#it really confuses me because surely we couldn't have made any changes throughout the loops that somehow changed the past

[blooky8]

i highly doubt we have a single allo person on the team

[wlwmarvelenthusiast]

Just Doin’ My Job, Darlin’

Summary: Your job as a Ravager gets you into trouble with the intergalactic hero known as Captain Marvel.

Pairing: Reader x Carol Danvers

Warnings: some blood, light violence

Words: 3,547

"Uh... hey," you practically stuttered out, startled to find someone behind you.

You were a ravager, and you were damn good at your job. That meant knowing your surroundings, especially when you were on a job. Yet, somehow, she'd managed to sneak up on you. If you hadn't been quick enough to shove the ring deep into your pocket, you'd have been caught red-handed.

You were damn good at your job, and you composed yourself in seconds. The ring slipped out from where it was clutched between your fingers and you withdrew your hands from within your pockets. You plastered a confident smile on your face as you crossed your arms across your chest.

"Hey there," the blonde offered, an equally confident smile on her face. "What's up?"

"Nothin'," you shrugged, uncrossing your arms and looping your thumbs through the belt loops on your pants. "Taking a walk. Beautiful night, isn't it, Beautiful?"

The blonde's eyes sparkled in amusement. She took a few steps closer. Confidence still coursing through your veins, you let her. You didn't make any move to back down. She noticed that. When she stopped, she was only a few feet away from you. Another step and she could have reached out and touched you.

The blonde's lips crept into a cocky expression. "Beautiful night indeed."

You didn't dare make it obvious how you were checking out the area for the second time. When you'd entered, you'd made note of every entrance and exit to the area. The blonde was blocking the one that lay directly ahead, but not the one behind you. That was free for you to turn and run to. You just needed to wait. If you went now, she'd be right behind you and able to catch up to you in mere seconds.

"Headed somewhere? I could walk you?" She offered. "You know, Fennal isn't always safe at night."

"I'm just going up the street. I'm good thanks."

You could feel the ring pressed against your leg in your pocket. You knew she knew you were up to no good. You also knew that she knew you knew she knew. Neither of you would say that aloud, though. It was a bit of a game, at this point. She wanted that little piece of jewelry in your pocket. You wanted it too. No, you wanted the pay you were promised for stealing it.

"You sure? I'm probably headed in the same direction."

"I doubt it," you laughed.

The blonde smirked a little. You kept your eyes with hers, unable to ignore just how beautiful her light brown irises really were. But you wouldn't tell her that. You wouldn't tell her jack shit. You were waiting for her to get distracted for one brief moment so that you could turn and sprint down that alley. It seemed your wishes were heard.

"Hey, Carol!" A voice called.

The blonde, Carol, let her gaze flicker toward the voice for a mere millisecond and you took the opportunity to turn and dart as fast as you could down the alley behind you. Your ears strained to hear over the sound of your own shoes hitting the gravel beneath your feet. Unmistakably, though, you heard the set of footsteps chasing after you. You pushed even harder.

You ducked through a backyard, pushing out of your way a jacket that was hanging on a clothesline. At the other side of the yard, you hopped over the fence and landed smoothly on the ground on the other side. But now, you didn't hear Carol's steps. You didn't risk slowing down. You kept onward in the direction of your pod.

As you ran, you became aware of your shadow growing in front of you. It was surrounded by a glowing orange light. Even as your lungs struggled to get enough oxygen, your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. When your shadow began to spin around your body until it was behind you, you realized why. You could have huffed aloud at the complete unfairness of the situation.

Carol was fifteen feet off the ground, surrounded by a bright orange glow. She still had that same smirk on her face as she looked down on you. You were hesitating in your step, now, not sure you could outrun her. You knew one thing, though. Despite these powers the blonde had, you weren't about to give up. You turned on your heel.

You watched your own shadow to keep track of Carol. She was following you. Your shadow shrunk and indicated she was getting closer. When your shadow began to shrink faster, you made a sharp turn to the left. The shadow grew a little as she fell behind a few feet, not prepared for the sudden change in direction. Your chest was rising and falling rapidly, but you weren't a stranger to chases. You'd had more than a few run-ins with guards from many planets throughout the galaxy.

You smirked at the sight in front of you. One of the planet's natives had just inserted the keys into a hover bike but hadn't yet gotten on. You struggled to go faster than you thought you could. You pushed him to the ground, hopped on, and immediately pushed the bike as fast as it would go. You had to grip the handles tight as your inertia tried to hold you back.

The bike seemed to rival Carol's speed. The size of your shadow in front of you stayed constant and you managed to take a quick glance behind you. Carol was high in the air, hands down by her hips, moving more quickly than a person should be able to in order to keep up with the bike you were on. Then your pod came into view and you let a small smirk come over your face. You turned to the bike made to move past the ship, then jumped off.

Pain raced through your body. You ignored it, rolling a couple times to take the impact, racing up the ramp as quick as you possibly could, and slamming your hand down on the red button to shut the hatch. Carol wasn't thirty feet away. You took the last of your energy to roll onto your back.

"Athena, max speed!" You shouted.

The AI heard. She ignored every protocol about seatbelts and closed doors as the captain's voice override her programming. The pod had a max speed of 50,000 kilometers per hour. It was nothing compared to the main ship, but it was sure faster than Carol. The ship's acceleration got the best of her, and soon enough you were barreling through space and leaving her far behind.

As it had sped up faster than physics should have allowed, though, your body had slammed into the wall behind you. You groaned as you rolled away from it, every bone, organ, and tissue in your body aching from the speed. Your organs seemed to have caught up to the ship, finally. You resisted the urge to puke as you pulled yourself to your feet, rubbing a sore shoulder and swiping your fingers over the blood dripping down your forehead.

"Thanks, Athena. Take us home."

"Roger that, Boss."

You let yourself drop into your chair. You took the black mask off from where it had rested over the top half of your face, rubbing the pad of your index finger over the spot where it had pushed into the bridge of your nose, grumbling in frustration. You could feel the indent in your skin.

"ETA?"

"Twenty-seven minutes."

Those twenty-seven minutes seemed to take forever. The pod was small. There wasn't anywhere you could lay your head back. There wasn't a damn bathroom, a fact you couldn't seem to get your mind off. When the pod had secured itself to the mothership, you practically sprinted out and to the nearest toilet.

Your red jacket was undone as you stepped onto the bridge of The Athena. It was the middle of the night based on your home planet, the time that you and your crew followed to at least keep a semblance of a schedule. Because of the time, though, most of the crew had retreated to their quarters for the night and were fast asleep.  

"Hey, Cap."

The greeting caught your attention. You turned toward the voice, smiling when you met the gaze of your first mate. He wasn't much younger than you were. He was from a planet called Dervius, having retreated from the planet to live a life with the Ravagers after living a life of poverty there for ten years, having been cast out by his family at only eight. It was your third day as the leader of your clan when you picked him up and took him in, giving him a spot in your crew. That was already five years ago and the Dervion had worked his way all the way up to first mate.

"Vyn," you greeted.

"How'd it go?"

You pulled the sparkling ring from your pocket. Vyn grinned at the sight of it. He pulled a device out of his pocket, tapping on the screen a few times and then humming quietly as he scrolled. He let out a soft exclamation of victory as he found what he had been searching for.

"Three hundred thousand. Damn, Cap. That thing can't be worth 100k."

"Well, we charge for the stealing part too, Vyn."

Vyn shrugged. "Fair enough. Why don't you go catch some shuteye? We should be back to the buyer in a few hours. Who's doing the delivery?"

"I will," you said, sticking the ring back into your pocket.

Vyn chuckled. "You know, Cap, that most clan leaders aren't so hands on with the dirty work."

"I'm not most clan leaders, Vyn," you winked. "I'm heading down to my quarters. Call for me when we get there."

︽✵︽

You straightened out your red jacket as you stepped out of your pod. You nodded at the landing strip attendant as you ventured onto the familiar planet. You whistled merrily on your way, flashing wide smiles at whoever you happened to make eye contact with. You glanced at your phone as it directed you where to go. You could have caught a ride, but you were up for a bit of a walk.

It was a half hour walk to the place you were looking for. You stepped in quietly. It was a bar, and not exactly a very nice looking one. You wouldn't be surprised if half the people in there were criminals. In fact, you wouldn't be surprised if you weren't the only Ravager in there. When you entered you pulled the mask over your face again, clipping the flames of the Ravagers over your chest.

You stepped up to the bar and ordered a drink. You took it when it came and slid into one of the booths. You'd arrived early, and knew it'd be a while before the client arrived. You scanned the area as you waited, sipping quietly as you watched the planet natives, finding entertainment in two particularly large guys fighting over who had made the illegal move in a game of darts.

"Captain Red?"

Of course, that wasn't your real name. You'd never give your real name to a client. You only nodded, gesturing to the seat across from you. He sat down and fumbled with his hands a little, clearly nervous. It wasn't an uncommon reaction. He was meeting with a thief for hire and paying a good sum of money for stolen goods.

"I have the money."

"Straight to business, I see," you hummed, sipping from your glass. "That's alright with me."

You reached into your pocket, pulling out the ring. His eyes immediately locked to it. He reached out and you pulled away, keeping the piece out of his reach. You raised a single eyebrow as his eyes moved back up to yours. You clicked your tongue as a small smile of amusement played over your lips.

"Units first."

He nodded. He pulled out a device from his pocket, pressing some buttons on it. Yours, which sat out on the table in front of you, beeped. You glanced at it to find the transfer complete. Then you nodded, placing the ring flat in your palm, and holding it out in front of you.

"Pleasure doing business with you, sir."

He grabbed the ring, nodded, and scampered out without another word. You chuckled lightly to yourself, draining what was left in your glass. You pulled the mask off again and took the pin off your chest. Everyone else in the room was too drunk to notice the change. You stepped up to the bar once more.

"I'll take another."

The bartender nodded. He filled your glass as you put a finger to the comm in your ear and let Vyn know you were going to stick around for a little fun, should anyone want to join. But the Ravagers had made their own fun the previous night and were far too hungover to think of joining you in the bar. You rolled her eyes as you lowered your hand.

"Prettiest girl in the bar, aren't ya?" A voice slurred to your left.

You turned just in time to see the man flashed you a wide grin. You nodded and tilted your head a little. "I'd expect."

"So why don't ya come sit a little closer?"

You laughed. "I'm alright just where I am."

He sneered. "Listen here-"

But a shadow appeared between you and he, cast upon the bar top. It distracted the both of you. You turned to see who had stepped up to the two of you, and your jaw could have hit the ground. But your face stayed blank as the blonde's gaze met you for just a brief second before turning back to the man who had been hitting on you. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Everything alright here?"

"'Course."

"I'd hope," she hummed. "Because I seem to remember you and I having a nice, long talk about good manners."

"We did," he coughed. He stood up, nodding at you and retreating back across the room to where his friends were all jesting and shouting, spilling their drinks on the tabletops, the floor, and themselves.

You turned your attention back to the woman who had stepped up next to you. She was taking the seat beside yours, ordering a drink for herself and another for you. You smirked a little when she turned to you. Despite your lack of a mask and the absence of the flames upon your chest, she recognized you immediately.

"Long time no see," she offered.

You chuckled. "Very. What's a Fenarian guard like you hangin' out in a place like this for, Carol?"

"Caught my name, I see," she said, accepting the drink that was slid toward her. "But the guard thing isn't quite accurate."

"Oh, no?"

That didn't get a reply. You sipped your drink, watching her the entire time. She only shrugged her shoulders, drinking from her own glass. It stayed like that for a long while. Your egos were both too big to dare be the one to break the silence that had fallen upon you. So, you drank in silence. In fact, you'd both drained your glasses before Carol finally took it upon herself to be the one to speak the first words.

"You know my name, and I don't know yours."

"That's intentional," you told her. "But if you must call me something, I usually just go by Captain. Cap works."

"That's a title, not a name."

"A fact I am well aware of, Carol."

When she didn't reply, you smirked a little. You weren't shy about the way you were eyeing her up and down. She was, to be frank, one of the most attractive women you'd ever met. She was smirking too, once your eyes had finally made their way back up to hers. You only offered a small tilt of your head in acknowledgement.

Carol stood. She placed a few coins down on the bar, enough to cover her own tab, yours, and a little more. She offered you a hand. You were confident, cocky even. You weren't one bit afraid of this woman. You put your hand into hers and let her pull you to your feet. She led you away from your stool, out the door, and into the bright sunlight of the planet. Then she kept going, moving away from the bar and leading you down the streets. At some point your fingers had intertwined with hers and now you were walking hand in hand down the streets.

"You know I didn't need anyone to save me from that guy, right?"

"A thanks might have sufficed," she replied.

"It might have," you agreed.

Finally, you both arrived back at the landing strips. She led you right back to your own pod. You hadn't yet paid the fee for having kept it parked there for the last hour and a half but, judging from the look on Carol's face, you weren't going anywhere just yet. This time it was you leading as you pulled her on board, closing the hatch behind you. Once it was closed you moved.

Your hands moved and took Carol's waist, pulling her close to you. Her body was flush against yours, her hands in your hair, as she kissed you back. She let out a soft noise as you pushed her against the wall behind her. You smirked against her lips. It was a long moment before Carol pushed you away breathlessly. But you weren't done.

Your lips moved down to her neck, bringing the skin between your lips as you sucked roughly at it. It was a full moan that tumbled from her lips this time. You wanted to laugh in victory, but instead you released the skin, running your tongue softly over the mark you'd left on her. You moved back up to her lips and pecked them once, pulling back to glance into those light brown irises.

"That all you got then, Y/N?"

"I thought you didn't know my name."

Carol rolled her eyes. "Sorry, love. I could call you Captain if you wanted."

You put a hand against her cheek. "That would be extraordinarily hot."

Carol laughed. She put her lips against yours again, kissing you once more. She spun the both of you so that you traded places. This time it was your back against the wall. You leaned into it without much fight, letting her take her turn controlling the pace of the kiss. When you finally separated, she rest her forehead against yours.

"I love you."

You laughed. "We just met."

"Oh, fuck off," she laughed too.

You brought her hand into yours, thumb gliding across the ring you'd put on her finger five years ago. Her eyes darted to the identical one on yours. Her smirk faded into a smile and she brought you hand up to her lips, kissing your knuckles softly. You leaned a little further into her touch, pecking her lips once more.

"I love you, too," you muttered against her.

She laughed. She put two fingers beneath your chin, tilting your gaze up to meet hers. You loved those eyes with that cunning sparkle in light brown irises that you'd fallen so hard for all those years ago. Just as she was about to kiss you once again, there was a banging on the outside of the pod. You huffed in frustration.

You didn't even bother going out. You quickly transferred the fee you owed electronically. The banging stopped, and so you assumed everything had gone through without a problem. You shoved the small device back into your pocket and then turned your attention back to Carol. She was watching you with amusement sparking in her eyes.

"You're cute when you're angry," she commented.

"Yeah, yeah," you rolled your eyes. "We should get out of here before someone, you know, chases me off the planet."

Carol laughed, she put her arms around your waist. "I'm Captain Marvel. I can't let some thief get away with stealing valuables. Maybe they shouldn't have run."

"Just doin' my job, darlin'," you chuckled, arms resting on her shoulders and hands linking loosely behind her neck.

She hummed softly at that, kissing you again. It had been five years and her touch still made you melt. You were sure another five years could pass and that still wouldn't have changed. Your eyes fluttered shut and your lips moved with hers and the world could have disappeared around you and you wouldn't have noticed. But it didn't. There was banging on the door again.

"I need this spot!" The attendant shouted from the other side of the door.

You huffed. You forced yourself to peel away from Carol's body. You took a seat in front of the controls, and Carol took the one next to you. You started everything up, checking that they'd recharged the battery while you'd been there. Once you were sure of everything, you lay a hand on Carol's thigh and glanced out the front window.

"Take us away, Athena," you said.

"Roger that, Captain Danvers." 

[wornoutmouse]

This is for all my self conscious thicc girls out there! Or even any girls that have weight issues with themselves

Day 15: Face Sitting

You were currently curled up on your bed, hiding under the covers as you scrolled through your phone. As much as it was hard to admit, you were hiding from your boyfriend Tanaka. He didn't do anything wrong in theory, you just noticed a few things have changed since you moved in together.

Ever since quarentine started, it's been hard for you two stay in shape since you got all your exercise from walking to work and to many of Tanaka's volleyball practices. But now there was nothing for you to do after you got layed off and the gym closed.

Because of this and the full course meals you two have been preparing, you had gained alot of weight. Your stomach bulged out hiding your punani from veiw, and you legs had doubled in size.

During this weight gain, you had noticed Tanaka's lingering gaze on your thighs whenever you sat down near him. And the way he would slowly but surely grab hold of your love handles whenever you two were cuddling unnerved you greatly.

Getting intimate had lessened as time went on.

Amongst yourself, you had scowled when you realised that throughout all that weight gain, none of it went to your breasts or buttocks, leaving you with thicc thighs and no ass. You tense as you hear the bedroom door creak open and Tanaka plop down besides you

"Babe I'm bored!" He whined and you giggle as you feel arms wrap around you through the blanket. "What do you want me to do Tana?" Pulling the blanket down, you peek up at your boyfriend with curious eyes as he glances down at you with adoration and.....something else.

"Why don't we...have some fun?" You weren't really paying attention to the tone of his voice so you continued on, "Hmmm what would you like to do then baby?" If you were paying attention, you would have noticed how Tanaka's breathing became slower and his hands started to feel around the blanket to find at least a sliver of skin.

You giggle as Tanaka bends over and kisses your face starting from your cheek, then your lips, and ending along the beginning of your neck. "I want you." You tense a little and laugh awkwardly. "Uh anything else?" Tanaka straightened up and looked at you questioning. "Is there something wrong?"

You hid your face in the blanket not wanting to have this conversation. You know it's best to communicate in a relationship but you felt silly for feeling this way so you never wanted to talk about it. "Hmm, is it that you don't feel like having sex?" Tanaka smiled, "That's fine babe, I don't need to penetrate you to feel good, can I just eat you out?"

You pondered at the thought, what would the harm in that be? "Yeah I'd like that." You respond shyly making Tanaka smirk, "Of course you would, making me do all the work while you just relax!" Your eyebrows furrowed at that last comment and you couldn't help the way your face shrunk in to itself at the thought of people considering you lazy.

Thinking more and more, you couldn't help but wonder if Tanaka would hate to have your weight on top of him. What if you smothered him? Hell you took great care of yourself regarding your baths but what if you didnt smell much less taste appetizing?!

Internally, you came to the decision to just lay down and have Tanaka in-between your legs instead of you on top.

Tanaka looked at you for a moment, well he was really looking at your thighs, and once again you're hit with an overwhelming sense of shame as you flex your legs wishing you could hide them inconspicuously. Coming to a decision Tanaka lays down flat on the bed. You stare confused at what was going on in that moment.

"Tana?" You ask poking his sides slightly. "You know you don't have to hide from me ya'know" Tanaka raises up and grabs your waist pulling you ontop of him. You lift yourself slightly not wanting to put your full weight into him.

"I see the way you look at yourself Y/N and I don't like it." Tanaka says calmly as he takes in your agitated features. "I'm sorry." You mutter cause him to shake his head. "There's nothing for your to be sorry for. I'm your boyfriend, it is my job to help your in any way I can when your need it!"

Tanaka shifts slightly making you giggle as you're lifted up with him. "Okay, so what does the doctor suggest?" You ask teasingly. Tanaka smirks and lays back down, "The doctor request that you sit on his face." You recoil at that, "Bubs I don't think that's a good idea-" Tanaka finger wags in your face, "Doctor knows best."

You roll your eyes but hesitantly remove your underwear, bracing for the worst, before slightly positioning yourself over your boyfriend's face barely low enough for him to reach you without straining his neck. You jump as you feel a warm muscle follow the expanse of your heat.

Tanaka's hands trail down your back squeezing your ass. You blush as you look down and see him staring intensely back up at you. "You're too high." He he sighed, giving up on coaxing you down through pleasure.

You spread your legs more coming down just a bit so you're almost enveloping his mouth. Tanaka isn't exactly satisfied but he decides to move on as to not push you too far, too soon. You shiver as you feel his tongue slide up your entrance, circling around your clit.

You couldn't help but feel embarrassed everytime you looked down as you watched Tanaka eat you out like a man starved yet the whole time he never ceased eye contact.

In Tanaka's mind, he was doing his part in showing you how much he loves you and no matter how you see yourself, you are still going to be his beautiful wifey. With his eyes and ears, he took in every hitch and every twitch that your body released as he brought you closer to Nirvana.

Feeling yourself get close, you shift and bring yourself away. As much as you wanted to come, you didn't feel like you'd be able to hold yourself up any longer. "That's good enough Tana.." your stutter as you try to find purchase on the headboard.

Tanaka smirks but you're unable to see it over the small swell of your stomach and thighs. Looping his arms under and over your legs, Tanaka uses all his strength and forces you down on his face, moaning at your scent invading his senses, and sweet taste coating his mouth.

Before you could object or even try to control the amount of weight being put on your lover, Tanaka begins his feast, eating you in every sense of the word. "Tana.." you moan unsure on what to do with your hands so you settle with gripping his head as you bared down on his sinful tongue.

Tanaka was in heaven as he watched you come undone and release all the stress you had allowed to accumulate for the last couple of months. He pushed his tongue in and out of you as he used the point of his nose to place teasing circles on your clit.

You were happy to admit that this was the best head you had gotten in a long while. Losing all shame you rocked your hips humping your boyfriend's head encouraging him to suck faster. You finally come hard as Tanaka gently takes your clit in between his teeth and grinds soft circles with your soft bud.

You tremble as he licks up your release before allowing you to pull off and away. Sliding down to his crotch, your stare down at him breathing hard, and take in his features. And if you were being honest, he looked more fucked out than you with his blown out eyes and mouth covered in your fluids.

"Thank you." You mumble using tissue to help wipe his face trying not to wheeze in embarrassment as he attempts to lick up the mess you made. "Anything for you mamas." He shrugs before pulling you closer in a warm embrace. "Im sorry for making you worry." Tanaka shushed you, "Nah, your human, I'd be worried if you didn't have any doubts during this shitty quarentine."

Tanaka pulls away and looked at you with adoring eyes, "Babe if you ever have doubts, you can talk to me about it. Or if your not comfortable, I'm sure you have others to talk to about as well. It's not always good to keep things bottled up."

Tanaka stands up and stretches his sore arms as he walks towards the door.

"Besides, I like em thick."

[empty-aesthetic-princess]

Choose Wisely (Eisuke Angst/Request)

bat-yo-us said to empty-aesthetic-princess: I'm feeling angsty today so can I request a scenario where eisuke and mc are having an argument . The argument didn't end well and they both went to work with bitterness.But on that day, eisuke was being targeted and at the last minute mc turn the table around and protect him and took the bullet instead. I'll leave the ending to you. Can you make this angsty please

Angst, indeed! Coming right up (:

I woke up in an empty bed for the 4th day in a row. I got changed into my work uniform somewhat reluctantly. I knew today was going to be a busy day, especially with the IVC later and I wasn’t looking forward. Plus, Eisuke had been waking up early and getting to bed late the entire week and my worry for his well-being was taking a toll on my mood as well. I walked out of our bedroom and found Eisuke already awake and fully dressed, sitting at the table and typing away on his laptop. He didn’t look up as I came in and his mouth was set in a hard line. 

I had noticed Eisuke being distant and a little cold towards me lately, but I knew how busy he was so I tried not to take it personally. However, the next words out of his mouth stopped me dead in my tracks as I went to start his morning coffee.

“I don’t want you coming to the IVC tonight”, he said matter-of-factly and without breaking eye contact from his screen.

“Why?”, I asked him, confused. It’s not as if I looked forward to the IVC or the auctions anyways, but something about the sudden retraction of my invitation bothered me. He hadn’t said “you don't need to come anymore” or anything along those lines. He had said “I don’t want you there”, and the rejection that came with that statement made my stomach drop. 

“Because I don’t want you there”. Eisuke’s eyes never met mine and it was starting to get on my nerves.

“Why?”, I asked again, letting the irritation I was starting to feel seep through in my tone. There had to be a reason. He doesn’t do anything impulsive and unexpected like this without a good reason. 

“Because I don’t, ________. Don't make me repeat myself again”, he stated flatly. His tone was mirroring mine and his jaw tensed, but he still refused to look up from that damn laptop. 

“Why can’t you look at me, Eisuke?” My voice was barely over a whisper but I know he heard me. He sighed harshly and finally looked up to meet my gaze. His eyes gave nothing away and I tried to figure why he was acting this way. His mouth had his signature scowl plastered on it and he regarded me with an agitated expression. Had I done something? I thought back over the past few days and I couldn’t think of anything, especially since we’d hardly interacted at all.

“I’m looking at you. Anything else?” He sounded bored and detached, and my heart felt heavy. I took a deep breath and tried to keep the tears that were forming in my eyes from falling. 

“Tell me why you don’t want me there”, I said, emphasizing the word that I was the most worried about. Did he just not want me at the IVC, or did he not want me at all? This was the most he had talked to me all week and even though he was seated two feet away from me, I had never felt so far away from him. He returned his gaze back to his laptop and resumed typing, muttering one single word to me.

“Coffee”. 

I felt my blood start to boil and I finally snapped. That was it? I ask for an explanation and I get an order, a command? All the loneliness and sadness I had been feeling lately quickly turned to anger as I stormed towards him and slammed his laptop shut. He looked up at me and I registered surprise on his face for a split second before his bored expression returned. 

“Are you kidding me, Eisuke?! What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you being like this? You’ve been ignoring me for days and you’re a jerk every time you do decide to give me the time of day. And now you can’t even be bothered to give me a reason? I’m tired of you treating me like I’m your property and not your girlfriend!”, I shouted, finally letting go of the suppressed emotions I’d been feeling as of late. It was a cathartic release and the tears from earlier finally spilled over, but Eisuke’s face never changed throughout my outburst. 

“If you don't like it, then leave.” 

I couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. Was this a joke? It felt like my heart had been ripped straight out of my chest. I let out an incredulous breath and took a step backward, away from the man that I loved. As if we needed any more distance right now. 

I quickly turned on my heel and headed out of the room, not once looking back at Eisuke. We had been together for over a year, and now I felt like I didn't even know who he was. And now I had to go downstairs to work and pretend like my world wasn’t turning over on its head. 

------

My shift was as busy as I figured it would be, but it did little to distract me from what had happened between Eisuke and I this morning. He hadn’t paged me all day, but I didn’t really expect him to. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time he’d paged me up to the penthouse. I guess the shitty coffee he makes for himself is better than being in the same room as me, I thought bitterly. Ugh, I had to stop fixating on this. It was taking me twice as long as usual to finish cleaning these rooms than usual, and just because I was feeling awful didn’t mean that my co-workers deserved to have to pick up my slack. I pushed all thoughts of Eisuke to the back of my mind and tried to power through the remainder of my shift.

I completed the last of the guests rooms on the floor I was assigned and realized with dread that the penthouse lounge was next. I just have to get it over with, rip it off like a bandaid.

The lounge was empty when I arrived, thankfully. I didn’t want to have to explain to Baba and Ota why I was feeling so upset. I know they both mean well, but sometimes I swear those two are too nosy for their own good. I tried to take my time as much as I could because I really didn’t want to have to go upstairs, but I dragged myself up there anyways.

I slowly opened the door to our room but Eisuke wasn’t there. That was probably for the best but I couldn’t help the fact that I was disappointed about it. I still love that asshole. I sighed and began cleaning, trying to hold myself together the best I could.

I saved his office for last, just because it was the one room that reminded me of him the most. I dusted his bookshelves and vacuumed the carpet, and then went to straighten up his desk. It wasn’t unorganized by any means, but honestly I just liked looking at his documents. It was amazing how much work Eisuke had to do, and I admired his ability to multi-task. If only my feelings were mergers or acquisitions, maybe he’d pay more attention to them. 

I sighed as I opened his desk drawer and saw a picture of the two of us laying on top of some paperwork. It was taken about six months ago, on a spontaneous trip to Hawaii. I had never been and couldn’t stop talking about it, so Eisuke arranged for us to spend a weekend there. It was the happiest I’d ever felt and I knew Eisuke felt the same way because this was the first photo, probably the only photo in existence, where Eisuke had a genuine smile on his face. Not his fake business smile or his cold vindictive smile, his special smile that only I got to see. My hand trembled slightly as I picked up the photo and felt the tears I had been denying all day slowly start to fall down my cheeks. Where the hell had this Eisuke gone?

I didn’t want to linger on it any longer, so I placed the photo back where I found it, but a crumpled letter towards the back of the drawer caught my attention. I straightened it out and couldn’t help read a few lines of it, and that’s when my heart dropped straight through the floor and landed in the lobby 52 floors down.

Not all of it made sense to me, but I did recognize the name of a business owner that Eisuke had been trying to make a deal with. Whoever wrote this apparently didn’t want him to go through with it and wanted to make the deal themselves instead. The end of the letter, I unfortunately understood completely. 

“I’d think about this carefully, Mr. Ichinomiya. You have 72 hours to call off the deal or it will be the last thing you do. Choose wisely. I wouldn’t want to leave your pretty little girlfriend without a body to hold her at night.”

Oh, God. Is this why he pushed me away, to keep me safe? The last few days flashed through my mind with a new clarity, and suddenly I felt terrible about storming out on him this morning. 

72 hours...when had he received this? Ugh, why did he do this every time a new threat popped up? Why am I always left out of the loop to try to figure out everything on my own? Why did he have to constantly shut me out? Did he not trust me enough?

I don't have time to be thinking about this! I needed to find Eisuke. I needed to make sure he was okay. He had to be. I couldn't bear to think about the alternative. 

I ran out of the penthouse and immediately called Eisuke. I tried my best to calm my nerves but with every ring I heard, the knot in my stomach got bigger. I said a silent prayer as the penthouse elevator slowly but surely brought me back down to the lobby. 

“What is it?”, Eisuke’s sounded annoyed on the other end, and I had honestly never been happier to hear his grumpy voice in my life.

“Eisuke, where are you?”, I asked frantically. The elevator had finally reached the first floor and my eyes quickly scanned everywhere for a sign of him. 

“I’m leaving”, he said and I finally spotted him outside the hotel. I ran out of the glass doors at the entrance and right up to where Eisuke was standing in front of his limo, placing his suitcase in the backseat.

“What are you doing?”, he scolded me as I wrapped my arms around him but I didn’t care. He can be an ass to me all he wants, he’s not shutting me out this time.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the letter, Eisuke?”, I asked breathlessly, pulling away from him to look into his eyes. He sighed heavily and was about to speak, but then I noticed a red dot appear on his forehead. 

Oh God, no. Please, no. 

It all happened in such a blur. I ran forward, pushing Eisuke out of the way but then I felt a sharp pain hit my back. I stumbled a bit and braced for the inevitable crash of my body on the concrete but instead I was quickly wrapped up in a tight embrace. I guess Eisuke caught me, was my last thought but before my vision blurred. 

“________! Look at me, ________! Please!”, Eisuke’s panicked voice became farther and farther and no matter how hard I desperately I tried to hold onto my consciousness, the pain was way too intense and I faded into the darkness.

------

I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar white ceiling. I was hoping that it was all a dream, more like a nightmare honestly, but as I took in the sight of the IV stuck in my arm and the hospital bed I was lying in, I knew the horrible truth. 

Eisuke was sitting next to me in armchair, his head in his hands. I could see the stubble growing on his cheeks and his clothes looked disheveled. His suit jacket was flung unceremoniously over the back of the chair and he had his lavender button-up rolled up at his sleeves. I could practically feel the tension emanating from his body and he took a deep breath in through his nose, but it caught in his throat. 

Oh my God, is he crying?

As if he felt my eyes on him, Eisuke slowly looked up and the state of him shocked me. His hair was unruly and sticking up every which way and the dark circles around his eyes were prominent, but the tears pooling from them was the most striking thing about his appearance.

“______”, he breathed and his body visibly relaxed. Eisuke quickly closed the distance between us as he took my face in both his hands and crushed his lips against mine. He kissed me over and over and all of his emotions were spilling out with each one. I felt his fear, his guilt, his regret...his love. 

I tried to lean further into his kiss, but a sharp pain in my back caused me to cry out. Eisuke’s expression turned to panic as he put a hand on my shoulder to press my body back onto the bed.

“Don’t make sudden movements. The doctors said you need to rest. After the surgery, they said any farther to the right and the bullet would have hit your spine and paralyzed you.” Eisuke’s voice wavered towards the end of his sentence and I reached up to caress his cheek. The rough stubble on his face was a foreign feeling. I definitely preferred him clean-shaved, I thought as he leaned into my touch.

“I’m sorry about our fight”, I murmured to him. He sighed, rolling his eyes and I smiled. I didn’t think I’d miss that expression as much as I had.

“You have nothing to apologize for, silly girl”, he said softly and kissed the back of my hand. “I’m the one who needs to.” My eyebrows raised and he shot me a glare, and I giggled even though it hurt a little.

“You keep those snarky thoughts to yourself,” he muttered as his lips pressed against my hand again. 

“I’m sorry”, he continued. “I was trying to figure out a way to seal the deal, outsmart my blackmailer and keep you safe at the same time. But I did a pretty shitty job on that last part, didn’t I?” Eisuke’s voice cracked and saw the tears re-forming in his eyes. I reached out and tilted his head up to look at me, meeting his entrancing hazel eyes head on. We stared at each other for a while, trying to gauge what the other was feeling, and then Eisuke broke the silence with a small sigh.

“I thought keeping you away from me was the best thing to do to keep you safe. I had bodyguards tailing you and Soryu’s men keeping an eye out the entire time. I didn’t care what happened to me, honestly. I just didn’t that son of a bitch coming anywhere near you. But if you stayed with me, you'd be even more of a target. So I tried to be as distant as I could to get you to leave. I knew once you stormed out of the penthouse, you wouldn’t come back. That’s when I packed my things. I couldn't do it while you were still there. I wouldn’t have ever left. I’d have made some excuse in my head just to stay with you, but I couldn’t let you get hurt because of me. I thought I was doing the right thing.”

“But then you come running out of the hotel at me, like a bat out of hell, openly putting yourself in danger just to check on me, and I realized that I should have just taken you with me while I figured this shit out. I should have told you what was going on. I shouldn't have shut you out like that. I could have lost you and you’d have died thinking that I didn’t care about you, that I didn’t love you...” Eisuke’s resolve crumbled at those words and hung his head in his hands again, quiet sobs wracking his entire body. 

I had never seen him break down like that and I sat there stunned, gently placing a hand on his back to console him. I knew how awful it had been for me, but I never considered how hard it must have been for Eisuke to have to make decisions like this every time there’s a new threat to our safety. He’s always so confident and self-assured, as if he always knows what to do. But then there’s times like these where I see straight to his heart and see exactly how much pushing me away had hurt him too. 

Eisuke’s tears finally ceased and he lifted his head to look at me. I brushed his bangs back off his forehead and smiled at him gently.

“I know that you love me, Eisuke. I’m sorry I ever doubted that.” Eisuke leaned forward and kissed me, much less forceful than usual but with the same intense passion as he always does.

“I’ll never let you doubt that again”, he whispered as his lips returned to mine.

A/N: I freaking hate when Eisuke pushes MC away to keep her safe. I hate when he doesn’t tell her things and keeps important pieces of information from her and lets her think all sorts of terrible things, just to keep her safe. But I also love Eisuke to death because he’s been through so much and has finally found someone to love and she loves him back despite his flaws and he’d do anything for her and just ughhhhhhh. I hope this was angsty enough because it hurttttttt me to write it. </3