#it made me so sick when he had to come back to himself after shibuya and see everything that sukuna did

[mitskiluvr]

that body never belonged to you in the first place

[lilacxquartz]

Don’t Make Me Feel Alive | Chapter 1

Kenjaku (Pseudo-Geto) x Fem!Reader

[This fic contains Shibuya Arc spoilers and is updated every Saturday.]

ABOUT: Diagnosed at an early age with an illness that slowly deteriorated your body; you went from being a promising sorcerer to a retired husk of your once former self until he found you, offering you an opportunity to live instead—not that you had a choice to refuse.

CHAPTER SUMMARY: You used to be so powerful before your illness claimed you and right on your deathbed, rather than finally meeting your end, you met your salvation instead. Or did you?

TAGS/THEMES: (in the future chapters) »yandere, chronically ill reader, forced dynamic, non-con, dub-con, violence, caretaking, unrequited feelings, sorcerer reader, dead-dove, mixed pov, potential interpretations of dubious sorcery«

AO3 Link • Chapter Directory • Next Chapter >

1. Beginning.

You were born with a disease; a terrible one too.

At first, you didn’t really notice it in your youth as the progression was initially subtle, the signs not really quite there just yet and for that duration, you were bustling with potential, a promising sorcerer with a powerful technique—a future so bright and aglow with promise.

However, all good things must come to an end and that’s exactly where you were headed.

Even if you were once sculpted with such strength and vibrancy—the illness drained away all the colour from your once saturated existence, replacing your present day life with a film of bleak monochrome, anchoring away at your body, soul and mind.

Not even your cursed technique known for its electrifying power was capable of reigniting the spark lost within you; your body relented against you, forcing you to succumb and deteriorate with not a single thing you could do.

It was a little humiliating in a way—like a bitter pill that you weren’t quite ready to swallow and yet here you were, forced to face reality whether you wanted to or not.

It felt strange being on your deathbed in your mid twenties, but it wasn’t all too bad.

The doctor who oversaw you did her best to offer comfort, assuring you that it likely wasn’t your time just yet, but she didn’t feel what you did, she didn’t understand your body the same way that you did. It was close, almost time for you to go, but strangely you didn’t quite mind. Whether it was your final week or your final day, you felt excited; you wanted to rest.

This was a sickness that made you feel weak after all, so tired and terribly sore.

So when you felt that strangely alluring pull invite you to a place you probably shouldn’t quite tempt going to just yet, you found yourself unable to resist the promise of a good sleep. Maybe even, with some luck, it could last forever and you would never have to live out your days in pain again.

To finally be devoid of suffering.

To drift off into oblivion, lost in an eternal void.

And yet, as you succumbed to the total darkness that otherwise awaited you, there was a strange sensation that manifested in the waking world—an interference of some kind? It felt as though unseen hands reached out to grab you, interrupting you from going under a final time and pulling you back to the surface, forcing you to live another day.

Your eyes reluctantly opened, feeling that something was off.

You were being monitored—watched by something, someone.

Your eyes focused on the person who stood before you, meeting with his chilling gaze from a stare so vacant and devoid of humanity, that he could have been the devil himself.

The stranger greeted you with cold indifference, bordering contempt as he continued to guide his gaze, the palms that he had initially planted firm against your chest now slowly moving away, having successfully done something that you couldn’t quite understand; your body still felt sore and yet, the pull of the void wasn’t so strong anymore.

Did he just give you life?

“It would be such a waste of a good technique if you were to die right now, you know,” the stranger spoke, his voice calm and deliberate, laced with a threat that he kept hidden well.

“What good is it if I can’t use it?” you croaked in response.

His lips curled into an amused smile as he heard your question, those soulless eyes finally ablaze with life, a flicker of something almost human.

“You can. Or, at least, I can make it so that you will be able to again.”

“Impossible,” you denied, knowing fully well that your body didn’t work the way you wanted it to, no matter how many times you have tried before.

“Don’t be so sure,” he persisted, his voice ringing almost melodic as he continued to fill your mind with ideas you couldn’t quite believe, “don’t you want to live your life again?”

You sighed into a nod, however not trusting the stranger just yet. There was something incredibly off-putting about him, seeming just a little too calculated and methodic, as if danger lurked behind his promising words.

“I mean, I want to, but…” you began.

“Sleep on it,” he told you, seeming to tease you as his widening grin revealed his teeth, “you were about to anyway, weren’t you?”

“Y-yeah, but-”

“Then do so,” he said, taking a step forward, “dream.”

The strange man’s words felt strangely hypnotic as you found yourself exhausted once again. A part of you wondered if this was some sort of hallucination already, perhaps one of those dreams that people could have as their bodies closed up shop, even if you did clock it as unfortunately real.

You closed your eyes as you let the pull of the void take you under once more, feeling the strangely familiar touch of unseen hands tugging away at your body once again, pulling your soul back up to the surface, preventing you from fading away. It was again that you felt haunted by a looming danger, your eyes blurring to focus awake.

When you finally properly awoke, you took immediate note that you weren’t in the hospital anymore despite being hooked up to similar machinery.

Where exactly were you?

As you sat up to make sense of your surroundings, your eyes scrolled around the room in a surge of desperation—your gaze begging for a clue, only for your stomach to drop as your body froze. Right by the door, he stood there, that same man from before with his creepy, unsettling smile.

“I will be honest with you though, you might not like what you’ll have to do,” the strange man spoke, his words flowing as smoothly as they did before.

“Which is…?” you asked, sounding a little resigned. Of course there was a catch, there always was.

“You’re going to be helping me with something.”

You blinked, “And that’s bad?”

“Given your prior alignment, I’d say so,” he smiled as he took a step closer, his fingertips brushing against your cheek, “but worry not, you will live should you accept.”

“But what if I refuse?” you dared to ask, your voice barely a whisper as his touch seemed to dampen your ability to speak.

“Don’t be silly,” he replied with a softer tone, his black eyes boring into yours as he intensified his unrelenting gaze—his smile falling flat, “I wouldn’t let you.”

(Not even if you tried to do so again and again.)

[yaostars]

GOJO SATORU ✩

note: this is angst (sorry), she/her prns, fem reader, lowercase a/n: bye i js watched all of jjk for the 2nd time since season 2 came out n i felt like rewatching the first season but gosh i felt like ruining everyones day by writing this after reading the Shibuya arc a month ago. anywho hope u like it and i hope i ruined ur day bc i ruined mine by writing this at 1 in the morning summary: you and gojo had an argument over your mental health and after it gojo needed a few days of getting himself back together but during those days you were caught up in a mission... (cliffhanger LOL)

it had been a few days after the small fight gojo and you had after him worrying over your health. he saw the lack of sleep, eating and mainly yourself lack anything at that point. he was sick worried and wasn't sure on what to do with himself but confront. you on the other hand didn't even realise this was happening to yourself to the point you snapped at him. in conclusion he had told you he needed a bit of space for a few days just to collect himself again. you fully agreed well more like a small nod and head down not watching him leave.

over the past day you had received a mission which you gave full awareness that you were going to do it just so the fight could be out of your mind. only if you knew what the after math would be.

slowly making your way there you felt the presence of quite a curse. you were obviously not in the right state to fight but kept going. unconsciously doing this you didnt even realise the curse had landed a blow before exorcising it. softly puffing out cold air trying to catch your breath obviously now understanding your boyfriends point on how your health was no longer good.

taking a small step before collapsing on the ground not even realising you had managed to have a massive hole in your stomach. groaning at the sudden feeling of your intestines moving around. it was survival mode at this point but all you felt was cold and in a state of shock still.

shakily grabbing out your phone seeing you and gojo on the front making small tears form knowing at this point you weren't going to make it. quickly typing in the password and getting to gojos contact. you pressed the call button waiting for him to pick up but all you were left was a voicemail. trying heaps of times to call him back until coughing small bits of blood up realising you were still going on voicemail. sighing before saying possibly your last words ever.

"heyyy this is gojo satoru cant get to the phone right now please leave a message BEEP" is all you could hear until clearing your throat.

"hey toru uhm idk when you're going to listen to this but im sorry for not listening but.. ive messed up and i need help but uhh please get back to me soon as possible .. i love you" you ended it slightly cussing at yourself knowing he wont get back.

you laid on the grass which you couldn't feel anymore neither your body. sighing softly before tears fell knowing no one is gonna come to find you. you started to see black making you smile for the last time.

gojo had been busy for the last few days with his students completely forgetting about the problem he had with you. he opened your contact seeing a voicemail at least a few days ago. he was hoping it had been an apology or please come back to me i miss you. he tapped on the button and the first thing he heard was your cough. slightly worried until he heard the next few words. he stood there frozen and unable to move before calling Ijichi on where you last were franticly. he had told gojo that you went on a mission a few days ago and he was also slightly worried due to no contact. he had given gojo where he had dropped her off making him scurry and practically run to the place.

after a long jog gojo had made it to the place seeing it was tourist sighting but not many people were there either. gojo was freaking out looking everywhere until seeing a familiar patch of (h/c) in the corner of his eye. he stopped and retraced his steps before seeing it again. he hoped you were okay and not dead silently praying before taking a long step over the bush seeing you. he was frozen hoping all of this was a fever dream and that he would wake up in your arms again but no you were there with a little smile adorned on your face peacefully laying. looking away with a shaky breath making his way over to you and crouching down moving a few strands of hair away from your eyes. he was upset at himself and knew it was his fault. tears fell but he didnt know that at all thinking it was just raining.

he softly grabbed you in bridal style on his lap hugging you hoping you were just sleeping forgetting that there was a hole in your stomach and no heartbeat at all. cradling your head he softly swayed you in silence while all he could hear was the trees rustling and small birds talk to each other.

he sat there hours waiting for you for any sign but at the end of the day you were gone like dust in the wind.

[gojosbf]

If you don't mind me asking, can I ask your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters from Jujutsu Kaisen? And why you loved them? And your top 5 favorite moments from the series? Sorry if you've answered this question before....Thanks....

with pleasure!! but i will try to avoid talking about geto and gojo because it's very clear they're high in favourite characters and their moments, i want to dwell in other characters more this time. Heads up though most of my other fav characters are fav because of their certain moments, so the top 5 moment in series and character might go hand in hand for some. Now

1. Yuuji

This is such an easy and obvious choice, not because he is the mc but because of how admirable and lovable his character is. He is righteous to fault. Everything that he has done from the moment of his introduction in manga is for the good of others. The amount of empathy he carries even for the cursed spirits and his resilience and determination to protect his friends (he has failed yes i will admit that but poor boy was giving everything he could, every second fight was so close, he did not hesitate once while confronting sukuna to save megumi). He has had the front seat to most of the deaths (I've mentioned this before), the guilt he's carries is so heavy and people overlook his capabilities and trauma so much, it isn't fair. My favourite moments from him were

This whole interaction of him and higuruma hurt to read. He is innocent. He is. But he doesn't believe that. Because he thinks he's too weak and this is his fault when people die. Sick. Twisted. That panel of him approaching sukuna even with all those cuts. Chills.

2. Maki

Let me begin by saying i will never forgive gege for wasting such a fleshed out character after he's the milked the whole hype out of her story. She paid a huge price for that superhuman strength and yet after that we barely see anything of her. She started from the bottom and never gave in to her weakness. I love her sassy tone, I love how she is ready to get her hands dirty if that is what it takes to set things right. This moment that i am about to talk about was one those that made me put down the phone

i was reading the translation of "she took it with her" and that hit me like a truck. I am not exaggerating when I say it went NUMB and BLANK.

3. Nanami

This man, the embodiment of calm, perfection and responsible. I have many drafts saved for when his death comes up in shibuya arc BUT the fact that he left jujutsu world because he couldn't handle what happened to haibara and drowned himself in work so he could get away from everything and yet whenever gojo called upon him for help he helped them. He did what no adults have done for them, he did his best to protect yuuji, he did not care whether yuuji was powerful or not, his only rule was a child should not be handling this. A kid should never be put through what haibara went through. He died with a smile so he couldn't be a burden to yuuji, he was so caring and protective even till his last breath it hurts my brain to think about it and yes that exactly is another one of my top moments:

There are too many this hurt in such a painful way that I sobbed from this manga and this indeed is one of them.

4. Megumi

Where do I even begin with for him. He grew up too fast, he never knew that his father actually even for a minute did care about him, he was so busy trying to save everyone tsumiki, yuuji, being a comfort for maki. All he wanted to ever do was live. To be with his family and friends, he knew he wasn't perfect (I would like to disagree with him on that) but he kept trying his best, he was the one to assure yuuji that he deserves to live, that even if anything happened to him or others it was not yuuji's fault, he was there as emotional support for all of them and then oh well then rest is history (I don't believe anyone. He is alive to me. he is alive and he will come back.) The amount of damage his soul took it makes me sick he doesn't deserve it good god none of them do. My two favourite moments are his interaction with toji

and this

this truly tells you everything you have to know about his character. He is not trying to be a messiah, he wasnt. He just wanted to save as many people he can and live peacefully.

5. Riko

Now this might come as a shocker but I really loved her. She knew her fate was doomed and she accepted it, she was ready to die if it was for humanity. But that wasn't the reason she made to the list but because when given the choice she chose to live, to be a little for selfish, her monologue when she was making that decision was another one of the moments which got me sobbing because all throughout the hidden inventory arc she acted like she was okay and this is what she wanted but she didn't. She was human. She wanted to live. Even if she was unhappy she wished she could live more and that's what made her special to me, she finally chose to be selfish, for herself, for her happiness and nothing in this world would've fucking prepared me for this panel after all this

you think geto's reaction was bad? you should've seen me go from crying to a hand on my mouth zero movement. I was stunned. So yes this makes it to the top 5 moments.

Now i would really like to make honourary mentions of other moments too.

• Nobara's death ("tell them it wasn't so bad" and what if i threw up and cried)

• Yuuta (just him in general and everything he does, someday i will do a deep dive into his character but everything he does leaves so much impact idk how else to put it simply) top ones being

and to lighten up all of that mood one of the most iconic panels ever!!!!

[sylusjinwoon]

{ 07 }

- sharing a bed together with the first years -

featuring: megumi fushiguro; yuji itadori; + nobara kugisaki x fem.reader

-separate imagines-

[ megumi fushiguro ]

gojo satoru was a bastard-

and he knew it.

ever since your nosy teacher found out about your crush on megumi fushiguro, you could have sworn gojo was doing all that he could to set you up on "romantic encounters" with your fellow classmate.

and it was driving you damn near up the wall.

megumi was so stoic and emotionless through it all that you were 100% certain he wasn't catching on. in fact, the only thing he commented on was how often you were paired together.

and today was no different.

your latest mission had taken you and megumi to the heart of shibuya, researching on some age old curse that was tormenting a certain area of the city.

after doing a quick reconnaissance mission, gojo had given you orders to return back to the destined hotel and to rest and wait for further instructions. he had promised you that the room would have two separate, queen-sized beds-

so imagine your horror upon seeing a single king sized bed settled in the middle of your hotel room.

the bastard had purposely lied to you, and you swore if you had to sleep at such a close proximity to megumi, then you were going to spontaneously combust.

in contrast to your panic, megumi was as calm and tranquil as an untouched pond, unfazed and disinterested as he dropped his duffel bag on the provided couch all while asking, "is there a spot you'd rather have? i'm cool with taking whatever side."

"u-uhm that's okay, fushiguro, i-i can just sleep on the couch or something."

the young man scowls at you, "are you kidding me? the couch barely has enough room, and it can't transform into a futon. it's more practical to just sleep on the bed."

well, when he put it that way, it was clear that megumi wouldn't relent and allow you to sleep away from him. you sigh and come to agree with him with a heavy heart.

staking your claim on the left side of the bed, you watch as megumi takes the right side. hoping to try and relax, you tell him that you were going to take a shower, grabbing your pajamas before immediately locking yourself into the bathroom.

the shower did little to calm your nerves. despite how much you turned the faucet to pelt you with the hottest droplets of water, you couldn't stop your heart from racing at the thought of sharing the same bed with him.

after spending thirty minutes in the shower, you let out a deep sigh and shut off the water. maybe if you get out now, you can pretend to sleep if he decides to take a shower himself.

with you now fully dressed, you continue to dry yourself as the leftover droplets were seen running down your neck. megumi looks over to say something to you, only to fall short. his eyes were uncharacteristically wide while his mouth kept opening and closing.

this behavior was odd, and you figured the shampoo the hotel provided smelled strange or something. yet when you took a sniff at your body, you could only detect the mild scent of lavenders.

before you could ask megumi what was wrong, he quickly excuses himself all while slamming the bathroom door. the annoyance was clear on his face, and you figured it truly was best for you to fall asleep as soon as possible to avoid further upsetting him.

you get under the covers, having every intention of letting sleep consume you-

but when you heard the shower turn on, all you could think about was how hot megumi must look naked beneath the shower's spray. you had seen his body a few times throughout the weeks you spent together at school, which was admittedly what had made you develop such an intense infatuation with him.

speaking of infatuation, you could already feel your heart beat even faster from within your chest. the feeling coupled along with the butterflies that took over your stomach made you feel so sick all of a sudden.

and there was no way you could do this.

just when you were about to get out of bed and demand to be in another room, megumi appears out of the bathroom. dressed only in a dark pair of sweatpants, you could see the way the water ran down his perfectly sculpted body, making you squeak as you buried your face within the blankets. you were too damn embarrassed to move, and with how good megumi looked, you had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

not questioning your weird behavior, you hear megumi walk across the room to shut off the lights. blanketed in complete darkness, you couldn't help but tremble, feeling the bed dip with megumi's added weight.

for several minutes, the only sounds that were heard were both of your breathings. you tried to keep your breathing as even as possible, yet it was almost impossible for you to do so. you were just so nervous.

megumi made you nervous.

and the fact that you liked him so much made it all the more difficult.

clenching your eyes shut, you willed yourself to not think about it.

don't think about how soft megumi's hair looked after a shower.

don't think about how he was laying next to you, half naked with only a pair of sweats hanging from his hips.

don't think about how good he smelled.

or how-

your thoughts were suddenly cut off when you finally fell asleep. admittedly, it was the type of restless slumber, where your limbs seemed to take on a mind of its own, moving all across the mattress all while seeking some form of warmth.

the temperature had suddenly dropped within the hotel room due to the automatic air conditioning. as the cold air blew into the room, you found yourself reaching out to megumi in your sleep. you didn't stop moving toward him until you were a tangle of limbs, with your face pressed against his shoulder and his chin resting on top of your head.

only when you felt the steady heartbeat against your skin did you open your eyes and let out a gasp.

your entire body was pressed against megumi's, with your chest against his chest as a wave of dizziness washes over you. your face felt hot, and when you tried to push him away, he ends up tightening his grip on you.

"don't move away from me." you shyly meet his gaze, only to find him blushing down at you. "it's cold in here, and you're warm."

gripping the back of your neck, he hides your face within his chest to prevent you from seeing his flustered expression.

"go to sleep."

hearing his heart begin to race, you couldn't help but smile, nuzzling yourself even closer to megumi as you felt yourself smiling against his skin.

maybe gojo wasn't such a bastard after all.

[ yuji itadori ]

"whoa, this is so cool! we get to share a room together!"

you barely had time to put your belongings down when yuji ran to you and wrapped his arms around you. his enthusiasm makes you giggle, and you swore that if he was a puppy, you'd see his tail wagging with excitement.

but there seemed to be a glaring issue that yuji was ignoring.

"uhm, you do realize there's only one bed, right?"

as if hearing your question for the first time, yuji looks behind him to see that you were indeed correct. settled in the corner of the room was a single queen-sized bed, but that didn't deter yuji in the slightest.

"that's okay, you can have the bed! i'll just spread some bedsheets on the floor, just throw me a pillow and-"

"absolutely not!" you refused to let yuji sleep on the floor. it was like making a cute puppy sleep all by himself in a cold and dark attic-

okay, maybe you were exaggerating just the tiniest bit, but just the thought of yuji being on the cold, hard floor was painful enough.

"yuji, we can share the bed! there's plenty of room for us! besides, it'll be like our own personal sleepover!"

you could see the way yuji's eyes lit up with happiness. "awesome, it's a deal!"

you were happy to say that there was no drama when it came to you and yuji preparing for bed. after taking a bath and getting comfortable in your respective sleeping clothes, you each fell into bed and began talking about all sorts of things.

you adored yuji so much; he was whom you considered to be your best friend and main confidant when you had issues in your life. as you listened to yuji and the way he whispers excitedly to you, you felt your eyelids grow heavier and heavier.

and you were so comfortable that you fell asleep instantly while laying beside your best friend.

your dreams were a bit muddled, yet you swore you felt someone gently touching at your face. they were whispering your name, and you shivered a bit with pleasure when you felt the back of their hand running down your skin.

but something about that touch felt too warm and too real to just be a dream. slowly, you open your eyes to see yuji still awake with the softest expression on his face.

his chocolate brown eyes were honed in on your features, appearing as though he were yearning for you. it was a face you had never seen him make before, and the fact that it was directed at you made you feel all sorts of emotions.

you end up surprising yuji when you place a hand over his, making him gasp when he nearly jumps out of bed. he lets out a shaky cry of your name, yet you did your best to remain calm.

"yuji, i've never felt you touch me so gently before." you shut your eyes and keep the palm of his hand against your cheek. "it's nice."

it was now yuji's turn to feel embarassed, turning a beet red as he shyly inches closer to you. "c-can i tell you a secret?"

"of course."

you open your eyes to see yuji swallow thickly before admitting, "i like you."

"i know." you tell him all while letting out a soft laugh. "i like you, too. and to prove it-"

wanting to see his reaction, you press a kiss against the tip of his nose, earning a surprised squeak from him as his whole face began to turn red in response to your little kiss.

who knew your boyfriend could be so adorable?

[ nobara kugisaki ]

"hey, what are you reading?"

nobara, being the clingy girl that she was, immediately wraps her arms around your shoulders. she affectionately nuzzles your cheek, trailing her eyes over the novel you were currently reading.

"ugh, how boring." she immediately takes the novel away from you, tossing it to the other side of the room as you scolded her. "n-nobara! what was that for?!"

"come on, we just landed a sweet hotel and all you wanna do is read? let's order room service and eat all the cakes we want in bed!"

"you can go ahead and do that. i would like to avoid having a stomachache, thank you very much!"

"suit yourself~" her voice trills as she picks up the phone to order her cakes while you went to pick up your book and continue to read where you left off.

when the cakes arrived, you found yourself not paying attention to nobara as you were sucked into the storyline of your book. the plot had you on the edge of your seat, and you found yourself wanting to know more with each new chapter.

you were halfway through your novel when you finally realized how late it was getting and how stiff your body felt from sitting in one position for too long. as you stretched out your legs, you felt the crumpling of cupcake wrappers beneath your feet and scowled.

"you made such a mess!" before you could scold nobara for not throwing away her trash, you felt the words become trapped in your throat the moment you saw her fast asleep while curled next to you in bed.

despite her rambunctious nature and extroverted personality, nobara was quite the beauty. you had always admired just how pretty she was, often comparing her to the sun with her ginger hair and bright eyes.

even now, with cake crumbs and half eaten cookies surrounding her, you found her to be achingly beautiful. as if caught in a spell, you feel yourself inching closer to her, taking in her peach tinted lips and the way her eyelashes brush against her skin. your hand reaches out to brush her hair back, only to have it caught within nobara's tight grip.

almost immediately, you were pushed back in bed with nobara smiling slyly. she hovers over you, all while cooing, "it's about time my precious girlfriend gave me some attention. i was truly about to give myself a tummy ache had you not stopped reading, cutie ♡ !"

"nobara, you absolute brat-"

you were cut off when she kisses you, allowing you to taste all the chocolates and frosting from her lips alone.

only nobara could give you the sweetest kisses, and you knew your anger and annoyance had quickly melted the moment her lips met with yours.

a.n. - this little imagine is part of my little gift for all you readers ♡ by some miracle, this blog reached 600 followers and i'm so happy! i had no idea this blog would blow up so much, since all i wanted to do was write down my daydreams and thirst posts and have them all neat and tidy on this one blog. i didn't think anyone would truly enjoy them, but i'm so damn happy that you all do ♡

all stories are written by rei; reposts, translations, and plagiarism are not allowed.

[angry-geese]

Nanami Kento x Reader

Warnings: sfw. pregnancy mention, death mention, minor injury mention. mild angst. jjk manga spoilers/shibuya arc spoilers

Summary: some pregnancy fluff with nanami

Word Count: 2.2k

jjk masterlist

Greys dot at his temples, and the sides of his beard. There's a permanent line between his eyebrows from scowling. Nanami always kept his face shaved in the past. Nowadays he hardly bothers shaving. You like it when he has a little bit of scruff, and he's often too tired to shave. His cheeks are far more gaunt. He lost a considerable amount of weight he never really gained back. You’ve been trying to get him to eat more. And it's working, but recovery isn't a short process. It was a long road that sometimes it feels like you take one step forward, only to take ten back.

He finds himself questioning if he'd rather wear a glass eye, or an eyepatch.

Nanami hardly sees the point in either. So the answer is neither. He rarely leaves his house, save for the rare times you drag him along to the grocery store, or down the street to the bakery. Even then, he wears his hat low on his head, keeping his eyes on the ground in a feeble attempt to make himself as small as possible.

Shibuya left scars on everyone who had the misfortune of being there, ones that never quite healed right. You were the same person; torn apart and put back together wrong. Age has not been kind to you, your wounds taking longer to heal, an ever-present ache in your bones. Past injuries have never quite healed, only laying dormant, waiting for the weather to sour so they can ache. He guesses he can consider himself lucky. He's alive. That's more than a lot of people can say.

But sometimes he thinks the real lucky ones were those who didn't survive.

Sometimes he thinks he's dead. In the twilight between sleep and his waking moments, he wonders if he actually made it. He wonders if he really survived, or if this is just some last ditch attempt by his brain to make sense of things.

He doesn't understand why you stay. He finds himself wondering why he bothers. Most days he doesn't see a point in continuing. But he doesn't want to leave you alone, reaching out to the empty space where he used to be.

For a long time he struggled to find purpose to all this. He wanted a reason, or at the very least answers. But he never would get them. It's unfair to say there’s an order to the universe. There's no reason why things happen the way they happen, they just do.

In the end he came to terms with it.

He remembers the glint in your eyes. A mischievous look- you were always trying to cause trouble. It's never really left. You were younger than him. Not by much. Two years. You were adamant he recommended you to become a grade one sorcerer. For months you pestered him, hounding him for that recommendation. As a Jujutsu High first-year, you looked up to him. When you got into trouble, you found yourself asking 'what would Nanami do?' And as time went on, you still did.

After months of pestering he eventually caved. You're nothing if not persistent. It was a little alarming at the time, and equally as irritating. But when you were finally a grade one sorcerer, he was there alongside you to celebrate.

At first glance, you two were far from compatible. The two of you couldn't be any more different. He was stoic and stern, and you were a known troublemaker. Your cursed technique worked well with his, and as a result, you went on many jobs together. As time went on you grew close.

And after years of working together, he finally realized he wanted more.

To everyone around you, your feelings were obvious. The two of you were hopeless. Between your stubbornness, and Nanami’s refusal to believe Gojo, neither of you wanted to be the first to confess. It was up to Gojo to help. Neither of you asked for his help, he took it upon himself. Little did he know, Nanami had a confession planned.

Nanami never got to have a proper confession. Gojo would spoil the surprise. Nanami was pissed, but your reaction was worth it. He doesn't think he’s ever seen you that happy.

Slowly things got better. Your more visible wounds healed and scarred. You went back to work. Nanami settled into domestic life better than he thought he would.

The transition wasn't the easiest. Settling down was far from an instantaneous change. He took on work around the house. For a short time you kept a ‘normal’ job. Even when you were younger, such work never suited you. Between the money you had saved up from your years as a sorcerer, and the money you got from odd jobs, you had enough to live comfortably. There was no need to work.

Slowly he started to look forward to getting up in the morning. Having a routine helped. It gave him a sense of normalcy.

He often finds himself unable to sleep. Nanami falls asleep late in the afternoon, and sleeps until either his phone, or a nightmare rouses him.

Today it's neither. He was a light sleeper before. Now even more-so. When he’s next to you, sleep comes to him easier. His arms find the swell of your belly, wrapping around it protectively. Your presence is a reminder that you’re still around, that you're not going anywhere. His shoulder aches. He finds sleep impossible. He’s too sore to move, but too sore to sleep. Even before everything, he found it easy to sleep on his couch, and hard to sleep in bed. You’d constantly pester him that sleeping on the couch wasn't good for his back. But that wouldn't stop you from staying there until you both inevitably fell asleep, and he carried you to bed.

It took you years to convince him to have one. He wanted to settle down and have children, but he couldn't be both a sorcerer and a parent. And neither could you. Shibuya only set things back. The world had to heal first. Things had to get better. The two of you had to heal before others could rely on you.

You weren't actively trying, but if it happened, it happened.

You've long since fallen asleep in the crook of his neck. He hardly left bed all day. Things were getting bad again. Sometimes months would go by where it seemed things were improving, only for them to take a nosedive. He’s still getting better, but recovery isn't a linear process. You didn't have anywhere to go that day, so you stayed right by his side. You took it upon yourself to make him feel better. Or at least bother him until he got out of bed. Much of your morning was spent watching movies on your phone, and stealing blankets from each other.

Retirement was nice. Granted, you retired rather young, but if the rest of your life was spent with him, you’d be content. He’s still the same man you fell in love with all those years ago. Aside from the occasional, safe-ish odd job, you were done with sorcery. Those days were past you.

He’s grown tired of staying still. Sometimes moving helps the aches. He never was the earliest riser before, but now he can hardly stay in bed past seven. Everything hurts. No matter when he goes to sleep, he’s usually up by 7:30, and you can count on him making coffee in the kitchen.

It's hardly past nine. The sun has completely set over the horizon. Stiffness has set into his limbs. He takes great care to not disturb your sleeping form, tucking the blankets back around you.

You nuzzle into the warm spot where he once was, a frown burned into your face. You never liked sleeping without him. Nightmares struck you frequently. Often you'd wake up from a dead sleep in a panic, calling out for him, convinced that this was some sick dream and he died years ago. He’d often wake up to you clinging to his arm, face buried in his shirt.

But he was always there.

You find it easier to fall asleep when it's light out. You don't like falling asleep in the dark. He makes sure to keep a light on in the hall. The power bill you could care less about. Nightmares came to you in the dark. Your logic is that, if there's no dark, you won't have them. To some extent it works.

It's a bit late for dinner, but he finds himself in the kitchen anyway. He wants udon, but the shop you normally go to would be closed at this hour. Their mushroom udon is the best. He’ll try to recreate it.

He sets some water on to boil, along with some frozen gyoza to thaw that you always insist on going to this one specific market in Tokyo for. Chicken and leek, with lots of ginger. Your favorite. You go through so much of the stuff that you have to get it in bulk, and freeze the extras. He thinks you’ll want tea too, so he sets the kettle on to boil.

He doesn't hear you walk in. Between the clanking of pots, and the whistling of the kettle, your soft footsteps go unheard. Nanami’s hearing was never quite the same. But he senses eyes on his back, and turns.

“I didn't mean to wake you, love.” He says.

“You didn't. I was having a hard time staying asleep anyway,” you say, “what’re you making?”

“Mushroom udon and gyoza,” he says, “it’s gonna be kind of a late dinner, but I thought it sounded good.”

“Smells good,” you say.

One of his hands finds your much smaller ones. Your fingers lace with his. His hands are warm, and calloused from years of using his weapon.

“Remind me to get more tea when I head into town tomorrow,” you say, “oh- and rice too. We were getting low the last time I checked. Do you want to go too?”

He nods. He makes a silent note to add those, along with laundry soap to the shopping list.

Before, he hated going into town. Strangers poked and prodded, and asked about his scars. It's gotten better as time goes on. If cravings struck you in the middle of the night, he would be up and ready to bring you something. Craving the mochi only sold by a specific shop in Tokyo? It doesn't matter if he had to take the train all the way to the city, he’d do it. Your arms wrap around his waist from behind. He’s a bit too tall for you to rest your head on his shoulder from behind. You have to stand on the tips of your toes to press a kiss to his cheek. He smells faintly of laundry soap, and shampoo. His stubble brushes against your lips. You always liked when he grew it out.

He pulls you so you stand in front of him, your back against his chest. His hands find the swell of your belly, wrapping around you protectively. Nanami plants a kiss on the top of your head. It's one of the few moments you feel truly normal. You’re no longer sorcerers, but a couple sharing a romantic moment, one building a life together.

He’s hardly allowed any distance between you two. Nanami acts like you’re made out of glass. He’s almost afraid to touch you. God forbid you try to lift something too heavy, or help out with the housework. He’s on you in an instant, trying to get you to rest. He’s a bit overbearing when it comes to things that aren't good for the baby. No alcohol, no caffeine, no overexerting yourself. You didn't miss alcohol all that much, but you really miss coffee. At times his presence can be suffocating. He means well, even if it gets on your nerves.

When the noodles are done, he gathers two bowls- part of a set given to you as a wedding gift. You only brought them out to use when your parents would visit. Much of the time they spent gathering dust. You always talked about using them more, but never got the opportunity to. He figures now is as good a time as ever. You set the table, setting out a few candles. He’d break out a bottle of sake if you could drink, but you just settle for tea.

"Retirement looks good on you," you say.

“It looks good on you too,” he says.

Conversation carries on while you eat. The topic falls onto mundane things that make his heart flutter only when you talk about them. You make plans to go shopping in the morning. You need groceries, and there’s a new shop opening up in town that you want to check out. When you’re done eating, you help him clean up. You clear the table while he gets the dishes.

He’s finally found his place. Not in jujutsu or human society. Not among sorcerers or regular people. His place is beside you.

And each day, he finds himself falling more hopelessly in love.

[drazzilder]

A Hellish Encounter

Art credit goes to @stormcallart

By Drazzilder

You're an escaped test subject from a United States testing facility. You have been on the run for years when one day you meet the man that can change everything.

Chapter 1: Regret

The soft sounds on the morning are suddenly interrupted by the harsh noise from the alarm clock. A large hand tiredly aims for the off button which is found after a few attempts. The man attached to that hand wakes up begrudgingly with some groans and cracking joints. He slowly gets up to get ready for the day, heading toward the bathroom. As he enters, he sees his reflection, but he doesn’t hold on it long. He can’t stand the sight of himself. The man in the mirror may be Endeavor, but Enji doesn’t like what he sees. He should be happy on his 40th birthday but he can’t stop his mind from racing. He hurt his family; his first son died from his own power, his youngest was scarred by his mother, and the rest of his children where mentally neglected and abused by Enji himself. Enji’s wife, Rei, couldn’t handle the stress and guilt from everything and ended up in a mental institution soon after hurting Shoto, but by then it was so bad that she took her own life two years ago.

Enji sees all of this when he looks at himself in the mirror. It affects him so much that looking makes him sick to his stomach. He quickly looks away and gets ready for the day.

Coming into the kitchen, Enji sees Shoto, getting ready for school with the help of the nanny Hina. Fuyumi and Natsuo already left for school. Hina is the fourth nanny they have had in 2 years. She has been there the longest because she knows no one else will stand the family and someone needs to be there for the children. Plus, she is the only one who can actually stand up to Endeavor and is not afraid of him. She knows he would never hurt her.  When Hina looked at Enji, the look on his face made her stop what she was doing.

“Everything ok Mr. Todoroki?”

“I’m fine…” he answered in a gruff tone, letting her know that he didn’t want to talk about it.

“Im off to school dad, are we still training this afternoon?”

“Good, and yes we always train on Wednesdays!” Sounding more annoyed than anything.

They finish up breakfast and getting their things ready for the day. They soon left the house and went to their final destinations. Enji made it to his agency and meet his secretary.

“Sanji, after I’m done with today’s paperwork, where is my patrol going to be today?”

“Sir, you will be taking the northern end of Tokyo”

“Very well. Thank you Sanji”

“Sir?”

“Hmm?”

“Happy Birthday.”

Sanji is the only one to acknowledge the day let alone tell you happy birthday. She has been working for you for years and knows almost everything that has happened. Enji knows he can trust her with anything so of course she would be the only one to wish him a happy birthday. Enji quickly finished up his paperwork, at least quickly as he could. He squinted and moved the papers so he could read everything clearly. “I’m going to need glasses soon” the man thinks to himself but is to stubborn to actually go get them. After this. is done, he takes a quick lunch and heads out for his afternoon patrol of the city. He does a few heroic acts here and there, but overall the day seems to be quite boring. He is kinda glad because all he wants to do is go home and sulk. That is, until Sanji called.

“Sir, there is a bomb threat at Shibuya crossing!”

“Why are you calling me? Just send some of the sidekicks to handle the bomb.”

“Sir, he is asking for you and the whole crossing is being held hostage. The man has a dirty bomb, please!”

“Alright, I’m on my way!” He says as he rushes off a full speed.

As Endeavor arrives, he assesses the situation, and it’s not ideal. There are hundreds of people on the ground face down, the other hero’s and police and in a standoff with the lone assailant in the center. The man is dressed in tailored suit. Everything is fitted perfectly, not even a single strand of hair is out of place. How he managed to hold everyone hostage quickly becomes clear as he is voicing his demands.

“Ah! Endeavor, I was wondering when the number 2 hero would show up. Be careful what you do, as you can see, I am wearing this fetching bomb vest with matching dead man switch! See how it brings out the green in my eyes. Oh, I almost forgot, the rest of my ensemble is filled with anthrax, one of a kind thread thread makes this silky smooth lining. Plus, shoulder pads are coming back into to style this season, so why not make them special! As you can see, if anyone makes any wrong moves, all of these people will suffer because of you!” The man finishes his speech with an evil laugh. Endeavor knows that he can’t do anything which is just making him hotter as his flames grow brighter around his face. The villain takes one quick look at Endeavor. “Better watch your temper” he quips, “we wouldn’t want to get all hot under the col…..” The villain stops.

Everyone looks almost in shock as the villain has stopped completely. He can still move his eyes and blink but he is completely immobile. No one moves because they are afraid what ever is happening will end just as suddenly as it started. That is until one person gets up and starts walking toward the villain.

You are frail looking, very thin, eyes sunken in, bags under your eyes. Wearing tattered clothes with matching long shaggy hair, representing the years you have been on the street. Your eyes are the most startling part of you as your left eye is completely white with no sign of a pupil and the other is black with red glowing iris. You look at Endeavor and just say “Stand back” in a weak voice. You are so tired but you can’t just sit back and let people get hurt. As you walk closer to the villain, his eyes show more and more fear. He now knows it is you holding him still. Once your next to him, you place a hand on the bomb vest and give it all your attention. As this is happening, the other heroes are yelling their concerns for your safety. “Sir, it’s not safe” “You need to step back” “Sir are you alright?!” All of these go over your head as you are concentrating on the task at hand: saving these people.

Suddenly, the bomb vest starts to glow a little, just enough for Endeavor and the other heroes to notice. A flash of light and then darkness again as everyone notices the bomb is gone. Just as fast as the bomb disappeared, a large explosion happened overhead. “Was that the bomb?” “Did he teleport it away?” “What happened?” Hero’s rush to the villain and detain him. Endeavor approaches you because in his gut he knows something is wrong.

“How can this man have a teleportation and a body controlling quirk?” He thought as he gets next to you. Suddenly, you cough up some blood and collapse from the effort you put out. Everything was too much for you in the state you were in. Your body could not give anything more. Endeavor catches you and he looks right at you as you try to reach his face while barely being able to say “Help me…” as you pass out completely.

Next Chapter

[dragonseattofu]

A Step Closer to Home (TWEWY x KH Crossover fanfic)

Summary:

Shiki enlists Neku's help with redecorating the Gatto Nero store front for her new collection, but their plans get interrupted by a young red head and her black cloaked friend. (Written for Neshiki Week 2021 Day 5: Crossover; link to Ao3 in content source)

Preview:

Around him, whimsical neon signs blinked rapidly, with the lampposts flickering in harmony. The sky was darkened, but the various warm lights bathed the cobblestone walkways in a soft yellow glow. He could hear a soft jazz from the tavern, and the crisp air nipped at his nose.

Everything seemed so familiar, like he’d been here before, yet he couldn’t remember a place in Shibuya like this.

“Sora”

What?

”Thanks”

Huh?

That sounded like him, but he didn’t say that. Right?

The scene shifted, and Neku jumped in surprise as a younger version of himself stood before him, next to a pink haired teenager.

Eri? No, wait, he thought, she’s holding Mr. Mew. That must be Shiki, from the reaper’s game.

Neku grimaced, what kind of sick joke was this?

The game version of Neku and Shiki were talking to a brunette boy, clad in the most outrageous yellow shoes he’d ever seen.

”Once you find your friends Sora, you should come hang out in our town!”

”Definitely. See you in Shibuya.”

”Sure, it’s a deal.

His vision changed again, this time he was back in Shibuya. Neku could see the 104 building in the distance. It was the dead of night, and the Scramble was eerily empty, a rare occurrence, even from his time in the UG. Except it wasn’t completely empty; there was a single person standing in the center of the iconic crosswalk.

The individual turned around a couple times before glancing up and making eye contact with Neku.

Recognition dawned on the spiky haired teen, ”Neku?”

The teen started to walk towards Neku, but before he could respond, the mirage faded into white, and Neku woke up, gasping for air.

“Neku? What’s wrong?”

“H-huh?”

“Breathe Neku. Breathe through your nose.”

He shut his mouth, and forced air in and out of his lungs from his nose. Slowly, his heart rate started to normalize, and his chest rose and fell into a steady beat.

He sighed, putting a hand over his face.

“Nightmare?”

“Not sure if it was a nightmare, more like a weird dream.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Mmm, I'm sure it’s nothing,” he grunted.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

Shiki didn’t look convinced.

“Sorry for waking you.”

“It’s okay.”

Neku looked at the clock, 07:36. They still had some time before they needed to get up, “Do you want some breakfast?”

“What do you have in mind?” she asked, snuggling closer.

“Toast with the miso butter I made a couple days ago. Do you want eggs?”

“Okay, sounds good.”

He extracted himself from her embrace, to which she whined at the loss of warmth, before pulling the covers over her head to salvage whatever heat was left.

After breakfast was finished, the pair made their way to the subway station. The Gatto Nero store in the 104 building was getting the new spring collection, and they needed help putting up the promotional posters around the store. Being the busybody Shiki was, she volunteered to help out, stringing Neku along for an extra pair of hands. For her, Shiki started this business from the ground up, and every little detail mattered, including taking care of her first store front, even though she could have hired other people to do it for her.

But he wasn’t one to complain. Shiki always came alive when it came to things about her brand. He’d take seeing passionate Shiki anyday.

And that’s how he found himself on a ladder, an oversized poster folding over his spiky head as he feebly tried to stick it on the glass window.

“Miki, can you help me with this?” Neku heard Shiki call from across the room.

“Sure thing, Boss,” Miki Saionji responded.

After some finalgeling with the flimsy sticky paper, Neku finished smoothing it out on the glass, and stepped back to admire his handiwork.

“Neku-san, Boss is asking for you.”

He nodded, walking toward the back of the store. She was writing something down on the desk, and didn’t even look up when he passed, merely asked, “can you put those boxes in the back room for me?”

“Mhmm,” he hummed, as he went to do what he was told. After he reached his destination, Neku heard the bell on the door ring, signaling that someone had come in. Which in itself wasn’t odd, but they were closed today to set up the new collection; perhaps they forgot to lock the door.

“Hello there! I’m sorry but we are closed for today,” he heard Shiki begin to explain to the customer.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m just looking for someone, and I wanted to know if you’ve seen him around here?”

“Like a missing person? Sure, do you have a photo of him?”

“Yeah, let me just … pull it up.”

Neku walked toward Shiki at the counter, and took a look at the stranger.

She looked around their age, a little younger actually. Neku watched as she pulled out a red and black phone, with a yellow crown insignia on the top. It wasn’t a phone case he expected to see from a girl wearing pastel pink plaid. Shiki was definitely rubbing off on him.

The red haired teen turned her phone screen around for them to see.

“His name’s Sora –”

What? Neku felt his blood run cold.

“ – I had a lead that he might be here –”

It couldn’t have been a coincidence, right? He didn’t catch the rest of what she said, instead trying to look at the photo she was holding, and when his eyes found the familiar brown spiky locks on her phone, he knew there was more to this than just a dream.

“Sora,” he murmured.

The young girl looked up at him. “Yes, his name’s Sora. He’s been missing for two years. Have you seen him?” she asked, sapphire eyes sparkling with hope.

He hesitated. Usually his dreams are flashbacks from his time in the UG, or visions of things yet to happen in this universe, sometimes other universes. He didn’t talk about them often, barely even to his small circle of friends. Most strangers wouldn’t take him seriously, but she seemed different.

“I’m not really sure if this would help, but I had a dream last night. A dream about a boy named Sora.” Neku felt a strange pressure in his head, and he winced.

“He said he was looking for his friends.”

The petite girl looked him straight in the eye, and she began to cry.

He balked, “Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to–.” Shiki reached for some tissues at the counter.

“No, thank you,” she started, smiling through her tears, “that’s Sora.”

Neku couldn’t say anything else before the bell rang again, and a black hooded being walked through the door.

His head pounded again, and his vision shifted to a view from his dreams. He was looking up, and that same cloaked being was standing on the roof. Neku couldn’t make sense of what was happening, but he knew that this person was shrouded in darkness, so dark that if there were noise around, they would be feasting.

He stepped in front of Shiki protectively, “you,” Neku sneered.

The hooded figure turned to the sound of his voice, and put their hands up in surrender.

“Woah, we come in peace!” the figure said, moving slowly to remove his hood, blonde spikes springing to life.

“Who are you?” Neku demanded, putting his arm out to separate the cloaked person from himself and Shiki.

“My name’s Roxas.”

“What do you want?” he questioned. Neku didn’t feel the same intensity of darkness from this person as from the one in his vision, if any at all, but he didn’t let his guard down.

“We’re looking for Sora,” the girl responded softly, stepping closer to the blonde. They seemed to know each other. Probably came together as well.

“He had a dream about Sora, it looks like the star shard worked,” she told Roxas.

The blonde boy gasped, “it’s true then, can you help us find Sora?”

He thought his death-defying, dimension-traveling days were behind him, but even he realized that was more of a dream. If Shibuya was in peril again, he would be the first person to try and save it for how many times it took. Neku looked back at Shiki who was still behind him, trying to take the situation in. I have a new reason to save Shibuya now.

“I’ll help as much as I can, but I’m not leaving Shibuya. I can’t risk my life on another adventure again.”

The reserved girl smiled graciously.

“Thank you …”

“Neku. Neku Sakuraba”

“Thank you Neku and …”

“Shiki Misaki. And you are?”

“My name is Kairi, and I’m here to bring Sora home.”

Notes:

I had a lot of fun writing this prompt! Like some of you, I got into TWEWY because I'm a huge Kingdom Hearts fan, I was really disappointed with MoM in terms of Kairi's role in the game. It was marketed for her, and in the end she was still told that she couldn't go with Riku to look for Sora. The only thing that made up for that huge let down was that she decided to go train with Aqua, and that's where this setting came into play. I headcanoned that this story takes place after the year Kairi was asleep and a year or two after she is training with Aqua. She's experienced enough to venture out on her own, but of course the extended family aren't going to let her go alone, so Roxas goes with her. In hindsight, this is sort of a sequel to my KH fic Is There Room for One More?, however you don't need to read it to read this fic. I hope those KH fans can see the little hints of KH lore in this.

This was written for Neshiki Week 2021 Day 5: Crossover. Thanks for sticking around for my late Neshiki Week entry! Two more to go, and they will hopefully both be done before Christmas!

[auncyen]

So a long time ago I wrote a start of a fic where Ryuji gets knocked out from Shido's explosion and is thrown back into the real world, unconscious. Ren brings him to Takemi's clinic and then answers Ryuji's phone when he realizes Mama Sakamoto is calling, attempting to make some kind of cover story for Ryuji not coming home or answering his phone before it becomes apparent she ID'd Ryuji from the video calling card. She's coming over to the clinic, and she wants answers.

AND THAT'S WHERE IT STALLED FOREVER. If anyone would like to take a look at what I have of part 2, where she gets to the clinic:

Ren was in the middle of sending an update to the group chat when the door to the clinic opened. The woman who walked in was short and dark-haired, and Ren had the split-second impulse to ask her if she had a real emergency--god knew he didn't want anything drawing Takemi's attention away from Ryuji right now--before her eyes landed on him with a look of such contempt that Caroline might have asked for tips.

The text for the group chat was forgotten. It would have only been to report that there was nothing to report yet. "Sakamoto-san?" he hazarded, his voice wavering.

"Where," she said flatly, "is my son."

He didn't know why it should have thrown him off so much that her hair wasn't bleached blond--of course it wasn't. But even besides that, she really didn't look like Ryuji at all. Short, somewhat stout, with a wider nose and other differences in the face...when it came to looks, Ryuji must have taken after his father's side.

Ren immediately knew he'd rather eat one of his daggers than say that to either mother or son.

"Sakamoto-san," Takemi said, emerging from the back. "Your son is in here. He suffered a concussion and Amamiya-kun brought him to me for examination." Her tone was a bit more polite than her usual, if still casual, and Ren appreciated that maybe she was trying to pull his fat from the fire.

"I want an explanation for all of this," Sakamoto-san said angrily. "...But I want to see him, first."

Ah. Now Ren saw the family resemblance, both in her expression and her protectiveness.

Takemi nodded, opening the door for Sakamoto-san to go in. Ren started to rise from his seat, wanting to see Ryuji himself, but a flat look from the doctor stopped him cold. She didn't want him following.

Logically, he knew Takemi was simply keeping things orderly and controlled. Ryuji's mother was upset, and Takemi knew she was mad at him already. Better to keep him out of the room if Sakamoto-san might take any of Takemi's news badly.

But the feeling that stirred in his gut was blame and guilt, making him cover his face with his hands after the door had closed. He felt sick.

He couldn't deny his responsibility. It had been his idea to stall in the safe room instead of immediately stealing Shido's treasure after Futaba broadcasted the calling card. If stalling had been the deciding factor in Shido being able to manipulate his own cognition and cause the violent collapse... Then it was completely his fault.

He shouldn't even care about what Ryuji's mother thought of him, anyway. That could wait until after Ryuji had woken up. But the cold way she'd looked at him hurt, pathetically enough. He'd really hoped that she would like him. Mostly because Ryuji was afraid she'd be upset when he came out to her--she'd asked a couple of times about him getting a girlfriend. Ren was hopeful, considering she'd supported her son through thick, thin, and hair bleach, and might only be asking about girlfriends because Ryuji was way more vocal about his interest in cute girls than cute guys, but he understood Ryuji's fear. There was always the chance that it would be the one thing too far. So he'd wanted to make a good impression on her when they met, hoping it'd help her accept it better whenever Ryuji was ready to come out.

But Ren had also just...selfishly wanted Ryuji's mother to like him. He'd wanted to make a good impression on her because Ryuji always lit up when he talked about her, and she sounded like a great mom, and Ren wanted someone like that to look at him and think that he could be a decent match for her son. That he was a good kid.

Well. He'd fucked that up already. He pressed his fingers against his closed eyes, forcing a deep breath as he tried to press the tears back. This wasn't the time for being weak and selfish. He had to worry about Ryuji waking up first. Then he could worry about making sure Ryuji wasn't grounded forever, and that he wasn't strangled for endangering Ryuji.

Except that still left him with nothing he could do for the time being.

He felt so useless. He wished he could have taken Ryuji to Shibuya station. If he could have just gotten him to the entrance of Mementos with Morgana, the two of them might have been able to heal Ryuji. But they hadn't been sure if cognitive healing would help when someone was plain knocked out cold in the real world; bringing him to the clinic had seemed the safer bet. But now...

Ren groaned. First he'd left Akechi behind a solid wall of metal on a ship that was now sunk. And now, Ryuji...

Takemi was speaking to Ryuji's mother in the room at length, and Ren rested his head against the wall, hoping to hear through it. Good news? Bad news? He could only hear her tone, calm and level. Takemi wasn't the type to sugarcoat, but she still highlighted better outcomes when they were possibilities to her patients. She'd said once that people often had improved outcomes if they were given attentive care and thought they should get better. She called it a placebo effect. Morgana called it the power of cognition.

But since Ryuji wasn't conscious, he didn't know he was being treated by one of the best doctors in Tokyo. That he should get better and just please wake up.

Ryuji's mother didn't seem any happier when Takemi opened the door for her to step back out into the waiting room. Ren felt his whole body stiffen when Takemi closed the door again, half-expecting to be screamed at, but Ryuji's mother just stared him down. When she spoke, her voice was tightly controlled. "So you're the leader of the Phantom Thieves. What must your parents think?"

"My parents?" he echoed.

She laughed, but it sounded more disbelieving than genuine. "You think they don't know? I recognized Ryuji plain as day under that weird skull-mask. Yours shows even more of your face. Do they actually approve of all this?"

That was a question he hadn't even considered recently, and he weighed what honest answer he could give her that didn't sound self-pitying. No, he didn't think they knew at all. They didn't have reason to look at the calling card too closely. Didn't have any suspicions about his after school activities, or any clue that he wasn't even in school for the time being. Ryuji's phone had several voicemails from his mother tonight alone. Ren's phone hadn't rang once tonight, and it had been a while since he had gotten a message from either his father or mother.

He was taking too long to answer; something in Sakamoto's expression shifted. "I don't have their approval," he said quickly, before she could get further upset. "I act for my own sense of justice."

"An' you dragged Ryuji right along into it," Sakamoto said.

That wasn't quite accurate, but Ren nodded anyway. "...Yes." It had a grain of truth to it: Igor had given the app to him. Ryuji would never have been thrown into the metaverse if he hadn't run into Ren. And it would be better to just get this over with. Take her anger and her blame. It was his fault she was upset.

Ryuji's mother took a long, deep breath. "What happened?"

"It's...hard to explain."

"Sure, you steal hearts and desires and whatnot. I still want an explanation," she pressed.

...He had no idea if she'd be patient enough for an explanation of the Metaverse. He'd bet on not. So he described the situation in broad strokes: "The group was in trouble. Ryuji took a risk to get us out safe. And he pulled it off. We could have all ended up dead if it wasn't for him." Futaba didn't know how to swim. Even for the rest of them, the waters had been turbulent enough that Ren didn't think their odds would have been good, not when they'd also had to navigate to their entrance point in the dark of night, already exhausted from a grueling fight. Perhaps some of them would have made it out...he doubted it would have been all of them. "But he got hurt. I'm--I'm sorry. It's my fault we were in that position."

"Why?"

"I...made the group wait before we changed Shido's heart. I was hoping..." Ren's voice shook, and the rest of the words failed to come.

He'd been hoping Akechi would show up. If Akechi had been alive, no matter if he was hiding somewhere in the Palace or trying to stay under the radar in Tokyo, as soon as they'd took over the airwaves with their calling card and set the Palace's security to high alert, Akechi would know. He would know they were taking Shido's heart. He would know that they would be in the Palace.

He could have joined them. So Ren had asked everyone to wait for an hour in one safe room as he warped between all of them and entrance, checking to see if Akechi would manage to drag himself in. Ann and Ryuji had both volunteered to help, and he'd been grateful, but he figured it was better if everyone else stayed together so they weren't split up between several different locations. When he hadn't spotted Akechi in the hour, he'd come back to the group and asked Futaba if she could do a scan for him--a last-ditch request, since she had every right to refuse to help.

Futaba had looked absolutely miserable. She'd already tried multiple scans. There was nothing. Ren had made everyone wait for nothing. He should have known it was too much to hope after Akechi had closed himself off behind the door. He'd only given Shido more time to counter.

"We were missing one," Ren said finally. Maybe Akechi would have objected to being counted as one of the group, but it was the simplest way to explain now. And he...wasn't going to object, anyway. "I made the group wait, but they never showed."

"They in some kind of trouble?"

The question surprised him a little, but this wasn't a subject he wanted to dwell on any longer. "Nothing I can help with," Ren said.

-and that's it so far.

And I'm just kind of......unsure where to go from there. Which makes me wonder if I should have started the dialogue differently or change something else earlier or...what.

[stillunpainted]

Postmortem

cw for implied suicide.  1.8k fic under the cut baby.  Pretty much Neku dealing with the aftermath of the game and then having a conversation with Joshua.

    Neku couldn’t take sudden noises anymore.  It’d always been somewhat of a bother, and his music had helped him block out the little surprises that’d make him jump, the startle like a lightning bolt, but now it was agonizing.  It was as if at any time, he could be seized by the hand of death, freezing his blood like a blizzard.  Though he’d made a promise to himself to wear his headphones less, especially in public, it wasn’t easy.

    Shibuya was vibrant and busy, but it was also overwhelming.  There were times where after simply going to Mr. H’s cafe with Shiki or Beat and Rhyme would result in him having to go lay in bed for hours afterward, staring at the ceiling until he was able to think again.  His parents were worried.  They’d noticed that he was going out more, and generally seemed to be happier than before, but the exhaustion, the anxiety, those weren’t things he could hide.  He enjoyed spending time with his friends, but he wasn’t used to them.  He felt out of place, worried that he’d somehow mess up and they wouldn’t want to be with him anymore.

    He’d picked up an old acoustic guitar, and spent about thirty minutes trying to figure out how to tune it.  That was all he could bring himself to do for the day.  He checked his messages, and it was much of the same.  Shiki had sent an update on her most recent project with Eri, and was still trying to convince him to try it on.  He wasn’t adamantly against the idea, he just wasn’t sure if it was his thing.  He’d had to expand his fashion sense during the Game, and he wasn’t sure where to go with that now.  Was it something he wanted to pursue on his own, or did he want to be influenced by the people around him?

    Though Neku had avoided Udagawa like the plague, he still could see CAT’s art when he closed his eyes, peering over him as he stared up at the painted walls.  He wanted to see it again, as his mind could only replicate everything with a certain degree of accuracy, but the thought of going back made him feel sick, sick enough to rush to the bathroom and wait for it all to come up, but nothing was there.

    The Composer often lingered in his mind, interrupting his normal thought processes.  In this moment Neku was staring at the ceiling again, tapping his fingers to the beat of a song, when he suddenly remembered Joshua off-handedly mentioning that he liked it.  Neku took his headphones off.  He still hadn’t forgiven Joshua yet.  There was so much pain, so intense that even though those bullets left no scars now, he could still feel them.  He sat up, deciding that today he would face it.  He wasn’t sure why, but felt if he didn’t go to Udagawa now, these thoughts would never stop, haunting him like old ghosts over and over.

    On his way through Shibuya, he kept his headphones on around his neck, ready to put them on if necessary.  He walked past stores he’d come to know well, absentmindedly trying to spot the faces of the shopkeepers he’d spoken with over and over.  There were so many people.  Even though he couldn’t hear their thoughts anymore, it floored him how they all were living their own lives, their own narratives that he would never be privy to.  Their secret gardens.

    It was a conversation he thought back to at times.  He’d wondered if not being able to cross into someone’s garden was even a bad thing.  Was trying to understand someone enough, even if it wasn’t actually possible?  He felt he knew Shiki and Beat pretty well, and Rhyme and Eri to an extent.  His memories of Joshua though… Joshua at times felt completely alien yet familiar, almost like a trick mirror.

    Neku arrived at Udagawa, and saw that the art had changed significantly in his absence.  CAT’s work was still there, some of it new itself, but there were other artists who had added to the wall.  Nothing unusual, but the change made Neku’s chest feel heavy.  He was used to seeing everything shift gradually, not only see the end result.

    It was still beautiful, he decided, just different.  Still the same wall, marked by the same kinds of people.  He wondered if one day he would get some spray paint himself, though he had no idea what he could create.  It wasn’t a part of himself that he’d explored in a long time, not since… 

    Even now, he felt the empty space within his heart.  He still had the last message his friend had sent him on his phone. “See you there,” it’d read.  An interaction that had never been complete, a day that never happened.

    “Well, you’ve brought yourself back here, haven’t you?” A recognizably smug voice rose above the background noise of everyone else passing through.

    “Look at what the cat dragged outta the sewers,” Neku retorted dryly.  Joshua crossed his arms, but there was the tiniest hint of a smile on his face.  Neku was tense, but this relaxed him somewhat.  He figured Joshua hadn’t merely returned after what, months, simply to antagonize him.  Though he didn’t rule it out of the realm of possibility, “what brings you out here, anyway?” Joshua put a hand on his chin.

    “I was intrigued as to why you returned here.  It seems like a morbid place to go by yourself.  I thought that maybe you’d need supervision,” Joshua said.  Neku pulled at his hair, trying not to visibly give Joshua the satisfaction of annoying him.  Though he supposed that Joshua could read his mind, which agitated him further.

    “I don’t need- whatever, it’s just that I kept thinking about everything that happened.  I dunno if closure is exactly what I’m looking for, but it’s something like that, I think,” Neku shuffled his feet.  He was never especially good at reading people, but Joshua was always a special kind of enigma.

    “There’s nothing I can add to that.  You already know why I did what I did,” Joshua said, “neither of us can take that back.”

    “You can’t take that back.  All I did was survive,” Neku said.  He didn’t expect an apology, nor was he surprised by Joshua’s nonchalant attitude towards it all, but it still stung a little.

    “Oh come on Neku, we’ve both made mistakes,” Joshua said, wrapping a hand around his neck.  A flash of guilt washed over Neku, but he let it pass.  He’d talked about it a lot with Shiki after the game, though it was still something he’d never fully forgive himself over.  He’d found that he had a pattern of hurting people.  He’d finally stopped at his duel with Joshua, but still.  He wondered if that old self was buried within, ready to rise at any time.  I killed him- “Neku?  Locked up in that head of yours again?”

    “What would’ve happened if I’d shot you?” Joshua didn’t even flinch at the question.  But he wavered a little.

    “I would’ve been erased.  I would’ve lost that game, yknow.  That’s how the rules are,” he says.

    “I know, but-”

    “The UG would’ve been destroyed, but I can’t say I’d know what would happen after that,” Joshua says, “I can’t give you a real answer, even if I wanted to please you that way.”

    “So even you don’t know,” Neku said.

    “Yes Neku, you’re a fantastic listener,” Joshua replied.  His normal grin is back, though something about it seems off.

    “So why would you do that?  If you’d actually gone through with destroying Shibuya or whatever, it wouldn’t have mattered at all if I’d pulled the trigger or not.  Not much of a crossroad, really,” Neku put his hands on his headphones, contemplating putting them on.

    “It was all a game.  My bet with Megumi.  You were my proxy,” Joshua said, crossing his arms again.

    “What were you even trying to prove with me?  That I’m terrible and representative of Shibuya’s evils, or something?  I was just trying to live and help Beat get Rhyme back at that point.”

    “That’s spot on.”

    “Then did your proof involve me shooting you at the end?”

    “Yes.”

    “Then your plan would’ve killed you no matter what,” Neku said.

    “What do you mean?”

    “No UG means no Composer, right?”

    “Correct indeed.”

    “So you were planning on dying.” A silence settled over the two of them.

    “Well, I didn’t,” Joshua says.  Neku thought of how he initially saw the game as a dream that he dreaded the end of.  There was nothing he had to worry about other than missions, nobody to talk to but Shiki, nobody to nag him.  It was the closest he’d ever been to whatever his own ‘world view’ had been.

    “I can’t believe I’m saying this but,” Neku paused, wondering if it was even worth saying.  Joshua had killed him twice over, but still, “I’m glad you didn’t die.” Joshua narrowed his eyes.  The Composer wasn’t alive per se, but even he knew that wasn’t exactly what Neku had meant.

    “And that’s that,” Joshua said, turning away.

    “Don’t think I’m going to take that as an excuse.  You didn’t have to turn it into some big game with my life,” Neku said.

    “Well aren’t I alive because I did, based on your logic?” At this point, Neku wanted to tear out his hair.  Joshua was the same as always, so he didn’t know why he was expecting anything different.  But surely something had changed within the Composer, as he had preserved Shibuya and brought everyone back to life.

    “Dammit, do you even realize what all of that was like?  You killed me twice, and- and…” Neku trails off, shuddering.  Joshua’s hands ball up into fists and he stares at the ground for a moment, frowning.  He almost seems small, completely losing the aura of being something beyond the fifteen year old standing in the streets of Udagawa, the mural hanging over his head.  He straightens his posture and he’s the Composer again.

    “I do realize.  I’m not incapable of understanding pain,” Joshua says, “hmmm.  Maybe that worsens my case.” He turns to face Neku once again, who wants to back away, but doesn’t.

    “I guess it’s hard to keep going.  I’m not on my own anymore, at least.  Shibuya’s felt bigger than it ever has for me, and that’s exciting on one hand, but overwhelming.  There’s so many places I could go, but I also feel like something terrible is always on the horizon again,” Neku says.  He doesn’t know why he’s telling this to Joshua of all people.

    “Could I be the cause of that terrible something?  Is that what you fear?”

    “No.  I still don’t… I don’t know if I’ll ever fully forgive you really, but I trust that you won’t use me again.  I’d be lying if I said being around you doesn’t make me nervous, but I still trust you.  We were partners, right?” Neku says.  Joshua tilts his head.

    “Right, we were.”

[akirakurusuimagines]

The Reaper’s Game

@p5auweek​ day five: Crossover with another fandom AU (The World Ends With You)

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. 

Akira looked up at the figure he once partially considered an ally, his vision hazy, head spinning, and body numb, the combination of drugs, exhaustion, and failure weighing heavily on the boy who stood up against fate. He had barely processed the muffled gunshot that Akechi fired at the guard who let him in and the subsequent thud on the floor of the corpse, much less the way that the same gun was aimed at him, ready to take his own. 

Akechi spoke, but Akira could barely hear him. His blood was pounding in his ears, arms trembling ever-so-slightly. He didn’t want to die… but he had failed, and this was the consequence of his hubris. Memories of a blue butterfly’s words rang in his head: this is truly an unjust game; your chances of winning are almost none. Where did things go wrong? 

“Case closed,” Akira finally processed the words, his eyes widening as the barrel hovered right over his forehead, the smoking gun ready to fire once more. “This is how your ‘justice’ ends.” 

Akira felt an electrifying shock of pain followed by the sound of the muffled gunfire, and then...nothing. 

Only darkness. 

Emptiness. 

The leader of the Phantom Thieves that took the nation by storm was dead. 

“Nngh…” the bustling sounds of Shibuya crossing made Akira’s ears ache. It took him several moments to come to complete consciousness, feeling the rough texture of concrete against his face. He slowly sat up, dizzy, surprised to see where he was⁠— why was he here? Was this some sort of sick joke? He died, he knew he did! And yet, there he was, a familiar spot in Tokyo, full of people of all ages who ignored him, simply walking on the striped lines, aiming for a destination he couldn’t possibly guess.

Akira felt queasy thinking about his own death, not wanting to remember the strange sensation of having his brains blown out. Akira’s shaky hand came up and pressed against his forehead, trying to feel for where the bullet went through, but searched as he might, he found nothing. It was just his fluffy black hair and his smooth skin. He sighed in relief, honestly unsure of what he would’ve done if it turned out that he did have the wound on his face. This was all too confusing. Was it a dream? Akira wasn’t sure, but he figured nothing would change if he just sat there all day. 

He stood up, but the unmistakable gentle clink of something dropping caught his attention. A pin? He didn’t recognize it, but figured it must’ve been on his person. Akira looked around for a moment to see if anyone was searching for it before he knelt down and took it in his hand, tossing it up in the air and catching it, only to feel a strangely familiar sensation. My third eye? He was astonished with how it activated without his prompting, and clutched the strangely designed pin in his hand once more, noting the way it dissipated. 

“What the hell is going on…?” Akira mumbled, shoving the pin in the blazer’s pocket of his school uniform and fishing around for his phone or any other interesting things he had for some odd reason or another. He wondered if he’d even have it, considering the police confiscated it when he was arrested. The sudden weight in his front pocket accompanied by his ringtone made Akira nearly jump out of his skin, and he scrambled to retrieve it.

Reach 109. 

You have 60 minutes. 

Fail, and face erasure. 

The Reapers 

Akira stared at the message for several seconds, wondering if he should take it seriously. He made note of the time, just in case, but began to scroll through his phone in hopes that he would be able to contact someone⁠. His phone did say that he had full signal, so he didn’t think it would be a problem, until he realized that he couldn’t back out of the message. 

“What?” Akira tried and tried again, each time resulting in failure, no matter what he did or what he tried. Not even the small hacks Futaba had taught him were useless. “Ouch⁠—!” a sudden sting of pain erupted in his left hand, as if he had been burned with a branding iron. He turned it over, eyes widening as he watched as a timer ticked away on his hand, something he believed should be impossible, yet it made the threat on his phone much more terrifying. Erasure… what did that even mean?

He didn’t have time to ponder anything as strange symbols began to float in his peripheral vision, every nerve in his body screaming for him to run. But he couldn’t. Akira’s feet were frozen in place as he watched the symbols manifest into creatures that oddly resembled shadows, clearly intent on swarming him. “This isn’t the Metaverse, what the hell is going on?!” he was frustrated, and rightfully so, barely dodging a swipe from something that seemed like a bear, if not for the colors and painted-on appearance of its arms.

“Damn it⁠—” Akira seethed, looking for a way out. Luckily, even if it wasn’t the Metaverse, his experience from being Joker was a great advantage he had under his belt. Spotting an opening, Akira ducked under the monster’s swing, feeling rather light, and made a bolt for the crowd, breathing heavily as he continued to run, only stopping when he was sure he lost sight of them. 

“Somebody! Anybody!” Akira yelled out, the strange pit of despair welling up in his stomach as he slowly came to the realization that no one was intentionally ignoring him⁠— they couldn’t see him. Nor those creatures, apparently. Was he in some sort of hell? He never thought it would be like this when he died. Maybe if he was a little more religious, he could’ve avoided this. 

Akira noticed he had run all the way towards Hachiko, right next to the train station. He should be able to get to Yongen from there, but remembering the message on his phone made his skin crawl. 109 was his destination— it was better to figure out what was going on first, especially with that ominous threat.

“Aaaahhh!!” A series of shrill shrieks snatched Akira’s attention, and he watched in horror as those very same monsters he believed he had outrun were attacking those he thought to be civilians. In a matter of seconds, several people disappeared from the crowd as if they were never there to begin with. 

He stumbled back, watching the shadow-esque creatures approach him. They… they were erased. It made sense to him now, but that didn’t solve the problem of how he was going to escape these things. He could only run for so long, and they seemed relentless. Still⁠— he didn’t have much of a choice. Akira took one last look at the impending doom before sprinting away, only to collide with you, causing you both to tumble, with him landing on top of you. 

“I’m so sorry, I have to go⁠—!” Akira exclaimed, just barely figuring out the fact that he could touch you, and his shock only increased when you cupped his cheeks out of the blue, not moving to push him off of you or anything. 

“There’s no time, make a pact with me! Now!” 

He thought you were a little crazy, being so bold and then suddenly asking for a pact? “What?” 

“Just agree! We’ll both be erased if you don’t! Hurry!” 

Akira took one look over his shoulders and shuddered, seeing them approach. “A-Alright,” he nodded, adrenaline pulsing through his veins. “I accept⁠—” 

No sooner than he uttered those words did a wave of light wash over you two, and a strange feeling not unlike the one he felt as he created new bonds secured your fate with his.

“Look out!” somehow, you seemed to know what you were doing, hastily apologizing before kicking him off of you, barely dodging yourself as one of those large beasts slammed its fist down on the ground where you two were just laying, standing up and getting into an offensive position. “Can you fight?”

“I⁠ don’t—” 

“Just try!” 

Akira looked skeptical as he rose, though he figured that considering the Metaverse and personas existed, there must be a way to fight. It couldn’t hurt to try and call on Arsène somehow. He wondered if he would be able to, stuck in his school uniform, no mask to rip off, but the rebellious fire in his soul never diminished. Akira was Arsène, and Arsène was Akira just the same. “Come, Arsène!” Akira extended a hand outward, momentarily stunned seeing the familiar red arm and black claws mimicking his movement. 

“Holy shit⁠,” he heard your voice from behind him, clearly surprised seeing him summon Arsène. Not a second later watched as you lit the assailant on fire, inexplicably hovering over the ground for a split second. “But I’ve got a couple tricks up my sleeve too.” 

Akira was silently grateful for the hours of torture he put himself through in the gym as he spun around and kicked, watching as Arsène’s heel sliced through one of them, erasing them in the same manner they had erased the others.

He heard static and watched as you dusted your hands and shirt off, before rushing over to him. Akira had to admit he thought you might’ve been aiming to punch him, but when you threw your arms around his neck, cheering, he couldn’t help but smile. You two had survived for now— but it wasn’t going to be enough. You had to keep moving, especially because more of those damn things were going to come after you. 

“We did it! I can’t believe we did it⁠! I can’t believe I found a partner, and a powerful one at that, I⁠—” 

“There’s no time to relax,” Akira gently pulled you off of him, confusion written all over his face. “You know what’s going on, right?” he looked at his left palm, wincing as the timer read 30:28, “Can you explain… all of this? But we should probably keep moving, those monsters are going to come after us again.” 

 “No, we’re safe now,” you explained, still grinning out of relief. “They won’t attack us out of the blue now that we have a pact. Anyways, sorry for before. I should introduce myself,” you stuck out your hand for him to shake, telling him your name. “I hope we get along! We have a long week ahead of us.” 

Choosing to ignore the words that only made him more confused, Akira took your hand and gave it a firm shake. “I’m Akira Kurusu, nice to make your acquaintance,” he cleared his throat and shoved his hand in his pocket quickly after, looking away, up towards the skyline where he saw the brim of 109. “What the hell is all of this?” 

“I think it’s the reaper’s game.” 

“The what now?” 

You rubbed the back of your neck sheepishly, “you might not believe me, but it’s true. I’m… something of a casual occultist? I just enjoy reading those types of stories. Anyways, I’ll explain while we head to ten-nine.” 

“You got the message too?” 

“Every player did. You have a timer on your hand, right? We don’t have time to waste, let’s go,” you declared, marching forward with confidence now that you had a partner to help you battle against the creatures. 

Akira had to jog to catch up to your quick speed. “Slow down! I still don’t understand what’s going on!” He was starting to wish that you were Morgana with how you were unintentionally dodging his questions. A sudden, nauseating swarm of emptiness overtook Akira at the thought of his roommate who was most certainly not a cat, and subsequently, the other Phantom Thieves. How were they all? Were they stuck in this hellscape too? He was worried, and rather stunned to have seen no news about him or the Phantom Thieves at all, not even as he passed by hundreds of people. 

Even so, he didn’t have much of a choice of what to do. Akira simply had to trust you, and trust you he would. If it meant the both of you surviving until the end of this week, he’ll do anything. 

[revengerevisited]

I wanna do something a little fun and just share some of the KH fanfic ideas I’ve had for a while, which are mostly about Vanitas because of course they are. XD But yeah, here are my ideas:

1. A Shadow of Two - a sequel to A Heart and a Half, kinda a fix-it for KH3 but not really since it’s an AU to begin with. Vanitas Aqua and Ventus would be the main trio, but Sora Riku and Kairi are also POV characters, with each of them having their own trio and goals: Sora (with Donald and Goofy) looking for a way to revive Roxas while struggling with his own inner darkness, Kairi training with Axel and getting help from Ienzo in discovering her past, Riku Mickey and an unrevealed character on a secret Realm of Darkness mission and also finding a way to revive Naminé, and Vanitas Aqua and Ventus searching for the new Princesses of Heart while dealing with their own problems: Vanitas still dealing with his trauma while adjusting to normal society, Aqua dealing with something I can’t reveal yet, and Ventus... honestly I don’t know what to do with Ventus. The most obvious answer would be recovering his lost memories, but... well, introducing an egregiously convoluted backstory wherein Ventus and/or Vanitas might be a murderer isn’t exactly appealing to me, to say the least. I really wish Ven’s backstory could’ve been something I was allowed to make up myself. Other than that, the story would generally follow KH3 but with way more Disney worlds and hopefully fewer plot holes. ;P

2. Broken Hearts (Take Time to Mend) - a post-KH3 fic that ignores Re:Mind and the time-traveling Vanitas retcon. This fic is about the REAL Vanitas who was in KH3 and resurrected via scream energy who has returned once again, this time in the Land of Departure but is too weak to leave and is quickly discovered by the Wayfinder Trio. Tensions are high but he’s ultimately allowed to stay, with the focus of the story being on the four of them helping each other recover from their respective traumas: Vanitas’s years of abuse by Xehanort, Terra’s decade of possession by Xehanort (which according to the post-Re:Mind character files was a lot more traumatic than I’d realized), Aqua’s decade spent in the Realm of Darkness and subsequent corruption by darkness, and Ven’s... almost being killed by Eraqus, I guess. While pretty bad, that’s probably not as traumatizing as years of torture and torment, and the more obvious trauma to use would be Ventus committing/witnessing Strelitzia’s murder, but as I’ve established I just really don’t want to deal with KHUX at all. Anyway, this could work as a gen fic but since I love Vanqua so much I might as well make it one, maybe throw a little Terrella in there too 'cause why not.

3. This fic idea focuses on the aftermath of KH3, NOT Re:Mind, where Riku Kairi and Naminé are trying to adjust back to a normal life at Destiny Islands while also dealing with their grief over Sora’s disappearance. Kairi deals with blaming herself for Sora’s ‘death’, Naminé deals with being adopted as Kairi’s sister and learning how to be a normal person, and Riku deals with his growing feelings for Naminé, but the real star of the show is... Sora’s mom! Oh and Vanitas too, of course. Sora’s mom (who really needs a name) has finally been told about everything that’s happened these past two-ish years, and a month after Sora’s disappearance she finds a comatose Vanitas washed up on the beach. She assumes it’s Sora, although Riku and Kairi are quick to correct her. Despite their warnings, Sora’s mom nurses Vanitas back to health and basically adopts him, although he isn’t exactly happy with the situation. Still weak and recovering, Vanitas is unable to leave, and Sora’s mom won’t stop in her efforts to help him adjust to a normal life. This one could be merged into Broken Hearts, since I could imagine Riku informing the Wayfinder Trio about Vanitas’s return and an angry and distrustful post-KH3 Aqua wouldn’t want to let him out of her sight, but it might be better to keep them as separate fics seeing as they’re set in two different locations.

4. My next idea hinges on my theory of what the next KH game could’ve been like... or at least before Re:Mind pretty much shot it down. My theory was that Vanitas, the real Vanitas not the time-traveler, was still inside Sora’s heart and therefore went along with him to TWEWY. I haven’t played TWEWY but I know that Sora would need a partner to defeat the Noise, and what better partner than a former enemy? This would be similar to A Heart and a Half but instead of romance it’s a sibling team-up with them trying to escape Shibuya. This fic could also be combined with the previous idea as well... Maybe Sora allows Vanitas to win the Reaper’s Game and he ends up on Destiny Islands unable to remember what happened in TWEWY. Vanitas would be the key to getting Sora back but only if Naminé can unlock his lost memories. My only problem is that I would have to erase all that character development Vanitas gained with Sora to reset him back to have character development with the Destiny Islands characters instead, at least until he regains all his memories.

5. A different Vanitas and Sora team-up fic. Once again this is the real Vanitas who used scream energy to revive himself, but that made his heart rather unstable. He tries to fight Sora Donald and Goofy in Monstropolis but is too weak and sick and loses. Upon discovering that Vanitas looks just like him, Sora decides to take him back to Yen Sid for healing and answers. But Vanitas’s negativity is too much for the Gummiship to handle and it ends up stalling. Sora Donald and Goofy slowly nurse a very reluctant Vanitas back to health with the power of friendship, which would reduce the amount of negativity so the Gummiship can fly again. Vanitas and the trio travel to a few different Disney worlds and eventually rescue Aqua and Ven. I don’t know what would happen after that though, since I don’t want to just rehash exactly what happened in the Keyblade Graveyard.

6. A pre-BBS Vanqua AU. Only a few months after being created, Vanitas runs away from Xehanort to the Land of Departure, hoping to merge with Ven early. Unfortunately for him Ven is still in a coma, so Vanitas tries to merge with Aqua instead. This doesn’t quite work, but does end up linking their hearts in such a way that neither can go too far away from each other without feeling sick or even dying. Now stuck at the Land of departure, Vanitas is found by Xehanort who is enraged that Vanitas has basically ruined all his plans. Fearing for his life, Vanitas convinces Xehanort that the plan can still be salvaged: Vanitas will become Eraqus’s apprentice under the guise of Ven’s ‘brother’ and is tasked with encouraging Terra’s darkness while making sure Ventus and/or Aqua are trained to their fullest, depending on which one would be better to merge with. Xehanort, not wanting to start this entire endeavor over, agrees to the plan and introduces Vanitas to Eraqus and the others. Since Vanitas is now wearing normal clothing, Aqua has no idea that he is the masked boy who attacked her earlier, but feels strangely drawn to him due to their connected hearts. The rest of the fic would basically be about the four apprentices’ life at the Land of Departure, with Vanitas struggling with his loyalty to Xehanort vs his slowly burgeoning friendship with Terra Ven and Aqua, all while trying not to blow his cover with the Unversed.

I also have a few smaller ideas that I haven’t really thought through yet or might work better as oneshots or fanart: 1. A Lion King Vanqua AU with lion Aqua and black leopard Vanitas, Terra Eraqus and Xehanort also as lions, Ven as a regular leopard, and Braig as a hyena. 2. A KH1 retelling/reimagining with Vanitas reincarnated as Sora’s younger brother. 3. A Nier Automata AU with resistance android Terra, scanner Ventus, attacker Aqua, and Vanitas as a scanner with executioner chips installed by Xehanort sent to infiltrate Yorha. 4. A post-KH3 fic dealing with Sora’s restlessness after attempting to return to a normal life on Destiny Islands, feeling like he doesn’t belong after everything he’s been through. 5. Something about Aqua taking care of Ven when he first arrives at the Land of Departure, possibly Venqua. 6. A Vanqua-ish KH3 fic with Vanitas kidnapping Aqua to be used as a Guardian or Seeker back-up for Org13, but he eventually befriends her and lets her go. 7. And finally, a Namiku fic set between CoM and KH2. I kinda feel like this should be part of the A Heart and a Half ‘canon’, but I’m not actually sure whether it should be its own fic or just flashback scenes in A Shadow of Two.

You’ll notice that I really love stories about villain redemption, abuse/mental illness recovery, and former enemies becoming friends/lovers, which is why I’ve grown so disappointed with mainstream works nowadays rarely exploring those topics (at least not that I’ve seen). I guess that’s where that old saying comes in, “if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself”. But yeah, that’s just a quick list of my KH fic ideas so far!

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Swallow Part 2

My idea for a Kingdom Hearts IV–that will eventually have all that entails, like Shibuya and Verum Rex and Sora’s PoV–but that deals with the idea of a dark Kairi after everything she’s been through, because this girl deserves to be allowed to feel things. First chapter is from the TV show “Angel the Series”–as it’s Fox and Disney owns Fox now–but you don’t have to know Angel to get it.

Madness Surprisingly enough, it hadn’t been Kairi’s idea for her to train like it was the only thing she had left in the world. It had been Riku’s—as many things in her and Sora’s life had started out with him—as he had thought that she should actually try and do something and have less reason to hate herself that way. “But is that… really a good idea?” Kairi had asked him when he’d suggested it, as she’d sat on the paopu tree—the stupid place she had lost Sora at—and worked on making more lucky charms for him and letters, on the off-chance that one of them would work and bring her boy back to her. “Riku… maybe I just was never cut out for fighting. Sora paid a high price in bringing me back. Do you really think I should dishonor his sacrifice by putting myself into even more danger that I can’t handle?” Riku had looked like he wanted to push Kairi into the water beneath them then—and honestly, she could have hardly blamed him even if he had; she’d been so weak then, and she was ashamed to think of it now—and got right into her face as he said, “That’s not the girl who said she wanted to fight like me and Sora, so we wouldn’t be the only ones getting hurt… or who said that she was tired of getting left behind and that ‘wherever one of us goes, the other follows’. Kairi… you made all of these promises to Sora before the Keyblade Graveyard. Do you really want to go back on them now?” No, she hadn’t. That was the last thing in the world that she would have ever wanted. But the person she’d been a few months ago—who had said so much of that stuff—was so different from the girl she was now. That Kairi had gotten a Keyblade into her hand for the first time and had thought that with just a little training, she would easily become as strong as Sora and Riku were. That wasn’t the part of her that had gotten training and still couldn’t get her body to cooperate… and had had to realize that most of her worst nightmares might actually come true, as Terra-Xehanort had charged at her. And they had come true after that. Oh, how they had. Kairi had had one brief moment of peace and pride in herself—when she had kept Sora from fading away, that had then allowed him to save everyone else—but then it had all gone to hell, like so much of Kairi’s life had, and she didn’t know if she wanted to go there again. “Kairi, the problem is we had you train with someone who isn’t a Keyblade wielder at all… And is actually someone who uses his magic to stay away from enemies, when you—in pretty much using a sword—would be in close contact with people. That was our fault, not yours… I’ll properly train you now, so you never have to feel so horrible again. Just let me.” And that was what started it. Many hours a day—eight or more, as if they were working a full-time job and in Kairi’s eyes they were—Riku was training Kairi in the hours that they weren’t looking for any hint as to Sora’s whereabouts. And while it started out rough, and Kairi had continued to think that maybe she should just work on her light magic because of it, she steadily got better and better and even she could see it—it was nothing like what she had encountered with Merlin and Lea. It was actual tangible progress that she could see in her scars and feel in her muscles. And Kairi took it even further than that. She didn’t tell Riku or anyone about this because she didn’t want to worry them, but in the hours when she should have been sleeping or resting, she would do the familiar drills again until they were completely beaten into her. And then she was taking the gummi ship that Mickey had thankfully left for her and Riku out into the ocean between worlds, to find Heartless or Nobodies to fight: something that didn’t help her that much, because Kairi had been able to handle these just fine in the Keyblade War, but every little bit of actual experience helped. And she’d just hoped against hope that on her journeys she could run into some Darksides or Twilight Thorns, and how happy she was—the first time she’d been remotely that in ages—when she did, and began handling them better and better: with little injuries and destruction to her hair and outfits. And at one point—when Kairi had unintentionally taken a page out of Roxas, Xion, and Lea’s book—and had bested five giant Heartless in one night, she had finally felt good about herself… and that nothing could ever happen to her again. She wouldn’t let it. And that furthermore, she knew that she was going to find Sora and bring him home. But it was just when she was beginning to feel great, that such a feeling of euphoria didn’t last. Kairi heard a Corridor of Darkness open from behind her in Twilight Town—a sound she’d made certain she always knew now, as not being able to recognize it with Xemnas before had led to her death—and who would come out of it but someone cloaked in an Organization robe? Of course. Kairi had backed away from her assailant, growling at them as she prepared to send Firaja after Firaja after them. But first, she’d had to berate them a little bit. “You have got to be kidding! I thought the lot of you had been defeated in the Keyblade War. All that we did—which- which led to Sora’s death—was so we could defeat any of you who would survive to try and get the X-Blade again. So, who are you?! And are you at all connected to Sora’s fate?! Do you know where he is?! Tell me!” “Tsk tsk, little princess,” the attractive voice of a man replied—as he motioned with his hands that Kairi should calm down, in the way that Master Yen Sid often told the Keyblade wielders of the new generation to sit down. “It’s… good that you’re so strong now. Go, you! But don’t you know you’re killing yourself? So much sleep deprivation isn’t a good thing. And I know you’re not eating or drinking much, either. You’re going to be dead as a doornail soon, and your boyfriend’s going to come back to see that he sacrificed himself for you for nothing… or worse. That you’ve become a different person from the girl he loved… There’s blood on your hands now, isn’t there Kairi?” Kairi had wanted to deny this, of course. After all, she’d only been fighting Heartless and Nobodies and that was something that needed to be done! But at the same time… she knew that they had once been human, and the thought made her violently sick on the inside. But even more than that… she was hunting the things as sport now, whereas everyone else had only ever fought the beasts when they’d attacked them on their adventures… and she enjoyed killing them too much. And she kept score, the way Sora and Riku once had with their fighting. Every injury she got was a point against her, but each hurt she gave them was a point for her: especially if she could give them many of those without being touched at all. Kairi wasn’t trying to be quick or end their suffering fast at all, but to just use them as target practice as long as she could. And while Kairi hadn’t yet fought another human since the War, she worried that she would do the same when she faced them because it was such a routine now. Sora had only ever told her stories about how Clayton had wanted to kill the gorillas, but Kairi thought that if she herself ever run into him somehow… she’d fight him the way she was now Heartless, and be thrilled for it—that the fear he’d struck in Terk’s heart she could put in his. So, she was falling. Falling into darkness, it seemed… and this man had known this, and it had been only the start for her. “What do you know about it?!” Kairi had demanded then, furious. Throwing her hand out to the side in a way that Sora had used to when he glared at his enemies. “You know nothing. You don’t know me at all! You’re just a forgotten relic from a cause that’s already seen its best day. Now just tell me what you know and get lost, before I-” “Before you what, Kairi?” the voice had cut her off. And there was a sweet cadence in his voice that she hated, as if he’d talked to someone like her before and was trying to be a friend since he’d  apparently cared about this other person. “Do something unseemly to me and make Sora hate you even more that way? He loves his little light princess—that’s why he fights for you so much—so what do you think he’s going to do when he comes back and sees you aren’t like that at all anymore? Do you think he’ll stay the knight in shining armor, or will he move onto something bigger and better? “You’re also angry. So angry. And, hey: I applaud you for it—you’re entitled to those emotions, and I may even have use of them—but Sora preferred the sweet and loving little girl, not the one who’s going to get called to many worlds because of her fury now.” Furious? Was she really furious? Kairi had asked herself. She hadn’t felt it at the time—if torn between “bloodlust” and “fury”, she definitely had thought she was more bloodlust at the time—but the Kairi of the present could recognize how her blood had boiled back then, and continued to do so now. But having not liked what this man had said about her getting pulled into an adventure all about her madness—because that wasn’t her at all—Kairi had tried to backtrack a little. “Maybe… maybe I’ve been a little hard on you. You haven’t really done anything to me. Perhaps if anything, you’re just giving me some… helpful advice. And I guess you don’t have to be with Organization XIII... I know a Moogle has worn the coat before, I mean, and clearly they weren’t one of Xehanort’s vessels. So can you just tell me who you are, and what you wa-” “And how easily you fall back into the Naminé routine. Kairi, did you ever think that maybe the two of you were split for a reason? You may be the Princess of Heart… but you have far more fire to you than your Other did, and there’s a reason for it and you should relish it—you must do so—even if it means you can’t have Sora. You must let him go. Can’t you see that?” This had put Kairi in a horrible mood, and she’d cried. But not because she was sad, but because she waslivid—maybe this man was right about that—as it hit the nail on the head too much on how she’d been feeling lately: that fate was keeping her and Sora from being together. So Kairi made a decision. “Perhaps… perhaps you’re right. Perhaps I should go back to just barely training from now on, and be who I once was. And I will. I won’t fall into your plan, and I’ll be what Sora wants me to be.” And partly to spite the man, Kairi had opened a Corridor of Light—something Master Yen Sid had taught her how to do—and left the guy alone. And she did try to make good on her promise to herself. But it never could’ve worked.. For far too long, Kairi had repressed her feelings… and she was done with that. And she had no idea that trying to force herself to do that again, would send her spiraling over the edge. Author’s Note: I was originally going to have more than just a flashback in this chapter… but since it ended up pretty long, I think I WILL cut it here. Maybe it’ll even work better to have flashbacks and present stuff in different chapters. IDK. But I hope you all enjoyed!

[velvetroom--imagines]

Might I also request for Phantom Thieves boys + Akechi HC for them comforting a sad s/o?? Thank you :)

No problem! I gotchu! Thank you for requesting!

Phantom Thieves (Boys) + Akechi comforting a Sad S/O

Akira Kurusu

Akira is a master at reading emotions. Remember all those Confidants he had to get through? He’s gotten better at recognizing someone’s sadness by even the smallest hint. Not that he assumes they are sad right away, but he catches on pretty quickly.

He knew you very well. Through observation, he knows that you were not one to let anyone see how vulnerable you can be. The boy always wondered if you were ever going to let him into the darkest parts of your heart.

Akira didn’t fail to see through that fake smile of yours that morning. It wasn’t like the ones he was used to seeing. That smile of yours was always warm and bright, this one felt colder. He wanted to question it, but he smiled back anyways. 

You weren’t being distant at all, but everything around you just felt restrained and forced. Akira could see through you, those fake smiles and laughs towards your peers and teachers. 

For a short moment, he thought that his lover was a stranger. Everything just felt too fake, staged and forced. Your strange behavior had begun to affect him.

It surprised you when he took you to Leblanc at night. Most times, he never takes you there unless there was something he wanted to talk about. “Akira, what’s wrong?” You asked in forced light tone.

He frowns at your attempts to cover up. “What’s bothering you, S/O?” Your eyes widened in astonishment. Hadn’t you been acting really well? “What are you talking about, Akira?”

You force a smile but your defenses were starting to crumble down. “I’m perfectly fine, nothing’s wrong! I swear...” Eventually, you falter. The smile falls apart into a frown, head hanging low in defeat.

“I really am fine.” Akira’s suspicions were confirmed. At that time, you didn’t go to him for comfort or such. Once you knew you were caught, you stood up and walked out of Leblanc, not wanting to face confrontation.

At first, Akira planned to solve the problem first. Through your friends and peers, he eventually found out what was bothering you. If it was about something that can’t be helped like the death of a loved one or a failed test, he will wait for you to calm down first.

However, if someone was bothering you to a bad extent, he won’t hesitate to march into Mementos and change their heart. Even if it wasn’t that bad, he would confront them in person instead and make them stop upsetting you.

Somehow, Akira finds you again, alone on the way home. You looked even more exhausted. “Akira...” You immediately feel someone’s arms wrap around your figure, head against someone’s chest. 

Akira silently, ran his fingers through your hair in a comforting manner. For some reason, that alone was enough to make you weep into his shoulder. 

Whether he took you to his place or back to yours, he planned to stay the night. He’d order takeout or cook for you, and cuddle to ease the pain. “It’ll be okay, S/O.” He’d murmur, laying a kiss on your forehead.

Akira would let you spill everything and vent it out before giving you good advice. He shows his support and intends to help you overcome your challenges. At the end of it, he will help you patch up all the wounds caused and kiss every mark left. Even if it didn’t end well, he will stay by your side and patiently wait for you to smile again.

Ryuji Sakomoto

Ryuji really doesn’t like meddling in with problems, especially if they involve some drama. He’s already had a glimpse into Ann’s dramatic affairs and had a lot of scenarios where he had to act as support, but they never ended well.

He gives advice to people, but that only made people angry at him. His solutions aren’t the best, and when people dismissed him, he thought himself as hopeless when it came to comforting someone else.

School had ended, and he was waiting for you outside your classroom. He planned to walk you home that day since the Phantom Thieves weren’t going to meet up. 

He waited by the doorway as your classmates left the room one by one. Eventually, they stopped making their way out of the room. He stares at the door with anticipation, confused. It had been minutes since almost everyone had left the room. 

Where were you? Ryuji decided to peek into the doorway, refusing to get caught. Discreetly, his eyes caught you sitting by your desk, head slumped down onto your arms. 

His first instinct was to go and wake you up. He entered the room, taking note that you looked as if you were ready to leave. At first, he thinks you had been knocked out by some person but that wasn’t likely. You could’ve fallen asleep, but that was unlikely. It was the end of the day, and you were always ready to leave school.

“S/O, you alright?” He asks as his calloused hands shake you away from sleep. You let out a groan, turning your head towards the cause of your disturbance. 

Ryuji didn’t ignore how puffy and red your eyes appeared to be, immediately sensing an exhausted feel from your gaze. “Sorry, have you been waiting for me long?” You ask, rising from your seat and taking your bag.

The boy didn’t say anything for the first few moments. He knew there was something wrong, but he didn’t want to upset you further by bombarding you with questions. He acts like nothing is wrong, and walks you to the station.

Just as both of you are waiting for the next train in Central Street, he finally hears a sniffle coming from his side. Turning to the source, he finally caught a glimpse of a tear slipping down your cheek. “S/O? Hey, S/O?” He asked as you began to unfold in front of him.

He didn’t care if there was a crowd watching. Grabbing a hold of your hands, he looks at you with such concern. “I’m fine Ryuji--”

“No, you’re not.”  Aggressive yet gentle at the same time, he drags you out of the line and into the streets of Shibuya. You question why, and maybe even punch him but he doesn’t let go of your hand.

Eventually, he drags you into the Diner. You don’t object as he orders a meal and bottled water. While you two were left alone in the booth, he looks at you dead in the eye. “Something’s wrong, but it’s okay if you don’t wanna tell me. You might wanna tell your folks that you’ll be out late.” 

You look at him, confused as to why you’d be out late. Ryuji simply grinned at you. “Tonight, just forget everything and trust me.”

After a quick meal and hiccups, he drags you over to the Arcade. Soon enough, you find yourself glaring at a machine. “Release you anger out on that thing!” 

Whenever Ryuji was upset, he’s the type of person to release all his frustrations out on games. He gets destructive when upset, and this was his way to cope when Kamoshida would pick on him.

If you were a Phantom Thief, Ryuji may take you to Mementos to beat up some Shadows. He may also take you to the batting cage, and such.

Once both of you felt tired, he’d find a bench to sit down on or a private area. You weren’t as broken as earlier, to his relief. He looks at you softly, grasping your hand. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Under most circumstances, Ryuji would just nod and listen. His advices were no good, but he did listen. At the end of the day, expect him to barge into your home and sneak under the covers to hold you. All he can give is comfort and warmth at this point.

If it were about dangerous circumstances (Targeted by bullies, blackmailed, etc.), Ryuji would consider fighting them head on himself. He also explains the situation to Akira, and would be willing to enter Mementos to make things better for you.

Yusuke Kitagawa

In Yusuke’s case, it’s hard to get him to notice that something’s wrong. He does sense danger in the atmosphere when it came to battle or tense situations, but when it came to emotions, it was difficult.

People say that you’d have to be spilling tears in front of him if you wanted him to acknowledge your pain. However, that’s just not the case. Yusuke just doesn’t like assuming that you are upset just because you didn’t speak to him and acted cold yesterday.

He catches onto your strange behavior. It starts off as you cancelling dates and missing out a couple of classes. Yusuke suspected that you were sick until he catches you entering your home. 

Initially, he was afraid that you were breaking up with him but he notices your empty gaze. You looked so lifeless and ill judging by your expression. Concern flashes on his face as he enters your home.

Luckily, he had his own key. You haven’t noticed the sound of the door opening and shutting, occupied in trying to lull yourself to sleep in your room. 

Your home was a mess. Trash laid about the room, unwashed dishes and neglected rooms weren’t a good sign. Yusuke slowly began to grow more fearful, heading upstairs. Eventually, he slips into your room to see you curled up against the wall.

“Yusuke?” You uttered in confusion, but your voice was very weak. “What are you doing here?” 

“S/O...” It was clear to him that you weren’t happy. Quietly walking over to your side, he looks into your eyes. He hated how they looked so lifeless, every spark and light absent. “What happened?”

Suddenly, something snaps within you. Your lips curl inwards, hoping to hold back a sob. Eyes began to tear up, letting go of your self control. “I’m sorry, Yusuke.” Finally, you collapsed into a mess of tears and sobs, hiding your face behind a blanket.

Yusuke took initiative and enveloped you in a hug. “It’s okay.” What else could he say? For now, he would hold you for as long as you’d like. He’d whisper assuring phrases like “It’ll be okay” or “You can tell me, I won’t get angry”.

Once he got the answer from you, he immediately stood up to go an get rid of the source of your tears. Friend or foe, he wanted to go and confront them about what they had done to you. Even if you protested against him, he still intended to do so.

He finally calms down and focuses on you instead. For as long as you remained upset, he would remain by your side to hold your hand. He’d be surprisingly sweeter and kinder to you, paying extra attention to your behavior.

He’d run baths, give you a wash, clean your trash if you weren’t fit to do so. If it got worse, he’d advise you to see a doctor. At night, he’d hold you extra close and tell you about the good things you’ve accomplished to outweigh the bad.

If the source of your sadness ever did return, he will really speak or confront this problem either in private or with the Phantom Thieves if needed. 

Yusuke’s exactly not a comforting guy, but he will give you all of his support. He will do anything and everything to bring back your smile. 

Goro Akechi

Akechi often feels drained and angry at the world, but seeing his S/O happy always brought his spirits back. You never really expressed any sort of negative emotion to him before, though. Maybe he saw you angry once, but never sad.

When you didn’t react to him coming home early, Akechi knew something was wrong. He always came home late, and he had expected you to even look a little bit surprised since he was early. He watched as you left your bag by the staircase, your figure heading up the stairs.

Quietly, he followed you from behind. Something was wrong, and he knew it. Your aura wasn’t as bright and lively compared to earlier, did this mean you were upset?

You entered the bedroom, collapsing on the bed both of you shared. Akechi followed suit, sitting beside your motionless figure. Before he even asked, he noticed your body tremble, following a pained sob.  

At that moment, Akechi gently pulled you into his chest without any words. If you attempted to struggle, he didn’t let you leave. Even though it’s none of his business, he didn’t want you to cry alone. 

Wrapping you up in a blanket, Akechi would hug you closely from behind. “Let it all out, S/O. It’s okay.” If you cried, he only wanted to be the one to comfort you. It didn’t matter to him on how long you cried, he’s there. “I’m here for you, I’m here.”

Once you ran out of tears to cry, he would help you to some water and a nice hot meal. “It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me. Is there something bothering you?” He asked in a gentle tone, wanting to console you. 

All his life, Akechi never really had anyone to comfort him when he was upset. When he saw you break down, he didn’t want you to feel as empty as he did. He won’t let you feel neglected or ignored, he will listen to every word and hang onto the smallest details of your story.  

Akechi wouldn’t go far if it was something that had to be dealt on your own. If you were upset about a failed test or a fight between your friends, he would try his best to comfort you and maybe give some advice. If it gets out of hand to the point nothing could be fixed, he’d simply advise you to move on. He doesn’t like seeing you so sad, and will do everything to bring your smile back.

If the problem was about someone harassing you or even bigger than that (Blackmail, assault, ie.), Akechi would be ready to enter the Metaverse and get rid of them. All you have to do is say their Name, and they would disappear very soon.

[hdawg1995]

yes hello i only ever done fanfiction ONCE on tumblr so forgive me.

The Cognitive net; a Persona 4 and Persona 5 cross over fanfic with OCs. Summary:

When a string of missing persons cases all seem to be linked by a far too familiar rumor, detective shirogane tries to enlist the help of her old investigation team. Unfortunately, not all of the original members are able to make it to shibuya-the sight of the latest case- but she finds help from an unexpected hacker and her friends. Elsewhere, a small team of brand new persona users have already figured out the “cognitive web” and it’s strange search engine. Will detective Shirogane and the hacker Alibaba discover the new group of heroes in time to realize this case is not city wide, but WORLD wide?

Chapter 1: intro/Logging in

1/2/3/4/5

“This is a bad idea.” yuki thought as he gripped his phone a bit tighter.

Sitting in the café he knew his friends used to hang out in all the time was calming him like he had hopped it would be, but the very idea of what he was doing was making the task near impossible.

“I heard if you go to this website, Cogntive.net, a search engine will come up and it will give you anything you want!”

The voice of the gossiping girl rang in the former high schooler’s head as he took a sip of coffee.

“No way, that’s ridiculous! I heard it can give you what you want with just a one word search too. I call bull shit.”

Yuki carefully typed the URL on Le Blanc’s Wi-Fi. Something spurred him on as he hit enter.

“This feels familiar…” he thought as the black screen with the bold white letters came up. “…I have to stop. This isn’t going to end well…” he set the cup down and stared at the screen a moment longer.

It had been two years since the blood rain and the bone like structures. He wasn’t sure why he was able to remember it all- when he had asked others he knew were there and he knew who saw it they acted like it didn’t happen.

The white letters burned into his eyes. “What are you looking for?” it asked. The chatter of the TV and other café goers drowned out the dark blue haired boy’s voice of reason. As memories of his second year of high school and events that surrounded it flooded his mind he found his fingers hovering over the key board his phone provided. He didn’t even remember tapping the text box under the words.

{Answers}

The world around him grew silent the instant he hit enter, as if the café had to pause to acknowledge him and the horrible mistake he made. When yuki looked up from his phone he saw it was just him and his booth- the coffee cup and people all gone. All around him the world was dark with hints of red fog far too thin to see properly. He gasped and tried to stand up when a hand reached out from the screen of his phone.

“Answers? haha! Heres a few…” the hand grasped at Yuki’s Neck and made contact with his shirt collar. The boy reflexively braced himself against the booth table as the hand pulled down back towards the phone. “Yes. This was a bad idea.” The voice stated as it tugged with more force, but yuki pushed back with just as much strength. “yes. You should have stopped while you had the chance, Yuki.” The boy gasped again and shot up with enough force to drag more of the arm out of the phone. The voice was distorted and slightly staticy, but it was his without a doubt. “And the reason WHY it feels so familiar, Yuki Mishima…” the voice trailed off as the arm released him, sending him falling backward into what should have been the booth’s cushioned seat. Instead he was on the floor looking up in horror as the arm pushed against the table, from what he could see of his phone the screen and casing stretched like rubber and a second arm broke free.

“…is because it IS like two years ago! HAHA! That feeling of reality morphing around you? You’re experiencing it all over again!” the second arm gripped the phone case as yuki back pedaled away. “And the reason why YOU remember, why YOU are the ONLY one out side of the phantom thieves to remember it all-“ a head broke though the screen, the sound of something shattering and the feeling of shards breaking apart in mishima’s heart and mind caused the boy to freeze in his tracks “-is because we have unfinished business, Me!” the yellow eyes of yuki’s shadow stared at him with a mix of excitement…and anger.

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

else where, a group of friends chatted away at both some ungodly hour of the night and a reasonable time of day.

“Ugh I just want to reach this level! Why do I have to wait 3 hours to gain EXP in this stupid game?” the young man ruffled his hair, causing his head set to shift and the mic to brush his cheek a few times.

“Dude calm down.” a younger voice laughed over the headphone speakers.

“hes just frustrated he can’t push forward. It’s a magician thing, we wouldn’t understand.”

“wait hold on, does that mean I’m The Magician?” the boy leaned forward and gripped his computer chair as the various voices in his headset laughed. “Alpha don’t mess with me!”

A girl laughs a little harder at the comment. She leans back in her chair and reaches for a small toy rabbit and fiddles with it. Chelsea smiles as her friends continue to tease the second oldest of their group over his obsession with the various arcana she revealed they all represent.

“Jake, if anyone’s the Magician its me!” a clearly snarky voice purred into her mic.

Janae turned in her computer chair, propping her legs up over one arm and dangling the rest of her upper body over the other arm.

“Oh really? What makes you so sure?” Jake closes out his computer game and clicks around his screen, checking tabs to see if there is anything interesting on them. The answer is no.

“cause I’M the sexy one and everyone knows Magicians are sexy as fuck!”

“uh-huh. Sure.”

The voice chat grows a little quit at the soft voice. Isaiah taps his pencil on his note book as he struggles to understand his maths homework.

“so how are those numbers treating you, Click?”

“About the same as your boyfriend treats you, Skitty.”

“ooohh!”

“sick burn!”

“its funny cause I don’t have one lol!”

The chat erupts with laughter as the youngest of the group goes back to his work. To be honest it was a funny joke and as long as he kept comments like that heterosexual then he wouldn’t be crossing any lines. It wasn’t something he thought much of, but the brit took pride in the fact that he knew Skitty’s secret of being bi- he was honored that she trusted him with that knowledge and wouldn’t do anything to betray her.

“haha, guess that means you’re stuck again Click?” jake decided to close out his 5 tabs and just keep the voice chat open as he pulled out his phone. He glanced at an orange and green icon on his desktop before unlocking the hand held device.

“….Erica lives in London and wants to hold a video chat with her business partner, Richard in Michigan. Erica is available from 0600 to 2000 and Richard is available from 11am to 8pm. Knowing the difference in time zones, what would be a good time for the two to have a 3 hour video call?...”

The voices was silent, listening intently to the problem. The barrier of math between the different countries rarely got in the way when it came to explaining the word problems. Although most of the time no one knew the answer, reading the question out load and hearing his friends discus it cleared his head and helped him figure out the problem.

“Dude why the H did your teacher put military time in that question?” Skitty moaned as she pulled out her phone and tapped the calculator app.

“probably to make him think more. I bet the answer is really simple once you calculate the time.” Jake was already translating the time on his phone, eyes flicking to the desktop icon again- he had a strange impulse to look at it, even though if anything would happen it would send an alert that’ll take up most if not all of his computer screen.

“wait. Isn’t alpha from Michigan?” Skitty flips herself back into a proper position in the chair.

“no shes from Japan.” Jake mutters as he pulls up the voice chat’s text box and types the numbers his calculator gives him. it was simple math he could easily do in his head but some things are just that trivial.

“nooo,” Isaiah moved his pencil to wag it at the computer screen “shes FROM Michigan, but shes STAYING in Japan with a family friend.”

“[that’s right]” Alpha tested the very little Japanese she knew. The chat gasped and giggled. Placing the rabbit toy back on her desk she paused as the very sudden swear from the other American.

“Shit! The site got a hit!”

All at once the sound of keys typing and well warn and used mouse clicking filled the voice chat. Jake stared intently at his computer screen while Click and Skitty readied themselves. Alpha pinged them with a string of numbers.

“I traced the IP address. Good Job Jake, this thing is actually really easy to use!”

“No problem!... so it looks like they haven’t entered anything into the search bar yet…”

Janae licked her lips nervously; she hoped against the enviable- that this person was using the rumored “miracle search engine” to find something only their shadow could give them. She didn’t understand much about it, being the latest member and all, but what she did understand was if people go to the cognitive net search engine and enter something vague like a one or two word search the site would bring them to their shadow- an exaggeration of their inner thoughts and heart. Hers was a doppelganger of herself with cute kitty ears and yellow eyes. In the end the Admins (that’s what they called themselves) arrived and talked down her shadow. It wasn’t something she wanted other people to see but talking to complete strangers made accepting the hyper dumb scatter brained cat as a part of her. She insisted on joining them after that, I mean what else would she do? She ended up getting a persona after all. Gatta use it for something…

“Hey cool! The IP is a café! They’re on public wifi! If they have a shadow this will make it much easier to find their dungeon!” Isiah bounced in his seat at this realization. “…huh. Le blanc. That’s such a French sounding name for a place in Japan!”

“Japan?” Chelsea relaxed a bit, her white knuckled grip on the computer mouse loosening. “that’s… that’s like the 4th one.” She pondered this a moment before Jake’s voice boomed in her ears.

“They’re typing in the search bar! Get ready to jump guys!” Jake was the computer wizard of the group. It was terrifying the things he could do with whatever he did with his computer. Alpha and Click always asked to try and understand but never could. He swallowed the frog in his throat as he watched the victim’s screen. “They’re accessing from a cell phone…” he muttered into his mic. He had everything he needed when it came to this kind of stuff and was prepared for the worse but that never made it easier.

{Answers}

“Shit.” Was the collective reaction at the one word search quarry. Double clicking the orange and green icon on their desk tops, the four friends were warped into the cognitive web- the inner workings of the internet and cyber space made physical.

The trip to the cognitive web felt like having a heavy blanket wrapped around you before being pushed off your bed- you’re half aware of your surroundings, half dreaming, but 100% confused. For AlphaDawg and her right hand man ClickClickBoom the confusion was no longer a thing. This would be rescue number 10 and the pair landed with ease, their respective ‘Avatars’ shaping with quick blinks of binary. For J4K3-06 and xXSkittyXx, the trip was much rougher. J4k3 tumbled into existence, his avatar appearing more like a glitch. As for Skitty, this was her first ever mission, her first ever trip into the web. With a shout of panic she fell from the digital sky, her body flickering into what she’ll look like on the internet.

“Hang on Skitty! I got ya gurl!” Click leaped forward, the fire design on his sneakers flickering like actual flames as he sped up to catch her in time.

The pair ended up crashing into the ground anyway, but Skitty had a much softer landing than Click. The sound of static filled the area as Skitty sat up, her avatar struggling to form.

“Did I break it? I just got here! Ugh this blows…” the girl grumbled as the boy under her groaned.

“No, just… focus on something. You’re thinking too much.”

Staring at her hands the second youngest of the Admins focused on nothing in particular. She mostly cleared her head and thought about what she really wanted to be in this world. A hero came to mind, but the image of an Idol came next. Cute outfits, boys going goo goo crazy, bright lights and being the center of attention? Hell yeah! She would make a great idol!

Instantly the binary pixilated and formed before a proper avatar replaced the girl. She sprung to her feet and let out a victorious yowl.

“nayn!~ I’m adorable!” she spun in a circle, taking in her very cat like idol outfit.

“oh good! Now you’re even MORE in that weird ‘I didn’t know Skitty was a pokemon’ hole you keep finding yourself in.” a robotic boy laughed as he helped haul the bomb themed boy to his feet.

“what do you mean? Ugh! Don’t tell me Skitty is some sort of pink cat!”

“it is. It also evolves into-“ Alpha was cut off at the pink of Skitty’s outfit shifted a shade.

“-a purple cat.”

“DAMN IT!”

The Admins laughed with their friend before addressing their leader. With a swift nod the wolf themed girl turned to reveal a pink rabbit that stood at her knee cap. The creature had a similar wolf/punk theme going for it, but in a much cuter way than the human.

“Alright Side Kick, what are we dealing with?”

“Actually, open the chat room first! I have a feeling our mysterious assistant is watching.” The toy motioned with their eyes to a random structure. When the group looked towards it they all stared with shock and awe. Stood on the comically thin antenna of a building was an equally comical stereotypically posed ninja. The group couldn’t make out any sort of details outside of the silhouette- it was like he knew what distance to be at to be in their render view but still be out of range.

Alpha regarded the ninja for a moment before nodding. The plan was to use the chat room to give Mr. Mysterious a chance to convene with them. She knew deep down he wouldn’t respond to anything they said, but essentially leaving the door open and hope he comes in from the cold wouldn’t hurt.

“Alright. Let the 10th rescue meeting begin, Cognitive Web Admins!”

[cityofnumbersix]

Electric Moment - Chapter 6

READ ON AO3

MOTHERPOST

DATES AND DESIGNER DRESSES

One thing that hadn't changed since the first time Katsuki had stepped off the Shinkansen and into the bustling streets of Tokyo, was his undoubtable adoration of it's constant motion. Tokyo was unlike anything he'd ever experienced. People in every direction, ever moving and constantly busy. Lights through windows that illuminated the streets well into the evening hours, far longer than he'd ever witnessed. Tokyo was alive, more so than anywhere else, and Katsuki thrived on it's energy.

His hometown had been quite the contrary. Hakone's air was near as stagnant as it's streets. The buildings were old, colourless and dull; many of them having been vacant since far before Katsuki had taken his first breath. If you asked Deku or Ochako, they would both say that Katsuki was overly dramatic. That the rotation of tourists, the towns lush parks and world-renowned onsens. The colours of the trees that lined the edges of the Lake Ashi, it's view of the iconic Mt Fuji, they were all things that they, and others, would praise.

To Katsuki, it was nothing entirely special. A life living in Hakone, was no where near as interesting as its appeared from the outside, in the eyes of passers who never dared to steer themselves further than the comfort of the areas tourist traps and fancy gardening. On the outskirts, where the colours faded and the views became far more plain, that was Katsuki's everyday life, and until the very moment he'd been able to escape, he'd resented it completely.

Tokyo was different. The streets of Tokyo's busiest districts were vibrant and overwhelming. Within the first year of his life here, he'd spent every waking hour engulfing himself in it's essence. On weekday's he would study high upon the balconies' of roof-top cafes, and on the weekends he spent his nights with his hands drifting from skin to skin, lips from mouth to mouth. Tokyo had awoken a whole other being that until that moment, had remained dormant within Katsuki's own skin, and though his life had become far less adventurous as it once had, he still felt the rush whenever he was out amongst the crowds.

It was just after nine in the morning on a Wednesday, so the train car he was currently situated within was still semi-void of people. The air was warm with the discarded breathes of the people who had been moving in and out with each and every stop along the train's path, and Katsuki tried not to feel suffocated in it's heat. He pulled his guitar case to his chest, eyes wandering along the row of seat before him, idly observing the few people that sat upon them with next to no interest, only moving when the train finally came to a stop, the announcement indicating they had arrived in Shibuya, the familiar platform coming to view as the doors slid open.

Out of all the places Katsuki had been over the past three or so years, Shibuya was by far his favourite. A city built with the intent of supporting large crowds of people, crosswalks that tumbled over each other, buildings standing tall and grand, adorned with wide LCD screens and large-scale banners. It's people poured along the roads, never touching, never straying off course. It was the epitome of everything that Katsuki had needed from a place, and he was glad that he was brought there as often as he was.

He was lost in thought as he made his way amongst the people, slipping through the glass-door of his favourite Starbuck's, a well maintained ritual that had become even more regulated since the beginning of his practice sessions with Electric Moment, who just happened to work within his favourite district, a happy coincidence that Katsuki had made sure to take full advantage of over the past few weeks.

He took a deep breath out as he pulled the medical mask from his face, a form of protective habit that he'd started after one particularly shitty cold just over twelve months ago. As much as he loved the trains, they were pretty fucking filthy, and Katsuki despised being sick almost as much as he despised the assholes who thought it was okay to bring their germs onto public transportation. He was halfway through shoving the mask into the crease of his pocket, when he felt a fist collide softly with the edge of his forearm.

"What the fu-" he began, a small hand folding itself over his lips, it's owner coming into view from around his back, standing directly in front of him, only slightly shorter than himself due to a pair of burly platform boots.

"None of that Bakuboy, this is a public place y'know?" Kyoka chimed, grinning up at Bakugou with an impish smirk. She held within the grasp of her other hand, a tray containing two take-away drinks, tipping slightly from the weight as it pushed against her thin wrist.

"What are you doing?" He grumbled as Kyoka lowered her palm, quieter, his eyes cautionary, "Don't sneak up on me like that you short-ass little twerp."

"Rude." Kyoka spoke in reply, before waving the tray of drinks that now sat within both her hands, "And after I bought you a drink and everything."

Bakugou furrowed his brow in confusion, trying his best to remain appropriately behaved, his surroundings eminent. He was choosing his words carefully.

"What the hell are you even talking about?" He quarried, eyes drifting to the tray of drinks once more, "How did you even..."

"Well you see, my actual secret pass time is to buy two drinks, then sit around until I see a cute boy that I might be interested in, then I offer him one. It's full proof, promise. " Kyoka explained, tilting her head to the side slightly as she spoke, shooting Bakugou a playful grin.

"Aren't you fucking queer?" Katsuki spoke again, watching the girl before him with a dumbfounded expression.

"Mm, and so are you, so I guess this date is going pretty terrible isn't it?" Kyoka explained again, "But truthfully, you're pretty transparent. This is the closest Starbuck's to both the station and the studio, and you've walked in every practice since our first with a drink in your hand."

"So what? You just decided to take a stab in the dark that this was the Starbuck's I go to...and?" Katsuki huffed, not looking away from Kyoka's eyes. What was this chick playing at? Why the hell would she come here just to see him. To mess with him? To make sure he wasn't spiking his coffee with some weird form of musical steroids? Because that didn't exist, and the mere fact that she would believe such bullshit was irritating enough to give Katsuki a migraine.

"Walk with me." Kyoka insisted, taking one of the cups and shoving it into Katsuki's free hand, before heading towards the door.

Katsuki hesitated for only a moment, his grip tightening around the paper vessel, before he turned on his feel to sheepishly follow in Kyoka's path.

"What's even in here?" He mumbled, tilting the cup towards her as they walked, nose pent up in interest.

"Hot chocolate."

"Fucking gross. What am I, nine? Who the fuck goes to a coffee place and doesn't buy actual coffee?" Katsuki hissed, pushing the offending beverage towards his female companion. Kyoka clicked her tongue.

"Last thing your aggressive ass needs is caffeine." She uttered, pushing her own drink against his, sliding his own closer towards Katsuki's mouth, "Now drink."

"We're walking you fucking mite." Katsuki reprimanded, pulling the drink away from his face, "Were you raised in a fucking cave?"

Kyoka rolled her eyes, chuckling in repose to Katsuki's comment. She reached to dig her fingers into the fabric of his shirt, pulling him, stumbling, to the side of the path, leaning against a blank space of wall aside a vending machine. She took a sip of her drink, eying him over the lid as she did. Their close quarters had Katsuki stepping back so that his body was no longer touching hers, but he moved no further.

"What's this all about?" He questioned, taking a sip of his own drink. He huffed slightly from his nose as he swallowed. Too sweet. Katsuki hated sweet.

"Well..." she began, peering off the side side for a moment, before making eye contact once more, "I want to get to know you..."

Katsuki continued to gaze at her, watching the way Kyoka's bob-cut shifted as she moved her face, the crinkles by the sides of her heavily lined eyes as she grinned at him stupidly from he place against the wall. He couldn't sense any dishonesty, but he Could also tell that Kyoka was probably only telling a half truth, something which irritated him thoroughly.

"Why the sudden fucking interest?" He grumbled, eyes drilling into Kyoka's own. She huffed in annoyance.

"You really can't just let someone be nice, huh?" She drawled, taking a large swig of her own hot chocolate, throwing the empty cup into the rubbish slot of the vending machine to her right, "Okay, so I might have a reason I want to get to know you, but it's nothing unusually interesting if I'm honest with you."

Katsuki knew that he was prying. Really, most people would probably just take the opportunity to become close with a member of their new band, without really looking too far into it. Yet, Katsuki also knew himself. He knew that he was hard to get along with. That he came off brash and intimidating. He wasn't the sort of person that you stalked to their favourite coffee shop and declared your desire to befriend them to. It would be nice to live in a fantasy world where he thought someone as strong-willed as Kyoka Jirou, a girl who had on many occasions shot back everything he'd given her, would simply just want to understand him better, but Katsuki was smarter than that.

Kyoka leant back, rubbing her bare shoulders into the rough surface of the wall behind her, reaching her hand inside the pocket of the jacket she hard tied around her waist to retrieve a small packet of cigarettes. She let one hang between her middle and index finger, her arm falling to the side of her body as she clearly took her time thinking of what she was about to say.

"Y'know our old guitarist, N?" She began slowly, eyeing him with curiosity written upon her features, "Has anyone told you why he left?"

"No." Katsuki replied instantly. No one had hardly mentioned Electric Moment's previous guitarist. Katsuki just assumed that they were all annoyed that the dude had ditched.

"Well, it was because I punched him in the face..." she mumbled, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, "You see...N was a huge fucking asshole. Plus he was on drugs, so that made it even worse. I held it in for as long as I could, because I knew he was a vital member, and I didn't want to let everyone down by losing it...Then one day I guess I couldn't take it anymore. I swung my fist and hit him right in the nose. It was pretty brutal, there was blood everywhere. I told him to never show his face near us again, and...no one intervened. No one tried to stop me, or him, and I guess he had finally gotten the message, and he was gone..."

Katsuki let his head fall to the side to lay against the edge of the vending machine, his much taller body, encasing Kyoka in her spot against the wall. An act that to passers-by may have appeared intimidating, but to Katsuki it was far more casual that he generally was with others. He couldn't help but be inwardly impressed as Kyoka resounded her tale of unforetold violence. If the guy really was as bad as she's saying he was, then eventually Katsuki may have even done the same thing.

"What does this have to do with me exactly?" Katsuki coaxed, feeling just the slightest offended in regards to the concept that this story related to their current situation in any kind of way.

"It's...less about N himself, and more about me..." she mumbled quietly, refusing to raise her head, something that was unusual when it came to her interactions with Katsuki, "Everything that happened with N...I let it happen. I barely knew anything about the guy, even after Mina suggested him to us. He wasn't like the others. We met him when we got here. The guys, we grew up together, they're my family. We spent all of high school attached at the hip, and then we all moved here with this dream to make it big y'know? N was an outsider. I didn't want to let him in, not the way the other's were. So...I just let him be the guitarist. Let him interact with the other's while keeping my distance."

Katsuki made no motion to move, nor say anything, but in a way he understood. It had taken him a long time to allow Mina to become even slightly close to him. Up until that point, Deku and Ochako had been his only friends. He could understand how difficult it is to break the small town mentality that comes with living in the country or on the coast. People there were close. People in Tokyo seemed far less so. The idea of letting anything one into the circle that encased your heart was terrifying. He didn't speak though, only left her to go on.

"I feel like, that if I had gotten to know N. If I had just taken the time to know him as a person and not just as our guitarist, maybe I could have prevented so much of what happened. Maybe if I had just been less closed-off, I would have realised straight away what a toxic and filthy person he was..." Kyoka continued, her hand coming up to rest upon her face, shielding it from Katsuki's view, cigarette still hanging idly from her fingers, "I failed...in protecting what means the most to me, because I couldn't overcome my own personality issues...and I don't want to do that again..."

Katsuki nodded his head slowly, mind running over the words as he attempted to piece together everything that was being said. Kyoka moved her hand, looking back up at him once more.

"I want to be your friend Bakugou." She stated, blinking up at the wide-eyed blond boy, "I want you to be friend's with all of us. I want you to be apart of us, just like how we're apart of each other. I know the guys feel the same way, especially Eiji..."

Katsuki's cheeks warmed at the mention of the other boy's name, causing him to withdraw partially from his place before Kyoka. This was something that the girl clearly hadn't failed to notice, as she smirked up at him, her hand coming to rest upon his chest.

"But with great power comes great responsibility." She spoke, pushing his body backwards so that they were once again standing on the sidewalk, "Hurt any of them and you'll come out way worse than N ever did."

Katsuki scoffed, beginning to make his way down the sidewalk towards the studio once more, watching Kyoka follow from the corner of his eye. He didn't doubt that the girl was probably far stronger than she looked. Plus, he hardly ever saw her not drapped in a variety of metal and leather, products that would undoubtably cause pain if they were to come into contact with his skin. However, her warning was unwarranted. Katsuki had no interested in causing unnecessary drama amongst any of them. It was too much of a hassle, gaining too little of a reward for it to be worth it.

"Also, this probably doesn't need to be said, because he's a big boy and I bet he can pummel assholes into the ground with those biceps of his, but that threat goes double time for Kirishima. You hurt him and I'll end you, got it?" Her words were blood soaked and cold, but her warm expression never wavered, a petite hand reaching up to take hold of Katsuki's arm, allowing him to lead her along. Katsuki clicked his tongue, moving his jaw little enough that he was able to somewhat hide his periwinkle stained cheeks.

"And what makes you think that spikey haired fucking loser needs extra protection, huh?" He grumbled, pulling Kyoka along, her smaller legs causing her steps to fall just short of Katsuki's own.

"Mm...because Eijirou is a very persistent little boy and he doesn't back down from a challenge easily." She explained, letting her grip on his arm drop as she spun around to skip backwards before him, grinning at the blond with milk-white teeth, "And like I said before, you're transparent."

"What the fuck does that mean?!" Katsuki growled, moving faster on his feet as Kyoka spun herself around, sprinting towards the main entrance of the studio.

She busted through it before he was able to catch up, slipping her small frame through the closing gap of the buildings only elevator as it forced it's way shut. Katsuki let out an exasperated growl, eyes digging into Kyoka's skull as she waved cheekily through the gap, the elevator closing tight before him.

He should have never agreed to this so called, "friendship."

-

The last thing Kyoka expected to be greeted by when she pushed open the door of the band's designated practice room, was a mess of bare limbs and the clearly oxygen deprived face of Hanta before her. It took her some time to realise what she was looking at, and once she did, she felt far more confused than she even had in the beginning.

"What in the hell..." she mumbled to herself, eyes wide as she watched none other than Eijirou and Denki in some kind of obscure wrestling match upon the floor. They were pushing at each others limbs, pulling at their clothes as they tussled around the floor space, narrowly missing multiple series' of cords and a discarded mic stand that sat bellow the performance platform that contained their very expensive instruments.

They seemed to take no notice of her presence, only pulling themselves to a stop when the somewhat aggressive sound of Bakugou's voice vibrated throughout the room from behind her. She spun on her feet, taking in a clearly exhausted Bakugou as he stared past her into the room -he must have taken the stairs.

When she turned to the room again, the two boys who had previously been all over each other, were sitting side-by-side upon the floor, their chests heaving with the result of using excessive energy. It was then that Kyoka noticed that Denki was completely naked, bar his underwear, his clothes scattered across the room in a messed display. The skin along his abdomen and chest was as flushed as his face, his hair fuzzy and high upon his scalp.

Eijirou was in a better state, though his outfit, as it always was sometimes, was questionable. His chest was draped in a loose fitting tank-top -its origin quite obviously had been a band t-shirt that the boy had cut to pieces. It fell just shy of his navel, the fabric torn short in a cropped fashion, displaying the large silver piecing that sat attached to his navel. His thighs were near bare, as he wore but a pair of cut-off black denim shorts with various holes through the front. His calves and knees were covered with a crimson pair of knee high socks, which sat beneath his favourite pair of boots. Normally, Kyoka had learnt to look past Eijirou's occasional eccentric outfits, but as she let her fingers graze the fabric of her warm jacket around her waist, she couldn't help but feel concerned for her friends clear neglect in regards to his own health.

"Denk's..." she spoke softly, eyes flowing over the scene before her, "Why the fuck are you naked? And why is Eiji dressed like a baby prostitute?"

Hanta, whom had been pretty well contained since the sound of Bakugou's yell had shaken them all to silence, once again burst into a fit of laughter. His body fell forward, his hands and knees scraping the ground as he filled the room with the harmonious sound of uncontrollable heaving and cries. Denki joined in, his eyes pulling shut as he laughed along, reaching to take his shirt from beside himself, slipping it over his head.

"I was making a point about how my outfit doesn't make me any less manly." Eijirou declared, glaring directly at Kyoka as he pushed himself to his feet, "As you can see, I was kicking his ass, and I do not look like a baby prostitute."

Hanta snorted, hardly able to contain himself as he struggled to pull air into his lungs, "B-Baby p-pros-".

"Shut it Hanta!" Eijirou growled, turning towards the raven-haired boy, fists raised as he prepared to once again prove his undeniable manliness.

"I see six months hasn't helped you all in the maturity department." A voice chimed in from behind both Kyoka and Bakugou, it's owner pushing past them with ease into the room as it once again slowly fell silent.

Kyoka's eyes followed them, taking no time to process who was the it was. His voice and mannerism's were undeniable.

"Azaiwa." She greeted, her hand reaching up to pull Bakugou into the room after her, "I was starting to think you'd given up on us."

Aizawa simply groaned in response, falling backwards into the single armchair that sat in the corner of the room. The one that he had chosen to have placed their only a few days into becoming the Electric Moment's offical handler. A job that he says had prematurely aged him by well over twenty years. Kyoka just thinks he's dramatic.

"And I see Kirishima has at least spent this time wisely. Congratulations on your job at whatever shitty love hotel you occupy." The older man spoke, pushing his dark sunglasses further up the bridge of his nose, shielding his eyes from the rooms multiple lights. His hair was as long and unruly as it always was, the dark stumble of his beard clearly the work of a few days of lazy morning preparations. To most people he would probably appear harmless, lazy and good-for-nothing to the point it was almost shameful to believe he was capable of handling such a rowdy group of young adults. Those people were wrong.

"Will everyone stop slut-shaming me!" Eijirou cried, sections of hair falling from their place in the elastic above his head as he moved boldly with his words.

"I see you're all getting along nicely." Entered the voice of none other than Midnight as she made her way into the room. She waltz past Kyoka, towering over the bantam girl in a pair of monstrous heals that probably started where Kyoka's entire body ended. For a moment she felt a rush of insecurity. The same kind that often followed seeing a superficially attractive older woman on the train, or when she sat on the couch as Denki and Hanta flicked through Adult Magazines and tried to get her to join them, only for Kyoka to stare down at certain models with less attraction than jealousy.

"I only hope that you all chose to spend your time wisely." She spoke again, striding across the room to take a seat upon the arm of Aizawa's chair, ignoring the irritated sound that the man made in response, "Now get your asses up there and show me what you've got."

The group didn't waste any time as they all made their way onto the platform. Denki pulled his pants on as he went, bouncing from foot-to-foot as he adjusted them into place, plopping himself down into his stool with ease. Eijirou was in the middle of untangling his bass cord when he was bombarded by a large amount of heavy denim hitting his face, resting itself upon his shoulder. He dropped his cord, reaching to pull the offending object from his person.

"Wear that." Bakugou grumbled, making his way over to his guitar, "That shit in your belly button is giving me a headache."

"I'm sure that's where the ache is Bakuboy." Kyoka teased, grinning over at the blond, ducking her head she he through a microphone in her direction, catching it within her grip as she stumbled back.

"Shut up you eggplant haired bitch!" He gruffed, causing Kyoka to giggle, balancing herself even on her feet, before turning to push the mic through the grip of her stand.

"Let's do Overdrive." Kyoka announced to the others, not bothering to turn and face them, her mind already sinking deep into the section of her body dedicated only to the music. It was a popular song, one she'd written with Denki after a night of hard drinking. It was a controversial one, but maybe that's why Midnight had loved it as much as she did. Luckily, so did their fans.

"You know it?" Hanta quarried, tilting his head as he looked over at Bakugou, who stood tall upon the stage, his guitar already positioned appropriately.

"I know them all." He grunted simply, drawing Kyoka's attention to him for just long enough that she could laugh at his confidence under her breathe.

"Ready?" She openly asked, letting her eyes drift shut.

"Ready." Hanta chimed.

"Got it." Denki added.

"Always!" Eijirou cheered, the sleeves of Bakugou's denim jacket pulled up over his elbows.

"Yeah, whatever." Bakugou finalised.

Then she heard it, the beginning cords of not just any song, but one of their songs. A song that they'd played upon stages, in a studio as it was recorded for their debut album. A song that she'd written with her childhood best friend with their minds clouded and their body's pressed close under a shared blanket. A song that they had written for this band, their band, consisting of their closet friends and the people they loved. Her mind flew away and in that moment, all she could hear was the music.

The words began to flow from her lips and through the mic, the sound bubbling up high from the base of her abdomen, the music flowing up along her spine. Her eyes were still pressed closed, her fingers wrapped tightly around her mic stand. She could hear it, Bakugou's sound. She could pick it out amongst the others, Hanta's following somewhat similar. It was a different sound, not one she was quite familiar with. Bakugou was taking the lead, and the other's were falling into his rhythm. It was odd, to adjust, but she liked it. Liked the way Bakugou's unique sound fit so perfectly in place with their own. Like the puzzle piece that had been missing all along.

"Stop." Midnight's voice butted into the sound, causing Kyoka's eyes to immediately slip open, voice falling quiet.

"What...is it...?" Hanta spoke from behind her, but when she looked up, Kyoka noticed that Midnight's eyes were directed only at her.

"It's wrong." Midnight spoke again, "It's changed."

"Fucking obviously." Bakugou defended, an aggravated noise falling from his lips as he clicked his tongue.

"Bakugou's only just started, you can't expect us to have it down just yet." Denki added, the sound of his sticks' hitting the batter head of his snare with a crash that pulled Kyoka from her music induced spell.

"You haven't exactly given us much time." She added, gripping her microphone tightly, glaring right back at Midnight, who's eyes still hadn't moved from their place on Kyoka's own form.

"I'm not talking about him." Midnight explained, pushing herself to a standing position, "I'm talking about you."

Kyoka could feel a heavy weight fall from somewhere in her chest to the pit of her belly, the suddenness of it making her feel nauseous. She pulled in a shallow breath, eyes following Midnight as she made her way across the room, standing before Kyoka at the base of the platform. Here, she almost stood as tall as Kyoka, even from bellow, which only made Kyoka feel all the worse.

"Me?" She mumbled, scrunching her nose up in a distasteful sign of defensive force, "I'm just singing the same way I always have."

This had Midnight stepping back, eyes rolling as she finally pulled her gaze away from Kyoka. She crossed her arms over her chest, vision now wandering over the expanse of make-shift stage, eyeing each of the other members of the band individually. Kyoka could feel her heart thumping roughly against her chest. The silence had her agitated. She despised when people ignored her, and she hated it even more when it was Midnight, who for some odd reason had a habit of filling conversations with silence and uninterruptible gazes.

"D, H." Midnight spoke sternly, eyes drifting between Denki and Hanta as she referred to them by their stage names, a choice she described as being both professional and self-gratifying. The boys both looked up hesitantly to meet her gaze.

"When you were listening to K sing just then, how did you feel?"

It was an odd question, not something she'd ever really asked before. Most of the time she left it up to her own judgement how she felt about the music, and each members own performance. She had indicated from the beginning that she neither cared, nor respected the opinions of others. This was something that other's that worked for the same label disliked. Their job was to sell music to people from all walks of life, not to simply satisfy Midnight's own taste. For some reason though, it seemed to work. After years of leading different performers, every single one of the people that Midnight had worked with were sure to make it big. This is what had Kyoka and the other's trusting in her judgement, taking in every word that left her mouth. So why was she doing this now?

"Uh..." Denki let out, turning to eye Hanta, who stood to his left, his own jaw slack, guitar resting by his side.

"It was beautiful, like it always is." Hanta spoke, turning to Midnight as he did, still clearly unaware of why he was being questioned in the first place.

"Yeah. Kyoka's voice is the same as normal. She sounds great." Denki added, swinging himself upon his stood in a comforting motion, probably to calm his nerves. He'd never been the best when directly speaking to Midnight, even when his confidence was at it's peak.

"Could it make you cum?" Midnight questioned again, taking them all completely from left field.

Kyoka's eyes grew wide, hands moving to her cheeks to attempt to cool the warming of her skin. She could hear the sound of Eijirou spitting whatever liquid that had been in his mouth, upon the floor, coughing up the excess from his throat. She wasn't surprised, Eijirou was never really bothered by anyone, Midnight included. He was generally able to act casual in her presence, even when those around her were frozen with fear.

"What the fuck Kayama?!" Kyoka shrieked, the use of her family name causing Midnight to once again turn her attention towards the young singer.

"It's a song about sex isn't it?" Midnight asked, stepping so that the tips of her shoes hit the edge of the platform. Kyoka took a step back.

"Well...yeah..." Kyoka replied, eyes turning to stare off to the side in embarrassment.

"And I use to believe it too." Midnight muttered lowly, "Before, when you performed that song, I could feel it. I could feel the people in the crowd growing desperately hard, could hear their rapid heartbeats against their fucking rib cage like it could escape at any second. You sang with passion so fucking heated and raw that you had every straight girl in the crowd dripping with want."

Kyoka couldn't believe what she was hearing, her grip on the mic stand growing far too strong for it's own good. She was visibly uncomfortable. It wasn't like she was a prude or anything. Kyoka had been apart of her fair share of 1 A.M. club hookups and post concert fan-fucks, but hearing stuff like this, out loud, from someone she was hardly comfortable with, it was unbearably embarrassing.

The feeling of a warm body beside her, pulled her from the jaded state her mind had defensively fallen into in an attempt to block out Midnight's words. She felt the microphone stand beginning ripped from her grip, triggering her body back into action. She turned herself in the direction of the assailant, who happened to be none other than Bakugou.

"I'll fucking show you how it's done short-ass." Bakugou growled, shoving Kyoka to the side with his hip. She only stared at him, watching the guitarist position himself, his eyes locked onto Midnight, glare bleeding a message that Kyoka couldn't quite interpret, "Play."

Each of the remaining three boys eyed each other for a moment, before moving themselves back into their playing positions. Kyoka knew that she should take a step back, but her body was frozen in place where she stood. Was Bakugou really going to sing? Did he even known how? She noticed said boy eye her from the corner of his own, before he let his lids flutter shut, just as Kyoka did when she was about to let go.

After a brief pause, the tell-tale beginning cords of Overdrive began again, but this time, it was Bakugou who stood before the mic. His bare arms stretched long and muscular as he gripped the microphone far rougher than Kyoka ever did. It was this raw aggression that she had observed in everything that Bakugou did, and even now, his posture burned with an intensity that had Kyoka scared that he may set everything around him ablaze. When Kyoka sang, the passion flowed through her throat, regurgitated along with the lyrics. When Bakugou sang, the passion seeped out from his pores, lighting the room on fire in a whole different way.

Generally, when Kyoka watched other people sing, her eyes were automatically drawn to their face. The way their features shifted with the lyrics, their lips as they moved as the words poured out from somewhere within them far too personal for her to be able to pinpoint from the outside. Yet, standing here upon the platform, watching Bakugou sing a song that she had written with such passion, her eyes wouldn't sit still. They wandered along the length of his jean-clad legs, the denim hanging loosely against his flesh, an odd sight considering the other boys around her often wore pants so tight she feared for their safety.

As her eyes continued to move, they fell to the blonds slim fingers, the way they moved gradually along the expanse of the mic stand, the tips of them gliding over the length of the microphone itself. It was exceptionally erotic, in ways that even Kyoka, in all her gay glory, could understand. There was something about his essence, something that Kyoka realised that she now lacked. She couldn't figure out exactly why, but that was hardly on her mind in the moment as she listened to their guitarist's voice project across the room.

"Rolling on the bed with these broken hearts, insides twisting up don't let is start..." Bakugou sang lowly, his voice rough around the edges in a way that Kyoka could only expect from him.

"I want you to fuck me hard, do it right. No attachments baby, just for tonight." Bakugou's hips rolled in time with the music, making sure to apply a raw emphasis on the swear.

"My body's dozin', better wake it up. Hands on skin, cmon lets fuck." This time, when the word rolled off his tongue, his eyes flew open, gazing off to the back of the room. There was no one there, no crowd to sing to, nor any particular person in which he bared his eyes, but as Bakugou's knees dropped just enough that Kyoka could practically feel the way his legs gave out, she fleetingly wondered who it was he was picturing at the other end of the room.

"Let us speak our true intentions, mouth to mouth, no hesitating now..." The words left Kyoka's mouth in a hushed tone, more of a breath than an actual attempt at singing.

This caught Bakugou's attention, who turned his head towards her, body still hunched over, his grip upon the microphone being the only thing keeping him upright. They watched each other for a short time, observing the other for reasons neither of them understood. Until their silence was finally broken.

"Holy shit..." It was Eijirou, his eyes wide and bass guitar swinging from its strap to his side.

When she looked around, Kyoka noticed that everyone in the room was wearing nearly the same expression. If she had a mirror, she assumed that maybe, just maybe, she might even look that's way as well.

"You got it midget?" Bakugou shot casually, pulling himself straight, backing away from the mic stand in favour of once again taking ahold of his guitar.

"Uh...yeah..." Kyoka replied, dumbfounded by Bakugou's blatant lack of awareness. Did he know of the effect what he had just done was having to everyone within there current four-wall space? Or was this another one of those weird Bakugou things that Kyoka had not yet had the time to figure out?

Kyoka shifted her eyes to Midnight, who was yet to move, nor utter a single word. She stood in the middle of the room, her arms still shrugged over her breast, facial expression stagnant.

"That's what you need." Midnight spoke suddenly, not bothering to look up at any of them, before swiftly turning on the heals of her boots, "Find it again, or get B to find it for you, I don't care, but have it before Saturday, or Electric Moment's hiatus will become a permanent disband."

There silence continued as they waited for Midnight to make her exit, shortly followed by Aizawa who looked back at them, facial expression unreadable, before he closed the door behind the both of them, once again leaving the youngsters to their own devises.

"I'm sorry guys...I guess I'm just a little rusty." Kyoka mumbled, letting a gentle laugh escape as her hand came up to the back of her head, rubbing her hair nervously, "I'll fix it by Saturday for the concert, swear."

"We know you will Kyo, don't worry, she's just being a picky bitch like usual." Hanta claimed in a comforting tone, calming the rapid beating of Kyoka's heart just enough that she no longer felt that she may be suffocating in her own insecurities. Hanta was good with words, even if most of the things that came from mouth on the daily were idiotic, but she was still slightly embarrassed. She'd been outdone by Katsuki Bakugou, a boy who didn't seem to have a sensual or romantic bone in his body. It was almost laughable.

"Are we all just gonna stand here and ignore the fact that Bakugou can fucking sing?!" Denki shot, pointing his drum sticks around accusingly at each of them. This caused Kyoka to laugh, rolling her eyes and once again looking over at Bakugou, who stood silently off to the side, fingers messing with the strings of his guitar.

"Denki's right bro, that was fucking crazy, why didn't you ever mention it before?" Eijirou's expression was bright as he moved to stand by Bakugou, pressing his fist against the other boys arm affectionately.

Bakugou rolled his eyes, pushing the flat of his palm against Eijirou's face, forcing him backwards and out of his immediate vicinity.

"It's fucking whatever. Anyone can do it if they fucking try, idiot." He snapped, but Kyoka didn't miss the dust of pink that Bakugou was trying to hide with a tip of his chin towards the roof.

The insult didn't seem to affect Eijirou, who laughed playfully in response. That was until he took hold of Bakugou's wrist, hooking a boot-clad foot around Bakugou's own legs, pushing the blond onto his back upon the ground with ease. Kyoka watched on as Eijirou perched himself upon Bakugou's abdomen, grinning down at the seemly shocked guitarist.

"Accept the compliment dude. Mama always taught me it was rude to be modest." Eijirou hummed, pressing his own palm against Katsuki's aggravated expression, before pushing himself back to his feet, taking his bass as Denki handed it to him.

"I wasn't being fucking modest shitty hair! And what sort of manners are they teaching you out in the fucking mountains! Are all your mother's bears?!" Bakugou hissed, flailing his arms and legs angrily from his place on the ground.

"Nope. Ones a writer and the other is a nurse." Eijirou chimed, holding his bagged bass close to his body as he leaped from the platform, shortly followed by Denki and Sero as they made their way towards the door.

"Mine runs a plant nursery." Hanta added.

"My mummy is a homemaker~" Denki mused, pivoting on his feet to look back and shoot Bakugou a teasing smile.

"I'm going to fucking murder you, you shitty-haired little!" Bakugou roared, pushing himself to his feet.

"Run Eiji!" Denki squealed, pushing the other two boys out the door with force. The three of them could be seen scrambling down the staircase as the door gradually fell shut. Kyoka couldn't help but laugh.

"My mum is a homemaker too." Kyoka added, stepping towards Bakugou, standing by his side as he glared towards the door, "She mostly cooks and takes care of my sister though. We share the cleaning."

Bakugou clicked his tongue audibly, turning to look down at Kyoka with falling anger. She assumed his outburst might have had something less to do with the embarrassment of being overpowered by Eijirou, and more to do with their brief dash of close proximity.

"Two mums..." Bakugou mumbled, trying his best to sound like his interest was less than minimal.

"Mhm." Kyoka hummed in agreement, her own eyes drifting to the door, "A little gay raised by gays."

"I didn't think..." Bakugou started, before his words trailed off into silence.

"It's not really." Kyoka answered the unspoken question, smiling fondly, "Eijirou says he had a dad when he was a younger, but apparently he was a jackass, go figure. His mum moved with him to the country for an escape, met his other mum, and the rest it history. I think it's pretty common knowledge around the people that matter. There's rumours of course, but for the most part people just think they're roommates and one of them just happens to be a divorcee with a kid."

"Femme fatale." Bakugou muttered from beside her, dragging Kyoka's attention back to his face.

"What?" She questioned, scrunching her nose up in a confused manner.

"It means fatal woman." Bakugou explained, turning to blink down at Kyoka, "That's what you need. A muse. A reason to sing."

That's all he said before making his way off the platform, once again cradling the handle of his guitar bag within his fingers. Kyoka watched silently as Bakugou made his exit, pulling the door closed behind him, not allowing to let it slam. A subtle gesture that warmed Kyoka's chest. Maybe Bakugou wasn't quite as bad as she'd first imagined. Maybe, being close to him wouldn't be too terrible either.

She let her mind dwell for some time on what Bakugou had just told her. She made no move to leave like the others, only standing on the edge of the platform, mind reeling over all the things that could have changed the way she sang.

A muse, huh?

-

Momo had always disliked the lighting they chose to use within high-end clothing stores. They always seemed to emit a blinding white glow, and there was never just one, but a dozen of them scattered across various areas on both the roof and walls. They made her head feel airy, pulling her brain away from reality so that she felt more like she was floating in space than trying on outfits.

The lighting within bridal stores was the worst of all. Everything in her line of sight were various shades of white and pale creme, and the lights that bounced off each surface become all the more unbearable. It made her feel like she was floating amongst the clouds, the blistering sun only a few feet away, baking her in it's light. It was overheating, intolerable. She sometimes wished she would fall through their surface, and never stop falling.

"I like that one." A voice commented from before her, causing Momo to pull her gaze from the floor, looking over at her closest female friend, Itsuka Kendo, whom sat across the room amongst a mess of delicate throw pillows and expensive linens.

Itsuka's fiery orange locks were folded neatly over her shoulder, a tiny braid tangling through it's waves. She was clothed much more casually than they would be in the public eye, shrugged into an oversized shirt and patterned leggings, bare feet tucked amongst the couch cushions provided by the store.

Shouto sat not far to her side, arms crossed over his chest, eyes partially focused in a mild interest. The ambience of the room only proved to make him appear all the more beautiful, which had Momo smiling for the first time since they'd begun this session. He looked back at her, sharing a shy smile, before looking away, causing Momo to laugh out, rolling her eyes.

The dress she was currently trying on was fitted at her waist, sleeveless and decorated with a variety of miniature crystal pieces along the breast. The skirt spread wide and considerably broad, making it difficult for Momo to move too far without fearing she may step off the platform. Running her fingers along it, she could feel the the price of the tulle simply from touch and for a moment she wondered if she'd ever be able to feel this beautiful again, but instead with the unknown buzz of unconditional love running amongst her chest, instead of standing before her future husband, who just happened to be someone she'd rather be a bridesmaid to than the actual bride.

"I like it too..." she expressed, turning her gaze back to Itsuka, twirling once upon her feet to show off the dresses dipped back and finer details.

"Isn't it kind of weird for the groom to be here when you try on your dresses?" Itsuka teased, pushing herself to her feet to make her way over to Momo, running her own finger's along the dress's immense shirt.

"It's because I have better fashion sense than the two of you." Shouto muttered, raising his eyebrow towards his friends.

Both the girls began to laugh, not bothering to correct him where they knew he was probably right. This side of Shouto Todoroki, the one that was more than silence and brooding gazes, was a special side of the boy that only they were allowed to see. Just like how to the outside Momo and Itsuka were probably seen as the dignified and well rounded daughters of their respectable families, Shouto was seen as the handsome son of the Todoroki family. A boy of little words, but who gained more than enough attention.

Sometimes when Momo thought about it, it was almost hilarious. The way people clung to some odd speculation about a person simply from what they could observe from the outside. The internet and magazines wrote Shouto as this dark and mysterious man, who spoke only when spoken too, and never really gave definitive answers. In reality she knew that Shouto was simply shy. That strangers made him nervous, and that his ability to form sentences generally flew right out the door the moment he felt any sort of pressure, but she would never tell anyone that.

"So then what's your opinion Mr. Fashion Expert?" Itsuka chimed, turning to him, laying her head upon the fabric of the shirt where Momo's thigh would be, head sinking amongst the fabric. Momo ran her fingers through the girl's hair, smiling down at her fondly, before turning her gaze back to Shouto.

"Well, I think you look pretty in anything Mo, but this one sure suits you the best." He explained, leaning forward in his seat to chest his chin within his hands, elbows on his knees.

"Why thank you my lovely, and doting fiancé." Momo gushed playfully, slipping her feet from the platform, allowing Itsuka to begin unzipping the dress from the back, "You talk to your boyfriend like that?"

Shouto's face began to warm, Momo could almost feel it within the metre range between the pair. Shouto had never been very good with boys, nor talking about his personal life, even with his friends. His shy demeanour extended even as far as that, which often meant that Itsuka and Momo had to push any information they wanted from him with force. They generally always got their way though.

"Wait..." Itsuka screeched, pulling herself from her place hidden in Momo's sea of tulle, "Boyfriend?! Why was I not informed of this romantic revelation?"

"That's because Midoriya isn't my boyfriend." Shouto defended, refusing to look their way, "He's just a boy...that I'm talking to..."

"Shou, you gave him your line details. You never give those to anyone." Momo reminded him, slipping easily from the dress, stretching her long legs over the base off the shirt, pushing it to the side, "You've been messaging him nonstop."

"Okay now I'm really offended!" Itsuka gasped, holding her hands against the centre of her chest, "Shouto Todoroki gave a boy his Line details? This is huge!"

"It's really not..." Shouto mumbled, taking ahold of one of the throw-pillows, pressing it close to his chin, ducking his face gently into its soft embrace.

"Wait...was this the night you snuck off in Roppongi and then refused to tell me where you'd been the entire night?!" Itsuka squeaked, glaring at Shouto, the accusation making the boy squirm against his pillow.

"I...I spilled my drink on him..." Shouto explained quietly, looking up at his friends from beneath hooded lids, "But he apologised to me, for getting in my way...and he was just so damn cute...and I don't know, it just kind of happened..."

Momo grinned softly down at Shouto, pulling her shirt over her head, before kneeling down before him, her bare thighs pressing together as she took Shouto's hands within her own. Her eyes wandered over his expression, the way his eyes wrinkled around the edges as he attempted to look as far from at her face as he could manage. She reached to run the tips of her fingers along the scar that decorated the outline of his eye, the remnants of a memory they both chose to push to the back of their minds. This was her best friend. The same shy and unpredictable Shouto that she'd played with under conference tables and amongst the halls of tall buildings. The same person she'd grown up wishing she could be, mimicking his faux confidence and pride. This was her Shouto, and he deserved nothing but the world.

"We're proud of you Shou, this is a big step for you." She whispered, briefly turning to Itsuka who nodded her agreement silently, "Anyone that you find so remarkable, must be someone really special."

"He's great." Shouto muttered, a timid smile making its way amongst his facial features, "He...moved here from the coast with his friends he calls Kacchan and Ochako...he's studying forensics in school and he reads a lot of translated western comics books..."

"He sounds like a big nerd, at least you too have that in common." Itsuka spoke, scrunching her eyes up gleefully.

"He...invited me to a concert on Saturday. He said his friend Kacchan just jointed as their guitarist and wants me to come along with him and his friends..." Shouto explained, moving to lean his back against the back of the couch, "He said that you guys can come with me...and if you don't mind...I really want you to."

Momo nodded her head slowly as she listened to Shouto speak, the sudden invitation to do something outside their norm, sending a shiver up her spine. Unlike Itsuka, who's parents were rather lenient and and trusted her wholeheartedly, or Shouto who just completely disregarded his fathers rules completely, she had always been kept on a pretty tight leash. Even now, as an adult who knew she had much more freedom that she previously held, she never strayed too far off the course that she'd been set from birth. She always turned down her friends invitations to go out at night, but this time, she could sense Shouto's need for a comforting presence.

"Okay...we'll be there. It sounds fun."

-

Bakugou wasn't sure what had triggered his sudden urge to give Kyoka any sort of advice about her singing, nor could he quite figure out what had possessed him to intervene when Midnight was clearly making Kyoka uncomfortable with her unneeded speech about singing like she was trying to seduce the audience, but what he did know is that he totally regretted his choice to sing in front of that room of people. It's not like singing was something he hated, but it wasn't necessarily something he enjoyed enough to have others hassling him about it.

He let a deep rush of air escape through his lips, one he'd been holding in his chest since the elevator had past around the third floor on its decent to the ground. He exited the elevator swiftly the moment the doors slipped open, moving with the intention of catching the next train back to his apartment before he was able to perform anymore out-of-characters bursts of spontaneous behaviour, but before he even made it out the front door of the building, his path was obstructed by a large wall of bright hair and bare skin. When he gazed up, he noticed Kirishima was staring directly at him, fingers wrapped around a convenience store bag, contents presumably purchased from the Lawson's next door, his teeth digging into the pink skin of his bottom lip.

"Hey Bakugou." He greeted casually, his upper body still wrapped in a layer of Bakugou's own time-worn jacket, "The guys and I were wondering if you wanted to come to the arcade with us? To celebrate?"

Katsuki stared back at Kirishima for what felt like a solid minute or two, his eyes subtly rolling over the sheer amount of bare skin that could be seen between the gaps in Kirishima's clothes. His mind really was completely out of whack today, and his personality was taking a shift into an unknown territory that he didn't quite enjoy. It was too open, and he refused to let it continue.

"Celebrate what Spikes, your graduation from the school of how to completely forget how to dress yourself for the public eye?" Katsuki grunted, trying to push past Kirishima, but failing to push himself between the edge of the door and the other's muscular upper arm.

"Rude! I happen to look great, anyway, Midnight." Kirishima spoke again, as if that was any kind of explanation, "She called you B...in the band, we all go by a letter from the English alphabet that matches our name...it means she accepts you as one of us, dude."

"Yeah well, I don't need that bitches acceptance anyway." Katsuki scoffed, stepping back once he realised there was no way he was going to be able to slip past, "What is it that you want again exactly Hair-For-Brains?"

"I told you, I wanted to know if you want to come to the arcade with us." Kirishima perked again, lifting the bag he had in his grasp so that it was right in front of Katsuki's face, "Ice cream?"

"I don't like sweet shit." Bakugou declined, shoving the bag from his view, "And I have somewhere to be."

"Aw c'mon dude! You're one of us now! At least come hang out for a little!" Kirishima whined, his expression changing to appear more like that of a kicked puppy that a little punk boy in a well-known band.

Katsuki scoffed outwardly, but it was more at himself than Kirishima. He scolded himself for being so insanely week towards pretty boys with soft expressions and kind eyes. It was something he'd spent years trying to get over, but for some reason Kirishima just seemed to press all the right buttons. He could probably ask Katsuki to do anything and he would do it -even if it took a little coaxing.

"Eijirou!" A voice cried from down the street, catching both the boy's attention as they stepped out from the doorway and onto the sidewalk, "If you don't hurry up all the high school kids will hog the good games!"

It was Kaminari, standing beside Sero at the corner of the road, waving his arms frantically in their direction. The moment he noticed Katsuki follow Kirishima out the studio door, Katsuki instantly saw his expression falter. At least Sparky was one person he never had to worry about trying to drag him around by his collar, even if it was because he dislikes Katsuki immensely.

"Coming guys!" Kirishima called back, causing Katsuki to cringe as an old woman passing by shot them a death glare, which only made Kirishima laugh, bowing a polite apology, before reaching to encase Katsuki's hand within his own, dragging him through the lines of people that made their way down the street. They swerved unevenly through hoards of busy shoppers and suit-tight business men, thankfully making it to the other boys without causing a head-on collision.

"Hey you know I never said I was coming Shitty Hair!" Katsuki yelled, momentarily ignoring the other two boys that were present.

"Mm, but you also never said that you weren't, so I made your mind up for you." He chided, his hand slipping from Katsuki's, before he shoved the plastic bag that he had maintained in his other, towards Kaminari who caught it with ease, pulling what looked like an ice cream from the inside, before passing it over to Sero with a little more care.

"So we're still going to the arcade right? Because they just released the new Gudetama gatcha prizes and I'm going pretty damn well with my current collection." Kaminari spoke around a mouthful of creamy-brown dairy solid, some of it slipping down his jaw messily.

"Oh yeah! I love that little guy! You'll let me have some of your spares right?" Kirishima enthused, the bag finally making it back to his own hands so that he could pull from it what looked like a fruit flavoured popsicle.

Katsuki watched silently as he pulled it from it's wrapper, the pale-yellow frozen food making it's way to his lips quicker than Katsuki could have imagined possible. He never understood it, how people could stand the taste of something so sweet against their tongue. He'd never liked the flavour of sweet things, even when he was a small child and his father would attempt to bribe him with a series of candy or chocolates, it never succeeded.

He soon felt the unmissable chill of said stick-handled confectionary against his bottom lip, pulling him from the odd trance he had fallen into from watching Kirishima's movements. He snapped his head back.

"Oi, what did I say tell you before?" He grumbled, turning his nose up as Kirishima merely pushed the object back towards his face again.

"It's not sweet, its sour, promise, just try." Kirishima pleaded, waving the popsicle by it's wooden handle, droplets of it's sticky residue sliding as long the contours of his fingers.

Katsuki silently cursed himself once more as he pushed his face forward, taking the icy object between his teeth, roughly biting into it's surface and pulling his head back quickly. The frozen substance hurt his teeth, causing his nose to scrunch up in a defence to mask the pain. Once it had cooled enough in his mouth, melting against the warmth of his tongue, he swallowed it down, all while making direct eye contact with Kirishima, who stood in shock before him.

"Tastes like crap." Katsuki spoke once he swallowed, tongue running along both his lips to clean his mouth of any remaining sour taste.

Kirishima pulled the popsicle back, sticking it between his own lips, laughing around it as he eyed Katsuki with an unreadable gaze, before chucking the not-yet-empty plastic bag towards him.

"I got you a can of coffee from the vending machine. I thought I was right in assuming you're more into bitter tastes." He spoke, making a move to push between Katsuki's body and Kaminari, heading towards where Katsuki believed the nearest arcade was probably located.

"Bitter Bakugou." Sero spoke up, shooting Katsuki a wide-toothed grin, before speaking again, quieter as he turned to Kaminari, "Bitter-gou."

"No man." Kaminari huffed, laughing at his friend rather than with him, before turning on his heal to follow after Kirishima.

"Dude are you serious?! That was one of my best ones yet!"

Every bone in Katsuki's body screamed for him to bail out now. He had the opportunity after all. He could just run off, leave the group of delinquents to their own devices, and head home to catch up on some extra study, or even practice a little. But as he watched Kirishima make his way down the path, empty popsicle skin hanging to his side, for some reason his legs were moving regardless of his mind's pleas to bail out.

Maybe Katsuki hadn't changed that much at all.

-

The inside of the arcade was surprisingly loud for somewhere that seemed to sound nowhere near so from the outside. It was probably louder than it usually was during the day, now that school had concluded and the children who were allowed post-school roaming were out and about, spending their pocket money, or maybe even their earnings from a part-time job.

Regardless of this, the arcade itself wasn't as packed as Katsuki had expected it to be. It wasn't his first time being in one since his move to Tokyo, but they still weren't his favourite places in the word. They reminded him a lot of a club, but with far more children and less nice-tasting drinks, unless the drink bar at the other end of the room counted for anything, which it didn't.

"Hanta!" Kirishima called above the noise, jumping to wrap an arm around his friend's shoulder, who stood before a UFO crane machine, hand around the joystick, "You should win me that fat cat plush!"

"No way man." Hanta let down, pushing his finger against the games release button, watching as the claw descended towards his goal prize, "I'm trying to win one for that cute girl over there. I saw her fail at it a couple minutes ago."

"Stingy." Kirishima whined, abandoning Sero's side to make his way over to Bakugou, who until this point had most just been wandering around aimlessly, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans, watching his band mates mess around like children amongst the groups of actual children who's voices were driving him crazy.

"Hey Bakubro!" He greeted.

Kirishima's arms were once again bare, Katsuki's jacket wrapped tightly around his waist, concealing just slightly more skin than his make-shift shirt and shorts combination were able to. It was understandable, the air surrounding this part of the arcade was unreasonable warm, especially compared to the breeze outside or the aircon vents near the Pachinko machines.

"You'll win me something right? I'm terrible at this stuff and Hanta is too busy trying to pick up girls that are way out of his league." Katsuki scoffed in response.

"Those things are just a huge waste of money, you can shove it up your ass." Katsuki responded, watching as Kirishima looked around the room forlornly as he spoke.

"Aw, please! Look you can even do that cheap one over there! It's only a hundred yen!" He begged, walking past Katsuki to a smaller crane machine that sat along a row of those that looked similar to it. It's prizes looked shitty, but that's probably why it was so cheap, they were made for kids after all.

"That's a kids machine idiot, why the hell do you want something from there?" Katsuki mocked, walking over to the machine, squinting his eyes as he tried to figure out what the little things inside even were.

"Because I don't care what it is!" Kirishima said honestly, turning to smile over at Katsuki, their close proximity making Katsuki's chest flutter.

Katsuki sighed, reaching into the back pocket of his jeans, shoving his guitar case into Kirishima's arms. He had to hunch his back in order to play, which only worked to make him feel like a even bigger loser as he inserted one hundred yen, watching the machine come to life. It was a free movement type, so he took his time moving the joystick around enough that he knew there was no way he wouldn't be able to win one of the small rubber objects inside the case. He slammed the button down, smirking as the claw reached down, taking ahold of a group of the prizes, before gradually creeping back up, only to drop them all before it could reach the drop-off point.

"What the fuck?!" Katsuki growled, ignoring the disapproving gazes of a group of mothers to his right, who were patiently waiting for their children as they played the nearby games. That should have been an easy win. Clearly this thing was fucking broken.

Katsuki huffed, reaching to pull another one hundred yen coin from his wallet, slipping it in an activating his second attempt. It too, failed miserably, which lit a fire inside Katsuki's body that he was unable to extinguish. He shook as many coins as he could from his wallet, ignoring Kirishima's consoling voice that was trying to tell him that it was okay that he hadn't won him anything. Fuck that shitty-haired loser, this was now between him and the machine.

Katsuki inserted every remaining hundred yen join that he had into the slot, ounce again waiting for the machine to come to life, before he moved the joystick roughly, slamming the claw down into a pile of the prizes, watching as they tumbled over the edge into the opening, the claw itself still coming out clean. So that's how this thing wanted to play it, huh? For the remainder of his turns, Katsuki followed the same process. Moving the claw to the edge of the drop zone, and slamming the button down, watching the movement of the claw shift the pile of prizes out of place, causing them to tumble into the opening.

By the end of it, he was reaching down and pulling just under a dozen of what he now recognised as small rubber bird creatures from the prize slot, smirking proudly down at them, before shoving them all into Kirishima's grasp, watching a few of them fall to the ground out of his grip.

"Hope you like your shitty birds, Spikes, because they were so not fucking worth it."

Kirishima made a soft sound of joy, holding the onslaught of birds within his hands, staring down at them with a positively stupid expression.

"They were totally worth it! I love them!" He gushed, reaching an arm out in front of himself, gently lining each bird up along the surface of his forearm to his wrist.

Katsuki couldn't help but raise his brows as he watched the other poke each of the small birds one-by-one, eyes glimmering almost as brightly as his smile. It was ridiculous, that something so small could draw such and intense and intoxicating set of emotions. What was even more ridiculous was the fact that Katsuki couldn't look away. That he didn't want to look away. That someone who had just started out as a somewhat attractive acquaintance, that Katsuki occasionally replied to on social media, could in this moment appear so utterly beautiful in the strangest way possible. He silently cursed himself once more.

"Hey look, this one kinda looks like Mina." Kirishima announced, pointing towards one of the rubber birds upon his arm.

The bird he was referring to was a soft lavender colour, the tips of its wings tinted yellow, fluffy painted feather details in a pastel pink that looked vaguely similar to his roommates carnation-pink hair. Katsuki held in a snort, staring down at the prize with a vague expression.

"Ooh and this one looks like Denki!" Kirishima keened eagerly, poking a bright yellow bird with the tip of his finger, "And this one looks kinda like you dude."

Kirishima's comment caught Katsuki's attention, pulling his eyes to a pale yellow bird that sat neatly upon the red-head's wrist. It was just as round and ugly as the others, with a bright orange beak and two little black lines where it's eyebrows would be, vertically inverted and making the small creature appear angry compared to the plasmid expressions of the others.

"The fuck?" Katsuki growled quietly, lifting his hand to flick the bird upon the floor, "Bird's don't even have eyebrows, are they stupid?"

Kirishima flinched as the tiny rubber bird rolled across the floor, causing him to drop the others, watching as they bounced in different directions. Kirishima gasped audibly, bending down as far as the bag containing his bass upon his back would allow him to, collecting each of the birds and cradling them back in his arms. He plucked a crimson coloured one from the pile, cradling it within his palm.

"This red one can be me!" He gleamed, holding it up towards Katsuki, who had refused to move from his place standing against the machines.

"I have two of them..." he explained further, pushing himself to his feet without much struggle using only the power of his legs, an act that may-or-may-not have made Katsuki's stomach flip a little, "You can have this one."

"Wait, what?" Katsuki questioned, flicking his gaze back up from Kirishima's thighs, to the prize cradled within his palm.

Kirishima pressed forward, shoving it within Katsuki's grasp, not allowing anytime for Katsuki to refuse. The bird was a dark red, with a lighter red scattered amongst it's roughly painted details. It's eyes were much calmer than the one they'd been speaking about previously, it's eyebrows heightened and alert. It was a stupidly happy looking thing, and in fact it did remind Katsuki of Kirishima.

Katsuki moved to shove it deep within his pocket, hoping that his embarrassment wasn't written too prominently upon his features. Why was he embarrassed in the first place? He was the one who'd paid to win the stupid things. Technically they all belonged to him anyway.

When he looked up once more, Kirishima was on his phone, doing what appeared to be a mini-photo shoot with his hideous little prize birds, each of them resting pressed together upon his wide palm. Then came the gasp, and Katsuki prepared himself for another tumble of rubber and intolerable squeaking, but it never came. Instead, Kirishima shoved each of the birds within the pocket of Katsuki's jacket that was still wrapped tightly around his middle.

"This place has the new Resident Evil Simulator!" Kirishima cried, moving to grip Katsuki's guitar case, which he had leant upon one of the machines, before taking Katsuki's own hand within his for the umpteenth time today, threading their fingers and pulling the blond through the rows of claw machines and arcade games, "Denki just sent me a picture on Snapchat! You're gonna love this!"

-

In fact, Katsuki did love this. When they had arrived Kirishima had dropped his hand, standing in front of a row of three spherical machines, curtains covering their entrances. The intention was to obviously enter them to use the simulation, but at that moment they all appeared occupied. This didn't stop Kirishima from opening the curtain of the first one, apologising to the Highschool aged couple who seemed to have been using it as a secluded place to fool around, before moving to the second and flipping the curtain open as well, his stupid face beaming as he discovered both Kaminari and Sero inside.

"C'mon let me and Bakugou have a turn!" He begged, gripping Kasminari's shirt and pulling him from within the machine. Sero himself existed without complaint, laughing in Kirishima's direction.

Once Kirishima had pulled Katsuki inside, he noticed that the ball contained two seat before a set of two controllers, similar to those you would get with a home gaming console. The screen in front of them was wide, yet dim, giving the whole machine and eery feeling. When they curtains were closed, their shoulder's pressed together, Katsuki could practically feel the exact environment that the machines creators were trying to achieve.

This time, Kirishima paid, slipping coins into the slots beneath both controllers, watching enthusiastically as the screen split in two, indicating duel player mode.

When the game began, Katsuki soon realised it was some kind of zombie first-person-shooter simulation, and he instantly became engrossed within it. Katsuki was very competitive by nature, so this was the sort of thing that really got his blood pumping. He found himself leaning forward in his seat, eyes never leaving the screen, even when Kirishima died and had to insert more coins inside the slot. It was deadly, and exciting and Katsuki was kicking ass.

"Holy shit dude, you're pretty damn good at this!" Kirishima complimented, pressing the buttons on his controller with slightly less force than Katsuki, but still succeeding in assisting to take down the current swarm.

"Damn right I am Shitty-shima, I'm a god at everything I do." Katsuki replied, letting a growl fall from his lips as he began smashing the buttons in an attempt to take down the games next boss.

"You guys have been in here forever!" Kaminari's voice could be heard from Kirishima's side of the machine, and Katsuki could briefly see the flash of light that came with the curtain being opened.

"Bakugou hasn't died yet." Kirishima defended, causing Kaminari to scoff.

"Bullshit, no way, move your asses it's our turn!" Kaminari whined, attempted to pull Kirishima from the machine, to no avail.

Instead, both Kaminari and Sero took hold of Kirishima, hauling him towards Katsuki in an attempt to push him through the curtain on the other side of the pond. Kirishima flailed his legs, landing upon Katsuki's lap and disrupting his kill, causing Katsuki to die. The blond hissed within Kirishima's ear, which was surprisingly close seeing Kirishima was basically in Katsuki's lap, kicking at the other side of the machine as Kaminari and Sero pushed themselves inside.

"You made me die Shitty-Hair!" Katsuki scolded darkly, the controller falling from his grip as he wrapped his arms around Kirishima's waist in an attempt to push him from his person.

"It wasn't my fault! It was theirs!" Kirishima defended, beginning to laugh as Katsuki's finger's grazed the bare skin of his hips, the tips of them pressing into his belly.

"You owe me a game smiles!" Kirishima growled towards Sero, who now sat where Kirishima had once been, Kaminari sitting neatly upon his lap, cradling the second controller.

"Hey this was all Denki's doing." Sero blamed, causing Kaminari to smirk.

"Well seeing Kirishima's seems to think you're so damn unstoppable Bakugou, why don't I pay for us, and whoever dies first is the loser?" Kaminari offered, shooting Bakugou a challenging gaze.

"You're on." Katsuki responded easily, immediately moving his hands from Kirishima's side, reaching past the boy's frame to once again grip the controller, "You're big head's in the way Red."

Kirishima's giggled pulled to a quiet stop as he adjusted himself within Katsuki's lap. In reality, he'd been hoping Kirishima would choose to move and actually exit the pod, but seeing the stubborn guy appeared to have no intention to do so, Katsuki let one hand fall from the controller just long enough to spin Kirishima properly in his lap by the boys hip, pushing down on his abdomen so that his back sat flat upon Katsuki's front, his head off to the right side of Katsuki's shoulder so that he could look past it.

"Don't move or I'll kill you." Katsuki threatened, gripping the controller properly once more, just in time for the game to begin.

Kirishima sat comfortably there for the remainder of the session, which lasted surprisingly long. Kaminari was actually pretty good at the game, and just like Katsuki, he seemed to be pretty competitive. Kirishima didn't get in his way much, sitting still against him, only wiggling occasionally to adjust himself into a more comfortable position. At one point Katsuki swore he felt Kirishima's hand idly sliding along the edges of Katsuki's thighs where the redhead's own body wasn't covering his jeans, but he refused to look down from the game to check.

In the end, Katsuki won, of course. His only prize being bragging rights against Kaminari, which was a satisfying achievement within it self. Someone might even say out loud that the way Kirishima turned to him when the game ended, his arms wrapping around Katsuki's shoulder's in a playful embrace, might have even been a prize too, but that person wasn't Katsuki Bakugou.

-

(Snapchat) New Snap from Red Riot

Katsuki's eyes feel to his phone, which sat to his side upon his bed as he rested upon it, crossed legged, typing away at an essay on his laptop. He reached to take his phone in his hand, sliding the notification along and waiting as it loaded upon his screen.

It was a picture of a line of the dumb squeaky bird's that he'd won for Kirishima earlier that afternoon. A red circle around both the light yellow one and the red one that matched the bird that Katsuki had sitting on his desk at the other end of his room. The caption reading:

"Red Birb and Angry Bird sit together, because they like each other the most."

Katsuki locked his phone instantly, letting the device fall upon the surface of his bedding once more.

Stupid Kirishima.

-

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Notes:

Hakone is quite touristy due to the fact that it has a wonderful view of Mt Fuji, and so many lovely onsens. It's wonderful, and even if you guys google it to just have a look at some pictures, I'm sure you'll agree. It's lovely to visit in winter to keep warm, and summer to see Fuji-san in all her glory. It's also near the coast, and if anyone is into Love Live!, it's not too far from where Sunshine!! is set.

Onsens are bathhouses, places for people bath in groups, or even in private. Lovely up in the cold of the Fuji area, but you can find them anywhere in Japan. Tokyo even has an onsen theme park.

Kacchan growled at Kyoka, because it's rude to walk while eating or drinking. Also Kyoka didn't light her cigarette, because she knew Kacchan would growl at her for that too. Japan has designated smoking areas, especially on the street. You have to use those, or you're being rude one again.

Love Hotel's are...well you can look it up, and no, Kiri doesn't actually work at one.

Lawson's, like Family Mart and Mini Stop, are convinience stores. Seven Eleven's are also really popular. Lawson's are also the ones that most do a lot of Evangelion merchandising and promotions, which always land them in my good books thats for sure.

Gacha machines are capsule prize machines. Y'know like where you put some coins in and turn the thing and a little ball comes out with something inside? Gacha is actually an onomatopoeia for the noise the machines make. Plus it's just super fun to say.

Gudetama is by far my favourite Sanrio characters, which is the company that do Hello Kitty. He's a little lazy egg. Me, me af. I am Gudetama, but his merch is super cute, especially the gacha series they come out with.

Japanese schools are privately owned, which I dunno if that familiar to anyone, but to me that was different, because in Australia only Private schools aren't run by the government. All public schools are government based. Anyways, the post-school roaming thing was mentioned, because it's common for certain schools to encourage their students to go home after class or club activities, and they can get into trouble for roaming about, so yeah.

Pachinko machines can often be found in arcades for the fun of gaming, but are more commonly a gambling device found in parlours where adults go to waste their money. In australia similar machines are called pokies, but they're better known to most people as slot machines. Though, I'll tell you now that Japanese ones are off-the-charts crazy with cut scene movies from different anime, all the way to being so intensely mechanical that they almost scary. My fiancé gets upset, because I refuse to play them with her. I'm not lucky guys, I would just lose anyways.

The rubber bird story is actually based off a real life event. I'm not that great at UFO machines (crane or claw machines to people outside Japan), and the easiest way to win smaller prizes is to just smash a pile of them and watch them tumble down (This is a real technique, trust me.) Anyway, I won myself and fiancé a bunch of small rubber birds, which drove her insane, because I would squeak them constantly. I eventually gave a majority of them away to three siblings on the trains, they shared their candy with me c:

The Pod games are actually really cool, I'm not sure if you get them outside Japan, but the new Resident Evil one is amazing, and too easy to get hooked on. It really easy to fall into the world.