#i tried really hard to organize this clearly and i think i failed lol

[businesstiramisu]

there's also guys like Dave Green and Therin of Andor who started as one fan's creation but got picked up by canon. exciting!

Where it gets tricky is where the character in some sense "existed" in canon first.

In visual canons you've got characters like Tumbler (Newsies) or Figwit (LOTR) or Tanabi (Lion King) that appear in the background of scenes with no actual information, so fans made up their own. And sometimes the Powers That Be filled in canon info later ("Figwit is actually an elf named Aegnor"; "that lion cub fans started calling Tanabi is actually Kopa...or Kion... or Kiara") -- but sometimes fans ignore TPTB and stick with the fanon-- or develop new fanon ("Figwit, you mean Melpmomaen?" or "Brett MacKenzie later played Lindir in The Hobbit movies, so maybe Figwit and Lindir are the same guy").

in written canons, you get characters like Musichetta from Les Mis or Daphne Greengass from Harry Potter, where they get mentioned by name and there's *some detail* (Musichetta is so-and-so's mistress; Daphne was a Slytherine at Hogwarts, probably in the same year as Harry) but fandom has invented SO MUCH MORE. These are usually called blank slate characters.

then of course in video games, player characters usually are this by design. I think this generally leads to less cohesion within the fandom because every player is more or less makign their own version of the character, but sometimes you still get trends -- e.g. I've heard that in BG3 there's some popular Fanon Tavs that have fandom followings in their own right.

(what about podcast fandoms, where characters might have very extensive canon backstories and characterizations but visual discriptors, so fans have to make up their own headcanons there?)

Where is the line between "blank slate" and "fanon character"?? How much "prior canon content" disqualifies a character from being "fanon" (what about characters like Draco Malfoy who have quite a lot of canon info & characterization, but sometimes fans make up something else entirely* -- see also Dark!Harry or TINO, plenty more examples of course). What about characters that were initially blank slate but get more canon filled in by later installments, like Hux, who now stars in his own novel, or MCU MJ, who became a much more prominent character in the sequels to Homecoming? (Frankly, taking a look at our list on fanlore I think you could argue a lot of these.) What about situations like Matt the Radar Technician, where an SNL skit about Kylo Ren got spun off by fans as a character in his own right?

===

Fanlore unofficial policy is that Blank Slate characters don't go in the Fanon category (so Musichetta or Daphne Greengrass or Marlene McKinnon are not in there**). But you'll notice that's not followed by everyone -- e.g. the category currently contains ton of Newies characters or Wes (Danny Phantom) who have as much canon content as Figwit.*** So, uh, make your best judgement, I guess, and put a note on the Talk page for help if you want second opinions.

===

*Incidentally, I was aware of this TVTropes page looong before I got into FF7, and now that I've gotten into reading fic (and also watched a letplay of the entire OG game) I am confused by the demonstration image with Sephiroth. Like okay maybe I just haven't seen much of what the pink image is gesturing and I'm substituting what I've mostly seen in fic but it doesn't seem that far outside plausible based on what little we see in the OG game. Well mostly it's the OG game barely does give him any characterization outside of "ominous laughter" and "enjoys tormenting Cloud". Is... is Sephiroth a blank slate character?!?! Surely not.

**Not sure what it says (if anything) that all my examples are female here -- probalby only something about me. I considered mentioning some of the men from that Fanlore list but it's mostly either fandoms I'm unfamiliar with or characters that I would contest (Otabek Altin?!?!? REALLY?!)

***okay i just added Figwit to the Fanon Characters category on the basis of writing this argument lol

Are ocs made for peoples fanfics allowed to be on fanlore?

((im writing one on here//a03 and ill tag u if you want heh))

Not generally no. The only exceptions is if an OC becomes so well known or influential in a fandom that they appear in several fanworks by several people, and knowing that context would be important for that fandom's history.

[brandwhorestarscream]

tfe tarantulas x tfe prowl

We don't know a lot (read: anything) about TFE Prowl, so I'm gonna improvise and say he's mostly true to his G1 iteration, if a bit more jaded and tired. He hasn't seen Tarantulas in Primus knows how long, probably several million years in a non-war context. We don't even know what happened to spider dad. Last we saw he was getting chased by GHOST trying to protect owl baby.

So I'm gonna say they're both on the run and run into each other while siphoning energy to make their own energon on the go. Prowl wasn't willing to work with GHOST or with Megatron, so he split and is now quietly in hiding. It's lonely, and the isolation is starting to get to him. He runs smack into his old flame (who's still hot). Neither of them want to fight, they're just trying to live and not be dragged off to be experimented on. One thing leads to another and they end up living together. They're both introverted hermits. They're perfect roommates lol

It's not long before they start casually facing, and soon after old feelings start to creep back in. It's hard not to, there's just. There's so much history there. Maybe this time, in this context, their relationship isn't doomed to fail. They're both bad at feelings and intimate communication but... they're trying.

I think, after the brief encounter with Nightshade, Tarantulas has caught a bit of baby fever. He's not actively planning it, god no, but he catches himself fondly recalling Nightshade and missing them. Thinking how nice it was to have them around, how they were so bright and full of potential and how good it felt to have an eager little student he could teach. He knew them for such a short time but he was and still is so proud of them. He wants that again. Craves it. And I think, with this desire, his body acts on it's own. Starts storing transfluid rather than filtering it out, dutifully filling his gestation tank to prepare for the newspark he clearly wants so badly.

It's not too long, maybe a year, before Prowl notices his partner acting strangely. He's getting weirdly moody and snappy, he's been spending more and more time in alt mode, and he's gotten strangely territorial. Often hissing at Prowl and stomping his front legs at him, guarding the door to his room (they've got an underground burrow-hideout thing). Even doing little faux charges at him to keep him back. Inwardly, he sighs: Tarantulas's psyche and instincts adapted and evolved quite a bit when he took this form. This is some kind of strange arachnid behavior and he's not sure what it is, but surely it will eventually pass, right?

Tarantulas starts guzzling all the fuel they have, gulping down cube after cube with hardly a breath between. Prowl's never seen someone binge like that and he's worried he's going to rupture his fuel tank! Tries to get him to stop and talk to him, and Tarantulas nearly bites him in turn. Promptly scuttles back into his room and begins webbing up the door. Prowl is at a loss.

Inside, Tarantulas has made so many webs there's hardly a clean surface left, and he's made himself a collection of hammocks strung up in corners and on the walls, everywhere he can reach. There's at least a dozen web slings, he has to have the perfect one!

Unlike organic tarantulas, he lays only 3 eggs rather than dozens. They're much bigger compared to his body though, and he very, very carefully wraps them up in an egg sac and nestles it in the warmest, safest spot of his nest. He then promptly collapses and knocks out for like 16 hours, because labor is a lot of work!

When he finally wakes up he's sore and still exhausted, but now his head is clear from the egg-haze and realizes he should probably-definitely talk to Prowl. He's... really nervous, honestly. It's not like they're bonded. The autobot could just walk out and there's nothing he could do to really stop him short of restraining and holding him captive. But that's an option he's really not interested in.

Prowl isn't surprised at all. He found a forum of spider enthusiasts on earth, plugged in all the symptoms, and basically got the response of "your girl is about to become a mama good luck lol" and he spent the last 16 hours frantically researching everything he possibly could. He knows plenty about newspark care but very little about spiders and he has no idea exactly how much of their biology Tarantulas wrote into his new alt mode when he was designing it, so he wants to be as prepared as possible. He lets Tarantulas break the news and his first question is just, "How many are there?" really hoping the answer won't be 20+ because that's a lot of mouths to feed. He's so relieved when it's only triplets. That's far more manageable.

The sparklings incubate for a few weeks in their eggs and it gives the expectant parents a bit of time to prepare, stockpiling fuel and making space and contingency plans for them. They already have escape plans if GHOSTs' hunters find them, but having bitties changes the game. Their survival becomes the top priority, and they have to make hard decisions about who will escape with them and how, who will have a better chance at keeping them safe and alive if or when they have to relocate.

Watching them hatch is an exciting ordeal, and they're all thankfully healthy: a little purple and white one, another that's black and green, the final one white and deep blue. Idk if Tarantulas was able to alter his very CNA when he changed his mode (usually that doesn't happen, but he's such a mad scientist he could theoretically have done so). If he did, at least one is a tiny spiderling. If not, then one has Prowl's original praxian alt mode, and the other two have their carrier's original mode, whatever that may be.

The triplets are just darling, painfully cute and very affectionate, tumbling out of their eggs and immediately reaching for their carrier and sire. They're good parents, all things considered, taking turns going on energon runs and making life underground as bright and fulfilling as possible for their children. They already have the whole... thing... with Springer, so parenthood isn't exactly new to them. They know what they're doing, for the most part, but juggling 3 at once is definitely more challenging! Tarantulas at least has extra limbs and webs to wrangle them, but they run poor Prowl ragged! He loves them so, so much though, and never complains.

Tarantulas would probably love to introduce them to Nightshade, someday, but I don't realistically know if that will be possible. Maybe, after GHOST is defeated, the little family decides to take a trip to see Tarantulas' little owlet 🤭 Nightshade would be all over them, and over the moon when spider dad asks them to be their honorary godsibling. I'd love to see the terrans babysitting while their parents are doing god knows what. Nightshade probably ferries them around the lab and tries to teach them Science™. Taraprowl are so proud :')

[battle-of-alberta]

What would Ed and Cal be like if they were ladies? Have they/would they ever dress in dresses/drag?

This sure is a popular question lol either someone knows my other blogs or has been noticing the hints

in the spirit of the “ed is the gay cousin of the province” stereotype as well as the spirit of “we have renamed our expo so many times to the point that we voted to call it K Days after the organizers tried and failed to break free of the Klondike theme” and also “hapo is lowkey obsessed with this historical event” i finally officially present Klondyke Kate to the blog.

Ed doesn’t exclusively do historical drag nor is he pressingly concerned with accuracy 100% of the time but for Kate’s debut I wanted to do something that was clearly inspired by the period she originated from, the 1890s (aka that gilded era that the met gala folks failed so spectacularly at). Klondyke Kate is also mostly inspired by Kathleen Rockwell who also bore the moniker.

The issue with combining Victorians and modern drag is that the makeup is the polar opposite of exaggerated, this was a time when adding colour to your cheeks and lips automatically branded you a painted lady (though obviously Kate isn’t above a little cheating and she also has the occasional dalliance with 20th century gay nineties makeup, hence the nails). There’s a little bit of oil on the eyelids for shine, dark thick eyebrows, and a smattering of gold dust here and there.) Kate also would go fairly heavy on concealer and powdering her face and neck to be as pale as possible!

The event referred to here is the “All Canadian Route” to the Klondike gold fields: local boosters and outfitters advertised the overland route through Edmonton as preferable to taking a steamship up from Seattle or Victoria to Alaska. Lots of really dumb people got really taken advantage of and either gave up and went home, gave up and hung around Edmonton, or died. (This is one reason why the Edmonton exhibition folks aren’t a fan of the theme even if Edmonton did turn a big profit from it.)

Would the others do drag...? Would Calvin? I think he would certainly be much more reticent about it and it’s hard for me to imagine circumstances other than a. a bet lost or b. a begrudging promise for one of his sister’s charity/fundraising events (just d-don’t spread any photos!)

[lovingkaede]

Anon said: “Hii! I don’t know if you have a limit of characters but can you do Shuichi, Hajime, Fuyuhiko, Nagito, Kazuichi and Kokichi confessing? If you can’t do to all of them is totally ok! :)”

Hi, anon! I made Headcanons of Hajime and Shuichi already :’) But I can do it one more time for you!!!<3

Shuichi Saihara

He’s soooo shy

He feels himself comfortable around you but also uncomfortable because you’re so attractive wtf

Also he loves your personality 11037% because you’re such an angel and never judge him

Him opening up is kind of hard, he’d get help 100%

Kaito, the best bro, helping him

Not totally making a script

Kaito and Shuichi prepare the environment. The atmosphere is just like how he wanted it to be!!

The only problem,, he’s being hesitant now

Seriously, Shuichi, NOW? Out of ALL THE TIMES?

“Come on! I already sent them the letter. No running away now!” Kaito yells

HE DID WHAT? Shuichi didn’t know about this

Okay, he’s right. He CAN’T leave now for the god’s sake

And you arrive

And you see Shuichi

You’re immediately like, “Shuichi? Was it you? This isn’t your handwriting-”

“Y/n,, I need... To tell you something.”

HE WANTS TO CRY SO BAD. WHY IS HE GETTING WEIRD STARES FROM YOU?!

“What is it?” You ask patiently- you can tell what is it by the environment tho-

“Well, I, um, the truth is...” He finally looks up, being hesitant, eyes not meeting you for few second, “I’ve been taking a liking with you for a while now, and...”

Kaito is like: Bro, stop being so lame

JUST WHAT DO YOU EXPECT HIM TO SAY, KAITO???

And before he finishes, you just walk to him and straight up pull him into a hug

HIS HEART-

“Shuichiii... I like you, too,” Is all you say

HE’S NOT CRYING, HE’S NOT CRYING, HE’S NOT CRYING-

He is

Guess who’s official now

Hajime Hinata

He’s been thinking if he should confess his feelings for you for a while now

And he’s been avoiding you for a while because of that,,

You’re worried if you did something wrong

So you decide to call him

He picks it up after 0,000003 seconds

Ha! Can’t resist. He’s been missing hearing your voice

“Hajime?”

“Y/n?”

Long silence.

“Uhmmmm,, are you okay?” You ask weirdly

“Uhhh, sure! I’m okay.”

Another long pause

“Come on, you don’t have to lie, at least not through phone,,” You say, you sound kind of sad to him (yOU OBVIOUSLY ARE WTF HAJIME

“I’m...,” He stutters, feeling his cheeks heaten up

This only happened when he saw you. Hearing your voice also does that to him??

“It’s okay, Hajime. But could you at least tell me the reason you’re avoiding me?” You patiently ask. You don’t want him to hang up without telling you

“I’ve been avoiding?? You??” He says, but you don’t buy it. You just wait for his reply

“...I’m a bad actor, huh...?” He sighs, “Well... Y/n, I’ll be honest with you.”

This is what you wanted to hear from the start.

“I,, you didn’t do anything wrong, you’re only being nice to me! There’s no way I’d avoid you on purpose,, I, I just... Uh, I like you, Y/n,” Words slip out of his mouth, “And I don’t want that to ruin our friendship, so I was trying to keep it to myself... Ever since then.”

He hears some weird noises from your side.

“Uhhh, Y/n? Are you there?”

“Yeah, I’m running.”

You. WHAT?

“What?”

“I’m running to your house.” Bold Y/n Bold

“Why would you do that?”

“Because feelings mutual, dummy,” You hang up, only to leave him staring at his phone blankly

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu

Omg he’d be the most romantic one!!

He’d put so much thought and emotion into it when preparing around

He’d even try to prepare the food- Peko helping him 100%

He’s just sooo excited

You didn’t expect the Baby Gangsta to suddenly call you to come over

He sends you the adress

You’re suspicious?? You don’t know that place??

Is he going to kill you??

Of course not!! He wouldn’t do anything like that........ To you, at least.

Anyways, after half of an hour, you arrive at the place. It’s a beach

It’s dark, you don’t see a thing-

“Fuyuhiko... Where’re you?” You ask nervously, looking around to see him

You don’t look where you step and and almost fall down

“Gotcha,”

Omg- it’s him

“Y/n, are you okay?”

That’s so cuteeee

You just nod as he takes you to the place

Wow. The boy made a whole romantic dinner scene at the beach. Just for you

You rub your eyes.

IS THIS REAL??

“Hey... Don’t just stare, sit.”

You do as he says and look around you. You’re so surprised

“Don’t tell me you don’t like it,” He says, sounding offended

“Oh, noo, I like it. I like it so much, actually,”

HE’S SO SMUG

“Hehe, knew it.”

“Did you make it all yourself?”

“No... Peko helped me a lot.”

You two don’t talk for a long while... And just then, you both call your names at the same time-

Aww

“Ah, you go first,” You say, because you’re faster than him

“I, okay, well, I guess you kind of expect why I organized this all, right...?” He asks, even he is unsure.

You blink as you feel your cheeks getting hot

“Well, it’s because,, I wanted to surprise you, and make you happy, I think I did a pretty good job, right?” He says jokingly, but you can see how nervous he is with this whole thing “And... This isn’t all. I wanted to... Tell you something. You’re someone... Really important to me, you know? And I keep wanting to spend more time with you,, that sounds so lame, doesn’t it?” He laughs as he looks at your face, “Well, it’s true. I like you, I like you a lot,”

HE’S THE SWEETEST. I-

Before he says more, you give him a kiss

It’s a soft, yet passionate kiss

When you break the kiss, he hides his face, clearly blushing, “Idiot... Don’t do something so sudden.”

Do it again.

Nagito Komaeda

Oh noooo

His inferiority complex: Let’s us introduce ourselves

He wants to, but he CAN’T.

Why would you even want to be something more than friends when he’s just trash???

Why would you even want to be close to him. As a friend or less

You have no reason to be

He can’t catch feelings, he can’t catch feelings

But he can’t help but fall for you, you’re just so nice... That you’re all he wants

He’s so sad he doesn’t have a chance with you

“Nagitooo!” You call for him as you run towards him

He forgets about those thoughts and looks at you as you cross the street to meet him

“Wow, you didn’t need to tire yourself just to meet trash like me, you know, Y/n?”

“If you call yourself that one more time, I’ll start throwing hands,” You say threatening, but in a cute way (In his eyes at least)

“Calm down... I was just joking, hahaha,”

He doesn’t get it

You’re always following him around and stuff... Don’t you ever get bored of him?

He thinks he’s nothing special...

“Y/n, don’t you have anything more important to do?”

“Other than you? Nope!”

NOT TOTALLY BLUSHING. STOP BLUSHING

“I, hahaha, to think that I’m actually important, you sure have a kind soul, Y/n!” He says with a soft smile, “I’m so amazed by your words, you never fail to make me feel actually good about myself. I feel so happy that I could fall for you.”

He speaks like that again,, you never know if he means that or he doesn’t.

Nagito is like being friendly or flirty with you at the same time- You can never read him

Well, his words always make you blush... Since you took a liking of him for couple of months now;;

“Ah, you’re silent. Did my words make you uncomfortable? I’m sorry I won’t do-”

“No, no, it’s fine...” You cut him off.

“Oh, okay then... I guess you don’t really mind stuff like that. Actually... Talking about my feelings makes me feel a lot better, but at the same time I feel like my heart will explode, you know?”

You just stare at him before nodding. “Yeah...”

You know he pretty much confessed his feelings to you just seconds ago-

And is cool with it.

BUT YOU’RE pretty much INTERNAL SCREAMING?

“I,, too, like you,”

“That’s such a nice thing to say,” A soft smile appears on his face again

“I meant in a romantic way, Nagito,”

“Yep, yep!” He says jokingly

You just pout and rise on your foot before planting a kiss on his cheek

He feels himself blush, and tries to force a smile, but can’t.

“Wait... Were you serious?”

“I don’t joke around about stuff like that, Nagito. I don’t lie, either.”

Seems it’s his lucky day today.

Kazuichi Souda

He knows he has the biggest crush on you

Everybody does. Including you

And what’s he gonna do about it??

Gonna tell everyone about how much he loves you, well, except you, of course! ^^

Everybody is so done with him bringing you out out of blue

Kazuichi, just be quiet. <3

Just confess your feelings for them already!! he. CAN’T. He thinks you’d reject him before he confessed </3 That’s so sad actually because Kaz is great

But you know,, he pretty much confesses to you every second he sees you lol

Doesn’t need to say the word “I love you” A simple compliment from him enough to express his love for you

“Y/n, you’re my sunshine, you light up my day,” He says cheesly, you laugh at his statement

Yep, he’s like that everyday

“Y/nnn!”

He is walking up to you. You smile at him before seeing the big grin on his face

“What’s so funny? Are you finally going to confess your undying love to me?” You tease him

“Yes.”

eXCUSE ME??

Kaz, this is too straight forward, this isn’t how it works-

Soo, he asks his friends for help

Gundham gives him the worst idea

But what’s he gonna do? Listen to him

Even Sonia supports Gundham’s idea-

Well, the plan is pretty much locking you two in a classroom so he can take the time he wants before confessing to you

And when he’s done, they’ll let you out

Sounds legit!!!

....Right?

When you notice your not totally stolen bag is missing, you immediately make your way to classroom!

To yOuR lUck, you find it!!

“There you are. I’m so dumb, how did I forget my bag?” You say and grab the bag. When you make your way out of the class, the door won’t budge.

“Eh?!” You panick and try to open it up. Not working, it’s locked up. “You’ve gotta be kidding me!” You say before you drop your bag and lean your back on the door and sitting on the ground

“I’m supposed to take a test... Damn...”

“You sound depressed.”

“KAZUICHI?!?!”

He just?? Comes out of the?? Closet in the classroom??? And fuckingmwaves??

“What’re you doing in here?!”

“I’m pretty much in the same situation as you, Y/n!” He says cheerfully. Liar. He almost sounds happy to be stuck with you

“You seem almost happy,” You say calmly

“Well, I am, because I’m stuck with you,”

He doesn’t miss a chance to flirt, does he...

You look down and sigh,, then you blankly look at him, “Kaz,, you didn’t need to lock us in a classroom to spend private time with me. We can always hangout after school, you know?” You say, somehow you understand him

“Yeah... But-” He walks towards you and takes your hands in his, “How am I supposed to confess my love for you, then? You... Never take me serious.”

You blink. Like 3 times.

“Don’t give me weird stares! This is what you always do, you never reject me nor accept my feelings!”

“Kaz, I thought everybody new we are official by now-”

“Wait, what?”

“I mean- You didn’t know? I accepted your feelings,, like a week ago?” You say confused, but he’s even more confused than you.

You sigh. You’re so done with him. “I can’t believe you didn’t even know I’m dating you. Sonia, Gundham, open the door. I’m leaving.”

They do as you say. You step out of the classroom and wave at them, not even looking at Kazuichi who’s yelling behind you

“Y/n!! Love, please wait, we can talk this out, my sunshine!!!”

And they say romance is dead

Kokichi Ouma

Burn his feelings </3

Okay, okay, don’t. He needs love too

Especially if it’s you

He did know he was catching feelings and he let himself do this on purpose

Just teasing you non stop and spending time with you were enough, but the Gremlin wanted more

“Oh my gooood, they’re so perfect, Shuichiiii,”

“...Who?”

“For the last time, of course I’m talking about Y/n!”

He’s been ranting about you like- for hours-

Well, he knew he had to confess his undying love for you very soon

That day, you were really tired and he’s been really pissing you off

So much that Maki nearly killed him. You told her it’s okay but you wished Kokichi to leave soon

But he didn’t, so you left instead <3 You were sleepy

But he started... Following you??

“Y/n, Y/n, I know you know I’m following you!” He happily states. Is he confessing his crimes?!

“Yeah, I’ve... Noticed,” You say and smile

“You’re really silent today, Y/n, is anything wrong?”

“No... But I think you’re really loud today, Kokichi,” You say and look down at him. “Aww, that’s so unlike you! Seriously, is anything wrong?” Even though he’s talking like his normal self, he’s worried

“Well,” You say nervously, “I heard some... Odd things,”

“Odd things? Like what?” He is reaaaally interested in what you say, he brings his face closer to yours. “Uh, it’s nothing to worry about. Good night.” You say and immediately run away

He stands there like 🧍‍♂️

Sigh,,, how does he not know what you heard? Everybody’s talking about how the little bitch likes you

Seriously, you can’t tell if he’s messing with you, or serious “Come on, there’s no way he likes me! He’s just messing around...” You try to convince yourself and finally lie down in the bed, getting ready to sleep, “He doesn’t like me at all...”

You shut your eyes, you really need to get some sleep. But you hear a banging sound. You open your eyes, clearly annoyed by the sound

It’s coming from the window... You pull the curtains and meet him

“KOKICHI?!”

He bangs the window in reply, you open it and he smiles at you “Y/nnn, it took you sooo loooong. It’s cold here.”

“What’re you doing there? It’s the second floor.”

“Oh. I wanted to talk to you.”

“You could use the door!” You say, annoyed and worried at the same time. “But that wouldn’t surprise you! Anyway, let me in?”

You help him to get inside... What’re you even doing at this point

“What a nice night!” Kokichi says and points you fingerguns, “Don’t you think so, Y/n?”

“What’re you doing in my house...”

“You let me in, sleepyhead!”

That’s right. But you’re not asking the right question!! Please kindly tell him to leave your house <3

“Y/n, I’m actually here because you didn’t seem well,” He says, “And I wanted to ask-”

“You could ask me tomorrow,”

“Yeeees, but I want to do it now!” He says, damn, he’s being stubborn, in a situation like this? You know,, he won’t leave unless you tell him “So... You said you heard something ‘odd’, didn’t you? Tell me about it...”

So you tell him all about it. Can’t help but blush at how cheesy your words sound but you’re too sleepy to mind that.

“And that annoyed you?” Kokichi asks, you nod in reply. “Y/n, does the truth hurt you?”

You expected him to say ‘it’s a lie!’ but he didn’t. DID HE REALLY HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU? HIM??

“Are you... Unhappy?” There he was again... Not being like himself. This is what romance does to people? “Not at all...” You say and avoid eye contact, “It’s... Weird? I had the biggest crush on you a while back and now feelings mutual.”

HE’S SO HAPPY TO HEAR THAT. Though on the outside, he hides it very well ( ꈍᴗꈍ)

“Oh... Really?” He asks, smug bitch, “That settles it then...”

“Settles... What?” You say, you’re aware of what he meant, and he’s aware of you knew

“You already know,” He says and you stare at him, “It means,, I like you and you love me! Yeah!! Y/n, you love me, right? This makes us a couple!!!”

You just... Stare at him in awe.

You stare too much that he gets nervous. “Uhm,, what’s wrong? Do you... Want to kiss?”

“A kiss would be nice... But I think I need sleep, Kokichi,” You say and rub your eyes.

He’s DISAPPOINTED IN EVERYTHING.

But you actually lean towards his cheek and plant a kiss ✨

HE HAS THE BIGGEST GRIN

You decide to talk about this tomorrow when you’re more energetic and let it slide <3

He puts you to sleep and plants a kiss on your forehead before whispering something totally not dirty in your ear and leaves - this time, he uses the door.

Omg that took me forever to finish. (Sorry if it’s too long--) I love how this turned out something between fluff and crack. (Especially Kaz’s lol) And Hajime’s one kind of angst </3 Anyways, feel free to request more of your comfort characters!!<3 Love you all, Plant 🌱

[lilred8220]

Well, yet another fic no one asked for😃

I wanted to write this because some time go, I was watching the fireworks when this song started to play↓↓↓

And I just thought how romantic it would be if I wasn't forever alone 🙃 so, I build a story around that. I hope you enjoy it!

P.s. This is a F!MC

--

I had been so excited for this day! In the human realm, my hometown this time of year had a huge festival ending with a huge firework show. I had asked to go a week in advance but due to being in the Devildom for the exchange program, I couldn't go. It definitely was a disappointment. However Diavolo, seeing me upset and now curious about the tradition, asked all about it and he thought it sounded fun. Thanks to him always wanting to do anything new, he immediately decided to do the same here in the Devildom.

So through the long week, he asked about everything we would do at the event to make it much more fun and quickly get everything ready to make this last second festival. It somehow all came together and it feels almost exactly like the festival from the human realm. The food, sweets and all! Now it was the time to enjoy the festival!

The brothers couldn't understand why I was so excited for this. Though we all went to festivals and saw fireworks, It was just something that I would always look forward to this time of the year and it's just more special this time around. It kinda feels as if I'm sharing something that I love with everyone I care about in a place where I like to call my new home. Hopefully they'll come to enjoy this as much as I do.

"So, this is called an Elephant ear?“ Beel asked, drooling at the large fried sweet in front of him.

I laugh, as I grab a piece before he can scarf the treat whole, "Yeah, it's just fried dough with powdered sugar on it. They usually sell these at any carnival or festival." I pop the elephant ear in my mouth, savoring the amazing taste.

The brothers each had something to eat as we took a break from all the festival games littered around. We all take two picnic benches for the 8 of us, well, us and Beel's giant pile of food he got. Everyone had won something from the games…well everyone but me and Mammon. Mammon was determined to win a game, yet his luck seemed to be the worse for wear today and all the games we'd gone to all ended up with one of the other brothers winning the game. My luck honestly wasn't any better due to playing the same games that the others had won.

"I'm telling ya! Those games are rigged! The people runnin 'em are just a bunch of con artists!“ Mammon yells, clearly frustrated that he hasn't gotten anything.

"Or maybe you just suck lol" Levi says, holding a Ruri-chan plush to his chest.

"Honestly, you really shouldn't be surprised, you were pretty terrible at all those games since you had no choice but to play fair." Satan adds on, which all the brothers nod in agreement.

Asmo laughs, "Well, what do you expect from a scumbag?"

I start to get annoyed as the brothers all start to bash on Mammon. He seems fine on the surface but I've been around him long enough, with him basically living in my room and all, to see all his little ticks. Like when he's excited, his hand gestures are more dramatic, to emphasize his point or how his eyes light up when something catches his attention, like something to make a quick buck. However, right now, with the way his mouth slightly twitches and his hand shoved into his pockets, he's upset. He really only does this when the brothers throw insult after insult at him, like right now.

I sigh as they continue their assault on him. But an idea comes to mind and it'll be easy enough to pull off.

"Does...that all that stuff apply to me too? Since I didn't win anything either, after all..." I say, putting on my best pouting face and looking down at the ground.

Immediately, the brothers started to panic, trying to reassure me that it wasn't true, successfully drawing their attention away from Mammon. I slightly looked up, passed the frantic brothers to lock eyes with Mammon. He stood there for a moment, a bit confused by my sudden comment. I flash him a quick smirk before looking up at the brothers, accepting their apologies. The brothers seemed to relax and drop the topic after that, returning to the food they have. Mammon, who had seemingly understood what my intentions really were, looked at me, with his face slightly flushed, then stared down at his food.

In Mammon's mind, he honestly doesn't know what force sent Y/N here but, she is honestly the best thing that has ever happened to him. At first, he hated the idea of being her guardian due to all of the extra work he was given. But, as days turned to weeks, her treatment towards him was nothing but sweet and loving. It honestly was a huge adjustment for him, since everyone treated him like scum or useless, having her place so much faith in him, even defending him and doing little gestures like this, it makes his head spin. He honestly couldn't pinpoint when it happened, but, his feelings for her drastically changed, he couldn't deny it now, how he longed for her, wanted her all to himself. How he loved her unconditionally.

I smile, quickly finish eating my food then stand up, "Ok! Time to get back to the games!“ I say, excitedly.

"Y/N, I'm glad you are excited but some of us still need to eat." Lucifer says, glancing at Beel and his mountain of food.

"Awww, come on Lucifer, I wanna try to win something before the fireworks start." I plop down again, putting my chin in my hands.

"Well, I'm sure we'll have plenty of time." Lucifer tries to cheer me up, eating some fries.

Mammon looks up at Y/N, upon seeing her upset. He honestly hated seeing Y/N upset, even if for something so small as to wait for everyone to finish eating. He wanted nothing more than to see her smile everyday, it honestly was one of his favorite parts of the day to see her smile so sweetly. He'll do anything to make her happy. He sits up and scarfs down his food before standing up. "Ok, how 'bout this,' ' Mammon gets up and walks over to me, ' ' since I haven't won anythin', I'm gonna go play some more games and I'll meet ya guys later. Y/N, ya can come if ya want to." Mammon starts to walk away, at a slower pace than he usually would.

"Yeah! Ok!" Before any of the other brothers could protest, I quickly got up and hurried over to Mammon. I can hear the brothers stumbling to get up to follow us.

"Hey! Mammon is stealing Y/N!"

"That's not fair!“

"That scumbag..."

I hear some of the things they're saying as they seem to be trying to catch up.

I grab Mammon's hand and start to make a run for it. "Come on!" I glanced back at Mammon, who seemed shocked. He looks back to see the brothers in hot pursuit of us. Getting the hint, Mammon picks up the pace. We high tail it out of there, laughing like a bunch of kids all the while.

--

Me and Mammon finally stop and I flop on the floor, trying to catch my breath as Mammon puts his hands on his knees.

"I…I think we lost 'em" Mammon pants, out of breath from running around.

"I…I think so…jeez, how…how do you always do this when you get in trouble?“ I wheeze out, my human body not used to running as much as a demon. Especially if that demon is Mammon.

Mammon straightens up, finally catching his breath, "Well, I'm not usually running from ALL of my brothers, just Lucifer mostly."

Mammon reaches his hand to me and after a moment, I let him help me up. He helps me to my feet and when I look up, his face is very close to mine. We stare at each other for a moment before both of our faces turn more flushed than we already were.

His bright blue eyes that have a hint of that golden yellow has me in a trance. When I first met Mammon, it was the first thing that drew my attention, it's honestly something that I always find myself staring at all of the time. They are very beautiful to me and never fail to make me feel relaxed when I see them. But not only that, he is a very handsome man. His rich caramel skin with his pure white hair makes his face stand out even more. He is just so captivating to look at, however his personality is what truly makes him shine. Even if he tries, and fails, to hide his true feelings, he always has his heart on his sleeve, rather if he realizes that or not. He tries so hard to help me or to even make my day brighter when I'm not feeling my best. He even tries to protect his brothers and is always there for them. He honestly is the most caring person I've ever met and I can't help but fall for him because of that.

Mammon looked down at her face, he honestly couldn't help but stare. In his mind, she was more beautiful than anyone he's ever seen. Her beauty not only stopped at her looks but the person she was. She was a true wonder to him, too good to be true yet, here she was, defying all logic. All he wanted to do was look at every detail of her face, her eyes as they shine, her soft skin as the blush covers her face, her parted lips as her breath finally slows down. Mammon was the first to turn away, catching himself now staring at nothing but her lips.

He clears his throat. "W-Well since we're here, let's get to some games!" Mammon says, his fangs flash with his grin.

We made our way to the nearest game booth, both of us looking at the various prizes. The booth in question is a simple ring toss, the bottles are organized by colors which show what size prize you can get. There are the ridiculously large stuffed bears that are taller than me to the very small animal plushies. Scanning all the prizes, one catches my attention, a black plush crow with a yellow tag on it. It was big enough to hold in your arms, it's wings dangled at its sides. It had its beak opened slightly to look like a smile. I glance over at Mammon, who is currently eyeing a plushie of a grimm, that also has a yellow tag hanging off of it. I laugh, thinking of how that plush crow reminded me of him.

Mammon looks at me, slightly confused, "What are ya laughing at?"

"Oh nothing, though I know what prize I want." I smile, looking back at the crow plush.

Mammon follows my eyes over to the plush, he tilts his head at my choice, "Ya sure that's what ya want? There are plenty of things better than that ol' crow."

I nod enthusiastically, "Yeah, I think it's cute, like someone else I know." I playfully push him.

His ears turn a dark red but he laughs, "Well, I know what I want so, let's go and win some prizes!“

We pay the demon running the game and start trying to make the rings reach its mark. However, as in most carnaval games, the rings in question are only slightly bigger than the top of the bottles, making it much harder to win. Not to mention the bottles for the better prizes are further back, making it much harder. As we try a couple times, we don't get much luck and we're running out of grimms to play. However as we reach our last game, even though I end up with nothing, Mammon manages to sink a ring on a yellow bottle.

"We have a winner!“ the demon behind the booth says, walking over to grab the ring.

"Yeah! This was nothin' for the Great Mammon!" Mammon threw his hands in the air, and I cheered with him, "You did it! You won!“

The demon walks back over to us, "Alrighty, you can pick a prize with a yellow tag. Which will it be?"

Mammon's eyes flick to the plush he was eyeing earlier and he goes to speak, but an announcement rings through the speakers all around the festival, "The firework show will be starting in 15 minutes, marking the end of the festival! So hurry and grab a seat to enjoy the show!“ a cheery voice says before the music from before starts to play again. Mammon looks down at me for a moment before a small smile appears on his face.

Mammon looks at the demon and points at the plush crow, "I'll take that one."

I look up at Mammon, "But, I thought you wanted-“ I get cut off by the demon swift return, "Here you go." The demon hands him the crow plush.

Mammon takes the plush from the demon with his usual bright smile and starts walking off, I quickly follow, still confused. Once I catch up, he looks at me with a blush on his face and holds out the crow to me.

"W-well, there wasn't really anythin' I wanted, so I figured I'd get this ol' crow since ya seemed to want it so bad." He says with his usual bravado, yet it was a bit more shy than normal.

"But, you said…" I start to say as I take the plush but, cut my thought short.

Even though I know he wanted something, that much he's been saying all day, he still got me this crow plush. Knowing how he struggles to do these things and becoming a stuttering mess when it's pointed out, I choose to not question him. Yet, I can't help but love him even more, him knowing that I wanted something as well and that he'll be going back home later with nothing. I'll have to repay him later but for now, I'll just enjoy the rest of the festival with him.

I shake my head and give him a smile, one that shows how much I truly appreciate and love him, "Thank you so much, Mammon." I hold the crow close to myself.

Mammon feels all the air in his lungs escape him. Y/N's smile, the sparkle of joy and something more…intimate in her eyes. Honestly, for a split second, he found himself jealous of that crow, seeing Y/N holding it so lovingly. He wanted, no, needed to show her how much he loves her. If not tonight, it'll drive him insane.

--

After looking a bit, me and Mammon found a perfect spot to watch the fireworks. We sat on a hill that was a bit further away from the festival and luckily, we could still hear the music playing from one of the speakers nearby. We sat in a comfortable silence, waiting for the fireworks to begin. Which based on the amount of time it took to find this isolated spot, it should start at any moment.

Mammon is resting his arms on his knees as I sit with my legs crossed, the plush crow close to my chest. I watch all the demons in the distance hurrying to find a spot to watch the show as well. Thankfully, none of them seem to look in this direction. So right now, it's just us, alone.

After a few moments, Mammon looks over at me and shyly starts to speak, "H-hey, Y/N?"

I look back at Mammon, noticing his face slowly forming a blush, "Yes?"

"I…I wanted to tell ya-" Mammon gets cut off by the first firework going off.

We slightly jump, but my eyes widen as the firework show starts, "It's starting!"

I watch as the firework starts to make the usual dark Devildom sky shine bright with many different colors. All the while, a familiar song starts to play on the speakers, making this a moment that I want to treasure always. It was a song from the human realm and it was a song that made this moment feel more intimate. I honestly couldn't ask for a better day, I got to go to the festival with all my favorite people and I even had, dare I say it, a wonderful date with Mammon. The thought of going on a date with Mammon makes my cheeks burn but I truly wish that this day would never end.

Mammon's heart starts to pound in his chest, his gaze never leaving Y/N. He watches as her eyes glow with wonder, watching the fireworks as if it were the first time. She never looked more beautiful, more perfect than right now. If he was ever gonna make his move, it had to be now. Mammon opened his mouth to speak but he couldn't find it in himself to break her trance. However, his greed for her attention, her voice, her touch, for nothing but her, was growing. So, he closes his mouth and takes a deep breath. He leans closer to her as his shaky hand gently touches her cheek to turn her face towards him.

When I suddenly feel a light touch on my face, I snap back to reality. Before I can react, I feel my face being turned and suddenly, Mammon leans in, his eyes close and gently presses his lips on mine, like he's afraid that I'll break. My eyes widen, taking a moment to realize what is happening. Mammon, feeling me not move, starts to move away, most likely worried he did something wrong. But, not wanting to lose the moment, I quickly filled in the space he left, pressing my lips a bit harder than he did. Mammon tenses at my sudden movement but quickly melts into the kiss, holding my face with his hands. I place the plush to the side, momentarily forgotten, I place my hands on his chest for support.

The air stills, the world around us starts to disappear. The only thing to keep us from forgetting the world completely is the sound of fireworks and the song playing so sweetly.

I snake my arms around Mammon's neck, then he takes the chance to pull me in closer by my waist, closing the gap between us. Even though he was nervous at first, he seems to have relaxed, even nips at my bottom lip, causing me to gasp. He swiftly slips his tongue in my mouth, tangling it with mine, deepening the kiss. We held each other close, like we were afraid that the other would vanish.

Needing to breathe, we lean away slightly. I'm not sure when it happened, but I managed to end up on Mammon's lap. Mammon seems to also realize the position we're in and his breath hitches.

His hand comes up and holds my face, "I love ya, Y/N."

My heart flutters and I lean into his touch, "I love you too, Mammon. I…I always have."

"Y/N, I care about ya so much and I…I don't want anyone else trying to steal my most precious treasure from me. The thought of it kills me, because I'm yer first man." Mammon stops, becoming more shy, "I w-want ya to be mine and…I'll be yers…if ya want me."

I feel as though all of the butterflies in my stomach would explode out of me. I can't stop the big smile that appears on my face, "Mammon," I hold his face in my hands, "no one could ever take me away. And not only that but…" I bite my lip, feeling a bit bashful, "You already have me. Now and forever."

If Mammon could, his eyes would have hearts in them. He looked at me with such lovestruck eyes, his face is probably the most peaceful expression I've ever seen. I look back at him in awe, honestly have never seen him so happy, like he's on cloud nine.

A smile is plastered on his face, "I promise that I will be with ya till the end of time. I gotta be the luckiest demon in the whole festival, no, the Devildom. But, I guess I did win something at the festival after all." His smile suddenly turns into a smirk, "What do ya say we go somewhere more private and we can continue…this?"

My face turns red, but I nod. We stand up, I grab my plushie so that we can leave when I suddenly hear someone, or rather, some people, running this way.

"MAMMON!"

We spin around, both of us knowing too well who that voice belongs to. Lucifer and the rest of the brothers are running at full sprint in our direction.

"Oh shit!" Mammon yells out, quickly sweeping me off my feet, making a run for it.

Startled, I grabbed on to Mammon's jacket, making sure to not drop my crow plush, "Ah! M-Mammon!“

He looks down at me, " Well, I might get strung up later, but I'm yer man now. I want ya all to myself and I don't know about ya, but I'm not ready for tonight to end." He flashes his signature smile.

I can't help but laugh, as we make yet another escape from the brothers. This is truly the best day I could have asked for.

[retrievablememories]

the assistant | doyoung (m)

title: the assistant pairing: sub!doyoung x black!reader genre: smut request: “Sub Doyoung that works under a (Black) woc as an assistant. He gets turned on when she bosses him around and ends up in a situation where he can’t hide his feelings anymore. Hopefully it’s a smut.” word count: 4.5k warnings: oral (female receiving), handjob, dirty talk, public masturbation/sexual activities, humiliation kink *without insulting names*, dom!female/sub!male a/n: this came out a bit longer than i expected. the title’s a bit generic but the other one i had felt corny. i hope i didn’t make the reader too mean here lol

Taking a job as your assistant over a year and a half ago was both an easy and hard decision—though mostly easy.

Doyoung needed the money, so he wasn’t going to turn down the offer. And he had the skills for it, which he wasn’t going to let go to waste. But he wasn’t sure how he was going to handle the prospect of being sexually attracted to his boss.

It wasn’t just your looks, although they certainly helped. It was your air of authority and the way you knew how to get people to like you or do whatever you requested of them. There was practically no one you were afraid to call out if necessary, regardless if they were a lower-level employee or a fellow boss at the firm. You liked things to be done a certain way, and you wasted little time with hesitating like many others on the job did when they needed a task completed. 

He could tell your demeanor from that first interview, and it made him sweat. It pleased him and compelled him to achieve whatever he could during the hiring process to get close to you. Doyoung found it hard to get you off his mind, thinking about you from the time he left that interview to the hour before he fell asleep that night. He was undeniably pleased when he got the job, but even more happy that he’d be getting to work for someone like you.

Doyoung is a smart man, and he takes pride in a job well done. However...he’s not above making the occasional mistake just to hear you reprimand him. Nothing big enough to seriously impact your business, and never too often, or you’d probably have him kicked out. But every once in a while, he lets something “slip” his careful eye so he can hear your irritated voice or see your pretty eyes roll.

Sometimes he thinks he might be one of the strangest men on Earth to get enjoyment from things that would normally make others feel embarrassed and upset, but he doesn’t mind it too much. He knows what he likes, which is at least more than many others can say.

He’s not sure what he’d do if you knew about his secret, or about how he feels things specifically for you that an employee should never feel towards their boss. But he’ll continue to indulge as long as he can keep it to himself.

“I hope you’re ready for the presentation today.” You tell Doyoung this as you both take the elevator to your department floor. The only practical answer you expect is a yes, and he knows this. Thankfully for him, he’s not one to disappoint. “You’ve organized all the data I sent over to you and added it to the presentation, right?”

“Of course. Have I ever failed you?” 

You sigh, raising your eyebrows. “Those errors on your reports say otherwise, no matter how small they are. Don’t get too cocky about your track record yet, everyone messes up sooner or later.”

“Sounds like you don’t have any faith in me.” Doyoung laughs.

“Doyoung. If I didn’t have any faith in you, I wouldn’t have hired you.” You pat his shoulder good-naturedly, and he relishes that touch for a moment. “But I also know how humans work.” You both walk off the elevator when it finally stops, and Doyoung acknowledges a few people who pass by, though his eyes are always subtly drawn back to you. 

The conference room is almost full with the other bosses and higher-ups who have gathered for today’s meeting. It’s a panel, so there will be a few more people who go before and after you.

When it’s your turn to go up, you take the USB Doyoung’s given you with the presentation on it. 

The first few slides look as they should, which you pretty much expected, but you’re still glad to see that Doyoung got everything right.

You flip to the next slide of the presentation for the data and start going through it, but you quickly realize that something is wrong. None of the numbers match what you remember reviewing for this year’s report. You stop and blink for a few moments, trying to register what you’re seeing. Doyoung sits up in his chair, and his body goes stiff as he realizes his mistake. He knows for sure he imported the data into the PowerPoint, but he must not have been paying enough attention to which data he was using; all of this information is from last year.

There are a few disgruntled sounds from the meeting attendees, some born from secondhand embarrassment, others confusion, and some others annoyance. You clasp your hands together, putting on a fake smile as you regard the other members of the room. “Well...looks like there’s been a mistake.”

The meeting organizer speaks up. “We can continue on with the others and schedule your segment for another day. We’re all on a tight schedule right now, so I’m afraid there isn’t enough time to do this over today.” He gives you a regretful look, and you nod in response. You just hope you don’t get reprimanded for it too badly later.

Doyoung is sweating bullets when you return to your seat next to him. He glances over at you, though he can’t look you directly in the eye. You don’t even give him a glance back, instead keeping your eyes straight ahead on the next person’s presentation. He doesn’t need you to look at him, though; he already knows from your posture and energy that you’re pissed.

The rest of the meeting goes by fast. Maybe too fast. Everyone starts talking among themselves and packing up their things to leave, and you go to the organizer to set another date for your presentation. Doyoung waits until you’re finished with the other man before daring to approach you.

He stumbles over his words as he tries to speak. “Y/N, I’m so sorry, I didn’t—”

You give him a look and brush him off as neutrally as you can without drawing the attention of the others filing out of the room.“Let’s talk in my office.”

The walk to your office seems to last forever, though it’s only a minute or two in actuality. Doyoung doesn’t know what to think—will you decide to get rid of him? This is the first major mistake he’s made, but he is not so confident that you’ll be very forgiving with the past errors he’s made.

“Close the door behind you,” you say when you finally get in the office. Doyoung does as instructed and only sits down after you gesture for him to take the chair in front of your desk. After you’re both settled, you sigh and put your head in your hands.

You keep that position for a while, which makes him nervous. He isn’t sure if he’s supposed to speak first, so he keeps quiet and waits to see what you’ll do.

Possibly the weirdest part of all this is the thread of excitement that still pulses through him. He’s anxious to know what you’ll say to him, whether good or bad. He’s not ecstatic at the thought of losing his job, no, but he also can’t deny that he likes hearing you raise your voice at him.

You lift your head to look at him, and he feels immobilized underneath your gaze. “I should have you fired, you know that?” He tenses at that. “After making such a huge mistake in front of the upper management, and having to reschedule the damn meeting…everyone spent their precious time coming out here today, pulling themselves away from their own busy schedules...”

Your words make Doyoung panic a bit on the inside, yet they also stoke the fires of his attraction to you. He curses himself in his head. He’s usually better than this at keeping himself under control, but something about your pointed anger today is speaking directly to a deep part of him.

“Whenever I tell you to do something related to the job, you should do it.”

“I know, o-of course. It was a mistake, but—”

“But? Did you really not realize the information you had was from last year?” 

“I-it slipped my attention.” Doyoung can feel heat creeping up his neck, but also rushing farther down below the belt. He’s only seen you this upset before on a few other occasions, and none of them were directed at him. He’s a little ashamed to say that it’s still turning him on, though he also realizes the gravity of his mistake. “I know I can’t make up for what’s already happened, but I’ll do better.”

“You definitely will do better, because you’re staying overtime to fix it.” He figured that much. “There’s not enough time to deal with this mess now.” You sit back in your desk chair, crossing your arms. “Don’t look so anxious about it. I’m still pissed at you, obviously, but I’m not letting you go. There are a lot of fools around here, and I don’t need any of them trying to become my assistant if you leave.”

Doyoung’s shoulders deflate a little from the relief he feels at that, with some of the built-up tension leaving his body. There is still another uncomfortable problem left, though—the bulge in his pants. His face turns redder with the knowledge that he’s gotten hard in front of you, with the only thing to hide it being the folder of documents he’s holding.

You lean over the desk a little, examining your assistant closely. “Doyoung, you’re turning beet red. The hell? Are you getting sick or something?” 

“N-no! I’m not sick, really.” His hands tighten around the folder as he says this, and he tries to look at you as nonchalantly as he can manage, though the eye contact still sends his pulse throbbing.

You stare at him for a few more seconds, trying to read him and getting nothing but more nervousness. “You know what…” You shake your head. “Just go home early and do your overtime tomorrow. You clearly need a break to pull yourself together.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. I don’t need you messing up any more of my work if you’re this flustered. Go on, go.”

Doyoung nods, wondering how he’s going to get out of the chair without making it too obvious that he’s sprung a hard-on from your reprimands. You sigh and press your fingers to your temples for a long moment, and he takes this opportunity to stand up and try to zip out of the room before you can open your eyes again.

“Wait. Give me the folder.”

He freezes with his back to you.

“The-the folder?”

“Yes, Doyoung, that folder you’re holding right there.” You roll your eyes. “Come on. Don’t you need to be getting home?”

“Right, yes…” Doyoung hesitates for a moment longer before passing the folder to you, then he quickly covers himself by crossing his hands in front of his crotch. The movement isn’t as natural as he’d like it to be. You raise an eyebrow at his stiff demeanor, but you don’t say anything immediately. He takes that as his cue to escape, and he goes to the door as calmly as possible.

“Remember your overtime tomorrow,” you call out as he opens the door to your office. He turns his head to look back at you, nodding in response. He can’t read the expression on your face, and he doesn’t stick around much longer to find out what you could possibly be thinking.

Once Doyoung gathers his things, he sneaks off to the men’s bathroom. His hands shake a little as he unbuckles his belt and unzips his pants, pulling his hard cock out and gripping his shaft tightly. A tiny moan slips out, though he quickly silences his voice as he begins stroking himself.

All your words from earlier circle around in his head as he gets himself off, his breaths labored and echoing slightly around the walls of the bathroom stall. He imagines that you’re the one pleasuring him, your fingers wrapping around his dick as you laugh at how hard and desperate he is for you. Maybe if he’s good, you’ll let him cum in your mouth.

He’s learned how to get himself off quickly and quietly in the work bathrooms by now, so it only takes a few more minutes before he’s spilling over his fingers, the sound of your name passing through his lips almost inaudibly. After he cleans himself up and flushes the toilet, he spends a few more minutes in the stall to calm his mind and take some deep breaths.

“Ugh…fuck,” he mumbles to himself. The thought of doing overtime doesn’t thrill him, and he still feels shitty about making such a big mistake, but there’s nothing left to do except fix his errors.

Friday goes like any other workday, and Doyoung doesn’t notice anything unusual from you that would’ve indicated you knew what his “problem” was yesterday. He’s a little relieved about that, but he’s still not reassured enough to disregard the incident.

The day passes by more quickly than Doyoung would like, and soon it’s already time for regular office hours to end—and his extra work to begin. He seats himself at his desk, nodding goodbye to the last few coworkers who straggle out of the room. He didn’t see you leave your office, but he figures you must already be gone because the room is dark.

For a few minutes, it’s just Doyoung working by himself. He’s barely gotten started with the bulk of the document fixes when he hears rustling and a door opening. He wonders if it’s someone else doing overtime or somebody who forgot their belongings. What he doesn’t expect to see is you walking towards his desk.

“I thought you were going home?” Doyoung asks, looking up at you curiously. His hands pause over the keys.

“I am; don’t think I want to stay here all night. But I need to talk to you about something first.” You cross your arms, looking at Doyoung from behind his computer monitor.

A cold sweat breaks out on his skin, though he tries to keep his face neutral. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Your behavior after the presentation yesterday. In my office.”

As he thought, there was no way he could’ve hidden it or gotten away with it. He hangs his head, squeezing his eyes shut. “Y/N, please. Forgive—”

“Wait. Let me finish first.”

Doyoung stops talking immediately. He swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and watches you carefully to see what you’ll do.

“I have enough sense to figure out that you were far from sick, but I sent you away to save us both the embarrassment of you nutting in your pants.” His fingers twitch at your words, but he remains silent as he wearily waits for you to continue speaking. At this point, he’s unsure which direction this will go in; will you decide to go ahead and fire him after you said you wouldn’t? Will you scold him and then pretend like none of it ever happened? “You’re crazy as hell, you know that?”

He can’t meet your eyes anymore and instead looks at where his hands still rest on the desk. He stays quiet, mostly because he’s unsure how to respond in any justifiable way.

“You’re acting like a scared puppy now, but you were pretty damn shameless yesterday. Getting hard in front of your boss, really?” You reach out to him. He doesn’t know what your intention is, but he surely doesn’t anticipate you grabbing his tie. You’re not even trying to pull him closer; you simply hold the fabric in your hand, passing your thumb over its patterns. “Do you think any of that was appropriate?” you ask, your voice calm.

“N-no, it’s not.”

“Don’t think I didn’t see you practically sprinting to the bathroom, too. Are you gonna tell me what you did in there, or do I have to guess?”

Doyoung’s cheeks are blazing again, and he can hardly believe that you’re questioning him like this, or that he’s actually about to admit to it.

“I...I, um. I...jerked off.”

“Jerked off to the thought of me. Right?” He can only nod, keeping his eyes firmly on your hand—which is still holding his tie—instead of your face. “And do you think that’s appropriate?” He shakes his head no.

“Good answer. But you’ve also forgotten that I can do what I want, too. Do you think it’s fair that you’re the only one around here who gets to have any fun?” Now you pull him closer, and you lean forward to meet him halfway. The implications of your words have him risking a glance up at you, surprised that this is your answer.

“Fun?”

Any other thought he might have promptly disappears when you kiss him. He’s taken entirely off guard by your actions, and with his walls down, he lets a particularly needy moan slip out. He likes the feel of your lipstick smearing slightly against his mouth, and most of all, your lips themselves.

Doyoung is embarrassed to be getting hard from a single kiss, but whenever it comes to you, he’s gotten it up for much less. Now that he’s had this one taste of contact, he wants you to touch him more, wherever you see fit. It doesn’t much matter as long as your hands are on him in some way. He leans forward minutely, kissing you a little deeper and wanting to push his tongue into your warm mouth.

You part from him as soon as you feel him push closer, though you still keep a grip on his tie. “This is gonna go my way. Got it? If you don’t want this, say it now and I’ll leave.”

“No, I—stay, please. I want this.” His voice comes out more pleadingly than he meant for it to, but he realizes he’s not really concerned about that as long as you understand how much he really does want this.

You move away from Doyoung and he’s momentarily alarmed that you’re going to leave anyway, but you only shrug your coat off and step out of your heels, leaving them strewn on the office floor. You push him away from the desk in his rolling chair so there’s enough space for you to enter his cubicle and sit comfortably on his desk.

Doyoung’s eyes drop to your legs, which are shiny and smooth under your skirt and most likely just as soft as they look. “Get out of the chair and on your knees,” you tell him. He does so, and you kick the rolling chair away so it’s just you and Doyoung, you sitting on his desk and him kneeling in front of you.

“If you want to make up to me for that embarrassment yesterday, you’ll have to do a lot more than fixing a presentation.” You spread your legs a bit, your skirt riding up as you do, and Doyoung’s eyes hyperfocus on the gift that’s waiting between your thighs. His mouth waters a bit at the thought of finally getting to taste you. “So, don’t keep me waiting. Like I said, I’m not staying here all night.”

Doyoung nods and brings his hands up to the sides of your thighs, feeling buzzed at how he’s touching you in a place he’s never been before. He’d like to take his time peeling off your blouse and skirt, exposing your nude form to his mouth and hands and cock that would like to do nothing but worship you, but he hasn’t been given that much permission. So he keeps within his boundaries and hikes your skirt up more so he can reach your underwear to pull it off.

Your underwear, to his surprise, already has a considerable wet spot on it. It makes his dick throb to know you’re as eager for this as he is, even if you don’t necessarily express it. When you notice him staring at your panties, you grab the hand that’s holding your garments and push it into his face, making him smell your scent. “If you like it so much…”

The smell of you appeals to him on a visceral, primal level. His hands return to your thighs with renewed enthusiasm, gripping your body and pulling you closer to his wanting mouth.

The first stroke of his tongue between your lips makes you shudder, and it makes Doyoung moan out loud. He pushes his tongue into you as his nose nudges your clit, wanting to have more of you as you leak onto him. You grab his hair, though not hard enough to hurt, as you push his face closer into you and arch your hips up.

He responds to your actions by bringing his mouth back up to your clit, enveloping it and sucking it fervently. He doesn’t think to bring his fingers into the mix, as consumed as he is with simply tasting you right now, and your body’s reaction says you are more than content with letting him work his mouth on you.

“Doyoung…” The way you speak his name is surprisingly gentle, much unlike he’s heard anyone else say it before—even previous lovers. Maybe he believes it to be so because of how wrapped up he is in you. He tries not to read into it and get his hopes up, instead focusing on pleasuring you.

His cock strains uncomfortably against his pants, though he ignores it to keep licking into you. There seems to be no limit to how much wetness he can coax out of you. The small cubicle, and the office itself, is quiet except for the subdued hum of computer machinery and Doyoung’s mouth sucking your pussy.

The muscles in your legs flex underneath his fingertips as you get closer to releasing. Your hand slips to the back of his neck, caressing the heated skin there as Doyoung pushes you higher and higher until you’re cumming in his mouth. Your legs tense and try to close around his head as you moan softly, and Doyoung accepts the sensation of being caged in by you. Everything down here is hot and wet and delicious.

You are satisfied and properly spent after your climax, but Doyoung is still hard and you’re not quite done playing with him yet. “Stand up.”

He does so and watches with bated breath as you undo his pants and bring his dick out. It’s already dripping precum and flushed with arousal, but you decide that isn’t enough lubrication and carefully spit on his member to make your strokes smoother. His knees almost give way at seeing your pretty mouth so close to his dick, and he has to grab onto the cubicle wall to steady himself.

“Y/N…” His voice shakes as he speaks your name. Your hand moving across his shaft seems too good to be true, and he wants so much for you to take him into your mouth or even let him press in between your legs. But he certainly can’t deny that being touched this way is ridiculously good, too. You only concentrate on his dick for a little while, but your eyes soon venture up to his face, with his bangs sticking to his forehead from sweat.

“Do you like that?”

“I-I do. So much.”

“So easily satisfied, aren’t you…” you murmur, not really caring if he replies or not. You grip him a little more tightly, and he can hardly stop the whimper that results from it. “What do you do when you’re at home? Nevermind—I bet you hug your pillow and jack yourself off thinking it’s me. How embarrassing, Doyoung.”

You continue on, stroking him faster all the while. “Seriously, when’s the last time you had a warm body? You’re so sensitive.” You slide your thumb over the slit of his cock, and he reacts by pushing his hips closer to you and moaning loudly. There’s no one left on this floor but you two, so he isn’t too afraid of being vocal here. “Don’t tell me you’ve been holding out for me. Maybe I‘ll let you fuck me someday, though...you seem like the kind of man who knows what to do with a wet pussy, don’t you?”

You can guess when he’s about to come from his increasingly loud moans and how he has to hold your shoulder to keep himself upright. When Doyoung finally climaxes, you angle his dick so his cum splashes all over his shirt and suit jacket. You don’t stop stroking him until he whines out loud and nudges your hand away from his overstimulated cock. Some of his cum has dripped on your hand, too, and you wipe that on his pants. Lucky for you—and not so lucky for him—he‘s wearing light gray today.

It takes him a minute to recover from his orgasm, and you watch him with a devious smile as he regains his senses. You’re even more delighted when he looks down and sees the mess he’s made of himself.

“Y/N, my clothes…” You’re already standing up from the desk and pulling your underwear back on, along with your coat and shoes.

“That’s too bad, isn’t it? Gonna stain, too. You’ll have to walk out of here like that, and let’s not forget how you always take the subway on Fridays to save gas money.” Once you’ve tidied yourself back up, you give him another pitiful look. “Well, see you at work on Monday, okay?”

Doyoung can only watch your retreating figure as you walk to the elevator and get on, giving him one last amused wave before disappearing to the ground floor.

Perhaps the wildest part of it all, despite his soiled clothes and the night of work still ahead of him, is that he’d do it all over again if you asked.

[cyberfairyblog]

Why Jillian Sucks

Hi, welcome to Odyssey Mystery Hour! I'm your host @gritsandbrits and today I'll be talking about a hot topic in the AIO fandom! Wanna know the tea? Keep on reading!

In the weeks I started getting back into the radio series, the newer episodes have started to irk me, mostly because of one of the more annoying additions: Jillian. Marshall. 😬😬😬

Even though I ship Jason with my self insert OC this not going to be about her. There's a lot of reasons why I do NOT like the idea of Jillian x Jason becoming a canon thing on the show. I hope to describe these feelings as best I can.

Who is Jillian you might ask?

Well to put it simply, Jillian is what happens when a Soccer Mom and a TikTok boyfriend mate and spawn an unholy baby and name them Rachel Berry. Out of the aspects of Nu!Odyssey I dislike, Jillian is the one thing I truly despise. Thankfully I've met fans who share the exact sentiment! 😁😒

Double-N Annoying, Double-O Nincompoop

Making her debut in 2018, Jillian is described as lively and upbeat, if a little high strung and immature; the perfect recipe for Kid Appeal! Before she moved to Odyssey she lived in different cities and worked nineteen jobs before becoming roommates with Connie and her sister Jules.

Now this is actually a fairly interesting set up: a new character struggling to find purpose only to discover it in a quaint small town. But as it turns out her going through that many jobs seems to be more than just struggling to find purpose.

When I first saw her design my thought immediately went to the smarmy classmates I went to school with.

We're introduced with this iconic line: "Hi!! I'm Jillian Marshall, double-L Jillian, double-L Marshall! It's so nice to meet you!"

With that one sentence I knew I was about to die.

The following episode has Jillian bumbling through every job interview much to Connie's duress after which she conveniently ending up working at Triple J Antiques...the same place Jason works!

A little backstory on Jason: he is the adult son of John Whittaker, one of the show's main character, and a bit of an Ensemble Darkhorse. He was introduced as a secret agent meant to bring action and intrigue into the show. He was set up as a charismatic and reckless sort of guy clashing with the calmer Jack Allen. After the Green Ring Conspiracy Saga, Jason officially retired from James Bonding and settled down to work at the Allen's antique shop.

Given his immense popularity there's understandable concern for how he is written and who he gets paired up with. So what does that have to do with Jillian.

Well, the idea of Jillian working at the same exact place as Odyssey's resident bachelor and calling him cute raises a few eyebrows.

"B-but Grits all she did was call him cute! You're reaching too far into this!"

Am I? Look I know this wouldn't be much of a big deal too but that is a subtle tactic the writers threw in to get the cogs turning for Jillison. Jason is clearly uninterested and even implied to dislike her. Jillian bemoans this but Connie reassures her that that's not the case. But hey at least she called him cute so OF COURSE she's going to end up being his love interest!

To me removing a character's core trait to justify a romance means you do NOT know how to actually write a compelling romance. It's trite, it's forced and painful to listen to.

It's also obvious she's a replacement for Bernard, given they have similar personalities and her brief stint on TV (which she also failed at lol). But whereas Bernard was actually endearing, Jillian seems more of a cliche womanchild with zero self awareness and tact. No actual depth, just a personality that is incredibly dumbed down and even insulting. Seriously they made her the dumb blond stereotype in an era where we should've moved on from that! 🤦

Did I mention she goes to church?

Yep she's gonna be one of those Christians.

Literally Loveless, Literally!

Oddly enough the narrative frames this as a rivals to lovers thing, where Jason is both the charismatic friendly guy and the super uninterested Straight Man. The constant twisting the turning makes him go OOC. See we know he's fit better as the former because that goes in line with his canon personality. But when they make him the latter he just comes off as unnecessarily mean. This is turns frames Jillian as someone we should pity: "Oh the attractive male doesn't like me because I went into his office without permission!!"

Wouldn't it make more sense for Jillian to be the one uninterested in a romance since her focus in to find a job/better purpose and romance might distract her? That would make a fun subplot...IF SHE WASN'T OBNOXIOUS!

A pattern I noticed and several fans pointed out: Jason's previous love interests were consistent in that they were strong minded women who challenged him in different ways. Their personalities bounced off creating a fun dynamic that was entertaining to see. Even though they didn't end up with him, you can still see and hear and feel their chemistry which is my goal for Jason x OC. Tasha doesn't make Jason OOC & they had a bittersweet arc, so their interactions were organic. Monica only made him OOC because she was a villain actively manipulating him. So again that worked in terms of story and led to Monica's redemption if my memory serves.

However, Jillian's dynamic is not that fun to listen to. You can feel her annoying Jason through the airwaves. She's strong but only in the sense of feeling something hard underneath your back laying on the bed and realizing that's just your earbud. She's vibrant yes but what else? She doesn't have any unique traits to contrast Jason, and any attempt at a contrast would mean making him act out of character. Adding her bumbling clumsiness and annoying voice, Jason would get tired of her very quickly. He's the type to go for people to have intelligent conversations with, not make him lose braincells. She could very well bring out the worse in him, it'll be an unhealthy relationship.

Here's a tidbit worth mentioning: the VA for Jillian actually auditioned with Jason's VA Townsend Coleman. Now that is big ass red flag right there! No hate towards the actress, just throwing that out there. There's also a facebook page dedicated to Jillison. Typical FB stupidity ramped up to eleven, or AIO fans who see something in Jillian; or at least THINk they see something worthwhile in her.

It doesn't help the writers keep insisting that these two go well together. The audience knows they do not work well as a pair but the narrative keeps insisting they are anyways. I recall an episode that had them pretend to be married while undercover and it was bad. Like REALLY humiliating to see Jason put in that position. He also told her to shut up much to my joy because she could NOT stop being irritating for five minutes. Alas the show still tries to justify Jillian being the Perfect Woman for Jason when she's anything but. And not even endearingly imperfect.

Follow Up

These tags I wrote on one of the AIO posts describes how I feel about Villain Marshall and the Jillison coupling as a whole. It just wouldn't work because Jason needs someone that can actually CHALLENGE him, have their own personality that can bounce off his (without being forced), and most importantly DOESN'T AGGRAVATE THE FANDOM!!

I have not met a single person anywhere that say they like Jillian. It's a different story apparently on the Club App - they like her for reasons I'm too cowardly to find out. But no, she sucks as a character. She makes a annoying friend, and is not a good addition to the show, much less a good love interest.

The only good thing she brought us are the nicknames we gave her 😌

That's all for now thank you for tuning into the Odyssey Mystery Hour. Next week I'll be talking a bit more about my OC Vanessa and her role in the world of Odyssey! Goodbye and make sure to lock your doors to prevent Jillian from coming in!!

[enimagia]

MBTI as people I know

INFP: 

-) Always thinks he’s getting the “vibes” from random people

-) Has a vocabulary of like three words but when he reads poetry he totally understands every word of it

-) Impatient AF. If you don’t respond as a close friend you’ll have like 483940 unread messages

-) Overthinks everything. All the time.

-) Seems friendly and like a cinnamon roll but is sort of a bad bitch

-) Knowledge about reality doesn’t exist, but will emotionally understand you like nobody else

ENFP:

-) Will try to steal her INFJ friend’s spotlight but usually fails because she tries to hard

-) Says she’s a vegetarian but eats meat regularly

-) Says she’s mean and bad but she’s supportive of EVERYONE and will never judge you

ISFP:

-) Is the best in the class at English but doesn’t do anything so he always receives a C when he could have an A

-) Has this Detective-Like coat and his style in general is really dark but not boring

-) Has a twin sister I’m failing to type, she might be ISFP too

-) Smoked at 14 already and is kind of popular but will end up in the corner of the room alone

ESFP:

-) Doesn’t ever stop partying and idk how he earns enough money but yeah he’s out every day

-) Once talked to me about depression and we had like the deepest talk ever and that came really unexpected

-) Kind of sleeps with everyone but wouldn’t use somebody 

ENTP:

-) I, an INFJ have a really complicated relationship with him. He’s always trying to outplay everyone with logical arguments while I appell to emotions and it’s very interesting actually lol cuz nobody ever “wins”

-) All teachers hate him but I feel like some deeply adore him or find him funny at least

-) Has challenged himself last term, trying to receive as many “D”s (grades) as possible, even though he’s like super smart. He wanted to prove a point... to whoever...

INTP:

-) Will come off as ignorant because isn’t it LOGICAL

-) When you explain your emotional position to him slowly, he will understand and agree with you at some point. Or at least accept your point of view

-) So chaotic. Like REALLY chaotic. Teachers don’t even let him take his tests home because he always loses them before he can hand them back in

-) Usually knows more than our teachers

ISFJ: -) The teacher’s pet but like not in a way where you want to slap her in the face

-) Knows ALL the tea. Listens to you talking about how much somebody hurt you and will respond: “I understand you a lot, I just really don’t want to take sides.”

-) Everyone thinks she and ENTP are hooking up but they’re “JUST FRIENDS”

-) She actually feels they are just friends but ENTP doesn’t.

ESFJ:

-) He’s a weirdo. Many make fun of him

-) Will say he doesn’t want to tell you sth and hope that you start begging to hear it

-) if you don’t beg he’s going to tell you anyway.

-) has an attention complex. Also, doesn’t admit that he likes people, even though he clearly loves spending time with them and try to get their attention desperately.

INTJ:

-) She’s scared of using my toilet because she might meet one of my parents and that would be too much social interaction

-) On the other hand, will start debating with strangers because they breathed in a sexist way

-) Only wears black. She doesn’t even have white socks.

-) When I (INFJ) am alone with her it’s so awkward because we don’t talk, but when we’re in a group we’ll sit somewhere separately and have the deepest and smartest talk ever like ????

ISTJ:

-) Has a blog about furniture (yes, he’s 17)

-) His room is minimalist aesthetic, plants everywhere and white colours. Rearranges his room every few weeks

-) Was really judgemental when we were in like 5th grade and nobody liked him

-) Perfectionistic af. Always hangs out with girls

ESTJ:

-) Wants to become primary school teacher

-) Will judge you if you don’t follow the social rules, giving you this glare that she always uses. So you’ll see it on her face and wanna hide somewhere because NEGATIVE ENERGY

-) Tries to be an A-student and has like no private life apart from studying

ISTP:

-) Book addict

-) She’s like really messy but has made the decision to be good in school so she usually has EVERYTHING done and organized

-) Is like the quietest person I know, that’s why people assume she’s friendly, but when you talk to her (no matter if she knows you), chances are high she’s going to snap back

ESTP: -) He has a girlfriend and told everyone they had sex but she says it never happened and nobody knows the truth, apart from then

-) Kind of has two “best friends” but they don’t actually like  him

-) He dated my best friend and texted me an analysis of their relationship and her mind and that it might be better to break up with her. He sent me a list of situations of what he did wrong and said he felt so bad but actually he didn’t care

-) after the relationship ended he texted me that she looks so devastated in her recent instagram post, but actually she’d taken that picture before the relationship had ended and she was currently living her best life

INFJ:

-) Insecure about breathing

-) When one of us (both INFJ) is posting an Insta picture we always text first for about an hour, discussing the right angle, filter, and version of the pic

-) Always dating the biggest assholes and doesn’t realise it even though I’m trying to tell her. Every time. Dated the ENTP and the ESTP

-) You could beat her up and she’d look you in the eyes, crying, telling you it’s not really your fault. She wouldn’t complain to anyone about it.

-) Is like super introverted and hates people but then she attends like really many events because she’s involved in so many projects

ENFJ:

-) Is insecure about being straightforward or asking specific questions

-) Won’t leave my house until’s she’s found my parents and said goodbye to them

-) Has this chill vibe and doesn’t really talk a lot but everyone loves her

-) I’ll not see her for like a year and when we meet up we have the deepest talk and tell each other about literally EVERYthing

[somestansomewhere]

Debbie Gallagher: ALL Love Interests RANKED

Okay! I tried to rank all of Debs’ love interests and it was hard to do because I am not set on that ONE PERSON that I ship her with above all else, but these are my thoughts! Keep in mind that these are all MY OPINIONS and you are entitled to yours as well! Let’s talk about it! If you read all this ILY.

Here we go:

...................................

23. The Guy At The Pool (Season 5)

He thought Debs was special needs and she tried to flirt with him...

22. Kelly (Season 9-10)

I LOVE Kelly so much but she was not into Debbie! I really love her with Carl and Debbie should not have tried to interfere! I will however say that I really really REALLY enjoy their friendship and I wish that that would have continued on. They had some really good moments together.

20/21. Eugene (Season 6) & Board Game Guy (Season 7)

Alright so these two don’t technically count because Frank tried to set Debbie up with Eugene so that she’d be written into his will. And the Board Game Guy was from a deleted scene as one of Debbie’s “life partners” from that flyer she made. So enough said.

18/19. Tyler (Season 6) & Erika (Season 6)

Again, Frank attempted to set Debbie up with Tyler and while that “potential relationship” wasn’t as bad as what happened between her and Erika, I am grouping them together because Debbie wasn’t technically into either of them and it was set up to fail right from the start.

17. Larry (Season 6)

The pregnancy fetish guy! I’m not quite sure what the intentions were for this character in the long run but it was a funny joke in the episode he was in. Even in the beginning Larry gave off red flags, but Debbie was happy... until the truth was revealed. Weird.

16. Jared (Season 11)

Another irrelevant love interest: the gay guy that cheated on his husband with Debbie after giving her cocaine. Obvious issues with this encounter/plot line aside, I did feel that their interactions at the bar were flirtatious and I didn’t hate him.

15. Calista (Season 11)

ANOTHER irrelevant character that was used and never brought back!!! I didn’t totally hate her either, she was upfront about her ex-girlfriend and that whole situation. She helped Debbie and didn’t take advantage of her but the second she came on screen; I’m sorry but I did not give a fuck. Her last episode built up a potential friend/relationship opportunity for Debbie and they just did nothing with it. Idfk what else to say, not a fan but I did appreciate Calista trying to take care of Debbie when she clearly was drinking too much.

14. Sandy (Season 10-11)

Oh boy, everyone’s favorite partner of Debbie’s... Yeah, Sandy is so low on this list not necessarily because I didn’t like her for Debbie, or that I have beef with Elise (b/c I love her as an actor sm). I personally just hate the sheer fact that this character EXISTS in the first place. I never understood the hype, but I know that people only like her because she’s a Milkovich ie. related to Mickey. That’s the hard truth this fandom isn’t willing to admit. My disliking Sandy should be a post of its own but lemme get into her relationship with Debbie.

You could tell that Emma and Elise liked working together so the chemistry was sorta there (definitely not soulmate shit tho). Each time that they interacted in s10 I was over it. S11 was better in the sense that whether I would like to admit it or not, they did have some “cute moments” (mainly just Sandy calling Debbie babe/babes). The second shit hit the fan in regards to Sandy’s history, I immediately understood Debbie’s issue with her and why her character would not want to be with Sandy. But, with that being said, Debbie was also in the wrong because she made everything about herself throughout the entire course of this relationship! Sandy did call her out, ex: “who was supposed to take Franny to school?”, and things like that were nice. HOWEVER I am sorry to say, this relationship felt like a massive waste of time and it felt like they were trying to force something that shouldn’t have existed to begin with. I don’t have the patience to even analyze this anymore, but maybe down the line because clearly there is SO MUCH to delve into!

13. Alex (Season 9)

Omg I did not like this relationship/plotline at all. Alex had issues but Debbie was so inconsiderate! I never saw the appeal here! It was nice that Alex had the decency to go and help Debs with Ford after the fact. I just feel “meh” about this tho. They had moments but ultimately I personally wasn’t into it and Debbie’s random newfound self discovery of “lesbianism”.

12. Kyle (Season 3)

Emma Kenney’s first kiss! Kyle was a one episode character that did have the potential to be more than that. I didn’t hate the kid as Debbie’s love interest, but there also wasn’t anything special about him. He was just kinda there and then he left. Debbie really seemed to like him though, spelling his name in her peas, etc.. I do like that one line about cigarettes that Kyle had but again he was such a short lived character and when he turned out not to be related to Kevin it became unnecessary to keep him around... even if the episode alluded to him returning. They were sorta cute!

11. Claudia (Season 10)

So I didn’t like this relationship much either but there was a certain kind of stability in the relationship that felt organic and nice. Partly because I enjoyed watching Constance Zimmer and she made Claudia likeable. Do I ship it? No. Was it a problematic dynamic? Yes. Was it a tolerable relationship? Eh. I didn’t hate it entirely though. Debbie, being a Gallagher, eventually fucked it up. And while I did like the drama, Debbie wasn’t REALLY into Claudia as much as she may have believed she was. So, it totally felt like a one off that would end with Claudia not returning... and it was. So there was no time for an investment of any kind.

10. Hedi (Season 11)

Gosh... Debbie’s endgame(?). Hedi was introduced too late for me to care enough about her (At this point it would have made sense for Debbie to wind up with Calista because at least she was already introduced!). I don’t necessarily like Hedi as a character and quite frankly it was a “who tf does SHE think she is” kinda deal for me. At first I was interested and didn’t hate her (and I don’t), but then she “thought she was Jimmy” and I instantly got annoyed (LOL I GUESS it was a nice nod to him tho... I guess).

My (several) problems with Hedi as a character aside, there IS something about Hedi being presented as this “dangerous badass” who is (somehow) WORSE than Debbie, that worked well. I’m not a fan of the ship, but it is an interesting dynamic in the sense that Debbie could potentially be “living on the edge”. I fear for what trouble this could cause Debbie BUT it’s like Frank referenced: Monica vibes. I don’t think it’s “true love” like Debbie said to Franny. A constant storyline for Debbie has been “why can’t anyone ever love me” and so she falls in quickly. Maybe Hedi will leave her but that’s the thing, “she’s done worse” so idk, either way I don’t think it’s meant to last! But I guess I don’t mind them being together! Karma’s a bitch! Will Carl tell her what Arthur found? Would it even make a difference?

9. Julia (Season 10)

I would have actually rather preferred her with Carl too! It was never love between Debbie and Julia, but the relationship did create good conflict for my viewing pleasure. UNPOPULAR OPINION, I didn’t mind Julia as a character at all. She was fine for me. I also enjoyed how ultimately SHE was only using Debbie in the end. Julia does admit later on that she was experiencing with her sexuality so maybe she did have feelings for Debbie at one point, which I thought was interesting. Debbie got herself into this one. At least Julia was more age appropriate than Claudia... (which is ironic since Debbie got in trouble for being with Julia when the age gap is MUCH bigger between Claudia and Debbie LOL I love it)! I also found Julia annoying Debbie to be amusing, that’s not to say that I liked her a lot either cuz I don’t!

8. Matty (Season 4-5)

Man do I feel bad for Matty! Debbie raped him and it was horrible. From the get-go when Matty was introduced the relationship was hella awkward!! And not only that but Debbie was a MINOR! Matty did do the right thing and said they couldn’t be together but a part of me will always feel strange that he WAS INITIALLY attracted to Debbie before learning her age. That to me is still wildly inappropriate. He shoulda cut it off. He did try to be her friend and took her to that dance which was cute but ahhh this was just a MESS all around. Cringe. At least he didn’t take advantage.

7. Henry (Season 4)

Speaking of Matty and that dance, Henry was supposed to take her. He asked her as a joke in order for Seama to inflict revenge on Debbie. If that weren’t the case however... DAMN THEY WERE CUTE! The potential that this relationship could have had! If only it wasn’t all an act! It was a “day worth of love” and sure that’s not enough for two people to REALLY be IT, yet there was something charming about their connection that I wish was real. Or idk maybe Henry could have reconnected with her later and apologized and it could have been revealed that he did actually like her... but that wasn’t the case. Fuck him!

6. Simon (Season 1-2)

Debbie was NOT interested in Simon at all but at the time he was almost like the male version of her. Their banter back and forth was fun to watch and he probably would have treated her well. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get to even see their friendship progress. Their interactions were funny and he was a good guy!

5. Batiste (Season 10)

Y’all may not understand why this guy is so high on the list but a part of me wishes this character wasn’t a one off. Batiste is the dude Debbie tried to return her “unused” shoes to. If you can recall, he wanted a blowjob to take advantage of her. While this was a dick move (and the plot went nowhere) a part of me would have liked to see more! He did have an arc where he acted like an ass and realized that it is wrong to degrade women. I just think it could have been built upon and Emma may have had chemistry with this actor. There was something here that I didn’t hate and I felt it could have been expanded upon.

4. Little Hank (Season 2-3)

Debbie’s first real crush! It was interesting to see how he didn’t like her at first and then a “friendship/relationship” slowly started to develop after he gave her flowers. IT JUST NEVER CONTINUED! Little Hank was in no way the most upstanding, but it was cool to see Carl have a friend that Debbie crushed on (when she was little she wasn’t intentionally taking something away from Carl ie. Kelly, so I support it). Their interactions were fun to watch too! The fandom definitely has a soft spot for Little Hank! And at one point everyone was rooting for them to be together. Too bad we never discovered what ended up happening to this character!

3. Neil (Season 7-8)

The bathtub scene tho! Adorable! There was a short moment within this relationship that was super cute where the two of them really did seem to care about each other and may have both been in love. It goes without saying that Debbie was only using him, but they did have SOME potential and they found a common ground where they each benefited each other’s needs. Debbie once again was TOO controlling and self absorbed to make it work, but I don’t think she was entirely happy in a relationship with him. He deserved more respect!

2. Derek (Season 5-8)

Baby Daddy! I really did enjoy them together until Debbie took advance of him and Franny came into the picture, but at the same time that’s one of the reasons that Derek, as a character, has a deeper connection to Debbie and the audience. I always enjoyed their flirting back and forth and the relationship they had (the deleted scene with the card/push up game ahh my heart)! Debbie really did mess up due to her desperation to “belong to a family”, which is another one of her consistent character traits. She just went too far and tried to trap him. Then shit got messed up between their families. Derek did eventually ask for parcial custody and did have a desire to be a part of Franny’s life. Debbie said no and that plot line died until s10. Pepa!! Ahh! RIP to Derek, it was sad to me that he died. Definitely a character and relationship that I wish was incorporated more because I truly enjoyed them together.

1. Duran (Season 8)

Besties with benefits! Stop! Nobody talks about my guy Duran! Sure they both said that this relationship was of a sexual nature and that they were just a couple of friends but damn! The chemistry and dynamic was palpable! It is truly a shame that we didn’t get to see more of this friendship! They were on common ground and really did care about each other! I don’t know why but I really just LOVED them together! Duran was also in her friend group with Farhad and that was a group that seemed to have a positive impact on Debbie as a person. S8 Debbie was cool! These two complemented each other so nicely! Duran wasn’t by any means the best influence on her because he almost lead Debbie down a “Monica path” but come on, Hedi is worse in that department. He was getting his life together like Debbie was with her profession. Just think of the hair convos Duran and Tami could have had Lol. Idk, I just like Debbie with him a lot! It was healthy to an extent and he was supportive of Debs with Franny.

[otakween]

07-Ghost - The World (Part. 3)

Episodes 21-30 of the 07-Ghost radio show! Aww man, I’m really sad it’s over. I had a lot of fun listening the whole way through. It definitely made me a Namikawa Daisuke fan. I look forward to spotting him in another role!

Episode 21

Kuroyuri VA’s second episode. Honestly, she was kind of annoying (sorry!) She wouldn’t stop cracking up at everything and it made the whole episode very chaotic. They started out by discussing: their ideal birthdays and nicknames they’ve had in their lives. They then played a “what would you do?” game where they had to pick the most popular reaction to various scenarios. This time the punishment was to speak like a servant/butler. The loser was...Namikawa of course (lol every time!)

Namikawa failing at keigo was honestly the highlight of the episode for me because, same. Apparently this episode came out close to the end of the anime. Funny that the show would go on for so long after the show was already over. I guess because the manga was ongoing and they still had DVD sales to boost? 

Episode 22

The first no-Namikawa episode in a long time (another scheduling issue). This time though we got two guests: Castor and Lab’s VAs! Saiga called it a “church special” lol. It did feel like a mini reunion. The opening discussion was “what do you do to calm down when you feel stressed.” Lab’s VA said he likes to be alone/have alone time. Castor’s VA said he likes to eat sweets lol. Maybe it’s because Namikawa wasn’t there to react, but they barely read any fan mail. 

For a game, since Lab’s VA was there they played a “flower language” game where they had to guess what each flower signified. Somehow the flowers were also connected to birthdays? I tried to Google this but couldn’t find much. I want to know my birthday flower! Anyway, the final corner was a “Last Supper” where they ate something that was supposed to taste like chestnut and another thing that was supposed to taste like sweet potato. For once, both experiments were yummy. 

Episode 23

In this episode Namikawa comes back and so does Lab’s VA (sorry, I should probably learn his name). I was honestly pretty relieved to hear Namikawa again because he’s really the heart of the show. They discussed their blood types and caught Namikawa up on what he missed in the last episode. I finally looked up what the heck “Namikawa ga Kamu” means (the name of one of the corners) and I think what they’re going for is that he snaps at the listeners who send him ridiculous mail lol. Kamu has a bunch of different meanings so it took me awhile to get that.

They played another flower-themed game. This time they had to guess which flowers out of a bunch listed were currently blooming. They kept saying “ah that one blooms in winter, huh?” and I was like “wtf? Nothing blooms in winter!” Damn you Japan and your higher temps! This time Saiga and Lab’s VA lost and their punishment was to speak like a maiko (I didn’t even know maiko had a unique speech style). The final segment was responding to listeners worries but I honestly struggled to understand what they were saying and spaced out a little, oops! Lab’s VA said he wants to come back, but was disappointed in the lack of food this time around lol. 

Episode 24 

Wow, a Bastien episode, how unexpected. I honestly forgot what Bastien sounded like because he was in so little of the anime, but he has a nice, deep voice. Probably second deepest after Ayanami. It cracked me up how he and Namikawa bonded over how they both voice dead guys. The started the episode out by discussing what kind of food they like to eat in November and then talked about how popular/unpopular they were in their younger years. One fanmail asked what they would give Teito as a birthday present and no one really knew what to say LOL (it is a hard question). Namikawa said a camera and Bastien’s VA said “Mikage” loool. 

I thought the game they chose for the Bastien episode “find the impostor” was clever, but it was hard to play along. It was another game where they had to pick “which one of these doesn’t belong” out of a list of 07 Ghost things, but they didn’t clearly read out the options so it wasn’t super interesting to listen to. Bastien’s VA lost and his punishment was to talk like a country bumpkin for the next segment. They ended the episode by doing the confessional-like corner and listening to listener’s sins. Amen. 

Episode 25 

Another Kuroyuri episode! I guess she was really available lol. This one was recorded around Christmas time so it was slightly Christmas themed. They talked about sock fetishes (for some reason lol) & read some more chaotic fan mail. One girl that wrote in claimed to be from Namikawa’s elementary school and they freaked out. 

The game they played this time around was “what do you want for Christmas” where each person listed a bunch of things they might want for Xmas and then the others had to guess what the correct answer was. Kuroyuri asked something along the lines of “what cup size boobs do most women want?” I’m used to boobs coming up a lot in stupid anime so I was kinda surprised to hear real people have that conversation lol. Namikawa was clearly uncomfortable and gave the “I think size doesn’t matter” speech haha. (By the way, the answer was C cup). Namikawa lost as usual and had to use “reindeer speech” for the following segment. His interpretation of this was to add “tona” at the end of every sentence (because tonakai = reindeer). 

The final segment was Last Supper and they ate things that are supposed to taste like melon when you eat them together (white chocolate + apple juice, cucumber + honey). Apparently neither hit the mark but at least they weren’t too gross this time. 

Episode 26

Jun (Hakuren’s VA) returns! They call him “Jun Jun” which is way too cute. I think he’s one of my favorite guests, just cuz he’s so iconic and has great energy for radio. In this episode they discussed what color each person would be (Namikawa = orange, Jun = black, Saiga = blue). They also discussed New Year’s resolutions because this was recorded around January. They played an 07-Ghost themed version of karuta which was fun to play along with. Guess who lost? (It was Namikawa lol). I totally didn’t get what his punishment was. He had to talk like “maro/daimaro” and I couldn’t figure out via google what the heck that is.

In the final segment they gave advice to listeners. One listener asked what they should do about a mouse problem. Namikawa at first said “move” but then changed his answer to “get a cat” lol. Very inspired. Only 4 episodes to go~!

Episode 27

A rare no-guest episode. Namikawa seemed very fed up and low energy in this one lol. This was recorded in January so they discussed new years again. It’s kinda cool hearing time pass in these. Oh how innocent times were back in 2009/2010. The only thing that really stood out in the beginning of this episode was that one listener called Namikawa “Namikawa D-Cup-san” and Saiga and Namikawa died laughing. This was in reference to a past episode where Namikawa called himself that but he acted like he never said that loool. Honestly, the best part of this show is just hearing everyone laugh at dumb jokes.

The game they played this time around was pretty creative. Basically while one person was blindfolded the other had to help them draw a picture of a 07 Ghost character with verbal instructions. As they did so, they had to stay in-character. It was really funny hearing Saiga switch from polite Japanese to Teito’s feral speech style. You don’t really realize how cartoony anime character’s are until you hear natural speech right next to it (or maybe that’s just me lol). Namikawa lost again (I felt bad for him this time cuz he sounded genuinely disappointed) and his punishment was to stay in Mikage-mode until the end of the episode. He said acting so “pure” was exhausting. 

Episode 28

Another Haruse episode. He was really cute in this one, he admitted that he was nervous about doing radio and was worried his voice would shake haha. They again talked about New Years and New Year’s resolutions. They also took some kind of “psychology test” where they had to describe what color/pattern handkerchief they’d want to receive from a girl. The color handkerchief = the color of panties they like or something stupid like that lol. 

For the game, they had to put 07-Ghost characters in the correct order. Saiga had to order the ghosts, Haruse’s VA had to rank the Black Hawks, and Namikawa had to organize a bunch of characters in the order they’re introduced in the manga. Pretty difficult. Everyone did about the same so they had to do rocks, paper, scissors to decide the loser. The loser was, of course, Namikawa. His punishment was to sing everything like an opera singer for the next segment.

The final segment was giving advice to listeners. One person asked for advice on dating someone older than you and another person asked about giving “the talk” to their younger brother lol. At least I think that’s what they said. These advice portions have some tricky Japanese. 

Episode 29

The first Konatsu episode, it’s interesting to see them bring in new guests at the very end. Konatsu was one of my favorite characters so it’s unfortunate that I found his VA really annoying lol. His style of humor was to just repeat the same obnoxious thing over and over again and I found it really grating. This was recorded in February so they discussed how much you should spend on Valentine’s day chocolate. They also asked Konatsu’s VA what kind of character Konatsu is and he basically said “I had like no lines, so I dunno” lol. Too true. I forgot Konatsu was even in the anime.

For the game they had to pop some balloons and the more hearts they got the better their score was. (I guess they put heart on pieces of paper and stuffed them inside the balloons?) For once the loser was the guest and Konatsu’s VA had speak in a Kansai dialect for the final segment. The episode ended with “The Last Supper” and they ate avocado with vanilla ice cream, which apparently is supposed to taste like mango.

Episode 30

The grand finale! They actually called it that too. I wasn’t sure if they were going to acknowledge this as the last episode but they made it special. They did a lot of reflecting on how far they’d come and how the show seemed long and short at the same time. This was an hour long episode but they basically spent the entire time reading listener mail (which is my favorite part anyway). No games, no guests. Namikawa’s “kamu” corner got special background music for the first time. Most of the listener mail was people saying their goodbyes and being sad that the show was ending. 

At the end of the episode some staff person came into the studio to thank Namikawa and Saiga for their hardwork and to give them chocolate. Very cute. The depressing part is that both the hosts and the listeners were talking about “if season 2 happens...” which obviously never did. Pooor 07-Ghost :’( 

[i-write-sometimes-blog]

Your Royal Highness (Rey x Royal! Reader)

Request: This is a request! What if reader was a princess on a planet and leia sent Rey and her friends to negotiate terms of ... (blank I couldn’t of think of anything lol) and then Rey slowly falls for R, and visa Versa, and then Rey like kisses her in front of like the whole kingdom ( when she knows it’s forbidden for a Jedi to love) but the R is ok with it, idk it’s just a thought by anon.

Words: 2,477 (I got carried away)

A/N: I truly loved this request, I knew exactly what I was going to do the moment I read it. Hope you like it!!

The three strangers stood in the middle of the big room, the soft light of the big elegant window behind the throne illuminated the place casting delicate shadows on the marble floor. From your place, sitting in the throne, they look a bit tiny compared with the columns and the high roof. For the way they were dressed some of your maids murmured they seemed a little out of place so you cleared your throat to make them silence.

“Princess Y/N, your Royal Highness” said the man in the pilot suit bowing gracefully “It’s an honor to be on your presence. I’m Commander Poe Dameron”

“I know who you are” you said looking at him, everybody knew the ‘best pilot on the Resistance’ but then your eyes were more focused on the intriguing girl by his side. “I’ve been notified of your arrival, however I’m not aware of your purpose here in my kingdom”

“General Organa sent us” Finn said, his words earning some of your trust, you knew General Organa though you met her a long time ago you always find her as an amazing woman and most important you parents trust her with their lives.

“She send you her most deeply condolences for the loss of your parents, Princess Y/N” Poe continued as your gaze traveled to the floor in a try to hide your emotions.

“I appreciate her kind words” you finally got to answer “But I’m sure your not here just for that, are you?”

“I’m afraid no, your highness” confirmed Poe. “We’re here to ask you the impossible”

“What is it?” the tone of your voice was serious as you learned from your father. The boy beside him sighed and then he spoke.

“An alliance, your majesty. The Resistance needs a base and some supplies, we hoped you would allow us to use some of your ground and maybe help us with some food” said Finn sincerely.

“I can provide the required food, it would be not a problem for us, this kingdom produce more food than we could possibly use, intelligent move from Leia” you said, no doubts that woman still was so wise. You paused and thought for a moment seeing the three faces smiling at each other.

“Nevertheless...protecting rebels in my kingdom?” you said a bit concerned dragging their attention back to you “I’m afraid I cannot do that. An alliance with the Resistance would mean a war declaration to the First Order. I can’t risk my people to a war. We are a peaceful realm, most of the people here are agricultors, artesans and scholars. Aside for my personal guard and a handful of soldiers we have no way to protect us”

“We can protect you” finally said the girl taking a step forward.

“You must not get any closer to her majesty” said one of your maids and you silenced her softly raising your hand.

“How?” you asked her making sure to look at her in her soft brown eyes that clearly intimidated her as a light blush spreaded over her face.

“Your highness, allow me to introduce you to Rey” Poe said, boy knew his words you could tell this was not his first time talking to royalty. To Rey this was her first time, she didn’t know how to behave, but she was kind. “She's General Organ’s apprentice”

“A Jedi” you gasped in surprise, you heard a lot of stories in your childhood about them, glorious stories of battles and prophecies, and of course everybody knew the legend of Luke Skywalker who brought peace to the galaxy and freed your kingdom back when your father was named king.

Rey stood there, unsure of what to say as you stared at her now wanting to know more about her, where she was from, everything. But the bit of the smile that was forming into your lips faded away, no matter how much you wanted to agree with this deal you couldn’t.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Rey…” you said unaware of her family name.

“I’m just Rey” she said.

“Rey, it’s delightful to have you here and an honor to meet a Jedi but I’m afraid the answer still is no” you said serious.

“But…” she started.

“I will make sure you get the food you asked for, my personal cruiser will be transporting the supplies, Commander Dameron I ask you to keep it safe until it reach my friend Leia in the Resistance.”

There was a silence and then you got up, the green long dress moving gracefully as you walked closer to Rey.

“I beg you to give Leia my apologies, I wish I could help her as much as she help me in the past. I’m sure she will understand why I refuse to this alliance” you told Rey who gave you a pleading look but you turned around and walked towards the hallway besides the throne to leave.

“Good trip. I ask you to leave immediately after your requests are completed, we don’t need more trouble” you said before finally left the room whispering orders to your four ladies until you were alone. You walked through the empty hallway sighing deeply, being the leader of a big kingdom wasn’t a easy thing, even when you studied your entire life for this moment it still hurt to make tough decisions to protect your people but letting one of your family’s closer friend down.

“Princess Y/N” you heard Rey’s voice calling behind you. “Y/N, wait!!” you stopped and turning around you saw her running in your direction. A smile secretly forming on your lips happy to see this woman you had just met.

“I must say you’re persistent, Rey” you told her trying to hold your smile.

“Very” she told you “Princess Y/N, we need your help, please reconsider this offer. I said I can protect you and I mean it, I’ve seen what the Resistance’s capable of, they care about people” she said.

“I know they do, but thing is I care about mine as well” you said. “Walk with me, Rey” you told her as you returned to your path.

“There must be something we can do for you” she kept pleading for your help.”You really want to help your people? Then this is how you do it.” she asked you.

“Of course, it is my duty as the future Queen to ensure their well-being” you explained her “I’ve been preparing my whole life for this, I can’t fail my parents, now that’s my way to honor their dead” you told her trying to keep a new lump from growing in your throat. She seemed to notice your sadness even though you tried to hide it, the wound was just so fresh.

“I hate to ask but how did your parents died?” Rey questioned you and you chuckled softly seeing how inappropriate question she asked and the way she asked not with the usual formal way people talked to you, not as a princess, not ‘your highness’ just another person. That gave you the confidence to tell her.

“The kingdom received an offer for an alliance, my father was never a conflict man, he just wanted the best for this land.” you told her as you guide her through the palace, the light illuminating every room of it as the trees moved slightly with the fresh wind of the afternoon. “The offer came with a price, a piece of ground for a base, a First Order base” by the corner of your eyes you caught her eyes opening wide in surprise.

“I see. And what happened?” she asked intrigued. You had to stop yourself and gaze at the ground as you prepared the painful words, you swallowed hard before you glanced at her again.

“My father refused to sign the deal and they killed him as well as my mother” you felt the tears starting to form in your eyes. “As their only child I am the heir of the kingdom, I will be crowned Queen in a couple weeks…” your voices cracked as you realized this was the very first time you were talking about this with someone who was actually listening, her concerned eyes focused on you as you sighed. “And I’m terrified”

She saw how upset you were and suddenly pulled you into her embrace, she took you by surprise and you tensed at first, nobody in the palace didn’t even dare to lay a finger on you, royal protocol. But her delicate and kind touch made you relax allowing her to hold you closer. You buried your face in her shoulder as the first tears rolled down your cheeks, the first tears you had left since that tragic day, as the new head of the kingdom you were not allowed to show weakness and for the council crying was weakness.

But Rey didn’t care, she just held you close to her warm body running a hand through your hair in a generous manner, right there in the arms of a complete stranger you felt safe for the first time in a long time. Maybe she was right, she could protect you, she could protect your people.

When you finally felt the pain in the chest banishing you excused yourself with her for a moment as you cleaned every tear left off your face before going back to her, your posture tall as it should be and a serious but tender tone lying on your voice as you approached Rey waiting for you in the corridor, taking her hands.

“Thank you, Rey” you told her “There are offers you can deny, you have to refuse even if that mean a lot of pain, you have to because is the right thing to do”

You looked at her for a moment, admiring her delicate features, her soft hair held in the back of her head, her brown eyes, fine nose and her lips curved into a smile. You wanted to remember the face of the girl who help you take a big decision without knowing.

“And there are offers you have to take, that you can’t deny because is the right thing to do” you told her smiling.

“I think I understand but I’m no sure, Princess” she said and you chuckled as she realized all this time she had not addressed you with your title and you shook your head.

“Just Y/N” you told her “I’ll send a transmission to Leia to get her people ready to move here. I take the offer, this alliance is just what my kingdom needs, we need you. I need you, Rey” you told her making this strong looking woman blush once again.

****

The coronation day came sooner than you expected, gladly the nervousness and all the anxiety you had before had slowly disappeared thanks to the young woman in light clothing and three funny buns holding her brown hair.

Days after you agreed to the alliance with the Resistance the ships started to arrive, filled with all kind of people from all kind of places around the galaxy, all of them were rather a big family than just soldiers, fighting the First Order connected them just at it did with Rey and you.

She stayed with you while her friends Finn and Poe left for some missions and oh you loved to have her around, you felt safe.

Walking around the palace was your favorite thing, she seemed so amazed with the luxury of your home and it was if you were honest. Rey would talk about her past but not as much, she loved to hear you telling her stories you read or you heard and tried her best to learn the royal protocol of your land.

So often you sneaked in the woods nearby the palace to see her train, no matter how subtle you were she always felt you there and smiled even when her eyes was closed.

You were sure without her by your side you wouldn't be there standing in front of the kingdom that cheered your name as the ceremony came to an end.

“Congratulations, your majesty” she told you offering you a hand to walk down the small stairs of the throne, it was very hard to move around.with the huge coronation dress so you happily took her hand.

“Very kind of you, Rey” you said with a smile walking towards the big balcony to admire the festival in your honor.

As you arrived you caught Rey incredibly amazed by the colorful celebration, as people of your own and the rebels danced, sang and enjoy themselves, a break from the conflicts of the war.

“This is all for you?” she asked without taking her eyes out of the people outside.

“A bit too much for just one person, don’t you think?” you said chuckling. “At least they’re having fun. Look.” you pointed a spot where Finn, Poe and of course the big wookie Chewie were dancing together.

“Are you having fun, Y/N?” she said focusing her eyes on you.

“I feel a bit strange, to be honest. I have never witnessed a coronation festival before a bit weird it is mine” you told her softly “I guess I haven’t realized it yet. But I certainly know I’ve done the best for my people”

“You have” she told you “I’m sure you’re the best person for them, my queen” she told you with a teasing tone lying in her voice.

“Rey, you don’t need to call me that” you giggled looking at her in the silky white dress you gifted her, with her hair loose over her shoulders she looked beautiful.

“I know” she said, her gaze focusing on your lips “But I like it, suits you, Y/N” she added making you blush slightly. You felt her gaze and her soft lips calling for you, so you didn’t stopped her when she leaned to brush her lips on your own for a short but sweet moment before she pulled away.

“I’m sorry, I think kissing the queen must be against some rules” she rushed to said, her face going red “I’m no supposed to do this… “ you shook your head seeing her this flustered, you knew about the Jedi code and also your own kingdom’s protocols but you were so tired of following the rules.

Taking her face in your hands you silenced her with a kiss, a new one full of your truly feelings for this girl as you moved softly savouring her lips.

“It’s okay” you told her as the kiss ended, smiling at her as you heard the people clapping and cheering outside. You gave her a small peak on the lips before you spook again. “Now I am having fun”

[forestofschwarzwald]

More swallowed asks, I’m so glad I keep docs with the questions lol.

ANONYMOUS: Wow Victoria x Reiji sure have a lot of kids and they are all gorgeous! Any headcanons of their kids? What are their favorites and hobbies and how well do they get along with each other

And do they have a favorite uncle? I am really partial to Demetria I think.

I couldn’t help myself after I started figuring out how much Reiji wanted to top his father all ways possible. After the first 3, I ended up wanting more children… heh I guess he charmed me.

As for favorites... they are all special to me in some way, let’s say to each of my babies I have a special but different link that cannot be compared.

About their uncles, Reiji killed the triplets a long time ago, before Gin was born. So they never met them, in case that it seems strange that they’re not mentioned!

Here’s what they have to say about your question:

Hah I feel like you humans sometimes are interested in very trivial stuff… aren’t you?

Most of my free time is spent training and studying, even if it’s tough to keep up with a strict schedule, my parents don’t micromanage every minute of my day so… it feels nice. For a long time I was a prisoner, so most of my hobbies are simply habits of escapism where I put my mind away.

I like crafting bijouterie.My mother has been nurturing it for a while now, she goes out of her way to pick up the items I want.

The earring I wear is the first I made, I’ve always loved feathers.

As for my uncles… I… don’t know. Dmitri’s father, Shu, is a music teacher but I was never interested in learning, so we don’t talk.

Uncle Subaru is nice, he wasn’t too good at swordsmanship so Dmitri and I had to teach him. Despite being a weakling he has spirit, and he likes me to make bijouterie pieces for his little girl, so I’d say I get along with him the most.

When it comes to my siblings… Dianthe and Damien were always hard to get used to, up until they grew older I couldn’t really… “fit in”. When I returned to my parents I was an adult and there were two little kids I should call siblings? 

I preferred to keep my distance and rebuild the relationship with my parents. The older they became the better they understood my space but they still feel like “classmates” or “roommates” more than siblings. I don’t particularly dislike them, Dianthe used to set my cape on fire whenever I accidentally made Damien cry… but gladly she grew out of that habit. Sadly she still nags me about my language… It’s irritating… 

Dorian. Demetria and Dante always chased me around when they were young, and they still do when they need help… I guess they’re scared of Dianthe’s reaction so they use me as their shield. I think they’re nice, but Dorian and Demetria get in trouble on purpose often.

Dante and Damien are… a bit weird though, they’re so calm? I’m not saying I myself am annoying, but… it feels like they’re not even vampires. I think I prefer spending time with the rest of my siblings… those two make me feel like an oddball faster.

Hobbies… I believe this heavily depends on my mood.

When the weather and the atmosphere is peculiar, I enjoy writing poetry.

Our uncle, Shu, taught me how to play the violin and sometimes I play alongside Damien when our parents organize a ball at the mansion, I must say I find it pleasurable.

But… fufu ~ of course, there are things I learned to indulge in.

We were all home-schooled, however, we have a duty to attend high school as a way to keep a human cover. Humans are very interesting, what they call sins are things they are quick to indulge in with no hesitation… a little pull and I have a dog for weeks…

They quickly get greedy and want my attention for themselves… ~ And there is no better feeling than the tears of a heartbroken pet that couldn’t help but want more of me.

Ah… of course, this is a secret. My parents hold me in high regard when it comes to school behavior, trying to tell them that I’m bullying other students will get you killed ♥

About a favorite uncle, I certainly prefer uncle Shu. He is well cultured and knows quite a lot about music, he has never been mean to me or my siblings… despite clearly disliking my father. I am unaware of the tensions between them however I know it’s a centuries-old story. Because of this I never talk about it with my father, and to be sincere… I feel more comfortable talking to uncle Shu than I do with my own father…

No matter how much he says he loves his children, I can’t help but think he only sees us as… the product of him and my mother. It irritates me… even if perhaps that’s what parenthood is… I feel Shu-sama’s appreciation for us is far more sincere, and unconditional. Father also thinks he can control how we look and how we behave at all times… we are not his little toys for him to try and mold us to his taste! We are individuals.

Ah… I may have gotten carried away… I have a bad habit. I picked it up from both my parents… I just keep talking and talking about things that irritate me. Fufu… well it doesn't matter anymore.

For my siblings, I would appreciate it if they were all like Damien, well behaved, well mannered, able to follow the rules and quiet. However this is not the case.

Gin may have been excused by our parents, even spoiled in my honest opinion, but I believe he needs to be properly educated in how to address formal situations! Despite me heavily disliking the imposition of a mold to adapt to, I understand its importance. Gin could have some consideration and at least not make the whole family look weak! He rolls his eyes, does not stand straight and eats like a caveman!

I don’t care how much he says he was a soldier, a prisoner, and whatnot! He is not anymore, he’s a prince and he should behave as such!

Damien is the one I get along with the most. He’s adorable and always looked for me for help, he was always interested in learning etiquette, and everything my father and mother taught us. He was always a respectable part of our family and he is the cook at the mansion! Our father is still far more skilled, but Damien makes very nice… “homemade” looking food. It has a loving warmth to it… I love my little brother.

Dorian… he thinks he is so much better than everyone else… he keeps competing with me at everything and, of course… he fails miserably. He is a mediocre number 2 that does not realize that being royal is about meeting goals, not just being born it. I would burn his eyebrows off if our parents weren’t so keen on reminding us not to fight. Despite this fact, he is quite the skilled dancer and always stands at parties, I am below average at this, and that is the only thing he’s allowed to win at.

His vanity will catch up to him one day, however. My mother has always expressed her concern about Dorian’s extravagant behavior, she believes he will be one day shot down from the skies and he’ll fall deep, and if anyone is to be believed… that is my mother. She knows how vampires are… or perhaps, Dorian has a bit of my father in him.

Demetria is quite the impressive lady, she meets all expectations… but she doesn’t talk to me much. As her older sister I have always offered my help, but she is… cold. Most of the time I can’t tell what’s going through her mind.

And our baby boy Dante… he was always a sick child. He was so weak when he was born that our mother decided to curse herself to not bear any more children. I know the word “curse” sounds strong… but worry not, she merely magically sterilized herself, it is a “curse” because it is irreversible.

Anyhow, Dante is the weakest among us and we all feel generally protective of him. However, I suspect there may be more to him than just… weakness. You see, Dante is usually calm and… quite tolerant, but when enraged… even I have trembled at the sensation of his aura. I think Dante may have explosive powers that he is unaware of… so I keep a good eye on him, we do not want his overwhelming power to hurt his weaker body. Despite that… he really is a brat, he likes to mock my manners as if I was some grandma roaming the mansion, and that is quite irritating! I know he is having fun whilst teasing me, but can’t he shut up for one millisecond as I talk to my mother?! 

Hm… Ah… I have spoken for so long that my throat feels dry… You should be paying for this, you know? I have given you such a thorough explanation… blood is the least you should be offering right now.

Oh good evening, that is an interesting question. I always enjoyed gardening, the castle has many different types of flowers, even flowers you won’t believe existed are in underground hidden gardens, so I can confidently say that is my hobby.

I keep a diary where I draw each flower and study its properties. Being sincere, my father gives me the details since I personally am not fond of chemistry.

I also enjoy making bouquets for decor when there are parties at the mansion or as gifts, Aurora enjoys them a lot.

I don’t think I have a favorite uncle, both of them are nice to me.

As for my siblings, hm… —he sighs— I wish they weren’t so closed about their feelings. Dante and I agree that half of their problems are because they don’t admit how they feel.

Gin is very distant… We don't know what really happened to him before he attacked the castle years ago, and when I tried asking I got punched in the face haha… —he scratches the side of his face, smiling awkwardly — He apologized so many times afterwards, I’ve lost count of it. I learned not to ask about that. My older sister Dianthe is always treating me like I am her baby, and always pretends everything is okay, but I think something about Dorian and Demetria wanting to be the next head of the family is bothering her. She doesn’t talk about it and keeps acting like she is the eldest and in charge… but I think she’s having a hard time, she should realize how much of a perfect fit for a queen she is.

She’s a really gentle person… She may have some really weird hobbies… but I think deep down Dianthe is a kind soul, like our parents.

Dorian and Demetria both keep competing with Dianthe because they see her excel at so many things, that they feel like they’re less than her. They simply are insecure and they crave attention. I have to keep an eye on the kitchen or they’ll try to cook and blow it up… Our father is very sensible about the kitchen so I have to guard it.

I think Dorian and Demetria will have the hardest time coping with immortality… I sincerely worry but they don’t listen to me! They think that because I’m soft spoken I’m simply weak… —he sighs again.

Dante is usually quiet and I would say he is the most healthy mentally. However, he has some anger issues… whenever he is extremely angry his aura will rise… I never saw Gin and Dianthe scared before… so I’m aware they felt like not even them could handle Dante’s power. I worry about him since he is very frail, I’ve seen our father check on Dante’s physical condition regularly.

If he gets injured he takes longer to regenerate, he doesn’t drink live blood… he drinks donated blood from a plastic bag. I can understand how disturbing it is that we have to sink our fangs and hurt someone to feed… but… I worry he is deteriorating his state… He’s not interested in relationships so the chances of him having someone personally feed him are low as long as he does this.

He’s nice… he always keeps Dorian and Demetria in line by calling their attention or advising them. Despite being the youngest, he acts like he’s older than those two troublemakers.

We often find ourselves shaking our heads at the behavior of our siblings, I think he understands me the most, although I don’t think I understand him fully.

I hope to have answered all of your questions.

Usually I would request for you to be on all fours and kiss my boots before you try to get any personal detail from me… but out of whim, I will be lenient. Just know that the rest of my pets won’t like you and… if they bite you, I won’t take any responsibility —he fixes himself on the sofa, legs spread in a relaxed manner — Anyway… what were you asking me about? Ah yes yes… Well I enjoy creating poisons. My father expanded on this with other types of chemicals… but I just like the good old slow burn of death… of course, I was prohibited from killing animals and people on purpose… so I simply focused on antidotes as well.

I don’t use them often however, they’re harder to make than you’d think.

As for my siblings… they’re unavoidable and a nuisance. Dante is extremely creepy with his aura bursts and Dianthe keeps nagging, I could do without them, but if I had to choose the least of nuisances I would say Dante is good enough. The older three have a tendency to exert authority over the rest of us and I am frankly not a fan.

When it comes to a favorite uncle I of course have none, the only reason they are around in the first place is thanks to my mother’s incomprehensible kindness and my father’s loyalty to her will. Whenever they visit I rather spend my precious yet limited time somewhere else.

Well, what are you waiting for? Either bow down to me or leave, I have plenty of hungry pets to discipline already so don’t waste my time.

Your favorite, huh ~ I am not surprised. After all, who wouldn’t fall for my charms ;)

Anyway, let’s paint a clearer image of myself for you, shall we? In my free time I like to design BDSM instruments and sextoys… fufu~ Humans rarely ever openly embrace their sinful nature, but beasts like us shamelessly embrace our darkest thoughts in a “heartbeat”.

As for my siblings… I wish Dianthe didn’t exist. She thinks she’s special and every time I get to impress our parents she shows up, almost like she has a timer set for it.

Her facade sickens me… one small poke at her and she will blow up and drop her “perfect princess” mask. Yet our parents think she is deserving of the crown?! She does not have true manners if all of her manners are fake!

Anyway… Gin is quite the brute… and Dorian gets on everyone's nerves quite fast. He is the reason we are all afraid of our mother in the first place, he has managed to somehow make her furious once. That day we knew she could kill us if we defied the crown.

Dante is… —her lips curl into a soft smile— while he is a bit younger than me he has always behaved like my older brother. He helped me whenever I struggled, and he always tells me I’m good enough.

About my uncles, there is not much to say about them is it? I am not interested in the non-royal side of the family.

Hobbies...I love videogames, and I have a favorite character that I love and cherish. I also enjoy streaming and speedrunning some games, sometimes my mother joins in for some quality content.

With the exception of my mother, I think my entire family is crazy… I don’t hate them though, I think they’re cool. But… they’re weird.

Uncle Shu is always donating to my streams, he’s really supportive. Despite his and father’s terrible relationship, he seems to be willing to stay a family figure for all of us.

[takonei]

Beta AU - Main story, Chapter 5, daily life (Part 1)

Note of the author: Back to the shitshow, my dudes

I’m very sorry for the long wait! However this chapter is twice as long as a normal daily life chapter. Have fun with this 13k word long chapter lol

Chapter 5: An oath to one’s lost humanity - Daily life

...

...

"Who..."

...

"Who am I...?"

...

--

Day 17 since the beginning of the game.

4:40 AM.

Shuichi stared at the ceiling of his room, laying on his bed.

He almost hasn't slept at all.

Each time he tried to close his eyes, each time he tried to sleep, it was a different vision haunting his mind.

The first was back at the warehouse. Then Himiko's corpse. Then the exisal blasting Tsumugi. Then the warehouse again. Then Korekiyo's execution.

Now he was afraid to even close his eyes.

The ceiling was perhaps the most comforting vision he had in hours.

...

He looked at the clock in his room.

At least this one didn't make any sound.

He bitterly chuckled at the thought. Every single insignificant thing was starting to haunt him in some way as this game went on and on.

The violinist sat up, his head spinning from the tiredness.

But he still had to gain back enough energy for the day. They were going to explore the new labs, the new places, and more importantly, they had to investigate Keebo's death.

... But perhaps he could take a walk outside. He would not be able to close his eyes even if he tried to. Not now, at least.

After a long shower, he got dressed up. However, he didn't feel like putting on his vest and tie. Just the shirt and pants would be enough.

Looking at the window, he could see the first rays of sunlight illuminating the sky.

At least that was better than walking in the dark of the night.

Shuichi gently pushed the door of his room. The dormitories were silent. Surprisingly, the food, the medical supplies, and the cutlery they had brought disappeared. Monokuma must have brought them back.

At least they wouldn't have to do it themselves.

Speaking of the motive, he hadn't seen the sanzu key in his room either. At least that meant the motive was truly over.

Although he would have preferred Monokuma not to go in his room for this.

He quietly got out of the building and closed the door.

It felt nice to walk without worrying about being impaled by a spear nor having to run for his life.

Shuichi took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh breeze.

But after he took the first few steps, his eyes landed on the wisterias.

Something was on the pergola. Or rather, someone.

Upon closer inspection, he realized Kirumi was sitting on top of the structure.

... Perhaps she had trouble sleeping as well. Maybe he could try to talk to her.

He approached the place, and the mercenary turned around to look at him.

"Oh. You're awake as well."

Shuichi blinked. "How... did you get up there?"

She huffed, although she didn't look mad. "You underestimate me, Shuichi. I am a mercenary. I can easily climb this."

If she was in her normal outfit, then sure, but... She was clearly in her pajamas -simple grey shorts, a loose white top, and a black chest band- and bare feet.

"... Do you want me to help you get up?" she asked him.

He glanced away. "That looks high, though..."

She pointed at a small tree next to one of the pillars. "If you climb this, I'll be able to reach you."

"No, it's just..."

He was afraid of heights. But perhaps he could try to surpass this fear.

Even though Kiyo had told him that no matter what, he was not useless nor not enough, he could still try.

He approached the tree to climb it. It wasn't that hard, actually. When he managed to get to the highest point possible, Kirumi extended her hand.

After he managed to grab it, she helped him get on the wooden planks.

Even though it wasn't the most comfortable here, it was still a nice view.

Kirumi sat back on one of the planks. "There's more than enough space. I don't think this structure is going to break that easily."

The two made themselves as comfortable as they could.

He noticed she had eyebags -smaller than his, but still here anyway-, but more importantly, he noticed the white patch on her shoulder.

He forgot about her injury.

"Wait- your shoulder! Was it okay for you to help me?"

She waved a hand. "It's fine. The wound healed enough not to be dangerous for me anymore."

...

The sun was slowly rising. Perhaps this wasn't as bad as he expected it to be.

(BGM)

The two stared at the horizon for a while, in silence.

It was relaxing, in some way. Definitely more than staying in his room in the dark, haunted by the visions of the killing game.

At least, he wasn't alone right now. He had Kirumi at his side.

...

"How long have you been here anyway?" Shuichi broke the silence.

She hummed. "I would say 30 minutes."

About the same time he decided to get out of bed, then.

"Aren't you cold?"

"Not that much. It doesn't bother me."

He was bad at small talk, wasn't he?

But perhaps silence was great too.

...

"How are you holding up? It is unusual for you to be up this early." she asked.

He perked up. "I... I couldn't sleep. I kept getting nightmares. What about you?"

She stayed silent for a moment. "... I just had trouble sleeping. I don't get nightmares, but when I get in those types of situations, where anyone could potentially harm me, I tend to stay on guard. It's more of a natural reaction for me at this point."

He nodded.

"You say you keep getting nightmares. Is there something on your mind?" she slightly turned to him.

It was odd for her to say that. But then again, she did tell him he should talk to people if he had worries back after the third trial.

The deaths were still lingering on his mind but something else was making him more uncomfortable.

Or rather, someone.

"This... isn't worth the trouble, don't worry."

She looked at him, a hint of regret on her face. "... I am not Kiyo, I am no therapist and I probably am the last person here to ask for advice but... If you get nightmares from this, perhaps it would be better to talk about it with someone."

Shuichi pondered.

Kirumi was a mercenary. She had experience in killing and was used to dangerous situations. Even though she claims not to be the best person to talk to, perhaps she would be, considering the situation.

"It's... About Rantaro."

He didn't know if to talk about the incident in the warehouse would be a good idea but he had kept the secret for too long. And with his attitude getting stranger and stranger, his worry could only grow.

"About the trial?"

He shook his head. "No, it's something that happened before."

She raised an eyebrow.

"I think it was two days ago, the day we learned about Kaito's leg. We were in the same group for the afternoon locks, I got mine alone since you went back to the dorms because of your injury. I wanted to help Ryoma by getting some tools to help."

She slightly tilted her head to the side. "Didn't you say they were all organized in boxes and you didn't want to disturb it?"

Shit. He forgot about that part.

He hadn't checked anything because of the message on the ground and Rantaro going to get it.

Perhaps he should keep this part to himself.

"Oh, it's just... I thought that by the time I went back, Ryoma or Rantaro would be here..." he lied.

Kirumi paused for a moment. "I see."

"Well... When I went back to the warehouse, I saw Rantaro rummaging through one of the boxes, and when I approached him to ask what I could take, he..."

Shuichi trailed off, the memory of the moment very clear in his mind.

He approached his hand to his neck. "He... He pinned me to the ground without a warning and almost sliced my throat with a scalpel."

She looked at him with wide eyes. "... I wanted to say I was surprised but somehow... I'm not. Not after the last trial."

He looked at her. "Really?"

She paused. "Considering what he probably went through during his missions, I am not surprised. We tend to forget it because he makes it look like it doesn't affect him but I doubt that is really the case."

Shuichi thought about everything that happened the day before. How mad he was at Ryoma, and how mad he was at himself for failing Tsumugi.

Even when they stepped into his lab during the investigation.

The feeling of guilt on his face was stronger than he ever saw him feel- if he didn't count the trial.

"The more I think about it, the more I'm starting to see the big picture."

The violinist turned to her.

"In some way, we can consider this killing game a war, Rantaro said so himself. And thus he started acting like it was his duty to save each and every one of us like we were crewmates."

"He probably thought this would be easier than his usual missions, but it turned out not to be the case."

"By seeing us die one by one, I have a feeling he started to think he was failing us. And that probably weighs a lot on his mind."

She narrowed her eyes. "But that much? It feels odd. I don't think anyone would react that strongly without having experienced something similar in the past."

Shuichi thought about the notebook Korekiyo had given him. Perhaps he could try to see if he talked to him about it.

"But of course that doesn't excuse what he almost did to you. Has he apologized?"

He nodded. "Briefly... But we never spoke of this again."

She hummed. "... I see. While I admit I am starting to get worried about him, perhaps we should let Ryoma talk to him first."

Even though that moment still flashed in his mind... Deep down he felt the same. His attitude in the trial clearly proved something was wrong, and he didn't want to demonize him before hearing the full story.

Was he even going to hear it?

... He should change the subject. The more he thought about this, the bigger the headache got.

"Hey, Kirumi..."

She slightly turned to him.

"What do you think of... You know... Keebo's death?"

She pondered for a moment. "I was about to say that Monokuma giving the wrong judgment was odd but... Is it?"

They all said Monokuma was adamant about the rules but the more they went through those trials, the less it was the case. He was pretty sure the only reason Kiyo was the blackened was so he could have a trial to watch.

And he didn't hesitate to render a wrong judgment and declared Kaito guilty.

What were even the rules of this game?

It didn't feel like an organized killing game.

But a chaotic massacre he cheated at every single instance.

He sighed. "I'm just glad Kaito wasn't executed..."

She stayed silent for a moment. "We should wait until everyone is in a proper mental and physical state to investigate. If the culprit is whoever keeps up trapped here, we can't afford any mistakes."

Shuichi nodded. He himself needed some good rest.

A rest he couldn't get even if he tried.

He hoped things would not be too disastrous today. He did not have the energy nor the will to deal with Monokuma.

Kirumi stood up. "I'll go to Rantaro's lab to search for a replacement for my bandage. This one is getting old and I do not wish to disturb Rantaro for this."

Shuichi looked down. How will he even get off?

He observed Kirumi walking on the wooden planks to reach for the tree and climbed down like it was nothing.

"Do you need some help?"

He carefully approached the same tree she used. "I'll... try..."

He took a deep breath and started climbing down.

The tree wasn't that stable but he somehow managed to get down.

He brushed the dust off his pants. "I'm good."

She smiled. "Let's go, then."

"W-Wait..."

He blinked. "Are you really planning to go bare feet?"

She looked down, almost as if she forgot she wasn't wearing any shoes. "I'll be fine."

"At least put some slippers on!"

Seeing the look on his face, Kirumi sighed. "If you insist."

The two went back to the dorms, Shuichi waiting outside. A few minutes later, the mercenary came back with a pair of plain black slippers.

"Satisfied?"

"Yes."

The two made their way to the main building. It felt nice to walk around carefreely, although the circumstances were not the best.

But the moment they stepped foot inside the building, they saw it.

On the ground was the red monokub, his head smashed to pieces.

... This was not what Shuichi wanted to see right now.

"Boohoo! My sweet... What was his name, again?" a robotic voice appeared from behind.

The two glared at him, not saying anything. The tired eyes told a lot more than they needed to say.

"Still not warming up to them, aren't ya? Show some empathy!"

Kirumi continued her way, not bothering to look at him. "I'll show empathy when you stop making us kill each other for your own entertainment."

Shuichi followed her, not wanting any more business with Monokuma. 

"How rude!" he yelled, then tapped his cheek. "Perhaps I should add a rule that it should be mandatory to grieve for my sweet monokubs..."

However, Shuichi wasn't listening anymore. He simply made his way to the stairs.

Once they were on the second floor, Kirumi sighed. "I can't stand this bear anymore. Good thing I don't have a weapon on me right now."

"Agreed."

They made their way to the third floor, approaching the medic's lab. They noticed the door was slightly open.

They quickly glanced at each other. Considering the state it was in yesterday, Monokuma probably had to repair it but shouldn't he leave the door closed?

The two hesitantly went in. Shuichi's eyes immediately widened.

Even though the lab was back to the state it was in before yesterday, someone definitely went in here.

There were several shattered bottles on the floor, liquid staining the ground and pills scattered around. There was also an empty broken plastic cup on the table near the sink. But what made him shiver were the few specks of dried blood on the floor.

It was like someone rushed in here to take what they wanted without bothering to clean.

Kirumi put a knee down to take a look at the bottles and the pills. "... Those are painkillers. It's written on the etiquette." she started regrouping them.

Shuichi approached the sink. The cup was one of those single-use white plastic ones you could easily break by slamming them on a table.

But considering its state, it was safe to say the person smashed it with their hand alone.

"... What happened here?" he muttered with a shaky voice.

She shook her head. "I don't know, Shuichi. I really don't."

She stood back up, a worrying amount of pills in her hand and an empty bottle in the other.

Her eyes turned to the faint bloodstain on the ground.

"I feel like whoever went in there clearly doesn't fear-"

She abruptly stopped.

Shuichi blinked, seeing her expression growing more worried by the second.

She looked around one more time.

"Is something wrong?"

"I was about to say that whoever went in this lab clearly doesn't fear Rantaro but... We cannot exclude the possibility Rantaro went in there himself."

The violinist perked up. "You think Rantaro did this??"

"I don't know, I just said we shouldn't exclude the possibility."

The two looked around the messy room. "... This is something we're going to keep to ourselves for now if we want answers."

They started cleaning up the room in silence. It's not like they had much to do after all.

Cleaning up a medical lab at 5:30 in the morning was not something Shuichi ever expected to do.

It felt both relaxing and very unsettling. They didn't know who went in here, desperately looking for painkillers, also leaving blood on the floor and they were here cleaning up the mess.

At least it was better than having nightmares, Shuichi thought.

...

Once they were done, Shuichi let out a sigh. "How are we even going to investigate this?"

She pondered for a moment. "For now let's just wait for everyone to wake up."

Kirumi took the bandage she was supposed to get, gave one last look at the now clean room, and left with Shuichi.

The walk back to the dorms was silent for some time.

"... What do you plan on doing, now?"

Shuichi looked at his Monopad. 6:00 AM. The sun was still slowly rising in the distance. "I don't know. I don't feel like going back to sleep. Perhaps I'll play some violin in my lab."

As if on cue, the door of the dormitories opened before they could reach for the handle. And out came... Kaito?

He looked as tired as them. But what surprised Shuichi was the absence of his belt-chain and the lack of hair gel. He instead left his hair into a low ponytail.

They stared at each other for a moment.

"So... You guys are awake too?"

"For about two hours for me." Kirumi replied.

"I would say an hour and a half..." Shuichi muttered.

There was an uncomfortable silence between them.

"Wait, were you guys planning to go back to sleep?" the biker went out of the way to let them pass. "Shit, sorry."

The mercenary waved a hand. "I was mostly planning to take a shower. I don't think I'll be able to go back to sleep at this point."

"Me neither..."

"Oh."

Kirumi entered the dorms building. "... Now that I think about it, there is something I would like to ask you, Kaito."

He raised an eyebrow. "Me?"

"May I try your jacket on for a moment, please?"

He almost jumped. "H-Huh?"

She sighed. "Do not take this the wrong way, please. I just want to check something."

He took it off, a bit unsure, but gave it to Kirumi. She put it on and it fit her surprisingly well. "That'll do."

"Hey, that's my jacket! If you really want it, I can fetch you another considering I got about ten of them in my room!"

"That's what I was planning to ask you, actually."

"What?"

She took off the jacket. "You see, everyone knows my real talent at this point. Dressing up as a maid isn't going to help me much. Which is why I wanted to wear something a bit more comfortable."

Oh.

"But isn't there a rule we have to wear uniforms or something?" Kaito asked.

"I already checked. It isn't mandatory."

Shuichi had been wearing the same uniform since the beginning. Perhaps he could try to change it a little as well.

... And even if Monokuma wanted them to wear their uniforms properly, it would feel good to mildly inconvenience him.

"So... Should I fetch one of my jackets for you?"

"Do you have other colors or are they all the same?"

He thought for a moment. "I think I have dark purple and black. You wanna check?"

She shrugged. "If it doesn't bother you."

The three headed to the biker's room. "Just give me a sec-"

He entered the room and closed the door behind him. A few minutes later he reopened it. "Sorry, I tried to at least clean up a little."

"It's fine."

Kaito's room was a bit messy and it was easy to tell he hastily tried to make it look nicer. But that's the thought that counts.

He opened the closet to reveal a bunch of the same jacket in several hues from purple to black.

He gave a black one to Kirumi, who put it on. "It has its charm. Do you mind if I borrow it?"

The biker waved a hand. "It's just a jacket, don't sweat it. Besides I wear the purple ones, not the black ones."

She smiled. "Thank you. I'll make sure not to ruin it."

They left the room and Kirumi started heading back to hers, jacket in hand. "What are you two planning to do?"

Shuichi shrugged. "I did say I would play the violin but since Kaito's there too then perhaps we'll do something else."

He thought for a moment. "Card games? We can take one and go to the tables in front of the dining hall."

That sounded nicer than whatever he had planned. "Sure! You'll join us later, right?"

She nodded. "Alright."

The two boys left the dorms, heading to the main building.

Considering how Kaito took painkillers for his phantom pains, perhaps he was the one who went to Rantaro's lab last night.

He could try to subtly ask him.

"How is your leg? You did mention having phantom pains, right?"

He shrugged. "I did have my usual dose this morning. But I can't exactly predict when I'll be limping like a freakin' pirate."

... Kaito didn't look like he was lying. Besides, even if he had phantom pains, that didn't explain the blood.

Better luck next time.

After getting the cards, the two headed back outside.

He started shuffling the cards. "Same game as ever?"

Shuichi looked down. "To be honest I'm not exactly in the mood to think..."

The biker thought for a moment. "War it is, then."

The violinist frowned, already not liking the name. "War?"

His friend blinked. "Please tell me you at least know this game."

"Uh..."

Kaito sighed. "Just go along with me. It's pretty simple."

The two played this game for a while. It was mostly luck-based. Put a card in front of you and see which one is the strongest.

At least this brought him back a faint smile.

Between two rounds, Shuichi noticed Kaito staring at him.

"Is something wrong?"

"What were you two even doing outside at 5 in the morning?"

... He really hoped he didn't take this the wrong way.

"I uh... I couldn't sleep and I saw her outside the dorms so I joined her."

He looked skeptical. "Yeah, sure."

Shuichi didn't know what to say. He couldn't win, could he?

The biker scoffed. "Can you believe it? We got a freakin' mercenary in our group. I still have trouble believing that. How many has she killed?"

That was not a question Shuichi wanted to think about. "I don't know... But she never showed any sign of hostility against any of us."

"Yeah, but still..."

It's true that despite her talent, they had included her quite quickly in the group. Was Kaito hinting at the fact that they shouldn't have?

"Do you... have a problem with her?"

"Nah it's just..." he scratched his neck. "How do I put it."

"It feels weird to say we accepted a killer among our group."

He bitterly chuckled. "Not that I've got room to talk. For a while, I thought I had killed Keebo."

Was it the context of the killing game that made them act this way? Surely he wouldn't have approached her if there were more than seven of them.

"But then again... Almost everyone here is guilty of something, huh..."

... Not himself, though. But perhaps that wasn't the best thing to say.

"Perhaps for now... It's for the best." he muttered.

"I guess you're right..." Kaito replied.

They played in silence for some time before the biker perked his head up. "Hm?"

Shuichi looked behind him. Kirumi approached them, Kokichi accompanying her.

She was wearing her usual skirt, boots, necklace, and pair of tights, but instead of her maid uniform, she had put on a white shirt and Kaito's black leather jacket. She almost looked like a biker herself, now.

As for Kokichi, he was wearing the same outfit as usual except for the fact that...

... He wasn't wearing the hood of his jacket.

He had never seen his full head before. It was always covered by his hoodie. He never actually knew why he covered his face in the first place.

"Oh, Kokichi!"

The boy slightly jumped. "Y-Yeah I... I wanted to try to take it off for once... But if it bothers you I can put it back-"

Kaito shook his head. "No, that's great! It's just rare to see your face in its entirety."

He gripped the base of his hood. "T-Thanks..."

There was still a lot of effort to make, but it was clear he was trying his best.

Shuichi slightly moved to the side to let one of them sit down, and Kaito doing the same.

Kirumi moved next to the violinist, and Kokichi next to the biker.

"What were you two playing?"

Kaito shrugged. "A game of war, but since it's a 2-person game we'll switch to something else, I guess."

Kokichi bitterly chuckled, eyeing him. "You don't like luck-based games with me, don't you?"

He narrowed his eyes at him. "Listen, I just want a fair game. Got it?"

Shuichi giggled, remembering the last time they played cards with him.

"I am not familiar with any card games, unfortunately. What do you suggest?" Kirumi asked.

Kaito pondered, looking at the three. "Kemps is usually by six but it's doable by four."

Kokichi's eyes widened. "You mean the game by teams of two?"

"You got me! Wait, where did you learn that?"

He sighed. "When the only source of entertainment you have in an orphanage is a card deck with three missing cards, you tend to learn every single game you could possibly play."

"Oh... Sorry..."

"That and you learn how to scam people."

...

Shuichi froze. "S-Scamming people?"

He looked at him, unimpressed. "How did you think we managed to get money?"

"I-I don't know! I just didn't know how you did it!"

Kaito laughed. "Come on! Teach-

"No." he interrupted him. "I am not teaching any of you how to do scams. I can do a demonstration, but I am not teaching you how to do illegal things."

Right... The karma could still impact them.

Kirumi snickered. "I want to see if I manage to get the trick."

Kokichi thought for a moment. "It should be fine if it's just a demonstration. But I haven't done this in a long time, though. I'm still going to need an accomplice."

Kirumi raised an eyebrow. "An accomplice, huh?"

He nodded. "We always did this by two."

"I can be the accomplice!" Kaito exclaimed.

Kokichi smiled. "Very well! Give us a moment, alright?"

The two left.

Kokichi was explaining everything to Kaito in the distance when Kirumi tapped Shuichi's shoulder. He turned around.

"I do not think Kokichi's the one who went to Rantaro's lab. I tried to ask him some things before we came here and I do not think that is the case."

He shook his head. "I tried to ask Kaito if he had phantom pains last night and he said no... He didn't look like he was lying."

She hummed. "... So it's either Miu, Ryoma, or Rantaro."

The mercenary eyed him. "Or you if you lied to me."

Shuichi jumped. "I-I didn't, I swear!"

At that moment, she looked behind him. "... We'll talk about that later."

The two other boys came back.

He would have to talk to Kirumi as well.

After all, there is a possibility she lied to him.

... But that didn't make any sense for her to take painkillers, so he gave up on the idea.

Kokichi took the card deck and started shuffling. His movements were precise, it was almost hypnotizing.

He spread the cards and presented them to Kirumi. "Choose five."

The mercenary looked at the cards and did as told.

"Place them in front of you."

He eyed Kaito, who was slightly behind Kirumi. The mercenary continued paying attention to Kokichi.

"Now choose one and look at it."

He closed his eyes, letting her choose.

She thought for a moment, then picked one of them. It was the queen of spades. She placed it back where it was. "Done."

He took back the five cards with a swift hand movement and grouped them. "I may be taking these cards but I don't have a slight clue what any of these are."

He took the rest of the deck and spread it in front of him, glancing at the others. "And even if I managed to get a look at the rest of the deck, there's no way I would guess that quickly which cards are missing." Kirumi noticed he glanced at Kaito a bit too much, side-eyeing him as well.

He grouped back the rest of the deck and placed it aside.

He looked at the cards for a moment.

"From my sharp ears, I heard you took a card that was on my left, so let's take off this one."

"From my gloved hands, I sensed a lack of touch on this one."

"From my blind eyes, I saw that those two were not the chosen ones."

"And from the eyes of the world..." He pointed at the card in the middle. "... I foresaw a queen of spades."

He turned the card around to reveal the one Kirumi chose.

Shuichi's eyes widened. "Woah.."

Kirumi pondered. "We know Kaito is an accomplice, so I'm guessing he signed something to you."

The violinist looked at the biker. "I saw he was eyeing on his left and doing some hand gestures but... I didn't see what it meant."

Kokichi laughed, along with Kaito. "This was always a challenge not to laugh when I was doing this."

Shuichi frowned. "What do you mean? I didn't see anything?"

Kirumi sighed. "And my back was turned to him. My vision is limited."

"Well, you see..." Kokichi grouped back the cards. "Kaito never signed anything to me."

Shuichi perked up. "Huh?"

The biker laughed. "Man, I didn't think your thing would work! Seriously, how did you invent this?"

"Alright, I'll explain the trick." Kokichi said.

"The goal is to make sure the audience thinks you have an accomplice. Someone who makes gestures odd enough to get the attention. And with only half the attention focused on me, I can do a lot more." He explained.

"While you were focused on Kaito, I did have the time to check which card was yours."

Shuichi frowned. "Wait, really? She still had her attention on you though..."

"You're right, I barely had time to check a second time since Kirumi was mainly focused on me. But you're forgetting one thing."

He moved away the hair covering his left eye. "I can see through here. When I asked her to choose a card, I had only one eye closed."

... Was that it? Was it that simple?

Kirumi stared at him for a moment. "... I can't believe I was fooled by a trick that stupid."

Kokichi chuckled. "It's actually more interesting in the long run since most people tried to guess the trick. They tried to position themselves in front of a supposed accomplice, but it never did anything. Because there was never an accomplice in the first place."

That was actually a smart trick. Who knows how many people got scammed like this.

After that, Kaito taught them the game they were supposed to play. It ended up being Kokichi and Shuichi versus the other two.

They played like that for quite some time. Perhaps a part of them wanted them to be kids again. To forget. To free their minds. To live normally.

But all of this got interrupted when the morning announcement played, with Monokuma doing his usual speech.

"I didn't realize we played that long..." Shuichi admitted.

"Perhaps we could finish this game and then prepare breakfast." Kirumi suggested.

The others agreed.

After the final game, they headed to the dining hall. Kirumi started preparing the basics, with the help of the others.

For a moment, only she and Shuichi were in the kitchen. She rummaged through one of the drawers.

"Hm?"

He turned to her. "What is it?"

"Remember, the morning after the third trial, when a knife was missing?"

He frowned. "... Yes?"

"It's back."

He looked at the set of knives, that was indeed full.

For some reason, that felt... reassuring. He didn't know why.

Perhaps it was the thought that it was back without being used that made him relax.

Once the breakfast was ready, the two went back to the dining hall.

They started eating in silence. No one had a real conversation topic, unfortunately. The deaths of their friends were still lingering on their minds.

It was easy to be distracted when they were playing cards, but eating didn't grant them the same luxury.

Shuichi perked up when the door suddenly opened, revealing Miu, looking as tired as the others. "G'morning..."

"Sup."

"Hey..."

"Hello."

"H-Hey..."

She approached them and took a seat, immediately putting her head in her palms, rubbing her eyes. "I feel like I didn't sleep at all."

Kirumi sighed. "I think that is the case for everyone here."

The street artist looked at her for a moment, like lost in thoughts.

"Is everything alright?"

She suddenly stood up, pointing at her. "Where did you get that jacket??"

The mercenary stared at her for a moment, then pointed at Kaito. "He let me borrow one since I didn't feel like putting my whole uniform on."

Her bright blue eyes immediately turned to him.

"... You want one?"

"Absolutely."

He chuckled, getting up from his chair. "Alright, alright. Back to the dorms, it is."

The two left without adding anything.

"I didn't realize Kaito's jackets were that successful." Shuichi broke the silence.

"I'll pass. I like my hoodie." Kokichi said.

"Would you like a black leather jacket, Shuichi?" Kirumi asked him, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"No thanks, I'm good."

They continued eating until the door opened again, this time revealing Ryoma, who instead of his striped blue and white top, had a plain white shirt.

"It's quiet in here. Not that I'm complaining."

He took a seat.

Shuichi looked at him for a moment. "Did you also decide to wear something else?"

Ryoma glanced at the three others, noticing the changes. "This shirt is more comfortable. Don't have any reason not to put it on."

He leaned back into his chair, a piece of toast in his hand. "So Kirumi got Kaito's jacket, Shuichi stopped wearing his vest and tie and Kokichi stopped with the hood, huh."

"I also saw Kaito dropping the hair gel and Miu wanting a leather jacket on my way here." he added.

Kirumi shrugged. "I don't really know why everyone decided to dress up differently today, but it's their choice. I will probably continue wearing this, though. It feels comfortable enough."

Kokichi gripped his hood. "I said I was going to try not to wear it anymore... I want to feel more open but I'm still nervous about this..."

Shuichi faintly smiled. "If you don't want to take it off right now, don't force yourself to."

"No I'll... I'll try. I want to make an effort for this."

The weapons maker shrugged. "Didn't say it as an insult. Do what you want, I'm in no position to judge."

He smiled. "Thank you, Ryoma."

As for Shuichi, it was mostly because he wasn't in the mood to put on his tie and vest at five in the morning. But now that everyone started changing their outfits, perhaps he could keep his outfit this way.

Shortly after, Kaito and Miu came back, the latter having her overall's straps dropped down and a black leather jacket covering her.

"You!" she pointed at Kokichi. "I didn't even notice you dropped the hood!"

He jumped at the accusation. "I- It's nothing, really..."

She approached him, ruffling his hair. "I'm proud of you, you know that?"

He stuttered, not knowing how to react. "I-I guess? Thank you?"

She laughed. "Don't sweat it. It's the first step!"

Looking at those two made Shuichi smile. It was like Miu adopted him. And that just seeing him make efforts to change was enough to make her happy.

They continued eating, the mood brightened up by Miu.

But something was... amiss.

The violinist looked around the room.

Someone was missing.

And it was none other than Rantaro.

The medic hadn't shown up at all.

Ryoma also seemed to have noticed this, judging by how much he glanced at the door.

"Where is he?" the violinist heard him mutter.

"You... haven't seen Rantaro since the trial?"

The smaller man must have just realized Shuichi heard him talking.

"... I told him about Keebo yesterday. But he refused to talk any further, saying he had 'stuff to think about'."

Right after an emotionally exhausting trial... Does this guy ever take breaks?

"I'm just hoping he managed to calm himself down." Ryoma sighed.

As if on cue, the door opened.

Shuichi felt his heart skip a beat when Rantaro came into view.

If the others looked tired, this was nothing compared to him.

His hair was messy, he had rather huge eyebags and his gaze felt devoid of life.

He looked terrible, to say the least.

The others turned to him, all visibly worried.

He didn't even pay attention to them and started walking towards the kitchen.

Was he limping?

The others exchanged concerned glances. Miu stood up and followed him.

Shuichi could barely hear Miu's voice. Rantaro didn't talk, judging by the pitch of the voices. Miu sounded panicked.

Shortly after, he came back to the dining hall with a thermostat, not even glancing at anyone else, simply heading to the door.

"Rantaro, please just-" Miu got back to the room.

The medic stopped, his back turned to the rest of them.

"What... Is going on with you?" her voice cracked.

He stayed silent for a moment. All eyes on him.

"... I'm fine. I'll join you guys later."

Ryoma pushed back his chair and stood up. "Rantaro, please don't go down that path. I'm begging you."

He paused for a moment. "... I. am. fine."

"You're shaking." Kirumi added. "You don't sound nor look fine."

He stared at his empty hand for a moment, clearly shivering like a leaf.

Miu took a step forward. "Ran-

* S L A M *

He suddenly punched the wall, startling everyone.

"... I said I'm fine, didn't I? I'll join you guys when we'll have to explore the new places."

He left the room without a word, leaving the others in awe.

Miu was in shock. She looked like she was holding back tears. "What... What happened to him...? I-I can't..."

Ryoma was staring at the now closed door. "... This isn't like him. At all."

Shuichi quietly glanced at Kirumi, who did the same.

They would have to ask him a lot of questions.

"D-Did he tell you anything in the kitchen?" Kokichi hesitantly asked.

The street artist shook her head. "No, he just... He just poured a litter of coffee into a thermostat, added about ten sugar cubes, and left."

She put both of her hands on her mouth. "What... What happened...?"

No one knew. They had never seen him like this.

Yesterday's trial was already hard for him, they all had thought he would get better by the morning, but...

... That was not the case. If anything, he was in an even worse state than before.

The mood had severely dropped.

Shuichi looked back at his toast. He didn't know what to say. What to do. What to think.

The deafening silence was strengthening the heavy atmosphere.

He wanted to puke.

But of course, that was the moment Monokuma and his green monokub chose to pop up.

"Sheesh! What a mood!"

He didn't even have the strength to argue. Even less than when he saw him in the main hallway earlier.

"Get out." Miu spat.

"My! My! That isn't a way to talk to-

"GET OUT!!"

She threw a glass at him full force, tears in her eyes, but missed her target.

The sound of broken glass echoed through the room as it exploded on the floor.

"It's your fault everyone is like this! It's your fault everyone is turning crazy! Just fucking get out of my sight already!"

"Oh~ You should know violence against the headmaster is prohi-

"I don't care anymore!"

Shuichi's eyes widened.

"I don't care if it's against the rules! I'm sick of you and your bullshit! We've been watching you torment us over, and over, and over again, is that not enough for you??"

"I don't..."

She fell to her knees.

"I don't care anymore, just..."

"... Just get out."

The room fell silent.

Even Monokuma looked like he was thinking his words through.

"... You kids don't even have a sense of humor anymore! I'm not even entertained at this point. Plus, I have better businesses to attend to!"

He left, surprisingly enough.

Monodam, however, kept staring at the girl.

"..."

"HERE-ARE-YOUR-PRIZES. THIS-ONE-IS-THE-LAST-REAL-KEY. AND-THIS-ONE-IS-THE-REAL-LAST-KEY.*"

He put two keys on the table. One looked futuristic, one traditional.

Before they could object to anything, the second bear left.

Kaito stood up and approached Miu, gesturing to them that perhaps they should be left alone for now.

Everyone was on the verge of losing it, whether they were showing it or not.

Shuichi grabbed the keys and the rest of them left the dining hall.

Now it was just Ryoma, Kokichi, Kirumi, and himself.

"Do we... start the investigation?"

Kirumi thought for a moment. "Perhaps it would be for the best."

"Before that, I want to check on Rantaro." Ryoma declared. "There's no way I'm leaving him alone right now."

He nodded. Even if the bare thought of looking at him hurt, they had to, for his sake. As payment for all the times he helped them.

The four started making their way to the third floor, where Rantaro's lab was. According to Ryoma, this was the most plausible place for him to be.

"Stay behind, I don't think the four of us entering will do any good."

They all kept their distance from the lab.

Shuichi heard Ryoma knocking.

After a few seconds, the door opened. He actually hoped to get a grasp on the situation but realized eavesdropping on the conversation would not be possible as Ryoma closed the door behind him.

They could only wait.

Shuichi started examining the keys to distract himself. But every single one of his thoughts was plagued by the current state of the medic.

He was the first person he met in the killing game after stepping out of the locker.

He was the one to help Shuichi calm down at rough times, the one to give advice.

He was the one who gave them the greatest clues during the trials.

He was the one suggesting the best strategies possible to get through the motives.

But the more they went through this killing game, the more his vision of him was tainted by madness.

...

He missed the old Rantaro, if he ever existed. Even if it was just a facade, he missed it.

Shuichi felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Kirumi. Ryoma and Rantaro had joined them and they were ready to go.

"... Are you okay?"

He nodded.

They made their way to the fifth floor, upon Ryoma's request. He had insisted to go there since there was a chance his lab opened.

The walk in the large corridors was silent, their footsteps echoing through the room.

Shuichi glanced at Rantaro. He seemed to have calmed down a bit but the tiredness on his face still showed.

They approached the door, which of course had a lock.

The violinist inspected the keys to see which one looked more appropriate, then handed the traditional key to Ryoma.

"Thanks."

He turned it to unlock the door.

When he pushed it, the lab was finally in view.

It looked like an ancient military warehouse, with an appearance very different from the one of the first floor. This one had giant wooden boxes in some places, and by looking at the ceiling, he noticed several crane hooks hanged up by iron chains.

The light from the bulbs was faint, but still enough for them to see most of the lab. It was even bigger than any other, actually. They started going around to explore, and finally noticed the part in the back, behind the boxes. It had a giant workbench with an important amount of tools.

This was definitely Ryoma's lab.

The two soldiers approached the workbench.

"Think you can do stuff with this?" Rantaro asked.

"Absolutely. I just need the materials, but I'm guessing that's what those boxes are for."

Kirumi approached one of them. However, no opening was visible. "And how are you supposed to open this?"

Ryoma looked around. He approached what seemed to be a control panel. He pressed a button and the machine came to life.

He paused for a moment, then started pressing several other buttons.

Shuichi looked behind him, and from what he understood, the panel controlled the cranes. However, Ryoma didn't look like he wanted to grab something. He positioned the hook next to a box, almost on the floor.

He approached the chain and to Shuichi's surprise, climbed it up with extreme agility. He made his way to the top of a box with relative ease.

Ryoma inspected the box from above, and after some rummaging the violinist couldn't see quite well, he saw him disappearing into the container.

He came back a few seconds after with a bunch of wires.

"Figured it was something like that."

He put them back and climbed down the chain.

"There's a trap above the box to access the materials. I'll have to investigate further but since those boxes are labeled it should be fine."

... The box with the label "DANGER" on it definitely didn't sound safe, though.

What kind of materials was he working with?

Actually, since he was a military engineer, it was quite normal he worked with dangerous materials.

He thought for a moment. "... I'll probably have to fetch Kaito so I can repair his leg properly. I got the proper tools, now."

"Do you want me to bring him here?" Kirumi asked.

"If you guys are fine investigating the rest by yourselves, then sure."

Shuichi glanced at Rantaro, who didn't seem to react at first. "... I'm fine with it."

Ryoma looked at the others for a moment. "Tell him I'll be waiting here."

The group started making their way out.

The walk was silent until Miu and Kaito themselves showed up. The street artist seemed to have calmed down a bit, but she visibly perked up when she saw Rantaro.

Kirumi didn't waste any time. "Ryoma is waiting for you on the fifth floor to repair your leg. The rest of us will explore what's left."

"Oh, his lab opened? Neat!"

Miu tapped him on the shoulder. "I'll see ya later, alright?"

He gave her a thumbs-up as he made his way to the fifth floor.

The others continued climbing down the stairs to the first floor.

"... I need to check something." Rantaro said as he walked through the corridors.

The rest of them glanced at each other for a moment before deciding to follow him.

He had stopped in front of a door in the hallway in the back, decorated with black and white squares.

The door actually opened with a simple pull, unlike every other time they tried to.

They walked through a corridor before their eyes landed on a spiral staircase. Shuichi looked up to see that the top probably reached above the fifth floor.

"... That's going to be a long way." Kirumi sighed.

But they had to.

Climbing up the stairs was a bit exhausting to him, but then realized neither Rantaro, Kirumi nor Kokichi complained.

... Good thing Kaito wasn't there with them.

After what felt like an eternity, they reached the top of the staircase.

Kokichi's eyes widened when he looked at the door in front of him. It was decorated with stars and planets.

This was Himiko's lab.

He glanced at him for a moment. "Do you... Are you sure you want to go?"

The boy took a deep breath. "... Yes."

Rantaro opened the door.

The lab was quite impressive. There were different machines and desks on the sides, and what looked like a giant telescope in the middle. The lab had an almost magical atmosphere. The black floor had some small white spots emitting light. The walls on the sides looked either grey or white. Shuichi didn't know since it was quite dark in here.

But the most impressive was the dome above. Even if it didn't have any pattern on it, just looking at the metal structure was enough to leave him in awe.

Kokichi approached the telescope. But that's when they realized the footsteps he left emitted a white light for a moment before disappearing. That was actually a really nice touch.

Shuichi tried it for himself. This lab was truly fantastic.

Kirumi went to one side and pressed a button on the wall, which was actually the one turning the lights on.

He realized the walls were indeed white as everything came to view.

This was less impressive this way, but still let them appreciate the room in its entirety.

The mercenary pressed another button, and this time the dome above them slowly opened, revealing the bright blue sky.

Shuichi approached the telescope as well. He didn't have any knowledge of how to use it. No one did, unfortunately.

Looking at the room, he immediately understood why Himiko was so fascinated by astronomy.

But she wasn't there to enjoy it, unfortunately. She would have loved it for sure.

"Kokichi."

Rantaro's voice called the small boy.

"Do you wish to be alone for now?"

The smaller boy stayed silent for a moment. "... Yes, please."

"I'll join you guys later if you find something else but... I want to stay here for a while."

Kokichi didn't look upset. Just pensive.

Perhaps it was better to leave him be for now.

"Alright, just tell us if something's wrong, okay?" Miu grinned at him.

He looked at her for a moment, then glanced away. "Actually... Can you... stay too, please?"

She blinked a few times, surprised. "Sure, of course!"

The street artist glanced at the other three. Shuichi smiled as he made his way out with the two others.

The young woman closed the door behind her.

Now it was just him, Rantaro, and Kirumi.

"Let's go."

Rantaro didn't waste any time and immediately started climbing down the stairs.

The walk was silent, Shuichi was making sure he didn't trip down.

After reaching the first floor, Kirumi spoke up. "Rantaro, I do not wish to force you to do anything, but Ryoma is right. Going down the path of isolation is not going to help you."

He quickly glanced back at her. "I told you I'm fine, didn't I? Besides now is not the time. We have an academy to explore, we have to find out who killed Keebo, we have to defeat the mastermind, we have to get out of here-

"Calm down for a minute, alright? You're one of us, Rantaro. Not some kind of pawn to use however we like."

"You think I got a goddamn choice?" he stopped, approaching the mercenary, staring at her with his now signature glare. "We've lost way too much time doing nothing. If we continue like this there's gonna be none of us left. You saw how easy it is for the mastermind to manipulate one of us into killing, right? I don't want to take more time and risks. We've been through enough."

"That's not the point, we'll not ever get out if we don't think rationally. For now, there are issues you need to address, and that's coming from me."

"You're missing the real problem here." He looked at her dead in the eyes. "I swore to myself that I would get you guys out of here. And if I see one more person dying, I'll never forgive myself for this. So at least let me do the one thing I was supposed to do in this cursed academy."

"If I can't save anyone from this absurd war, then I have no right to call myself a soldier, and I have even less the right to call myself Rantaro Amami, ultimate war medic."

She paused for a moment, the two pairs of green eyes intensely looking at each other.

"Soldier or not, you are no less human than any of us, Rantaro."

"If I'm no soldier, if I can't even accomplish that one damn task, then I'm nothing. I have a duty, and if you got a problem with that, you can give me the key so I can look around for myself."

Shuichi's grip on the item strengthened.

The two stared at him. He didn't know what to do. He was frozen in place.

"I-I..."

The words were stuck in his throat.

"L-Let's just look around together like we first planned to...?"

He was bad at this. He cringed at his own reaction.

"Then let's just go."

Rantaro started walking away.

Shuichi felt guilty. But he had no clue what to say.

When he was far enough, Kirumi turned to him. "... I don't know why he started acting like this all of a sudden, but that's not something I'll turn my back to. We'll have to tell Ryoma about this and ask him for explanations."

"... Agreed."

Just when the two started to move, Rantaro went back to get them. "... I thought you two were following me."

"We're coming."

They got out of the building since there was nothing left to see here. Perhaps another one opened?

They went outside and started walking towards the set of stairs.

Shuichi saw Rantaro reaching for something in his inner pockets and put it in the ones on the outside. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around his waist. He also rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt.

He had never noticed it before, but Rantaro did have scars on his arms. They didn't look like clean cuts, more like old serious injuries.

Rantaro didn't seem to care as he continued walking.

He saw Kirumi narrowing her eyes. She was paying close attention to him.

After going down the stairs, Rantaro's eyes landed on the giant grey building on the right.

Maybe that was the one needing to be opened? There was what looked like one of the locks from the previous motive next to it, but different. A blue keyhole symbol was cut on it. Maybe that's where the second key belonged.

The moment he put the key, the building made a strange noise.

"... Is it open, now?" He asked.

Kirumi approached the door and pushed it. It opened, just like he thought.

The trio entered the building. It had a sci-fi vibe to it. Both futuristic and abandoned.

The corridors were empty. It didn't look like anything was worth looking at, so they continued walking.

They noticed a room that didn't look any different from the corridors. It looked like it had three empty spaces in the walls, giving the room a strange shape. But nothing was worth inspecting here.

They left the room to continue walking through the corridors.

They reached an intersection. The left side was a dead end, but they noticed something odd. There was a small window here.

Kirumi stepped on the pipe to get a better look. "There's a bathroom in here."

"A bathroom?"

He stepped forward to look and it was indeed a futuristic-looking bathroom. Strange.

The window was way too small for them to pass anything but their heads. Ryoma probably could try to pass through it, but they were not sure about whether or not this would work.

They went the other way, hoping they would see something more interesting.

The three of them finally reached the end of the corridor, but what awaited them was a huge shutter, blocking the access to what was supposedly behind.

Kirumi narrowed her eyes. "I have a bad feeling about this. We should be careful."

Rantaro carefully approached the shutter, but the moment he was a tiny bit too close to the door, an alarm started ringing.

Shuichi slammed his hands against his ears. Sometimes he regretted having better hearing.

"W-What's going on?"

Rantaro walked away from the shutter, his also on his ears.

Monokuma appeared right after. "Oh my! Tsk, tsk, tsk! Don't you go setting off the alarm now! C'mon, c'mon, outta the way so I can turn off that alarm."

After a moment, the noise finally stopped.

"Geez! You guys gotta be more careful!"

Kirumi glared at him. "Explain yourself."

Monokuma proceeded to talk about the mechanism of the door, and how that area had to be secured. There was also a digital code that was too long to remember, but he let them go inside anyway.

Although they didn't know what was the point of visiting this room if they couldn't ever come back here.

But when they entered, their eyes immediately landed on what was on the left.

The five exisals were here, sitting in the room.

"T-The exisals??"

Rantaro immediately took a scalpel and a pair of scissors out from the pockets of his jacket, on guard, and his eyes locked on the exisals. "I'm not letting them act twice."

Kirumi raised a hand. "Calm down. They do not look active."

Shuichi didn't know if he should feel terrified or reassured these two had weapons on them at all times.

At that moment, Monokuma joined them once again.

"Ah-hahaha! Surprised? This is actually the Exisal hangar! Yep, this is where the Exisals are stored!"

That... made sense, considering what this place looked like.

"But..." he sighed. "It's almost pointless now."

Rantaro bitterly chuckled. "What, because you have only one of your minions left so you can't control them anymore?"

The black and white bear started sweating, somehow. "What!? No one can control them anymore!?"

"So he's right." Kirumi narrowed her eyes at him.

"Oh, don't worry about my reaction just now. I thought a somewhat over-the-top reaction would put you guys on the defensive."

The two pairs of green eyes glared at him.

"W-Whatever, have fun visiting!"

He left without another word.

Rantaro put the medical tools back into his pockets. However, Shuichi noticed something odd.

There was a faint pink stain on the scalpel.

"Rantaro, could you please take back the scalpel you just put in your pocket?" the mercenary eyed him.

"Hm?"

"The scalpel."

He sighed as he took it out.

"That's blood, isn't it?"

"... I was treating an injury and forgot to wash it. No big deal."

Kirumi wasn't buying it. Neither was Shuichi.

"Go on. What was the injury?"

He stayed silent for a moment.

"... None of your business. Besides we have this room to explore." he put the scalpel away.

"You're not getting away that easily. Who did you use that on."

"Myself, sheesh! Will you quit it already??" 

"Then prove it!" The mercenary yelled. "At least prove to us you did use it for medical purposes!"

It was the first time he had heard Kirumi lose her calm. Shuichi felt chills just hearing her.

"You want me to prove it? Fine."

To both's surprise, he started taking his shirt off.

"What are you-"

But before any of them could protest, he was already bare chest, shirt in his hand.

"I got an old scar that reopened and I had to take care of it. Is that enough for you??"

The two stared at him in awe. Shuichi had never seen a wound that horrible.

He had more scars on his arms than he thought. But more importantly, the one on his chest made him shiver. The stitches looked almost hastily put back on, but if Rantaro did it himself then perhaps it was normal.

There was a long silence between them.

After glancing a few times between the two, the medic finally put his shirt back on.

"As I was saying, we have this place to explore. Let's just see if something is worth investigating here."

He turned his back on them and approached what looked like a giant hydraulic press.

Kirumi and Shuichi glanced at each other.

It was the look that meant "We'll talk about it later."

The violinist approached the exisals. They were unmoving, but that was to be expected since only one of the cubs remained.

... Perhaps now they were less of a danger than they were at the beginning.

Even if the hangar was almost pointless for Monokuma now, why would he give them access to those exisals?

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Kirumi trying to handle one of the machines.

"W-What are you doing?"

She turned to him. "I want to see if they're usable for us."

However, she was unable to even open the thing.

Which meant that plan was out of the window.

There was also a washing machine and a spray painter for the exisals, from what they had guessed.

... If they had the possibility to move the exisals, then Miu would have had fun with this, probably.

Shuichi turned to Rantaro, who was inspecting the safety notice of the hydraulic press.

Apparently, there was a safety function forbidding from fully going down when a living organism was on it.

But then again, it wasn't like they were ever going to use it.

As Rantaro went to inspect the exisals, Shuichi went to the door in the back. Perhaps something interesting was in there?

After opening the door, he realized that...

... It was only the bathroom they had seen from the window in the corridor.

Why even have a bathroom here? It wasn't like the bear could use it. And they were probably not going to be in this room ever again.

So it was useless for absolutely everyone.

Great.

Since there was nothing else to investigate, they left.

Now that he thought about it, they hadn't seen any flashback lights.

Was it normal?

Either way, the only thing they could do was to go back to the main building and tell the others about their discovery, even though now it was pretty useless.

The walk was as silent as ever, none of them in the mood to talk.

But both the mercenary and the violinist knew they had to inform Ryoma about how Rantaro acted.

They went back to the dining hall. Only Miu and Kokichi were here.

"Oh- did you guys discover anything?" the street artist asked, trying to hide her obvious nervousness.

"Perhaps we should wait until Ryoma and Kaito come back?" Shuichi suggested.

She paused. "Hm... I don't even know how much time it will take for Ryoma to repair Kaito's leg... And it's not like he can walk four sets of stairs without it."

Good point.

"At least for now we should just give them a quick sum-up of what we found." Kirumi added.

They explained everything they had discovered in the exisal hangar, but that it would be pretty useless for them since a code was needed to enter, that they had no possible way to remember.

Miu was rather disappointed not to be able to paint the exisals. According to her, it would have been quite an experience.

Since it was almost noon, Miu and Kirumi decided to prepare lunch.

Kokichi joined them as well.

Now it was just him and Rantaro, sitting in uncomfortable silence.

"Do you... Wanna check on Ryoma and Kaito?" he suggested.

Rantaro stood up. "Sure."

After telling the kitchen trio, the two made their way to the fifth floor.

Shuichi wanted to say something. He was never the best at comforting, but he could still try.

"H-Hey..."

The medic briefly turned around. "Hm?"

"I uh..." He trailed off. "I... didn't know you had those scars... I'm sorry if we made you uncomfortable back then."

He was silent for a moment. "... It's fine. Those are old scars. I don't pay attention to them anymore."

That was clearly a lie.

"Please just... I know you probably don't want to talk to me about it but... You're friends with Ryoma, right? He doesn't think any less of you because of the trial... I know he'll talk to you if you ask him."

The violinist saw him narrowing his eyes a bit. "... I'll think about it."

So that was the best he could get out of him.

They reached the lab and Shuichi knocked on the door before entering.

The two made their way to the back. Kaito was sitting on one of the wooden boxes, watching Ryoma working on the prosthetic leg.

"Oh, hey there."

Ryoma perked his head up, taking off his safety glasses. "You're back."

"We wanted to check on you both... How is work going?" Shuichi asked.

He took the prosthetic leg in his hands. "I'm almost done. It wasn't exactly a hard task, it just took time for me to identify the correct materials and get them. It isn't easy when your partner is a one-legged man."

Kaito groaned. "Sorry, sorry... I can't exactly help it, y'know?"

"Never said you could."

The three stayed there as Ryoma kept working.

After some time, he was finally done.

"Here. I did my best."

Kaito examined the leg. "It's as good as new! Thanks!"

The weapons maker snickered. "Don't sweat it. Just don't get another spear or something in the leg, okay?"

He laughed. "I'll try, I'll try."

Kaito put his leg back on and the four finally left the lab to go back to the dining hall.

The three had just finished preparing lunch.

It was nice to eat a real meal after days of bland rice and crackers.

They ate in silence since there was no possible way to make a nice conversation. The atmosphere was tense, Shuichi could sense it.

"So... No flashback light this time?" Kokichi hesitantly asked.

Miu hummed. "That's odd... Monokuma always gives us one after a trial..."

Kirumi sighed. "So we're no further ahead, then."

Too bad. They thought they could at least get a better idea of what was going on, where they were, why they were here, but Monokuma decided not to help them.

Was it because they already knew too much?

After all, they learned that Kaito was not Keebo's killer, they had Tsumugi's notebook to read, Kiyo's notebook would perhaps give him more information on the others...

Was there enough information in there for them to figure out the rest?

He would have to take a look at the notebooks, then.

But right now, he just felt tired.

He wanted to be alone.

After that, everyone parted their ways, agreeing to investigate the rest when they would be in a better mental state.

Kokichi wanted to go back to Himiko's lab, alone this time.

Miu and Kaito were together in the street artist's lab.

Kirumi was not in the mood to be with anyone, which was more than understandable.

And to his relief, Ryoma and Rantaro were hanging out together.

Shuichi didn't know what to do. He simply felt tired from this morning's events.

... Perhaps he could try to get some rest.

He went back to his room and laid on his bed.

He closed his eyes, desperately hoping that he would not be haunted by nightmarish visions this time.

...

--

5 PM.

Shuichi slowly opened his eyes. He had managed to sleep peacefully, for once.

He sat up, rubbing his face.

Taking a look at his monopad, he tried to see where everyone was.

Ryoma and Rantaro had moved to the casino, for some reason.

Kokichi was still in Himiko's lab.

As for Kirumi, Kaito, and Miu, they were all in the street artist's lab.

... Perhaps he could try to talk to Kokichi. He hadn't spoken to him alone for a long time.

Hopefully, he would accept his visit.

After getting to the astronomer's lab and climbing the huge amount of steps, he knocked on the door.

A few moments later, Kokichi opened. "Shuichi?"

He didn't look mad, thankfully.

"Do you mind if I come in?"

Kokichi nodded as he let the violinist into the lab.

There were open books and papers scattered around the telescope.

"What were you doing?" he asked.

Kokichi reached for one of the books. "I wanted to see what got Himiko so passionate about space... Miu told me I could try to read some books about astronomy, and now I'm trying to look at the stars and constellations."

Carrying Himiko's legacy... That was a nice thought.

"But to be honest... There's something I'm trying to do, but it will take time, I think."

"What is it?"

He took a piece of paper. "I'm trying to retrace what I can find with the telescope, the constellations visible from here and everything. But more importantly..."

He narrowed his eyes at the sky map from one of the books.

"... I'm trying to figure out where we are on this planet."

Shuichi's eyes widened. That was actually a smart idea. Considering how there was a possibility they were thousands of kilometers away from their home, using the stars as a way to locate themselves was a great plan.

"For now I'm mostly trying to figure out how this telescope works... But if I do manage to use it there's a possibility we figure out where we are and which season we are currently in!"

Shuichi grinned. "That's great! I don't know much about astronomy but if it can help us then I'm all for it."

Kokichi smiled, but he quickly dropped it. "T-Thanks... Although I'm sure Himiko would have gladly done it instead of me..."

The violinist put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure Himiko would have been proud to see you getting interested in astronomy."

"... Maybe you're right."

The two tried to understand how the telescope worked.

Kokichi was reading one of the manuals while Shuichi tried to move the machine.

It took them a while, but after some time they managed to completely figure out the telescope's basic aspects.

But looking at the time on the clock, perhaps it was better to just go downstairs for now.

That may have been a small step for them, but that could be one giant leap for the group.

The two went back to the first floor. The trio that was in the street artist's lab was now preparing dinner.

"Oh, hey there!" Miu called them.

Shuichi approached the group. "What are you guys preparing?"

"The classic beef ramen, baby!" Kaito exclaimed. "... It's the only recipe I know."

He giggled. "Do you guys need any help?"

"Eh, just set the table. It's not like you can do much right now." Miu shrugged.

The two did as told. While they were doing so, the other two boys came in as well.

They ate in silence. Kokichi explained his plan to find their location, and that he would perhaps try this evening.

Shuichi thought about the two notebooks. He didn't have the energy to read them, but he would surely have to do so at some point.

But just as they were about to leave, the screen of the monitor turned on.

"Ahem! This is a school announcement!"

The others turned to the screen, showing Monokuma stirring a glass.

"Everyone, please gather at the gym immediately!"

They all looked at each other.

What kind of announcement did Monokuma want to make?

They made their way here, Shuichi's heart pounding in his chest.

When everyone arrived, the bear wasn't there.

"... Where is he?" Kaito asked.

As if on cue, the black and white robot popped up, along with his green cub.

"My, my! I have waited wayyy too long for you guys to show up! Don't ever make your headmaster wait that much ever again!"

Miu rolled her eyes. "We are the ones who waited for you, though."

"Cut that shit out." Rantaro took a step forward. "What do you want from us?"

The bear pouted. "Quit being so impatient! Besides..."

He took a look at all of them. "Who told you that you were allowed not to wear your uniforms properly??"

Ryoma shrugged. "Not in the rules, chief."

His passive tone almost made Shuichi snicker.

The bear grunted. "Whatever. I'm here to give you what you all have been waiting for!"

Kokichi raised an eyebrow. "The flashback light?"

"No." Rantaro interrupted him. "If he wanted to give us a flashback light, he would have done so during the explorations."

"Oh~ Perspective, aren't we?" Monokuma put his paws on his mouth. "You are right! There's no flashback light this time!"

"I reunited all of you here to announce the new motive!"

Huh? Already? Monokuma always waited the day after the explorations to announce the new motive. Why the sudden change?

"You see, I was planning another motive, but I am going to put it aside for now. I mean, someone gave me an excellent idea!"

Someone? Who would even give ideas to him?

"Stop the nonsense." Ryoma glared at him. "We already know who you're talking about. And I don't think he suggested you anything."

... Nope. No idea.

"Well, well. Inspired, gave me ideas, same thing!"

Kirumi crossed her arms. "I am supposing this is about Korekiyo, right?"

Shuichi turned to her. "Wh-"

"Ding ding ding! You are absolutely right!"

Korekiyo... Inspired him?

"Your dear friend had a deal with me. He had to make sure the trial went on for at least one hour, and then he was free to do whatever he wanted!"

"So I decided to give you guys the motive you all love from the bottom of your hearts..."

"... A time limit!"

What? Again? But... Why? What did it have to do with Kiyo?

"And since he made the trial last for four long hours, your time limit will be in four days!"

So that's why Kiyo kept on fighting... It was to buy them more time to end the game by themselves.

"That's right! From this moment, you have exactly 96 hours to kill the person of your choice!"

The others looked at the bear in shock.

"Soooo... Do what you want with this, but if no one is dead by the limit, consider yourselves as dead as good ol' Tsumugi!"

He flinched at those words.

And he was not the only one.

The black bear left before they could add anything, leaving the green cub alone.

"..."

"GOOD-LUCK. MAY-THE-ODDS-BE-IN-YOUR-FAVOR."

He left.

Shuichi could only stare at the spot where Monokuma was.

They had thought he wouldn't put another time limit but... They were sorely mistaken.

Did that mean it was never supposed to be the motive until Kiyo acted on his own?

What was the original motive, then?

He glanced at Rantaro, who had his fists clenched, but was silent, like deep in thought.

"... Ryoma."

The weapons maker perked up. "Yes?"

"You have more than enough materials to create whatever machine you desire, right?"

He put his hands in his pockets. "... What are you planning?"

Rantaro let out a chuckle. "Isn't it obvious?"

"We're getting out of here."

Shuichi perked up. The only way to get out was through the...

... Death road of ...

...

That... That was his plan?

To create weapons to go through the death road of despair?

"You want me to create the proper equipment to go through the tunnels?"

"Exactly."

They now had the engineer's lab open, and all the possibilities with it.

Now was their chance. They could do it.

They could escape.

"Wait, wait, wait..." Miu approached Rantaro. "You want us to go through the death road of despair, again?"

"That's our only solution." he replied. "If we can disable the traps in the tunnels, we can get out."

"R-Really??" Kaito exclaimed. "So we actually have a chance?"

"Listen well."

Rantaro raised his voice, stepping forward to make sure everyone could see him.

"Tonight, Ryoma will be making the equipment for the tunnels. I will be preparing medical stuff for if things go wrong."

"If we can get through the tunnels, we can get out of this place for good."

"I'm gonna have to ask you to get some food and water just in case we need it outside."

"We're in the endgame now. If this mission succeeds, we can go back to the outside world without having to worry about a time limit nor a killing game anymore."

"I'm counting on you all. Get some rest tonight, because tomorrow, we're out."

"Did I make myself clear!?"

Shuichi could finally sense some hope. Even though Rantaro looked furious at Monokuma for reminding him about his past mistakes, he could sense his fighting spirit.

The will to end the game, growling from deep inside him.

"Alright!" Miu yelled. "It's decided! We're out!"

"Y-Yeah! We have to do this!" Kokichi added.

"It's about damn time." Kirumi sighed in relief. "The atmosphere here may have been better than before the game for me, but I'm getting tired of Monokuma's nonsense."

"Then we'll fight! We're going to make it!" Kaito exclaimed.

Shuichi was impressed by everyone's sudden will to fight. "Then I'll fight too!"

Ryoma chuckled. "You can count on me for the weapons, boss. It's nice to see the fighting spirit of our medic."

Rantaro looked at them, a determined look on his face.

A determination that was filled with the rage accumulated these past two weeks.

A determination fueled by the shining hope, rising from deep inside their hearts.

"... Let's do this."

The group separated. Ryoma went to his lab, Rantaro went to his own and Miu volunteered to get the food from the dining hall.

They were going to get out of here.

For Gonta. For Tenko. For Kaede. For Maki. For Himiko. For Keebo. For Angie. For Tsumugi. And for Korekiyo.

Tomorrow would be a big day.

The day where this killing game ends.

[lilhwahwa]

ATEEZ Reaction: Saying something hurtful to their s/o

REQUESTED 

GIFS NOT MINE

(I’m pretty sure they would all think before saying, but we’re only human, anything can happen:( )

(PART 2 OUT )

Hongjoong

“If you could just stop following me around like a burden for five seconds maybe I could finish my work faster and spend time with you later!” He yelled out, finally snapping. He had only realized what he had said after your head dropped to look at your feet, your heart stung with pain, tears collecting in your eyes as you hid behind the hair that hung in front of your face. He stood in front of you wide eyed, anger slowly melting away as guilt filled his heart, he knew you just wanted to make sure he didn’t overwork himself, always taking care of him, yet he had brushed you off like that. He’d let you go to your room, not wanting to say anything to make you more upset with him, though,  not before letting you know that what he had said was not sincere and it was just frustration at his work, not at you. He’d think of topics to mention as he planned a semi-serious conversation and apology. 

Seonghwa

“You’re so messy it’s like I have to clean after you like a child all the time!” Seonghwa muttered under his breath as he ran around in the room, picking up things you had unpacked from your trip, visiting your friend from abroad, you hadn’t organized everything yet, but Seonghwa was running around like a mad man. You looked at him with disappointment on your face, you didn’t have the energy to fight so you turned around to leave, dropping the clothes you were folding. His face immediately lost its roughness, brows furrowing in regret.

“C’mon love I didn’t mean it..” he whined, pulling you back into him, hugging you annoyingly close, babying you, deep inside anxiety filled him at the thought of you leaving him, even for something this stupid, he was scared.

Yunho

“You wouldn’t know how hard my job is, you don’t have to work half as hard as me!” he said rather loudly, the usual puppy-like Yunho was nowhere to be seen. The words stung your heart sharply as he left you standing alone in the living room, leaving to cool off a little, not without feeling guilty though. You rarely argued, and Yunho rarely snapped, but sometimes his day was extra tough and you understood, or at least tried your best. 

You’d be sitting on the couch, trying to focus on the TV as Yunho would walk in, apologetic face, like a guilty puppy, but he would remain quiet as he hesitantly embraced you, lying on top of you, nearly crushing you and attacking your shoulders with kisses. You’d quietly just cuddle, he needed you to be the one who spoke first, because he was really embarrassed with himself. 

Yeosang

“Jesus, you’re so annoying could you leave me alone for once?” Yeosand whined out loudly, your usual angel-like boyfriend had a very good patience, and arguments usually never took place, that’s why it shocked you so hard as he rolled his eyes at you, grabbing his skateboard and slamming the door shut. You were on the verge of tears, trying to convince yourself that he was just tired. Yeosang would feel guilty before even snapping, he knew he was showing an attitude that you didn’t deserve. On the way back home, he bought your favourite snacks in hopes that you'd accept them as peace. He, like Yunho, would remain pretty quiet and embarrassed with himself. 

San 

“Maybe I should go compliment some other pretty girl too huh?”  lol is that even a hurtful thing? he said mockingly, he was jealous, beyond jealous at you for complimenting Wooyoung right in front of him, it must have built up because the shock was spread over both of your faces as San’s mouth spit out those words, his jealousy clearly taken over too much control. If you cried at his harsh voice and words that made you insecure, tears would make it to his eyes too, just because of the love he held for you, any pain, even caused by himself, he felt. He, like Seonghwa, would be very afraid of you taking his words seriously, and held you close, rocking back and forth, mostly to calm himself down too. 

Mingi

“You’re too emotional, why are you upset over everything so much?” his deep and harsh voice sounded, clapping back at you as you tried to get him to talk to you, communication was, no matter how long into your relationship you were, a little hard at times. You tried to give Mingi an example by showing your emotions, make him feel comfortable, but sometimes he felt like he was backed into a corner, and felt the need to distance himself from you, hurting both of you. Some days it became too much, he couldn’t take the disappointed look in your eyes as he felt like he failed you. Though feeling guilty, he’d still feel awkward, thinking about what to say or do. Much like Yunho he’d just tackle you down onto your bed or couch, all communication happening through your eyes instead. 

Wooyoung

“I don’t like that dress” he said simply, yet somehow, it brought out the insecurity in you. Wooyoung didn't even need to look up from his phone as he knew your face dropped. It’s not that he didn't like it, he was just concerned about you looking way too good, which in a way he was proud of, but he himself is dealing with insecurities, believe it or not. You’d have a very passionate conversation about each other’s insecurities, intense eye contact, emotional faces and hand holding. He prayed that you would never doubt the way you look in his eyes, a goddess, and never forget his words to you as he’d try his best to show you how pretty you looked ;) ( y’all ate food nothing more uhuu) 

Jongho

“You’re acting like a child, it’s so hard dating you!” he snapped, he was furious, he was so frustrated at everyone and everything that snapping at you was the only option as you attacked him with hugs and soft whines as soon as he entered the apartment, only thing is, he stood still like a rock, nearly annoyed at you even existing there. Jongho could have great coldness, and even stubbornness as he’d watch you become upset right in front of him. Though his heart couldn’t not break over and over as he watched a single tear slip from your eyes, which was enough for him to swallow his ego and embrace you, apologising, asking you to never leave. 

[deanie1987]

Mostly positive thoughts about Shameless 10x11 Location, Location, Location

This wasn’t my favorite episode of the season, but I really enjoyed it. As always, I wish we could have gotten a little bit more in the way of emotional scenes/real in depth dialogue, but clearly this is not the show for that anymore. But I’m going to be positive and there was a lot to like in this episode:

The general nonchalance and irritation with which both Ian and Mickey registered the fact that Terry was outside of the house screaming his head off. Then the fact that Mickey told him that he was irritating everyone LOL.

This episode was full of great line readings and one of my favorites was the way that Mickey said “I DEFINITELY love one.”

I thought Terry’s line “it does if it falls on a dick” was kind of funny. I’m not proud of myself.

I loved how Ian was trying to get Lip to talk about the move to Milwaukee and then trying to get Lip to talk to Tami about it as well. He mentioned it a couple of times and was trying to be supportive of the move. Either the self-help books he read in prison really helped or that boy has been in therapy and didn’t tell anyone about it.

Along those lines, I appreciated that Ian seemed a bit concerned about Lip and the move. He was clearly thinking about it and distractedly playing with his ring right after Lip left. It reminded me of when he was in prison and worried about Lip, Tami and the baby and the way he looked last week when Lip made his announcement. I don’t know if Cam does this on purpose, but it seems like he has different mannerisms or facial expressions for different characters. The way he smiles at Mickey or the softness of tone he uses for Mickey, for example, was different than the softness he used for Monica.

I loved seeing Mickey at home in the Gallagher kitchen and interacting with the various Gallaghers. It has been one of the things that I’ve wanted most this season and I’m trying hard (and pretty much failing) not to be bitter that it took until the second to the last episode of the season. The promo for next week and the thought of season 11 helps though.

Another great line reading with Ian’s “what is happening?” and literally every single facial expression that he had during all of the wedding vendor scenes. From the eye-rolls to the stunned expression to the warning glances to various shop clerks and finally trying to limp after Mickey on the way to the caterers and his increasingly exasperated YESes as Mickey barked out questions about the infamous chairs.

I liked Sandy in this episode. I liked her being on Mickey’s side and I like her offense at Ian’s seeming indifference and incompetence. She and Noel play off each other well. I loved the line readings of “I can see why you called me” and Mickey’s sincere “thank you.” My favorite thing, however, is the disdain that she and Ian seem to have for one another. When Mickey asked about Ian’s ring, the way that Ian kept glancing guiltily at Sandy as he answered made me laugh. He’s like, “not only do I have to deal with Mickey but now this judgmental bitch too.”  LMAO!

As much as the groomzilla stuff was played for laughs, I loved that Mickey took all of it extremely seriously. He has opinions about stuff, he’s clearly done his research and he wants the best for his big day. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he has thought about his wedding day with Ian before. He knows what song he wants, he can envision how it looks and I love that he is focusing on the “atmospheric” stuff like candles, music, flowers, etc., rather than the more practical stuff like food and drinks. Mickey is an artist after all.

I wasn’t sure how to feel about Mickey as Groomzilla when we first saw the preview but I totally get it now, and as per usual, Noel played every between the lines note perfectly. Mickey seemed unbothered by Terry after their altercation but his increasing stress level and emotion was palpable. After everything it took to get himself and Ian to this point, obstacles keep getting thrown in his way and by the time they’re sitting at the Alibi he is overwhelmed and anxious. Noel conveyed both the humor of the situation (I cracked up everytime Mickey threw down his pen in annoyance and every time that he shot Ian an exasperated look). But he also conveyed the anguish that Mickey must have felt as he tried to do something meaningful and joyous and NORMAL. People in love plan wedding everyday, why can’t Mickey? Why does everything have to suck?

And I appreciate the patience that Ian had with him and the way that it slowly dawned on him that Mickey really did care about all of the wedding stuff AND that he was more affected by his dad than he was willing to admit. And I liked that he was willing to indulge Mickey on his plans but also gently remind him of why they were there. Because they’re Mickey and Ian.

I will admit that I am not a Bon Jovi fan and I often run my car off the road trying to turn the radio station should Living on a Prayer or Dead or Alive come on. I also don’t reeealllly believe that of all of the hair band power ballads that Mickey could choose from he would pick a Bon Jovi song. BUT I will admit that the lyrics do fit and the scene itself was sweet. The singer was terrible but that somehow made it better. As cute as Ian’s gesture was, I was still a little underwhelmed. Maybe it’s just that seeing Ian so much more expressive toward Mickey is still new to me and I notice it more, but I sort of felt that Noel underplayed this scene just like the proposal. Or at least the version that made it air. I wanted to feel more from this scene than I did. Is it just me? I think it might just be me. And it makes me a little nervous for next week because I really want tears and heartfelt vows and not misdirected emotion and 100% shenanigans.

As for everyone else, Liam was better this week. I’m so glad that the show remembered that he is only a ten year old kid, who misses his siblings and his father. I don’t know if the actors who played Debbie and Carl were better at that age or if it was the writing or a combination of both, but I still don’t feel for Liam the way that I felt for them for whatever reason and I wish I did.

I didn’t mind that Lip, Ian and Mickey let him ride the L to find Frank on his own because Debbie was running a daycare at that age, Ian was 4 years away from having sex with his boss and god knows the kind of stuff that Lip and Fiona were dealing with at that age. They shield him and encourage him where they can but he’s one of Frank Gallagher’s kids and in their view, he should be able to ride the L by himself to the nice side of Chicago without holding anybody’s hand. The fact that Lip told him to check in once he got there is probably more than any of the other kids got at that age.

Lip getting cold feet makes perfect sense to me as did all of the reasons he gave Tami. Lip doesn’t ever want to leave the Southside of Chicago. That has been hammered into our brains since season 1. He says he does and I think a part of him WANTS to want to leave, but he doesn’t really. He has always liked being a big fish in a little pond and he has always liked succeeding without having to make an effort. That’s who he is and his story with Tami could really be interesting, because for the first time, he has a real reason to try to work things out with a woman who is “forcing” him to better himself. And he has a reason beyond himself to want to do it. It is an organic and interesting dynamic and I hope it goes into season 11. I also see Tami’s side as well. I like her and I like her with Lip and I think that the actress is good enough to go toe to toe with JAW. All of this makes me very happy.

Frank’s screen time continues to be ridiculous. How many times did we need to see Frank walking nervously down the hallway looking for a ghost. I didn’t even hate his scenes this episode but there were soooo many of them in a time when that time could be spent elsewhere.

I’m glad Carl is trying to do good, but I don’t care. Debbie looks good in that tux, but again, I don’t care. Kev’s line reading of “do you even lift, bro” was funny. Vee looked incredible doing her plank on the keg. But...you guessed it...I don’t care.

The promo for next week looks INCREDIBLE. I have a tiny bit of hope that outside of Lip, the majority of the storyline will be the Gallaghers trying to white trash the shit out of this wedding and I hope that everyone will be involved. There is a lot of plot to move on that score and there are some things that I really, really want to see happen in the next episode (which I will probably post about later), so I’m trying to keep my expectations low.

[marlahey]

time only heals if we work through it now

a chicago pd fic pairings/characters: rising upstead, jay + hailey friendship if that’s more your speed episode tags/spoilers: set during and post 6.22 (reckoning)  warnings: a lot of angsty avoidance of talking notes: this is the first really creative thing I’ve produced in like three months so please be gentle lol. title courtesy of the jonas brothers song ‘hesitate’ which I love and also stole from my friend grace. love you.  read on: ao3 // ff

i.

Jay is always the last person she touches before they breach a door. 

Depending on who goes first (usually her, though she never knows if that’s out of respect for her abilities or old ranger habits) there is one hand on the shoulder, (usually his) a final, I’ve got you, before the doorframe splinters or groans and anything can happen on the other side. After their bricks shatter the glass, she is first through the stash house back door. And until they’re back at the precinct unloading their spoils, Hailey’s heart seems to live in her ears, a roaring soundtrack to the story cloaked entirely in black and spoken in aggressive shouts. Though it’s not nerves, not more than the standard I really don’t want to get shot, it feels like everything is muffled beneath a pressing reminder of everything they stand to lose. “That was a five hundred thousand dollar rip,” she marvels aloud. “...that we can’t tell anyone about.” “And if this whole thing doesn’t work,” Jay says in that dry tone of his, “We’re gonna go back to writing traffic tickets.” Levity feels like the only way they can look at the possibility of their failure head on. It’s too much, she thinks, to consider how everything might change for the unit if they can’t bring Kelton down. And for them. The second thought is a little harder to bear, though it’s an admission Hailey makes only to herself. “Your sergeant at organized crime take you back?” she asks. Would he take me, too? “No,” he replies around a laugh. It’s nice to hear him laugh again. “He holds grudges. He was so pissed when I left. Besides, I’m going where you go.” Jay says it so matter of factly that Hailey has to stop and look at him. “Yeah?” He keeps her gaze. “Yeah. It’s hard to find a good partner.” Something’s happening inside her chest, that thing she’s been trying to ignore for months now. “That sounds good to me.” Her cheeks can’t hold up a smile too long. “We both know Kelton won’t let any of us stay together.” Jay’s jaw sets, but before either of them can say anything more, the rest of the unit reappears and it’s back to business. Later, Hailey thinks. Think about this later. ii. Later, of course, there’s no time to think. The first shot pops off – barely muffled – her hand lands instinctively on her gun but it’s useless; the next four tear through the van like it’s made of butter. “Get down!” Before she can even gasp, Jay is yanking her down to the floor. Only instinct and training keep her from hitting her head. He peels away; she can’t catch her breath. Hailey gives up on her gun. The unmistakable weight of a vest falls open over her back and then Jay’s arms are around her again, dragging her closer, tight around her shoulders and her neck, forcing her head down against him. The part of her brain that says, this might be it is shouted quiet by the rest of her brain that says, Jay’s here. He’s got you. Debris and dust and light hail down; he growls and it jolts her out of her panic. She wants to tell him that one vest isn’t going to cut it. She wants to tell him that by holding her this way he’s exposed – his arms, his hands, his head – she wants to ask him if her ears are ever going to stop ringing – and then it’s over. The whole thing couldn’t have lasted more than eight seconds, but it felt like years between one heartbeat and the next. Does Hailey look as different as she feels? Jay’s solid warmth pulls away again and she wants – for a split second – beyond all reason or logic or anything resembling professionalism, to fold herself back into him. Where she’s safe. His hand is on her face, calluses rough against her cheek. Hailey can see his mouth moving, forming the syllables of her name, but she can’t hear yet. “You good? You okay?” She can’t speak yet either it seems; Hailey just nods, almost frantically. Voight’s voice from outside the hollowed van sounds as though it’s coming from underwater. “Jay! Hailey! You good?” “We’re good, we’re good!” Jay shouts back, and she jumps; her hearing is back, now dialled up to eleven. Are we? “Do not exit till we get the all clear! Who’s got eyes?” Jay’s chest heaves with exertion as he pushes up to his elbows above her. Adam is audible through the radio on the table, miraculously unscathed, but she can only just understand him over the tinny sound still in her ears. Wilson is down. Dread curls like a root in the pit of her stomach. Hailey has to swallow before she can speak. “Jay,” she says, and that’s all her mind can come up with. His hand lands on her shoulder, squeezing gently. I’ve got you. Hailey finds her eyes glued to his stomach, where she knows the scar of a bullet should have lived beneath his shirt. As they haul each other mostly upright, the vest slipping to hit the floor with a solid thump, her fingers brush the spot of their own accord. “I’m okay.” Jay touches her hand with his own and Hailey pulls away, feeling oddly like she’s been caught. “I’m okay.” I thought he was dead. Her breath shudders on the way out; the next is better. Hailey can feel the weight of his stare, as familiar as the kevlar. He starts, “You sure–” “I’m good.” She meets Jay’s gaze to prove her point. He just looks back, some of the adrenaline fading from around his eyes, and it’s a little too easy to fall back into the routine. Upton and Halstead: partners in Intelligence. She nods once and he lets go, shifting back only enough to sit heavily against the desk with a sigh. Hailey doesn’t think; she just follows him down to the floor, suddenly too bone-weary to care that they’re pressed together from hip to shoulder. She finds her eyes glued to the kevlar vest still splayed half-open at their feet. We almost died. He probably saved your life. You’re alive. “Think we have to write up the cost?” Jay asks sardonically, gesturing at the side of the vehicle riddled with holes. Hailey just snorts. He doesn’t say more and neither does she, suddenly content to come back down to earth in comfortable, relative quiet. It’s hard to tell how much time passes this way, though Hailey just lets herself be in it a while. Give us a break. But soon enough, sirens and tires and clamouring voices fill in the silence. Someone thumps on the side of the van– “All clear!” – and if Jay notices her flinch, he doesn’t say anything. Hailey takes one last deep, steadying breath and pulls herself to her feet. “I’ll take Wilson’s body, you check in with Voight? Maybe we can get lucky with his phone.” “Sounds good,” Jay replies. A uniformed officer pulls the door open; she has to squint against the light. He touches her shoulder again, just once, and lets her out first. iii. She knows something’s up the moment he appears at the top of the stairs. When she follows him into the break room and asks what’s going on, Hailey is half-expecting Jay to lie, for her to have to work a little harder to get at whatever it is that’s bothering him. “I have no idea.” And he doesn’t, she knows; it’s the same not knowing that’s been plaguing half the unit for weeks now– ever since Eva. While Kim and Kevin may be more content to politely pretend they can’t see the furtive looks Voight, Adam, and Antonio have been exchanging, it prickles beneath Hailey’s skin– and now, clearly, it’s come to a head with Jay too. “Voight just left and he said–” Jay breaks off and it takes everything in her to be steady– “he said something about me running the unit.” The root of dread coils tighter. Hailey follows Jay’s gaze out to the bullpen, where the announcement of Kelton’s victory still plays, and then back. “We lost.” She hasn’t seen him look this way in a long time– not since he almost died and she was almost too late to save him. Hailey takes a deep breath. Jay’s not wrong. So what’s left? “Kelton is who he is,” she says firmly. “His time for reckoning is coming.” He scoffs a little, more out of frustration than anything. “Not in time for this unit. For us.” Us? Her heart stumbles. “We’ve only been partners a couple years,” she starts, going for more levity and probably failing. “You’ll forget about me just fine.” Hailey forces a smile, but she can’t hold it up against the way Jay’s looking at her now, too open and unguarded to handle. “Hailey…” He does that thing where he laughs with just one corner of his mouth and trails off, shaking his head. Jay opens his mouth as if to speak. She thinks, not now. I’m not strong enough. Hailey knows him, and he knows her; Jay doesn’t say whatever he’s thinking– because he won’t (or can’t) give voice to whatever their partnership has become. She tries to smile again. Maybe she’s the one who can’t let him. “We’ll be alright,” Hailey says, and wills it to be true. iv. Kelton’s reckoning occurs through blood and bullets; theirs could also be counted in shell-casings and scars, but at least she and Jay have survived. So far, at least. With half the unit out of commission (speaking of things Hailey can’t look at head on), Voight’s strangely dark premonition comes to pass. As the most senior remaining detective, Jay assumes command of Intelligence. All their attempts to reach both Antonio and their sargeant go unanswered, which only carves deeper frown lines in Platt’s face. (She’s taken herself off the front desk to help them and pulled her best patrol officers up into the bullpen. Kim takes responsibility for them without being asked; Hailey mirrors Jay’s immensely grateful look at the routine grunt work being taken off their plates for the time being.) Whoever had killed Kelton had been careful; there’s evidence of a break-in but absolutely no DNA that isn’t their former mayor’s. It’s also hard to decide whether it’s a relief or not that the potential list of killers is long, since Jay had pointedly avoided eye contact when he told them that both Hank and Antonio were in the wind. I’m going to do what needs to be done. Voight’s last words to Jay keep replaying in her mind, but Hailey can see that they haunt her partner. Chicago, as difficult and often corrupt as it already is, feels truly rocked by this – the Ivory Tower calls for an update seemingly every time the unit tries to come up for air. CPD’s new interim superintendent is not exactly sympathetic to the strain the 21st district (and arguably the entire force) is now under; as the days wear on with few leads, Jay takes fewer and fewer breaks and stays behind later and later. Is their city just full of monsters? Are they only pretending to fight a darkness that already exists inside of them, rooted and watered by the horrors of this job? There has to be light somewhere, Hailey thinks, as she buzzes herself up the stairs in search of her phone she’d left behind. The solitary glow of her partner’s desk lamp lighting the Intelligence bullpen is perhaps a bit too on the nose. Voight’s office is still shuttered and closed; Jay refuses to work in there, even though his paperwork pile is already twice the height of hers. “You good?” he asks, beating her to the punch. Hailey nods, reaching into her drawer and holding up her cell. “Just forgot this. What are you working on?” Jay sighs, dragging a tired hand over his face. He’d tell her he needed a shave, she knows, if she pointed out the two-day scruff. She doesn't. “I hate reports,” he complains. It’s a familiar conversation. Hailey feels an abrupt urge to smile that she hasn’t had in at least a week. “I dunno how Voight dealt with all this red tape all the time.” He didn’t, a lot of the time, she thinks. Hailey doesn’t say that either.   “Have you been home since yesterday?” she asks instead. “You were already here when I got in this morning. You haven’t eaten.” The scratching of pen slows. “What day is it?” “Wednesday.” Jay’s jaw flexes just slightly, his version of a wince. “You gotta get some rest Jay,” Hailey goes on. “You can’t keep this up. You’re gonna be dead on your feet.” “I’m fine,” he says. The stubbornness in his tone is familiar, too. “We have to get this right. Intelligence isn’t safe just because Kelton’s dead.” “We’re a team,” she counters. “You don’t have to do this all by yourself.” A shadow creases his face. Hailey knows there’s some things about his last conversation with Voight that Jay didn’t tell her, that his relationship with their (former?) sergeant is longer and more complex than even Adam’s was. Is. But she won’t back down. “Finish that and then I’m taking you home. You can ride with me tomorrow and get your car after shift.” Years or months or even a few weeks ago, Hailey would have considered what their co-workers would think at the sight of them arriving together. Besides the fact that neither Kim nor Kevin would say anything (Platt is probably another story) tonight she finds she doesn’t care. Her partner opens his mouth as if to argue, but Hailey just shrugs out of her coat and settles across from him in her own desk chair. She can be stubborn too. After a long beat of silence, Jay exhales slowly and his pen resumes its task across the page. Hailey forces herself not to look up from her phone, but every so often she can feel the weight of his stare. He doesn’t often accept support; even the spoken value of their ‘beer and talk’ arrangement sometimes isn’t enough to get Jay to cave. Hailey would cave though, for him. She’d do nearly anything if he was the one asking. Hailey has to resolve, right then and there in the silent and mostly dark bullpen, to never examine that truth too closely. “Okay,” Jay says sometime later, pulling her out of a mindless game of Crossy Road. “I’m done.” He leans back in his chair with a long sigh. “Tell me we’re doing the right thing here, Hailey.” You know I can’t tell you that. Though the unit and the district may have their suspicions as to the timing of Kelton’s murder and Intelligence leader disappearances, no one dares speak them aloud. Hailey squares her shoulders and meets Jay’s eye. “We’re doing our jobs.” It’s not an answer, of course; his scoff calls her out. But when Jay speaks again, it’s full of a quiet desperation she’s only heard a handful of times since they became partners. “I just hope I’m wrong.” Hailey doesn’t bother pretending. “I think we’re all hoping that too.” She picks up her coat and he follows as she hoped he would. “We can only do our jobs. The rest is for someone else to decide.” Jay possibly (probably) disagrees, but he just ushers her through the gate. As Hailey turns out of the district lot, he props his elbow against the window and tilts his head against his hand, staring out at nothing. She finds her attention drawn, almost unwittingly, over to him as the late night lights of Chicago pass them by. He looks so far away, even with the scant distance between them. So she reaches out the only way she knows how. ”Molly’s? I could use a drink.”  Jay stills; Hailey braces herself for a refusal. Please just let us be us. “We can drink at mine,” he says. “I know I have a bottle of something kicking around.” She squeezes the steering wheel a little in relief. “Sounds good.” When they arrive, he holds the door open for her to enter first. “Sorry about the mess.” There’s a somewhat rumpled blanket over the back of the couch, half a newspaper on the coffee table, and Jay’s beanie dangling from a hook by the door. “This is a mess?” He laughs dryly. “Old habit.” Hailey drops herself onto the couch as he disappears into the kitchen. She hears cabinets and the clinking of glasses and wills her shoulders to relax. Jay isn’t the only one taking on more than usual; she’d never hear the end of it if he caught her not taking her own advice. A minute later, a heavy glass of amber liquid lands in front of Hailey with an audible thump. Jay pulls the blanket from behind his back and tosses it unceremoniously into her lap. “You’re always cold,” he says when she just looks at him. “Don’t even try to deny it.” Hailey just busies herself with the throw and her glass so she doesn’t blush. “Thanks.” She holds her glass out; Jay clinks against it with a silent nod. There’s gratitude in his eyes. Hailey just smiles gently and hopes it’s enough. The scotch burns on the way down and she thinks, you’re alive. You’re alive.  

*

She wakes with a start; the blanket slips from around her shoulders (when had that happened?) and Hailey’s mind flashes back to the kevlar vest on the floor of their ruined surveillance van. But she blinks blearily and Jay’s apartment returns, quiet and dark. And when she turns her head, she’s surprised to find him slumped beside her, still holding his empty glass. Something aches deep inside her chest. Hailey sits up carefully. Leaning forward, she wraps her fingers around Jay’s glass and pries it gently from his hand. Before she can do anything more, his eyes snap open, bright and wild; Jay seizes her wrist in an iron grip before she can even reel back, and Hailey’s heart leaps up into her throat. “It’s me,” she says, as quiet and calm as she can manage. “It’s just me.” “Hailey,” Jay breathes. The hair on the back of her neck rises. He releases her. “Shit, sorry.” She just shakes her head. “I can’t believe I fell asleep.” “You and me both,” he replies. Hailey musters a faint smile. “I should–” “Stay.” Jay isn’t touching her anymore, but he may as well be for the way all her limbs suddenly freeze in place. Hailey sees a flash of that open expression from the break room, before everything truly went to hell. “It’s late,” he continues. “You’ve had a few.” “I’m fine, Jay.” It’s not a lie, exactly. But her body won’t stop betraying her. They haven’t been this close since the van. It’s like she suddenly stopped knowing how to be around him. Jay swallows; Hailey watches his Adam’s apple bob and hates herself a little. “I’d feel better if you stayed.” She can only stare. How can he be so inarticulate one day and so unselfconscious the next? Hailey wishes she could blame the alcohol, or the hour, but Jay is a Ranger; he’s asleep to alert faster than she can blink. “We can stop by your place before we go in.” “I keep an emergency go bag in the car,” she blurts, unthinking, and Jay exhales a laugh with just one side of his mouth. “Of course you do.” This is a bad idea. “Are you actually going to sleep?” she asks, “If I stay?” Jay’s jaw works. Gotcha. “Probably.” Hailey rolls her eyes fondly. “Gotta work on your poker face there, Halstead.” He chuckles and leans back. “Pretty sure it’s no use with you.” It’s so frank and honest that her stomach pitfalls. Hailey stands then, handing the glass back to Jay and feeling abruptly silly for playing hot potato with it. “Be right back.” When Hailey returns, Jay is in sweats and a t shirt, putting sheets on the couch. It’s the most dressed down she’s ever seen him. “I just washed the ones on my bed,” he says with a smile. “Promise. All yours.” “I’m not kicking you out of your own bed,” Hailey protests. “I’ll take the couch. You’ll barely fit on it anyway.” Jay goes to counter, but she musters her best don’t fuck with me glare. His lips twitch like he wants to laugh; he just puts a pillow down. It feels downright domestic, standing in the bathroom with him and brushing her teeth. The part of Hailey that wants to fidget in her pajama shorts and t-shirt struggles with the rest of her that is always a little more instinctively relaxed around her partner, in a way – if Hailey’s being honest with herself – she had to work for with Adam. Besides the disaster that was Booth, Jay makes no demands of her, never asking for more than she’s ready to give. They’ve disagreed before, certainly, on cases. But never morally – never fundamentally – or in a way that spoke to the core of their personalities clashing. Hailey supposes that’s the upside of dragging each other’s demons into the light and finding support in looking right at their own darkness. “Sure you’re okay out here?” Jay leans on the doorframe of his room and watches as she slides beneath both the throw and another blanket he’d insisted on leaving out for her. “Beats a concrete basement floor,” Hailey quips. He makes a face and she laughs lightly at him. “I’m kidding. Jay this is fine, really. Go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” Jay looks at her a moment longer, before apparently deciding against whatever’s on his mind. “Night.” Hailey lies awake for longer than she’d like to admit, but he doesn’t have to know that.

*

The smell of coffee draws her into awareness. Hailey tries to sit up quickly, suddenly too mindful of Jay potentially catching her asleep and vulnerable again. But there’s no sign of him until she’s folding the blankets carefully into a small pile on one end of the couch. Jay emerges from the kitchen with two mugs and offers her one, which she accepts with a grateful, “Thanks.”  Hailey pulls her legs up to sit cross legged, leaning back against the arm of the couch while he shifts to face her. It would be too easy, she thinks, to shuffle forward a little and be touching knees. Somehow it seems more intimate than being locked in his arms with nowhere to go. “Get any sleep?” Jay asks, eyeing her over the rim of his mug. “Yeah,” Hailey admits after a moment of thought. “Actually. You?” She can see the edges of a smile: the corner of his mouth, the gentle crinkle of his eyes. “Yeah, actually.” There’s something inexplicably tender in his expression, despite the fact that she can’t see half his face. Hailey suddenly wishes she could flee, but just wraps both hands around her cup and drinks instead. “Bathroom’s all yours,” Jay says. “I’m just gonna get dressed.” The rest of the morning passes in the same quiet camaraderie that settles in during a long sting. By the time they’re pulling back up to the precinct, Hailey can almost pretend the last 12 hours were just a strange dream. She and Jay are early enough to work that not even Platt has arrived quite yet; the buzzer of the gate up to Intelligence feels almost jarring in the quiet. Hailey can see Atwater’s desk before they hit the top of the stairs. She’s almost there; they’re almost back to normal and then– “Hailey.” His fingers brush her elbow and she turns. Just behind her, Jay is just below as well; they’re very nearly the same height. The air feels close, like it did on the couch, and the van, like something electric is rising, or a flash flood that might just sweep her away. He glances down then up, as though suddenly boyish and bashful. It’s somehow difficult to imagine any other version of Jay that isn’t calm and confident. His jaw flexes. She sees that same look, that almost lost, vulnerable, and open one that always catches her off guard; she’s unmoored and the one thing that usually grounds her is the same thing knocking her off balance. Jay’s just looking at her, like he wants to speak but he knows that the truth – whatever the Truth is – might be the thing that shatters them both to pieces. She thinks, tell me. She thinks, don’t. And then Hailey stops thinking. She just leans forward and slides her arms around Jay’s neck, letting herself fit between the open edges of his jacket. He stiffens, but before Hailey can jump back over the enormous line she’s just crossed, Jay pulls her in. His arm wraps around her so far that she’s sure he can feel her ribs against his fingertips, while his other hand touches the back of her neck, so lightly at first that Hailey shivers. And then Jay tightens his grip and she’s suddenly safe again, despite everything. Hailey hooks her chin over his shoulder; he turns his face into the curve of her neck. She can only keep breathing as Jay sighs, so deeply that Hailey can feel his whole body rise and fall against hers. The whole world seems to have narrowed into sensations: fingertips tangling into her hair, calluses on the nape of her neck, warm breath over her collar. Hailey closes her eyes. You’re alive. She pulls back first, if only because she risks never moving again. She also risks crying, with the look in Jay’s eyes. But Hailey manages a smile and puts her hand on his shoulder. “C’mon. Let’s get to work.” As she turns, Jay’s hand touches her own. He squeezes, just once. Hailey returns the pressure without looking back and Jay releases her, following her up into the bullpen. It’s not enough, she thinks, a little selfish and foolish and desperate. But for now it has to be.