new one almost every month or so Ino" Temari chuckled.

"What can I say, a pretty girl like me can't stay single for too long, but I think this time with Sai it's going to be different." Tenten noticed Ino quirky suppressed the urge to blush & chuckled a little.

"Tenten what are you laughing about." Ino said.

"Uh, nothing just thought of something."

"Or maybe someone." Temari smirked.

Ino & Sakura started giggling & she knew this wouldn't be as relaxing as she thought. As Shikamaru would put this, this would be troublesome.

"Tenten how about you try to talk with the guy over there?" Sakura said.

"Im good." Tenten shot back quickly.

"Ooh so you do have someone else in mind." Ino chuckled.

To her left side Hinata was just sitting quietly hoping the teasing wouldn't go to her next.

"I wonder who it is." Sakura sarcastically.

"I think its kind of obvious, lucky for her we're going to get to see him when we go Hinata's house later on." Ino said with a wide smirk.

Tenten quickly suppressed the urge to blush but failed.

"Could you guys not, I don't like that cold-hearted, possessive, ice cube of a human."

"Sorry Hinata." Tenten quickly added

"Its fine." Hinata said with a smile

Hinata was so sweet, unlike her cousin. Tenten thought. Who was sometimes sweet but for the most part prideful & self absorbed, but with a face like Nejis' who could really complain.

"Look she's probably thinking about it right now." Sakura said to Ino.

"You guys need to stop with the teasing." Temari said.

"Thank you Temari." Tenten said with an eye roll

"And you Tenten need to Neji how you feel." Temari said.

"Wow was it really that obvious that I got the hots for Hyuga.." Tenten Said.

"Yea it totally is." Ino said.

"To everyone but him." Tenten said with an eye roll.

Sakura & Ino began to chuckle again.

"What are you guys laughing at now?" Tenten said with a bit of annoyance in her tone.

"Well isn't it obvious that Neji likes you back?" Ino said.

"Uh no, cause he doesn't. He probably doesn't even consider me a girl." Tenten said.

"You guys are both oblivious to each other's feelings for one another" Temari said.

"I just think-, no I know that Neji’s feelings towards me don't go any further than to being his teammate & friend." Tenten said.

"if anything the most he considers me as is a training dummy." Tenten said with a half chuckle built in with a tone of annoyance.

"Well let's test your theory when we go to Hinata's house." Ino said.

"Speaking of Hinata.." Ino looked to the shy girl to her left "You & Kiba, anything going on between you two?" Ino asked with a smirk.

Hinata's face became crimson & she started drinking her Boba in hopes Ino would stop targeting her. Sadly Its didn't work.

Poor Hinata, Tenten thought.

.

.

.

As they were walking to Hinata's house a conversation sparked up.

"Hey Temari." Tenten said

"Yea Ten?"

"Who initiated the first move, you or Shikamaru?"

"Well surprisingly Shika did, told him some time too." Temari said with a light chuckle.

"But I mean it was worth the wait."

"Why Tenten do you ask, want Neji to make some moves on you?" Ino said teasingly.

Tenten rolled her eyes "Even if I did, Neji has way too much pride in him to even think of doing that."

"Okay so doesn't that mean that you have to be the one to make the first move?" Sakura said.

"I mean when you put it that way.. but Neji probably wouldn't want someone as simple & bland as me anyway." Tenten said with a sad tone.

"Aww Tenten don't feel that way, you are so beautiful." Temari said

"Hai, you really are Tenten." Hinata added.

"Yea for sure & you have a really nice figure whether Neji can see it or not." Sakura said

"Trust me I bet he has noticed, who knows if he may have used his byakugan on you for other non-training purposes." Ino said with a wide grin.

"Ino stop!" Tenten said with a crimson face.

I guess all that talking was useful, they got to the Hyuga compound really fast.

.

.

.

At the compound the girls said their greetings to Hiashi & went to Hinata's room first.

"Wow, your room is huge Hinata."

"You say that everytime Ino." Sakura said

"Because its true." Ino said with hands on her hips.

Temari didn't plan on staying for long but the rest of the girls insisted on a sleepover.

After they had their fun Temari had left but before she left she reminded Tenten to try to make a move on Neji.

"Oh yea I almost forgot." Ino said with a smirk.

"So how do you plan on making your first move on Neji?" "Maybe going into his room & seducing him." Ino said with a wide smirk.

Sakura started laughing "This will be fun."

.

.

.

Next thing you know Tenten was being dragged by a group of chuckling girls running the halls of the Hyuga. Even Hinata seemed to be enjoying this. They were going to the side branch families part of the compound.

They knocked on Neji's door & ran, leaving a confused Tenten in shorts & a loose pajama top outside of Neji's room.

Neji came outside & was surprised Tenten was there, especially in that attire.

"Did you want to go training at this hour, If so I wouldn't mind but is a little late don't you thi-."

"No!" Tenten said quickly "Today me & the girls were just hanging out & I guess we're ending the night with a stay at Hinata's house... which is also your house." Tenten began to ramble.

"And as you can see they kind of just knocked on your door & left me here." Tenten said rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. "Surprise I guess."

"Well I suppose it isn't such a bad surprise." Neji said.

"Neji your flirting attempts are lame." Ino said at the corner of the hall with the rest if the girls head peeking around.

"You guys were here the whole time?!?" Tenten yelled

"Not anymore bye." Ino shot back & ran back to the main house with the Pink & Blue haired girls.

"Well unless you plan on chasing them back to the main branch you're welcome into my room."

.

.

.

Tenten walked in, nothing new it was the same room she would be in almost every other day when she came to pick him up for afternoon training.

She sat herself on his bed while he was right besides her.

Neji was a little closer than usual, not that she minded.

"I'm sorry did I disturb you, If you want I can go back to the-."

"No!" She could feel Neji stiffened "Ahem, no you were not disrupting me at all."

"Oh okay." Tenten said

They stayed in silence for a while but really for the two it was nothing new, but Tenten noticed that there was some kind of tension in the air.

"So what did you do today?" Tenten said to break the silence

"Nothing much, the boys & I just went out to BBQ together."

"I bet it was Choji's idea." Tenten chuckled

"Yea, not surprising but we were all getting tired of going out for ramen ever outing." Neji said.

"What do you guys even talk about when you meet up?" Tenten asked, maybe this would give her the opportunity to see what kind of girl was ideal for Neji.

"Nothing much just Naruto's crazy stories, missions, games, & girls." Neji said regretting the last part knowing Tenten would ask a storm of questions. Neji then spoke before giving Tenten the opportunity to talk.

"What do you girls talk about?"

"Uhh, basically the same thing I guess Ino's crazy boy stories, missions, our teams, & boys. Oh and a lot if teasing, well at least on me & Hinata's end." Tenten said with a bit of annoyance.

Neji lightly chuckled, it was a rare sight but Tenten always enjoyed seeing it.

"So what kind of boys do you talk about?" Neji asked.

"Don't worry only cute ones come up in our conversations." Tenten laughed

"Wow so then I suppose you guys must talk about me a lot then." Neji smirked

Neji & his pride, it was unbeatable. Tenten thought to herself.

"Okay whatever pretty boy don't get all cocky." Tenten said, stopping herself from rolling her eyes.

"Hm, so you admit that I'm pretty." Neji said smirking at Tenten

"Is it not obvious Hyuga, or do you want 100 more of your fangirls to stalk you during our training sessions." Tenten said sarcastically.

"I mean I'm sure they are just afraid that their beloved Hyuga might be taken away by a pretty girl." Neji stated

"And what does that mean exactly?" Tenten questioned

"It means.." Neji stared deep into her eyes "That I think you're very beautiful Tenten."

Tenten just looked back at with shock. It wasn't like Neji to be so straightforward with his feelings, usually a "Hn." was enough for her but for Neji to be this talkative for this long was rare. Was she in some kind if genjutsu?

"And I don't know if you are unaware but you have some fans as well, but I usually deal with them."

"What are you getting at Hyuga?" Tenten asked regrettably

"I'm saying that I like you Tenten."

Neji Hyuga, the ice block of the leaf himself actually has feelings? And even more shocking they were for me? Tenten thought.

Tenten was not about to let her emotions overcome her, although it was too late to suppress her blush (she was sure she was a darker shade of red than Hinata has ever been) She got herself together & said.

"I like you too, Hyuga."

At this point their faces were mere inches apart & they was heavy tension in the air.

Neji being the gentleman that he is politely asked "May I..?"

Tenten nodded

Neji grabbed Tenten's waist & lended in.

Slowly she could feel Neji's breath near her face & immediately started blushing. Then his lips touched hers & were met by a tender kiss. Neji's lips were soft & gentle. They were going slow, not that Tenten didn't mind the only thing on her mind was Neji Hyuga & his soft lips.

After a gasp for air Neji didn't hesitate to lean in for another soft & tender kiss. This one was filled with passion & hunger. Tenten gasp which gave Neji the opportunity to slip in his tongue & have power over her mouth. It was a deep & compassionate kiss.

After their 'make out session' They looked at each other briefly & chuckled. Tenten could feel her cheeks getting red & surprisingly Neji's cheeks were lightly tinted as well.

"Well I guess it's getting a bit late, I think I'll head back to the main branch compound."

"You know, you could always stay in my room for the night." Neji said with a smirk

Tenten blushed & threw a pillow at him. "Hyuga don't get too ahead of yourself."

"Hn"

"I see the old Neji is back, tell him I had fun & I might want to do it again." Tenten said smiling lightly

"Will do, I'm sure next time will be enjoyable."

Tenten exited his room & went straight to Hinata's room. Needless to say the screams of teenage girls were heard from all around the compound.

I guess the day did end up being relaxing, Tenten thought with a smile.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 266: Sad Naruto Flute Music

Previously on BnHA: Tamaki ate a horse; Dark Shadow punched Re-Destro through a wall; Gigantomachia didn’t want to wake up from his nap; Tokoyami climbed inside of Fatgum’s stomach like a little emo joey and mused about Hawks; Hawks was all “am I evil or no? history shall decide!” and sort of kind of maybe tried to kill Twice; and then Dabi showed up and set the two of them on fire before you could say “stop, drop, and roll.” All of this was a real chapter that really happened. Anyway but then Hawks saved Twice by pulling him out of the fire, which I totally didn’t notice during my first readthrough last week, so that’s nice. But then Dabi stepped on Hawks’s face and used his quirk again. So that was not so nice. We’re really having ourselves an arc, here.

Today on BnHA: Well you know the old saying. Save a man from burning and you feed him for a day, stab him while he’s running away and you feed him for life. Oh, the chapter? Right. Well Hawks is perfectly fine aside from getting a sexy scar for his troubles, which I’ll have you know I did predict. Twice however is not so fine, which, fun fact, I did not predict. If you’re just joining us. Yeah. I boofed it. Anyway so Hawks escapes Dabi using the power of mysterious main character logic, and then he stabs Twice, and Twice dies, very slowly and sadly and in Toga’s arms. That’s it that’s the chapter. You’ll love it. It’s full of feels. And death. Lol I’m in a mood right now I’m sorry guys. I’m gonna go write some healing Bakugou essays.

so as mentioned on the “previously” section above, Hawks saved Twice’s life! meanwhile Dabi apparently arrived in time to listen to Hawks’s “here I go... time to kill you... really gonna do it... here it comes...” speech for at least several seconds before he finally decided to make his grand entrance, as evidenced by him quoting Hawks’s “sentiment” line right back in his face before setting him on fire. so basically Hawks is still okay and villains gonna villain. this is my conclusion and 4 out of 5 dentists approve but you can form your own judgements as well and that’s fine!

(ETA: this is all your fault fifth dentist.)

anyway so before we begin, full disclosure, I was warned this chapter would make me cry. so that ominous pronouncement is gonna be weighing on my mind while we embark upon our weekly manga journey today, but alas such is life! at least life in March 2020. did we really expect any good news at this point. I want a refund on this whole year but apparently I should get in line

so here we go. someone is narrating and it’s not quite clear who

but the “you’ve just been unlucky” part is a reference to what Hawks was telling Twice in chapter 264, so unless Dabi was listening in on that part too, I would think this would have to be Twice? even though Dabi’s the one whose face is so prominent here, all handsome and crazy

omg Hawks is holding on to his feather and using his tk to blast away while holding Twice

what a fucking thing to do. is the fucking feather still on fire. and somehow he hasn’t instinctively let go of it?? THIS BOY I SWEAR TO GOD

and so he’s definitely going to have a scar there now it looks like! pretty sure this makes him an honorary Todoroki. aww

and also Twice seems to possibly be unconscious, so I guess that was Dabi’s narration?? you mean to tell me Dabi was basically sitting outside for like a full five minutes. were you fixing your hair. getting ready to livestream?? “hey there villain nation it’s me ya boi, so I’m here in the Hilton Gunga Heights and omg like a shitton of heroes have attacked us out of fucking nowhere, and now the number two hero is getting ready to fucking murder my bro Twice, and he hasn’t even noticed I’m here yet. shit is totally crazy, anyways before we go on just a reminder to click on the link below to check out our official league merch, and if you haven’t already, click on the button to like and subscribe, it really helps us out.” and then boom, just in time to save Twice from Mr. To Stab or Not to Stab

(ETA: now that we know it’s actually Twice what am I gonna do with all these Dabi social media jokes. huh?! Horikoshi you ruined everything!!)

oh this chapter is apparently called “Happy Life.” that’s fun I’m sure we’re going to have a really fun time here

(ETA: so fun the funnest.)

Dabi doesn’t really seem fazed though

yeah he’s fucked we know don’t have to rub it in ffff

(ETA: Dabi. we underestimated him, Dabi.)

so Hawks is all “you nearly murdered your bro just fyi” and Dabi is all “smirk it’s fine cuz I knew you were going to save him cuz ~that’s ~what ~heroes ~do” wow you guys. I just realized that between Dabi and Hawks, this has the potential to be the single snarkiest fight we’ve ever had in this manga. my hype for this chapter just went up 10x

also even though I just summarized these last few panels I’m also going to post them so we can all shamelessly admire hot wounded Hawks

hot damn. you were right, AFO. wounded heroes are the sexiest. I may be paraphrasing a bit

also two things, (1) looks like he called some of his feathers back (so then WHERE WERE THEY??), but it’s not much. and (2) he was wearing gloves this whole time that’s right I forgot. so maybe his hands are okay?? the hell are those made of, damn

oh my freaking lord

this is one attractive chapter I’ll give it that. also raise your hand if you’re surprised that Dabi never actually trusted Hawks. yeah that’s what I thought

well shit looks like we’re finally getting some Hawks thoughts! unsurprisingly, they are all “I’m fucked”

please note that while talking!Hawks is continuing to be all sassy, thinking!Hawks is busy tallying up Jin’s injuries. this is a good sign, maybe. I hope. lol

anyway but speaking of Jin, what is going on

oh lol he’s making a break for it

this is so bad you guys. this is so so bad. if Twice lives that’s all well and good, but if he escapes, Hawks is 100% right about how dangerous he is. they could literally capture 90% of PLF in this raid and it would hardly even matter. also in the meantime the #2 hero is about to be roasted alive so that’s also not great for the hero side all things considered

ohhhhhhhhhhhhh no. I don’t like this. no no no

why did we suddenly cut to outside and someone’s screaming (?) echoing from offscreen. I’m trying to think of not-terrible explanations for this and coming up short. uh

now we’re back to Hawks/Twice/Dabi, only I don’t see Hawks yet. but Twice is just barely dodging the flame blast, and meanwhile Dabi is all

is he talking to Twice?

yep he’s talking to Twice

that’s fine. that’s all I need. for Twice to “go wild” while my nine-year-old son is outside with his batteries all fried and innocently waiting for someone to lead him back to where his other child soldier friends are waiting for him. like. say what you will about Hawks and betrayal, but there was a fucking reason he was trying to take Twice out first

hmm but we’re getting this slow-motion panel now and FUCK ME I SWEAR TO GOD IF A FEATHER PIERCES HIS HEART OUT OF NOWHERE I’M GONNA LOSE IT

WAIT WHAT

EXCUSE ME BUT

? ??????????

well you sure have been made to look the fool now, Dabi. thought you’d won just because you had Hawks cornered in a narrow room and you set him on fire while standing in between him and the only exit. rookie fucking mistake. you scrub. you clod. you halfwit. how could you let this happen. wow I can’t believe Dabi let Hawks escape unscathed except for a sexy scar and that’s the end of the chapter

LMAO

oh my god. well good news everyone this chapter did indeed make me cry

(ETA: listen. I’m going to hell, I know. but it’s still funny as fuck.)

“he went outside with the blast... and flanked me?!” ...sure. sure let’s just go with that. seems reasonable

actually no, sorry, I literally went back two chapters to see if there was another way out of this room, and nope

by the way that last panel is apparently from Dabi’s POV if I’m understanding this right. just standing behind Hawks waiting for youtube live to connect

but anyway. so no exit. meaning Dabi apparently torched a hole right through the wall and Hawks just sat there and was all “okay this hurts like a mother but if I wait it out a few more seconds I think I can... there we go!” you know, logic

so now there is a ton of action happening which I can’t quite understand, but also Dabi is shouting Hawks’s real name for some reason

why do I feel like this is definitely the last page before somebody definitely fucking dies. shit. shit

oh thank god so far so good. and also, lol

BECAUSE HE READ THE DATABOOK, HAWKS. that’s probably how he figured out you were a spy too. we’ve been had

oh snap?!

don’t do this to me Horikoshi. don’t give me hope. don’t act like you’re gonna actually address this topic sometime before the heat death of the universe

AND HE’S OUT

MY BABY OFF TO DESTROY PEOPLE. ;_; shitttt hahaha nervous laughter Ralph Wiggum sitting on the bus etc.

GODDAMN IT HORIKOSHI

I don’t want Twice to kill anyone but it doesn’t mean I want him to die either! just!! can’t I have it both ways?? please stop with this I can’t take it also what is Spinner doing. and also YAY GIRAN SIGHTING hot damn the sex appeal of this chapter is fast approaching critical levels

GOD FUCKING DAMMIT FUCK

fuck me. [eyes post from last week] the real announcer jinx was the metas we made along the way

well we’re cutting away again!! because of course we are!! Horikoshi won’t show violence unless it’s a dog exploding or a little boy accidentally murdering his entire family

[taps megaphone] this thing on. all right then. [clears throat] NO ONE WANTS THIS

FOR FUCK’S SAKE

“I KNOW YOU’RE ALL DYING TO SEE WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN, SO HERE, LET’S CUT TO A RANDOM PAGE OF TOGA AND COMPRESS BEING CAPTURED BY A MAN WITH HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPO ARMS”

oh damn but are they really captured though??

forgive me for being skeptical. not to doubt you, Hungry Hungry Hippo Man. I’m sure you’re absolutely right and your sentence cut off at the end there because you remembered that they changed their name to Pliff, and not because you’re being stabbed or burned or impaled or whatever the fuck

!!!

HE LIVED BITCH

yes he totally lived and this definitely isn’t so that he can get one final scene with Toga before he suddenly keels over and dies. shit. at this point it’s fucking inevitable. you had to go and drag his girlfriend into this. I’m so sad you guys I can’t even deal with these emotions I’m just gonna stubbornly joke about stupid shit until I figure out what the fuck else to do

OH MY GOD!!!!???

HE DIED BITCH!?!??

he’s already dead he’s already fucking dead fucking shit

ohhhhhh it’s pouring down sads now

my bird son really went and fucking killed the sweetest little dumpling in the manga. I wrote like 5 thousands essays defending you, Hawks. we gonna have to get you a damn good lawyer now

why is sad flute music from the Naruto OST playing

he’s not gonna need it where he’s going Toga. because they already have plenty of handkerchiefs on the farm. and lots of room for him to run around and play with other villains too

lmao fuck

I really did this to myself, why did I actually start playing Sadness and Sorrow fuck my life. real actual tears

and it SEEMS TO ME, YOU LIVED YOUR LIFE, LIKE A CANDLE IN THE WIND~~~

[sad makeste noises]

AND I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO KNOW YOU

BUT I WAS JUST A KID~~

...

your candle burned out long before

your legend ever did.

[mellow keyboard tones]

welp. ... 2020 ladies and gentlemen

[secret-engima]

Very AU Snip of Calling for Rain verse

(I will explain myself at the bottom of this snip, but for now I want everyone to be surprised. ;))

...

     Nyx-kun idly pushed one of his tiny braids behind his ear and it reminded Kushina of an important question, “Say…” he looked up from the notes he’d been scribbling, —he had relaxed enough now in their presence to forget himself and start jotting down notes for another seal, how cute— and made an inquiring noise. Kushina gestured at his braids, “How do you get the ink inside the stone? It’s been driving Minato crazy trying to figure it out, ‘ttebane.”

     “Oh,” mouthed Nyx-kun softly. He raised his voice, “I forgot about that. Uh…” he fidgeted, “I could show you? It might be easier than trying to explain.”

     “Is it safe?” Minato asked, because he was a wuss like that sometimes, and the glance at her belly told her why.

     She glared at her husband and Nyx-kun hurried to answer, “Yes, Yondaime. I perfected that part years ago. It’s perfectly safe to observe.”

     Minato relaxed, “Alright then, and please, call me Minato when I’m out of my office.”

     She could see the protests getting bottled up and the gears turning in the kid’s head before he tipped his chin and reached into a pouch on his hip. He pulled out a storage scroll and unrolled it on the coffee table. A flick of his fingers and tools puffed out, including an entire sack of rattling stone pieces of lots of different colors. Minato leaned closer to watch as Nyx-kun sorted through them, humming under his breath as he seemed to judge them by some unknown criteria and then find them wanting. Kushina tried to lean closer but … yeah no. Not with Naruto so close to being due.

     Eventually, he picked out a stone and rolled it in his fingers thoughtfully. He looked … unsure of himself, suddenly so very young and tired under the weight of whatever he was thinking. Then he shook it off and set the stone aside, sweeping the others into his bag. He had chosen one it seemed, an oblong one that was a beautiful orangey color with dark blue stripes running through it. She had no idea what set it apart from the others, but he seemed satisfied with his choice. He looked up at them with a smile, “I’ve done this enough times I can just do it with my hand, but when I was first figuring this out, I used to take a little piece of paper like this…” he tore a corner off the scroll he’d used to take notes, and inked out the seal.

     The seal he made was tiny and Kushina’s fingers ached in sympathy for the practice it must have taken to make a perfect seal at that small a size. Nyx-kun’s eyes flickered red for a moment, checking his own work before he showed it to Kushina and Minato. Kushina spotted the difference in the seal, but Minato beat her to asking about it, “The outer ring is new. … Melt?”

     “Absorption,” Nyx-kun corrected absently. He then wrapped the bead carefully in the paper, making sure not to smudge the new ink with his finger’s, and held it out to them, “Hold your hands over mine and push some chakra into the seal. Don’t worry about overloading it, I’ll control the flow.” Kushina and Minato shared a look, then held out their hands and obediently sent the seal some of their chakra. She could feel Nyx-kun’s wrapping around theirs, cool and sharp like thunderstorms and lightning, controlling the flow into the seal until it-.

     Lit on fire. A soft puff of flame that Nyx-kun didn’t so much as flinch from even though it was in his bare hand. The paper burned away, but the ink of the seal … stayed. Wrapped around the bead and then sank into it like the bead was liquid rather than stone-. Kushina breathed, “That’s brilliant, dattebane. You used ‘absorption’ to mean ‘absorb into the stone’.”

     Nyx-kun grinned at them as the ink settled into place inside the stone, “Yeah. That way it can’t get scratched off. The only way to disrupt it is to break the bead itself.” He juggled it a bit until it stopped glowing faintly from heat and chakra. He rolled it in his fingers a few times with a strangely sad look on his face, then he held it out to Kushina, “Here. It’s yours.”

     Kushina blinked, “Eh-, are you sure?”

     The young Uchiha nodded, his gaze solemn and … fragile. Like he was afraid she’d get mad, “You both donated chakra for it, it’s keyed to you now. If someone pushes chakra into it,” his hand glowed and it felt like someone was yanking on Kushina’s hair, drying to drag her attention to the bead even though she was already staring at it, “you’ll both feel it.” He hesitantly reached out, pulling Kushina’s hand toward him with the palm up. He dropped the bead into her palm and curled her fingers around it with a smile, “A gift. For- for the child.”

     Kushina hesitated. Because seals weren’t just something you gave away, especially not one that you had personally created. But there was something fervent in his eyes, that familiar faith and Will of Fire Minato inspired in a lot of his ninja, as well as something almost desperate, worried.

     As she accepted the bead with a laugh and a thanks, she wondered if Nyx-kun had lost his mother to childbirth, if her own pregnancy was making him nervous with memory and this was how he assuaged it. She didn’t ask, just grinned and rolled the little bead in her fingers, “I’m sure little Naru will love it, when he’s old enough I’ll braid it into his hair just like yours. Would you like that, Naruto?” She asked the question at her swollen belly, more as a joke than anything, but the midwife had said talking to the baby was good for him, so she made a point to do it semi-regularly —only semi since Minato talked to Naruto incessantly when they were home alone and she was pretty sure the sheer amount of her husband’s words had any health benefits more than covered—. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nyx-kun suppress a flinch and glance away, heard him take a careful breath she knew by experience was from having to suppress a sharp and grieving memory.

     “Are you alright?” Minato asked him, because he cared about all the village, but he and Kushina knew very well how deeply Uchiha’s emotions effected them, how powerful their reactions could be.

     Nyx-kun took another breath and shook himself, then smiled, “I’m fine. Just- memories.” He cleared his throat a little, suddenly awkward all over again and stood up, “I’m sorry Yondaime, Kushina-san, but I should-. I need to go home now, it’s- it’s late.”

     Kushina and Minato exchanged glances. Having raised a genin team and worked with a lot of younger ninja, they knew the sound of a teenager trying frantically to leave a situation before he made a fool of himself with his emotions. Better to let him go and track him down later for that apprenticeship idea of hers rather than pushing him here, “Of course, I understand,” Minato murmured smoothly, “let me walk you to the door.”

     “Thanks.”

     Kushina waved as they left, “Come again soon, dattebane! I’m sure Naruto would love to meet you in another week or two!” Nyx-kun’s step hitched on nothing, but he smiled over his shoulder and agreed with her invitation like nothing was wrong. She listened to Minato saying his goodbyes to Nyx-kun in the door, and rolled the bead over in her fingers thoughtfully. When Minato came back, they talked for a while, first about Nyx-kun, then about their son who was about to be born.

~~~

     In the quiet of the village at night, no one noticed the Uchiha who fled with feet like wings to a secluded training ground. No one saw as he crumbled in the nook of a high tree branch, knees pulled to his chest and shoulders shaking.

     No one saw tears drip from sharingan eyes over the little orange and blue bead he knew Naruto’s parents wouldn’t live long enough to give to him.

...

(Okay so this is where my muses got weird. I started this to play with what I thought Nyx’s sealing ability/style would be when he grows up, but I’d JUST watched Lost Tower and so my brain went “Hey you know what would be cool? If teenage Nyx met another Seals master and that’s the lens we saw Nyx’s seals through!”

And I went “but we hate Jiraiya and so does Nyx”

And the muses went “TEmpORaRy TImE-TrAVeL AnGsT shOt” and here we are now, so behold the snip of the time travel/exploratory ... THING that I am in no way saying is canon for this verse (I’m also not saying it ISN’T canon because we all know I love my angst).)

[daraanna]

Dziady

Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto nor Boruto, Masashi Kishimoto does. Also I don’t own Dziady part II written by Adam Mickiewicz. Fic is strongly inspired by this drama, it includes some quotes from it clumsily translated into English, written in this fic in Italic type.

Rate: T I guess... but it get a little bit gore.

.....................

Ciemno wszędzie, głucho wszędzie, co to będzie? co to będzie?

...................

She knew she shouldn't have agreed to do it. When Boruto suggested they spend the Halloween as a team together a week ago, she declined. She did not like this holiday. She didn’t like sweets as well as the spooky atmosphere. Unfortunately he was so annoying that in the end he convinced her, also he promised that they would spend the whole evening in Mitsuki's apartment. She had no other plans for the day, Cho-cho was on a mission, Mom was on shift in hospital all night, and Dad wasn't in the village either.

She agreed, now she regretted it. Forced to bargain with an old woman selling food from all over the world, because to apparently Mistuki she can't imagine a party without some dumplings from the Land of Fields.

....................... Darkness everywhere, silent everywhere, what will happen? What will it happen?

........................

Boruto couldn't contain his excitement. He had been planning this evening for a long time.

Mitsuki showed him a scroll a month ago, he found it while visiting his parent in Oto. This scroll allows its owner to summon the souls of dead. The text was in a strange language, but his blue-haired teammate claimed he could decode it. The young Uzumaki immediately got the idea to use it at the Halloween party, they planned with Inojin and Shikadai. Unfortunately Team 10 received a long mission just before the end of October. Therefore, from the boys party, they decided to turn it into an evening of deepening the ties in their team. The problem was that Sarada hated horrors. He was really surprised when she finally agreed to come.

He and Mitsuki prepared the room. All furniture was pushed against the wall, making as much space as possible on the floor. They placed a large stone in the centre of the room. (The blonde had no idea where his friend got it from, but he preferred not to ask.) Sitting down next to him, he took the items needed for the ritual out of his pocket. Linen yarn, a wreath that Himawari helped him to make from herbs and flowers from their garden, and food that Hinata prepared for them. 

"Um ... You got ..." He began to ask a question when the golden-eyed boy put a bottle of vodka next to him. Boruto almost jumped in nervousness, if his mother found out he would kill them. “How did you get it?”

“Hn? It was not difficult ...”replied the snake boy with creepy smile.

They heard a knock on the door. The blond was the first to open. Sarada stood in the corridor irritated with the box in her hand. The boy smiled letting her inside.

"I knew you would get them," he sighed, scratching his head

“I hope it would be worth it” she replied, setting the box with food on the counter in the small kitchen. She was dressed in civilian clothes, a red dress that slightly resembled her disguise during their mission in Hozuki's castle. He couldn't help but think she looked cute. Uchiha went to the living room to greet the host. Her gaze scanned the room.

“Don't say you're planning a horror marathon?” She asked, trying to hide her anxiety.

"We have much better ideas," replied Mitsuki, pulling out the scroll. However, at that moment the eyes of the black-haired girl stopped at the bottle of alcohol.

“You must be kidding !? There's no way we're having a libation here! Where did you get it from !?”she shouted, moving towards the exit.

“It's not like that!”blue-eyed grabbed her wrist. “We will not drink it is for something else ...”

“ Sure, for what? Are we going to wash the oven?”

“No, we will summon ghosts “ blue-haired joined the discussion. Sarada looked at him in shock.

"It's part of the ritual that Mitsuki found while his visit in Oto, we want to try it out," said the blond. She looked at them in shock as if they were crazy. Finally, she took her hand away from her friend's grip as she walked towards the door.

“I'm coming home. You two do whatever you want!” her hand touched the door handle when she heard Uzumaki’s voice.

“I told you that she will get scared” he said to their friend, but loud enough for her to hear it. She froze, because although it was true that she was afraid, she could not give him that satisfaction and admit it.

“I'm not afraid”a few steps she was again by his side “I will stay”

"Are you sure?" Orochimaru's son asked in a serious tone.”Once the ritual begin, it cannot be interrupted, nor can anyone leave the room.”

She swallowed involuntarily.

"I'm sure," she replied, trying to sound confident.

.................... Darkness everywhere, silent everywhere, what will happen? What will happen? .................. As they sat down around the stone, Mitsuki unfolded the scroll and began to read.

"Close the door to the room, turn off the lights and cover the windows, don’t let the moonlight get here," he said in a sublime tone.

“You could have said that before we sat down ...” Boruto sighed heading towards the door.

"It's part of the ritual," the boy replied.

“ What to do with the cat?“ asked Uchiha, who, while covering the curtains, found him sleeping on the radiator.

“I think it will be safer to move him to the kitchen” she did as he said. Cat struggled a bit, but at the sight of his food, he forgot about his warm lair.

When the room was completely dark and catless, playing the role of a sorcerer, Mitsuki spoke again.

“Darkness everywhere, silent everywhere, what will happen? What will  happen?” “You told us to cover everything ...”

"That's part of the ritual you have to repeat after me ..." he sighed, but the other two obediently repeated.

In the darkness, Sarada could hardly refrain from activating her sharingan, convinced that her friend was about to do something to scare her. She clenched her hands into fists to stop them from trembling, at this point Uzumaki moved closer to her and leaning slightly towards her, he whispered with a mocking smile “Do not worry I will save you from ghosts.”

She answered him with a "Tch". Still she feeling a bit more confident in having him closer. Of course, she couldn't admit it.

“The soul on the other side, with unfinished matters, wanting to contact the living, we conjure you, invite you to the Forefathers' Eve! - shouted Mitsuki - Put the yarn on a stone and set it on fire” he instructed his friends.

They did so, the flame swept over the yarn quickly and went out. It was dark again in the room. They were sitting in silence when suddenly two beams of light appeared at the ceiling. Sarada let out a small sigh, but as the lights landed on the stones, they turned into two children. The scream rip through the room. Before she had time to realize what was going on, she was in the grip of the scared blonde.

“They are real ghosts!” He stumbled, looking away from them.

"Well, that's what we do, we summon the spirits ..." she replied, trying not to laugh. Despite the fact that she was scared herself, she felt a growing curiosity in her.

“I wasn't expecting this to work!”

“I do not believe that my grandson is such a coward” said red-haired girl.

“Oh Kushina, we surprised them. You also did not expect that we would visit today the world of the living ... - replied the blue-eyed boy who looked very similar to Boruto. “It is a really interesting justu, we can’t get physical contact with anything except food , and it also took us here in a compact version ...

“I can’t be eleven, who saw it, be younger than your own grandson” Uzumaki sighed.

“It will pass with the first cock crowing, in order to return to the afterlife you must eat mustard seed- said Mitsuki.

“Don't talk to them so calmly, who are you anyway?” Asked the son of the Hokage, still clutching to Sarada, who tried to soothe him by gently stroking his head.

“Isn't it obvious? Though you probably won't guess, just like my Naruto. I am your grandmother Kushina Uzumaki, and this is your grandfather Minato Namikaze ...” explained the ghost girl.

The boy looked at them in shock.

“ Fourth? “ asked the surprised brunette.

The former Hokage ghost smiled at her.

“Who are you? Are my grandson's girlfriend?”he asked.

“No way!” both of them shouted in response, quickly pushing themselves away from each other.

“Heh? Last time I didn’t guessed right too” gost sighed.

“No no. This time there is something in it ...” the red-haired girl joined in.

“So what were you planning on getting into our world?” Mitsuki interrupted them.

“Actually, the only thing I wanted is to see is my grandchildren and daughter-in-law, maybe we can visit the village too?” Kushina exchanged look with her husband.

“I think we will have enough time for it ...“ he replied “We only have to leave immediately” he added, looking at his grandson “I believe that our son raised you well, but if I could give you some advice, it will be that it is worth fighting for love.”

“It's also worth not to be too stubborn, you don't need kidnapping to notice that you love someone!” his grandmother added before they both turned into beams of light and disappeared from the room.

"Hn ... I didn't even have to talk them out," the blue-haired man was surprised.

“Uh ... What was this advice supposed to be?” Uzumaki asked strongly flushed.

However, no one answered him. Mitsuki was busy with another spell, and black-haired was too blushed to even looked in his direction.

“Souls of purgation, who for their sins end up chained to this world, if we can shorten the torture a bit to of any of you! “ said the boy pouring alcohol into the bowl which he put on the stone, then threw a match into it. Goblet was immediately caught in the fire which quickly spread. A hand emerged from inside, looking like a zombie from a horror films. Moments later, a grown man appeared from the flame. His body was in a state of partial decomposition, his clothes was torn. Both Boruto and Sarada moved as far away from him as possible, even Mitsuki backed away a few steps.

“Who are you?” Asked the summoner.

“You don't know me !? I was once the second most important person in this village, I was to be appointed the sixth Hokage! My name is Danzô Shimura” at the sound of his name, Uchicha felt a chill. She was terrified, and yet she felt a disgust towards the man and a strong rage that she could not explain. Suddenly, crows, owls, and eagles and other birds emerged from the flame. The animals pounced on the spirit, tearing his clothes and rip his flesh with their claws.

“What do you need to get to the afterlife? We have food, drink, herbs! ”Orochimaru's son shouted, trying to continue the ritual.

The man just laughed, a dry laugh.

“The only thing that can save me is the mercy shown me by someone against whom I have sinned. You can't do anything for me ...” his eyes fell on Uchiha, who  unintentionally activated hers sharingan.

“ YOU! Give me something to eat!” He shouted pointing his finger at her. Another wave of emotions rolled through her body. Fear, despair, hatred all so intense as if it did not come from her, but from thousands of people. She felt breathless.

Danzo took a step towards her, but then Boruto stood between them with a kunai in his hand.

"Mitsuki, we have to break it somehow!", He shouted at his friend who was nervously searching through the text on the scroll.

"The only thing we can do to send back is to fulfil his demands," the boy replied reluctantly.

" Why is it supposed to be Sarada??" The blonde snarled, covering his friend with his body.

"I must be forgiven ..." the impatient spectre replied, and then birds surrounding him began to attack it even more intensely.

“F-for what? What have you done?” Black-haired girl asked, still trying to calm down.

“If you don't know that, then you shouldn't ask ... Do you really think I deserves such a fate? Eternal hunger and flesh tearing !?”

The girl stiffened, no one seemed to deserve such a fate after all and how could she judge a man she didn't know. She stood up carefully, taking the bowl of rice. Slowly she stretched her hand toward the wraith, trying to stop her from trembling. But as soon as she got close to the man, one of the crows, turned into a boy who gripped her wrist tightly enough to stop her but not that hard that it would hurt her. He was not much older than them, he had curly black hair with black feathers tangled between them, and his fingernails resembled the claws of a bird of prey. His eye sockets were empty, but even so, she felt as if he was looking into her soul. Surprisingly, she was not afraid of him.

"He doesn't deserve your mercy" he said in a calm voice. All she could do was nod. She her knees feel weak. The crow-man carefully helped her sid in her place next to Boruto, before turning to the former ANBU leader. His aura immediately became sinister.

“You don't like starving? But do you remember how hungry for power and honors of the Hokage title, by deception you took my sight away to condemn my relatives and me to death? How did you took away the only chance to resolve the conflict without bloodshed? How did you use the child of our clan and sentence him for the fate of a murderer and traitor? You knew no mercy! ”He moved closer to Danzo with every word he spoke. Then a scream came out of the birds' throats in sync with the boy's voice.

“Hey owls, eagles and crows, we also have no mercy! Let us tear the food into pieces, and if the food won’ be enough, let's tear the body into pieces. Let the naked bones shine!”

Another bird turned into a human. A boy with gray hair wearing an owl ANBU mask. He grabbed the former Hokage candidate’s arm with his claws, tearing his skin and muscles apart.

“You don't like starving? And do you remember how you trained the Konoha orphans for your own use? How did you condemn them to fratricidal duels in the name of creating obedient and emotionless soldiers? You knew no mercy!

“Hey owls, eagles and crows, we also have no mercy! Let us tear the food into pieces, and if the food won’ be enough, let's tear the body into pieces. Let the naked bones shine!”

Echoed the rest of the herd, throwing herself at the ghost. They pecked and scratched his body. His screams of pain spread across the room. Team Seven stared in shock at the cruel scene that lasted until it was only a skeleton than left from his body. Then all the ghosts disappeared in the fire they came from. It was completely dark again in the room. The blond looked shocked at the empty cup. A soft sob fill the silence. His gaze shifted to his friend, he instinctively embraced her and pulled her into his arms.

"Mitsuki, what the hell was that?" He turned to the blue-haired boy.

“I did not foresee this ...” he explained, preparing the wreath for the next ritual.

“What are you doing!? Do you want to continue after something like this?“ Uzumaki growled.

“If we don't finish now, we can hit the afterlife too ...”

“WHAAAT?!”

“ I said when we start, there will be no turning back ...”

"No way! You see what it led to?" He asked, hugging the black-haired girl tighter.

"It's alright," Sarada sighed, wiping her tears and sitting down in her seat. "Let's continue ...”

Boruto pouted slightly as the girl moved away from him, but he was glad that he was feeling better now. Still, he still didn't release her right hand, just in case she was scared again ... not that he liked her or something ...

Mitsuki lit the wreath and, stretching his hand over it, began to recite: “ Oh holy weed...”

Uchiha rebuked the blonde with her eyes. The boy scratched the back of his head silently swearing that they had not brought any illegal substances with them.

“With your power I invoke a soul that is stuck between two worlds, that have raised too high for the world of men, but sill too low for the world of gods!”

The flame above the flowers turn blue, which spread around the room as moonlike aura. A beautiful woman with long white hair and horns resembling rabbit ears appeared on the stone.

“Is that ... “- blue-eyed began, but the spirit interrupted him.

"My name is Kaguya ... The princess of this planet. You should know me," she said as she surveyed the three genins with her Byakugan.

“Well, this time, I actually exaggerated, the last time she was summoned, the world almost ended ...”

"Mitsuki?!" His teammates spoke simultaneously

“Do not be afraid, in this form I cannot hurt you ...“ the goddess replied, staring at the right hand of Uzumaki “Bloody Momoshiki ... I guess, this is not the last time we meet... Who knows, maybe my children will call me back from with all my strength ...”

“Why would we do this? You wanted to destroy our planet! ”Sarada replied.

The rabbit princess looked at the still folded hands of Uchiha and Uzumaki.

"I loved this planet and its inhabitants ... Unfortunately, they betrayed me and I had to punish them, but nevertheless I hate my clan even more than you humans ... My scrolls are still on the moon. The children of Ashura and Idrra should be able to handle it ... " she said and disappeared the same way she appeared, leaving Team 7 in consternation.

The ritual leader looked at the scroll again.

"Basically it's the end ... we just have to put the rest of the food out the door for the lesser spirits," said Orochimaru's son and throwed the contents of the bento prepared for them by Hinata through the window.

"Mitsuki!" moaned pitifully blonde, and a lonely tear ran down his cheek. If only his mom found out about it, she would kill him! “That’s the end of Forefathers' Eve” The boy replied opening the curtains. The first rays of sun broke into the room. The other two genins get busy cleaning up the rest of the food when the figure of a young man with long black hair gathered in a ponytail appeared on the stone altar.

Noticing him, the Boruto let out a scream.

“Strange this should not happen ... Certainly not during the day ...” blue-haired boy sighed, grabbing his chin ”What do you need spirit?”

However, the ghost said nothing, just stood looking straight at Sarada. Despite the strangeness of the scene, she felt no fear. On the contrary, the presence of this soul filled her with peace and warmth combined with longing.

“You said it was over!“ the blue-eyed snarled to his friend.

“It should be ... What do you need? Food? Drink? Answer, or get be lost!”

However, the spirit absolutely ignored them, taking a step towards the young Uchiha.

“Mitsuki!”

In desperation, Orochimaru's son grabbed one of the dumplings and threw it at the ghost. Food bounced off his cloak, but juts look irritated at them and continued his walk.

“Impossible ... He resisted the pieróg ... This soul is too powerful!”

“What? What is that supposed to mean? We have to do something! Sarada, why aren't you running away from him?“ young Uzumaki started to panic.

"I think ... I think I know him ..." she replied, and the ghost smiled slightly at her. His eyes reminds her of her father's, although the ghost was perhaps a meter away, she did not move away from him. She didn't flinch as he reached out and gently tapped her forehead and disappeared. Moments after that, she felt someone grab her tightly by the arms.

“Sarada? Hey can you hear me? What did he done to you ?!” Boruto's face get too close to her as he pulled her into his arms, but she could see how worried he was.

“Everything is okay” she replied embracing his face so that he looked at her and stopped panicking.”I'm fine ...” she added yawning.

"It's 5 in the morning what you say for a little nap, before you get back home I have a lot of space on the couch, the carpet is also quite comfortable," suggested Mitsuki.

“It's a good idea ... after all, it was supposed to be a sleepover...” Uchiha replied, because the blonde was still too busy being nervous to answer.

The host left the room to get the blankets from the wardrobe in the hall. However, pulling them out turned be more difficult than he expected. While the shelves with the scrolls from his parent, was kept a spotless order, the closet was in a complete mess. When he finally managed to pull them out, Mikazuki's rubbed against his legs, and started to scratch the door of the apartment. The boy sighed and putting down what he had in his hands opened them for him. The cat looked at him and then at the door, again at him without moving a bit. The blue-haired rolled his eyes and wanted to close the door when the kitten decided to get out. When he finally returned to the room, he found his friends on the couch. Boruto was leaning against the back of the furniture with one hand wrapped around Uchiha’s waist. Sarada was leaning against his shoulder, hugging his torso. They both slept soundly. Mitsuki covered them with a blanket and took a photo with the camera his parent had given him for the second anniversary of the living outside the incubator. He looked at the photo smiling wide.

“Maybe they are not canon yet, but they are definitely my OTP...”

....................................................................................................

So... I missed Halloween, but writing this turned to be much harder that I thought it, will be.

Also writing this  I based the description of rite on drama, and didn’t do a lot of research about the actual ceremony... I’m sorry If I write something wrong way. Naprawdę nie chciałam obrażać  rodzimowierców słowiańskich, przepraszam jeśli to zrobiłam.

Also I want to apologie to high school lecture teacher, I know she won’t read it, but I know she would kill me, if she did XD

[ssa25]

Naruhina - Save My Soul -NH2020

For Naruhina2020 March (Bodyguard AU) and April (Celebrity AU)

A/n: Re-posting this long oneshot after major edits. I’d blundered previously when I posted this with huge chunks of old drafts attached at the end, smh. If you have read this story before, please ignore this post.

Rating: Mature

Warning: Modern AU with RTN Hinata and RTN Naruto

-

Hinata knew how some people have fetishes. She never thought she had one. Until that moment.

Wait. Would it still count as a fetish if she found that particular body part extremely sexy and distracting on only one specific person?

Sitting in the back seat of her chauffeur driven customised Maybach, Hyuuga Hinata could not take her eyes off of the large manly hands of her bodyguard who was sitting in the front passenger seat. Her nipples puckered and rubbed against the lace of her bra under the short black dress, as flashes of those very same hands skimming over her body, played through her mind. Especially how his long fingers had pinched and thrust into parts of her anatomy that had made her scream and tremble in toe curling pleasure. Involuntarily, her thighs clenched together at the reminder. 

She had to force herself to look away from the man who was absolutely unaware of how his mere presence was wreaking havoc on her mind and body. Not even the constant chatter of her relatively new, chirpy assistant Matsuri, who was sitting right beside her, could pull her thoughts away from the self destructing path she was seemingly on.

Get over it, get over him, she told herself.

Uzumaki Naruto did not want her. He had made it clear. That one particular night, exactly nine days back, had been etched, engraved and embossed into her brain, was supposedly a slip-up on his part. A rare moment of weakness, was how he’d labelled it.

He was her bodyguard. Nothing more, nothing less.

So why did her body yearn for him? Had she imagined the explosive chemistry they had shared in bed? Was she not his type?

The whole world assumed that being a young famous singer-songwriter, she had more men in her life than she could handle. But little did they know that all through her existence, she had been left sorely disappointed by the men who truly meant something to her.

-

As soon as she entered her suite at the hotel, she flung her crystal studded killer heels to the side and made a beeline for the well stocked mini bar. 

She had only had a few cocktails at the lavish and exclusive birthday bash of a world renowned, award winning artist, at his sprawling mansion in the outskirts of the city. Usually, she preferred to be in control of her senses at these events. She absolutely hated the idea of other people witnessing her in a weak moment.

It was probably one of the very few traits she had inherited from her now-estranged father. Her already precarious relationship with her only living conservative parent blew into smithereens when she decided to pursue her dreams. 

But that topic was a terribly sore spot for her, and she did not even want to think about it. The only thing she wanted was to drink herself to numbness, now that she was back in the security of her room. Just so that, she could stop feeling unwanted and unrequited emotions and just drift off to sleep.

She could hear Naruto stepping inside the suite, but she willed herself to not glance back at him. He would sleep on the sofa bed in the living room like he had done the night before.

He had been hired by her label’s President to protect her. After she had, apparently, irked quite a few psychopathic, batshit crazy fangirls of the famous rockstar Sabaku Gaara. Just because they had casually dated for a few months last winter. They went especially haywire when the man had written an entire song about her and had openly admitted to it in an interview.

Their relationship ended prematurely, but the threats became progressively scarier and outrightly morbid. That’s when Naruto was taken on board from an elite security organization. He was to protect her, accompany her everywhere for the foreseeable future and always stay within reach. 

Lucky her.

Hinata picked out a small bottle of red wine on impulse and carried it to her room. She shed down to her lacy underthings and poured out a generous amount of the merlot into a bulbous glass.

Taking it to her ensuite bathroom, she began wiping off her makeup in preparation for bed. The process had become so common for her, she was lost in her musings while doing a perfect job of stripping her face bare. 

Refilling her glass again, she lifted it to her lips, when it was snatched away. The harsh tug of Naruto’s fingers made her gasp and spill some wine on her chest. She had not seen him enter her private bathroom.

“What the fuck are you doing?!”, she snapped at him. “You spilled wine on me!”

His gaze flickered to her wet cleavage before he looked away. With his jaws clenched, he poured the drink into the sink and looked at her with a less than pleasant expression.

“You should know better than to drink irresponsibly. Matsuri has already reminded you that you have an early morning meeting with Mr. Senju. The last thing you need is a hangover.”, he uttered those words with a straight face. He tried his best to seem unaffected.

She forced a smile on her face. “I can’t sleep without getting myself drunk. Unless you can think of another way to tire me out. That might just help.”

She was shamelessly coming on to him, but at this point she could care less. Or it was probably just plain ol’ liquid courage.

“Go to bed, and count sheep, for all I care.”, his voice was steady but she could see the inkling of desire in his azure eyes.

She wanted to egg him on, and brought her hands to the front clasp of her bra. “Oh, come on, help me out a bit. Just one more time.”, she was almost playfully begging him now. And she knew she would take whatever he would throw at her. It probably went against feminist ideals, but she was never this weak for another man. She needed him like no one else. Why did he not get that?

“Don’t you want me again?”, she propositioned him and unhooked the wet lace bra to tempt him further.

But before he could get an eyeful for her naked heaving chest, he turned around to walk out of her bathroom. She could only laugh, while her heart squeezed painfully inside at his outright rejection.

“You’re such a pussy!”, she commented mockingly to goade him further.

And lo, behold, it made him stall at the door. His fists were clenched at his sides, but he did not retaliate with words. Just when she felt a sliver of doubt that he would walk away, he swung around and marched over to her, capturing her burgundy stained lips under his hungry ones. 

She moaned audibly at the surge of passion in their liplock, it positively made her giddy. His hands pulled and pressed her body against his, before cupping her perky round bottom and lifting her up against him.

Hinata squealed into the kiss at the sudden change of altitude, but she did not dare break away from him. She needed him so badly that she grasped at his short hair desperately to gain leverage and rub her core against his hardening length.

She heard him groan out loudly and then he pulled away from her lightly bruised, swollen lips, as he joined their foreheads and continued what she had started. Holding her from her bottom, he pushed her against the nearest wall and started thrusting upwards for some desperately needed friction. The silk of her panty was really thin and flimsy, and the ridges of his jeans gliding over her most sensitive point was delicious.

“Yes!”, she cried out. “Naruto… Please!! Don’t stop…!!”

Her hoarse pleading made him curse out loud. Abruptly, he her away from the wall. But instead of taking her to the bedroom like she had expected, he stepped into the large glass walled shower.

Unceremoniously, Naruto pulled the tap handle and the shower sprayed them with really cold water. She screamed as the icy water fell on her skin, instantly cutting off the heat of their encounter.

“F*ck! What the hell?!”, she scrambled out of his grip and out from the chill of the water. “What was that for?”

The cold spray had drenched Naruto, by the time he turned the supply off.

“That was me trying to act on the shred of rationality left in me.”, Naruto said seriously while rubbing a hand across his hair. She shivered and wrapped her arm around her naked chest.

“Oh, for f*ck’s sake, do you have to be so rational all the dam* time?!!”, her voice echoed against the walls. “What’s wrong with you??!!”

He slipped out of the shower cubicle and threw the nearest dry bathrobe at her. She quickly pushed her arms through it to cover herself. Doing what he did was humiliating enough, especially after she had literally begged him to take her.

“Call me old fashioned, but I prefer my women sober in bed…”, he replied with a snort.

“Oh just stop with that holier than thou attitude… I’m barely tipsy… You’re the one who’s got his panties in a wad for no reason.”, she let her frustration speak through with zero filter. “Seriously, have you ever let yourself get carried away by your instincts? Instead of being so dam* uptight 24/7?...”

“Oh, I’ve tried it… Look where that got us…”

“You say it as if it was bad for you…”, she followed after him into the bedroom.

“That is beside the point… You, Miss Hinata Hyuuga, are my employer… It is inappropriate for us to sleep together...”

“It’s a little late for worrying about appropriateness, don’t you think?!...”, her voice was laced with sarcasm. “Surely you realise that or have you lost your memories while perched on your moral high horse?”

Naruto gritted his teeth and glared at her with icy blue eyes. “I haven’t forgotten anything… But I have more self respect and pride than repeating my mistake of being your rebound hookup.”

She felt hurt by his accusation. “Is that what you think? A rebound?... Gosh, Naruto... I have been over Gaara for months...”

“Well then, what else is it??”, he demanded.

She was tongue tied by the abruptness of his question. What was it? 

She was crazy attracted to him. She cared for him. She wanted him to do unspeakable things to her. She wanted to do similar things back to him. But that was as far as she had thought.

Seeing her speechless, he nodded curtly. “That’s what I thought.”

He moved away from her before her muddled brain could make a sense out of the deviation their conversation had taken. Naruto picked up his wallet, blazer and keycard before walking towards the main door.

“Get some sleep… Please… I will be right outside.”

Hinata could not utter the right words to stop him. Even if she desperately wanted to. 

-

By eight o’ clock next morning, Hinata was seated in an upscale rooftop restaurant that was famous for its breakfast menu. Mr. Senju was notorious for being an early riser, and he believed in using as much of the daylight as possible to conduct profitable business.

Clad in a flowy lavender maxi skirt, a white lace crop top and a pair of comfy birkenstocks, Hinata was half heartedly listening to Mr. Senju. Her mirrored sunglasses provided her the perfect ruse to hide her tired eyes and also to frequently glance over at Naruto, who stood a few feet away, where he had the perfect vantage point of the whole setting.

Matsuri sat beside her, jotting down important points that were discussed. By the end of the meal, Hinata had agreed to lend her voice to a character of a big budget animated movie that would be produced by Mr. Senju. Few remaining details would be ironed out by her label before she would sign the contract.

“Then I’ll see you back in the city in two weeks, Miss Hyuuga.”, Mr. Senju shook her hand. “It was a pleasure meeting you. Have a good day!”

Hinata smiled widely and bid him goodbye.

“Wow… That was definitely worth losing a few hours of sleep…”, Matsuri commented.

Hinata nodded listlessly, and nibbled on the poached eggs. She would have certainly liked Naruto to join her at the table, but he had maintained the cool aloof demeanour from last night. Like they only worked in a professional capacity.

Hinata could not openly make any grand gestures towards him because the restaurant was decently filled with posh clients.

From behind her shades, she had even noticed more than one woman staring in the direction of the tall figure of her bodyguard. And it lit her with jealousy. It was absurd. She had no claim over him, but she wanted to gorge the eyes out of any woman who so much as second glanced at him. Curiously, she had never felt this possessive about any of her past boyfriends. Not even Gaara, who the craziest female fandom their music industry had ever seen.

Speaking of the devil.

Gasps and murmurs filled the air, as Gaara Sabaku waltzed into the establishment like he owned the place, with his manager right behind him. Most patrons were affluent enough to not stumble out of their seats to approach celebrities for an autograph or selfies. But there were quite a few heads turned and much interest shown, when the red haired rockstar made a beeline for her.

“G-G-Gaara!”, she squeaked and flushed uncomfortably. Hinata was amused to see her so flustered. Especially, when she was quite unaffected by the famous actors and singers at last night’s bash.

Hinata got up from her seat to greet her ex-boyfriend.

“Hinata… What a pleasant surprise to see you here…”, Gaara spoke fondly as he engulfed her in his arms.

Hinata was a little taken aback by his enthusiasm, but she let it slide. There was nothing wrong with acknowledging an old friend or acquaintance with a genial hug. But she noticed the way Naruto had become stiff and alert, standing a few feet away from them.

“It’s nice to see you too Gaara… Weird running into you here… What are you doing so far off from the city?”, she asked him casually.

“Same thing as you. I made it to the party a little late last night… My flight got delayed on my way back from Seoul… By the time I got there, you had left…”, he explained.

“Ah, yeah…I was feeling a little tired…”, Hinata replied. She felt a little uncomfortable by Gaara’s attention, so she deviated from their conversation. “Gaara, this is my new assistant Matsuri… Matsuri, this is Gaara… You might know him….”

Gaara nodded at her nonchalantly before focusing back on Hinata. “How long are you here for?”

“Umm… Just for tonight.. We will be driving back to the city tomorrow morning…”

“That’s great! We must have dinner together tonight. Especially when we are both staying at the same hotel.”

Hinata was quite surprised at his invitation. She could see from the corner of her eyes, Naruto got closer to them and stood behind her protectively.

Was he jealous? Or was this a part of his job?

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea Gaara…”

“Come on, it’s just dinner… I won’t try to kiss you or anything… Unless you want to, ofcourse!”

Hinata fixed him with a mocking glare. She had separated from him on amicable terms. He was not keen on her suggestion of breaking up. But as a free spirited musician himself, he loathed the idea of binding her to him against her wishes. So he let her go. Now, even the thought of having dinner plans with him seemed to hold no attraction for her. Deep down, she realised the reason why.

“Haven’t we had enough problems because of our past? Being seen together again in public would be asking for more trouble.”, she tried to reason with him.

“Fine, if that’s your worry. How about you come over to my suite? We can have a private dinner where no one can see us.” Gaara glanced at Naruto and added, “You can even have your guard installed outside my door to keep an eye out for you.”

She really wanted to decline his invitation without seeming rude or uptight. But it seemed a little difficult now, with Gaara being insistent and the eyes of other patrons of the restaurant on the two of them.

She lowered her voice and replied, “How about I think about it and text you back?”

Gaara smirked and nodded. “Okay. Remember, I will be hoping for a yes.”

He flicked her chin lightly, like he used to do when they were back together, and moved towards his reserved table.

With that, Naruto suggested they make a move out. He trailed closer than ever before, and kept a light protective hand on her back while the few paparazzis outside clicked furiously. She wondered if Gaara’s invite had spurred this extra protective and possessive streak in him. The idea of making him even more jealous appealed to her. But she absolutely hated toying with people to play games like that. She wanted him to want her back without any underhanded tricks in play.

Once back inside the car, Matsuri asked incredulously, “You are not seriously thinking about going out with him, are you??”

Hinata rested her head back and watched Naruto for any sign. He did seem a little stiffer than usual, even as he was busily texting someone on his phone.

“Technically, it’s not ‘going out’... More like ‘dining in’... But I haven’t made a decision about it. Yet.”

A full minute later, her phone pinged and she took it out to read the new text message, thinking it might be from Gaara.

‘For your eyes only. Make sure no one is peeking into your phone.’

It was from Naruto. When she raised her head up, she saw Matsuri trying to inconspicuously peek at the text. She understood that Naruto might be trying to communicate with her without Matsuri knowing about their recent past.

“Who was that?”, she asked nonchalantly.

“Uh, no one.”, Hinata lied easily.

Seconds later, another message popped up. This time she was careful about not letting wandering eyes stray over to her phone.

‘I have to warn you about something. But what is most important is for you to NOT panic. Matsuri has a carving knife in her bag. She picked it up from the restaurant. Beware. Do not engage her in any conversation about Gaara. I have alerted the police, we will get you to safety soon. Just keep calm. You will be fine.’

Hinata grew pale as she finished reading the text. Why would Matsuri pick a knife? Slowly, the pieces fit together, and she realised that her new assistant was one of the psychopathic fans of her ex-boyfriend.

“Was that Gaara?”, Matsuri’s suspicious voice broke her trance.

“Umm… No…”, she replied faintly and looked outside the window to hide any signs of distress on her face.

“I think meeting Gaara again would not be good for either of you.”, her assistant kept talking.

If Naruto had not warned her, she would have snapped back at Matsuri and given her a piece of her mind. And that would have been disastrous. She looked to the front and found Naruto looking back at her. He gave her a small reassuring nod.

“If he thinks-“

Naruto interrupted her just as she spoke. “We’re almost here. It will be ideal for both of you to discuss this in the privacy of the suite, while I run a small errand.”

Soon the car stopped, Naruto jogged out to open Hinata’s door.

“You did good. I am here with you, don’t worry.”, he muttered close to her ears.

Hinata felt safe in his presence and she had to stop herself from leaning into him. The trio moved through the hotel lobby that seemed quieter than usual. Matsuri did not suspect a thing, but she raised an eyebrow at him when he joined them in the elevator.

“I thought you had an errand to run.”

Hinata understood that she was trying to get rid of Naruto to confront her in the suite.

“I do. I just need to grab some papers from my suitcase.”, he lied easily.

As soon as  they entered the suite, they were confronted by the police who were waiting for them. Matsuri turned vicious when her plan was foiled. She tried attacking Hinata even with so many officials around, but she was easily tackled by Naruto.

“Stay right where you are!!”

Soon, she was handcuffed and dragged away, but she kept hissing and cursing at Hinata.

“B*tches like you don’t deserve any love!! You f*cking wh*re!!!”

Hinata was aghast watching the complete switch in her personality. It was chilling to realise that someone who harboured ill intentions for her was kept close.

Her sight turned blurry as she stood rooted to her spot. Whether they were tears of relief or shock or exasperation, was anyone’s guess.

Naruto dealt with the police officials quickly before he went up to her. Wordlessly, he gathered her in his arms and hugged her tight.

“I don’t know why I am crying… I am not a crybaby…”, her words were muffled by his suit jacket.

“It’s okay… It’s okay to feel the way you do...I’m right here for you.”

But she shook her head and looked up at him. “How did you realise…”

Naruto explained his observation of Matsuri’s expression when Gaara came into the restaurant.

“It was somewhere between shock, awe and fanatical lunacy… And when he kept his attention solely on you, she looked vengeful… Both of you were too busy chatting to notice the stark change in her demeanour…”

“Oh…”, she pondered over the events. “So, that was why you stood close to me… Because of Matsuri… Not because you were jealous?”

Naruto sighed and lifted her face up to him. “I was jealous. Extremely so. But even in that moment your safety was my priority.”

Hinata looped both her arms around his neck. “Oh Naruto….About yesterday-“

“Don’t worry about it.”

“No… Let me say it… When you asked me about what you meant to me… I was unsure of how I could put my feelings into words… It might not be love yet, but you are so much more than a rebound… No, actually let me rephrase that… You are nothing like a rebound… I feel very very strongly for you…Honestly, I always keep thinking of you, my eyes keep looking for you... So much so that I’m afraid it might turn into an obsession.”

He smirked and leaned his forehead towards her. “Are you sure that’s not the after effects of the traumatic event talking?”

She grabbed him by his lapels and mockingly glared at him. “Don’t make fun of my feelings for you. I know what I want. Besides, I would hardly call this encounter traumatic. It was shocking and a little scary, but I can get past it. I’m stronger than you think.”

Naruto nodded and looked away from her gaze. “And you are sure you don’t mind that we have almost nothing in common… I mean, you could do much better than me.”

Hinata rolled her eyes at him, “You sure like doubting yourself for someone with so much pride and self respect.”

He just shrugged, “Just putting it out there… Fair warning… I am not easy to get rid off… So I just want to cover my bases…”

“That’s strange…”, she replied with a frown. “I was going to give you the same warning.”

“There’s one thing common between us then.”, he commented before asking. “Shall we seal the deal with a kiss?”

“Only a kiss??”

-

Over the next few days, Naruto and Hinata received several phone calls informing him about the development of the case against Matsuri. She had confessed to all accounts of threats and intention to harm but pleaded not guilty citing mental instability.

x

Note: Apologies for the very late entry. And also I would like to apologise to fans of Matsuri, she was portrayed negatively in this story, but I assure I have nothing against her! If anything, I like to feature her as Hinata’s friend in a lot of ny other stories.

[bombyxluna]

A sequence of plans for Beelzebub in the sun (Beelzebub X Reader)

Tags: fluff, a flimsy attempt at humor, beach day

Word count: 1.7K

———————————————————————

You and Beelzebub were sitting down by the dinner table, eating your hamburgers, throwing out ideas for your first anniversary together, but none seemed to be good enough. 

“Amusement park?”, you suggested, stealing one of Beelzebub’s bacon fries.

“Nah, that's what we did last year. What about a picnic?”, he countered, playfully slapping your hand.

You giggled and poked your tongue out to him,“Yeah, but last year wasn't an anniversary. Although I agree, we have to do something different. But... a picnic? Isn't that too cliche?”

“Hm...maybe. I don't know, then. I'm out of ideas”, he threw himself back on his chair and grabbed his fourth hamburger from the box. 

“Ahhh, this is stressful”, you copy his motions, throwing yourself back as well. You watched as he munched for a while, cute cheeks going up and down as he chewed. You internally squealed - why was he so cute?

“Movie date?”, he suggested after a moment, but both of you shook your head in denial.

“We do that almost every week”, you said, and he nodded.

“Yeah, it is wasn't my best suggestion”, he giggled lightly, pulling his French fries away from you, and smirking mischievously when you noticed.

You smirked as well, and snatched a few other fries, “It's okay, it was a good suggestion. Any other day I'd have agreed in a heartbeat”

“Yeah, but you want something special. And I want that too, I just wish we could come up with something”, you slurped your drink.

“Yeah, we're kind of dry on ideas today”, your drink was only ice now. You sighed.

“Yeah…”

Beelzebub finished his hamburger and looked at you. You shrugged, playing with your cup. It was decorated with beach themes. Sea, sun, sand (wow alliteration)... an idea began to form on your mind.

“Hey…”, you called, and Beelzebub gazed up at you with his eyes from where he was playing with the wrapper from his hamburger, egging you on, “what if… we went to the beach?”

He looked at you, unsure, “I guess we’ve ever done that, but…”

“Please? Please, Beelzebub, please! I love the beach”, you held his hand, shaking it up and down slightly. He looked at you unsure, lips pursed in thought, fringe moving up and down with every shake of your hand. 

“Hm… I… I'm not the biggest fan of the sun…”

Oh. Wow. How could you forget? You knew that Beelzebub didn't like the sun. It made no sense to you since demons are supposed to like heat, but…

“Oh, shit, you're right. I'm sorry. We can do something else”, you said, quieting your hands, back to thinking. 

“No, no, Y/N… I don't like the sun, but I know how much you love it, and I want to go to the beach with you. It's our anniversary, I want to do something special with you, and we never went to the beach together before”, he interlaced his fingers with his and smiled his gummy smile at you. 

“Beelzebub…”, you said, not sure of what to say, “are… are you sure? It's okay if we don't go, I know you don't like the sun, it was dumb of me to-”

“No, I mean it. I'm sure. Look, Y/N, I love you. To the moon and back. I may not like the sun - at all -, but it won't stop me from spending a great day with you at the beach. Really, it's okay. I want for us to do something special”, his eyes turned into crescents with his smile, and you couldn't help the warm feeling that fills your heart. 

“Beelzebub…”, you cooed, getting up from your chair to hug him. He giggled and wrapped his arm around you, and you kissed his cheek, then pecked him on the lips, “okay, then. But, if you're doing that for me, I'll make sure to plan a perfect day for us. And think of ways for you to be under the sun”

He placed his hands on your hips, “That sounds like a plan. And I'll help you with those ideas for sun-proofing”. You nodded, already getting excited at the idea of going to the beach, and ran your fingers through his hair.

“Wow… I can't believe it's already been a year”, you sat down on his lap as he laced his hands around you.

“Yeah...it's gone so fast”, he kissed you on the cheek, “I'm so glad I found you”

“Me too, Beel”

-

It was the day after you decided to go to the beach when you first sat down to try to come up with a plan. Beelzebub said he was willing to try whatever - no matter how crazy it might've sounded. 

 is probably best to explain that Beelzebub didn't hate the sun just cause. He had gotten a really bad sunburn once, and those things traumatize a demon child who fell asleep in the hellish sun. Imagine having to move and feeling your entire skin ripping open. And not only that, imagine being fifteen and thinking that hey, maybe you should overcome your dumb sun fear, and ending up having a sunburn once again because you didn't know exactly how long sunscreen lasts because you have never been in the sun for longer than three minutes since you were a child. So yeah, Beelzebub and sun did not match.

And you understood his problem with the sun. You had broken your arm once and you had all your plans to be a hot ass bike rider went straight out the window. 

So you really wanted to find a way for him to enjoy the beach with you.

You really, really wanted to find a way.

And that's how it began. 

Your sequence of plans for Beelzebub on the sun. 

And by sequence, you meant 5 ideas that were pitched in one lazy afternoon by both of you, and put in practice the following days leading to your anniversary.

(Let's go!)

Idea number 1: Sunglasses + sunscreen  + parasol = A happy Beelzebub 

You finished rubbing the sunscreen on Beelzebub’s back, “Okay!”, you turned him around to look at him, “You look about ready”. 

Throwing the sunscreen 100pf on the couch, you opened the balcony and walked outside. He followed you, putting on his sunglasses, and stopped at the edge of the shadow that came from the ceiling.

“I'll wait for a bit, so it's more effective”, he said, lingering as close to the door as he could. You stood on the sun and waited, giving him all the time he needed. 

He finally stepped out of the shadow after a moment, and you watched proudly a she made his way to the middle of the balcony. Once he was there, the sun hit his bare torso, and he looked to the sides, then at you, then up, then back at you.

“Yeah...nope”, he said, going back inside.

Idea number 2: Strap on the parasol

It sounded like a good idea at first, but, after three hits to the head and one hour icing a bruise on his arm, besides twenty bucks spent on tape, Beelzebub and you came to the conclusion that nope, not happening. The skin was much more valuable than going to the beach.

Idea number 3: “The literal overall”

“See?”, Beelzebub closed his eyes as he pulled the beanie down over his face. There was a hole in it that allowed only his eyes to be seen. 

“Hm...I'm not sure it's your best look, but hey, if it works…”, you said, eyeing him from top to bottom. He was displaying long sleeves, long pants, gloves, and beanie. He looked ready to ski rather than to go to the beach.

“Yeah. We'll see”, he walked to the balcony, you on his heels. 

“Go on, then”, you said to him once he had opened the sliding door that led to the balcony. He took a deep breath and walked out.

“Hey!”, he exclaimed, voice muffled by the beanie, “it works! I don't feel the sun”

You clapped and joined him in the balcony, pulling two beach chairs with you, and you sat down, fingers laced, admiring the sky for about an hour when suddenly, out of nowhere, Beelzebub stood up and ran inside. 

“Overheat! Overheat!”, he screamed, pulling the beanie and the shirt off. His hair was disheveled and his face reddened from the heat, but you didn't manage to hold your laugh for long. Pouting at you, he said, “I think this was a fail”

Idea number 4: Sand burial!

Eight buckets of sand, two showers, and two full vacuum bags later, it was needless to say that was a fail. Note to self: sand burial = a lot of sand on your dormitory floor and on Beelzebub. Second note to self: Beelzebub isn't a fan of sand. And neither are you. Third note to self: Naruto really doesn't teach one anything. Tsk tsk, Naruto.

Idea number 5: The simpler the better - go back to the beginning: A really big hat + long sleeves + idea number 1 = yay!

The weekend had come and you and Beelzebub were enjoying an afternoon on the beach, together. He smiled at you, face almost fully hidden by the sombrero-like hat he had on, and smiled.

“I love you”, he said, stretching his hand out.

You took it and rested your head on his shoulder, the top part of your body inside the parasol and the bottom part outside of it, “I love you more”

“I'm glad we found a way to do this. I might not like the sun, but I love the sound of the ocean”, he looked at the blue immensity laid out in front of you. You followed his gaze, watching a teeny tiny boat on the horizon.

“Yeah… I'm really glad we got to come. It is two of my favorite things, you, and the beach”, you stole a peck from his cheek, and he giggled, the drink in his hand shaking dangerously, close to spilling. 

“I'm not sure about two of my favorite things, but you surely are one, and you make it all worth it”, he said, shadows hitting his face as the sun hit your legs.

Ps.: You couldn't believe when, the next day, Beelzebub had to spend the entire day taking care of you, because of your horrific sunburn from not reapplying sunscreen. 

Masterlist

[nosybookworm]

Ninja Academy vs Hero School Rant

Naruto was my jam back in the day. I stayed up late to watch the new episodes, bought the dvd box sets and manga volumes, collected toys and cards just to stare at adoringly, even pretended to be sick so that I could stay home and watch a Naruto marathon. Point is, I LOVED Naruto.

I was invested in the characters. My heart ached for every single character that gave me a backstory. I ugly cried on more than ten occasions.

The action and moral dilemmas sucked me in and spit me out, made me the person I am today thinking critically about the stuff I love because wow that universe is in no way safe or sane for the people living in it lol.

The villains absolutely TERRIFIED me DESPITE STILL WANTING TO SEE MORE OF THEM, Orochimaru alone had me sleeping with the lights on and ripping the arms off his action figure just to be safe.

When I started watching My Hero Academia those old happy feelings started slapping me in the face drawing me in. MHA hits a lot of the same points that Naruto had and I didn’t really notice until the end of season 3 because those points weren’t as in-your-face or emotionally impactful as it was in Naruto I guess. Not to say it didn’t have an impact! Just that it rolled off me a lot easier which might just be a me problem.

I Mean:

The main character getting bullied/excluded because of something he can’t control. 

Underdog character then meeting or making an emotional connection with a mentor figure truly feeling “acceptance” for maybe the first time and taking that all important first step toward their life long dream. 

A teacher willing to sacrifice himself to protect the students. 

A school training teens to protect/serve. 

Rivalry that may or may not be actual friendship.

Students fighting against each other to “rank up” by showing how capable they are to their superiors.

Enemies invading to terrorize the kids and escaping to terrorize another day.

Traumatic family backstories that child will now attempt to seek justice through own power.

Previous underdog character actually having a secret power that no one knows about but a select few and that he has to train to learn how to use, but it makes him a powerhouse that is always surprising the enemy and inspiring his fellows.

Sure all that can be tied to any story when generalized like this, but the way MHA presents them is pretty similar to Naruto.

(Okay, ALL OF THIS is going to be my personal opinion. Things I want to say to get out of my system so that I can move on. It’s long too. So, now that you’ve been warned continue on.)

The more I got into it the stranger it felt because despite hitting those same points I loved they hit in a different way that....well... made me a little uncomfortable to sit through.

Like Aizawa

Very clearly the Kakashi in MHA. He’s sly hardly ever telling his students the truth but has incredibly high expectations of them, has been known to expel students left and right until his most recent batch of kids, is ready and willing to throw himself in harms way for them, and surprisingly competent despite his exhausted persona/personality. However the way these two teachers act get two very different results from me. Naruto got a chance to introduce Kakashi in a way that endeared him to me, the bell test was more than just showcasing the kids current abilities it was introducing Kakashi (the Jounin that is a kind of jack of all trades, the known perv that will publicly read porn, the guy that will happily mess with a bunch of kids to “teach them a lesson” and because its funny, the guy that requires the students under his care to care about each other because caring for his team matters to him more than any mission, that guy). MHA gave the quirk test. Aizawa mostly in the background taking notes and jotting down scores after his speech about expelling whoever comes last. We didn’t get to hear Aizawa’s thoughts until the very end when Izuku surprised him. 

I didn’t really feel any connection toward Aizawa until I stumbled across fanfics that wrote him more involved with the students and I think that’s the problem. Aizawa is dedicated to his student’s education, he believes they will all be amazing heroes one day, but he hardly ever interacts with them. He can be seen watching their training from afar, sleeping in a corner as another teacher takes over for a bit, protecting them from danger or fighting along side them, and proudly declaring that Bakugo would never turn villain but all of that means very little emotionally when I can’t see him making connections with these students to make this standoffish confidence understandable. He comes off as one of those super smart teachers that have undecipherable lessons because he has no idea how to connect with his students enough to explain in way they understand. Similarly, he like jots down that he’s taking note of Bakugo and might need to step in before he goes down the wrong path but then does nothing and confidently tells the press Bakugo would never be a villain.

Kakashi was pretty standoffish too, no denying that, and the little episodes when the kids conspire to try to see him without his mask are the kind of outside interactions that would be weird for a modern teacher-student relationship like in MHA, so I get why Aizawa doesn’t really have that with any of the kids. However, Kakashi saw the path Sasuke was going down and spent time with him and confronted him about it (it did nothing to stop him but he tried). He took time to find a teacher for Naruto. He was present and awake for just about every milestone in there education with him. He told them when he was proud of them not other people. He involved himself in some of their high jinks to measure their growth and as such was able to have confidence in them when they went off on their own.

The Villains

And My Hero Academia villains, namely All For One. 

I felt nothing when he showed up. I was all caught up in All Might and his passing of the torch. The guy without eyes didn’t feel threatening, didn’t feel like the big bad he was suppose to be. The League of Villains really didn’t feel like “serious enemies” either cause I actually really enjoyed them when they were on screen for their dynamics with each other. Similar to how I liked the Akatsuki in their more light-hearted scenes when they where super strong idiots banded together by sheer force of will and explosive personalities that refuse to leave a job half finished. With the League I would be just as entertained (probably more so) if they were in a slice of life anime just being terrible people together.

I get the feeling All For One was supposed to be MHA’s Orochimaru. (And I say this despite knowing Orochimaru’s introduction is probably a lot closer to Stain what with the confrontation and all, but his whole “the world is corrupt, I will cut out the wrong and remake it into the pure world it should have always been” aligned more with Pain especially with his quick turnabout saving Izuku.) 

Orochimaru always felt in control even when he was in hiding or on the run, he felt like he had more up his sleeve which is the only thing I got from All For One when he was imprisoned. Both Orochimaru and All For One showed up out of nowhere, very obviously in a class of their own that the teenage main characters had no hope of beating, and a mysterious backstory that clearly put all the adults in the know on edge. But I just don’t see All For One as a villain. Nothing about him screamed “Run for your lives this man will smile as he tears you apart!” like Orochimaru. Nothing about All For One’s secret Mad Scientist lab gave me creepy vibes that left me on the edge of my seat clutching at the nearest pillow the way the Sound Village that practically worshiped Orochimaru and the many base of operations he had did.

Terrible Parents

The Todoroki family. 

...

Look. The world of Naruto has terrible parenting, but they also live in a dictator/military run nation where kids can be a front-line defense or key players in a war zone so it’s hard to measure how to view these people. Cause a father that beats his kid and yells at him to get stronger has genuine reasons to rightfully freak out when children as young as 8 get sent to ninja academy. Families that have a rare genetic trait like the Hyuga or Uchiha have every right to be tough and stern if they feel that will protect their kids when they know putting them out into the world makes them an easier target for enemies that would rip out their eyes. 

I can judge their actions based on their consequences. Like the Uchiha clan planning a revolt forcing their eldest to massacre them to keep the peace and their youngest to live with a crazy amount of trauma. Like the Hyuga clan branding their branch members to protect family eyes, but forcing them into being lesser than the main branch and all the trauma that forced on Neji’s poor head. The stupid level of expectation set on Hinata’s young shoulders that she couldn’t meet in the way her clan wanted that made her self-confidence practically non existent. The Hokage leaving Naruto mostly alone for his entire childhood in a village that openly hated him. The Kazekage trying to have his lonely three-year-old assassinated multiple times once by his beloved uncle - the only person that was kind and loved him - that scarred him so entirely that he carved “love” into his forehead and rampaged around the village and did casual murder intentionally for years before meeting Naruto. 

All that... I can get behind as abuse. I want those sad kids to be happy. They deserved better and I will happily lose myself in a fix-it fic where they get that.

MHA gives me similar scenarios but without the clear-cut consequences that shows when parenting for that world is abuse. 

Endeavor is not a good husband. He is emotionally abusive to his wife to the point she has a mental break and attacks a child. 

However, in a world of heroes, in a world where high school students are trained to protect and serve and that self sacrifice is a noble heroic trait. How do I compare such a society to my own? They put children in harms way with hero internships yet don’t allow them to defend themselves if they don’t have a hero license, that would be like getting a learners permit but not being allowed to practice driving.

All this to say I have a hard time telling when bad parenting falls into abuse when it comes to MHA. Endeavor is not a good parent, he is an abusive husband, but is he an abusive parent? As a hero training up the next generation of heroes can it be argued that he is pretty okay even if his methods are a little harsh? None of his children fear him from what I’ve seen. Shouto happily tells him his plans to never use his fire and all the reasons why without fearing he might be punished for it. The other kids seem to be pretty okay going on with their lives. Toya being the exception but again I don’t know what happened to him and he’s a follower of Stain so did he have a falling out with heroes or did his father push too hard?

Nighteye & Tsunade

Okay so this is where I get super rant-y. I have feelings on Nighteye and none of them good.

Nighteye being the estranged comrade of All Might the underdog’s teacher, Tsunade being the estranged comrade of Jiraiya Naruto’s teacher.

Tsunade has been hurt deeply. She ran because she felt that was the only way to save herself from more pain. Here comes Jiraiya with his new little tag along demanding she come back home, she gets appropriately angry and tries everything she can to get them to leave her alone. Naruto being the special little underdog that he is immediately gets under her skin reminding her of all the loved ones she lost bringing back all of that old pain back, so she gets even. She beats him down and challenges him to an impossible challenge to show him how small he really is and get out of her own responsibilities. But he wins. He wins, and shows Tsunade how closed off she’s become forcing her to face reality head on and face her fears at last. He changes her whole world view through action.

Nighteye has been hurt deeply. He sees the future for every person he touches and as such sees futures in which people he loves get hurt and sometimes die. He believes there is nothing he or anyone can do to change these visions. All Might is his hero, His friend and mentor, his comrade. His friend gets hurt in a way he can never fully recover from and he sees a vision where his friend dies on the battle field. He then tells All Might who refuses to retire and leaves without a backward glance. They don’t speak until years later when Nighteye picks out a successor for One For All, but Toshi chooses Izuku and never meets Nighteye’s pick.

Izuku, needing an internship not Gran Torino, goes to Sir Nighteye All Might’s old side kick. He gets tested, told he’s not worthy of One For All, and has to work under this man as he tries to get Izuku to see how Mirio is more worthy of All Might’s quirk. Facing off against Overhaul when they are at their most desperate Nighteye uses his quirk to see what will happen and sees the worst possible scenario. They lose. Then Izuku flies in sweeps Eri into his arms and fights Overhaul saving the day. Izuku proved, unknowingly, that the future Nighteye sees is not set in stone with his actions and on his death bed Nighteye acknowledges that without acknowledging it.

Nighteye’s treatment toward Izuku makes me uncomfortable. This is a man in a position of power over this student telling him that he is not enough, will never be enough, and that he is a disappointment.

His glorifying of All Might makes me uncomfortable. He was All Might’s partner and yet he practically had a shrine of the man in his office. He made him more than just a man, built him up as The Symbol of Peace and kept him there (as many of Toshi’s friends seem to do except for Nedzu and Naomasa) despite getting close enough trusted enough to learn about One For All. And despite all that “love” and “devotion” he left Toshinori alone to deal with his new normal of a permanently damaged system alone for years then takes out all that frustration and grief out on his friends chosen successor.

Then when all is said and done and he’s dying and he’s confronted by Toshinori and Izuku what happens? Does he apologize? Explain his actions? Get closure in his final moments?

No. Well, Toshinori got some measure of closure. Izuku got a few words that essentially boiled down to “Good job, your better than I thought.” without talking about the newfound hope Izuku’s action gave him that his visions are only possibilities not absolute. All of his attention then goes to his choice for One For All, Mirio. 

Understandably. 

He’s dying and Mirio was always his main priority as a mentor, and you know who Mirio looks like? All Might. He’s blonde, buff, blue-eyed, cheerfully friendly, and with a happy-go-lucky persona about him. Sir Nighteye taught him to smile. Chose him to be the new wielder of One For All and without telling him anything planned to introduce him to Toshinori to make his choice reality. Doesn’t that sound... I don’t know... uncomfortably close to manipulation? Grooming? To taking this child under his wing and molding him to be pretty close to a new version of All Might?

I don’t know. Maybe if Sir Nighteye had lived this uncomfortable impression I have of him would be lessened as he began to internalize the full extent of possibilities for the future that he never thought possible before and acted more hopeful, more willing to take gambles because his visions were no longer a guarantee of what will happen.