#i saw one (1) tree outside that had turned orange and it sent me into a spiral | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

someonewhowannadielol · 5 years ago

Text

My name is 01001010 01001011 (Alien!Jungkook! x Human!Reader)

Summary: “So you’re a human?” The alien that looked and acted like a human asked. The only difference between him and you was that he had two upside down triangles starting from his jaw going down under his shirt. Also, he was huge. “I’m talking 8 foot tall” huge.

Warning: Daddy kink, Dirty talk, size kink, cunt slapping, Jungkook being rlly big, fingering, nipple sucking (?), Dom/sub themes, and Jungkook being a curious alien.

Genre: Fluff, Smut

Word Count: 6.3k

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

COVID-19 vs Human kind. Human kind was pretty much fucked. In front of your eyes, the world population went from a staggering 8 billion people to an exponentially low 1 million. Within two years. It was in October 2020, when scientist realized that instead of working on a vaccine, they needed to discover a place where those free from this deadly disease could live. Safely and peacefully.

Then, the people of Jubal, stepped in, and it was pure chaos. You still remember the day, 14thof December 2020. Everywhere; social media platforms, billboards, NASA’s speech, everything revolved around the message they sent us. They wanted to help us. Surprisingly, we knew nothing about them, but they knew everything about us. From our appearance to our food, cultures, languages, and what not. It low key creeped you out, not going to lie.

Nonetheless, we began building the transport link through their help and finally, one year later (pretty much the brink of our extinction), we were on our way to a new life.

Honestly, you had imagined them to look like- or well, to not look like how they looked. You’d expected Pokémons, or weird looking octopus, or even insects. But they looked just like you, expect they were way bigger in size.

After half a month or so, you had started to get used to the atmosphere. Almost similar to Earth, there were two sides to this planet, a much hotter plane, where the temperature never went below 104 Fahrenheit. You remember going there when you first arrived here, and oh god, you hated it. The temperature was too high for you; they didn’t know what ice cream was (how can they not know! You thought they knew everything, yet they’re unaware about one of the most popular desserts on Earth), you absolutely hated sweating and no amount of air conditioning could stop it, and the beach just looked out of place. The sand wasn’t the usual pale brown shade, instead it was just the color of the ocean itself – it adapted to the shade of the flowing water into a green-blue hue. Weird. Also, there was one sun in the morning, and three in the evening, gradually coming as the hours passed by.

You had also noticed that all of them ate food at the same temperature. Nothing was cold like ice, or hot like a fresh pizza. The concept was new to them, and when you asked for the water to be cold at the first restaurant you went to – the waiter just looked lost. The poor soul, he was told to make the humans feel at home, so when he realized he couldn’t do what you asked to, you just felt really bad. Still, it was funny that a seven-foot tall man was scared of you being uncomfortable. It was cute, honestly.

Also, almost similar to Earth, the two places had different types of Jubals living there. The sunny side had more tan skinned people, with bright, blond hair and bright eyes. Whereas, the cold plane Jubals had fairer skin, darker hair and doe eyes. The one similarity being – they were huge as fuck. The average height was around seven foot for men, and around six foot for females. So, standing at a 5 foot 2 inches (almost three inches I swear!), you felt tiny (and intimidated sometimes, but you weren’t going to admit that.

After finalizing that you definitely didn’t want to live in the hotter part of the planet, you moved to Corellia, it was cold there but not in the way you expected it to be. In the morning, it was perfectly fine, the cold breeze was nothing short of comfortable, but as the evening came, it started to get cold to the point where you couldn’t bear to go outside after 6 PM. Sometimes, you think you might have underestimated the cold here at night, because the two beautiful moons brought such intense cold that you wouldn’t dare go out at night. They gifted you a cozy one bed apartment with a really good heating system, which you appreciated. Also, you had never been so glad that you brought the microwave from Earth, without it, you didn’t know what you would do.

Ever since you moved, you had pretty much been lonely, because of the lack of contact with humans. Most of them preferred to live in the hotter state, wanting to get tanned - and to fuck the surfer Jubal hotties. You still remember parting with your sister and her ranting about this Jubal she met who was so “dreamy” and “good at surfing”.

As usual, you were just trying to get used to the food here, thankfully, they had a smaller section of “human,” food that mostly consisted of cup noodles, vegetables, chicken and chocolates. Getting groceries was intimidating at first (honestly, it kind of still is), because everyone and everything was so large, and everyone just kept staring at you. You still haven’t interacted with a Jubal on your own, it’s not like you were scared – you were – but also you didn’t really know how to go up to one. Until now, the only two Jubals you’ve met were the grocery store cashier and the landlord. Sigh.

You were so happy when you saw the new addition of real, organic milk in the grocery aisle! Thank god you got a break from that horrid almond milk. It was just water pretending to be milk honestly, and whenever you poured it in your cereal, it felt like drowning them in water, yuck. But, as much as you could try, you just would not reach the goddamn shelf. Why did these Jubals have to be so tall! Why couldn’t they just make this aisle according to human size!

You heard someone shuffle behind, but paid no heed until you heard laughter burst and immediately looked back to see one of them laughing so hard, his body shook.

“You- you’re so tiny!” He barely managed to get that sentence out of him, since he couldn’t stop his outburst.

Of course, you were offended.

“I’m actually not! You all are way too big!” You didn’t really know how to respond, because this was just so sudden.

“Hm, I don’t think so, you’re smaller than average earthlings. But it’s okay, because it’s adorable,” so, you were really surprised when you felt him behind you, reach up to the milk shelf and grab a container of it. Of course, being the dumb idiot you were, you suddenly turned around and had to face him again. You hadn’t noticed his physical features before, but now that you did. Holy shit.

He was tall (I know, it’s obvious by now), and had such, clear, fair skin. Two upside down triangles were on each side of his jaw and went down, disappearing under his coat. He looked at you with such doe, curious eyes, almost as if he was entertained by your mere presence.

“Here you go,” he handed you the container of milk – while still being really close (not that you minded it). Despite the irritatingly bright fluorescent store lighting, his hair shined, and looked so soft.

And after that, he just followed you around the store, and you honestly didn’t really know what to do.

“You know, I’ve been trying to find a human since a month now, but I’ve heard most of them moved to the Southern part. You should’ve done that too, because Corellia is too cold for you. You’re a little slow,”

And you’re a little piece of shit.

“But now I found you. You’re really adorable, the books didn’t tell me that. Ever since humankind moved here, I’ve been really studying Earth. Did you guys really had pink leaved trees? And forests? It must be so cool for so many trees to be in one place. I also really want to meet a lion,”

“You can’t just meet a lion,” you chuckled, he was weird, but somehow, it wasn’t awkward around him. He radiated this warm energy that you hadn’t seen in the Jubal people around you, and it was comforting, made you want to stay by his side – even if it meant answering his dumb questions.

“I can, you can’t. It would eat you, because you’re bite sized for it,” he continued to comment on your petite stature, and the worst part is that you couldn’t even defend yourself, especially when he kept towering over you.

“Hey! Stop making fun of me,” you tried to push him but the basket was too heavy for you, so you ended up just… awkwardly not being able to do it. Suddenly his – huge – hand swoops in and carries the heavy grocery basket as if it was nothing.

“You should’ve told me it was too heavy for you,” he sounded almost as if he was scolding you, and coo-ing at you at the same time. His eyebrows bunched up in frustration as he mumbled something along the lines of ‘how can I protect you if you won’t tell me what you need,’ but you couldn’t really make out what he said.

You were just pulled out of your thoughts when you heard him put something in your basket. Something that the Jubals ate, not humans.

Should I ask him to leave? No, that’s way too rude. Then, should I ask him why he’s following me?

“This is delicious, you should try it,” He spoke while continuing to look around the store, and put random items in your basket. There was a variation of their fruits (this one had a gradient of yellow and orange, with huge spikes coming out from the top), cans with God-knows-what inside (the one he put in your basket had cherry colored pentagons on it, and a juice bottle that contained neon green juice. You were not looking forward to drinking that.

“I don’t even know how to make all of this. What if I can’t eat it?” You were scared of most of these food items, you got sick easily, and didn’t know how to cope if you fell sick here. Without the medicines, you’d probably die.

“I’ll cook it for you if you want to,” He looked at you and smiled, “I know humans are fragile, so don’t worry, I made sure to get the ones which would be safe for you,” he said, while petting your hair, and smiling. You instantly fell in love with it, it wasn’t like the way he laughed at you earlier, but somehow, it was far more beautiful. His eyes crunched up into half-moons, cheeks being bunched up, he almost looked like the small bunny you had as a pet when you were younger. So. Cute.

“But I don’t even know your name, why would you do this for me?” You really were curious, why was a Jubal so interested in humans? So far, most of them have just maintained a distance from you.

“Because I want to keep you,” he looked at you, and the duality of his presence made you shiver. The small bunny smile morphed into a more serious face, his already dark brown eyes, turned into a slightly darker shade, giving you the chills.

“You can’t keep me,” you didn’t know how to fight this argument, you almost wanted to laugh and act as if you thought it was a joke, but you weren’t an idiot – and nor was he.

“I know, I can’t find the Earth word for it, I want to be with you, is what I mean,” he mumbled as he tried to find something in the cereal aisle.

The grocery trip was actually not as weird as you’d expect it to be. While you both didn’t know anything about each other, not even names (not that Jubals had actual names, they just talked through their minds?)

And as soon as you reached the cashier, before you could even take out your money, he nod, and paid the bill.

“Hey! I can pay for myself, you don’t have to do this!”

Honestly, you didn’t really know what to say after he said, “I’m paying, now be a good baby and stand still,” where did he even learn to speak like that?

It was starting to get cold now, and after you exited the heated mall, it was visible that you shivered every time the cold brushed up against your figure. You should’ve worn the third sweater, sigh.

“So you’re really a human?” He said, as he carried your groceries and followed you, on your way to the apartment.

“Yeah, I’m Y/N,”

“How can you be a Y/N? You just said you were a human,” He asked, really confused. Were you pranking him? He learnt in (one of his many books about humans) that humans liked to prank each other for entertainment. He found the idea amusing, but right now he couldn’t decide whether you were pranking or joking.

He didn’t understand the difference between pranking and joking, either.

“I- What? No, I mean I am a human, but my name is Y/N,” you were definitely amused at his seriousness, yet you couldn’t help but be intimidated by his tall figure. Also, you felt bad that he was holding all the groceries, so you decided to grab one of the bags from him.

“Y/N!” He stopped dead in his tracks after your fingers brushed against his, “I just remembered you can’t bear the cold after 6pm, so you have to wear many clothes to protect yourself. You’re already so cold,” he felt your hand, and his was so warm and felt right, intertwined in your hand. His hand was so huge, that it enveloped yours easily, and you could really notice the size difference now.

He quickly transferred all the grocery bags into his left hand, and continued to give you his coat, and held your hand again, and it felt… nice. The fact that he smelled so good, helped too, you couldn’t exactly put your finger on it, but it was really comforting.

You were quite used to the stares you got on the streets from other Jubals, and always thought that they would go away, but it’s been two weeks, yet they still continue to look at you up and down, so you finally asked him. You still didn’t know his name, and didn’t know whether you should ask him or not, was it insulting?

“Why does everyone keep staring at me?”

“Because you’re so cute,”

What. It was almost like you forgot how to breathe. How could he say that all of a sudden, out of the blue? Also, you actually could not breathe, because while he had long legs that lasted for days, you had much smaller legs and it was starting to get hard to keep up.

“Hey! Could you walk-” you took in a breath, wow, your stamina was really, uh, shitty, “could you walk a little slow?”

He looked back at you, and tilted his head almost as to ask ‘why?’, but understood quickly. Then, he flashed one of his cute smiles, again, the smile that did things to your heart that you hadn’t felt before.

“Do you want me to carry you?” He also had read previously that humans can get really tired, and sometimes not even have the strength to move on. Especially females, they were more fragile, and he could physically see that too, because you were just so small. The average height was supposed to be 5’4 or even 5’6 for human females around your age, but you seemed smaller than that. But you also didn’t seem to be a child because those under the age 18 were always with their parents right? He had almost started to doubt those textbooks he bought on humans.

“No, I can walk myself,” You tried to defend yourself, and started to mentally curse as to why you asked him to slow down.

You finally reached your apartment door. Honestly, you had thought that he would stop following you after you reached the apartment building… but he just continued to bring the groceries in.

Should you invite him in? Did you even clean your living space? You probably had your underwear lying all over the place, since now you lived alone and had no fear of someone else coming in your private space.

“Can I come in?”

Well, you didn’t want to say no to him, he’s been really nice so far, and you had to admit, picking up groceries was really hard to do, and you weren’t exactly physically active enough to carry all those bags that he easily carried in one hand.

He then walked himself to the door after putting the groceries in the kitchen. What really surprised you was how he looked back at you, not how he looked before. Before, he looked with warmth, and now. Now, he almost towered at you, reminding how much power he really has over you. He looked at your lips, and then back at your eyes and tilted his head.

“W-well, it was really nice to meet you,” you said trying to break the tension and to distract yourself from the obviously gorgeous man.

“I hope to see your cute face again soon,” he smiled one of his bunny smiles again, and kissed you on the cheek before disappearing under the stairs.

You curled yourself up in your blanket, and tried to sleep, but that Jubal kept intruding your thoughts.

Would you get to see him again?

The next time you saw the cute Jubal from the grocery store was next week Saturday. On Earth, entertainment was in the form of movies, arcades and concerts. Similarly, here too, people had a theatre – instead of a movie on a projector, it was shown in 3D form, almost like a live performance, expect there were holographic figures.

You looked around, and by now you had taken into account that Jubal people weren’t afraid to show off their skin – even though it was crazy cold here, their bigger bodies could compensate by giving them more body heat. Unfortunately, your smaller stature couldn’t provide you with the same amount of heat and you always had to bundle up in three or even four layers to keep yourself from freezing or catching a cold.

You were watching a really heated up scene, and it was getting kind of… uncomfortable. While others were simply watching casually, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary, you kept shuffling in your seat – so it was a pleasant surprise when you felt someone cover your eyes from behind you.

“Wha-” instinctively, you looked behind, and it was the same boy (or man?), from the grocery store.

“Hey,” again, you waved at him, almost as a form of habit, and he looked at you as if you did something quite weird. Without any questions, he tried to imitate you, but he was really stiff so you couldn’t help but let you a laugh.

“I know I didn’t introduce myself much better last time, but we don’t really have names. Still, I decided to get one for myself, because once I get a human, she should be able to call me something,”

Did he… did he mean that you were his human?

“Well, what did you settle for?”

“My name is 01001010 01001011. I thought it was really similar to the ones that humans have. Do you like it?” He asked with a proud grin, as his face lit up.

You tried to keep your laughter in, you really did but you when it did come out, you felt like wanting to die. His face crumpled up almost as if he was ashamed of his name as he increased the distance between the two of you.

Nice one, Y/N, you made the only person who cared enough for you sad.

“Hey, look, it’s a nice name, it’s just not very human-like,” you explained to him.

“It’s the binary code for a human name,”

Because of the constant conversation you both were immersed in, the Jubals beside you were starting to get annoyed – and while they didn’t say anything, probably because they didn’t want you to feel bad (you still did, for trying to ruin their experience for this live-movie thing), you decided to head out with him.

As you both walked in one of the main parks situated in the middle of Corellia state, he settled on a spot in the corner of the massive area.

“Would you like to give me a name?” he looked at your face with such intensity, that you couldn’t help but feel insecure and want to cover your face.

“Well, what did those binary numbers represent?” you really did want to help his get a name, after all, he was your first friend here.

“I want to be called JK, but my friends told me it was a ridiculous human name, because no one was named JK before. So I settled for its binary number. They approved of that,” his eyes shone of much when he talked about it, his long lashes were uprightly curved and you couldn’t help but swoon.

You fiddled with your sweater as you gave him suggestions, but none seemed to suit him.

“Jake? No,” you were starting to get frustrated at this, “Hm, maybe Jacob?” you shook your head again, unsatisfied.

He just simply continued to laugh at you being so serious, occasionally playing with hair and pressing a finger to your soft cheeks. When he commented on you being soft, you couldn’t help but blush (and when he compared you to one their red fruits, you couldn’t help but blush harder (you denied it, obviously)).

“Jungkook!” you remember reading that word in one of the books you had in high school literature.

“Jungkook? Do you like it, baby?” He played with your cheeks with happiness, he was happy that you were no longer frustrated or angry. Finally satisfied and happy. Of course, you blushed at the word of endearment, but didn’t tell him to not say it.

Oh. Well, after that, he just continued to ask you about humans, and more specifically about you. You were amused by most of his questions,

“What is sarcasm?”

“Why do you like pizza so much, when it’s detrimental for your health? You shouldn’t eat it, I’ll make good food for you,”

“How do you make stereotypes?”

“Why do people get cosmetic surgery?”

And each one of them seemed normal for a Jubal to ask until,

“Why do humans like cuddling?”

At this point, you were quite tired, but still thought it would rude to ask him out, because he seemed really curious, every question coming right after you answer the last one.

“I guess, we just like to be touchy and close,” you said and you tried to suppress a yawn, but it just slipped.

“What was that? Was that a sigh? Or a yawn? Are you tired? That was so cute, do it again,”

“Just a little tired,” you said as you rested you head on his shoulder without realizing to do so. It was also getting really cold; the second moon had started to show up.

You both got up, and the walk back home was really pleasant. He kept cracking jokes and dancing on the pavement. You tried to imitate his dance, but your flow wasn’t as steady as his. How could someone dance so good like this, yet not be able to wave correctly? Your fingers intertwined again, and you leaned more into his body this time. You could barely reach his mid chest, that’s how tall he was. But somehow, you didn’t mind it because you both fit so perfectly – as if two parts of one puzzle.

As you reached the door of your apartment door again, you felt Deja-vu. He looked at your face, studying it carefully and looking back at your eyes, however instead of just looking at your lips this time, he leaned closer and looked back at you – almost as if asking for permission to kiss you. You nodded, and wow.

As his lips drew closer to yours, you could feel him cupping your face with both hands, one of them gradually descending to the back of your head as it found its place in your hair. They were incredibly soft, and almost overpowered you, because you didn’t expect this. As he slid his tongue and slowed himself, you found yourself wanting more, leaning towards him.

Before realizing that you needed to breathe, you started to choke, as he pulled himself back, and chuckled before saying, “Baby girl, take it slow, I’m all yours.”

“Want more,” is all you can say before leaning towards him, wanting to kiss him again. But unlucky for you, he just moved back before laughing again, and this time you pouted and slightly punched his chest.

“Now, you’re just being a brat, baby, you’ll get what I’ll give you, understand?” You could feel his breath fanning your face, and his eyes were no longer twinkling like they did, but instead were full of lust and an animalistic hunger.

‘’Jungkook, please,” you had never really been serious with boys in your high school, and so, this was the first time you had actually felt something down there. It was almost like someone – or Jungkook – lit a fire in your core, and you couldn’t help but just want more.

Fumbling hands opened the door to the apartment and you both tumbled in, messily but both of you didn’t care as you headed to your bedroom. On the way, he messily kissed your neck that made your knees buckle in a way that even walking was difficult.

He tossed you gently on your bed, that was way too big for the apartment, and ran his fingers through your hair, to you neck, and to your chest. He attacked your neck again, and started to form a pattern with his tongue as he pressed harder on some areas and trailed lighter on others.

You couldn’t help but let a whine escape your mouth when he left your neck unattended to take off your sweaters and cardigans till you were only in your undergarments and a see-through white dress.

“Fuck, baby girl, you’re so beautiful,” he said as he attacked your lips again, this time being harsher with his movements, as his tongue slipped in your mouth, doing wonders to his body.

“J-Jungkook, please,” you felt so much, so sudden, and even in this cold, the heat was too much for you – the heat inside you wanted to escape, but you didn’t know how to ask him.

“Yes, baby? Tell me what you want,” his amused voice made it obvious as to what you wanted, but still he continued to tease you, torment you, put you on the edge, “Tell daddy what you want,”

You took in a gasp as he unbuckled your bra strap from behind, free-ing your breasts, and the very next second, tore your fragile dress.

“Hm, tell me baby girl,” he asked you once again, as he took in one of you nipples in his mouth, his tongue encircling your bud, as one of his hands pinched the other one.

“Jungkook I-” you gasped as you felt a slap on your clit, it wasn’t that harsh because he was being careful, and you were still in your panties – but it just turned you on more.

“Baby, you have to call me Daddy, do you understand?” he said as his free wrist kept putting pressure on the top of you panties, making you want to rip them off, so you could finally feel him where you wanted to.

“Yes,” you said, and whined after he took off his mouth from your nipple to look at you, and after a second you understood what you had to say, “Yes Daddy, I understand,”

“Such a good girl for me, so pretty,” he said as he kissed your cheek, and you just couldn’t stop blushing. He was so harsh, yet so gentle at the same time – and it made your head spin.

“Now, be a good baby, and tell Daddy what you want him to do to you,” he said as he neared your ear, “does baby want daddy to wreck her pussy?”

You couldn’t help but shiver before speaking, “I want Daddy to make me feel good,”

His fingers slowly trailed your body, making you moan and buckle your body up towards him. You looked at him, his ears tinged red, and his eyes were darker than before, he almost looked like a fallen angel. He chuckled, looking at you seem so helpless, so fragile.

You were so soft, so ethereal, like an angel from the sky and he was there to taint you, to make you his.

He teased you by playing with the band of your underwear, he put two fingers in your mouth and you instantly slicked them with your saliva, making obscene noises that blended in with your moans. Then he trailed those two fingers right above your covered clit, and you couldn’t help but buckle up again, wanting those two fingers inside of you.

“Be patient, princess,” and it felt like an eternity as he circled his tongue in your belly button and it so, so, so slowly trailed down and down, and he finally took off your panties with his teeth.

“So wet, baby, you’re making a mess,” he commented as he rubbed you with one finger, and using the other one to encircle your hole. He pushed it a little inside, easily as your slick helped him, before looking back at you to see if you were comfortable, and when he got the green light, he continued to push it entirely in, “Such a good baby for me, think you can handle Daddy’s cock?”

You nodded in exasperation, his finger was long and hit all the right spots, but you needed more. He added another finger, while rubbing your clit with more pressure and making circle patterns with his tongue below your belly button. You were so near, so so near, you just needed that one push off the edge.

“Well, you’re going to have to work for Daddy’s cock, baby, think you can take this monster?” He took out his finger with a pop, as soon as he felt you clench down on his finger.

“Daddy, f-fuck me, please,” you moaned, missing his touch. He looked just as a mess as you were, panting and taking off his shirt. You continued to admire his body, he didn’t look buff like gym rats, but instead he had a lean, slightly muscular body.

He continued to tease you by biting his lip and taking off his boxers extremely slowly. You whimpered when his cock was free against his stomach, and it was bigger than any you’ve been before while watching porn. It was even bigger than the dildo your friend bought as a joke for your birthday present, and you had started to doubt if he would fit inside of you.

“Suck Daddy if you want to cum, princess,” he groaned as he pumped himself a couple of times before you put your mouth on his head.

Not having any experience before, you didn’t really know how to start, but you gave little kitten licks at his head, and then took it in your heated mouth. He didn’t taste how you had imagined, instead it was more like a salted caramel toffee you had, it was delicious and you wanted more. You continued to take more, and more of him and suddenly gagged because you couldn’t take anymore – only to realize you had only taken half his dick in your mouth.

“Can’t handle more? I guess you’re too small for Daddy’s big cock, huh?”

The thought of his not fucking you was almost terrifying at this point and you continued to let your throat loose and tale more of him, until you felt his cock twitch, which made you moan. Tears spilled out as he fucked your throat, fast and hard.

“Such a good, pretty baby for daddy, taking my cock so good, princess,” he groaned before pushing in it a couple of times and taking it out.

“Such a naughty baby, making Daddy almost cum,” he kissed you again, tasting his own cum, before dipping down again, “you need to be punished, huh?”

“Daddy, please t-touch me,” you whined, grabbing his hand and putting it in between your thighs, and surprisingly he slapped your inner thigh.

“Being such a bratty baby now, I guess I do need to punish you, you don’t deserve Daddy’s fingers,” he said trailing again lightly all over body, but stopping as soon as he neared where you needed him the most, “touch yourself,”

You were dumbfounded, but when you saw his serious look, you shyly dipped your finger into your heat, and circled them around, but even after two fingers, it just wasn’t enough. You wanted more, you needed more.

“Daddy, please, I c-can’t, I need you,” you cried out while rubbing yourself between your legs, filled with your slick.

“Such a needy princess, always demanded Daddy,” he tsked before adding two fingers inside you, and as you gasped, “but Daddy adores you, so he’ll help his pretty little baby,”

You moaned, not holding back, as he pumped those fingers, and let his tongue work magic on your clit. He continuously pumped his fingers back and forth, while torturing your bud and the heat inside of you kept growing and before you realized it, “Jungkook, I’m going to cum!”

“Cum on my fingers, baby, go on,” his movements became more faster and you trembled under gaze, and unconsciously arched your back before letting yourself loose. It felt like heaven.

Even after this, you had been surprised to see that he didn’t stop and the stimulation was too much for you, as you tried to get away from him, but he held you in place, his wrist holding your pelvic in place.

Despite your whimpering and moans, he took his mouth to your perked up nipple again, and scissored his fingers, to prepare you for his cock. Then, he looked at you, cupped you face and kissed you again, this time more soft, as if you were a china doll, going to break at any given moment.

After letting his dick sit on your bud, he slowly let the head of his cock find your entrance and pushed it slightly. You let out a cry, he was too big for you, but he shushed you and pressed against your lips again before letting it enter little by little. You quickly grab his upper arm and clench it, the pain and pleasure were starting to combine again and you nodded, letting him know that it was okay to continue.

The raw emotion in his eyes was enough to let you go on, and when you were finally full, you looked down only to find you could only take half of him, he was just too big for you.

“Baby, fuck, you’re too tiny, can’t even take all of me,” he groaned before moving slowly, and then finally setting a pace that was safe, but unsatisfactory for you.

“J-Jungkook, f-fas-ter please,” you whined as he started becoming harsher, and his finger started abusing your bud again, and you couldn’t help but realize you were close again. This time, it felt more intense, more powerful.

He was so big, that you could feel him everywhere, it almost felt like he was ripping you apart, but the pleasure was almost overwhelming and the way his cock filled you up made you insatiable – you just wanted more, and more. You could feel your walls being pushed everything he buckled inside you, but he just did it so right.

“Baby, you’re so cute, gonna cum for Daddy?” he kissed your nipple and trailed up to your lips before diving a tongue into your moaning mouth. You nodded, and felt your second release come near.

“J-Jungkook, you feel so good,” you moaned as your walls clenched around his cock, and finally you gushed out, and trembled as you rode your orgasm. Simultaneously, he too, slammed his hips a couple times before cumming deep into you. As he took himself out, cum poured out of you, and he chuckled before taking it and spreading it over your face. Globs of cum covered your red cheeks and entered your mouth.

“You look so pretty with my cum on you face, keep it there until tomorrow morning,” he kissed your nose and coo-ed when you squirmed in embarrassment.

You could feel tugging and pulling when you felt someone wake you up and instinctively, you said, “Just five more minutes.”

“But you said that the last time,” Jungkook looked at you, his breathe fanning your face.

Too close, too close, too close. You looked at other way and tried to close your eyes.

“You’re so cute, like a small puppy,” he coo-ed at you, making your stomach feel things you’ve never felt before.

“I- I’m not like a puppy!” You tried to fight back in your sleep, but couldn’t help the blush forming on your cheeks and ears.

You could feel the dried up cum on your face, and wanted to wash it off, but feeling too sore to move.

“Can’t move, princess? Was Daddy’s cock too much for you, last night?” he coo-ed at you, mumbling about how cute you were, and how he wanted to baby you and make you his.

“I’m too sore, Kookie,” you whined into the pillow and were taken by surprise when he lifted you and carried you to the tub.

“It’s okay, I’ll take care of my little human baby girl,” he said as he laid you in the lukewarm water and washed your body softly.

CLICK HERE FOR PART TWO

You were starting to feel more at home, even more than when you were at Earth.

A/N: That’s a wrap! Hope you like it. Go to master link for more!

#bts smut #Jungkook smut #bts scenarios #bts imagines #bts fanfic #bts fanfiction #bts reactions #bts reader insert #bts preferences #bts #jungkook bts #jungkook scenarios #Jungkook #jungkook reader insert #jungkook reaction #jungkook x reader #Jungkook daddy #jungkook fluff

3K notes · View notes

athena-is-a-chaotic-lil-shit · 4 years ago

Text

Getting back at writing, is, well, hard. My grammar and vocabulary and basically everything is messed up so I apologize in advance for that. It's been, almost a year ever since my last written fic. That time I was still crazy with Kimetsu no Yaiba and the KyoTan ship. I'll post it some other time ^^.

Anyways, I present to you my attempt in making a plotted work from a random thought that came over me this morning.

Pairing: Tai'chi Kashharzol (Orc) x Pearl Blackbell (Human OC/Reader)

Warnings: Basically none. Except for some curse words.

UD 01/10/21: Cleaned and revised some parts! Tried my best, hope it was enough.

•

Of Ice and Blood

Part 1

Quick backstory and some details I left out in the main work.

It was in summer, 28th of July, when Pearl Blackbell turned 19. She left her home and moved closer to the university she’ll be going to. She rented an apartment about five blocks from the school. Albeit small, it was cozy and proper, having what she needed: a kitchen, a decent-sized bedroom, a small living area with a worn but comfy couch, and a bathroom.

When she was younger, her parents started training her in martial arts and the use self-defense weapons. They needed to make sure she knew how to protect herself against assaulters and dangerous people, she was after all, their only child and baby girl . They want their daughter to be strong, both inside and outside, by the time she sets out on her own and leaves home.

Her favorite self-defense weapon was brass knuckles, despite her parents’ protests. She enjoys punching nasty people and feel the crunch of their bones beneath her fists, especially racists, sexists, bullies, and the lot. The main reason why she got into detention multiple times.

Painting it with a ruddy color, she keeps it in her person, no matter where she goes. She has two, one is for extreme situations, while the other has only two knuckles. It stills maximizes the damage dealt but it is relatively less dangerous than the full dusters. The second one is usually a spare, though she rarely uses it.

She also occasionally carries a pair of retractable nunchucks, which she designed to be hidden within her regular baggy clothes. Her father had trained her vigorously with them and she even bested him in a match before she left for the city.

Selkoth, the city of marvels.

Distant sounds of buzzing cars reached my ears as I opened my eyes and blinked away the sleepiness, the light shining from the spaces in my curtains rather helping, together with the warmth it brought to my chilled tawny skin.

[Start of the actual work]

I fully woke up as I registered the sound of my phone alarm, shortly getting up to prepare when I realized what day it was.

Monday, the first day of my college life.

I stepped into the bathroom and took a quick shower, knowing I bathed thoroughly last night to save some time today.

Time management is key.

I dried myself down, turned to my closet and started putting on the outfit I picked out the night before.

Prioritizing comfortability over appearance, I wore my favorite orange cotton shirt, my blackish-blue hoodie (that had been stained with blood some time ago, but don’t worry, I know how to clean out blood. Mama raised no fool.) over it, together with a pair of black skinny jeans. And of course, tight black sports bra and boxers, even mentioning my underwear yes?

I looked over to my mirror and it was—

Simple. And I loved it. The more simple it is the better.

'“Keep a low profile over there, sweetie. Don’t get into fights when you can help it okay??? We already taught you and prepared you to the best of our abilities. Promise to us that you’ll stay safe, and healthy. Okay? And don’t forget to call sometime.”' I sighed, remembering my mother’s words.

"Yes mama, I will.”

With a smile, I did my hair and went for a tight Dutch braid, it going down between my shoulder blades and ending a little above my waist. I ran to my kitchen to eat breakfast, satisfied with my look.

I eat fast okay

Backpack, check. White sneakers, check. Phone and keys, check. Airpods on, playlist shuffled, I bolted out of my apartment and jogged all 50 blocks to school.

Exercise is always important, and what other way to utilize time for exercising than to do it while heading to your destination, right?

I snickered.

As I made my way to the university, I saw bizarre creatures and monsters of different sizes, coexisting, and interacting with humans. Even so, I noticed other people’s disdain and bitterness towards them when I passed by. My nose is awfully sensitive to scents that sometimes the ones their body releases tells me what they feel at the moment. It’s all science, I guess. I was made extra susceptible to these, so I wear a mask everywhere and every time I go out just to partly block most of the smells.

My first day at a university open to everyone across the country gets my blood pumping with excitement. To think that I’m going to study at Ernestine State University, the Ernestine State University!

I first heard about the uni back when I was a child. News broke out about Victor Ernestine, committing suicide by driving his car off a cliff because he couldn’t accept that his daughter was one of the major leaders who made the unity of all people, of all races, possible.

Dramatic.

Months after Mr. Ernestine died, all his properties and riches were passed down to her daughter, who took over as the new founder of the university and rebuilt it to accommodate everyone, no matter the size and shape.

The strictly all-human school, renovated, reshaped, and repurposed, was now the first university to open its gates to everyone in the country of Yundomia.

I’ve always yearned to get to know other species in this world. I didn’t get the chance previously because my parents sent me to an all-human, local high school. Which sucks. I hated how everyone had a certain hatred for the other races, especially orcs. They keep talking about how they are wild beasts and savages that aren’t meant to be in society.

They treated them like animals that are void of emotions and intelligence.

Come to think of it, I mostly fought with humans who were either racist, bullies, bastards trying to hit on me, or a mix of all of them together.

I chuckled, remembering how many times I got counseled on not punching people in the face.

High school was pure torture, being a human-exclusive campus making it worse, considering how everybody smells so horrible and the principal was an egoistic dumbass I was a hair away from gutting him. My poor nose.

But now I’m done with that! I’m starting anew in this school, in this city. Perhaps make some friends along the way.

Which is kinda problematic.

I’m not the social type. I tend to keep things to myself and hardly open up to anybody. I wanna make at least one friend that isn’t human! Or just, one good friend. I didn’t have or made any friends in the past since people tend to shun me out just because I can tell how they are feeling and find it creepy.

Or they’re afraid to get punched in the face.

Entering the campus gates was like stepping into another world. I was met with the sight of humans and monsters walking together and conversing! It was nice, and I don’t get to see this much often.

I walked around and took in the landscape of the campus. It was huge! And beautifully designed to have a great number of trees and plants, while also having space more than enough to accommodate every student going to their respective classrooms.

I was minding my own business and it was all serene, until some bastards pushed past through me and knocking me to the side. I stumbled but didn’t fall. I was gonna say something, but I shut my mouth. I didn’t want to cause any trouble on the first day for goodness’ sake. So I brushed it off and went straight to the gym for the orientation.

*************************************

The orientation was, intriguing. The dean seems nice, though I couldn't smell him from where I sat. There's also a student council made up of both humans and monsters which is a good sign. The student council president was a Minotaur with a dark brown coat and horns curving front and pointing up. The vice-president was a male student who looked decent enough. The secretary was an elf. The treasurer, a dwarf. And the rest were humans. I couldn't scent any of them to tell me what they were feeling at the moment, but the Minotaur looked uncomfortable, his hands behind his back, body going stiff when they were introduced to the freshmen. There was a larger numbr of humans than monsters, which was expected. I also noticed how both were grouped, a white line in the middle of the gym separating us from them.

Maybe to avoid any misunderstandings?

We were informed that today will be for introductions to your classmates and subject teachers so there will be no lessons at all. Hooray!

I was walking to my first classroom when a damned familiar smell attacked my nose. I stopped to stand for a moment and adjusted my mask. I looked around to spot the one emitting it and of course, saw a human. He looked, well, the typical playboy cool boy who used too much body spray on himself.

Not wanting to stand there like an idiot and prolong my suffering, I speed walk to my classroom and planned to sit at the back hoping no one would notice or ask why I’m wearing a mask.

That's always what they ask first. Not my name or how I was doing.

I expected to find no one inside since it was still early, but I was startled to see a massive orc sitting at the back looking out at the window. He was wearing a dark gray knitted sweater that was hugging his hulking frame very…well. Along with what looked like thick cargo pants and black boots.

He turned to look at me when I let out a small yelp, greeting me with his piercing, blue eyes.

Beautiful.

The orc had long, braided, jet-black locks. Two of them had distinct beads that trailed down from the side of his face and down to his chest, the rest of his hair behind him braided with intricacy and tied and ended halfway down his back.

I was pushed out of my trance when a person entered and crashed into me, swearing under my breath that it was intentional, nearly making me plant face-first on the trash bins if I hadn’t changed my footing at the last moment.

“Watch it, bitch, you’re gonna ruin my make-up,” she snapped.

Wow. She dared to call me that and not apologize like I’m the one who shoved her. Just wow. Usually at this point, I would have planted her face on the floor, but I stopped myself.

Low profile! Low profile Pearl! You’re in college now! You definitely don’t want to get suspended on the first fucking day of class now do you?? Keep it together.

Straightening up, I walked towards the back and sat beside the orc. Whose gaze fell on me, curious, when I wasn’t looking.

I made myself settled in my seat before the professor came in.

There were other races in my class. A blue tiefling sat three rows in front, wearing a casual outfit. A black-haired elf who looked and dressed clever, a row away. A cute pink pixie on my far right. A satyr wearing glasses, two seats in front of me, and a female lizardfolk a seat from of the pixie.

"Are you...alright?"

I almost jumped from my seat when the orc beside me spoke. I couldn’t help but admire how deep his voice was. I tried not to appear flustered, my mask helped with that.

“Uh…yes?”

The orc regarded me for a second before continuing.

“You were pushed earlier.”

Oh. He saw that?

“Oh, yeah, I’m okay.” I smiled at him. Then I remembered he can’t see my face. But I hoped the crinkling of my eyes gave it away.

“I’m Pearl, by the way.” I reached out my hand to him, socializing not my best suit but at least I tried.

He paused for a second before taking it into his bigger one, engulfing mine and shook it slowly. I was again, surprised by how gentle he was.

“Tai'chi.”

Interesting.

“Nice to meet you, Tai'chi.”

He lets go of my hand when the professor started talking up front.

“Nice to meet you too, Pearl."

***************************************

Thoughts? I am wide open for constructive criticism :D

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Check pinned post for latest chapter updates💕

92 notes · View notes

heloisedaphnebrightmore · 4 years ago

Text

Warmness [Ron Weasley x Reader] - Heloise’s Christmas Calendar - Challenge

December 2 – Warmness [Ron Weasley x Reader]

Title: Warmness Pairing: Ron Weasley x Reader Word count: 1.7k Published: 2 December, 2020 Author: Heloise Daphne Brightmore Summary: On a dull, rainy winter day, the only thing you need is your boyfriend, Ron Weasley and a cup of hot chocolate. Challenge: [x] [x] Notes: It’s part of Heloise’s Christmas Calendar where I post something each day from 1 - 25 December. I have also written this piece for @jamilelucato and @whack-ed‘s A Very Harry Potter Christmas Challenge with Day 2′s prompt

Warming up with a hot chocolate.

Heloise’s Christmas Calendar Masterlist

Harry Potter Characters Masterlist | Masterlists

If you enjoy my stories, please consider donating and supporting me on Ko-fi. Of course, it’s completely your choice, I will continue updating for free anyway :) Thank you <3

It’s been quite rainy and dull in London recently. Everything seemed grey, dark clouds taking over the sky, bright colours long gone from the horizon, no sun to warm up the coldness, to dry off the wet grounds.

In the winter, people expected snow and colourful lights hung around the city. Roads covered in white silk, trees holding the heavy white substance, fairy lights decorating the houses, shops covered in all the Christmas ornaments.

But instead it was grey, dark and dull. You didn’t start decorating, nor did you start preparing for Christmas. It was too early for you and the weather didn’t give you the usual Christmas joy just yet.

It was freezing outside and so was inside. The heating was barely working, and it didn’t seem to want to budge even when you used magic against it. You wrapped yourself up in two layers of your boyfriend’s sweaters and a burgundy blanket that usually laid across the end of your bed. You cupped the hot chocolate in your hands, enjoying the warmness it sent through your nerves, its steam heating up your face as you took a sip of the hot beverage.

You sat on the window-seat in your room, listening to the heavy rain outside, the raindrops furiously attacking your window-seal. You held onto a cup of hot chocolate, warming yourself up from the spreading cold weather.

You liked rain, it made you feel melancholic, it made you think, it made you remember all your stupid little decisions, all your happy moments and what would come in the future. For some reason the rainy season always offered you a dull, but calming time in your life, where you just sat down and reflected on the decisions you have made, the feelings you have harboured, the happy memories you have experienced.

Although it was dark and colourless, it relaxed you, it gave you a silent comfort, which you gladly accepted as busy thoughts were swirling around in your head.

You weren’t particularly sad or lonely, you weren’t happy or enthusiastic either. You were just lost in your thoughts and it seemed to be the right thing to do.

You didn’t realise another presence in the room, nor did you hear him clear his throat. The only time his presence seemed obvious to you was when his arms wrapped around your torso and he hinted a small kiss on your temple.

You smiled at the feeling of his hair tickling your cheek, his lips gently touching your skin, his arms tightly wrapped around your body, his natural scent finding its way into your nostrils, making your body relax against his naked chest. In contrast to the cold you felt, shooting through your bones, his body was warm, almost too hot for such cold weather.

“Are you alright, love?” He asked, his voice hoarse from waking up late. Indeed, it was a lazy day. It was dark and least productive. You didn’t have work, nor did Ron, both of you looking forward to a day of doing nothing, which was long awaited.

“Of course, just thinking.” You replied with a sweet smile as you turned back to meet his curious blue eyes and messy ginger hair.

You loved his hair when he woke up, his locks reminding you of a bird’s nest. It was comical, but somehow it also meant home to you. Each time you saw his messy morning hair, his subtle stubble, his wrinkled pyjama bottoms and the way he rubbed his tired eyes, made you feel home. His mere presence made you feel as if you have had everything in one person. A friend, family, love, partner and home. He didn’t even know, but he was your everything.

“About what?” He asked as he moved around you and held your hand to help you off the window, taking your hot chocolate and placing it on the side of the window-seal.

“Just memories, feelings. I guess I’m just thinking about everything.” You chuckled, scratching the back of your head awkwardly. “I am making no sense at all, am I?” Ron chuckled at you as he lifted your head with his index finger, his sweet smile making your lips curl involuntarily.

“Nope. Not at all. But if it makes you feel better just keep on thinking about whatever you want.” He chuckled as his arms sneaked around your waist, his face hidden in the crook of your neck, inhaling your scent as you placed your hands on his naked chest. “Can you just come back to bed and keep thinking there?” He asked, his voice muffled by your skin.

“Don’t you want to do something more productive?” You asked and he lifted his head, looking out the window, his face turning into a grimace.

“I’m not leaving this house today.” He shook his head, his face still deformed.

“We don’t have to leave, but we could do something, we could come up with something.” You tried to convince him, but he didn’t seem to want to agree.

“The only productivity I plan on doing is holding you in my arms. Love, I understand you want to do something, but it’s been weeks since we have had the same day off. Can we just lay in bed all day and-“ you waited for him to continue, but the boy froze. You frowned at his unexpected behaviour, even more so as a large grin started appearing across his face. “Love, just stay here.” He instructed you and quickly let go of you, grabbing his bathrobe from the hook on the door and running down the stairs of your house.

You stood in your room, looking around, complete confusion taking over you. You walked to the bed, sitting down on the edge, your foot slowly tapping on the ground, waiting for Ron. The minutes seemed to pass rather slowly, your boredom making you groan. You let yourself fall on to the bed, your hands laying across the silky cover, your eyes fixed on the ceiling.

What Ron was planning seemed to be getting to you and you just wanted to investigate. You stood up from the bed, wrapped your bathrobe around you and started tiptoeing over to the door, the wooden floorboards creaking under your weight. The door was loud as you tried to slowly open it, avoiding being caught by the ginger boy.

You pushed your head out of the little crack between the door and its frame, hoping to hear or see something, but instead a loud squeaky sound left your lungs as you found yourself face to face with Ron.

“I knew you would be spying, love.” He chuckled as he got hold of your hand and started gently pulling you after himself.

“What were you up to?” You asked, but the boy just shook his head and chuckled at your curiosity.

“That’s for you to find out.” He snickered as he led you towards the living room. You frowned at the secrecy, knowing Ron wasn’t keen on keeping secrets. You let him guide you, waiting in anticipation of what made him so abruptly disappear, but you didn’t have to wait for long to find out.

He stepped aside as he walked into the living room, leaving you with a clear view of the place. Your eyes widened in surprise, your lips parting involuntarily.

The room was originally warm, it’s colours mainly consisting of red, burgundy, orange and gold. But this time, it was more than that. Ron placed tiny candles around the room, lighting up the place in a warm yellow and orange colour, reminding you of the sun. The fireplace was heating up the room, the wooden logs crackling in the fire. A yellow and red plaid blanket covered the carpet in front of the burgundy couch, two cups of hot chocolate and little sandwiches placed on the tiny table beside the blanket.

It was warm and romantic, something you didn’t know you needed, but now that it was right in front of you, it made you break into a happy smile as a tiny teardrop left your watering eyes.

“Are you okay?” Ron asked worriedly as he saw the tears appear in your eyes. You nodded furiously and pulled him flush against you, kissing him lovingly, enjoying the feel of his lips on yours and his arms around your body. It was an intimate moment each time you kissed him, but the warmness surrounding you made it even more cosy.

“I’m just very happy, Ron. This is beautiful.” You smiled again as you looked around, your cheek laying against Ron’s chest.

“I hoped you’d like it.” He spoke. “I even prepared some muggle board games.” He pointed at a little box on the table, making you chuckle. You remembered the muggle toys as you played with your family on a similarly dull day. “Both lazy and productive.” He grinned happily as he kissed the top of your head.

“I love it, Ron. I really do love it.” You lifted your head from his chest and stood up on your tiptoes to kiss him again, trying to convey how much it all meant to you, how proud you were of him and how much you loved him.

You walked over to the blanket and waited for Ron to sit down, before you got comfortable between his legs, your head laying on his chest. He offered you one of the cups of hot chocolate and you immediately took it from him, enjoying the hot beverage sliding down your throat. You didn’t feel the coldness anymore.

Ron reached for your hand, interlocking your fingers as he placed a tiny kiss on your temple. You turned back around, looking into his loving eyes, before you closed the gap between you, enjoying the feel of his lips on yours.

“Thank you so much.” You whispered against his lips as you turned back to watch the fire battling with the wooden logs, swallowing them gracefully.

“Anytime, love.” He replied as he hinted a small kiss on your cheek, making you smile.

The moment was just perfect, and you were happy to add another beautiful memory to your collection for another dull and rainy day.

Harry Potter general taglist: @inkhearthes @hufflefluff-writer @fific7 @haphazardhufflepuff @kalimagik @accio-rogers @queendcnn @harrypotter289 @nebulablakemurphy @iliveiloveiwrite @mytreec @chaoticgirl04 @idont-knowrn @mayaaa-l @imboredandneedalife @pregnant-piggy @prongsies @holdupwhat @ravenclea @kashishwrites @izzytheninja @timogtrrz @wassup-peoples @levylovegood @msmimimerton @bbeauttyybbx @kiwi-sloan @moatsnow @pandaxnienke

Christmas Calendar taglist: @a-classic-eye

Harry Potter - Golden trio era taglist: @nhcwdw

Notes: If you enjoyed reading this little piece, please don’t forget to leave a like, comment and/or reblog. Thank you ^^

If you enjoy my stories, please consider donating and supporting me on Ko-fi. Of course, it’s completely your choice, I will continue updating for free anyway :) Thank you <3

#Heloise's Christmas Calendar #averyharrypotterchristmas #ron weasley #Ronald Weasley #Ron x Reader #Ron x Reader imagine #Ron x Reader oneshot #Ron x Reader fanfiction #ron weasley christmas #ron weasley x reader #ron weasley x reader fanfiction #ron weasley x reader imagine #ron weasley x reader oneshot #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter #ron weasley imagine #ron weasley one shot #ron weasley fanfiction

130 notes · View notes

cosmiclatte28 · 4 years ago

Text

Autumn in My Heart (Taeyong x you, you x Jaehyun)

hello, another fic I made that flopped, but I want to bring this back with another pairing. I love this, still one of the angst I made that I feel okay to post.

One shot - angst/fluff

a/n : Taeyong sounds like a bad boyfriend, but trust me he isn’t. Jaehyun is the rebound you found in the middle of a storm.

(Posted on wattpad before, and one in tumblr as an exo pairing but only got 1 notes ☹)

Enjoy

The picturesque scene of red and orange trees cannot fool the dull and sombre race of falling leaves pulled by the gravity. Be honest, autumn is depressing. See the falling leaves, dying every time a gush of cold wind tingles. (y/n) hates seeing the piles of dead leaves on the ground, she feels like the trees are selfish that they let the leaves die in order to survive.

The clock strikes six when you have put on your tailor fitted Pea coat from Schott’s. Tonight, your favorite fragrance from Chloe accompanies you. You inhale your favorite floral scent and get ready as your smart watch rings with a caller ID you love dearly. Your lover has rung you up saying he is downstairs waiting for you to take your time. You make your last tuck on your Pea coat and pocket your phone as you slipped your feet to the leather boots. You make sure to kiss your corgi good bye before keeping the key in your pocket and slightly run to meet the waiting prince; your waiting prince!

The elevator ride almost killed you; you frown whenever the door opens and what greet you are the foreign faces of your neighbor from other floors; after pressing the close button five more times, you finally reach your destination. With your round eyes you scan the whole room and find your prince in no time. His fashion and his tall body make him easy to spot.

“Taeyong! I’m here, let’s go!” you cling into the taller man’s arm and giddily drag him out of the warm lobby. The early cold wind harshly welcomes both of you outside; Taeyong clears his throat and pulls you closer. He takes in your small hand, holds it firm in his big hand, and pops it nicely into his toasty pocket of his Burberry trench coat. “It’s starting to get cold,” Taeyong smiles.

You blush, even when Taeyong had done this for three consecutive autumns, your heart will always beat like it was your first time. You did nothing though and just follow his long legs that bring them to a place you know a bit too much.

“Usual place Yong?”

The tall blonde man nods and after walking through the busy streets, you found yourself in a restaurant district. Your stomach growl when the delicious smell of your favorite food can be smelled from a meter. You both sit down on your usual chairs, place the same ordinary menu; a Hawaiian pizza slice for you and a Pepperoni for Taeyong. Though Taeyong never agrees that pineapple goes with pizza, he never speaks his opinion out loud to you, he just can’t. Try and say that to a person who really enjoys it and do you dare see their heart breaks? No Taeyong doesn’t want to break her heart; it’s the last thing he wanted to do to (Y/n).

Dinner is amazing. Over two slices of giant pizza and soda, you exchange stories, laugh over new jokes, and secretly treasure this sweet moment. You both end their pizza date with a split bill and with the warmth of a full stomach. The couple make their way out of the bright, fragrance road and move to another crowded and romantic district.

You told Taeyong about a new milkshake shop opening in here in Gangnam, and Taeyong will do everything that brings a smile to your face. With you standing close by his side, Taeyong naturally slides his arm to hug your slim waist from the side as he reads the menu in the TV from the queuing line.

The café is full of sweet couples, the atmosphere here is so warm and comfortable, Taeyong knows this will 99% become their favorite hangout place.

“We’re so sorry, but we sold the second last cup already… We only have one left for the special house favorite’s chocolate,” the man with a name tag reading Doyoung, smiles apologetically to the two sweet couple across him.

You run your eyes to the TV screen to look for another substitute, but Taeyong was faster.

“No problem, an extra straw will do. How much for the last cup?” Taeyong hands Doyoung his card and swipes the bill.

You squeal deep inside your heart, how come Taeyong could always do a new sweet action every time we go out?!

“You sure don’t want anything else?” you ask when Taeyong lets go off his straw after a good five sips.

Taeyong shakes his head and raises his thumb to wipe a trace of chocolate from your lips, “No, you can have them all. It tastes good and I know you like them so much.” Taeyong kisses his thumb and cleans the chocolate from your lips.

You playfully punch Taeyong, “What’s into you?! Why are you suddenly this sweet!”

Taeyong laughs it off and rolls his eyes, “Because I am a nice boyfriend? Come on admit it—” you shut him off with a quick peck “—I’m going to have heart attack (y/n), if you are making that a habit.”

After making a loud sip to ensure you leave nothing on the bottom of the glass, you and Taeyong step out of the lovely café. Both of you freeze when you see people carrying umbrellas and celebrating something.

“The first snow!” Both of you choir and giggle upon welcoming the cold winter!

You reach for a folded umbrella you had brought in your pocket and this time take the lead to pull the taller man closer and tries your best to raise the umbrella to his height. Taeyong cannot oppress his gummy smile and allows you do your thing.

“I am not taking care of a sick Taeyong again, that’s why I read the weather forecast earlier and they predicted the first snow the fall. Turns out they were accurate this year, come Yong let’s walk under the first snow!” you sneakily place your hand into Taeyong’s coat and the taller simply holds your hand.

You both have fun for a moment under the first snow, took some pictures and updated your social media platforms.

“The snow is falling harder; shall we head home?” Taeyong worries for your health. The two of you are responsible for coming on working days, falling sick is something you two can’t afford.

You do not refuse; along your careful steps on the slippery grounds the couple doesn’t stop talking at all. You will find new topics whenever a topic seems to come to an end. Tonight is a good date night. The date night ends with Taeyong ushering you back to your Apartment room.

“Goodbye Yongie, thank you for tonight!” you shake your wet umbrella.

“No problem sweetie, I’ll be going now,”

“Wait—” you run to your room and return not long after it, you get on the tip of your toes and wrap a warm red scarf over Taeyong “—take that with you, it’s my winter present. Stay safe okay and call me when you got home.” you bury your face on his chest as he hugs you tight.

“Thanks honey, Good night.” Taeyong steps back and waves his hand.

You wiggle your hand in panic, “Oh take the umbrella! And please just grab a taxi!” you push your umbrella to Taeyong’s hand.

Taeyong chuckles and tousles your soft hairs, “Yes maam! I can take care of myself—” Taeyong winks and you only roll your eyes. The tall blonde makes his stealing move and kiss the plump lips of yours before finally going back home.

Sun rises and sets, moon shines and hides, the world rotates, and time runs. Your love for each other blooms, although the relationship has ups and downs, the two of you can overcome the big waves and sail your ship to another calm ocean. A calm sea will never make a skilful sailor, and one day the biggest wave crashes to their ship, and you feel like you are forcefully drowned into the dark deep grief of heart breaks.

The road is crowded, well at least there are cars speeding in the road, and your sparkly eyes are fixed on a “sweet” scene in front of you. Yeah sweet if the people you saw were someone you did not know, or your best friend; but seriously not sweet if it’s your boyfriend you saw over the road holding hands with another pretty girl, wrapped in an expensive suit looking all lovey dovey with your man. Maybe Taeyong did not know or see you on the other side of the road, but you cannot mistake that man as someone else. Your eyes turn red; you fetch your phone and take the speed dial to call Taeyong. You wait for a moment with your eyes fixed on the two people across you.

The pedestrian traffic turns green, and you see the two of them walking to cross the road. You quickly hide yourself in an old payphone box while still listening to the waiting tone and keeping an eye on Taeyong. When Taeyong made it with the sweet smiling guy to the same street as yours, you swear your call was sent to voicemail. Taeyong also presses his screen earlier, hufth he didn’t even hesitate to reject your call. Insteaad, Taeyong looks so happy walking with this new girl. Your jealousy and suspicion completely take over you, you lean over the small phone box and stare at your screen emptily.

“Sorry, busy can’t pick up your call.” taeyong’s message appears in his notification bar.

You swallow the stuck lump in your throat; disappointed and angry, you run back to your apartment. You were planning to buy dinner and surprise Taeyong in his office for working overtime. If his vocabulary for overtime means having a walk with another woman, heol you won’t bother coming to see him.

You lock yourself in your room and cry your heart out, your stomach grumbles, but your heart aches more. You ignore all of the calls and messages in your phone. Thirty minutes later you wipe your eyes and after ensuring your heart you need to do this: you text a number.

“Yuta, you’re right… I’m coming to the dinner tomorrow. What’s his name again?”

This time you regret not listening to your friends when they warned you about your boyfriend playing fire behind your back. You are too naïve and blunt to realize Taeyong has slowly changed. He was not as sweet as he used to, he got busy, and he rarely picked your calls. At first you simply forgive him; thinking he must be busy with his works, turns out you are living blindly.

Taeyong paces in his room while sticking phone to his ear. He bites his lips when the line beeps but no one seems to answer the call.

“Pick up. Pick up (Y/n)…. Please… I’m worried sick…” Taeyong ends the waiting and jumps to the message room. He sends more messages asking if you are okay, why are you not picking up calls, and why are you not reading his messages.

Taeyong feels guilty rejecting your call earlier, but he cannot pick the call there when he thinks his coworker has a big crush and is flirting with him. Taeyong cannot bring himself to answer the call and crushes the cute girl’s dream. Yes, his co-worker is lately clinging on his side, and Taeyong cannot lie and say she’s unattractive. She is a calm and nice woman, good with works, and Taeyong finds it hard to keep his heart stable when she’s around.

Taeyong thought he saved the girl from crying in the streets, when in reality his real girlfriend is the one crying on the busy streets… by herself. Poor Taeyong doesn’t know this.

The next morning, you did not bat an eye nor reply any of Taeyong’s messages. You muted his number and prepare for work. As you spray your perfume, the front door beeps open and a tall man you used to love, but now hate, shows up with a bouquet of yellow flowers on his hand.

“Good morning sunshine! What’s with the cloudy face?” Taeyong extends his hand to give you the arrangement.

You look at his sickening handsome smile and walk to take your working bag. “Nothing. I’m tired of work and this life full of lies.”

Taeyong frowns, “What do you mean?”

You just hum an “I don’t know” tone and occupy yourself with packing your lunch and laptop.

Taeyong walks to the kitchen table and picks your phone, he scrolls through the notifications and shakes his head, “WOW! You haven’t opened my text, not a single one! Why?” he sounds confused.

You’re the type to always have your phone on your nose almost every second, what’s with leaving him unread?

You snatch your phone, “I fell asleep earlier yesterday after you said I shouldn’t come and have dinner with you, since you’re taking overtime.”

Taeyong sighs, “Come on (y/n), you’re acting like this just because I denied your offer to eat dinner together?” you walk away.

“Don��t act so childish. We can always have dinner together tonight or other nights.” Taeyong snaps.

You keep your cold face on; take your lunch and working bag, and slip into your shoes. Taeyong shadows you all over the place.

“Really? Then why did you cancel it yesterday?” You hold on to the door knob.

“I had a sudden meeting.” Taeyong lies quickly.

“Oh so now you call walking with another woman without companion, while acting lovely is your definition of meeting. To me I call that a secret date mister!” you stomp your foot, “Now go! Leave! I am tired of your lies!!” you exit the room, but Taeyong holds a grip of your hand.

“but…” Taeyong is cut off by your voice “For your information Taeyong, I saw you with my own eyes walking with a woman and rejecting my call.” you raise your tone and his face turns red. You break your hand free and rush to the parking lot.

Taeyong runs after you, but luck must’ve left him today for the lift closes before he can reach you. You are clearly mad and fed up, for you are not trying to do anything to clean up the misunderstanding.

Your day goes on differently, you are still absorbed in the sadness and pain, while Taeyong… Taeyong thinks today’s problem will end like any others. His day is smooth and the woman from yesterday even offers him coffee. Upon seeing Taeyong busy checking his phone; waiting for someone to call or chat; she asks him, “What’s bothering you?”

Taeyong thinks for a while, should he tell her what actually happened, but what if things get darker and dangerous? After some consideration, Taeyong decides to use the help chance. He told her what happened yesterday and earlier this morning. She just laughs and comes up with a solution, “I can help you clarify this… Give me her number, I’ll talk to her.”

Taeyong denies that idea at first, but after some more convincing words from her, he gave up your phone number to her. He thought maybe you would listen to her.

Sure, her idea was not completely wrong, You answers her call in a friendly manner and you did not blame her for anything. You listened to all of her kind and sincere explanation, but your heart still cannot easily forgive Taeyong for doing it.

You dress up nicely in a bomber jacket and put on a cap to hide your puffy eyes. You take your step to greet your date tonight, the man Yuta told him about. Jung Jaehyun, son of the CEO of Neo corporation: Korea’s first leading group in food supply, while Taeyong is the son of the second leading group.

To put it into words, Jaehyun is a man of daydream. He is everything you expected when meeting a living prince charming. He talks in his deep voice, his choice of words are amazing, his fashion taste is casual yet daydreaming, his manners are polished as perfect as one can be, but no matter how nice and perfect Jaehyun is, your heart cannot stop comparing him to Taeyong. Taeyong is not as perfect as him, Taeyong is more of the clumsy type and silly. However, one thing for sure, you like Jaehyun’s jokes better than Taeyong’s.

His choice of place for a first meeting is way beyond expectation. You would have dressed up properly if you knew Jaehyun is bringing you to a secluded private restaurant. You seal your mouth tightly about this date, yet Taeyong knows.

You come home with a bright smiling face, Jaehyun had just dropped you off from his Mercedes-Benz G65. You secretly smile to yourself and wrap your jacket tighter as you enter the lift to reach the floor. You can’t stop humming small tunes while taking steps.

With a big surprised face, you take a step back when Taeyong greets you in his stern voice.

“Why are you here?” you sound annoyed. Your mood totally jumped from hype to down.

Taeyong raises his brow, “Am I not allowed to visit my lover? Beside I came here to check if she’s here yet, since she ignored my calls and texts.” You make your way to the kitchen and fill yourself a glass of water, “Well, sorry but I have someone to see tonight,” you shrug your shoulder.

Taeyong joins you to the small kitchen, “Yeah and I just found out my girl, without my acknowledge, went to meet another man and came home—” he glances at his watch, “—late, my girl came home pretty late. It’s 10!”

You finish your glass of water, and slam the cup a bit too hard, “So what? I’m big enough to come home whenever I want and I can take care of myself.”

“Who’s that man? How are you sure he is someone good?” Taeyong elevates his tone.

You take a deep breath and speak out loud clearly, “it’s none of your business! Even I did not know who the woman you’re with yesterday was and I did not ask you anything! I did not interrogate you Lee Taeyong!” you spit those words in one breath. You toss your jacket then lock yourself in the room. Taeyong knocks on your door relentlessly and all he gets is silence.

Silence from the loudest person is the scariest thing

You wake up with heavy head, puffy blood shot eyes, and a runny nose. You force yourselfto leave the bed and calls in for a day off today. You have called Jaehyun last night and told the new man everything, something in your heart screams that Jaehyun can help and Jaehyun will not hurt you like Taeyong did. With your beloved corgi walking beside you, You open the apartment door and freeze when you see Taeyong sleeping uncomfortably on the floor.

“Babo-ya,” You scoff in your mind and leave the big baby on the floor. You make yourself a glass of tea and gul an aspirin down your dry throat. You take your time writing a short note and stick it on Taeyong’s free arm. You bend to place a soft kiss on his temple, probably your last, and secretly leave.

Taeyong wakes up from the pain his back screams for sleeping on the floor, he yawns and stretches then looks around and realizes he had fallen asleep when begging you to open the door. He sees the post it on his arm and he quickly read it. His brow scrunches as the line gets down, and finally they widen and his mouth fell. Taeyong lost his sense of touch, hearing, and sight… he feels like a thunder just hit him and he’s drowned in his emotions. He slowly sits on the sofa and re-reads the nicely written letter. He makes sure to not miss any single word or get the wrong idea. But no matter how many times he checks the letter again, the words don’t change.

“(y/n) wants us to end it here,” Taeyong speaks to himself, the blonde quickly searches the house. Hoping to find the woman he was looking for, he needs to discuss this with you. Seriously you did not need to break up over a silly matter!

“(y/n)-ie, what do you mean? We can talk about this… where are you?” Taeyong puts on his shoes and coat.

“We don’t have to discuss anything Tae. We’re not meant to be, I realized we’re not made for each other. Our parents don’t even support this relationship we had for three and a half years. It’s over Taeyong, go get that woman and I will go my way.” You explain as best as you can.

“No, We need to meet. We’re not breaking up over phone. I don’t consider our relationship over just because you decided it by yourself. We need to meet.” Taeyong grips his phone harder.

“I can’t Tae, I’m no longer near you. Bye,” you said.

Taeyong hears the faint background sound and damn that you are in the airport, where the hell are you going now without telling him.

You turn off your call and sadly stare at the wallpaper. It’s a picture of happy Taeyong and you laughing under the mistletoe from last Christmas.

“Are we ready to go?” Jaehyun’s deep voice resonates beside you. You groggily nod and copy his steps to the boarding gate. You take one last heavy breath; yes you are leaving Korea and Taeyong behind. This is what your family wants, this is for the best.

You come from the family of the leading electronic cooperation in Korea; turns out your parents had made an agreement to make you and Jaehyun an official pair. Simply said your parents arranged your marriage with Jung family for the sake of business. Your family does not have a good history with the Lee family. Both Taeyong and you had been trying your best to keep your boat sailing despite the harsh wind made by your own families, but you have had enough. Both of you used to think if you are together, you can fight your families and live happily ever after, but that’s too good to be true.

Now, your parents have made a lot of agreements with The Jung family, and that explains why you are sent to leave Korea with Jaehyun the night when you reported Taeyong’s actions. Your father used the situation to break you apart, and he partly succeeded.

Right now, you are seated on the first-class flight to Britain, with your future fiancé (That’s what your parents insisted).

The loving couple separated without a clear ending, Taeyong still lives his life to the fullest he can, but everything is pointless when you are not in his life. He did not date anyone, he still holds on to the belief that you are still his girlfriend, and he is still committed to you, he woman he loves.

His colleague has tried a lot of things to set Taeyong up with a new date, but none of them seems to win his heart. Taeyong only attends the blind dates she made, just to respect her kindness and attention. That woman herself has won the heart of the cute guy in the milkshake shop Taeyong and you once visited, Doyoung. She was close with Taeyong because she needs help with winning the cute man’s heart. The night when you went home with Jaehyun, Taeyong was actually waiting for you to explain everything. Taeyong wanted to tell you that you don’t have to be jealous of the woman, for she has her heart and eyes for another man. Fate did not let him explain anything that night, and the next day you were already gone from his life.

Taeyong changes into a cold and quiet man, while you have opened your heart to the new man. You realize Jaehyun shares a lot of things in common with you. Knowing the new tall man with dimple is easy and both of you get along so well. You spend a good two years in England, and have to return to Korea when the working contract for Jaehyun ended.

–

The plane touched down on the land of Korea, where the leaves are starting to fall and the winds getting colder. You sigh it’s once again autumn, you always hate autumn.

Jaehyun feels he needs to check the office and sends you home by yourself. You did not mind, instead you are happy you can have your time alone here.

You take the taxi to a park you missed. A small park with benches for couples to seat and enjoy the falling leaves with the big Han River across them. You breathe in the autumn leaves and slightly smile when the memories you made here with Taeyong slowly floods his mind. A small tug is felt in your heart, how is that handsome blonde doing? You walk and walk then sit at one of the empty benches, your hand traces the old wood and smile when your eyes caught a small scribble that still managed to be intact even when seasons has changed.

You trace the craving and secretly hide a smile when the memory comes back in your mind.

The writing of Taeyong and (y/n) in a big heart, deriving from four years ago. You remembered craving your names cheesily on a park bench when the first leaf fell. You scoff when you realize a lot of things you did with Taeyong are associated with autumn.

You close your eyes for a while and found yourself awaken in surprise when a familiar voice greets you.

“(y/n)?” the voice sounds unsure, “(y/n)?! It’s really you?” this time it sounds surprised and a bit happy.

You open your eyes and gulp when the same man you left without news is here again in front of you. The man you shared love, the man you secretly hate and love, the same man who used to be your happiness. He looks different! He definitely loses weight, his hair is now plain and boring brown, his eyes no longer offers the star and galaxy you used to spend your time gazing. His voice didn’t change though, still the same deep voice that never fails to make you tremble.

“Taeyong, well… yes this is me.” you sheepishly admit.

“It’s been a while,” Taeyong opens his mouth. He takes the empty spot beside you.

“Look Taeyong, I don’t have much time,” you dare yourself to face him and hold your tears back. You almost broke down in tears when you once again sees the man you love standing here across you.

“I know it was hard for both of us, but that was the best for us. This is the best for us.” Taeyong stays quiet despite wanting to kiss you and tell you everything he kept to himself for a good two years, but no he wants to listen to you. He reflected for two years and he wanted to make up all his bad mistakes.

“Fate doesn’t let us be together… our family hates one another… we can’t… we just can’t be one Taeyong.” You bite your lips and hold your tears back. Your heart is breaking right now when you see the broken look in Taeyong’s eyes.

When you first saw Taeyong sitting beside you, you swore you saw a glint of hope in his eyes but now you completely kill it. You hate yourself for once again hurting Taeyong, but this is for their own goods.

You can no longer hold back your tears, the wall you made breaks down right in front of Taeyong. You hide your face in your hands and your shoulder moves as you express all of your bottled-up emotions. Something glints under the last rays of the sun and Taeyong moves closer to your side. He bravely takes you into a hug and he brings his thumb to wipe the crystals falling over your smooth cheeks. Taeyong cannot speak a word, his mouth goes mute all he knows is his life is completely dark now without you. It was dark already before when you left, but now when you clearly said that… Taeyong feels like dying.

“Goodbye Taeyong,” you stand up and walk to leave the broken hearted man. You turn one last time to see your unrequited love; and you force your last sweet smile, “Thank you for the memories.” you take quick steps to leave the park and Taeyong. A strong wind blows and makes the piles of orange dried leaves fly around and when it’s over. You are completely not anywhere to be seen.

Taeyong closes his eyes and memorizes the last words from his love, you left him completely now. (y/n) left his presence, his world, and his hopes. Taeyong fishes his jacket and pulls out a velvet box, he snaps it open and a simple diamond ring is shining there. Well, he’s been carrying this around since you left, he wanted to propose to you whenever he got the chance to see you , but turns out your ring finger is occupied already with the same diamond ring he had in mind will fit your slender finger. Taeyong keeps the ring again in the box and he pockets it again in his left chest. He lets his tears run through his face as he walks along with the last falling leaf.

He leaves the love of his life with tears and thousands of memories. Taeyong smiles bitterly when he remembers how you always hate autumn. Turns out all memories with you are prominent in autumn: your least favorite season.

flashback <<<

“I hate autumn Yong, can you imagine how selfless the tree is, letting the leaf die so it can live longer.” you pointed to an almost bald tree.

Taeyong pinches your cute cheeks, “Well yes the trees are selfish Sweetie, but did you see how sincere the leaves are? I’m sure the tree did not want the leaves to die, instead I think the leaf sacrifice itself so the tree can live,” you cut him, “But why Yong? Why must the leaves die for the tree?”

Taeyong holds his lover’s hand tighter in his jacket, “Because my (y/n)-ie, that way the tree can survive the harsh cold winter and make new leaf later on spring. That way the leaf and the tree are once again together!”

You nod your head, “Woah that’s a better theory! You should definitely be the one telling our kids bed time stories later on!” You cheerfully peck a kiss on Taeyong’s lips and blushes.

“Just like love, you must sacrifice for the one you love.” Taeyong leans in for another kiss.

“I love you Yong, now and forever!” You lean your head on Taeyong’s strong and wide shoulder.

“I love you most (y/n), I’ll be like the leaf in autumn!” Taeyong whispers to his world; you

The two people in different place share the same memory tonight.

As the moon shines and the first snow falls, they secretly whisper each other “I still love you.”

end

:”) thank you for reading

47 notes · View notes

starlit-scarlet · 3 years ago

Text

Chapter 25

To the Root of it All-Part 1

Word Count: ~7.9k

Please see my note regarding this fic here.

Starved Menu

After reading the jury’s verdict, the judge concurred, and sentenced Derek to life in prison for the two sexual assault charges, as well as the attempted murder charge.

For Isa, she felt a smug sense of satisfaction at the thought of Derek, stuck in jail for the rest of his life.

As for the officer who took the bribe, he would be dealt by his commanding officer, who Isa learned, was one of the few decent Military Police higher ups.

Despite the way the day started, things were starting to look up for Isa.

She walked with Levi outside the courthouse, and she couldn’t stop the joyful smile on her face as she turned to look at Levi. “We…we did it, Levi.”

His lips curled in a small smile, eyes lighting with admiration as he shook his head. “No, you did it.”

Her smile turned affectionate. “Maybe, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it without your help.”

Her heart fluttered at the warmth that came into his eyes.

He grabbed her hand, pulling her in the direction of the inn’s stable. “Come on, I want to show you something.”

They made quick work of tacking up their horses and set off to whatever it was Levi wanted to show Isa.

Isa followed him as they rode out of Stohess, and she enjoyed the openness of the surrounding area. As much as she loved the hustle and bustle in Trost, Stohess was full of the snobbish people of Wall Sina, and she preferred to stay far away from that.

Besides, there was something calming about riding through the open fields of Wall Rose with Levi.

As they rode, reminders of what had happened earlier flashed back into her mind, but she shoved them aside. She didn’t want to think about that, didn’t want the memories. She just wanted to enjoy the rest of the day, and enjoy whatever it was Levi wanted to show her.

She wasn’t fond of riding a horse while wearing a skirt, but the only pair of pants she'd brought had been too dirty to keep wearing, so she’d had no choice. She’d removed her jacket, letting it lay on Luna’s saddle in front of her, enjoying the feel of the warm sun beating down on her, a light shirt the only barrier.

When they were close he had her close her eyes. He took Luna’s reins in his hands as he led them forward.

When he finally told her to open her eyes, it took them a moment to adjust, but when they did, she gasped, awe and wonder filling every fiber of her being.

In front of her was a giant meadow, full of flowers of all colors. The green in front of her was dappled with reds, purples, yellows, blues, oranges, every color imaginable.

To her left was a small grove of trees, the dark green contrasting against the richness of the field of flowers.

She felt something wet on her cheek, and when her hand brushed against it, she realized that a few tears had trickled out of her eyes.

“Levi, it’s...it’s beautiful. I…I’ve never seen something so beautiful. And this was here inside the walls this whole time?”

Too excited, she leapt off of Luna to run through the flowers, the smells enveloping her. The feel of the bright sun shining down on her sent a joyful warmth through her.

She turned to see Levi watching her, her skirt billowing and hair flowing in the wind as it swirled around her, and she couldn’t contain herself. She ran up to him, throwing herself into his arms as she wrapped hers tight around his neck, his coming up to wrap around her waist.

“Thank you for bringing me here, Levi. It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I didn’t know I needed this, but I did.”

His only response was to wrap his arms tighter around her.

She could sense that something was bothering him, she could tell by the way his hands had clenched into fists at her back.

She brought her hand to brush at his hair. “Levi, what is it?”

When she received no response, she pulled back so she could cup his face in her hands. She thought she saw a hint of guilt in his eyes. “You can tell me, I’m right here.”

He looked to the side as he tried to figure out how to put into words what he felt, before bringing his gaze back to hers. “I…I hate that he put his hands on you. That he did this again.”

Her voice was hushed as she realized what he meant. “You think this is your fault, don’t you?”

His brow furrowed. “I…I’m not sure. I just hate that you were alone.”

“Levi,” she murmured as her thumb brushed across his cheek, “I want you to listen to me very carefully. I wanted to be alone this morning, and if you had followed me, then I would have been upset with you."

She let her fingers thread gently into his silky hair, watching as his eyes stayed focused on hers, ignoring the fluttering of her heart. “The only reason he even got that far, is because I let my fear take over me. I hate that he put his hands on me again too. I can still feel them on me, his mouth on me, and that’s going to take time to go away.”

She scratched lightly at his scalp, and she felt his hands unclench against her back, moving towards either side of her waist to draw her closer. “All of you, you were what gave me the strength to fight back, both this time, and against Uma. I fought back, and I won. I wouldn’t have been able to fight back, if I hadn’t been training with you.”

She brought her hands back to cup his face, holding firm on his gaze, letting him know the truth of her words. “So don’t feel upset or guilty that it happened. We beat him, and he’s going to be locked up for the rest of his life. I just want to move on from it, because we won. It’ll take time, but as long as I have you, and everyone else, but especially you, Levi, I know I’ll survive.”

She pulled his head down so that his forehead lay on hers. “Knowing you’re always here beside of me, I know I can get through anything."

That gentle smile and the warmth in his eyes came back, and her heart thrummed at the sight. He leaned in to place a sweet kiss on her forehead, as he’d done so many times before. And just like all the previous times, her heart flipped in her chest as the red crept up her face.

He drew her close to him again, wrapping her up in his arms.

She lost track of how long she held him, hand reaching up to stroke at his soft hair. Again, she got the faintest sense that he didn’t want to let her go, the same way that she didn’t. She felt it in the way his arms held tight onto her.

His hand had come up to cradle her head, fingers threading themselves into her hair. She could feel his cheek leaning against the side of her head.

It amazed her to no end how far he’d come when it came to hugs. She remembered the first times she’d hugged him, and how he’d awkwardly just placed his hands on her waist, clearly uncertain of what to do.

It brought a smile to her face at the difference between then and now.

I love you, Levi.

She didn’t want to break the silence, but something about the moment pushed her to speak, wanting him to know how much she cared about him, even if she couldn’t tell him she loved him yet. “I…I don’t know what I’d do without you, Levi.”

He was quiet for a moment before speaking, voice so quiet she barely heard it. “It’s a good thing you don’t have to find out, because you’re stuck with me, like I’m stuck with you.” His voice was too quiet for her to hear the pure affection in his tone.

Hearing him say words she’d said to him all too often brought a shy, content smile to her face as she pulled back to brush her lips across his cheek, thumb rubbing across it as if to seal the kiss.

She turned to face the horses behind them, and with her back to Levi, she didn’t catch the faint pink that had slowly crept onto his face, or the way his eyes darkened ever so slightly, nor did she catch the deep breath he took.

She pulled off Luna’s tack so that the mare could enjoy the field without the uncomfortable saddle. She bent to pick some of the flowers surrounding them, and started braiding them into Luna’s mane, enjoying the way the colors looked against her dappled coat.

Sending Levi a sly grin, she turned to Spartan, and braided some into his mane as well. She heard him huff out an amused breath, and she turned her head to look at him over her shoulder. “What? He deserves to be pretty too. He’s such a good boy.”

Levi rolled his eyes, though they were lit with humor as the corner of his mouth twitched.

If she thought the colors had looked spectacular against Luna’s coat, they looked magnificent against Spartan’s. His black coat was the perfect canvas for the array of colors now laying in his mane.

She felt something slide against her ear, and when she reached up, she felt a flower tucked behind it, and turned to give Levi an amused look, though she couldn’t stop the flutter in her heart or the creep of red as it moved up her cheeks.

He avoided her gaze as he shifted in place, and she couldn’t help but giggle.

Maybe he does…but…if he does, what am I supposed to do? Why doesn’t he do something if he does?

Is he waiting for me to do something? But why? Why not just make a move?

What am I supposed to even do to show him I want more? I feel like it’s so obvious from me sometimes.

Am…am I that confusing like Nanaba said?

…She said to just go up and kiss him, but I don’t think I can do that. So how do I show him I want more?

And what if I do try and I am wrong? Or what if I don’t do something right? What if I end up being a disappointment?

Dammit how do I get rid of these thoughts?

Shoving the thoughts aside, not wanting to ruin the day, a lighthearted grin came to her face. “Ever play tag with a horse, Levi?”

His eyes met hers as he raised a brow. “Definitely not.”

“But it’s so much fun, watch.” She turned to look at Luna over her shoulder. “Hey Luna,” she called in a singsong voice.

Luna’s ears pricked towards Isa, eyes lighting with something akin to whimsy as she recognized the tone.

“Come catch me if you can!” Isa took off through the meadow as Luna threw back her head and a playful whinny filled the air.

She raced through the field, doing her best to keep away from Luna as the mare chased her, cheerful giggles filling the air.

Isa knew that Luna could catch her if she wanted, but she loved to play, and pretended to miss as Isa dodged and evaded.

Her elated, musical laugh filled the surrounding air, echoing across the land. The trauma of earlier that day, the pain of yesterday completely forgotten in the moment, as every bit of joy she’d ever felt washed through her, the love she felt for all her friends, both lost and still present, and for Levi filled every fiber of her being.

She felt light, as if nothing in the world could touch her, as if nothing in the world existed except for her, Levi, and their two horses.

Walls, when was the last time I laughed like this?

The stoic man watched on, a small, affectionate smile on his face, humor lighting his eyes as he watched Isa play with her horse, that same warmth washing through him as he wondered how someone who had suffered something so cruel, just hours ago, could now run and laugh through a meadow as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

When Luna finally caught her, Isa collapsed onto the ground, next to where the mare was now laying, letting her head rest on Luna’s back.

Her eyes fluttered shut as her breaths slowed, her senses heightening. She could hear the breeze whispering through the grass and flowers, the leaves in the distance rustling from the wind. Birds chirping and singing in the distance filled the air surrounding her. The heat of the sun as it beat down on her warmed her from the inside out, bringing a peaceful smile to her face.

She could hear quiet footsteps approaching her, and her eyes opened to see Levi standing above her. She patted the ground beside her. Their shoulders brushed as he lay down next to her, letting his head rest next to hers on Luna’s back.

She turned her head to meet his eyes, heart fluttering as she took in how close they were, his eyes drawing her in as they always did. “You need to relax more, Levi.”

His lips quirked in amusement, eyes lit with warmth. “I do relax.”

She raised a brow, her own lips twitching at the humor written on his face. “No, I don’t think you do, not the way I do it. Here, let your hands rest on your stomach, and close your eyes, and just let yourself feel, hear, smell everything around you."

She watched as he did as she asked, gave him a few moments before eagerly asking, “Are you relaxed?”

He opened an eye that was full of mirth. “Well I’m certainly not going to be relaxed if you ask me.”

“I…that’s a fair point.” She let herself close her eyes, and just enjoying one of the few things she always looked forward to, no matter what.

These simple days, where she could just lay out in the sun, and pretend that there was nothing in wrong in their world.

That there weren’t giant, man-eating beings roaming around outside their walls.

That there hadn’t been a breach in one of the walls leading to one of the worst missions in their history bringing a loss of hundreds of thousands of people.

That there weren’t people within the walls who wished to make the lives of others a living hell, simply because it made them feel better.

That there weren’t people within the walls who tried to take what was never offered.

That there weren’t people inside the walls who sought revenge on others for the wrongs that happened to them.

Even though the day had started off in the worst possible way, moments like these, where she could just lie in the sun, next to the man she loved, were days she lived for.

Her eyes fluttered open as she turned her head to look at Levi, and her heart swelled with her love for him when she saw the completely relaxed expression on his face. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him this at ease, even when she’d seen him sleeping.

Not wanting to disturb him she looked up at the sky, watching the clouds float by. She was taken back to those days in her childhood in Mitras, those moments where she’d been free to do as she pleased, and she’d lay on the ground, looking up at the sky, just like she was now, and watch the clouds move across it.

She’d always loved looking to see what shapes the clouds formed, sometimes she saw animals, flowers, people, it didn’t matter.

As she watched the clouds, she saw a dog forming in one of the fluffier clouds, leaping as if about to catch something.

Beside it, she saw a cat, curled up, snoozing in the sun.

Looking up at the clouds brought a reminder of happier times, bringing a small smile to her face.

She felt Levi watching her and turned to meet his eyes, and she couldn’t stop the smile on her face from widening at the pure content look on his face. “Ever look for shapes in the clouds, Levi?"

He shrugged. “Never really had the time to.”

She nudged his shoulder with hers, giving him an encouraging look. “Well now you do, try it. What do you see?”

He turned to look up at the sky. “A titan.”

Her lips quirked as she poked at his shoulder. “Really? That’s the best you could come up with?”

He looked at her from the corner of his eye, though she could still see the humor in them. “A titan that doesn’t want to kill us.”

She feigned a sigh of frustration, flipping to her side, propping herself up on her elbow. “Come on, you can do better than that.”

He sighed in mock exasperation before looking back up. “Fine. I guess that one looks kind of like a horse.”

“What’s the horse doing?”

“Does it matter?”

“It does to me.”

“It looks like it’s maybe running.”

“Now was that so hard?”

She heard him grumble and could have sworn he said ‘pain in the ass.’

She gave his shoulder a poke. “Grouchy ass, I know you enjoy the company of this ‘pain in the ass, so don’t even try to complain.”

His only response was to stare at her with warm amusement in his eyes, a small smile on his face that had her breath hitching, as her own face filled with an affectionate smile.

She let herself settle back down next to him, watching the clouds gently move, enjoying the feel of the breeze on her skin.

Her thoughts traveled through the events of the last couple of days, and some of Martha’s words came back to her.

“Hey Levi.”

“What?”

She turned her head again so she could look at him as she spoke. “Those people are part of the reason why I’m having to deal with any of this.”

He turned his head to meet her eyes, and she could tell he didn’t like the fact anymore than she did. “I know.”

Her brows furrowed. “I wonder why, I mean, I know they always wanted to sell me off as most of the nobles do with their ‘heirs,’ but, what I don’t understand, is why they bothered when I’d already ran away? And, when did they do it? Was it after I finished training or before? I remember he always gave me odd looks that set me on edge during training, but he didn’t try anything until right before my first expedition.”

When he didn’t respond, she nudged at his shoulder, humor lining her voice as she teased him. “What? The old wise man doesn’t have an answer?”

He rolled his eyes, a smirk crossing his face. “I’m not that much older than you.”

She giggled. “Maybe not, but you’re still older, which means I get to call you an old man.”

He flicked her forehead. “Such a pain in the ass.”

She poked his shoulder. “Better than an old grouchy ass man.”

He huffed.

She nudged at his shoulder again, gently this time. “It’s okay, I don’t know why they did that either. I guess some things just aren’t meant to be known, or some things just don’t have a reason. Who’s to say why people do what they do sometimes.”

He gave her shoulder a nudge of his own. “Now who’s the wise one?”

She couldn’t stop the smug smile on her face. “I’m known to have my occasional moments of wisdom.”

A teasing light filled his eyes. “Really? Because this is the first I’m seeing of it.”

She giggled. “And you say I’m a pain in the ass.”

“You are, and a smartass.”

She clutched at her heart with one hand, the back of her other hand pressed against her forehead. “Stop, my heart can’t handle such sweet words.”

Her heart fluttered at the sound of his chuckle that escaped him, not his breathless chuckle, but that small one she’d heard only hours before. “If you wanted someone who’d give you sweet words, you should have found another friend.”

“That’s why I have my other friends. If I need soft words, then I can just go to them. But I can’t joke with them the way I do with you. It’s different. I mean, I can’t make fun of them for their adoring fans wishing for the Captain Levi,” she let her tone turn breathless at the words, “to whisk them away.”

He groaned in exasperation. “Not this again.”

She gave his shoulder a playful poke. “You should hear some of the things I’ve heard. You’d…you’d be shocked. And not even all of it’s from random people. I’ve heard people within the Scouts say things about you, that…that would probably shock the neutral expression right off your face.”

She thought the look on his face was borderline begging her to keep quiet. “I definitely do not want to hear what our comrades say about me.”

‘He looks like another one that knows how to please you. I bet he makes up for his height in other places.’

‘There’s something about his eyes that just tells you he’d fuck you boneless.’

‘So Isa, tell me, what’s Levi like? Is it like we suspect? All his height went elsewhere?’

Her face flushed at the reminder of every observation she’d heard about Levi and laughed nervously. “Yea…you’re probably right.”

He took in her expression, brows raised. “Is it that bad?”

The red on her face deepened, and she avoided his gaze. “It…it probably depends on your perspective.”

“Well now maybe I should know.”

She stood, dusting off her clothes. “Nope, not happening.” She grabbed his hand, pulling him up and practically dragging him to where she’d left her satchel before leading him over to the grove of trees. “Come on, there’s so much I want to draw, and those trees are the perfect place to sit.”

She led him to a tree where she leaned against the bark, the curved shape of it a perfect spot for her back. Eager to start, she ripped her sketchbook out of her satchel, and flipped to a new page.

She looked up in time to see Luna rolling around in the flowers, and she sketched as fast as her hands would let her, barely registering Levi sitting next to her.

Her charcoal flew across the page, fingers moving to spread the charcoal, shading, creating depth as she worked to capture the spirit of the mare in such a relaxed state. As Scouts, outside the walls, their horses were often on edge as much as their riders. To see Luna so free and so at ease had Isa’s heart swelling with love for her horse.

When she was satisfied with her sketch, she moved onto Spartan, who was standing watch over Luna as she enjoyed the sun and flowers. She could tell he was just as relaxed as Luna, even if he was less inclined to show it, preferring to keep an eye on Luna, making sure nothing happened to her.

Isa couldn’t stop the smile on her face at how similar rider and horse were. Her love for Levi’s horse was just as strong as the love she held for her own.

She moved on to sketching out the rolling field in front of her, trying to capture the beauty of it, even if she couldn’t capture the colors. She drew in Spartan and Luna, who had now risen to join her friend in grazing.

Isa couldn’t help but smile at the friendship between the two horses, and when she saw Luna rest her head across Spartan’s neck, she flipped to a new page, desperate to capture the precious moment.

She loved the bond that could happen between horses, the way they would watch out for each other, and stay close together. She couldn’t help but notice that Spartan looked even more relaxed with Luna’s head resting on him, as if she were bringing him comfort.

Finally, she knew she needed to draw Levi in this moment. She moved back so she could sit across from him, and giggled when he raised a brow at her.

“It’s your turn now.”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

He grumbled, despite being unable to control the way his lips quirked. “Pain in the ass.”

She couldn’t stop the affectionate smile that moved over her face. “Stop being such a grouchy ass.”

He rolled his eyes.

“Okay, bring your knee up and rest your arm across it.”

He complied.

“Perfect, now turn and face the fields, and don’t move until I say you can move.”

When he did as she asked, she flipped to yet, another new page and began her next sketch, hands moving more slowly now, wanting to make sure she captured every detail of him.

As she’d expected, his face had softened as he looked out over the field, even the most stoic of people unable to resist the sheer beauty of the meadow. She paid careful attention to the way his eyebrows were relaxed, how his eyes weren’t as narrowed as they normally were. The way he looked out at the field reminded her of how he’d sometimes look at her, that gentle look that only she ever got to see.

She loved how she got to see his sweet side, the relaxed side. She wondered if Furlan and Isabel got to see this side of him, perhaps not the side that hugged her or kissed her forehead, but the side of him when he was relaxed, almost as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

She moved down his body, and as she drew his arms, she couldn’t help but remember at how tightly they’d clutched at her when she’d been kidnapped by Uma, and again that night when she’d woken him from his nightmare.

As she sketched his chest and stomach, she shivered at the memory of how it had felt pressed up against her back, the feel of his muscles under her arm as his fingers grazed lightly at her scar, a warm rush now flowing through her at the reminder of how it had felt to be held close against him.

His legs were so powerful, she could see the sheer strength in them. She remembered that first day in training, when he’d kicked off the tree so hard, he’d left a dent in the bark.

As she moved to his crotch, she remembered how close she’d been to being pressed up against him when he’d held her from behind. The way Nanaba had asked if all his height went elsewhere.

Seriously though, is that an actual thing or something people have just made up?

For some reason, as she drew, she couldn’t help but feel as if he were watching her, yet every time she looked up, he was still facing the field, eyes looking straight ahead.

She finished and took her place back beside Levi, showing him the sketches.

“You may have missed your calling.” She thought he sounded impressed as he flipped through her new sketches, and it brought a rush through her to hear someone think so highly of her drawings.

She turned her head to look at him in amusement. “And what would drawing pictures do for me? It’s not like I could make a living off of it.” She couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought.

He shrugged. “It’s not always about making a living but doing something you enjoy. You can find other ways to survive.”

“And do you enjoy what we do?”

“Sometimes. In the sense that it means we’re looking for a way to end these titans.”

“That’s how I feel. I enjoy what we do, Levi. I do.” She sighed. “Do I wish that we didn’t have to fight these battles? Of course. But if it means we can get one step closer to figuring out what these things are, then I’m more than happy to play a part in that. Even with the endless pain. Because it’s in the small moments, the ones when we first ride out of the gates and you can feel that freedom, or the small moments we spend with our friends, it’s those moments that keep me going.”

They sat in silence for a few moments before Levi rose to grab his own satchel from Spartan’s saddle. When he returned, he pulled out meat, cheese, and bread, and Isa was instantly thrown back to that day of his birthday, when she’d done exactly this for him.

She gaped at him, completely shocked that he’d done this, but touched, nonetheless. “You shouldn’t have wasted your money on this.”

He smirked at her, amusement lining his voice as he spoke. “No point in complaining about it now and no sense in wasting it.”

She huffed out a breath as he threw her own words back to her face, though she couldn’t stop the way her heart flipped.

“Here.” He held his hand out, and when she lifted hers, he set her necklace in it.

Relieved tears came to her eyes. “I…I was afraid it was gone forever.”

He avoided her gaze, as uncomfortable with gratitude as ever. “I found it, that night, so I took it to have them redo the paint and writing.”

She held it out to him. “Can you tie it for me?"

As she had that night of her birthday, she moved her hair out of the way, fighting back a shiver at the feel of his fingers grazing across the back of her neck as they tied the twine. She had to fight even harder when he gently pulled her hair from her hands to let it lay loose against her shoulders again.

She turned back around, an affectionate smile on her face, hand coming up to hold it. “Thanks, Levi. I was worried this was something else she’d taken from me.”

His only response was to give her a small smile and ruffle her hair.

They dug in and Isa relished in the savory taste of the meat, the richness of the sharp cheese, and the fluffy lightness of the fresh bread. She hadn’t had meat since that day of Levi’s birthday. The cost of it too high to be eaten regularly.

She hoped that there would be a day where they would be able to reclaim Wall Maria and take back the land so that meat wouldn’t be so expensive and only enjoyed regularly by the rich.

When they’d finished, she couldn’t help but close her eyes and groan at the sensation of her stomach being full. “Thank you, Levi. I needed that.”

“We’re not done yet.”

“I…we’re not?”

“You can ask me anything you want, and I’ll answer.”

Her glee filled eyes boggled as she gaped at him. “Really?”

He rolled his eyes, humor glinting in them at her reaction. “Yes.” His lips twitched as he spoke, hand coming up so he could poke at her forehead. “But with the condition that if I don’t want to answer something, I won’t.”

She couldn’t help but smile at what he was doing, the same thing she’d more than half a year ago on his birthday.

She crossed her legs under her as she thought hard on what she wanted to ask him first. So many questions were running through her mind, and she was finding it difficult to latch onto one.

She settled on one that she’d thought about endlessly since she’d met him. “That first day…” she chewed nervously at her lip, “when I took you guys to the roof to show you the sunset, did you…did you really think I was going to hurt you guys?"

She thought she saw his eyes fill with guilt at the reminder of how they’d first met. “I wasn’t sure what to think. I’d never met anyone so friendly without needing a reason to be that way. So like I told you that night of your birthday, I saw what I wanted to see, and just refused to trust you.”

“Hey, don’t feel bad about that, I already told you I understood. I was just curious to know if you actually thought I was a threat.”

She watched as the corner of his mouth lifted, and she thought he looked relieved at her words.

It took her some time to choose her next question. “When…when did you finally realize you could trust me?”

He shrugged. “It was a lot of the little things. I knew that day after you saw my memory, but didn’t tell Furlan what you saw. It wasn’t enough for me to fully trust you, but I started to realize that maybe you were just that friendly.”

She couldn’t stop the smug grin that spread on her face, eyes lighting with glee. “So I did pass your little test.”

He smirked at her, eyes lit with amusement. “As if you ever doubted you did.”

A giggle escaped her at the truth of his words. “Why did you hate me so much, after that expedition?”

His smirk dropped to a frown, as he thought back to that day. “I…I didn’t hate you. You were a reminder of what I lost, and I didn’t want to be near you.”

Well that’s fair enough, makes sense.

She drew her knees into her chest, arms laying across them so her head could rest on her arms, eyes thoughtful as she thought back to how she’d shared her tea with him every day after. “So what made you come up to join me on the roof?”

His brows furrowed, as he looked down in the ground, thinking back to what he’d thought and felt in those days. “I’m…I’m honestly not sure. I just think I realized you were one of the few people who remembered them, knew them in a way I knew them, and I decided that I didn’t want to lose that connection.”

Her gaze grew serious, and as she spoke, his eyes came back up to meet hers. “I may not have known them for as long as you did, but don’t ever doubt that I cared about them as much as you did. They were two of the best people I’d ever met, and I miss them every day. I’ll never forget that first morning when Isabel kicked me when I tried to wake her up and you just let her.”

His lips twitched in amusement at the memory. “I wanted to see how you’d handle it.”

She giggled. “If I’d had a bucket of water on hand, I would have gotten her up. It’s how I used to wake Hange up.”

“Cleans her up and wakes her up.”

“Exactly.”

She sat there, caught in those eyes lit with warmth as she struggled to come up with another question, needing a distraction from the fluttering of her heart and the butterflies in her stomach.

“You didn’t want to be near me, but you still offered to help me with fighting, why?”

He avoided her gaze, shame filling his eyes. “I…when I pushed you up against that wall, I realized that I had done the same thing that pig had done to you, restrained you against your will. I obviously didn’t have the same intentions, I just wanted to intimidate you. But I shocked myself that I had done something so similar right after I’d helped you. I…I wanted to make sure you knew how to defend yourself.”

She was quick to move to his side, hands cupping his face. “Levi, you could never be like him. I knew you would never hurt me, even when you were being an ass. It’s not in your nature to hurt someone who isn’t a threat. You may not have trusted me, but you knew, I know you knew, that I wasn’t.”

His eyes came back to hers, that soft smile on his face, hand coming up to encircle one of hers on that lay on his face. “You were right, I never had any intention of hurting you.”

“I can’t be wrong about everything can I?”

That warmth she loved to see but didn’t understand came into his eyes. “No, I guess not.”

She settled down next to him, smiling as his arm came around her. “I’ll give you a break from questions now.”

As she sat, leaning up against Levi, she enjoyed the feel of his hand on her shoulder, the other enveloping her hand in its warmth.

She felt him brush across the bruises on her wrists that were laying in her lap. She glanced down and she could see the imprints of where Derek’s hand had held onto them, hating that her skin was marked with the memory, though she knew they would fade with time, even if it would take longer for the trauma to heal.

She let her mind wander, moving through memories of her parents. She couldn’t help but smile fondly at the happier times she’d had with her mom and dad. Her memories may be limited, but the ones that were there were full of love, laughter, joy.

She thought back to Levi’s mother, and her smile grew warmer when she remembered the pure love that had poured from the woman when she’d seen her son. She hated that Levi had lost her so young and had been left completely alone, though she was grateful someone had found him. She didn’t want to think about what would have happened if that man had never come across him.

Levi hadn’t mentioned him since she’d asked about him, and she thought about asking more. She was curious and wanted to know more about what happened to him, but wasn’t sure how to ask or if she should ask.

“Isa, I—”

A flash of light exploded behind her eyes and she cried out in pain as everything around her faded to black.

~ - ~

She’s back in the Underground, and she sees that same little boy, only now, he’s about twelve.

There’s a man below him and the boy is yelling at him, hitting him, threatening him with his knife.

She can feel the boy’s desperate need to prove himself, to survive pouring from him and her heart clenches at the thought of someone so young having to do these things just so he can live another day.

Then, the boy glances up, and she can feel anger, betrayal, longing, frustration, emanating from him in harsh, negative waves.

Her eyes glance to where the boy is looking, and her heart drops as she sees a tall man with gray eyes in a trench coat turn and walk away.

Her own emotions, anger, hatred, fear, begin to mix in with the boy’s, and it’s too much for her to handle, and the memory shifts to one of her own.

She’s back in her old childhood home, watching the child version of herself sit in the curtained off bedroom with her mother.

She looks as if she’s three or four.

She can feel the love pouring from both her mother and herself, and it mixes with all the other emotions her mind is trying to process.

Her mother speaks.

“Isa, if something ever happens to your dad and I, these journals explain everything about who we are, where we come from, and why we live in the Underground.” Her mother points to a loose floorboard hidden in the corner of their tiny closet.

“Why can’t you show me now?” Her squeaky voice fills the air.

Her mother brushes the hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear, a warm affectionate smile on her face as she looks on at her daughter. “You’re not ready now. But if the time comes, you will be.”

The confusion between the two memories, the chaotic mix of emotions pulls her out.

~ - ~

“Isa, what’s wrong?”

Isa could barely make out the sound of his panicked voice over the splitting pain in her head. It felt as if her head was being ripped apart. She didn’t even hear the screams pouring from her throat.

She was hunched over, hands clenching tight on her head, desperate to ease the radiating sharp waves stabbing at her skull.

She thought she felt a hand on her back, awkwardly rubbing, unsure of what to do.

“Isa, what do you need. Just…just tell me how to help.” He tried to keep his voice hushed, but the fear and concern made it difficult.

She couldn’t talk, couldn’t think over the pain. The light was blinding her, needles stabbing into her eyes, making the pain worse.

Too many conflicting emotions and she couldn’t figure out which were Levi’s and which were hers. That plus the shift from his memory to hers was too much for her mind to handle.

“The light.” She managed to croak out, her screams now having dropped to groans and sobs of pain.

Make the pain stop, make it stop.

She felt a cool cloth wrap around her eyes, sending her into darkness and then a dragging sensation before she was wrapped up in sturdy arms, her face against his body. She sobbed as the pain raged in her head.

The scent began filtering through the pain, her mind recognizing it.

“Please, make it go away.” Her voice was a broken sob.

She could feel his arms wrapped tighter around her, bringing her head closer into his body, a trembling hand stroking at her hair.

“Shh, I’m right here, I got you. Just hold onto me.”

Her hands clutched onto his shirt, needing something, anything, that would ease the throbbing in her head.

Slowly, the pain began to fade, as her groans died down to whimpers, body trembling.

She realized that she was currently being held by Levi, her legs draped across his lap, hands still clenched in fists against him. His hand was cradling her head, and she could tell her face was buried in his neck. His other arm was wrapped around her holding her close. She couldn’t see anything through the cloth in front of her.

“Levi?” Her throat hurt as she spoke, voice raspy.

She felt a hand brush against her cheek. “Shh, I’m right here. Are you alright?”

She sniffled. “I…I think so. Levi…who was that man?”

“Kenny.”

Holy shit.

“He’s…he’s the man who killed my parents.”

She felt him tense, clearly not having expected that admission.

She poked at what she thought was his shoulder. “If you think I’m upset with you in any way, wipe that thought from your mind, right now.” Though her voice was weak, the tone in it was firm. “I would never blame you or be angry with you for going with him, for living with him. You were a child, what were you supposed to do?”

She could feel the tension leave him at her words.

“What happened? You were screaming.” She thought his voice sounded unsteady, worried.

She didn’t remember screaming, but that would explain why her throat was so sore. “I was? I…I don’t know, it was like your emotions mixed together with mine and my head couldn’t handle the combination, couldn’t figure out which emotions belonged to me and which belonged to you. And then it shoved me into one of my own memories for some reason. Maybe because my mind recognized the man and wanted to show me the memory of my mom. When I came back there was this splitting pain in my head, something I’ve never felt before.”

“If you want, I’m going to take this cloth off your face now.”

She nodded and she felt him gently remove the covering from her face. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light, and buried her face back in her neck, head still too sensitive.

She slowly pulled back and when the pain didn’t return, she looked into Levi’s face, worry prominent in his eyes.

“I think I’m okay now.”

A shaky hand came up to rest on the side of her face, thumb stroking at her cheek. “We need to figure out how this keeps happening.”

Her brows furrowed, angry that this was still happening, not knowing how to control it. “I…I know, I’m not sure why or how it does, or what this even is. And I hate that it even happens. I feel like I’m betraying you by seeing memories you weren’t ready for me to know.”

“It’s fine.”

Frustrated she pushed off of him, standing, bracing a hand on the tree when she swayed. “No it’s not fine, dammit. How can you be okay with this? You should be angrier.” She turned away from him. “It’s not right that this keeps happening.”

She felt hands on her shoulders as they gently turned her to face him. She looked up into his calm eyes, and was overwhelmed by guilt. “I’m sorry, Levi.”

His hands came up to cup her face. “Are you doing this on purpose?”

She shook her head, though the act brought a slight twinge of pain. “Of course not.”

His thumbs stroked across her cheeks, eyes intent on hers, a soft smile on his face. “Then why would I be angry? It’s not something you can control right now. You don’t have to apologize for this.”

She let her head fall against his chest, and was soothed when his arms came around her, when she felt his head rest on hers.

“I feel like you should hate me because of this.” She couldn’t stand the idea of him hating her, but she wouldn’t blame him if he did. “This is the third time I’ve seen a random memory of yours that I didn’t have the right to see.”

His hand came up to stroke at her hair. “If this bothered me in the slightest, I wouldn’t be here. You should know that by now.” He paused for a moment. “You were right, the first time this happened. I knew you weren’t lying.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Despite the slight thrill that went through her at the knowledge that she’d been right about something else, it couldn’t push aside the guilt. “I don’t know why this keeps happening.”

He murmured to her while his fingers combed through her hair. “We’ll figure it out. I promise.”

Her mind went to that memory of hers, the one of her mom telling her about the journals that would explain everything about who they were.

Those journals may be able to explain why this keeps happening. And how I can control it.

In that moment, she made a decision. She pulled away from Levi, marching up to Luna, braiding her hair as she went. Before she could hop on, Levi had caught up to her, spinning her around.

“Where the hell are you going?” His brows were furrowed, eyes full of confusion and concern.

She met his gaze, determination in her eyes. “The Underground.”

<- Chapter 24

Chapter 26 ->

Starved Menu

Taglist:

@angelofthorr

#levi x oc #Levi x isa #levi ackerman #enemies to lovers #enemies to friends to lovers #friends to lovers #eventual romance #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #oc x canon #eventual smut

3 notes · View notes

yellowcanna · 4 years ago

Text

Duo Heroes, Double Black

Summary:

“We are broadcasting this live above U.A High School and you won’t believe what we are seeing! Everyone, please take a look!”

In the middle of a no-longer-empty track field, were three black vehicles. The cars were parked in a straight line with the perfect distances apart from one another. In front of the line of cars was a table oddly standing out in the middle of the field with black sunshade set over it.

Men dressed in black suits stood in a perfect line between the cars and the table. They stood up straight, chin held high and hands folded behind their backs. It was obvious that these were well-trained bodyguards.

However, those weren’t what shocked the audiences sitting in front of their TVs. No…rather than the men and the cars...it was that single man prostrating on the ground, his attire making him stand out from all the black.

“ALL MIGHT! IT’S ALL MIGHT!” The reporter screamed, causing the microphone to ring from her sharp voice. “The former No.1 Hero who hasn’t been seen since the announcement of his retirement!! But…just what is this current situation?!”

What was the current situation?

That was what Toshinori wanted to know.

Rating: T

Genre: Crossover, comedy, fluff, shounen-ai (mild boy love)

Pairing: Soukoku (Dazai x Chuuya)

Author: Canna / Yellow Canna

Status: Complete

AVAILABLE ON AO3

━»•» ❀ «•«━━━━━━━━

◅ PREVIOUS CHAPTER

━━━━━━━━»•» ❀ «•«━

Story Beta’d by Nanami_ontheShore

Pain…

That was the only thing Dazai felt as he laid on the icy floor. His entire body hurt as he struggled to crawl up from the broken glass. He couldn’t care whether the shards would cut into his flesh. He needed to get out… he needed to see.

“Chuu… ya…” His hoarse voice called out the name of his former partner, his Executive, his right-hand man.

His back was still throbbing from where he had been harshly kicked, so much that he couldn’t get up. His hands fumbled to drag his body to the broken window.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

He was supposed to die.

He wasn’t supposed to live.

Why?

His uncovered eye widened at the body below, lying motionlessly on the ground. Dazai’s vision was blurring, but he could still clearly see the blood splattered all over the floor.

Half of the orange haired man’s head had been smashed into pieces.

“Ah…” Dazai wanted to shout, to scream, to cry…but nothing was coming out. His throat had never felt so dry.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

He had sent Chuuya out of the city. Chuuya wasn’t even supposed to be here, let alone flying towards him. He wasn’t supposed to save him in exchange for his own life.

Chuuya was supposed to become the next boss.

“…!”

Dazai snapped his eyes open to the sounds of screams and explosions.

He blinked in the absolute darkness, alert and cautious.

What happened?

He was supposed to be dead.

How was it possible for a dead person to feel again?

“ERASER HEAD!”

Dazai tried to look towards the source of the sound, but he found that he couldn’t move.

The brunet reached out his hand to feel around the tiny space he was in and soon learned why. He was buried underground. He grasped a pile of moist dirt and felt it between his fingers. Then he reached for the heavy thing crushing his body.

He ran his fingers over the rough bumps. It was a tree bark…so this large thing was a tree. Dazai wanted to laugh at his typical failure to die.

It was such a pity. Had this soil not been so moist and wet, this tree would have successfully crushed his organs and spine. And what’s more, it was most likely due to this tree that this air pocket would exist underground. Although Dazai couldn’t see, the bark of the tree told him this was a healthy tree, not a dead one. Unless it’s winter, it should have plenty of leaves keeping the soil from filling this place in.

“ERASER!” The loud voice from before shouted again, sounding closer to Dazai’s ears. “YOUR EYES!”

“I’m fine!” A different voice answered. This voice was quieter than the first, but Dazai could still hear it pretty well, meaning they had to be close by.

The brunet opened his mouth, only to let out a hoarse, breathless sound. He coughed at how dry his throat felt before trying again.

“Hello?” Dazai blinked at the sound of his voice. It sounded off. As in, he sounded really young…like a kid.

He coughed before trying again, confirming that this was in fact his voice.

“LIKE HELL YOU’RE FINE!! YOU’RE BLEEDING OUT OF YOUR EYES!!”

“Whatever that is, I can’t erase it’s Quirk! We have to tell them to evacuate the city!”

Quirk? City?

“Hellooo?” Dazai called out lazily.

“But—” Loud mouth tried to speak again, but abruptly cut himself off. Just from this, Dazai knew they heard him.

“A little help would be nice.” Dazai called out calmly. He needed to know what was going on. Why was he alive when he was certain he had been dead?

Dazai could hear rumbling sounds outside. He closed his eyes and sighed as he thought of a certain petite mafioso. If only Chuuya was here, he would never get into a situation like this.

Just the thought made Dazai want to laugh.

What right did he have to think of something like that when he was the cause of his former partner’s death?

“So unfair…you wouldn’t even let me follow you to the otherworld?” Dazai mumbled softly to himself. Right at that moment, he heard the crumbling sound of dirt and the muffled noises were now extremely clear.

“SHIT! WE NEED REINFORCEMENT! THERE’S A KID CRUSHED UNDER A TREE!!”

Ahh, there goes Dazai’s eardrums. At the very least, it was mildly easier to breathe. Before Dazai could enjoy laying there a bit longer, the tree pressing down on his body was removed.

“All Might!”

Dazai felt large, warm hands grabbing him before he heard a weird poof.

“All Might-san?!” Loud mouth exclaimed.

“What is this?”

Dazai slowly opened his eyes and saw a blond foreigner lifting him out of the dirt and onto the soft grass.

The man stared at Dazai with shock all over his blue eyes. Dazai returned his stare. The brunet couldn’t help but notice how this man’s eye colours were strikingly similar to Chuuya’s. The moment this man’s hands left Dazai’s body, there was another poof and he was suddenly packed with muscles he didn’t have in the beginning.

Dazai blinked. He looked at the man up and down, taking in the blond’s expression as he examined his own body.

“A-All Might-san?! What was that?!”

“Forget about it, hurry and check his injuries!” To his credit, the now muscular man got over his shock and focused on the more important matters. “The tree might have crushed his organs! I’ll hold the enemy back and—”

“No, my organs aren’t crushed.” Dazai said calmly, slowly sitting up while wincing at the pain around his side. His organs were certainly fine, just not his ribs. He felt around. At least three of them were broken.

“Hey, you shouldn’t move!” That loud voice shouted again.

Dazai looked over and saw two young men looking in their twenties wearing…well, Dazai honestly had no idea what the heck they were wearing. All he knew was that the loud mouth was the blond, and the dark haired man with blood leaking from his eyes was the other person who had been talking.

If they weren’t speaking fluent Japanese, Dazai was seriously wondering if he had somehow landed in the West.

These strange men seemed to want to say something, but a loud smashing sound interrupted them.

For the first time, Dazai looked at his surroundings and stilled at what he was seeing.

Disaster doesn’t even begin to describe the sight. Debris were flying everywhere while the wind was blowing everything away. The air was contaminated by dirt and sand, turning this place into a literal sandstorm. If it wasn’t for the flying trees and rocks being tossed around in the sky, Dazai would have thought he was in a desert.

Being on the sidelines of the storm, Dazai could see multiple human silhouettes, flying around in the sky. They seemed to be trying to get close to something, but couldn’t.

Dazai stared at those figures curiously before he moved his eyes. And then, he stilled as he saw the chunks of land unaffected by the wind. These floating objects were all encased within a faint red light.

“Chuu…ya…?” Dazai whispered before he shot up. The loudmouth clearly hadn’t expected this from the brunet, so he wasn’t able to catch him in time and his dark-haired companion was busy wiping the blood out of his eyes.

Dazai had only taken a couple of steps before a large hand stopped him. This time, this hand was careful not to touch him. The brunet looked down to find himself on the edge of a giant crater. Where that crater ends, he couldn’t see from the storm around them, but that was enough. Dazai’s heart was beating fast and he couldn’t fight the smile from lifting his face.

“That way is dangerous, young man!” The muscular man said as loudmouth ran over to pull him back. Now that Dazai had the time to look at the bulky man, he found that his body was littered with blood and bruises.

“President Mic, Eraser Head! You two take this boy and alert the people outside! Whatever that thing is, it’s storing up power!” The muscular man said as his hands rolled into tight fists. “The next wave will undoubtedly destroy the city!”

“Alright!” The loudmouth nodded, picking Dazai up with one arm while his other supported his bleeding friend.

It was then that Dazai noticed something very wrong about his current height. His brow twitched, but remained calm as he observed his surroundings.

“Then—”

“Hey,” Dazai spoke up. Although his voice wasn’t particularly loud, they heard him. “You’ll die if you go.”

“Aaah-ha-ha-ha-ha!” The man let out a very distinctive laugh and turned to Dazai with the widest smile on his face. He struck a pose and even gave him a large thumbs up. “There is no need to worry, young man! For that I—”

“I can stop that creature down there.” Dazai didn’t wait for the man to finish. That made the blond froze and the brunet clearly saw his smile dropped by a couple millimeters.

He was right. Dazai had the feeling that was the case when these people kept referring to the person down there by it. This meant that Chuuya didn’t even resemble the form of a human anymore.

Dazai looked down at the arm of the loudmouth holding him. Then again, who was he to say that?

“Young man—”

“My power can stop that thing.”

“It doesn’t work like that, kid.” Loudmouth tried to convince him. “Eraser Head’s Quirk didn’t even work on that thing!”

“My Quirk nullifies everything I touch,” Dazai said confidently while testing the new word on his tongue. “Isn’t that right, mister?”

Dazai shifted his eye to the man that had just experienced his Ability first hand.

“Young man, are you telling me that you’ve stopped that thing before?” The muscular man asked him seriously.

Dazai didn’t reply and simply stared at the man. From their conversation, he could tell how dire their situation was. Just like he thought, it didn’t take long for the muscles man to agree.

“Just throw me to the center,” Dazai told him but was adamantly rejected.

The muscular man wanted to carry him, but found that there was no way to do that without making physical contact. They thought of tying Dazai up with the bandage-like thing on the raven haired man’s neck, but Dazai was injured.

The brunet honestly didn’t see any issues, but the way these people fretted over his broken ribs and battered body was quite funny to watch. Their behaviour wasn’t normal. At the very least, it’s not normal in the world of Ability users.

In the end, the muscular man came up with the stupidest idea Dazai had ever heard of. The brunet watched the man take off at a speed so fast that he was gone in a blink of an eye.

By the time Dazai blinked again, he was cradled within the blond man’s arms and flying at an incredible speed towards the center of the crater.

Yes, this man’s plan was to charge at full speed and grab him.

Dazai looked up at the man holding him tightly in his arms. As expected, his bulking power was gone, turning him back into an ordinary human with a bit more muscles than the average people. This was quite interesting. The power this man displayed looked nothing like any Abilities Dazai ever knew of...and he knew a lot of them.

Rather than an Ability, it was more like this power was part of this man genetically.

After observing the blond, Dazai looked down to his hands. He recognized these hands as his own, yet the size was way smaller than the ones in his memories. He mentally compared himself to the previous two men who looked like they had normal human proportion.

If he was to guess, he would say this body of his has been regressed to around nine or ten years old. It seemed like there was a lot he needed to find out, but first things first, he had to get Chuuya back.

Just the aspect of knowing that he would see Chuuya again made his heart skip. The brunet didn’t even blink as the man crashed into the ground. The blond held Dazai tightly against his chest to protect him from the impact. He grunted in pain as he rolled across the uneven ground before managing to scramble onto his feet. He didn’t even take a break and ran as fast as he could while avoiding the debris flying at them.

This man was completely battered, yet he still protected Dazai regardless. Every movement he made, he did with Dazai’s safety being the priority.

An ordinary person might be touched by this kind of selfless act, but Dazai was far from touched. He simply took notes of every little movement this man made, be it consciously or subconsciously. From his behaviour and actions, he seemed pretty familiar with the aspect of protecting. It was obvious he was used to this.

Dazai couldn’t continue analyzing this man as at that very moment, a roar that was a mixture of human and beast resonated through the air. Dazai’s heart thumped and he hastily turned to see the dust in the air clearing away, revealing a dark figure standing on all four, roaring and snarling at their direction.

Multiple black balls of energy began to form around that creature.

“Shit!” The blond swore in English. He seemed to know what those were and dug his heels into the ground, prepared to change direction and dodge the incoming attack.

“Throw me!” Dazai shouted. “Those things won’t work on me!”

“But young man—” The man looked down and was shocked by the determined umber brown eyes. He gritted his teeth. He didn’t want to do this, but there were no other choices. They were running out of time. If they didn’t stop whatever this was, the city would be destroyed! He grabbed Dazai and hurled him with all his strength towards Chuuya.

Chuuya roared. Black energy globe around him grew in size, only to stop when Dazai saw those crimson eyes meet his. Then, those condensed gravity balls changed direction at the last second, narrowing missing Dazai.

“Stupid slug...you should know they wouldn’t work on my either way.” Dazai’s heart was filled with warmth upon knowing that even subconsciously, the stupid hatrack was looking out for him.

Taking his chance, Dazai opened his arms and smacked right into Chuuya.

“Ability: No Longer Human.” He wrapped his arms around the redhead’s neck.

A beam of blinding white light burst from between them, engulfing the two as Dazai watched Chuuya revert back to himself.

Fair skin, wavy pumpkin orange hair…

This was definitely Chuuya. Although further shrunken in size, there was no doubt that this was Chuuya.

“Chuuya.” Dazai sighed out the name, holding the boy firmly in his arms.

The storm around them came to an abrupt stop, causing trees and dirt to rain from the sky. Dazai didn’t care as he embraced Chuuya, exhaustion taking over him and lulling him into a deep slumber.

▬▭▬ ▬▭▬ ✦✧✦ ▬▭▬ ▬▭▬

“No, I don’t agree with this.” All Might stated firmly as his hands rolled into fists under the table. “That boy can’t be older than ten! His Quirk going out of control wasn’t his fault!”

“Yes.” His sidekick, Sir Nighteye adjusted his glasses. “According to the information we’ve gathered, those two were most likely one of the kidnapped children used as experiments within the lab.”

“Is this what we are coming down to nowadays, arresting children as criminals?!” The Equipped Hero, Yoroi Musha slammed his palms onto the table so hard that it shook from the force.

“We understand how you all feel about this.” The government official sighed, looking extremely troubled by the Heroes stopping them from doing their job. “But you’ve all seen what that boy is capable of. You were all there in the front lines. Eleven Heroes are still in critical conditions—an entire mountain was blown apart in just a second. This is the largest destruction ever recorded in the history of Quirks! We were only fortunate that this laboratory was in the mountains. Had it been in the city, thousands would have lost their lives!”

“But that’s the fault of those bastards experimenting on him!” The young, newly debuted Hero, President Mic finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and shouted. “If they had never experimented on him, I bet his Quirk wouldn’t go all haywire like that!”

“That doesn’t change the fact that we need to move the child into an isolated place away from civilians.” The government official stated firmly. “The power of his Quirk is not normal. It may be the result of whatever experiment they were trying to run on that boy, but in my understanding, the Quirk was too powerful to even be erased by an erasing Quirk.”

At that, he looked over to the raven-haired youth that had been sitting quietly beside President Mic. His entire body was covered in bandages much like the other Heroes in this meeting. The only difference was that both of his eyes were heavily wrapped in bandages. Despite being pointed out, the raven kept his silence.

“I for one, agree with the government’s decision.”

All the other Heroes turned to stare at Endeavor in shock.

“Setting aside his identity as the victim, his Quirk is too dangerous to be left unsupervised. If it wasn’t for that other kid, we would’ve all died in that kid’s rampage.”

“Wait, don’t tell me…!” President Mic gasped as his head whirled back to the government officials on the other side of the table so fast that his neck almost snapped.

“Yes, we will be taking the other boy in as well, for safety measures.” The man said.

“ARE YOU STILL HUMAN!?”

“Calm down, rookie.” Yoroi Musha reprimanded. The older Hero expected as much, even though hearing the man confirming it didn’t make him any happier.

“We’ve looked into the database and we can’t find a single thing about these two boys.” The government official said, holding out the documents. “They have no records and none of the kidnapped children reported for the past decade match up with them. They don’t exist within this country’s database. I’m sure you all know what that means.”

All Might’s hands rolled into fists under the table. He knew very well what it meant. Either these two children were smuggled into this country which would be impossible given how tight securities are, or that they were born within that laboratory for the sake of the experiments.

If that was the case, then it was only natural for the government to take care of them.

“I think the boy should get a say in all of this,” Snatch said. “It’s only fair we make a decision after knowing the kid.”

Slidin' Go nodded. “Yes, why don't we all go speak to the boy?”

The government official frowned. It was obvious he didn’t see any point in doing that, but if this could make the Heroes back off, then so be it.

“Are they awake?”

“Midnight is keeping the orange-haired one sleeping just in case. The one with the erasing Quirk woke up just minutes before our meeting began.” Sir Nighteye replied. “Although to not frighten the boy, I suggest only three of us meet with him for now.”

It didn’t take long for them to decide who to go see the boy. As the person with the most interaction with the brunet, All Might was the most obvious answer. Since he was going, his sidekick would naturally be joining him, along with the government official.

They walked through the practically empty building with the exception of police officers guarding the floors and the few doctors and nurses.

They came at the right time, as the doctor had just finished examining the dark haired boy.

All Might felt something inside him turn painfully at the sight of the boy’s bare upper body. It was covered in long thin scars, as if someone had repeatedly ran a knife through him. When he walked over, All Might noticed how the boy was absentmindedly rubbing the small dotted scars in his arms.

All Might frowned. Those kinds of wounds could only be left from needles. Just what were those Villains doing to these children?

The thought of how many children had died suffering at these people’s hands made All Might’s blood boil. However, they can no longer find the answers to that, as the laboratory and the people involved were all blown up when the other boy’s Quirk went out of control.

All Might heaved out a small sigh before he summoned the largest smile he ever had.

“Young lad! How are you feeling!” He practically shouted, keeping his tone upbeat in hopes that the child wouldn’t look so…empty.

The boy looked up. When All Might saw those lifeless eyes looking up at him, he felt a chill crawling down his spine. Never in his entire life had All Might ever seen eyes like those. There was no joy, no anger, no sadness… just void. Those were eyes that only the dead were capable of owning.

“Where’s Chuuya?”

All Might shook himself out of the trance and his smile was back on. “If you mean your friend, he’s resting.”

“I want to see him.”

“Look here—” The government official started towards him, but was stopped by Sir Nighteye.

“I won’t talk until I see Chuuya.” The boy said before looking away as if he couldn’t care less about the three adults here.

All Might could remember how desperately this boy had tried to reach out to his friend and save him. He crouched down by the boy’s bedside and extended a hand towards him.

“Young lad, I’ll take you to him.” He promised.

The boy looked back at him, then to his hand.

“Are you sure you want me to take your hand?” He asked with a light smirk.

It was then that All Might remembered this boy’s power. His smile twitched and he suddenly felt extremely awkward, not sure if he should pull his hand away.

“I’ll lead you then.” Sir Nighteye smoothly cut in, holding out a hand to the boy.

The brunet looked up at Sir Nighteye, but said nothing and took his hand. The sidekick noticed how weak and frail this hand was. The boy’s fingers were so slim that it was just skin wrapped around bone, much like the rest of his body.

All Might laughed in an attempt to ease the weird tension in the air.

“May I know your name, young lad?”

The boy looked into All Might’s blue eyes before a smile slowly lifted his lips.

“Dazai Osamu.” Dazai said before his eyes shifted to the other man that had been silent this entire time. “Are you a policeman, old man?” He asked in the sweetest voice he could muster.

“Old—” The man coughed, clearly not happy at being called old. “No, I’m not.”

“Hmm...I see.” Dazai turned away, hiding the mocking smirk on his lips.

Not a policeman and clearly not one of the doctors. The way he distanced himself from these two men meant he wasn't their companion either.

So the third party has arrived.

They walked out of the room and down the hallway. Sir Nighteye walked with Dazai in the middle with All Might leading their way and the government official quietly following behind. They took the elevator down, going into the basement of the building where there was only a single room down there.

There was a line of police officers standing around the room made of glass, giving no privacy to the people inside.

Seeing their arrival, the commissioner came over with a deep frown on his face.

He glanced at Dazai, then to All Might.

“What is this?” He demanded, obviously in a sour mood. “Even if you are Heroes, you can’t waltz in here unannounced.”

All Might explained the situation to him. The Commissioner didn’t look happy, but before he could reject allowing the kids to meet, Dazai spoke up.

“Do you think that will stop him?” The boy tilted his head towards the glass room.

Inside the glass wall, there was only a twin-sized bed. In the bed laid Chuuya, sleeping away peacefully while sitting next to the bed was a black-haired woman. She was practically naked, her outfit leaving little to imagination as she read a book. The room was filled with pink fumes and if one looked close enough, they could all see that they were coming from the woman’s exposed skin.

“Chuuya’s power can’t be stopped just because you put him to sleep. If it was that easy, how did you think he got out?” Dazai said with an almost mocking smile at the Commissioner.

“What do you mean?” The Commissioner demanded.

“Who knows?” The boy shrugged. “If you let us be together, then when Chuuya wakes up, I’ll tell you all everything you want to know.”

The Commissioner frowned, but didn’t reject the boy’s proposal.

Instead, he went over to the room. Through the intercom, he called the woman inside to stop her Quirk and turn on the fan.

“That won’t be necessary,” Dazai said, already walking towards the room.

“Wait, young Dazai,” All Might stood in front of the boy. “Midnight’s Quirk has filled the room, you’ll—”

“Don’t you want to see what my Quirk does?” Dazai glanced over to the government official.

“…Let him in,” The government official ordered.

All Might was about to protest, but Dazai was already entering. He walked through the double glass door and right into the room filled with the woman’s Quirk.

Midnight stood up in surprise when she saw the boy coming in, but froze upon seeing him perfectly fine. She blinked, looking over the boy up and down, then noticed this faint trace of white glow outlining the boy’s form.

She glanced to the Heroes and police outside, then back at the boy. She has heard about this other kid who had a Quirk just like Eraser Head, but erasing Quirks shouldn’t make him immune to Quirks.

“Boy, are you alright?” She asked, walking around the bed to face the boy.

“Beautiful mademoiselle, may I have the pleasure of escorting you outside?” The boy suddenly said, holding out a hand towards her.

“Oh my, you sure know how to sweet talk.” Midnight smiled, but the way her eye darted outside then back showed how cautious she was towards him. Nevertheless, Midnight reached out a hand to gently hold the boy’s. The moment their hand touched, blinding white light burst from their hands and filled the room.

When the light faded, everyone outside of the room stared at Dazai, then Midnight. None of them had any idea what happened, but those that were sharper instantly noticed how clear the air inside was.

Midnight’s Quirk had completely vanished.

“This is…” Midnight looked around the room in shock. She then looked down to her own body and tried to activate her Quirk.

Nothing was coming out.

She looked at Dazai with surprise on her face.

“Shall we go?” The young boy tilted his head, a light smile playing on his lips as he led the heroine to the door.

Midnight walked out, a little dazed as she tried to process just what had happened.

Everyone outside were in the same state.

“This isn’t just a matter of erasing Quirks anymore.” Sir Nighteye muttered quietly so that only All Might could hear.

All Might nodded with a grim look on his face. This was way beyond what erasing Quirk should do. Rather than calling it erasing, it was more like the boy himself was immune to the Quirks around him.

All Might snuck a glance towards the government official. Unfortunately, since the man was standing in front of them, he couldn’t see what face he was making. This wasn’t good, they were trying to get the children out of the grasps of governments, but now that they’ve witnessed how strong this other boy’s Quirk was, would they still back off?

The No.1 Hero watched as Dazai climbed onto the bed. He stared at his friend for a moment before slipping under the cover and curled up against the redhead. Despite being unconscious, the redhead seemed to know that it was his friend beside him. He shifted towards the brunet and leaned his head forward until their foreheads touched.

It was at that moment that All Might saw those lifeless brown eyes shined, as if a blind man was capable of seeing for the very first time. The smile on Dazai’s face touched somewhere deep inside All Might’s heart.

No, not just All Might. Every single adult present didn’t say a single word for a long time, as if afraid they would wake up the two children.

There really was no moment more beautiful than this…

BAM

…Or so All Might had thought.

The very next day, all the Heroes in the building received an emergency call from the basement. It seemed the orange haired boy had woken. They all rushed down and arrived just in time to see three police officers struggling to hold down a petite and scrawny child.

“YOU BASTARD!!!” The boy’s roar was so loud it even echoed down the hallway.

“Hold him back!”

“Damn, the kid’s strong!”

“Pull him back!”

Despite being grown men, the police were clearly at a disadvantage with how hard they were trying to keep the redhead down. In front of them, sitting against the wall was Dazai with a gigantic swell forming over the right side of his face where he was mercilessly punched.

“Fuck off!” With a snarl, the redhead flipped backward, forcefully twisting himself out of three adults’ hold. Then with a roundhouse kick, the three men were knocked down onto the floor in a blink of an eye.

“STOP!” All Might quickly intervened and grabbed hold of the young boy. When his arms locked around the boy, the redhead stopped thrashing. He seemed to know that it was useless fighting back against him. Yet when All Might thought this was finally over, he heard a low, nearly inaudible hum and faint crimson light shrouded his body.

His eyes flew wide, recognizing this power. Just as he was about to brace himself for what will come, the light around his body disappeared.

All Might looked down in surprise, thinking the boy had deactivated his Quirk, yet the boy in his arms looked as shocked as he was. Those large, icy blue eyes blinked a couple of times before they narrowed towards the raven-haired man walking into the room.

Eraser Head had tugged off one side of his bandages, revealing his glowing red eye locked on Chuuya.

“Looks like your power isn’t so strong after all.” The man smirked widely despite how his eye was shaking and unfocused. From so close up, All Might could even see veins in the young man’s eyeball expanding dangerously.

He was about to tell Eraser Head to stop when someone else beat him to it.

“Chuuya, enough.” The redhead jolted and looked back to his friend who had stood up.

Dazai used the back of his hand to wipe off a trail of blood dripping from the corner of his lips.

“Can you release him?” The brunet asked, looking up to All Might. “He won’t throw a tantrum anymore.”

“Who the hell’s throwing a tantrum, you suicidal maniac!!” The redhead shouted back, but indeed didn’t show any signs of lashing out.

From the corner of his eye, All Might saw Eraser Head snapping his eye shut. The boy must have stopped using his Quirk.

All Might carefully lowered the boy until his feet touched the ground before letting him go. He watched as the redhead moved to stand next to Dazai as if their dispute had never happened. The way the redhead stood close to the raven looked almost like a bodyguard, ready to protect his friend from any danger.

“Eraser Head, your eyes aren’t healed yet, you should go back out and get some rest.” All Might said to the younger man. The raven was covering his eye with one hand, giving him a nod as he walked away with Sir Nighteye guiding him.

All Might let out a small sigh of relief, glad that nothing had happened while noting down what the redhead had called the brunet.

Suicidal.

All Might gritted his teeth. He couldn’t imagine just what sort of hell these two boys had been through to make them behave as they did.

“Let’s put some ice on that!” Slidin' Go walked into the room with an ice pack. He crouched down, about to put the ice pack against the raven’s swollen cheek when the ice pack was snatched out of his hand by the redhead.

“Take another step closer and I’ll kill you.” He threatened darkly. Slidin' Go just smiled, putting his hands up to show he meant no harm and stepped back. They all knew what kind of hell these kids had been through. It was only natural for them to be wary.

Chuuya looked at the ice pack in his hand, then to Dazai’s bruised cheek. All Might watched his tiny face twisted into something he couldn’t quite figure out. Dazai seemed really happy all of a sudden, sticking his face over to Chuuya only to have the ice pack slammed into his face.

The blond let out a small snort. He couldn’t stop the smile lifting his face when he saw the two interact. There was no doubt in his mind that these two were very good friends. Then again, perhaps it was only natural. After all, these two children only ever had each other to rely on.

“Now then…” Dazai turned to the government official standing outside the room, observing them through the glass. “Shall we talk?”

Hearing that, the government official walked into the room and looked down at the two children. He opened his mouth, but before he could get a word out, Dazai spoke.

“Chuuya and I will go with you.”

“Young man!” All Might gasped. “Do you know what you are saying?”

Dazai paid All Might no mind and maintained his eye contact with the government official.

“Though you do realize that forcefully detaining children is a serious crime?” Dazai inquired. “If the media gets a word about this, how do you think that would reflect on you guys? There are many witnesses here. Do you think you can silence every single one of them when there are obviously so many people against what you are doing?”

The surprise on the man’s face melted into a deep frown as he looked Dazai up and down.

“Even if I willingly go with you, we’re still kids. They will just believe we’re kids that knew nothing of this world and that you tricked us.”

“…What are you trying to say?” The government official asked.

Dazai just smiled. “I’m helping you think of a solution.”

“Solution?”

“Solution that your higher-ups are clearly too inadequate to come up with.” Dazai chuckled. Although his tone was even and normal, the mockery in his words was as clear as day. Half of the Heroes and police force watched with their jaws dropped at the ten years old bargaining with the government official.

“Of course, if you were given permission to train us into Heroes by our dad, then it wouldn’t be a big deal.”

There were so many keywords in his sentence that no one knew how to react. Even if they did, their focus was all over the place.

“...Huh?” That was from a confused Chuuya.

“Dad?!” That was from a surprised All Might.

“You want to become Heroes?” The government worker looked between the two boys.

“What can I say? We were touched by these selfless Heroes that came to rescue us.” The brunet sighed, although his words were clearly weightless, without a hint of sincerity. If these people didn’t know any better, they would have thought the child was making fun of them. “Besides, if you go back to your superior reporting our desire to train under them to become Heroes, surely you’ll get a nice promotion.”

The man swallowed, already tempted. Yes, with the power the redhead displayed, he was undoubtedly powerful. If the two of them become Heroes, then not only would they not need to monitor these boys, they would even gain the strongest weapon against Villains!

“And by the permission of your dad?” He asked, shamelessly taking the bait.

“He’s right here, isn’t he?” Dazai looked over to All Might.

Chuuya followed Dazai’s gaze, also looking at All Might.

All Might…was dumbfounded—along with the rest of the people fortunate enough to witness this event.

“Wait, me?!” All Might shouted as he pointed at himself.

“All Might has kids?!” Midnight gasped from outside the room. Due to her supervising Chuuya the entire time, she missed out on the meetings between the Heroes and the government official.

“No!” All Might spluttered. “I don’t— I’ve never—”

The man was so flustered that he had to keep biting onto his tongue over and over, unable to come up with a proper explanation.

“We also want at least once a month visitation from our father and the right to call—”

“Hold on! Will you please excuse us?!” All Might jumped in and ushered the two kids to the corner of the room. He crouched down, his large body completely blocking the sight of the two boys and casting a dark shadow over them.

“Young Dazai! What is this about being your dad?!” He whispered with his large hands cupping the side of his mouth.

“Do you not want to be our father?” Dazai blinked innocently.

“No, that’s not what I mean, but it’s very sudden! I’m only in my thirties! To suddenly become a dad is a bit—”

“You’re in your thirties, what’s the problem?” The redhead retorted. “Or could it be that you don’t feel right to have kids because you’re a virgin?”

“Y-y-young man!! Who taught you that kind of language?!”

“You’re not a virgin?” Chuuya raised a brow at him. “Wasn’t that what you were going to say? I never had sex?”

“That’s not—”

“You shouldn’t do that, Chuuya~” Dazai leaned close to his companion. “And here I was trying to let him save face. Do you know how pitiful it is when a man in his thirties never even had sex?”

“I—”

“You should be grateful that we’re giving you the opportunity to start a family.” The brunet sighed.

“I—”

“Hey everyone!” Chuuya shouted for all of their attentions. He pushed aside All Might and headed to the other Heroes and police. “This old man here is a v—mph!”

The rest of Chuuya’s words were cut off thanks to a large hand covering his mouth.

“Of course I will become their father!” All Might shouted and let out his usual laugh, although it sounded weirdly strained - especially when large beads of sweat could be seen rolling down his face. “It would be my honour! AAAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!”

"All Might?!" All Might's sidekick gaped. His glasses slid down his face and clattered onto the floor.

“Let’s get the adoption papers, shall we?” Dazai walked out from behind All Might, smiling cheerfully at the government official.

The papers were brought rather quickly, much to everyone’s surprise. The government official was all too eager to hurry and finish the process so he could whisk the two children away. After signing the papers and a contract promising parental visitation once a month and unlimited calls, the job was done.

The Heroes watched the two children go, getting into the car and slowly vanishing from their sight. As the Heroes and police packed their things to leave, All Might finally found the time to go up to Eraser Head who was sitting in a chair. President Mic was there, tending to the bandages around his eyes.

When All Might got close enough, he could see the dried blood staining the man’s closed eyelid. It was the same eye he used to erase Chuuya’s Quirk.

“How is he?” All Might asked worriedly.

“He’ll be fine with a couple weeks of rest.” President Mic replied as he finished tying a knot on the back of his friend’s head

“That kid’s smart.” Eraser Head commented. “He knew I was trying to help him.”

All Might nodded. He noticed that as well. When Eraser Head activated his Quirk back then, he did it to show the government official that the boy’s Quirk was something they shouldn’t fear—that it was like any other Quirk that could be suppressed.

It was this action of the young Hero that made the government official lower his guard against the pair.

Even though All Might was flustered by the…virgin talk, he didn’t make his decision hastily. When he saw those two children lying together, he already felt the urge and desire to protect them. Although becoming a father hadn’t exactly been his plan, he also knew that it was something only he could do.

If he, the No.1 Hero, was to become those two children’s legal guardian, then he could become a shield for them. No one would dare to lay their hands on them as long as he was around.

But still...visitation once a month…

“I wonder what young boys like,” All Might wondered, not noticing the weird looks he was getting.

For starters, he should clear off a day in his schedule to see the boys!

▬▭▬ ▬▭▬ ✦✧✦ ▬▭▬ ▬▭▬

“This will be your room from now on.” The secretary said, opening the door as Dazai and Chuuya strolled inside. The two now-kids looked around the room that was about the same size as a hotel room with two beds and a bathroom. There was no window for them to see the outside as they were once again underground.

“Remember to wake up and get yourself ready at 8 o’clock tomorrow morning. Your clothes have been prepared and are in the closet.” Giving them the short explanation, the woman left, closing the door behind her and the two children could even hear the clicking sound of a lock being turned.

“I call dibs on the bed on the furthest side.” Dazai strolled into the room, looking around to admire their new living arrangement.

“Like hell, I’m taking that!” Chuuya snapped as he followed Dazai inside. His eyes narrowed at the vents, then he ducked down to look under the bed.

��Chuuya’s so mean, even though I always let chibi sleep on the bed while I slept on the floor back in the lab!” Dazai whined as he opened up the closet. He looked over the clothes stacked inside and ran his hands over the fabrics.

“Hah?!” Chuuya snarled, patting the blankets. Then he turned to the nightstand between the two beds. “I took most of the experiments and tests! Of course I get the bed!”

“That’s not true, I remember getting cut open! It hurts so much I thought I would die~”

“Then go—” Chuuya wanted to tell the other to die, but stopped moving entirely. Dazai had also paused as well, breath hitched as he waited for his companion to finish his sentence.

After a long while, Chuuya turned and walked into the bathroom. He came out five minutes later, blue eyes shifting to the brunet.

“So?”

“Nothing.” Dazai shrugged.

“Same here,” Chuuya grumbled while holding back a yawn. He was tired. His current body was too weak, yet he couldn’t let himself sleep like this. At the very least, they need to change out of these hospital gowns.

The redhead strolled to the closet and started flipping through the clothes.

“To not even bug the room…either they’re overconfident in their ability to lock us in, or they’re underestimating us because we’re children.”

“And? Which is it?” Chuuya snorted as he grabbed a t-shirt and pants.

“The latter.” Dazai’s response was swift.

“I see.” Chuuya slammed the closet door shut before turning to Dazai with a murderous glare. “You better fucking explain after I finish showering.”

With that, Chuuya stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

Dazai chuckled and called out, “Chuuya! I also need to take a shower too! Why don’t we take one together just like back in the lab?”

Click

The sound of the lock turning could be heard from the other side. Dazai wanted to retort about how a simple lock like this wouldn’t keep him out, but refrained from doing so. He leaned against the wall with a soft sigh and closed his eyes.

By the time both of them finished cleaning up, twenty minutes had passed.

They sat on one of the beds. Since their bodies had shrunk, the bed that was just big enough to fit a grown adult seemed luxuriously big to their current self.

Chuuya sat at one end, armed crossed over his chest while Dazai sat on the other.

“So?” Chuuya narrowed his eyes. “What’s with this lab? Where the fuck are we?”

“Didn’t chibi noticed?” Dazai pointed to the scars on his arms. “We’ve been experimented on. What’s the last thing you remembered?”

“After—” Chuuya paused before deciding to skip the unpleasant memory, “the next thing I know, I opened my eyes to your annoying face.” The redhead involuntarily glanced to the large swell taking up half of the brunet’s face. “Where the heck is this place?”

“The future.”

“…What?”

“When the doctor checked on me, I asked for the date,” Dazai replied. “We’re in the 25th century.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“If only.” Dazai smiled bitterly.

“Then what’s the deal with those people?!” Chuuya demanded, recalling some of the more…unique people. “Did the world get invaded by aliens or something?”

At that, Dazai burst out into laughter.

“Aliens!! Chuuya! I had no idea you believe in these kinds of things!”

“Shut up!” Chuuya yelled, face flushed in embarrassment as he too knew how ridiculous that sounded. But what other explanations are there for these alien creatures? “I’m being serious!”

“Well,” Dazai wiped away a tear that came out from laughing so hard. “Rather than invasion, I would say evolution. Do you remember that man with bloodshot eyes?”

“The one with the similar Ability as yours?”

“No, his power isn’t similar at all. You remember what his eye looked like, didn't you?”

“Yeah.” Chuuya frowned. When that man was using his Ability, his eyeball looked like it was going to burst, which made no sense. What kind of Ability strains the user like that? Sure, Chuuya’s was one of them, but that was only when he activated Corruption. Even when Ability users weren’t able to control their gifts, they would only bring harm to people around them, never themselves.

“My theory is that something happened in the past that caused humans to change. Humans gained supernatural powers similar to Ability and it merged with them in their bodies, becoming part of them genetically. They call these powers Quirks.” Dazai explained. “Those people in weird costumes you saw are called Heroes.”

“Like those western comics?” Chuuya received a nod from the brunet.

“From how that government official acted around them, it’s safe to say that Hero is an occupation in this era. If supernatural powers are considered ordinary, then the current society should be filled with people with individual powers. Since there are functioning police force here, these Heroes only exist for one reason—to deal with criminals that misuse their powers. If the people that use their powers for good are called Heroes, then people that misuse theirs are most likely called villains.”

“Let me guess, we’re victims of these villains?” Chuuya huffed, not liking any of this at all. “But if these powers aren’t Abilities, how did that guy nullify mine?”

“While you were asleep, I did a small test. My No Longer Human can fully nullify their Quirks just like ordinary Abilities. Maybe it’s the rule of this world, or maybe these bodies of ours contained the genes of these future humans. Our Abilities can affect Quirks, and Quirks can affect Abilities, but the latter has a certain limit. You saw how that man acted when he tried to cancel your Ability.”

“Yeah,” Chuuya nodded. Even he could tell that if he didn’t deactivate his Ability or if that man continued to suprress his Ability, his eyeball would have burst.

“Their powers are connected to them genetically whereas ours are not.”

“In other words, their powers are restricted and can’t be used to control ours, is that right?” Chuuya pretty much understood their situation now. “So? How did we get here?”

“I wouldn’t know.” Dazai shrugged. “By the time I came here, you’ve already activated corruption and flattened a mountain.”

“I what?!” Chuuya gaped. “Wait, if you don’t even know, then how did you talk as if you knew?!”

“It’s no brainers.” Dazai snorted. “Those Heroes were dropping hints everywhere. Only idiots like chibi wouldn’t be able to pick it up.”

And then, the brunet swiftly moved to the side to dodge a kick aimed for his head.

“Who are you to call me stupid?!” Chuuya raged. “And quit calling me chibi! Now that we’re kids again, I can still grow!”

“You know, I’ve heard that phrase a million times now. Don’t you get tired of saying it? Besides, if I’m right, then these bodies of ours are our original bodies. The fact that we kept our Abilities is proof. Just accept the fact that you’ll forever be 160 cm, Chuuya~”

“SHUT UP!” Chuuya roared as he smacked a pillow right into Dazai, knocking the brunet off the bed and tumbling painfully onto the floor.

“I’m still fucking angry at you!”

“…Yeah.” Dazai made no move to get up. “I killed you, after all.”

Hearing that, Chuuya’s face distorted in rage. He jumped off the bed and landed right on top of Dazai. He didn’t even bother softening the impact so Dazai let out a pained grunt as the petite body landed on his stomach.

Chuuya grabbed the brunet by the collar to pull his upper body up.

“Let’s be clear on one thing here. You. Didn’t. Kill. Me.” He slammed Dazai down, knocking his head against the ground. “Like hell I would die at the hands of a weakling like you! What I’m angry about is that you abandoned everything!”

Abandoned me—was left unsaid.

“Did you ever think of what would happen to the Port Mafia if you were dead?!”

“I did.”

“No, you didn’t!” Chuuya snarled. “If you had, you wouldn’t have selfishly jumped off the fucking roof!!”

“You were supposed to become the boss, Chuuya.”

Chuuya froze, staring wide-eyed at Dazai. The brunet no longer wore his usual mask on his face. Right now, his face was completely blank. His lifeless eyes stared back at Chuuya, reflecting nothing of their surroundings.

If possible, Chuuya felt even angrier. He grabbed Dazai’s collar again and pulled him up until their noses were lightly grazing.

“Don’t you dare think you can plan what path I take!” Chuuya snarled. “Who the fuck do you think you are to decide how I should live my life? Did I ever tell you I wanted your stinkin’ seat? Did I ever tell you I want to lead the Port Mafia? I didn’t, so don’t act all high and mighty and think you can arrange people’s life however you like!”

“Yeah…” Dazai smiled a little. He leaned forward until his forehead rested onto Chuuya’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

Chuuya stiffened, unable to believe what he heard. Did this bastard just…apologized?

“I’m so sorry, Chuuya.”

Chuuya was even more stunned when he felt wetness on his shoulder. This shithead was now crying? For the first time, Chuuya didn’t know what to do. This scheming bastard who happened to be his ex-boss in another life—was now weeping quietly on him.

Chuuya hesitated, but he leaned towards Dazai and wrapped his short arms around the other boy’s boney body. He frowned at how skinny the other was, though he himself was no different. He hugged him tightly, wordlessly providing his support as he looked up at the ceiling. He had no doubts that Dazai wouldn’t want to be seen in such a vulnerable state.

How did you die?—Chuuya wanted to ask Dazai, but he knew that he wouldn’t get an answer. Other than suicide, Chuuya couldn’t think of anyone with the ability to kill this slimy bastard.

“Hey, Chuuya…” Dazai spoke up around half an hour later. Chuuya hummed, letting the other know he’s listening.

“Let’s rebuild the Port Mafia.”

Chuuya’s jaw fell, not expecting to hear that.

“This time not as boss and subordinate, but as partners. What do you say?”

Chuuya looked down to Dazai, but he couldn’t see anything aside from the mop of brown hair. Very slowly, his open mouth morphed into a small smile.

Building the Port Mafia in a foreign era huh?

Suddenly, Chuuya didn’t feel so lost in this new world. If there was no place for them to return to, then they’ll just have to make one.

“The only partner I’ll accept is someone who will grow old with me. If you want to continue with that suicide of yours, then I’ll kill you right now.”

“Growing old huh?” Dazai nestled his face into the redhead’s neck, enjoying how Chuuya subconsciously tilted his head away to give him room. “Yeah…I think I can bear with that.”

Chuuya’s eyes flew wide in shock. Something inside him fluttered as he felt heat creeping up his cheeks. But soon, Chuuya remembered another major issue they had been overlooking until now.

“Wait…didn’t you tell those government dogs that we’re going to be Heroes?!”

▬▭▬ ▬▭▬ ✦✧✦ ▬▭▬ ▬▭▬

Knock knock

Kouyou gently opened the door, her red eyes softening at the sight of Dazai, sitting on the edge of the black coffin with his right hand reaching towards the person lying within. She walked into the room, stopping just far enough to not intrude into her boss’s space, but close enough for her to see the person inside.

She stared at the body that had been changed into a new set of black suit, yet even the finest materials cannot beautify the corpse. Not when the man sleeping inside the coffin was missing a huge part of his head.

Yet Dazai acted as if he couldn’t see that and just stroked the man’s left cheek.

“Boss, it’s time for us to bury the coffin,” Kouyou announced. She looked at Dazai who continued to sit there in a trance. The Executive was too used to this behaviour. Ever since Chuuya had died, he had become nothing but a hollow shell.

It wasn’t until Kouyou saw her boss like this that she realized the suicide attempts he made in the past was nothing but a joke. In the past, Dazai’s suicide attempts were for him to search for a meaning to keep on living.

Right now…right now, Dazai was truly intending to die. With every ticking second, with every breath he took in, Dazai had nothing but death on his mind. Just being alive right now must be so painful for him who craved death.

“Ane-san.” Dazai suddenly spoke as Kouyou bowed. “…I leave the Port Mafia to you.”

“…I understand.” The Executive dipped her head.

With a sigh, Dazai sat up and stared at the ceiling. Despite how thick the walls around this room were, he could hear the faint pitter-patter sound outside.

It had begun to rain.

Dazai smiled and turned to Kouyou.

“Thank you for all these years, ane-san—no, boss.”

“Ane-san will be fine.” Kouyou chuckled. A sad smile played on her lips as she looked at the face that was not much different from the child in her memory. She walked over to join Dazai and peered inside the coffin. The woman lifted her hand and gently placed it upon Chuuya’s folded ones. There was no warmth in those hands.

They were cold and hard.

“Perhaps one day, you two will meet again.” She whispered softly, withdrawing her hand. Giving Dazai one last look, she stepped out of the room and closed the door.

Dazai climbed into the coffin. It was cramped, but it was also just perfect as he held Chuuya within his arms. He then pressed a button inside the coffin and the lid started to close in.

Once this lid closes, it can never be opened again, be it from inside or outside.

“Sorry for the wait, Chuuya.” He whispered, gently kissing a lock of orange hair. This was the only part on Chuuya’s body that didn’t lose its lustre after his death.

“It’s been unbearable every day, even if it was just breathing…” He sighed, leaning onto the body, as if that way he would be able to feel the warmth that had once been there.

He slowly pulled out a pill from his pocket. Without any hesitation, he popped it into his mouth and swallowed it dry. He held onto Chuuya tightly, not wanting to let go even as life slowly left his body.

“If there is another life…I wouldn’t mind spending the rest of it with you, Chuuya.”

▬▭▬ ▬▭▬ ✦✧✦ ▬▭▬ ▬▭▬

Dazai opened his eyes and was greeted by the beautiful blue sky. It had been such a long time since he had dreams of the past—especially his past life. He stretched his arms over his head until he got some satisfying pops.

As he was trying to get his eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight, he heard the galloping sound of hoofs digging into the earth.

The brunet turned his head with a smile on his lips. He stared at the beautiful horse with brownish-red coat running towards him. Just before the horse was about to trample over him, the reins were tugged and the horse threw its head back, letting out a loud neigh as it came to a stop.

“About time you wake up.” The horse lowered its head to nibble on Dazai’s cloth, revealing Chuuya seated on the saddle.

“Hmm, I was having a lovely dream.” Dazai yawned lazily.

“What? Finally found your dream partner for your double suicides?”

“Whatever do you mean, Chuuya? If it’s my suicide partner, I’ve found him long ago~”

“Like hell I’ll commit suicide with you! I told you—”

“That we’ll die together from old age, isn’t that right?” Dazai smirked, enjoying the way the colours blossom over his partner’s cheeks.

Knowing he lost the argument and not wanting to continue to look at Dazai’s smug face, Chuuya gave his horse a kick. The horse let out another whine before it hopped over Dazai and began to run across the lush green grass.

Dazai put his fingers to his lips and whistled. A black mare soon came sprinting towards him from the distance. Without even waiting for the horse to stop, Dazai grabbed the rein and hopped on its back with grace. In no time at all, he caught up to his partner and the two raced along the cliffs of Oki Island.

Below the cliffs, where the violet waves smash into the rocks…were twenty students.

Each of them were clutching onto the rocks with their dear lives. Around their hips were black harnesses, tying them to one another through wires that were only half a meter long.

“T-this is impossible!” Ashido shouted through shallow breaths. “I don’t have any more strength! Can’t we take a break here?”

“Hang in there, Ashido-san! We’re almost there!” Yaoyorozu encouraged, panting as she looked at the weights locked around her wrists. These were the same weights the U.A teachers had used back in the final exam. Each of these weights bounding their wrists and ankles were adjusted to double the weight of their bodies.

“My hands feel like they’re burning up.” Uraraka winced at the stinging sensation in her palms, but didn’t let go of the rocks.

“Mine too,” Sero said as he looked towards his reddening hands.

“Everyone! We can take a break after just one more step!” Iida shouted from the center of the line. “Look! Just one more step and we’ll reach the center line Chuuya-san drew! We’re halfway up this cliff! Sato-kun, Kirishima-kun, can you hear me?!”

“Yeah!” Sato shouted from one side of the line.

“Let’s do this!” Kirishima shouted from the other end.

“ONE!” Everyone shouted and reached up at the same time to grab onto a rock.

“TWO!” They raised one foot and dug their toe into the cracks in the rocks.

“THREE—”

“KYAA!” A scream came from the right of the line.

“Ugh!” Tokoyami gritted his teeth while Shouji clenched even harder onto the rocks. The two of them were feeling the pull on their hardness as the person between then—Hagakure, fell off the cliff.

“What happened?!”

“Who fell?!”

“Is everything alright?!”

The others shouted, unable to see due to all of them being in a perfect line.

“Sorry!” Hagakure shouted as she hurriedly grabbed onto the rocks and pushed herself back up.

“Are you alright?” Shouji asked.

“Yeah…my foot slipped.”

“Be careful, some of the rocks are moist and slippery,” Tokoyami said.

“Thank you Tokoyami-kun, Shouji-kun!” Hagakure panted from both shock and exhaustion. The two boys could tell how much the girl was shaking from the weights around her wrists.

“Wait, that one is—!” Before Shouji could finish, Hagakure grabbed onto the edge of a rock that had cracks along the side. The moment the girl applied pressure to pull herself up, the rock came loose.

Hagakure squeaked as she fell back down. Shouji, who had seen it happen, reached out to grab onto her by instinct. However, this made the rock his other hand was clutching onto broke from the additional force.

Tokoyami had already braced himself and was using all of his strength to hold on and not to be dragged down. Ashido who was beside Shouji didn’t have that luck. Taken off guard, she wasn’t even given time to react before the strong pull on her hip ripped her off the rocks.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Aoyama beside Ashido yelped as he too was pulled down.

“Ah!” The next to follow was Yaoyorozu.

Fortunately, the chain stopped there since Bakugou was the one beside Yaoyorozu. His face was distorted and veins were practically sticking out of his arms and neck as he gripped onto the rocky walls.

The pull on his hardness was strong considering five people had fallen but together with Tokoyami, the two boys held on.

“Hurry and get the fuck up!” Bakugou barked and the five immediately found their footings again and reattached themselves to the wall.

Everyone let out a loud sigh of relief.

They already lost count of how many times they fell into the cold, merciless water like this. They finally made it halfway up the cliff. If they fell here, then they’ll really be doomed!

A violent gust blew by and the students automatically pushed themselves against the wall to protect themselves from the force of the wind.

“I swear…this is the worst torture out of all of the tortures those two devils put us through…!” Kaminari wept.

“You want to go back to Mt. Fuji again?” Jirou mumbled with a dark look on her face. It was obvious that to her, she would prefer doing their current training rather than that time back at Mt. Fuji.

“Compare Kabukicho to this is nothing…compare to Kabukicho, this is nothing…” Mineta chanted over and over like some sort of mantra, causing Kirishima and Kaminari who were beside him to give him a weird look.

“Seriously, what happened back then?” Kirishima was really curious, but Mineta didn’t hear him and continued his chant. Exactly what could traumatize Mineta to the point where he couldn’t even touch girls without freaking out?

“Come on everyone! One more time!” Iida gritted his teeth.

“ONE!” They all shouted and reached out their hands.

“TWO!” They each raised a foot.

“THREE!” With a push of their bodies, they moved forward by a single step at the exact same time.

Finally, the group arrived at the red line drawn over the rocks. But before any of them could take a breather and celebrate, a particularly strong wind swept by.

Mineta yelped as he was blown into the air, his flailing hand smacking Kirishima right in the face and index finger stabbing into his eye.

With a pained yelp, Kirishima was knocked off balance, falling down together with Mineta. Kaminari screamed as he latched on, but since Kirishima was the end of the line, there was no other person to help the blond support the weight of two people (or just one person really), which in the end dragged him down as well.

“Gero!” Asui shouted as she too fell.

“Asui-san!” Midoriya tried to hold on like Bakugou had. He managed to do so for a few seconds, but the rocks he was holding onto ended up breaking and he followed his classmates. Just like this, the students fell one after another like dominos. Not even Bakugou could stop it this time as they all plunge into the sea.

On the yacht, a group of people in black suits watched the scene unfold. Their faces were blank, showing no expressions as one of them reached a hand up to their earpiece.

“The kids have reached the halfway line.” He reported.

Inside the yacht, countless people sat in front of the monitors, each displaying the picture of a student with detailed information on their current health conditions and heartbeat.

“Midoriya Izuku, normal!” The woman sitting before the monitor with Midoriya’s picture called out.

“Iida Tenya, normal!” A man sitting in front of Iida’s information was quick to follow up. And soon, the entire room was filled with echoes of various people reporting the students’ statuses.

“Mashirao Ojiro, normal!”

“Asui Tsuyu, normal!”

“Uraraka Ochaco, normal!”

“Kirishima Eijirou, normal!”

“Kouda Kouji, normal!”

“Kyouka Jirou, normal!”

“Shouji Mezou, normal!”

“Hagakure Yoru, normal!”

“Katsuki Bakugou, normal!”

“Tokoyami Fumikage, normal!”

“Hanta Sero, normal!”

“Todoroki Shouto, normal!”

“Yaoyorozu Momo, normal!”

“Rikido Sato, normal!”

“Ashido Mina, normal!”

“Aoyama Yuga, normal!”

“Kaminari Denki, normal!”

“Mineta Minoru, normal!”

“The halfway line has been reached!” The woman that was the leader of the team announced after the group finished their reports. “As per the boss's orders, we will now commence stage two! Activate the speakers and prepare the submarine!”

“Yes ma’am!”

Below the boat, the speakers that were attached to the bottom began to emit a high-frequency noise consisting of sharp clicks and whistles. The sound travelled through the water and into the far distance, attracting the attention of a pod of orcas that were swimming by.

Upon hearing the sound, these orcas changed their directions and began to swim towards the direction of the call…

Above the cliff, Dazai pulled on his horse’s rein, coming to a stop as he gazed out at the vast ocean and sky.

The brunet inhaled as a breeze of wind blew by, carrying the salty scent of the sea.

“Hey, Chuuya!” He called, looking over his shoulder to Chuuya who was directing his horse over to the black mare. “What do you say we set up our picnic here?”

Chuuya hopped off his horse and walked to the edge of the cliff, not the slightest bit afraid of falling off. His blue eyes reflected the ocean glittering in the sunlight.

Dazai stared into those eyes, mesmerized.

“Yeah,” Chuuya smiled, looking back at Dazai. “It’s perfect.”

The brunet’s eyes widened before a bright smile lifted his lips.

“Chuuya…” He reached out a hand and took Chuuya’s, giving his hand a small squeeze.

The redhead felt something inside him flutter at the other’s tender touch, but these fluttering feelings died away the moment he heard the jingling sound. Blue eyes shifted down and immediately landed on the familiar chains wrapped around his wrist.

“A good dog shouldn’t walk around without his leash!”

“Fuck you!” Chuuya threw out a kick. The mood was just getting good, but this bastard had to ruin it!

“I already did~” Dazai sang, skillfully dodging the kick and ran off with Chuuya hot on his tail. The long black chain bounding the two of them jingled with their movement.

They ran down the hill, their laughter and screams of bloody murder carried away by the wind.

The two horses that were left behind on the cliff chewed on the lush green grass. When another breeze came from the direction of the ocean carrying a set of different screams, their ears twitched. They lifted their heads, momentarily looking around before going back to enjoy their lunch.

Today was another perfect day.

━»•» ❀ «•«━━━━━━━━

◅ PREVIOUS CHAPTER

━━━━━━━━»•» ❀ «•«━

AUTHOR'S NOTE ON AO3

#bsd fanfic #bsd crossover #soukoku #mha fanfiction #my hero academia #bnha crossover #dazai x chuuya

58 notes · View notes

bush-viper-cutie · 4 years ago

Text

The Pond

Pairing: young!severus & fem!reader

Word Count: 1,223

Rating: E for Everyone

Plot: Lonely and disliked Prince Severus Snape befriends a village girl in the forest just outside his castle’s woods.

Warnings: None

A/N: For Snape Appreciation Month, prompt 11: Snape is an actual prince. @snapeloveposts (Part 1??? I kinda wanna make a flash forward one shot of this :o maybe)

Posted: 6/24/20

Masterlist

~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~

Prince Severus normally spent most of his days in the woods outside the kingdom walls, walking through the forest looking for mushrooms, leaves, or the elusive biheaded orange rock slug. Everyday, while his brothers received lessons in dueling or ruling, he was sent out by his tutor to find his own ingredients for the potion of the day.

He wasn’t upset that his older siblings got most of the attention, not truly. He understood his oldest brother was heir to the throne, and that his next three brothers would inherit lands for them each to rule. His youngest older brother, born just one year before him, was the most liked in the village and was the most interested in politics and so his path was clear as well: a royal advisor to the soon-to-be King.

He, however, was the youngest brother, of age fourteen, and not at all liked by the village. They found him secretive because he didn’t like attending balls or festivals. They preferred the looks of his brothers, taking after his father, except they all had his mother’s nose whereas he looked like his mother except he had his father’s nose.

The contrast between them was so great he spent most of his life hiding away, hating the comments he would occasionally hear, “The runt of the litter.” He hated that word, “runt”, like a failed attempt at a sophisticated and attractive Prince. A failed attempt at someone useful to the Kingdom.

He sat down on a log and rested his elbows on his knees. His tutor expected him back in an hour with all the necessary ingredients to start on a new potion, but he could barely walk a few feet without forgetting his purpose and thinking about the outdoor ball he was supposed to attend at nightfall.

Normally the King and Queen excused him from events, seeing as he wasn’t much missed ever, but this time they were adamant about his attendance. The towns people were starting to spread rumors about him, and that apparently wouldn’t do for King Tobias or Queen Eileen.

The night will go terribly.

. . .

The castle gardens had been transformed and people from all over the kingdom were in attendance, walking through the rose bushes, smelling the tulips, and dancing in the center as the band played summertime songs that made even the blue birds sing along.

His brothers were out talking to a group of noblemen from an allied kingdom while he sat by his mother’s side next to her throne. He took out his potions book and reread the ingredients and their description from that day’s lesson.

The ball went on as expected, and the village people seemed satisfied at his attendance, only giving him the occasional sneer or squinty-eyed look. Nosy bastards. As the sun set it was getting harder to read, even with all the dancing flame balls above their heads.

He headed behind the gardener’s shed and sat on a stump, looking up at the top of the trees, wondering what it was like to always be the last to feel the sun’s warmth as it dipped beneath the earth. If trees could talk back, he’d lose his voice talking to them… or perhaps his voice would disappear from underuse, knowing he would rather listen to their ancient stories. He never had anything worth saying anyways.

There was a rustling in the bushed up ahead and a cute girl with shoulder length brown hair came out, covered in pine needles and leaves, carrying two stones. He quickly stood and winced in regret, seeing how terribly scary it must be to have a shadowy stranger jump out from seemingly nowhere.

She recovered from her jump and bowed, realizing who stood before her, “Prince Severus! I’m so sorry… I-I was just exploring…”

Severus nodded. He didn’t know what to say to her. He barely spoke to his own family, let alone strangers, and even less rarely pretty girls with plum color lips and cheeks as pink as rose petals. He stammered trying to say a mixture of ‘Hello’ and ‘It’s alright’, saying something along the lines of “Hitso,” and trailing off.

She laughed, “You have a beautiful pond back there.”

He nodded, remembering the one; the fish in it glowed like soft stars. “Did you leave because it got dark?”

“Yes. The fish seemed to put their lights out and I thought it would be best to leave just before I couldn’t see my way back…” She looked down at her hands and held out the two rocks, “These were on the pond’s edge and… I wanted to take a memento.”

Severus noticed their green and blue shades, “Their great… Did… Did you know the pond glows again after the sun has set?”

She smiled, “Does it really?”

“Yes. I can show you… The toads glow like suns on the rocks and logs, trying to attract the mosquitos.”

She set the rocks down on the stump and slid her arm around his, “Lead the way, then.”

Severus lead her deep into the forest, wand held out for light as the woods turned dark. Once it was pitch black her fingers pressed into his arm, but he was careful with every step he took and called out roots before they even became visible.

He took her to the spot. His favorite spot. The smooth stone by the pond’s edge that rested between two cherry blossom trees. In all of the woods no one could encounter any tree that didn’t have thick brown trunks and dark green leaves, except for these two trees. He often thought of the trees as guardians of the pond, but they were only reachable by one path.

She gasped when she saw them, their petals illuminated on the water’s surface by the distant glow of croaking toads. The moon reflected bright white and the petals danced all around it, swirling with the ripples.

Before finding the pond, Severus always felt the forest was silent and eerie, but any time spent by the pond would teach anyone different. The rustles and broken twig sounds could never maintain their creepiness after witnessing all types of creatures venture out to the pond to play and tussle with their friends and family.

They sat on the rock and remained quiet, watching how the toads stuck their tongues out to catch the unsuspecting bugs and critters that dared to invade their space. He kept looking over at her and drummed on his knees.

His mouth opened and released his thoughts unfiltered, “Would you like to be friends?”

She smiled for a second, but it vanished as the fire behind her eyes died out, “I’m just a village girl… You can’t be seen with me. It’s not proper.”

Severus looked down at his fingers, “Well, I’m hardly seen at all.”

“Then let’s meet here again, every night,” her smile was as bright as her eyes again.

“I’ll make a trail for you, from the village’s forest entrance to here. I’ll make it safe for you to follow at night,” Severus’ excitement got the better of him and his voice was the loudest it’s been in months.

“In that case, I’d love to be friends with you,” she held out her hand like they were sealing a deal.

He shook it gladly.

~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~

111 notes · View notes

alpaca-writes · 3 years ago

Text

Mystics, Chapter 27

When Arch becomes hired on at Mystics by the strange shopkeeper Lyrem Nomadus, everything seems to be going well- in fact, their life nearly becomes perfection. Soon enough, however, Arch realizes that perhaps not everything is as perfect as it seems….

Read Chapters 1-26 and more HERE

Taglist: @myst-in-the-mirror, @livingforthewhump

CW: Drugs and drug mentions, manhandling, swearing, violence, and gore mention

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

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: TEENAGE WASTELAND

Arthur remembered well how to find Benji’s house. He had to pick up Arch from the narrow condo a few times in the past. They would always emerge from there a little bleary eyed and tipsy. He never said anything to Charlotte. Not once. To him, it was just a normal part of the teenage experience. He’d try to sober them up and send them home with a good enough excuse that their little bender would be over-looked as an innocent sleepover- without the sleep.

Persephone had used all of her remaining strength to launch him back into the mortal world, and Charlotte would have to remain behind for now- until they were able to open a door to the Labyrinth from the Underworld.

At least he wouldn’t have to worry about his sister. She would be safe with the gods.

At least Persephone dropped him in the middle of the city this time. His first visit plunked him in the middle of abandoned farmland and it took too much time to steal a truck into the city to kill Lyrem. He ended up finding Arch in the back alley instead. It felt like it was only yesterday he was stabbed in the leg while trying to rescue them.

The creaking of a window shutter opening nearby filled the courtyard with a familiar Bob Dylan song and the poor mimic of a kid trying to sing along to it. Ballad of a Thin Man, and it was definitely Benji.

Arthur walked up to the window, feeling like there was nothing that would stop him from getting to Arch and he rapped on the open shutter.

“Benji!”

The drifting smoke and strong skunk smell made Arthur back off from the window again. Benji didn’t hear him.

“And somebody points to you and says, ‘It's his’”

“Benji!!”

“And you say, "What's mine?" and somebody else says, "Well, what is?"”

“BENJI!”

“And you say, "Oh my God! Am I here all alone?!"

At this point, Arthur stuck his head through the window, and watched him in the corner high as a kite with a tall bong sitting on a table in front of him. The boy continued singing and acting out the lyrics with impeccable quality of a stage performer.

“But something is happening and you don't know what it is

Do you… Mr. Jones?”

At the last line, Benji turned toward the window to see Arthur’s scraggly face, impatient and red as a brick with the anger of not being heard. Benji jumped back, eyes wide.

“Benji, finally! I’ve been calling you from outside!”

“Dude,” Benji swallowed, growing pale and looking sickly. “Not again man, I don’t know what drug you forced into me, but I do not want anymore.”

Arthur scrunched his face, “what are you talking about?”

Benji shut off the music from his phone, and approached the window wearily.

“Look man, I know you and Arch are close so I’m not gonna play this game with you. I don’t have any, and I don’t deal opiates. I’m not telling you who does, either. You gotta get clean.”

Arthur hopped up, and popped himself up through the window. Jumping down, he landed in a pile of dirty laundry.

“I’m not here to deal,” he explained, “I need your help with something.”

“I said I don’t wanna be the guinea pig for your shitty mushrooms, dude! Get out!” Benji opened his bedroom door. If he needed to make a break for it from the crazy man, he would.

“I’m not trying to give you drugs!” Arthur reached out, and pulled Benji in by the arm. “Last night at prom you were sent to a different world. I need you to help me get there.”

Benji was plopped down on his old bed, and he didn’t try to move any further. He rubbed his arm where Arthur had held him and massaged the bruises that he had started forming. This man was crazy; he was insane and his timing was WAY off.

“Prom… was like, a week ago, dude,” he said meekly. “And I don’t know what you’re talking about. I got super high that night and I saw some really crazy shit, and I don’t want to think about it anymore.”

Arthur sighed and scratched the top of his head, only then realizing how disgusting his hair had become. He probably didn’t smell too great either.

“Look, kiddo, I’m really sorry that you’ve been dragged into this- but right now, I need you to listen to me.

Arch was taken by that creature that I lit on fire. That wasn’t a bad trip, it really happened. And now I need to get to where Arch is. The only place I can think of that they were sent is the same place that you went that night at prom. That’s the working theory, anyway. I’m not giving up on it.”

Benji interrupted. “But I don’t… I don’t understand… I know that there was a point in time I got really muddy… or I fell into a puddle of oil or crude or something sick like that, but…”

His nails lifted toward his teeth, and he started biting between words. His breaths shortened.

“Nah, nah man. I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

Arthur nodded. He couldn’t expect Benji to understand or believe him, so he gave up. Instead, he focused his energies toward creating the portal. Whether Benji had believed him or not, shouldn’t matter. The kid was still sent to that realm whether he chose to remember it or not.

“Dude?”

Arthur’s eyes were closed, and he was holding out his hand to hopefully create the portal as Benji watched on.

“Dude! I told you to get out”-

Nothing was happening yet, but Arthur continued to concentrate the best he could with Benji’s distracting shouts. He grabbed Benji’s arm, hoping that it would be enough.

“DAD HELP! There’s a crazy junkie in my room!”

Shit. Arthur didn’t have any more time. He broke his concentration and wrapped a hand over Benji’s mouth to stop his yelling, but it was too late. Footsteps that were loud and heavy started pounding down the hall from the kitchen.

“Fuck!” he shouted out. He released Benji reluctantly, and his face was splattered with regret. He turned back toward the window. Instead of seeing the trees and the grass and the cars lining the street, he saw black. A void into the next realm that was just large enough for him, and it was shrinking.

“Benji? Everything okay bud?”

Benji froze. As he had turned to show his father the man who had tormented him, he saw the pitch-black void that had erupted in his room and the man standing before it, hesitant to step into it. The wide shouldered man who was Benji’s father pulled his son away and stepped back. Neither of them, completely able to comprehend what was in front of them.

Arthur stood still in front of it, fearing the way forward. Then one hand emerged along with another. Grabbing Arthur by the shoulders, they pulled him in, and he was finally consumed by yet another void.

He fell, crashed into the dark glass that carpeted the expansive land of rolling hills and flatlands. Arthur only hoped he had ended up where he needed to be, and that the hands that pulled him through were at least, friendly ones.

Supporting himself with his arms, he looked up from the ground and saw a familiar set of legs standing in front of him. Then one of them kicked out, landing into his side and he fell again, this time, laying on the ground completely. After wincing through the sudden blow, he blinked, seeing the last of the void turn to nothing and a deep orange sky took its place. He groaned, clutching his ribs.

“That, was for stabbing me,” Lyrem’s face came closer into view as stood over Arthur.

Arthur wasn’t really in the mood to argue with the dead man, but he didn’t seem to care terribly.

“Worth it,” he mustered, and rolled back to where he was before.

“And you can finish that sentence by thanking me for saving you from the Depths of Despair,” Lyrem sniffed. He looked around, mildly paranoid that Paimon wouldn’t be far behind.

“I’ll thank you when I’m good and dead,” Arthur stood, brushing himself off, and pulled some of the glass from his calloused fingers. “For now, I need to find Arch and bring them home.”

“Not so simple a deed-” Lyrem said simply. He turned, heading towards the mouth of an open cave. But Arthur had different ideas, and pulled the old man up close, by the collar of his shirt until they were nearly nose to nose. He growled into his face, but Lyrem was hardly put off by the close contact.

“Don’t fuck around with me, because I am not in the mood!” Arthur studied the man’s face as it was still inscrutably unfazed.

“Listen very carefully, Arthur. Arch trusts Paimon now- quite possibly more than they trust me or you. I’ve been here long enough to see that their bond has strengthened. We need to play this wisely or else Arch will become Paimon’s next plaything. He is too strong for either of us to defeat on our own,” Lyrem spoke calmly, lowering his voice until it was just a little more than a whisper. “We need Apollo.”

Arthur pushed him away and pulled out the jar of holy water from one of his cargo pockets.

“Arch wouldn’t trust a demon more than me,” he said with confidence.

“Ah- Paimon isn’t a demon.” Lyrem countered. He straightened his shirt collar and pointed toward the jar in Arthur’s hand. “He’s a god. And you would be wise to put away the jar of lynx urine before you spill it on yourself.”

Arthur looked down at the jar. It was a tinge yellow. He scoffed, exhausted though he was of talking. He unlatched the top, popping the rubber seal and sniffed. He grimaced, and held it far from his nose.

“A god? And hold on- this is lynx piss?” Arthur questioned. He latched it again. Lyrem didn’t seem to be lying. He seemed to be quite sure of himself, in fact. “Why… Why did you have a jar of lynx piss in your back room?”

Lyrem waved him off.

“I needed it to summon a Goddess”

“Why were you summoning a Goddess with lynx piss?”

“Because my wife had cancer”

Arthur stared at him blankly until Lyrem decided to explain himself in slightly more detail.

“The urine is solidified into a crystal under several moon phases and then engraved with- you know what”-

Lyrem hushed him at this point, wondering if it would be easier to just put him asleep and drag him to Paimon himself. He thought better of that and ushered the man nearer to the mouth of the cave. Arthur placed the bottle inside his pocket again.

“If you want Arch to come out of this alive, then you must follow my lead. Paimon is powerful here and if we want to avoid suspicion, then we must play the parts convincingly. Starting,” he said, poising himself, “with this.”

“What? With wha”-

Arthur received a blow to the side of his head. One strong enough that it forced him to keel over onto his side, and before he had any time to recover, Lyrem’s knee connected with the front of his face, knocking him flat on his back. He wheezed out.

“You… asshole!”

“Nice and bloody just how Paimon likes,” Lyrem winced a bit as he walked around his backside and rounded him. Finding the jeweled knife on his belt, Lyrem took it away from him. “I know you would do anything for Arch- that is the one redeeming quality of yours.”

Next, he pulled up to Arthur’s right side as he was busy nursing his nose. Lyrem licked his lips and then pressed a foot down into his thigh. Loud, agonizing howls filled the air, and Lyrem relished in it. He didn’t let up until his was certain his leg had fallen back into disrepair.

“But the question, I think that is on everyone’s mind, Arthur,” Lyrem picked him up, and dragged him forward. “-is whether or not Arch would do anything for you.”

Lyrem lifted up his eyes to the opening. Seeing the figure of Paimon stepping through the threshold, he grinned wickedly.

“I believe I’ve found a little gift from your uncle, and Arch’s next carving project.”

Paimon tilted his head, hiding his excitement with a smirk of mild amusement and crouched down. In his left hand he presented Arthur’s strained looks with his own bowie knife.

Arthur shook as the knife approached his face, threatening to make the first cut deeply against his cheekbone- but Paimon pulled it away just in time. Arthur let out a relieved, heavy breath and stared down at the obsidian carpet as the sweat dripped off his temples. He heard the gritty voice of Paimon above him.

“I think we’ll have to place a little bet.”

“Oh? What are you thinking?” Lyrem asked, adjusting his collared shirt around the nape of his neck.

“I bet you that Arch can carve out his heart in five minutes or less,” Paimon proposed, “blindfolded.”

Arthur’s head snapped up in alarm, eyes wide and blinking through blood.

Lyrem raised an eyebrow, “and if they fail? If they take longer than five minutes?”

Paimon considered all of the things in the world that Lyrem could want. He wanted the bet to be interesting, after all. Taking a tour of Mount Olympus, giving him a vial of water from the fountain of youth, or bringing him Phillip as a fun little reward would be all great and wonderful ideas but-

“Let Arch go…” Arthur interjected, “If they can’t do what you say in five minutes or less, then let them go- Back to Earth and back to their real life.”

Lyrem hesitated- not something that he often did. His eyes darted to the man and up to Paimon, gauging his reaction. Would Paimon take it?

It wouldn’t be so easy, would it?

Paimon held a finger to his lips in contemplation, then swiftly brought a hoof down on Arthur’s back, forcing him into the jagged slices of volcanic glass. He grunted and seethed into the ground.

“I accept the bet, although it will take me some time to decide what I want when I win; when Arch succeeds well beyond my expectations and rips your heart from your chest,” Paimon smiled. “Oh, you would have been so proud, Arty. I do wish I had taken a picture for you of what they did to young Marcus… For now, I’ll have you locked in a cell until I make up my mind about what I want.”

Paimon lifted his hoof off of Arthur’s back. He let out a sigh of relief in that there was at least some hope for Arch after all.

3 notes · View notes

nadiaportia · 4 years ago

Text

Prompt 1 - Hometown: “Never Over”

For @arcana-echoes

Summary: A partisan on the run returns to their roots and with it the guilt over their family’s fate.

Word count: ~2000

Warnings for mentions of arson, death and war.

Considering it’s a tad depressing, I feel like “enjoy” is the wrong word but you know what I mean. And yay for this being the first thing I write for The Arcana in months and feel comfortable with posting! I went with a more flashback-esque approach than I originally intended to and hope it somewhat works out.

They reached Valanguer in the late afternoon, the sun already being more than midway on her journey to the horizon.

A group of people were lounging in the shadows of a large strawberry tree, the one just outside of the village. They saw them approach, but didn’t get up from their comfortable seats. A woman wore the sandy uniform of the Queen’s Men, but that didn’t necessarily have to mean something. It was most likely stolen from a dead corpse and paraded around like a trophy. Some Queen’s Men didn’t stand behind Jacinta’s words or those of her butchers. Ultimately that mattered little to Deirdra, to most of the people who have lost someone at the Loyalists’ hands, but in the moment that might’ve helped them not getting caught and sent to prison.

“There’s a hole in the jacket, right in the sternum.” Eugeni said to Pau, but loud enough for the rest of them to hear.

“Trash’s already been taken out, then.” Renée murmured grimly and kicked a rock out of her path.

“Told ya, I didn’t see one single llagosta the entire day I was scouting here. They don’t come back to places which they already ransacked. Folks here got lucky though, their village looks better than the one a few days away from here. That place was burned to the ground, nothing but scorched earth.”

Deirdra swallowed and tensed up. They didn’t slow their step though, they knew what they had agreed to. They could’ve chosen to go with Arnau and Lluïsa and seek refuge in the forest but when Rut had come back with the news of the village being free of Loyalists, they knew that this is where they had to be - at least one more time, before death came either at the hand of a firing squad, a bayonet, a wound that wouldn’t close up with the help of magic or get infected regardless how much it was taken care of. Living in a dreamworld where home still looked like home wasn’t what Deirdra wanted.

Something passed by their legs and rubbed itself against them.

Enkidu was looking up at them, his beady eyes so dark and yet warm that Deidra felt themself taw a bit. They bent over and picked the marten up, gently stroking his fur and holding him close to their chest.

Renée was the only one who approved them, perhaps the only one who felt at comfort doing so but Deirdra felt the others’ worried gazes on their back. Some of them had been in the same position, but regardless of that they all felt with them.

She didn’t say anything but just gently took Deidra`s wrist, caressing it with her thumb. A silent consolation, as reassuring as saying You’re not alone out loud.

The fields where the farmers would grow wheat had been left untouched, or maybe they had already recovered. It has been two years. Everything could’ve happened. Papá had said nothing of burning fields in the letters he, like many incarcerated sympathizers, smuggled out of the prisons where they sat in. It might’ve happened after they took him away. Maybe a villager would know more.

Deirdra had thought of the possibility of someone recognizing them. The marks on their face could be a giveaway, they and Jaume had been the only ones in Valanguer who had them. Maybe the villagers would assume they were from one of the cities, and they might not even recognize them, they had a growth spurt and perhaps the dark blue hair dye was enough to throw anyone off.

Truth be told, Deirdra was wishing to not be confronted. It might be unbearable and make the experience more real. They had come back to look at the city, not to have someone discover that a lost child came back from the dead.

Windows were opened cautiously when the group entered the village, and Rut was right; most houses still stood.

Those that didn’t stood out even more.

Two old men were playing a card game on a shaggy table in front of a house, they looked up curiously when Deirdra and the others passed by them.

An old woman peered out a door and immediately closed it with a bang as soon as she saw their dark green uniforms.

Deirdra thought for a moment about potentially being ratted out by Loyalist supporters and forced themself to calm down. Unless the old woman had younger relatives, she wouldn’t be running out to meet the Queen’s Men. They had been gone for some time, or at least that’s what they hoped.

A young man came around a corner with quick paces. His dark curls clung to his forehead and a scar split his lower lip. His nose looked like it had been broken a couple of times, and his brown eyes were steely - but not exactly unwelcoming.

“Greetings, soldiers, Welcome to Valanguer. Are you passing through or looking for a place to rest?”

Llorenç was the son of the mayor, a few years older than Deirdra. Papá would’ve said whether or not he had been a good student, Mamá would’ve talked about everything he had been up to as a free time.

Pau took up word, as the unofficial leader of the group due to being the most experienced and oldest.

“Greetings. Depends on whether your village is safe or not. My comrades and I would love some rest but if it’s not meant to be, then we will search for our luck in the next village.”

There was no ‘next village’. Rut had told them all so just a few minutes ago.

Llorenç knew that too.

“Would a night be enough? I assume you’re on your way to the capital.”

“Yep.”

“We should talk inside my home, please follow me.”

As Llorenç led them down the street and to the mayor’s house, he introduced himself. He has been acting mayor since last year.

“Last winter some Queen’s Men from the capital came down here. Looking for insurgents and sympathizers. They took the mayor to prison for supposedly providing them with aid and food.”

His mother. Deirdra didn’t give their condolences, they didn’t tear their eyes from the ground. They thought looking at what the war had done to home would be hard to bear but not as hard as it was in reality. It was easier to bow your head and see the dirt that was the same everywhere. And yet they saw the fountain, a ruin of what it had been before where the children used to play when the summers were particularly hot.

The mayor’s house was small, smaller than Renée’s home had been back in the capital, and not all fifteen could fit in the room that served as the mayor’s office. Pau motioned for Rut and, after a brief moment of hesitance, Deirdra to come along with him. They passed Enkidu to Renée who gently stroked his head and followed Pau inside while the others remained outside.

Llorenç’s eyes hung on them for a moment, but there was no flash of recognition in them. He poured himself and his visitors fermented arboç juice.

“I personally have no love for the Queen’s Men. Filthy pillaging murderers, all of them, but the ones who do it because their lives in the city were too boring… those bastards are the scourge upon this land.” He sighed. “But not all people in here think like I do, even in villages like these there are some sympathizers for the Loyalist cause -- even if that “cause” is just killing rebellious youths.”

Deirdra felt a knot in their stomach. The arboç juice tasted bitter despite its sweetness. Jaume had been such a rebellious youth, and how had his story ended? With a hole in the back of his skull, the most cowardly way to kill someone.

“You leave at sunrise. The Queen’s Men torched the school building that same winter and we don’t have the resources to rebuild it, but it should provide enough shelter for the night.

A shiver crawled down Deirdra’s neck and spine and instead of listening in on what the mayor had to say, they focussed on the flavor of the arboç. They had never particularly liked it but now it was a welcome memory of days long gone that would never return.

They left Llorenç’s home by the time the sun was already kissing the horizon. The sunset was beautiful to behold, the colorful hues overlapping perfectly and fading from orange to red to pink to purple to dark blue. If one looked up, the ruins of Valanguer weren’t visible anymore.

Deirdra walked the streets with their companions, both giving them a worried look but not daring to approach the issue.

“It looks better than some other places we’ve been to.” Rut finally said slowly and earned a sharp look from Pau.

“Don’t wander off too far and-”

“Look out, just in case. Don’t be up to any bullshit. I know.”

The both gave each other a look but let them be. Without another word Deirdra turned around and left them behind.

Valanguer was small, so it didn’t take a lot to reach their destination, but given how often Deidra stopped to look at the houses, they had to admit to themselves they were stalling quite mercilessly.

Some houses were deserted, the broken windows and kicked-in doors poorly repaired. Those that weren’t reminded them of turtle shells, a refuge where its inhabitants could lock themselves in until danger had passed. The Queen’s Men probably passed by a lot more often than they had at first thought -- maybe they had just left, or were already on their way. Valanguer was a two day trip away from a small town that was known to be full of Loyalist sympathizers, it was a surprise the surrounding lands weren’t infested with llagostes.

They had left nothing of where the Margalit-Araya used to live. In a village that was burnt to the ground, one blackened ruin didn’t stand out a lot, but here, where mercy had prevailed (until now that was), it stuck out like a sore thumb. There must’ve been nothing left to salvage, and Deirdra felt actual pain at the thought of what had all been lost in the flames. They stood in front of the ruins of their childhood home for a long time, refusing to turn away in an act of self-imposed torture.

Maybe if they hadn’t left on a whim that night and stayed instead they would’ve been able to take both Papá and Mamá away from here, even if it would’ve ultimately been against their wishes because leaving Valanguer, their home, left leaving behind their lives and leaving behind Jaume, and especially the latter was something neither would have wanted in their sentimentality. And where had they all ended up? Either dead, in prison or on the run, from both those responsible for their -- everyone’s, because they were hardly the only ones -- misery and their own guilt.

Footsteps made them twitch and just from the sound of it, they knew who it was.

“The others said I should leave you alone but I don’t think that’s the right thing to do.”

Renée’s hand rubbed their back and Deirdra felt her put her head against her shoulder.

“This isn’t how I wanted you to see my home.” Their throat felt dry, like sandpaper, but also surprisingly steady. Deirdra was glad to not feel the need to cry.

“I’m so sorry.” Renée’s lips gently touched their temple and her hand, rough and with calluses, took a hold of Deirdra’s. “When this is over--” She paused, unsure of what to say.

Deirdra turned to look at her and allowed Renée to caress their face, wrap her arms around their neck and pull them close in a hug.

When this is over. They all talked a lot about how things would be when this would be over. Everything destroyed would be repaired, Queen Jacinta chased out of the country and back to her Calpacian liege lords, tail between her legs like any good vassal, and the Orioli would be truly free.

But for Deirdra it wouldn’t be over. And they had the feeling that it would never truly be.

#arcana eotp #my writing #deirdra margalit #the arcana

10 notes · View notes

marshmallow-phd · 5 years ago

Text

Midnight Hours

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Wolf!AU

Pairing: Sehun x Reader

Summary: For you, being a good witch was easier said than done. Something dark was lurking inside of you and the others knew it. When you’re forced to tag along with Soomi and help a local wolfpack face a coming evil, you’re sent on a path that breaks into a crossroads. While you struggle with your inner demons, could the wolf Sehun be the key to your ultimate fate?

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13 I 14 I 15 I 16 I 17 I Final

You swallowed thickly. This was exactly what the mothers feared: you losing control. And being found out by others. Would the pack kick you out now? Would they fear you? Hate you? Nothing else seemed like a better idea in that moment than to simply disappear like the smoke from the still smoldering floor.

But you were stuck there in that room, with countless pairs of eyes staring at you with emotions that ranged from curiosity to confusion to fear.

“It was just an accident,” Soomi insisted, coming to your rescue when you still couldn’t find the words. She rushed over to your side, crouching down and putting her hands on your shoulders in a protective manner.

“An accident?” Kris scowled. His eyes flickered over to the circular burn pattern around the bed. “This looks a little precise to be an accident.”

“Soomi, is this one of the powers you were talking about?” Junmyeon asked suddenly. Your eyes went wide as you whirled around to face the one person who you thought would never tell. It was against her character to go against the wishes of the coven.

Soomi looked at you with guilt. “Someone had to know, in case something like this happened,” she explained. To Junmyeon, she nodded. “But this has never happened before. Not in her sleep.”

“Wait, so (y/n) made the fire?” Jongdae exclaimed. “While sleeping?”

“That is both terrifying and impressive,” Baekhyun commented.

“Wait,” Tao looked at the others frantically, never letting his gaze settle on you, most likely out of a small amount of fear, “so what exactly can she do?”

Soomi answered for you, which made you feel relieved that you didn’t have to speak up. You were still in shock from the fire… and the vision. “(y/n) was born with the ability to manipulate the elements. It’s rare among witches and… it’s not the easiest thing to control.”

Kris looked over at Junmyeon. “Don’t you think that you should have shared that with the rest of us, especially since she’s staying in our house? With Mei?”

“She would never hurt any of us,” Junmyeon defended. You were thankful that at least one of the alphas was on your side. Even if you actually tried, you were sure you wouldn’t have been able to support yourself properly.

“I wouldn’t exactly call her powers ‘under control’,” Kris spat back.

Soomi shook her head, her protective grip on your shoulders tightening. “They’ve never surged like this before. A splash of water here and there and-”

“Splash of water?” Baekhyun’s eyes grew wide along with a mischievous smile. “Was that you at the restaurant?”

“The restaurant?” Soomi looked to you. “What happened at the restaurant?”

Everyone was staring, waiting for answers. Some you had, some you didn’t. The pressure and the tension brought you back to when you were just a child, brought before the mothers of the coven, the first time your powers manifested.

Fire. It was always fire. The first time had terrified you. It wasn’t obvious – in your eyes, at least – that it had been you to cause the candle flames to surge and grow until Mother Cypress’ ceiling caught fire as well. It was put out before any true damage could be done, thankfully, but it didn’t end there. The other kids had pointed to you as the culprit. You didn’t understand. All you had done was cry and yell. Ronin had stolen your favorite stuffed animal and refused to tell you where he’d hidden it. Next thing you knew everyone was running and screaming because of the candles. Not too long after, the mothers had figured out just how different you were.

And here you were again, surrounded by accusatory stares mixed in with fear of the unknown. What else could you do besides jump to your feet and run out the door? In your mind, there was no other option. And no one stopped you. Several of the wolves even jumped out of the way, perhaps scared that you’d set them aflame if they didn’t.

Outside, the unexpected chilly air stabbed at the exposed skin of your arms and legs. Almost immediately, your teeth started to chatter. It seemed the weather was finally saying goodbye to the last bit of summer and fully transitioning into fall. Which went the blood moon was getting closer as well. Even with the heavy cover of clouds in the sky, you could still see the faded orange of the sun rising. It was morning already.

Too cold to go any further, you sat down in the dewy grass, the water adding to your icy state. But you didn’t move. Part of you hoped that maybe you would simply freeze over in that spot, a permanent statue that no longer had to deal with the cards life had handed you on the day of your birth. Burying your face in your knees, you willed the water around you to come over you and solidify in an attempt to become that statue. As per usual, your so-called “power” ignored what you wanted. They only seemed to want to cause chaos instead of obeying your orders.

Was that their true purpose? Were they really meant for chaos? The mothers had tried to keep you on the road of light magic, of good, but what if you simply weren’t made for it? What if your destiny was to take the other path and all this effort was simply prolonging the inevitable? Could that be what the visions had been trying to tell you all along?

Something warm suddenly fell onto your shoulders, causing you to flinch. In a glance you saw an oversized jacket now covered you as protection from the cold. The owner of the clothing item stood in front of you, his hand out as if waiting for you to take it.

“Come on,” Sehun said softly.

You pulled your arms in tighter to your chest in defiance. “I’m not going back inside.”

“I’m not taking you back inside,” he countered. The fact that he continued to be unfazed by your snappy attitude was not lost on you. But he already knew, didn’t he? He already knew about your powers. Even so, you were a bit amazed that he wasn’t keeping his distance after witnessing the extent of what you were capable of. “Just trust me.”

Somehow, those three little words did it. Without even hesitating, you took his still outstretched hand and let him pull you up to your feet. In that motion, however, the jacket slide off your shoulders, exposing you to the cold once again. Before it could fall to the ground and become covered in water, rendering it useless, Sehun snatched it from the air.

“Here.” He adjusted the jacket in his hands and then slide one of your arms into the sleeves like a child. But you didn’t fight him or slide in some comment about being able to do it yourself. You let him wrap you up in the warmth that smelled like him, even biting back a smile as he zipped it up nearly to your chin. Satisfied with his work, he grabbed your hand and said, “Let’s go.”

It was a slow walk towards the woods west of the farmhouse. You’d never gone this way before so your mind was reeling with the possibilities of your destination. Though he wasn’t speeding ahead, Sehun seemed to be walking with purpose, giving you somewhat of a hint that this wasn’t an aimless stroll.

After ten minutes or so, the trees began to thin again, revealing a second, man-made clearing. Three different structures were in varying stages of construction on the property. The largest one resembled the bare bones of a house, only the wooden beams that would hold up the walls to dictate where the rooms were going to be were built.

“This is our second home,” Sehun explained. “The farmhouse is getting too crowded, so Junmyeon started this a month ago or so. The space might be nice, but I like having all of us together.” The sadness in his voice was evident and you squeezed his fingers in an effort to comfort him. This whole time he’d kept a protective grip on your hand and still, he didn’t let go. You didn’t want him to, either. The warmth passing back and forth through your palms was the only thing keeping you upright, stopping you from crumbling away.

Over and over, you swore to yourself that you wouldn’t fall in the same trap that Soomi did. You wouldn’t fall for a wolf that clearly wasn’t yours.

But you wanted him to be.

You wanted to lean your forehead against his shoulder, eyes closed, and take him in. Everything about him calmed you down and sped you up at the same time. Your heart was racing, but your mind was at ease. Could he feel how hard the blood was pumping through your veins? Did he feel the same way?

The sudden panic of getting too close surged up in your stomach. You tried to step away, put space again between the two of you and free your fingers from their wanted cage, but he didn’t let you. He wasn’t holding them hostage in a grip that would turn the tips of your fingers white, but he did hold firm, conveying his wish to keep you beside him without uttering a word.

Still remaining silent, Sehun tugged you along to get closer to the construction site. He ignored the yellow caution tape to bring you almost to the center of the house. If you let your imagination run, you could almost picture the painted walls, the kitchen, the living room, all of it really, with you in the middle of it. It almost made you laugh; how could this empty, shell of a building feel like… home?

“I’ve been coming here a lot lately,” Sehun randomly confessed as he let you go. He took a few steps until he came to a foundation beam, holding onto it with one hand and leaning back. His gaze was up at the sky as if he were searching for words to say or an answer to a dilemma that had been haunting him. “Just for some quiet or think things through, it doesn’t matter. No one else comes here. They don’t care since it’s not finished. I almost don’t want them to finish it. I don’t know where I’d go after that.”

You were a little put out by his tangent since you thought him bringing you here was about making you feel better, but on the other hand… it was doing a decent job of getting your mind away from that dark place. Was that his real intention? Helping by pretending to not be helping?

Shrugging away the lack of answer to your riddle, you stepped up to the same pole Sehun was pulling on and leaned up against it with the corner pushing into your shoulder. You stared up at the orange-haired wolf until he tore his eyes away from the sky to meet your own.

“The forest is big,” you told him. “I’m sure you’ll find another hiding spot.”

Sehun inhaled deeply through his nose, holding it in for a few seconds before letting it out slowly through his lips. “Maybe I should stop hiding.”

There it was again. That electricity in the air that charged up every time he started to lean in. His eyes flickered back and forth from your gaze to your lips in debate. The difference this time around was the fact that it didn’t feel teasing or restrained. It was charged, serious.

“What are you hiding from?” you asked in a voice so soft it couldn’t even be deemed a whisper. It was merely breath leaving your lungs and yet the words were understood.

But Sehun ignored your question, leaning in at an agonizingly sluggish pace. You felt your own calves raise you up to shorten the time it would take for him to reach you. Then you felt the first drop land on your cheek. Looking up at sky, you found the clouds had thickened once again and were releasing the water that was now too heavy to continue carrying.

Drip… drip… drip… drip, drip, drip.

Faster and faster it came down, no roof up above to save you from the pouring rain. Sehun cursed under his breath and grabbed your hand, making a run for the trees that hardly created an adequate cover as the two of you hurried back to the farmhouse. By the time the two of you stumbled into the kitchen through the back door, you were soaked.

“(y/n), oh, my god!” Soomi rushed up to you, cupping your face in her hands as she inspected your current state.

Junmyeon sighed in relief. “Thanks for finding her, Sehun.”

You raised an eyebrow at the wolf after he didn’t correct the alpha’s phrasing. He hadn’t found you, he was the reason you were out in the rain in first place. Now he was practically on the other side of the kitchen. As soon as you were inside, he’d let go of your hand, making you feel colder than ever. You were hurt by how quickly he’d flipped the switch, how easy it was for him to create distance after coming in so close.

“Let’s get you changed out of those clothes,” Soomi said, pulling you out of the feelings that were currently drowning you. She led you towards the stairs, not slowing down even as you kept looking over your shoulder back at Sehun, who was whispering some story to his alpha that you couldn’t interpret.

Instead of going towards the bedroom, however, Soomi steered you towards the bathroom once arriving on the second floor. She started the shower and let the water warm up as she helped you strip out of the ruined clothes. You stared silently at the black jacket that had gotten the worst of it. Pools of rain water formed on the tiles where it lied. If only you could melt away like the water.

“Go on and get in,” Soomi ordered. “I’ll put some clean clothes on the counter for you and then… well, then come downstairs. We all need to talk.”

Fantastic.

Alone in that shower, you contemplated the consequences of never getting out again. Your skin would wrinkle and shrivel, maybe even dry out from the heat of the water. Eventually the hot water would run out and nothing but cold water would be spitting out of the old showerhead. Soomi would get worried and barge her way back in, pulling you out if need be. Or worse… she’d enlist the help of the other mates or even a wolf.

Now that hiding in the shower was ruled out as an option, you decided to stop being a coward and face the trial that would be waiting for you downstairs. You knew you would have to tell them about the dream – the very realistic dream you were sure was much more than a manifestation of your REM-induced brain. You were still drying your hair with a towel when you came down the steps. Everyone was in the kitchen, as to be expected. Sehun had also changed into dry clothes and was seemingly avoiding any chance to even peek in your direction.

“I swear, I think we’ve had more family meetings in the past year than we have since the pack formed,” Baekhyun grumbled. You shrank back in your spot, knowing a lot of them were most likely because of you. Was there any way you could make it back up the steps without being noticed? No, probably not.

“It’s important that we all know what’s going on,” Yixing reminded him.

“I’m kind of curious about the fire,” Minseok asked very pointedly.

“(y/n)?”

You didn’t want to look at the kind alpha, but you could feel everyone waiting for your response, so you lifted your chin, barely glancing at him. “Yeah?”

“Do you know what- what caused your powers to… surge like that?”

You swallowed thickly. The words came out in a scared, squeaky voice that you hardly recognized as your own. “I, um, I had another… vision.”

“A vision?” Soomi gasped. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“There wasn’t exactly a good second to do so,” you pointed out.

“What was the vision?” Kris questioned.

“I was in that clearing again.” Him, you absolutely refused to look in the eye. By the time you were through here your cuticles were going to be nonexistent thanks to that nervous habit. “The woman was there, too, but she was behind me. I still didn’t see her face.”

Junmyeon waited a moment for you continue. When you didn’t, he asked. “What were you doing?”

“She was… urging me to use my power,” you whispered. “Fire, to be exact. Using it in the vision must have triggered something to make it happen in real life.”

“What were you doing with the woman?” Jongin’s question was meant innocently, from what you could tell by his tone, but it set off a domino effect of panic.

“What were you doing there?” Baekhyun emphasized in an accusatory voice.

“It sounded like you were on her side,” Jongdae added. While the accusation stung, you didn’t blame him for thinking down that way.

Chanyeol pouted like a kicked puppy at you. “You wouldn’t join her, would you?”

“I bet they’ve been working together this whole time.”

“If that were true, why would she tells us about this?”

“To make herself look innocent after setting the house on fire.”

“That’s a solid plan.”

“She can’t stay here. What if she loses control again?”

“Or sets the house on fire on purpose?”

Louder and louder the voices grew, intersecting and overlapping until you could no longer tell what argument was coming from which wolf. A small select few still seemed to believe in your innocence, but most were deeming you untrustworthy.

“ENOUGH!”

You flinched at Junmyeon’s outburst. You’d seen him frustrated and agitated, but you’d never seen him lose his temper in this fashion. His jaw was set, teeth grinding against each other while his glare roamed over his pack.

“The fact that any of you would think for a second that (y/n) was plotting against us….” He shook his head. “I’m disappointed in all of you.”

“But they had good points, Junmyeon,” Kris argued. “And we must always put the pack first.”

Junmyeon scoffed. “So, what do you want to do? Throw them out?”

Kris shrugged. “It really might be best if they don’t stay here anymore. We can’t be completely sure that this won’t happen again. And next time, it could be worse.”

“But what about the woman? (y/n)’s visions?”

“They’re not constant. If she has one, then they can come over and describe it to us,” Yixing said. Guilt was apparent when he looked at you, but he quickly ended the contact, squeezing Ming’s hand protectively.

Junmyeon opened his mouth to argue, but eventually closed it again. His shoulders slumped, admitting defeat.

“You can’t just kick them out!” Sehun shouted.

“I don’t have a choice, Sehun.” The alpha was breaking. His voice wasn’t as strong as it had been a few seconds ago. He was going back on his promise to Mother Willow to protect you and Soomi and it was killing him to do so. You didn’t understand how any of them could be okay with seeing their leader this way. “I have to put the pack first. Always.”

A roar ripped through the air that made everyone jump.

“She is part of the pack!”

Sehun marched over to you, taking ahold of your wrist and pulling you into his side. With an expression that was scaring even you, he made a declaration that you wouldn’t have been prepared for in a thousand years.

“She’s my mate.”

#exo #exo wolf au #exo wolf!au #sehun x reader #oh sehun #exo werewolf!au #exo werewolf au #exo supernatural au #exo series #exo fanfiction #exo fanfic #untamed wolf universe #Midnight Hours

555 notes · View notes

marielambs-corner · 4 years ago

Link

HEY!!!! Happy (belated) HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!

StrawberryAeris, I'm sorry I'm kinda (pretty) late with this. I wanted it to be great and perfect and something you'd truly enjoy, but time caught up on me and well, I thoguht dividing it into chapters would be better than keeping you waiting ^^u

So, with no more ado, Here I bring you the beginning!!!

Hope you enjoy this and that you had some wonderful holidays, and wishing you a happy and healthy 2021!!!

Enjoy it!!

*See Tumblr version under the cut*

Days were becoming cold and nights chill in the old New York as winter already settled in. And in the old studio, through cracks and loosely boarded holes in the upper levels, snow could be seen gently falling and covering any crevasse with its white blanket, and a little toon-shaped Dancing Demon was truly amused by its sight.

It's not like Dancey hadn’t seen snow before, it was always a sort of spectacle for the little demon. Though always his experiences with it were from as far as possible; first through the old reels with cartoons of the original Bendy, and currently, just admiring how it delicately piled up between the cracks that still exposed the studio to the outside world. There was only one time he dared to play with it, too amazed and curious, wanting to replicate what he saw in the cartoons, and that was an immediate mistake, for the ink that composed his body froze at the direct exposure, and everything from his forearms to the tips of his fingers totally paralyzed; any attempt at moving his limbs resulted in a painful crack, his ink breaking apart like a crumbling cookie from the movement strain. It took about a couple of hours and quite an amount of fresh ink from the machine to gain back mobility, another hour for the dullness and pain to ebb away, and a whole week of constant nagging and reprimands from his big sibling for him to understand to never do something like that, ever again.

Not like anyone else would believe how caring and protective the Ink Demon truly was, but he just was like that, always with an eye over the Dancing Demon, and with rules to make sure the little one wouldn’t get into much trouble.

If only the rest could see him the same way as Dancey saw him...

Watching the snow fall, though, really put the little demon in quite a nostalgic mood, thinking on his sibling, on the cursed creatures below, on how he’d like them to enjoy something as simple as snow as much as he did, or soup, or music! That’d be so nice, for all of them just enjoy the simplest things.

What was not so nice was the coldness. A chill draft leaked through the crevasses, sending goosebumps all over the demon’s body, shaking and rattling like the toon he was. He crossed his arms, rubbing his upper arms in a bleak attempt at keeping some heat, but wasn’t enough. Either he just dropped the snow-gazing, or went to find something to wrap himself up.

...the first choice meant to go back to the lower levels and that’d also mean no more fun at the snow-gazing, so even if his big sibling didn’t approve, checking on the old locked closets in hopes to find something useful was it. And just as he expected, most of them were locked. Some, though, would budge if he was insistent enough, and it was the case for 1 door out of 13 he tried, with the door busting open so strong it sent Dancey rolling all across until he hit the opposite wall, upside down.

Shaking out the dizziness, he quickly recomposed himself and went to check on the now-open closet. A corner had a box full to the brim with bacon soup cans—a small victory he’d save for later. A few projectors occupied a shelf in a haphazardly manner, as if just thrown over in there, thing that surely would upset the Projectionist if he came to know about it. A stack of paper used another corner of a shelf, self-explanatory given how close he was from the old Art Department. And in upper shelf a box, which contents couldn’t decipher due to the location and height; he’d have to climb up to get it.

Lucky for the Dancing Demon, he was rather light in weight, and the shelves still were pretty sturdy, so climbing them was not a problem. What meant a problem was taking the box itself; as soon as he edged it to take it down, its weight immediately followed gravity curse and, with Dancey being helpless as he had to use at least one hand to hold himself as in a ladder, the box went straight to his face, pushing him and making him drop his hold on the shelf, falling and being squashed under the box’s weight.

A little undignified “Oof!” was released along with a grunt, but sooner than later, Dancey once again recomposed himself, sitting up and checking on the box’s content. Indeed, there was some pieces of cloth, he could use one to cover himself! It was soft but a bit raspy with some strange patter and, of course, covered with dust. Seemed like an old sweater long forgotten by time. Well, he now could give it new purpose as his own winter sweater!

What else was in the box? His curiosity mused to himself.

There were a couple of tapes, maybe he could play them later in one of the recorders, ask Sammy for help. There was also a tied-up bunch of some yellowing paper/cardboard thing, he wasn’t sure, as it was thin as paper but rigid as cardboard. Could be both? They had some pretty pictures in one side while the other had smeared ink that made what was once written in there unintelligible. The bottom of the box was filled with little reddish-brown—maybe withered—balls along with crumbles of leaves that kept turning into dust the more he rummaged around the box (he gave a guess of it being old dry leaves, from what he’d seen of those strange plants that keep growing in the deepest levels when their leaves fall). And last thing was a smaller box inside.

With solemnity and anticipation, he took the smaller box, pushing aside the bigger one. In expectance for something, he didn’t know what, slowly, dramatically slowly, he placed his hand on the lid, and inched its way open. What he found inside were... pictures, old, yellowing, some fading, but still pretty recognizable. The pictures, of course, were from the old times, when the studio still worked as a studio and not the cursed place it currently was. They varied from people standing alone, in couples, in trios, or bigger groups; some blurry from movement, some sideways, but most capturing the moment without the people noticing, letting them to just do whatever they were doing and it being captured by the images. They all were varied, but given how the people wore the same clothes photo after photo and how the background seemed to be pretty alike in every take, the only conclusion Dancey could get to was that these all were taken the same day. But that as a way to discard any other options and confirm some suspicions, as there was some other thing that caught his attention.

Admittedly, he couldn’t recognize all of the people in the images, but some, he was familiar with them, and among them was a way too familiar face.

Joey Drew.

No matter who in the wrecked studio, everyone was capable to recognize such name and face. The sad and sour (and almost angry) taste his image left in the little demon’s mouth, though, was not rival for his still growing curiosity as to why people in the pictures was so happy and comfortable around him. He kept studying the images, and even he had to admit, Joey’s smile seemed almost... real, authentic. Maybe it was a real smile.

A picture showed him with his arms slung around Sammy and Norman, and even if they both seemed like they just rolled their eyes, there was a smirk, a smile in their faces, over Drew’s antics. Another one showed a group of three people sitting where they could, as they unwrapped some small boxes and opened their lids to see their contents, with smiles, warm, tender, excited smiles in their faces looking what was inside, as Joey was standing in the middle, rather smug. Another showed the janitor and the toy-maker, Wally and Shawn, that were holding Joey down, or maybe pushing him down, as Wally jumped over his back and Shawn was hanging from his neck, and Joey was still smiling, maybe even laughing at the antics. Susie hugging him and giving him a peck on his check, making him smile with eyebrows shot upwards, and his face even looked darker in this one. A side-hug from Mr. Piedmont, both grinning and giving thumb-up to the camera. Even Mr. Cohen was in one, smiling with tiredness but smiling nonetheless, while sitting on a chair, showing something he picked up from one of those wrapped boxes, and Joey beaming, standing right behind him.

All the pictures were like these, with smiles, and laughs, and joy, with lights strings, and a decorated tree, and bushy garlands, and ribbons, with people wearing sweaters with strange patterns, holding mugs whose steam was still visible through the old images, and one was wearing a hat with a couple of leaves and some little spheres—like the ones at the bottom of the big box—hanging of it (those in the picture caught below such garment, no matter who they were, were kissing, with varying kinds of faces they’d do while at it, but the one wearing the hat behind them always sported a triumphant grin from ear to ear).

Figurative gears were churning inside the Dancing Demon’s head. One thing he was sure of, and that was he liked what he’s seeing. He liked to imagine that was actually full of color, like purples and blues and greens and oranges (very little was his experience with color, only what he managed to see from the cracks in the upper levels, just like the snow, but was enough to make his imagination blow up with the possibilities, especially in a sepia toned hellish place like this).

They all, he also concluded, looked happy. Were happy, even with Joey being there. Maybe regardless of Joey being there. No, still didn’t sound right. Definitively was with Joey being there. But why? Wasn’t he the most despised person in the studio? Definitively, the pictures were not from before the Ink Machine times, as he could see some dark pipes gleaming in the background of some pictures. What made this day so special that everyone could be... okay with him there? Happy with him there? Was he forgiven? ...No, definitively not that, it had to be something else. Was the day itself? A day to leave behind differences? No-quarrels-allowed kind of day? A truce day?

...Truce day...

That... that’s it! It had to be! They made a truce for the day? After all, it was pretty obvious that people still loathed Joey up to that day, but still in these pictures, they were able to put aside their differences and spend at least a single day, merry and happy.

He really would like that something like that happened to them now, for them to be able to be together like this, regardless...

Why not try it?

...yeah... Yeah! Why not! He even could invite everyone in the studio! The lost ones, searchers, the Butcher Gang, miss Alice, just- Everyone! Even Inky... Excitement grew more and more in his minute body from all the possibilities. Dancey sprawled the pictures, trying to identify and mentally list everything in there so he could recreate it as close as possible. He might not have had an idea of when it was actually made, but the people in the pictures wore sweaters, and he does feel like in a sweater season, collecting the rest he found back in the big box and taking the pictures back in their own container, and back in the box too. If he wanted this to work, he truly had to pan out this well and smoothly. But first of all, and before anything, he had to go and show Inky.

*-*-*-*-*

Expect next chapter in a couple of days~ ^^

#BATIM #Bendy and the Ink Machine #Secret Satan #For StrawberryAeris #StrawberryAeris #Bendy #The Ink Demon #The Dancing Demon #Dancey #Ink Guardian #Ink Guardian AU #Truce Day #Lamb's work

4 notes · View notes

britishassistant · 4 years ago

Text

But I Like One Piece (1)

She was twenty when she died.

She’d just graduated with a double first in Literature and Preservation from Exeter. She’d been accepted into a prestigious master’s school in London.

She’d moved into a basement flat with her best friend and a couple of his friends. She’d been glad to escape her childhood house, where her mum and dad traded vicious words over who was getting how much in the divorce.

She’d promised her brother she’d get him out too, once she had a stable place that the courts would approve of. She had been due to interview for a job at a big bookstore chain next week.

And then someone had broken in while her flatmates were out. She shouldn’t have grabbed the knife. That just made the armed man freak out.

The last thing she remembered was a bang, and the blubbered words “I didn’t mean to!”

She wakes up as a baby.

She waves her arms around and cries as an unfamiliar lady with brown hair and brown eyes bends down over her crib, hushing her with more urgency than is really warranted.

Rain hammers down outside and thunder rumbles directly overhead.

Then a man with blue hair and grey eyes arrives. He stinks of copper, and that makes her wail harder.

The man and woman confer, words too fast for her to understand.

Then the man gently presses a cloth which smells chemical and awful to her face, hushing and looking at her with sad eyes while the woman strokes her head.

She struggles, but eventually swirling red circles dance before her eyes and she succumbs to sleep.

She grows, and learns that she is not anywhere remotely like her home anymore.

She looks in mirrors and sees grey eyes like the man’s, brown hair like the woman’s, hair too straight, eyes too angular, skin too pale.

Her new name is Ketsugi Mayu. The woman’s name is Ketsugi Chie, the man’s is Ketsugi Jirou.

They live in a little house, on the outskirts of a village that’s nothing like the village she previously grew up in. It’s too big, too bustling, with large compounds with symbols decorating the exteriors and brightly painted buildings, flat roofs alternating with asian-style pagodas.

Faces carved into a mountainside like a bastardization of Mount Rushmore. Huge trees everywhere, though she couldn’t tell you the type. She never was any good at biology.

Her “parents” escaped to this village from the rainy place before. Both of them work, but the woman takes her with her, or comes back first.

She gets the feeling their neighbors don’t like them very much.

Despite the electricity for lights and plumbing and cooking, there are not electronic communication devices, not like she knew them. Photography, but no video or animation.

Calculators and computers are unheard of, abacus and notebooks in their place.

The food is good though. Fresh and flavorsome, with meals that are usually served in what she mentally called “plate-2-bowls” style, a bowl of rice, a bowl of soup, and a meat or vegetable dish in the center.

The woman she is supposed to call her “mother” scolded her for ages the first time she dumped the rice out of the bowl onto the plate and tried to eat it that way.

The man she is supposed to call her “father” just laughed and said how lucky they were to have a daughter who would eat everything given to her.

And she did. Even if she doesn’t like the flavors, she eats it all and leaves no scraps.

One Piece taught her that those who waste food are scum, after all. She’ll never learn how the series ended now, so she does her best to live up to the ideals of her favorite characters in its place.

She probably should’ve seen it coming in the end.

The story she was read at bedtime was called “The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi”. There were constantly people dressed in dark clothes jumping across the roofs.

There were stalls in the market that sold throwing knives and stars and japanese swords.

But she didn’t realize exactly what world she’d been reincarnated into until she sees a little boy around her age, with blonde hair and blue eyes and three familiar lines like whisker marks across each cheek.

He’s racing away from a severe woman dripping with orange paint, cackling even as she screams, “GET BACK HERE NARUTO, YOU LITTLE DEMON!!”

She’s four, so she promptly bursts into tears and remains in a strop for the rest of the week.

Naruto doesn’t have food.

It’s dumb and doesn’t involve her and she shouldn’t care because she never even read this series because it was stupid and sexist and dumb and pirates will always be better than ninjas no matter what stupid morons on the internet who have no interpersonal relationships say—

But Naruto doesn’t have food.

She saw the food vendors at the market slap away his money, yell at him for trying to steal from them, chase him away from their stalls with rotten produce.

And he goes away empty handed.

Every. Damn. Time.

Sanji wouldn’t let him go empty handed.

Fuck.

She buys three lunch boxes and an “easy cook recipes” book from a lady who coos at her.

She buys extra rice and ingredients so that she doesn’t use up her “family’s” food.

She decides on a sweeter, more protein-focused meal for breakfast, and presses rashers of bacon and scrambled eggs between slices of crusty bread, filling the compartments with orange slices and strawberries and a plain yogurt.

For lunch she tries and fails to recreate Ketsugi Chie’s perfectly triangular rice balls filled with salmon, but consoles herself that the cucumber and seaweed salad turned out okay, To make up for it, she sticks a packet of gummies in the dessert bit.

She shadowed him the evening before, and so wakes up obscenely early, tugging on the clothes she wore yesterday.

She deposits the food outside his door, checks the sticky notes with “BREAKFAST” and “LUNCH” on them are secure.

Then she raps on the door with all the power her little fists can muster and bolts.

She’s about halfway down the street when she hears the overexcited whoops and fights to keep a smile off her face.

That night, when she comes bearing a thermos filled with miso soup and a box with rice, baked salmon with mushrooms, and dango, the other two are stacked neatly outside the door, licked clean.

She deposits dinner, grabs the other boxes, knocks again, and bolts so she can make curfew.

Here’s her routine.

She goes to bed and falls asleep instantly after preparing that boy’s breakfast and lunch.

She wakes up early and runs through the village while the streets are still asleep and deposits his food, collecting his dinner box and the feedback sheet, knocks and goes, avoiding any traps he’s set up to try and catch her on his endless quest for her identity.

They’re harmless, more intended to snare rather than hurt, and she’s gotten good at dodging.

She gets home in time for her “parents” to wake up, washes up the box while they shower, and goes upstairs to get ready for the day.

Ketsugi Jirou makes her run through katas before breakfast. Sometimes he lets her practice with the wooden sword he carries, and laughs when she falls over, kissing her bruises.

Ketsugi Chie serves breakfast and corrects her table manners and posture. After Jirou has kissed them both and left, she is given lessons in calligraphy and etiquette.

Sometimes Ketsugi Chie takes her along to her job at a tearoom, and she has to observe as her “mother” elegantly serves the patrons and makes polite conversation.

Sometimes she’s left to clean the house and study the books on the history of her family. There are many, but more are missing, references they have no source for.

At lunchtime, she reviews the feedback sheet, making notes of what worked and what didn’t.

She’s supposed to play outside after lunch, so she runs laps. Once Ketsugi Chie’s shift is over, the woman either collects her from home or goes with her straight to the market for food.

She begins making Naruto’s portion the moment groceries are put away, serves it hot and runs it over. She picks up the empty lunch boxes and paper, deposits the dinner, knocks, and runs away.

She eats dinner with her “mother” and “father”. Jirou quizzes her on what she’s learned.

After dinner she washes up the dishes and makes tomorrow’s lunch and breakfast while her parents tell her a bedtime story.

Then she cleans up after herself, and goes to bed, falling asleep instantly.

It’d be nice if this could last.

So of course, the next time she deposits breakfast and lunch, an adult dressed in black with a white mask tackles her to the ground.

She barely avoids spilling the food, clutching it to her chest with one arm as the other is twisted viciously behind her back.

She screams, tries to kick out, but her legs are too little, she can’t hurt the bastard—

The lunchboxes creak ominously under her.

“Who sent you?!” The adult hisses—there’s no way that’s not a man, not with that baritone— “Drop the henge and tell me, or I’ll—”

Something twangs.

A mass of rope drops onto them, followed by chalk dust.

“HAH!” Comes a much higher-pitched yell. “I told you I’d get ‘em, believe it, I told—wait, what the heck?! Jiji, mask-guy’s hurtin’ my friend!”

The click of a cane and the sound of an old man’s voice. “Hound-san.”

The pressure on her arm lessens and the adult gets up, though he doesn’t let go of her. She wheezes, feeling her eyes watering now she can breathe properly.

She hiccups once. Twice. Bursts into floods of noisy tears.

A blurry figure of orange comes into her view. “Hey, hey don’t cry, don’t cry! It’s okay, mask-guy won’t hurt you anymore, Jiji won’t let him, believe it! Yo-you’re the one bringin’ me the food, right? It tastes really good, believe it! M-my name’s Naruto, wh-what’s y-yours? Plea-please don’t—”

The blur of orange begins crying as well.

“Oh dear.” The old man sighs.

The old man takes them to the tower in the center of the village, drawing curious stares at the sight of two wailing children, one bleached white by chalk dust, following him.

The tower is scary. It reminds her of government buildings, with lots of people in green or grey jackets or white masks moving from one place to the next like fire ants, ready to turn and bite intruders to their nest at a moment’s notice.

She doesn’t work out who the queen ant is until the old man sits behind the big desk in the room at the top of the tower, and another mask brings her and Naruto water at his gesture.

“Now, let’s get to the bottom of this, shall we?” Says the old man, smiling genteelly.

A shiver goes down her spine.

The questions should be easy. What’s her name, how old is she, where does she live, who are her parents, where do they work, does she have any siblings, what are her hobbies.

But her tongue is stuck to the top of her mouth and when she tries to speak, she just makes a pathetic little croaking sound, no matter how much water she swallows.

The man who hurt her gets more and more tense with every failed answer.

The old man just looks sadder, like she’s failing a test, like he’s going to let the mask hurt her again—

Naruto asks, “Can you make ramen?”

She swallows. “I—I’ve never had it. I don’t know the ingredients. Is, is it like miso?”

“It’s WAY better than miso, believe it!” Naruto yells. “It’s got noodles and green onions and fish cakes and pork and tofu and chicken and fish and seaweed, and sometimes the broth can taste like miso but better and sometimes it can be spicy and Ichiraku’s is the best, and I’ll take you there so you can have some, believe it!”

She frowns. “How can it have pork and chicken and fish? That doesn’t work. Those meats go with different flavors—like chicken katsu and pork katsu are served with different toppings.”

He blows a raspberry. “They’re not all in the same bowl at one time! There’s different types.”

Her mind ticks over the possibilities. “...So a dashi broth for miso could work? What type of flour are the noodles?”

He shrugs. “I’unno. There’s different types?”

“Of course there are!” And she tells him about wheat vs buckwheat vs rye vs rice flour, and how flour mixed with water can serve as food in a pinch but isn’t sustainable for him because he’s malnourished—

“I’m not mal-no-ished, believe it!” Naruto protests.

She scoffs. “Don’t be stupid. Look, try to touch your thumb and pointer finger around your wrist.”

He looks at her warily, but does as she says easily. There’s enough space between his hand and his wrist that she could wriggle her little finger in there, if she tried.

“See?” She says, holding up her own wrist where her thumb can’t quite reach her finger. “You’re too skinny, because you don’t eat enough. You need to bulk up, and eat to get your vitamins, or you’ll grow up weak and feeble.”

The boy pouts. “S’not my fault the stupid jerkwads in the market won’t sell to me.” He grumbles.

“No, it isn’t.” She replies. “But they sell to me. And those who let people go hungry are scum.”

There’s a wounded noise. She looks up at the forgotten adults, tensing again.

The masked man has vanished. The old man just looks tired, but also...happy?

The old man walks her and Naruto home, and she glimpses many more white masks in the trees. The idea that any one could hurt her at any time has her trembling, fists clenched.

“What’s your name, anyway?” Naruto asks, clutching his lunchboxes close.

“Mayu.” She replies after a moment’s hesitation. “Ketsugi Mayu. I’m five and ten months.”

“I’m Uzumaki Naruto and I’m six, believe it!” He cheers. “Imma be the Hokage one day and take over from Jiji, believe it!”

She frowns up at the old man. “What’s a hokage?”

He laughs. “It’s the ninja entrusted with the safety of the village and all those within. The Hokage specifically is the leader of this Village Hidden in the Leaves, Konoha.”

She looks around.

“This place is way too big to be a village, no matter how you look at it.”

Her parents burst out the door just as they arrive at her house, her father clutching his bokken, her mother still in nightclothes.

They blanch when they see her, the woman reaching out with an abortive hand.

The Hokage bows to them. “Ketsugi-san.” He says. “May I congratulate you on raising such a fine daughter?”

Ketsugi Jirou bows hesitantly back, eyes not leaving her. He has to press a hand to Chie’s shoulder to get her to do the same. “You honor us, Hokage-sama.”

The Hokage smiles and gently pushes her. She totters forward and is swiftly captured in a crushing hug, both adults muttering “Mayu, Mayu.” Like she’ll disappear if they let go.

Her eyes begin watering again, because she’s escaped. She’s safe. For now.

“Otou-sama.” She whimpers. “Okaa-sama.”

She mentally apologizes to her parents in her past life, and the brother she left behind. In their memory, her new family will remain “Otou” and “Okaa”, never “Mummy” and “Daddy”.

“OI, MAYU-CHAN!!”

She half-turns in the hug, sees Naruto and the Hokage some distance away.

“COME GET RAMEN WITH ME TOMORROW!! ICHIRAKU'S IS THE BEST, BELIEVE IT!!” He yells, with far too much volume.

She sniffles. There’s something wrong with Naruto. He lives alone and borderline starves, but the ruler of this village visits him enough that he calls the man “jiji”. People in the street call him “demon” and “monster” openly, but the masked man attacked her for approaching him.

The smart thing to do would be turn him down politely. Thank you, but no thank you. She’s his food provider, she’s not under any obligation to be his friend.

So, of course, she yells back, “EAT YOUR FOOD AND I'LL BE THERE!”

He pumps his fist and whoops, cheering loudly as the Hokage smiles and guides him away.

Mayu Ketsugi and her parents tense as the accusing, silent stares pierce them.

The neighbors never liked them much anyway.

#naruto #one piece #but i like one piece #my writing #reincarnation #isekai #naruto uzumaki #kakashi hatake #hiruzen sarutobi #pirates vs ninjas #konoha #fandom rivalry #naruto oc #ketsugi mayu #food #cooking #straw hat pirates

26 notes · View notes