#it's like the universe was made just for us

[radiance1]

By all accounts, it shouldn't have worked.

By all bloody accounts, that should not have worked.

Constantine will repeat.

That, by all accounts, should not have worked.

The warehouse was shitty. The materials were shitty. The summoning circle was shitty. The chanting was shitty. The magic was shitty.

By all accounts, the summoning should not have worked.

So Constantine couldn't give much of a shit about really stopping it because the summoning was so shitty it shouldn't have worked by an means possible.

So what. In the ever-loving fuck. Was the Ghost King, known tyrant of the Infinite Realms. Standing in the middle of the circle and not, last he checked, imprisoned?

That was another thing that he thought would have made it fail, actually. Because the Ghost King was incapacitated, asleep, gone, unavailable, nada.

So what. The fuck. Was he doing. Here?

Constantine knew the day was going to well to stay that way but wow. The universe loves to fuck him over, apparently.

Or the Justice League in specific.

Or both.

Doesn't matter, because now he has to bullshit his way out of this or get ready to brawl for his life.

Good thing he's good at both of those things, then.

Mostly the bullshit-

"Phantom what the fuck are you doing-" Constantine wheezed out, watching one of their newest members-a ghost going by the name Phantom-fly over in front of the known tyrant and-

Oh.

Oh, holy shit this won't end well.

Ghost King.

Phantom. A ghost.

Well, shit.

This is fine. This is totally fine. He just needs to bullshit his way out of this or face two powerhouses.

This is fine.

He's done worse.

"Sup War" Phantom said, floating around the summoning circle that contained the king of all ghosts like it wasn't a problem. "Didn't expect to be seeing you here."

"Ward." The Ghost King inclined his head slightly, eyes trained on Phantom. "I would not have come here if not for Time's insistence and I have been meaning to..." The King paused, hands gripping and ungrasping the pommel of his sword. "...Check in... on you."

"Aww, were you worried about lil old meeeee?" Phantom, ever the little shit and holy shit did Constantine want to go over there and shut him up, said. Floating around until he was staring upside down in the Ghost King's face. "Didn't know you were so soft, pa."

"I am not soft." The King huffed, flame dancing at the edges of his hair. "I was merely... concerned. Over how you would be acclimating to your circumstances. This world's League of Justice covers far more than your small haunt."

"Weeeell, it's not that bad honestly." Phantom admitted. "Haven't really done anything too big yet just some smallish things here and there. So, you know." The ghost boy shrugged, swinging back in the air to turn upright and crossing his legs. "Nothing too bad."

"Good." The Ghost King nodded, shoulders slumping so slightly that if Constantine wasn't looking, he wouldn't have seen it. "That is good. Yes. Good." The King slightly cleared his throat, grasping and ungrasping the pommel of his sword.

Silence echoed in the warehouse as the King seemingly looked for words to say.

"Would you..." He cleared his throat again, squaring his shoulders and standing up straighter. "Would you like to join me and Time for a meeting? It has been some time since you had last joined us." The King shifted slightly before adding. "Of course, if you're busy you do not have too."

"Sure." Phantom said, rolling back and forth in the air as he hummed. "Been a while since we've had some family time-"

"Family time?" Constantine caught someone-who he thinks was Green Lantern-say. He was just as bewildered.

"And if Time sent you here then it must be important." Danny paused before shrugging. "Or maybe not, can never know with him. But yea, sure. I'll come."

"Wonderful." The Ghost King smiled. Smiled. At Phantom. "Then I shall. Leave. Now. To do. Things. Yes. Things." The summoning circle flashed a familiar green, the same green when the King was first being summoned. "Goodbye, ward."

"You can call me son, you know."

The King paused for a moment, blinking slowly before hesitantly nodding.

"Then goodbye. Son."

The circle flashed and just like that. The king was gone.

"Kid. What the fuck." Whoever said- okay wait no that was Constantine, him. But yea fuck it he agrees with himself. "What the fuck." He repeated.

Phantom, the brat, only gave him a shit eating grin and a peace sign before disappearing on the spot.

[hoesformatt]

CUFFED

matt smut, I’VE BEEN FEELING FREAKY DEAKY (doja cat ref) + get ready for the pussy to pulse + I WROTE THIS WITHIN 24 HOURS CAN I GER AN APPLAUSE

sub!matt • poc!reader friendly

contains: SUBMISSIVE (I mean it) MATT, pet names, mommy kink, matt x tutor, oral (m!receiving), handjobs, fingering, riding, spitting, choking, hair pulling, cuffs, titty sucking, no use of y/n

word count: 1.8k (my longest yet)

semi-proofread ✍🏾

Matt stacked up the textbooks on the table and I sighed at the sight of the tower he had made with them. “Do I really have to study all of this” I rolled my eyes, watching Matt pace around the room. “You ask that at the start of every session, the answer never changes.”

I had to take tutoring because I was kind of flunking my university classes and it was only the first semester of my first year. My parents made me take these sessions since they paid for my 4 years.

Half of the time, the sessions sucked. I hated studying for hours at a time and writing all my assignments by hand. The other half of the time, I was too busy staring at my tutor, he is just too cute.

His brow-line glasses that sat up on his perfect nose, the dorky button-ups he wore that only looked good on him, sometimes I just wanted to kiss his cheek. Matt would get antsy and blush whenever our skin would touch but he would always move away ‘to keep professional’ or whatnot, what’s so bad with a little handjob or a quickie?

“Alright, are you ready to start? This assignment is due in 3 days” He pulled out his seat beside me and I was already regretting not taking an edible right before this. “Yeah whatever,” Matt looked up at me, unamused, flipping through the textbook and finding the right pages.

A whole hour went by and everything that Matt was teaching me was going through one ear and out the other. “Ok, I can tell you don’t care what I’m teaching you” He folds the book together and it makes a loud clap sound and pushes the notes and other things to the side.

He was clearly annoyed by my behaviour and I just wanted a reaction from him, or what’s in his pants. I might be a little wrong for trying to bone my tutor instead of learning but this was my way of fun.

Matt lifted himself from his seat to go on his way into my kitchen, “I’m kinda hungry” He opened my fridge, examining everything in there before closing it again with can of Dr. Pepper. He ran his hand through his hair, leaning on the kitchen counter and I couldn’t help but adore the boy.

“Do you have anything to eat?” My mind strayed to inappropriate thoughts and they lingered in my brain until he cleared his throat. I opened my snack drawer and my tutor was enlightened by the amount of food. “Take what you need,” Sitting back on my seat, I closed my thighs together tight because everything he seems to do was so… Attractive.

Especially his hands, the way he would play with his pen… I wanted him to play with me in that way.

I was thinking that I could kill two birds with one stone, getting Matt to do my assignment and getting him to cum in me.

“Matthew, c’mere” He was alarmed by the way I used his full name and his cheeks turned red almost instantly.

The chair he sat at was so far away and I needed him close to me “How do you expect to learn or read the textbooks when you’re that far?” Matt pushed his chair towards me, nibbling his lip as he was in close proximity to me.

“Where we left off?” I nodded, not even paying attention to what he was talking about. A few minutes went by and Matt showed me one of the picture examples and pointed at it. While I leaned in, I placed my hand on his thigh, sitting in closer.

He bit his bottom lip, leaning back and putting down the book after I saw it. My hand never moved and I could tell by his expression that he was fighting the fact that he liked it.

It had gone quiet as caressed his thigh, inching closer to his crotch and he just watched, being more relaxed by the second. Matt’s eyes were glued to my clevage, taking off my top in his head.

I applied pressure to his cock, groping his tent and instantly, a high-pitched whimper escaped his lips and one of his hands slapped over his mouth and the other around on my hand. He gazed up at me, waiting for me to repeat my actions.

“Do you want me to touch you, Matthew” I asked for consent, “Y-yes,” He answered hesitantly with his head tipped down. I gripped the hair at the back of his head pulling up his head “Talk to me nicely,” I teased “Yes p-please,” I let go, satisfied.

“Take your jeans off” Ordering Matt, he immediately unzipped his jeans, dropping them to his ankles and he was about to remove his briefs but I stopped him.

Reaching out to hold his hardened length, his girth was amazing and I fondled with his length. When I found his tip and rubbed it relentlessly, earning whiny moans from him, he jerked around in his seat, gripping the table.

“Mhmm-more” Matt thrusted upwards, craving more friction between us, his whimpers were music to my ear as he never stopped making those noises. I giggled a bit at how much of a pathetic mess he was and I haven’t even touched him raw.

The brunettes’ cheeks were a bright pink and I pulled on the band on his boxers, peering in to see his tip was a similar color. He begged me to touch his raw dick, practically humping my hand, out of breath. Pressing my cheek against his bulge, it was fun to see his face twist from pleasure to impatience. “Fuck! Just touch me! Please touch me!” His inappropriate outburst took me aback.

“Get in the room and sit up on the bed and I’ll touch you,” Matt took off his pants fully, taking himself to my room and leaping on my bed with his legs open.

He ignored the cuffs that were on each side of my bed and when I entered my room I held a silk blindfold. Matt gaped up at me as I unlatched one of my handcuffs “Give me your wrists” he looked at me worriedly, raising him arm to give it to me.

I clicked the cuffs on, checking if they weren’t too tight and I did the same to the other wrist. I made sure the only thing Matt could touch were the bars of my baseboard, “I’m gonna tell you this one time, you do not yell at me, you hear me.”I slipped off his glasses, getting a good look at his sky eyes before tying the knot of his blindfold.

Impairing his most important senses, stripped the boy of his restraining briefs and his cock flew out. I etched every part of his perfect length in my head from his rubbed-off pink tip to his long, thick length, that I dragged my tongue on.

I stuffed his shaft into my mouth, deep-throating his length before pulling it out and spitting on it. “You like that?” Matt's grip on the baseboard bars tightens as he moans out loudly. You could hear sheer pleasure in every moan and gasp as I sucked his length.

“Y-yes—oh fuck... f-faster,” His body starts to squirm “M-mhh…” I stroked the end of his shaft that couldn’t fit in my mouth, squeezing and stimulating the cum out of him “Are you gonna cum?” I teased Matt while I smiled at him with a twisted pleasure face. I watched his squirm on the bed, cuffed to the bed and unable to see me work on him.

Matt nods, as he can't speak from all the pleasure. He moans loudly, thrusting his hips into your mouth, and with a final moan, he reaches his climax. “Oh fuck— oh shit!” He pumps his load into my mouth. “You’re such a good boy for me.”

He nodded once again and Matt blushed hard at your words, but he was still riding the high of his climax. I straddled him and he tried to fight the tight cuffs, he wanted to touch me badly, trying to control his breathing as he felt my wet cunt against his shaft.

I began to bounce on his cock, slowly removing my top so my tits could fall in his face. I put my nipple in his mouth “Suck baby” Matt complied, sucking on it softly, before nibbling gently.

As I rode him harder, his breathing became harsher, trying to hold back a moan. “Oh fuck yes Matt, suck harder” I rode his harder, making sure all of his inches fit inside my heat, I watched his length disappear within me. Matt nodded while he sucked harder on your nipple, leaving a small hickey on my skin.

Matt moaned, pleading for me to take off the cuffs and the blindfold. He tried to steady himself as he felt the pleasurable sensation of his cock sliding in and out of me. Loosening the tie of the blindfold, I removed it from his head and he was met with my breasts bouncing in his face.

“Do you deserve to have the cuffs taken off, baby?” I sat on his length, completely taking every inch of him inside my wet walls, enjoying the feeling of him throb inside. “Yes I deserve it, yes, yes I do—,” Matt was so fucked out he could barely make sentences.

The sounds of the cuffs un-clicking put Matt to ease and as soon as they were removed, he groped my ass, sliding me down upon his lap. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…” Matt threw his head back exposing his adam’s apple.

“Lemme cum, mommy I need to cum” He cupped my breasts in his warm hands putting them in his mouth again and sending vibrations down my nipple with his moans. My eyes rolled back aggressively and the sounds of the bed creaking got louder.

Our moans were uncontrollable and every time his tip hit my g-spot, my orgasm came closer. “Are you gonna cum with me baby?”

“Yes, yes, yes—Shit!” I felt Matt ejaculate in me, glazing my walls while my cum mixed with his coated his shaft and with my liquids. When I lifted up, to pull his cock out, my ass and his thighs were covered in our cum along with my bedsheets.

“Your dick is so good I might not make you write my assignments.”

tags: @lunariaxzz @chrissturniolosbitch @leahsbussy @mattslolita @muwapsturniolo @idkwhosnyla @zayyluvz @i8kth @nonamegirlxsturniolo @mattssluttygf @78yaz @love4chris @mattslutt @nickgetsmewetter @hearts4chriss @thenickgirl @jnkvivi @cottoncandyswisherz @imaslut4kehlani @babyddolly @carvedtits @chaossturns @conspiracy-ash @kriissy4gov

[wileys-russo]

mary earps, out shopping, “remind me why i agreed to have those two idiots as my other children?” (lessi and tooney)

part of the a date to remember universe m.earps II we don't know them

"do they really have to come?" mary groaned as she pulled up out front, sighing heavily as you nodded. "we've been away for nearly two weeks. they probably missed you!" you teased pinching her cheek as she mocked you under her breath.

"i missed aunty lessi and aunty tooney!" delilah piped up from the back, swinging her legs with a cheshire like grin plastered on her face. "so did I tiny. mama did too, she just thinks she's too cool to admit it." you patted your wifes shoulder who rolled her eyes.

"did you tell them we're here? we're going to be late!" mary checked her watch with a huff as you quirked an eye in amusement. "can't be late to do the shopping mama." delilah beat you to it with a giggle as you looked back proudly.

"watch it kid or you'll lose your trolley privileges." mary warned fixing your daughter with a look through the rear view mirror. "so dramatic mary!" delilah parroted your own words from this morning as you slapped a hand over your mouth to stifle your laughter.

though before the goalkeeper could say anything back there was knocks at her window and she jumped a half foot in the air, scowling at the smirking brunette who winked and climbed into the car.

"where's alessia? for god sakes!" mary groaned head thumping back against her headrest. "for god sakes!" delilah mocked doing the same thing as her head thumped against the back of her car seat and she only giggled as mary shot her a dirty look.

"we're still in the parrot phase." you explained to ella who nodded in understanding, a flash of blonde hair hurrying down the driveway and diving into the car. "sorry! couldn't find my other sock." alessia huffed wrestling on her shoe as mary rolled her eyes.

"see? i told you we could go away for two years and these idiots wouldn't change." mary mumbled under her breath as you squeezed her knee, the taller girl huffing and leaning across to kiss your cheek in a silent apology starting the car back up.

with the other two in the car now the time flew past as delilah caught them up on the adventures of your last two weeks away in mallorca on holiday, both girls listening attentively with oo's of wonder.

"hello children." you finally greeted them both with a hug and a smile as you arrived to the grocery store, jumping out of the car as mary ignored them both and unclipped delilah.

"whats up marys ass this mornin? she got blue balls or somethin?" ella whispered with a wink as alessia shoved her with a dissaproving shake of her head. "something like that." you chuckled, marys plans of a romantic night together now you weren't sharing a room with your daughter ruined by the daughter in question refusing to sleep in her own bed and you not making her.

"we can stop the co-sleeping tomorrow. come on baby, family cuddles!" you denied marys request to remove delilah who was already fast asleep curled into your side, your wife sighing heavily but knowing this wasn't something worth arguing.

but a restless night with little feet kicking into her ribs every ten minutes or a tiny hand smacking her cheek and wriggling around meant it was one without much sleep, meaning a very grumpy mary this morning.

"mary. baby come on, your nose is so long its almost hitting the ground." you poked at your wifes side as alessia and ella hurried off ahead, swinging delilah between them.

"only things on the list!" mary called warning the trio as alessia gave a thumbs up, handing the piece of paper to your daughter who was now happily sat in a trolley, the three of them disappearing into the aisles.

"come on earps, give us a smile." you jostled your wife as she grabbed a trolley for your own list. "not in the mood." the goalkeeper warned but made no move to let go as you slipped your hand into hers.

"well, maybe later you can get in the mood." you smiled suggestively, the taller girl looking down at you with a frown. "i didn't invite ella and less just for a catch up. if we buy them lunch and butter them up a little, i'm sure they'd love to take delilah for a sleepover tonight." you quirked an eyebrow, grinning as mary's face lit up.

"my god woman, you're a genius." mary grabbed your face, kissing all over it as you laughed. "yeah yeah tell me something i don't know. i'm offended you seem so surprised!" you poked her accusingly before starting off toward the fruit and vegetables, having given delilah all the 'fun' food knowing she'd whinge about the healthier things.

"mary!" you hissed as her hand caught your ass, your complaints swallowed by the kiss she stole with a charming smile. "it slipped." she winked, reaching over your head to grab a punnet of strawberries.

you were both almost done with your part of the list when you heard a horrendously loud crash the aisle over and winced, sharing a knowing look.

"please tell me that isn't ours." you mumbled, the pair of you slowly heading toward the source of the noise. "i can tell you but you can't get mad at me for lying." mary sighed at the sight which met you, a bright red alessia apologizing profusely to a store employee as ella wiped off delilah who was coated in flower, her own body caked with white as well.

you met alessia's eyes over the employee's shoulder, feeling mary slip her hand back into yours.

"remind me why i agreed to have those two idiots as my other children? "pretend we don't know them?" "darling you read my mind."

"oi you two get back here!"

[that-sarcastic-writer]

Mind Games (2)

Direct cntinuation to Mind games (til we lose control) (takes place before lost time)

Ben/Soldier Boy X Supe!Fem!reader

Summary: Herogasm proves to be a disaster for everyone involved, but at least you and Ben still have each other at the end of the night. Takes places during the Herogasm episode but like I did my own shit

Warnings: explicit sexual content, minors dni, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it mfs), p in v, shower sex (pls don't try to recreate this, SB has super strength, your man does not, you might break sum), oral (f receiving), fingering, multiple orgasms, creampie, dom!Soldier Boy, praising kink, Ben calls her mean things a lot (but she likes it), choking, hair pulling, spitting, Soldier Boy cause mf is a warning on his own, typical canonical violence for this show, no use of y/n, Violet isn't her real name, just a nickname.

WC: 6.9k I'm so sorry

A/N: WHAT DID I TELL YALL MFSSS. Took me 2 years to revisit it but yk what it's fine cause every year is Soldier Boy's year. So yeah here we are. I will warn yall im not too good at writing action/fight scenes, like it made sense in my head but idk if that image translated well into the scene. I only know how to write smut im sorry. But to my Ben/Jensen girlie's, this is for you. I'll see yall in hell <3

Gif is not mine I found it on Pinterest

Universe masterlist | I no longer have a tag list so if you'd like to keep up with updates follow @midnightreadinglibrary

Fucking Herogasm. Christ, you didn't remember the last time you were here. Funny, the last time you went to a Herogasm party it was coincidentally with Ben. And it was in fact the last one you ever went to. It never felt right to go back without him. 

"Fuckin' Herogasm," Butcher laughed and shook his head, glancing back at you with intrigue, "You ever been Violet?" 

Your lips curled up a bit and you licked your lips slowly, glancing at Ben for a second before you found two pairs of curious eyes on you. 

"Yeah, every year for like ten years." You responded, and you were met with a look of disbelief from Hughie, and even Butcher had a slight glint of surprise in his eyes. Perhaps they didn't take you as the orgy, drugs and depravity type of supe, not that you blame them, that never truly was your idea of fun. But you weren’t entirely innocent either. "I'm serious. You can ask Ben if you don't believe me." 

Both men gave Ben a long glance and he laughed, shrugging at you. 

"She ain’t lying, I took her to her first one, in 74' was it? Should've seen her, such a pretty doe-eyed lil’ thing, with a face like hers she fooled everyone." 

"Oh, yeah, you showed innocent little me all the ropes. It was very educational." You rolled your eyes, trying to hide the small grin on your face, and Ben had one of his own. 

For a moment you forgot neither of the other two men quite understood whatever was going between you and Ben, so you missed the uncomfortable look on their faces. 

"Oh, I showed you a hell of a lot more than just the ropes, sweetheart." 

"And I'll show you both the barrel of a gun if I have to endure another second of your trip down erotic memory lane. Can we focus here?" Butcher groaned, looking both annoyed and disturbed by your relationship, like a parent who was tired of keeping his two horny teenagers in line. 

You exchanged a look with Ben, eyes big and lips pursed as you tried not to laugh and you gave him a look of having just been scolded. He simply rolled his eyes and half paid attention to Hughie and Butcher as they went back and forth about who was going in first. 

You, as always, just stood there and observed, absentmindedly twirling your knife between your fingers as you listened to them agree that Hughie should go in first so you could be in and out as quickly as possible. In between your own priorities, Ben being the main one, you had almost forgotten why you were here in the first place. Despite the fact that you were picking off Payback's members one by one, you quickly realized this wasn't for you, or Ben and his plot for revenge. No, it was about Butcher getting his. And the two of you were simply there to make it happen. 

You had begun to wonder if this was all there was to it, a means to an end, and in reality neither you or Ben had much of a chance to make it out this revenge mission alive. But if there was something you knew for sure, it was that you would die before you let anything happen to Ben again. Deep down, you hoped he would do the same for you. 

"I'm gonna go check the area before we go in, make sure there aren't any surprises." Butcher announced after a minute or two of waiting, Hughie not being back yet. He started walking, but not before turning to glance at you both with narrowed eyes, "And you two behave, last time I left you cunts alone you broke a bathroom." 

You did a mocking salute to him and snorted when he rolled his eyes at you, grumbling something you didn't quite hear as he began to walk away. He was out of your sight pretty quickly and you could already feel Ben's intense gaze burn on your face. You ignored it at first, but when he stood in front of you, eyes never leaving you, you had no choice but to look at him. You stopped your fidgeting and you looked up at him expectantly as you leaned back against a tree.

"I don't need to read your mind to know you want to tell me something, what's up?" 

"What you said back at the motel, did you mean it?" He questioned, leaning close to your face as he placed a hand beside your head. You stared at him for a second, trying to dig in your mind for whatever it was that he meant. You found his green eyes and you realized. 

Ah. The three fucking words. 

"Seriously Ben?" You groaned, your head falling to the side with annoyance, but more of all you wanted to avoid his gaze, avoid the shame of having confessed your deepest feelings, knowing feelings wasn't something either of you ever talked about let alone ever admitted to. Because feelings meant vulnerability, and vulnerability meant weakness. And weakness wasn't something either of you would ever admit to.

He grabbed your chin, grip tight as he forced you to look at him, "Did you? ‘Cause I meant what I said, all of it." 

Your face softened and your lips slightly curved into a tiny smile. You never wanted to search his mind without his permission, it was like a line you never liked to cross, but you didn't need to this time. Just by looking into his eyes you always knew. You could tell a lot by looking into someone’s eyes. You searched his eyes for any kind of deceit or even manipulation, but you didn't find any. You knew what he meant, and coming from him, it meant everything. 

"Yeah," You sighed softly, "I meant what I said." 

"Good." His pink lips curved into a satisfied smirk as he squeezed your face and leaned down, capturing your lips into his own. It was slower, no rushed and desperate touches like before, but he still kissed you hard. There was nothing gentle about it, but was there ever anything gentle about him? 

His tongue slipped into your mouth as he dropped his hand, resting it on the column of your neck. He pressed his armored chest against yours, pretty much pinning you against the tree. His mouth was so skilled, like he knew exactly how to take your breath away in seconds, he knew you that well. You would never allow a man to have this much control over you. But it was always different with him. Your hands found his long strands as you explored his mouth, and you pulled hard. You felt him groan against your mouth and he squeezed your neck in response. You gasped, the sound quickly fading into a soft moan. He pulled back and watched with amusement the look of pure ecstasy on your face as he squeezed your throat. 

"You fucking slut, you still get off to me hurting you, don't you?" He bit his lip as he released your throat, thumb brushing over the skin he knew would bruise, just like everybody else's, even if it was for a little bit. 

You inhaled deeply, the short lack of airflow making you dizzy, but in the most delicious way possible. You opened your eyes, finding his green ones and god you wished nothing but to just ditch the mission and go somewhere where he could take you, over and over again. 

"Are we here to get revenge or are we here to get your dick wet? ‘Cause I'm getting some real mixed signals here." You mumbled, breath heavy and he chuckled. He leaned down, pressing his lips to your jaw before he moved them to your ear. 

"I'm gonna fuck you so hard I'm gonna break a hell of a lot more than just a mirror." He coaxed. The way he spoke in your ear made you rub your thighs together and the pool forming in your panties was impossible to ignore. It was embarrassing how quickly he could pull you apart and do with you what he pleased. "When we get back. Now pull yourself together, we're on a mission." 

And just like that he was standing a few feet away from you. He was looking behind his shoulder, almost as if he could hear someone. And of course, just in time for you to somewhat regain your composure, Butcher came back. Though it wasn't before you locked eyes with Ben one more time as you tried to control your breathing, and the cocky bastard winked at you, lips curled into a shit eating grin before Butcher actually approached you both. 

This motherfucker. 

"All clear. The twins are in there. You shouldn't have a problem going in," He said to Ben, but then looked at you, "You, though, you might get some attention. Pretty girl, dressed in black leather and strapped with knives, that's some BDSM shit if I've seen one." 

"Okay and?" You frowned, now standing by both men.

"Just stay close to him, people might recognize you and approach you. Do what you can to keep a low profile. You might have to get your hands a bit dirty." He looked between you and Ben. You stared at him with a small frown at first, but when he raised his eyebrows at you, you quickly realized what he meant. 

"Wouldn't be the first time." Ben commented with a chuckle when he caught on. You looked at him, slightly unimpressed by his lack of discretion but you simply rolled your eyes. 

Butcher sighed heavily, clearly done with your antics by then and he simply motioned you off with an unimpressed expression, "Off you go, ya dirty cunts." 

"Looks like you might get your dick wet after all." You commented to Ben as you both headed off to the house. 

He chuckled, shooting you a glance as you stood in front of the door. You were both eager to get this over with, you more than him. It was one thing for him to be able to face the assholes that betrayed him, and you were happy to do it with him. But the idea of being around dozens of supes, in an environment where there were no rules, no respect and no boundaries, made you uneasy. You didn't know if you could handle that many voices all at once. It had been a long time since you had been around other Supes, let alone that many, and you had made that decision for a reason. 

Almost as if he could feel the anxiety radiate from you, you felt a large hand fill your own. Confused, you looked down and saw he had intertwined his fingers with your own. "There's nothing to be nervous about, sweetheart, it wouldn't be the first time we do this." 

"I haven't been around other supes since…" You inhaled deeply, your throat slightly closing up at the memory. The last time you stepped foot at Vought Tower, when you realized you couldn't do it anymore. Ben looked at you, eyebrows slightly knitted into a frown, "It's been a long time is all." 

"Just stay by my side, nobody will lay a hand on you. I'll always protect you, remember?" He gave your hand a slight squeeze and the calm yet assertive ring in his voice made you feel almost at ease. Almost. 

You stayed silent, needing all your energy and focus to keep the dozens of voices beginning to infiltrate your mind one by one. The sound of Ben speaking as a very naked man opened the door sounded far, distant, you didn't catch much of what they said. You only knew to move when you felt Ben tug you along. Now the sound of your racing heart was almost as loud as the voices. So fucking many people here. So many Supes. So many voices. All at once. It was deafening. It disgusted you, to have to hear every passing thought these depraved beings had. You didn’t realize you started digging your blunt nails into Ben’s gloves.

It didn’t hurt, but your enhanced strength definitely made him feel the tightening grip of your shaking hands. He stopped and looked at you with a twisted frown.

“The fuck is wrong with you now? You look like you saw your father.” 

You eyes snapped up to find him looking back at you with both confusion, and his version of concern. You opened your mouth but you could only stammer but no words actually came out. You couldn’t think. It was so loud. Your lip quivered ever so slightly as you felt your chest start to grow heavy. Ben saw the look on your face, the way your eyes were frantically looking around the room, your jaw wound up so tight he thought you’d break it. The last time he saw you like this was when you first joined Payback and didn’t have full control of your abilities. 

“Stop that, right now.” He gripped your shoulders hard, really fucking hard, enough to make you shift your focus on him for a moment. You looked at him with wide eyes. “Hey, I need you to focus. Get your head under control. I need you to have my back here, okay?”

“I… I don’t.. I can’t get them to stop. They won’t stop.” You said, so close to being on the verge of tears. “There’s so many, I can’t get them to shut the fuck up. I--” 

“Hey,” He shook you ever so slightly, leaning in close to your face. “The fuck did I just say? Get. yourself. Together. You used to tune ‘em out, remember? So tune them out.” 

You breathed in, your chest rising as you tried to drown out the noise, focus on his face, on his voice. But you couldn’t. You hadn’t been around this many people in nearly a decade.

“I can’t. I just can’t. I can’t be here. I’m sorry.” You shook your head frantically and tried to slip out of his grip but he didn’t let you. 

“I need you here. Just—hey,” he grabbed your jaw, looking out of the corner of his eyes to make sure you weren’t bringing in too much attention before he met your teary eyes. “Just look at me. I’m right here. Remember you used to tune everyone else out and only focus on my voice, hm? Focus on my thoughts, okay? It’s just you and me, fuck everyone else.” 

You stared at him, the green in his eyes seeming more and more green the longer you looked. You even saw a ring yellow in there. His voice. His thoughts, they had always calmed you, centered you. The voices grew more and more distant the longer you looked at him. You listened to his voice as his thoughts became your own. Until only the sound of his voice was in your head. Your breath was shaky as you closed your eyes, a laugh of relief leaving your lips.

He held your face for a little longer, his deep frown less harsh as he watched your face slowly visibly relax and the tension left your body.

“Are we good?”

“Yeah, we’re good.” You exhaled deeply and nodded at him, feeling like you were slowly regaining control of yourself. “Let’s go find the terror twins.” 

You walked around this house for what felt like hours. But it didn’t help that you were being stopped every five minutes by every naked Supe you walked by. Ben was anything but amused.

“I swear to fucking Christ if one more of these slimy jizz-covered fuck faces asks you to use your knives on them I will actually shove my shield up their ass.” Ben grumbled with a look of disgust on his face.

“They’d probably like that.” You had to bite your lip to stop yourself from laughing at the death glare he shot you.

“Eat shit.” You actually snorted this time, and you were full on giggling when he started mumbling curses at you as he walked off. 

You ultimately decided splitting up was probably the way to go, the house was way too big and had too many rooms, you’d find the twins quicker if you each went your own way. Ben was reluctant at first, a bit apprehensive to leave you on your own after you almost broke down earlier. But you reassured him you were fine and perfectly capable of going on your own. You ultimately realized you made the right choice. You didn’t know exactly when or how but out of nowhere you heard a loud blast in the next room and you were launched right through a wall from the blast. Pain immediately started shooting through your body at the impact. You were a Supe, sure, but you weren’t Soldier Boy, you weren’t fucking invincible. You bled and you felt pain like any human. 

It took you a good minute to understand what the actual fuck had just happened. And when you did, you almost forgot about the throbbing pain going through your body. You pushed yourself up to your feet, stumbling and holding on to walls as you dragged yourself through the rubble and burned bodies. Your jaw slightly fell open at the sight of this much mayhem. You didn’t believe in God, but fuck were you praying to a higher power for Ben to be okay. 

You managed to stay on your feet despite the pain. It would go away eventually, in a day or so, but the first few hours were brutal. Still you pushed through, determined to find Ben. You stumbled into a hallway, the walls were falling apart and chunks of cement were all around the floor. But what caught your attention was the sight that fucking American flag and blonde head of hair you had grown to despise. Your heart stopped, you were frozen. You held your breath as you realized fucking Homelander was here. And he currently had Ben pinned to a wall.

This was such a bad fucking idea. You could die a very agonizing death. A bad idea indeed. 

Adrenaline kicked in, you sprinted and with a bit of momentum you landed on Homelander’s shoulders. You were surprised he didn’t hear you coming.You were thankful he was preoccupied with Ben. Your nails dug into the side of his temples and you used all of the energy and power you had coursing through your veins, and sent that straight to his brain.

You weren’t sure if it would even tickle. You tried using your shock powers on Ben once, a long time ago, just to test out how it worked on Supes with enhanced strength, he said it felt like being electrocuted. And right about now you were praying Homelander felt something, enough to stun him at least. You could kill an average Supe if you used enough power, but you weren’t so sure if you were strong enough.

You held on, but you were struggling, commanding your body to release this much energy was mentally exhausting but the sound of Homelander groaning in pain made you smile the slightest bit. The shocks of electricity weren’t going to kill him, but it sure did hurt, and it stunned him. Nobody’s brain was invisible afterall. 

“Hurts, doesn’t it motherfucker? Your body may be indestructible but your mind can only take so much before it breaks.” You spat. Sparks were coming from your fingers as your eyes flashed bright purple. “It’s fucked when its you being held down against your will, huh?”

He screamed, stumbling around as he attempted to grab at you, but this wasn’t the first time you tried to fry someone’s brain off while on their shoulders. You gasped when you saw his laser eyes go off as he screamed, leaving indents on the wall. This split second of distraction was enough to make your focus falter, and it gave Homelander the opportunity to find a grip on you. You cried in pain when he grabbed your ankle and tossed you off. 

You landed fucking hard, it knocked the air right out of your lungs. You coughed as you attempted to get up, but Homelander was grabbing you and pulling you up by your neck before you could blink. He held you up in the air as he levitated so you couldn’t find a way to escape. He held you at arm’s length so you couldn’t reach him, either. The way his empty, ice cold eyes stared you down with evil glee as you gasped for air was terrifying. 

“I always knew you were a fucking bitch. I should’ve killed you when I had the chance. Matter of fact, I’ll do that right now.” Your eyes widened when his eyes gleamed bright red. 

Out of the corner of your eye you saw Ben behind Homelander, with a grin as he grabbed Homelander’s cape and pulled down, and he pulled really fucking hard. Your body collided with the ground roughly, landing on your side with a pained cry. But you still saw Ben throw Homelander around by his cape, and had you not been mere seconds away from death, you would have laughed at the comedic irony. You were in and out of consciousness, an aura surrounding your vision. But in between your delirium you could see Butcher and Hughie had arrived, and the three of them were taking on Homelander. It wasn’t long before the three of them had Homelander pinned down. You could feel yourself fade, your muscles give out and your mind shut off. You hadn’t used that much power since you were in Payback. 

You heard indistinct voices and shouting before everything went black. 

“The fuck are you waitin’ for? Blast this cunt!” Butcher shouted and Ben grunted.

“I can’t! Just—Fuck.” His eyes found you in the corner, bloodied and passed out. You couldn’t run away and you wouldn’t survive the blast, he knew that. “You—kid, take her, and get out here. Now!”

“No fucking way!” Hughie shouted back, and Ben felt the urge to blast him instead. 

“Do what he says, take the fuckin’ girl and go!” Butcher shouted at Hughie, catching on to what Ben was trying to do. But before any of them could do anything, Homelander blasted his lasers, screaming as he overpowered the three of them while they were distracted. And just like that he was gone. 

The three men sat in silence, in defeat. They had a chance and they blew it. Ben knew it was mostly his fault, he shouldn’t have hesitated. But he refused to ever let you get hurt. In silent anger he glared at both of them and he stood and walked over to your passed out body. He clenched his jaw as he picked your limp body and carried you. He made eye contact with Butcher and Hughie and it took all of his power not to shoot both of them in the face. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your whole body ached, and your head was founding. It was unbearable. You winced in pain as you began to peel layers of clothes off your body. God it fucking hurt. You closed your eyes as you attempted to hold back tears, only snapping back into reality when you felt Ben trace his fingers over your back. He noted every bruise and every cut. He knew they would heal, sure but it still made him seethe with anger. 

“What the fuck were you thinkin’, taking on Homelander like that? Did all the fucking pills you take for your psychosis fry all of your neurons or what?” He was so angry, and he never was exactly kind with his words. You always knew that, but it still hurt when he talked to you that way, especially when you had only been trying to help him. 

Your back was turned to him, so he couldn't see the hurt frown on your face but he did notice you huff at him and move away from his touch, refusing to look at him. 

“Okay.. Hey, no. I didn’t.. I didn’t mean it like that. Fuck.” He bit his tongue, squeezing his eyes shut with regret of his choice of words. You kept your back to him as you continued to undress. He groaned. “You would have died. And it would have been on me. I couldn’t live with that, is all.” 

“Well, I was passed out so it would have been a quick death, if that's of any consolation to you.” You answered shortly as you stripped down to your underwear. You don't think he understood that you stopped caring whether you lived or died a long time ago. 

“Okay, could you not be a bitch for two seconds?” He sighed, already annoyed by your attitude. 

“No. If you want a girl who doesn't talk back to you, go find Countess. Oh, wait, you can't ‘cause she sold you to the Russians. Guess you're stuck with me.” You answered with even more spitefulness, just to tick him off a little bit more. You didn't need to read his mind to know he was beyond pissed. You weren't exactly in a colorful mood, either. Your back was still turned to him as you tossed your bloodied gear in a corner. 

He breathed in deeply, pitching the bridge of his nose, “Violet, look at me when I'm talking to you.” 

You turned around with exasperation, your eyes open wide with a ‘what’ expression as you motioned your hands around passive-aggressively. 

“I didn't mean what I said. I know you were trying to help me… And I know that you can't always control your powers. I sometimes can't deal with my own head, I can't imagine having to deal with everybody else's.” Ben wasn't one to apologize. He was actually allergic to the words I'm sorry. You knew that. But you knew he at least tried to apologize using other words. So you listened. You knew he was having a hard time, too. “But I'm not really one to talk. I think I'm the one that's fucked in the head.” 

Your lips slightly parted at his words and you looked at him with a tiny bit of sadness. You never asked him details of what happened to him. Sure, you could look, but you never wanted to dig through his mind without his permission. He'd tell you if he really wanted to. But you didn't need to know everything to understand that what he went through messed him up. And it messed him up a lot. What happened at Herogasm was proof of that. 

“Do you want to tell me what happened at Herogasm? Don't make me look through your head, I don't want to.” You sighed softly, ultimately giving in, like you always did. Your delicate fingers dragged over his vest as you absentmindedly began to take off his gear. 

Ben stayed silent for a long time. He didn't think he even knew what happened. You were down to the last layer of the top part of his suit by the time he opened his mouth. 

“I blacked out. I don't.. I don't know what the fuck happened. I was talking to the fuck twins and then nothing. Next thing I remember is the burned bodies and the place was all fucked up.” He breathed out a little unevenly, a frown knitted deep on his face. He looked down at you when you stayed silent. “I didn't mean to. You believe that, right?” 

You did. But did he? 

“Of course I believe you.” You pressed a soft kiss to his lips, hands flat on his chest. He brought one of his hands to the back of your hair, holding your head in place. After a few seconds, you hummed, parting your lips slightly. “Can I ask you a question?” 

He nodded. 

“Why didn't you kill Homelander? You had a shot. Why didn't you take it? You would have done the whole fucking world a favor.” 

Ben stared at you with confusion. Did you really not get it? Were you that clueless or was he just that bad at showing his devotion for you? Probably the latter. 

“You saw what my blast did to the house. You wouldn't have survived that. I should have, I know, Butcher won't stop fucking reminding me. But he has nothing left to lose. Can't kill two girlfriends in the same week, y'know?” 

Your mouth fell open with indignation and you shoved at his chest, but deep down you felt warm at the fact that he chose you over his mission, for once. You still pretended to be angry at him, though. “Fucking prick.” 

He brought his lips to your jaw, leaving blunt kisses and you pretend to hate it. But the smile on your face was inevitable. 

“Wanna shower now or what?” He eventually said. That was the reason you were in the bathroom after all. 

You nodded. You could use the hot water on your bruised skin. You finished stripping, Ben just watched you with a perverted grin and smacked your ass before he stripped himself. 

He got in first, turning on the water and letting it run until steam began to fill the small space. He knew you liked it boiling hot. He didn't mind. You got in and immediately went under the shower head. You moaned in relief, the hot water running down your tense muscles, alleviating the soreness on your body. Ben watched you with a surprising amount of patience as he stood behind you. He leaned down and pressed his soft lips behind your neck, licking along the skin before he moved down your neck to your shoulder. He rested his hands on your hips, squeezing the skin as lightly as he could. You had enough bruises for one day. 

“I'm gonna take care of you tonight, m’kay?” He mumbled against your skin before he made you turn around. 

He crashed his lips against yours, rough fingers gripping your jaw as he slipped his tongue into your mouth. You whined, already craving more. When he kissed you like this, you just couldn't help yourself. 

“Need you, please.” You were breathless against his lips, your blunt nails digging into his chest desperately. He gave your bottom lip a small tug as he pulled away. 

He made you stand in front of him, his back to the shower wall as he slowly sank to his knees. Your eyes followed him longingly.

“C'mere.” He pulled you towards him, his eyes were full of greed as he made eye contact with you while he directed you to rest one of your feet on his shoulder. 

His eyes stayed locked with yours as leaned forward and licked a long stripe from your hole up to your clit. He wrapped his lips around the bud and sucked. You gasped, instantly pressing your hand against the damp wall to keep yourself up. Your mouth fell open in delight as he dragged his tongue around your sensitive clit. 

“O-Oh. Shit. Shit, Ben.” You whined softly, your free hand falling to his wet hair. He held your hip with one hand, steady vice grip holding you in place as he pushed his tongue into your hole. You swore the cry you let out was heard in the entire apartment. “Oh, my God. Fuck. That feels so good.” 

Ben hummed in approval as you wrapped your fingers around his hair and held his face against you. As if he would go anywhere. He happily kept his mouth on you, head moving up and down as he worked you with his tongue, his nose brushing your clit with every movement of his head. To say that you were so close was an understatement. You could feel your leg start to give out under you the longer you felt that heat build in your stomach. Ben was more than happy to assist you with that, too. His free hand grabbed the underside of your thigh and forced you further against his mouth until your leg was dangling over his shoulder. His other hand stayed on your hip, vice grip holding you upright effortlessly. 

His tongue found your clit one more time, and the emptiness it left was replaced by two long fingers pushing into your cunt. Your eyes rolled back as your mouth fell open in a silent cry. You leaned your forehead against the tile as you dug your nails into his scalp. Fuck, you didn't remember the last time a man ate you out, let alone ate you out like this. It felt so good you wanted to cry, you didn't even remember the pain in your body, all you could feel was pleasure. 

“Feels good, doesn't it sweetheart?” He spat into your clit as he fucked you with his fingers. If the shower hadn't been running the lewd sound of his fingers dragging in and out of your wet hole would've been so loud. But he could still hear it, and fuck did he love it. He took a second to look up at you. Such a pretty little thing when you were so close. “Oh, you wanna come don't you? Mhmm, yeah, you do. C'mon, gimme what I want. I know you can do it.” 

His tongue was back on your clit, he licked harsh stripes as he slipped his thick fingers in and out of your cunt with urgency. The sounds of him licking and sucking on your clit were almost as filthy as the sounds coming out of your mouth. His fingers fucked you without mercy, there was not a single thing gentle about his touch. It was rough and relentless. Just like he was. And it had you seeing fucking white before you even realized. 

You squeezed your eyes shut, lips parting in a silent cry as you held his face against you. But it wasn't like he'd go anywhere, if anything he kept his tongue on your swollen clit and his fingers never stopped. Tears formed in your eyes as your thighs shuddered. And when he didn't stop you were pulling at the ends of his hair to pull him off you. He groaned at this. Quite unhappy to be leaving the warm place between your thighs. 

“I wasn't done.” He looked up at you with a frown. You took in a deep breath, blowing out a small laugh as you grabbed at his face, weakly attempting to pull him back up.

“You can be down there all you want later, I just..” You swallowed hard, somewhat regaining your composure as he stood up to his full height. You pulled him down by his face and kissed him, and you kissed him fucking hard. And the taste of yourself still left on his tongue made you need him even more. “Just need you, okay?” 

“Need me where?” He grabbed your jaw, fingers sprawled out over your throat as he held your face back. He stared you down, malicious eyes full of greed as he waited for your answer. And he wouldn't give you anything until you did.

“Inside me.” You muttered through gritted teeth, almost delirious as you rubbed your thighs together with anticipation. He didn't look satisfied. You breathed in deeply, the aching need between your legs unbearable. “Need your cock, inside me, right now, Ben.” 

He lifted his eyebrows up in satisfaction and gave you a simple hum before he switched positions with you, without a word pressing your front against the shower wall. 

“I fuck you once and you're already acting like a pathetic whore? Okay. But you better fucking take my cock like the good fuck doll you've always been, hm?” He kicked your legs apart with his knee, his back pressing you further into the wall as he pressed the head of his cock against your entrance. You took a deep breath. “Yeah, you're gonna take this cock like a good lil’ fuck doll.” 

You gasped when he pushed himself inside with a snap of his hips, but it quickly turned into a moan when he pushed himself to the hilt, hips rutting against your ass. You dug your nails into nothing as you closed your eyes, taking in the delicious feeling of his thick cock stretching your walls.

“What a tight fucking cunt.” He grunted, gripping your hips, not wasting any time. He barely gave you time to adjust. “So fucking wet. Just for me, huh?” 

You were nodding against the wall instantly, pushing your ass back against him as he fucked you without mercy. You felt his lips on your shoulder as he leaned over you. The lewd sound of slapping skin was drowned out by the shower running but you could hear it clear as fucking day. 

“Yes! Mhmm feels so good.” You moaned softly, mindlessly reaching behind you to touch him, any part of him. Your fingers found his beard as you ran your hand over his face desperate to feel him, then you found his hair, and you latched on for dear life as he drilled into you. 

“Yeah? Like how my cock feels in your guts? You missed it, didn't you?” He pressed the side of his face into your head, allowing himself to close his eyes and soak the feeling of your nails on his scalp, he could even feel the faintest bit of electricity shooting through your fingers. He fucking loved it. 

“Yes! God yes.” You couldn't even describe how much. 

Ben smirked at this as he wrapped his arm over your chest and his fingers found your throat. He forced your head back, making you look at him. 

“Open your mouth,” He ordered, he held his finger to your pulse as he felt the fast rate of your heartbeat. You did as he said, and with a huff he spat in your mouth. “Slut. Swallow it.” 

How he could so easily break you down to nothing and treat you like no other man could, truly was beyond your understanding. But your mind didn't have to understand it. Your body just did it. You felt a pool of wetness seep through you at the damn near animalistic groan that rumbled in his throat. 

“You're such a good fucking girl.” He spat, pressing his lips against yours in a messy filthy kiss. You could barely keep your mouth open, not with the way he was so determined to make you fall apart for him. “You're my good fucking girl.” 

“I want to come. Please I—fuck.”  Your words were broken as your whole body burned up, and it wasn't from the hot water. 

“Of course, you do. It just feels so good, doesn't it?” He squeezed your throat harder, only choked out sounds could leave your mouth as he slipped his other hand to your swollen clit and rubbed harsh circles. 

Your orgasm hit you so hard you didn't realize it until you were shaking violently, your eyes rolled back into your head as you fucked yourself on his cock. Not that he ever stopped. He moaned loudly at the feeling of your wetness seeping on him. The wet sound of his cock slapping against your cunt made him want to come, too. 

“Fuck. Fucking Christ Violet. C'mon, make me come. Fuck yourself on my cock just like that. Be a good fuck doll for me, that's it.” His hand left your throat to pull at your hair. He dug his fingers deep into your scalp as his face fell on your shoulder. With a deep grunt he held you down on him. “Fucking take it, that's it, girl. Just like that. Fuck.” 

You could feel your mixed releases slip down your thigh. You sighed deeply, allowing yourself to close your eyes in ecstasy as he pressed his lips to your jaw. You hummed softly, reaching behind you to run your fingers through your hair. 

“I never want to leave this cunt. Feels so fucking good.” He muttered against your skin. 

You laughed softly, eyes still closed, you breathed heavily, “You're gonna have to eventually.” 

“Like fuck I am.” 

Both of his hands were on your hips and he turned you around. You whimpered softly at the emptiness he left you, but it was quickly replaced by choked out gasp when he grabbed both of your thighs and effortlessly hoisted you up around his waist. Your back was pressed against the tile wall and he slipped his cock inside you without a warning.

“Ben—” 

“You wanted my cock inside you? Well you better fucking take all of it. Every fucking inch ‘til I say so. You want it, don't you?” He spat, already fucking into you like you were nothing more than a toy. He held you up by your thighs as he kept them wide open so he could take as much as he wanted. And that he did. “Of course you do, this cunt is all mine to with as I fucking want. That ain't never gonna change.” 

What a long fucking night you were going to have. But you'd take a million of this over another day without him in your life. And this? This was all you ever wanted. You didn't need anything else, just him.

[perfectlyoongi]

SOULMATE!YOONGI who said he was the owner of his heart and destiny. Yoongi was never a believer in destiny, the idea of a person being born destined to love seemed completely absurd to him, without any sense — he believed that people were born to live, not to love; as such, Yoongi never looked for his soulmate, saying always and every time that he would love whoever he chose, when he chose — he believed it was his own choice. “no one is born to love. we are all born to exist and love is not as important as they make us believe.”

SOULMATE!YOONGI who fought against his feelings for you. Yoongi was the master of his own destiny, of his heart, he couldn't just let ancient stars and capricious gods take over his life — no; Yoongi would love who he wanted, when he wanted and he knew it wouldn't be you, someone he recently met and who impacted him in such a way that made him question his beliefs. “i can’t be with someone who makes me question everything i believe; it doesn’t make sense to be with someone who makes me change my beliefs.”

SOULMATE!YOONGI who fell in love with you without wanting to. but the stars were guides, the gods were writers and the universe already knew that Yoongi would love you forever — even though he didn't want to; it was just your look, your smile, your essence that captivated Yoongi, taking him to lands unknown to him, making Yoongi walk the path of love without him even giving you the permission to send him on that journey of loving you. “i don’t know where i’m going or when i’ll get there, but something in me tells me that i will always have you by my side on this journey and that’s enough for me.”

SOULMATE!YOONGI who didn't believe in soulmates until he met you. maybe the stars are right; maybe the gods are right; maybe the whole universe is right when it says that we were born to love, because as soon as Yoongi met you, and no matter how much he denied it, Yoongi knew that it was his destiny to dedicate his entire life to making you happy, to making you feel important, to loving you. “i always looked for a purpose in my life, not believing that i was only destined to create art; and now with you here, now that i met you, i realized that my purpose in life was to devote myself to you.”

SOULMATE!YOONGI who believed that you met by destiny. numerical and truthful probabilities were astronomical in all the fields that involved you and Yoongi — but, by coincidence, they existed; billions of people existed at the same time as you and, against all odds, you found each other; billions of people loved at the same time as you, but you and Yoongi only loved each other — what other explanation was there for such probability other than destiny? “meeting someone like you is a unique experience, only reserved for those who are destined for you — and i swear to you that the universe itself put me in your path so i could love you.”

SOULMATE!YOONGI who could only imagine a future if you were there. because he could already read the stars, he could already hear the gods, he could already feel the universe uniting you with him; you were Yoongi's soulmate and his life could only make sense with you by his side — especially because Yoongi always said that his life had only started the day he met you. “if my life began the day i met you, then it only makes sense to only be able to see a future for myself if you are by my side so i can love you forever.”

SOULMATE!YOONGI who swore to move mountains and rivers to be with you. Yoongi knew that destiny took as much as it gave and he knew that too much luck was a sign of distrust, and all he thought about was the universe trying to take you away from him; but no matter how, no matter when, if your presence in Yoongi's life disappeared, he himself would face the various gods so he could have you in his arms one last time. “even if i need to burn the world to the ground to get the attention of the gods. not even if i need to destroy all human life to call upon the gods. if they take me away from you, they will regret giving me the power to love.”

[mithrandirl]

i always get questions when i do a split gifset, and it's a deceptively simple process so i thought i'd try to show how i do it! i don't know if these types of gifsets have a more universally recognized name, but that's what i call them so that's what i'm going with.

i'm going to write this assuming you have a solid familiarity with photoshop and making gifs, but please feel free to send me an ask if anything is unclear. i use video timeline/smart objects so will be showing that (here's a great general tutorial on giffing with timeline). i will also be talking A LOT about gif dimensions, so first let's briefly go over the limits and theory a little bit.

a 1 column gifset can accommodate gifs 540 pixels wide

2 columns = 268 pixels each with a 4 pixel gutter between

3 columns = 177, 178, 177 pixels with 4 pixel gutters

i'm mostly going to talk about 2 column split gifs here (what i will refer to as 2x1 from now on - 2 across and 1 high), but the process is the same for 3 column (3x1) and so on (1x2, 2x2, etc).

so, why would you even want to make a gifset like this? i mean, let’s face it, generally, bigger is better for gifs on tumblr, and there are obvious incentives to 540 width gifs over 268 or 177/8 width, especially since the upload limit went to 10MB. but even 10MB isn’t much when you’re talking about high quality footage. gif making is a constant balance between quality (whatever that means to you: frame dimensions, sharpening, coloring, etc) and file size. split gifs are a cheat to that limitation >:)

i personally believe an untapped frontier of tumblr gifmaking is playing with dimensions and time. that sentence makes me sound like an old-timey sci-fi villain, but you get the idea: gifmaking is an art and there are many fun and interesting ways of exploring the medium. you can do a lot with 268 pixels! longer frame loops to gif longer scenes unbroken, bolder coloring on a wide shot you don’t want to pare down. and, a shorter x axis means the y axis’s bang goes a lot further on a buck. also just if you have a 2 column set but only 5 gifs so you need to make one take up 2 slots. there's a lot of reasons but the most important one is it's fun :) here are some examples of other split gifs i've made: x, x, x

this isn't so much a limitation, more of a shift in how you think about gifs, but it's important to remember that each gif should ideally be doing something still. when making split gifs, it’s easy to pick a wide scene without thinking about how it’ll be split down the middle, and then you’re left with a lot of something on one side and a lot of incongruous nothing on the other - or you're left with a person cut in half awkwardly in the middle. so while a split gif can still be a whole scene, you shouldn’t ignore the break and what it means to the bigger picture. now this is personal preference, but i like to play with the break and make it a part of the gifset. mirrored movement, subjects trapped on either side but still talking to each other, a bird flying from one side to the other. fun with frames! it can be another way of drawing attention to specific images/moments/feelings happening within the same shot.

SIMPLE SPLIT GIFS

to more narrowly define what i’m calling “simple split gifs,” it’s one set of frames split down the middle into two separate gifs that are meant to play concurrently, side by side.

first thing's first, crop your gif and uncheck delete cropped pixels if it is not already (very important). i'm cropping it to the 1x1 size, in this case 268x350. if you need to see how the full size will look, you can try it out with 536 first. but this one is pretty easy, this is the exact center of the frame (the left boundary of this crop is the center line) and both their heads fit within their respective 1x1 crop.

then color as you normally would. if your scene is very different one side to the other, it might be easier for you to color on a wider crop and then either crop again or copy paste your coloring to the smaller crop version. i do that with the 2x6s, but it's usually not that big a deal to color the 2x1s with just the small crop on your canvas at the time. this scene is very symmetrical, both in movement and colors, so i'm good.

now the fun part! once you've got one side how you want it, save/export as you normally would. at this point i also like to make a mental note of how many frames there are.

so i have 49 frames and it's still only ~3MB! this is just an example that i picked from my rotk fancy set, otherwise i probably would have made this gif longer.

then onto the other side, so i ctrl + z my way back to my smart object video timeline. to get to theoden i just drag and drop the smart object 268 pixels over. since this one is in the exact center of the image, it even helpfully guides me (this can get annoying if you are NOT giffing the center of the image fyi, but you can always manually go pixel by pixel too if you need to with your <- -> keyboard buttons. just always remember where you started and count accurately). i can never move around my smart object without hiding the adjustment layers on top of it, so you'll see me do that in this screen recording.

see how it corrected me when i dragged it a few pixels down by accident, and with all those pink guidelines? sometimes photoshop is good 😌

then make sure you still like the coloring, adjust whatever needs to be adjusted, but watch out! don't make any major changes because it still has to match the other side. and export again.

what we perceive as 1 series of frames chopped down the middle is just 2 separate gifs with the same frame rate. when tumblr loads the images, it will run concurrently in the post (even though it never does in the draft post 🙄). and that's it!

COMPLEX SPLIT GIFS

again i'm making up terms, but i call anything with more than 2 components a complex split gifset. i've tweaked some things in the process as i went along, but this is generally how i did the lotr series. these sets are basically just many split gifs with transitions. and here's where endurance becomes a factor :) there's a lot of prep done blind. but if set up well, it will be fairly easy to pull together by the end.

first i decide on my dimensions, using my upper bounds to determine how big i'm going to go. since lotr has very nice large file sizes, i can go pretty big without sacrificing much in quality. i decided on 3 rows of 350 pixel height gifs and it's worked well for me. that means my biggest gif will have a total height of 1050 pixels - fun! you could also do 8 rows, with two 2x2s or just a series of 2x1s that transition to 1x1s. there really is no limit to this except your imagination and source material.

i cap everything i'm going to use before i even open photoshop, then do all of them at once. uncheck delete cropped pixels, then i make my gifs! this is where i spend 90% of the time on this set. every gif should be the size of the smallest 1x1 gif (268x350 for me). i make all 10 into a fully colored, separate psd. (and then i usually go back through all of them a few times to get the colors to match better 😅) for the bigger ones (2x1: 536x350 and 2x6: 536x1050), i just crop them as if they were 1x1 but always thinking about how they will look when big. this gets tricky when i do the big one :) my lazy workaround for that is to basically make it twice: one cropped as it will be and one full size for me to color. then i copy and paste all the coloring layers onto the small one and voila, i know that the coloring in the upper right slice will also look good on the bottom left slice 1050 pixels away because i saw it on the full size version.

coloring is probably the biggest thing i'm thinking about with this kind of set. the whole idea is that these gifs are using the same colors, more or less, throughout each phase. even with the 1x1s, they're still part of a larger color concept, and they should (🤞) work with each other.

in a pinch, i like to eyedrop a color from one gif and add it as an accent to another. one of my 1x1s had a much more muted color palette originally, but i wanted it to have deeper blues and yellows to complement the 1x1 that would go next to it, so i added some gradients on lower opacity over it, color picked from other gifs i already colored.

i keep my coloring and the smart object in separate folders to help me in the final step of combining everything, and then i trim everything down to my lowest common denominator of frames. you might think you need to keep frames pretty minimal if you're doing 3 phases with transitions like this, but there's more room to work with on a small gif, in terms of file size. i usually do 30-50 frames for each phase, with the assumption that i'll be adding a transition on each side of each gif that will eat up some frames (i usually do 4-6 frame fade transitions). for the rotk set my final frame count was 129 and i never went over 8MB on a gif, so there's plenty of space play around with things :)

and then, combine! whatever order you start with, you are stuck with (unless you're getting even more complicated, but we won't go into that lol). for these sets i go small 1x1 -> medium 2x1 -> big 2x6. i like to think of it in phases from this point on. small is the first phase, then medium, then big. then i put in the fade transitions, chopping up the first phase gif so the last one will fade into it, restarting the whole cycle seamlessly. i'm just doing a quick and dirty fade here, but here's a tutorial if you want more explanation on transitions.

at this point i save this psd as its position, "top left" or whatever (usually it's a psb by this point too 🥲), just in case i need to go back to it. then i export this first gif and move on to the rest.

it's the same concept as a simple split gif: drag and drop the smart object to the new position, but now there are multiple phases to keep track of. folder organization has been key for me to keep everything straight. i move through the gifs in a backwards S, starting with the top left. but you could go any direction, just gotta stick with it and remember your counts. in my case, i'm always thinking of 268 pixels over and, for the 2x6, 350 up/down. it's a tedious process, but it goes quick (apart from waiting for photoshop to load each time you export).

i did this series as a color concept aesthetic kind of thing, so my theory was by using the same-ish colors throughout, that would save me in the end when it came time to export. there's only 256 colors max to work with on a gif, and that's usually what gets me over the 10MB limit. but as i said, i have never even gotten close to the size limit on this series. it's pretty hard to reach the limit on 268 pixels, but not impossible. (i did run into that on the emma set i did, and that was hell. but also not an impossible fix in the end.)

and that's it! if you try any of this and have trouble, i'm happy to help if i can but mostly this is a "click around and see what works for you" kind of process. and feel free to tag me on your split gifsets :) i love seeing them <3

[crustyfloor]

Luka keeps track of his heart rate very religiously as it seems but during Mizi's surprise attack during ROMH he seemed to slip up, not only was the red a tell-tale sign of Mizi's violent intentions but it was a more symbolic way of showing Luka in quite visceral fear.

I'm not convinced Luka will be as continuously coordinated as he prefers to come off, it all seems too, well, fake to me. it's a similar case to Ivan who can't feel, isn't normal, isn't human enough so he makes a persona that is that. so Luka, whoever he is, makes this version of himself to cope with what he has to live through pretend like he's fine and on top of it all to survive.

so in round 7 I think something drastic will happen to make him 'snap' in a way.

And a theory I have is that he will be the one to make that move this time. It's safe to say that we don't know Luka. We don't know who he really is. We don't know his real desires. But we do know one thing--he is scared. he is scared of the aliens. That's why he's so stuck on appeasing them--being their little trophy. He knows full well that a dented trophy will be a discarded one and with that mindset he's gotten so far already, and he's scared of losing. That's why he holds any little thing he can get his hands on close. And most importantly he is scared of losing power.

Till would be the more likely in this position, given he's such a rebel. But isn't that just too predictable. Who's to say he hasn't been pushed around so much that he wouldn't just lose it on that stage and vent all he's been through like Mizi did. But who's to say that's not how he feels at this point? who's to say that he's not so numb and broken and beaten at this point that he won't even pay mind to Luka's manipulations, he's ought to be far too used to these games by now having gotten so far in his career (And having seen what Luka can do for himself, maybe he's ready.). That's what Luka is ready for but scared of--a worthy opponent for the throne. Someone capable of stripping him of his power.

And if his calm facade is as weak as I think it is, just that will be what ultimately brings out Luka.

Sure this idea may be flawed. Luka is so perfect, too perfect and confident for something as little as that break his carefully threaded persona. And I admit, I'm sure he's very aware of what playing unfairly will lead to. Maybe he'll even be content at finally being free from the stage through the sweet release of death.

But just remember what happened to Hyun-woo.

We don't know what actually happened. And I'm sure this in particular will be covered in round 7 (I think it may have something to do with Hyuna but that's for another post) But just imagine, Luka: "Calm, goody two shoe" Luka killing another human. Whether by accident or not, what happened--what and how did Luka feel in the moment for the repercussions oh whatever happened to be that bad?

A Luka that is secretly greatly insecure, sensitive, defensive, deeply troubled, and pliable that he would feel so threatened that he can’t help but lose his cool and do the unthinkable for the person he's made himself out to be so far is what I'm betting on, and the type of character I'm sure we'll come to see in round 7.

but that's just a theory. An Alien stage th- *gets sho*

[spacerockfloater]

hi! i noticed you learnt about what ryan condal said regarding blood and cheese. it was…something. i would like to know your thoughts on the matter. though it would be completely understandable if you need sometime to gather them together or if you would rather not at all! thank you and bye!

Hello beloved, thank you so much for asking me! I’d love to share my opinion!

If anyone’s wondering, @rhaenelle is referring to this interview where Ryan Condal essentially says he believes that Blood & Cheese’s brutality and heinousness was exaggerated by the Greens in a propagandistic attempt to convince their subjects that Rhaenyra and Daemon are the worst villains ever born, hence why he toned the event down; to show us what he thinks is the accurate version of Jaehaerys’ murder.

Now, I am aware that Condal had already warned us that HOTD was going to be a feminist retelling of the events of F&B, which practically means that his plan has always been to whitewash the everlasting fuck out of Rhaenyra. So what do I think about this?

Well, for starters, I think that Ryan Condal is an excellent businessman. He knows what kind of tropes are going to make the audience engage with his show. He understands that people need a hero to cheer for and a villain to hate, therefore he removed the moral ambiguity from all of the characters and divided them into two categories: the Blacks, enlightened revolutionaries full of passion, deserving of admiration and correct in everything they do, and the Greens, pious fools with a moral superiority complex who are stack in the ways of the past and commit despicable crimes. The average viewer does not possess the intelligence to comprehend that both parties have their good and bad moments, and that they’re both correct in fighting for what each believes is rightfully theirs. Simultaneously, he benefits from the modern trends that want women in media to take revenge when they are wronged and emerge as triumphant girlbosses, because of course a white upper class woman’s suffering in a western world (or Westeros) society has everything to do with her gender and nothing to do with her personality or decisions (even if this works solely for Rhaenyra, because Alicent seems to be held accountable for every single one of her actions). Finally, it is obvious that Condal is trying to appease disgruntled Daenerys fans, so he has rebuilt Rhaenyra into this tortured martyr that wishes to change the world for the better in an attempt to make her resemble her great granddaughter six times removed.

For all of these reasons, I find it very logical that he is going out of his way to minimise the tragedy the Greens experience. It just doesn’t make Rhaenyra look good and honestly, who wants that? The producers saw how unhappy Danny’s stans were when they made her lose her shit; they’re not going to make the same mistake twice. They don’t want their show to tank like the last season of GOT did, so they’ll do everything in their power to keep the audience happy. And it’s working! What’s the last thing Condal says in this clip? “You kinda start rooting for [Blood and Cheese]!” and boy oh boy, the TB stans sure do! Literally hundreds of memes that rejoiced at Jaehaerys’ death were posted on X this week, with tens of thousands of likes. But when Lucerys died, it was presented as the most foul thing to ever happen in the ASOIAF universe. It is the TB supporters that dictate which child murder is good and which is bad, and that decision usually depends on which child came out Rhaenyra’s womb, not let’s say, the fact that one kid was a toddler that could barely walk, while the other was a teenager that laughed at the disabled person he mutilated himself.

It’s all just marketing

That being said, I want to clarify that I understand why Condal and the HOTD producers do what they do, but being a good entrepreneur does not necessarily make you a literary genius. Now, I’m not gonna explain why stripping Rhaenyra off of every character trait that made her interesting is a bad decision and that in their attempt to remove the blame from her so that they can elevate her as this righteous patron of feminism, they’re accidentally removing all of her agency and turning her simply into a victim, because I have a whole blog dedicated to that. But let’s just say that presenting Rhaenyra as this sexually liberated idol that’s incapable of evil, when in fact she’s an entitled aristocrat who’s completely at the mercy of men around her, from her father to her husbuncle, is the most performative activism move ever pulled in recent TV history, as well as pushing the narrative that Alicent suffers from internalised misogyny because duh, a woman can only be good and a feminist if she supports Rhaenyra, not when she pursues her own interests.

Ultimately, I think we just have to accept that this show is not meant for TG fans. We are not going to find any satisfaction in it. Everything that was unique and admirable about the Greens in the book has vanished. Their family dynamic is fucked up, Alicent’s children hate her, Aegon and Halaena cannot stand one another, Alicent is constantly a victim and never someone that chases her own ambitions, Halaena is very vague, Aemond appears to be more angsty than angry, Aegon is a stupid rapist, Jaehaerys’ death was turned into a mockery, Alicole was weaponised in order to make us shit on Alicent and Criston even more and so on. This show barely caters to us because we’re not making them any money.

The reason that there are more TB than TG stans is because (I’m gonna get so much fucking hate for this) most people who watch TV are fucking morons. I swear, when F&B came out 6 years ago, no one gave a flying fuck about Rhaenyra, because we all understood that everyone involved in the Dance of the Dragons was fucked up in their own way and that the message of this story, just like the general message of ASOIAF, is that nobody deserves to sit on that fucking throne. We were all in agreement about that. But then this fucking show came along and all the oblivious simpletons that swallowed whatever the producers shoved down their throats, grabbed the book and decided that “Woah, this book is obviously a critique on patriarchy and Rhaenyra is obviously the victim of the story”! As if GRRM, the man who said that he doesn’t sit down and think “Oh, I’m going to write a woman now” but instead he believes women to be people just like men, with complex personalities, would ever do that. And they just can’t believe that it is possible for book!Rhaenyra to be an evil racist classist full of entitlement! Surely it must be because the Greens are rewriting history! There’s no way GRRM, the man that created Cersei fucking Lannister, would ever make a female character that’s vicious and crazy just because she feels like it! Y’all need to sit down for a moment. I say this as a radical feminist that supports the 4B movement: you’re projecting your own ideas onto George’s work. Not all the media we consume has to reflect our ideologies, but if you think that it has to, then this book isn’t the anti misogynistic masterpiece you wish it was.

Like, when it comes to F&B, I am firmly anti Targaryen and did not wish for any side to win. I wanted them all wiped out to be honest. But when it comes to HOTD, I’m TG basically out of spite at this point.

All in all, I just think that things are going to go downhill for us from this point on. They’ll just keep glorifying the Blacks until the very end.

[just-a-ghost00]

What your spirit guides have to say about this connection

Warning : there might be some cuss words in the words/signs/names section.

Group 1 - Drawings scattered on the floor

Tarot : 5 of pentacles, ace of pentacles, The Chariot, 8 of cups, Queen of swords, The Lovers | Oracle cards : Patience, Boundaries

When the opportunity arises, move on. Because if you stay, you're going to be disappointed. This connection won't bring you any satisfaction or happiness. It may even deepen your insecurities. No matter who this person is or how they treat you, on the long term nothing good will come of it for you. Now, the choice is yours to make. No one can force you to forget about this person and cut ties with them if you don't want to. Your spirit guides just want to warn you that it would be better for you not to dwell on this person, because there is someone better waiting for you around the corner. If this person is being disrespectful to you, it is high time you show them what you're made of. Because at the end of the day, your responsibility is to value and take care of yourself. I feel like some of you may feel lonely and long for a deep connection. So maybe this person has shown some interest in you which led you to belive that this could be your forever person, when they aren't. I'm sorry if this triggers you, because my intention isn't to hurt you but to provide useful and important information. I know how difficult it can be to cut ties with someone when we had so much hope and dreams with them. But I have no doubt you can make it through. Your guides want to reassure you on the fact that choosing yourself over this person is going to be beneficial to you. Extra information - Strength Queen of pentacles 3 of pentacles Your guides want to insist on your power and ability to overcome this situation. They know you have what it takes to resist this person and protect yourself. The spirit animal of the tiger is watching over you during this period of your life. You may call to it for advice and help. Your spirit guides also urge you to deepen your connection with them and have faith in the Universe and it's ability to provide you with exactly what you need and deserve. Letters : S O E U S W S E I C L E E G R Words/signs/names : wise, use, sue, sow, woes, sus, Susie, cues, Wess, sis, Cis, cusses, Seoul, soul, Glee, seer, Rogue, mess, Ciel, rouge (French for red), glow, cure, secure, Curie, glue, series, cries, less, lows, lower, roses, girls, Weiss, Solweig

Group 2 - Ticking clock

Tarot : 4 of cups, ace of swords, 8 of swords, 4 of wands, 8 of cups, 7 of swords Oracle cards : Get wild, Sacred sexuality rx

You and this person are currently in seperation. You feel like this person is hiding things from you or isn't comfortable speaking their mind. Many of you may be asking about a future spouse. Spirit wants to draw your attention on the fact that the more you think about this person and focus your energy on them, the more opportunities you are missing. It's like you're telling yourself "I can't be in a relationship right now, what if my future spouse comes into my life then?". You're refraining yourself from living your life, having fun, meeting new people. Your future spouse is not open to your connection currently, is what spirit is saying. Forcing the situation would only keep you apart. They are not ready. And so are you. You have other things to tend to, other experiences to live, other people to meet. Your guides advise you to draw back from this connection from a while and keep to yourself what you are doing. Your FS doesn't have to know. And it is none of their business anyway. If you keep pushing, you'll only be lying to yourself. It's important that you turn your gaze on other matters. Right now, this connection isn't beneficial to you. This isn't to say that this person is bad. This is just to say that they currently don't have anything to offer. Extra messages - 2 of pentacles, Black Numen, White Numen You are in a state of confusion regarding this connection. This is because you are currently in or about to be entering a dark night of the soul, a period of solitude and separation from this person. You won't be picking up on anything from their higher self or very little information. But there is always light at the end of the tunnel. Though you don't know where this path leads, you have to trust that the outcome is going to be positive, whether with or without this person. Right now, you should be focusing on your balance and navigating through the fog.

letters : L E U M T T S L T X M R L V T words/signs/names : Summer, sex, muse, exult, luxe, melt, ex, texts, test, sell, tell, mums, "trust me", serum, mute, Muller, mulet, rest, SUV, vet, "must let", lust

Group 3 - Adventurer's camera

Tarot : The emperor, 6 of cups, 7 of wands, 4 of swords, The Star, Knight of pentacles Oracle cards : The Creator, Withdraw

Spirit wants to confirm that this person is a soulmate of yours. You are destined to get closer to this person after a period of retreat. They are represented by The Emperor, The Star and The Creator. Chances are this person is an artist or a public figure like an influencer. If not, then the person you're asking about is destined to gain notoriety. They are extremely powerful. They are here to help you manifest your desired reality. But for now, a time of separation is needed. You may receive intuitive downloads from this person's higher self to guide you on your journey. Patience is the key word here. This person has a lot of passion for you. But spirit wants to remind you that their role is mainly to guide you, to light the way so that you can follow in their footsteps. They don't want you to get too caught up in what you feel for them. Because they're afraid you might forget your purpose. Extra information - Ace of swords, 7 of pentacles, The Sun By working on your inner truth, you could reach success with this person and also on a more personal level. This time of withdrawal is meant to help you with that. You may be afraid of failure regarding this connection. Know that there is no such thing as failing. You can only make the decision that is right for you. You might not see the full potential of what you have currently and may doubt this connection but your guides want to assure you that there is more to this than you can see. It'll make sense in due time.

Letters : D S U Q O E U M L M E T N C S Signs/names/words : cute, sun, son, lost, lust, muse, Noel, lune(French for moon), comet, comments, dust, moles, semen, men, quests, cloud, cold, muscle, monde (French for world), mounts, Clement, sounds, museums, ondes (French for waves), clones, cents, sold, old, soul, mess, cuss, lone, doms, demons, clues, cums, semen, told, SNS, meme, dots, "see us", SOS, cunt

[dontexpectmuch]

rúben dias x reader

summary; you always see him when you step out of your apartment in the early hours of the morning, the two of you greeting each other with your eyes before you move on with your day. there has never been a reason to talk to him; until you run out of sugar and are about to have a mental breakdown. the girly way.

**

sometimes you hated yourself for being so passionate about your work field. there was nothing wrong with being passionate about what you do with your life per se, however having to get up at 4:30 in the morning made something inside you die each day.

who in their right mind would ever do that to themselves?

your family and friends around you always [affectionately] called you a psychopath because of it, and sometimes you agree with them. starting your day so early til the late evening would take a toll on you at times, you couldn’t lie. though, what else are you supposed to do with your life?

living in manchester, close to university labs and other great laboratories was a privilege for someone in your field. your work required loads of attention and detailed research, taking up most of your time. it’s not like you had someone at home waiting for you anyway. forcing yourself out of your bed and getting ready was the norm, you quickly became used to your routine and did everything according to a certain standard. looking at yourself in the mirror as you brush your teeth, you are met with a pair of tired eyes.

just as you are about to spit out the rest of the toothpaste, you hear the alarm of the flat next to you go off, meaning it was 5:00 already.

your neighbor was also out of their mind, apparently.

he always gets up early in the morning, does his routine and leaves his home at the same time as you do. he however, compared to you, looked always fresh and dedicated, no trace of sleepiness on his masculine features.

finishing your morning routine, you quickly get dressed, take your ginger shots and eat some food before putting on your shoes. with one last look behind you to check yourself in the mirror, you open the door.

not even a second later, the door opposite to you also opened, your tall neighbor stepping out of his flat, bag on his shoulder and hair styled.

how did he manage to always wear such nice outfits? you find yourself asking as you greet him with a tired smile.

you close your door behind you and move your tired legs to the elevator, pressing the button as you readjust your bag on your shoulders. today would be a tiring day, you can just tell.

your neighbor stands a meter behind you, his intense perfume invading your senses. even though the two of you get up quite early, he seemed very energetic, almost as if he could run around a field all day long with no feeling of being tired.

the sound of the elevator arriving pulls you out of your thoughts, stepping inside as your eyes follow your neighbors hands. he always presses the button, never once letting you have the chance to do so yourself. not that you are complaining.

as soon as you arrive at the entrance, he quickly walks out the elevator, a small and breathy ‘bye’ leaving his lips as his long legs carry him to the garage.

“bye.” you say to no one particular, moving forward to get to the train station.

it definitely is too early.

——

“that’s a lot of sugar.” you mumble to yourself as you read the instructions on the paper.

the light in your kitchen is dimmed down, soft rnb music playing in the background and candles lit around your flat just created a certain vibe that you desperately need right now.

work has been harder than usual today, testing you and your mental capacity in very unique and challenging ways. thankfully, you have been able to come home a bit earlier, granting you enough time to bake yourself some delicious cookies as a treat. what you forgot, however, was that you still need to go grocery shopping, your fridge a clear evidence for that.

you search your cupboards for some sugar, eyes scanning each product with practiced ease. your shoulders sink in despair when you fail to detect it, your head pounding and feet getting cold.

“fuckin’…” you take a deep breath and try to calm yourself, but the pounding of your head and your rapid pulse hinder you from actually calming down.

looking at the clock above the door, you see that it is way too late to go out and buy some sugar, knowing that it would get too late to come home, bake the cookies, get enough sleep and what not. you try to think of what else you could do, when suddenly you hear some noise from your neighbors flat. it wasn’t loud, yet it came so unexpected that it pulled you out of your racing mind, making you calm down a bit better now.

so you do what anyone else would do, you decide to ask you neighbor for some sugar, not a big deal.

yeah, no biggie, at all.

now, standing in front of his door as you try to internally hype yourself up, you wish that you just went grocery shopping yesterday. because then, you wouldn’t have to stand here with your measuring cup in your hand, looking at the black door.

‘dias’ it says on the bell’s button.

taking one last deep breath, you move your cold hand towards the door, gently knocking against it. no going back now.

it didn’t take longer than ten seconds for the door to open, and you are immediately met with the sight if your neighbor in his evening clothes, messy hair and phone at hand.

his eyes are wide as he looks at you, somewhat surprised to see you standing there. you, too, are surprised by all of this, however you were here on a mission. no time for distractions.

you clean your throat, “hey, sorry for bothering you-“

“you don’t.” he immediately responds, voice deep laced with an accent.

you smile at him, which he returns. he steps closer to you, now resting his upper body against the doorframe.

“i was baking some cookies and didn’t realize that i ran out of sugar. could you perhaps lend me some?”

holding the measuring cup up to show him, dias immediately nods and gently takes the cup out of your hands, “give me a second.” is all he says before he disappears into his flat, front door still open for you to take a peak inside.

even though you can’t see a lot, even his doorway looked quite nice and clean, shoe rack full of different types of shoes. he even had a plant there, something that even you don’t own.

“here you go.” he appears again, smiling softly at you as he holds the cup for you to take.

returning his smile, you thank him, “thanks, eh..”

“rúben.”

“thanks, rúben! i’ll bring some cookies over as soon as they’re finished.” you tell him, smiling one last time before going back to your flat.

“see you.” is all you hear before he closes his door, and you immediately go back to your kitchen to finish what you started.

time passes by and an hour later you finish the cookies. your body finally relaxes, no trace of that stress you felt today at work present. the kitchen smells heavenly and your mouth waters as you take your first bite of the cookie.

looking at the time, you see that it is barley past nine, not too late to give rúben some of the cookies as a thank you. so, you put some of them in to a plate and once again leave your home to knock on his door.

you didn’t understand why, but suddenly your mind goes blank and your heart beats faster again, cold sweat spreading across your back. was it because you cared about what he thought of your baking? maybe you were getting sick due to all the stress you had throughout the day, and this was your final sign to take a break from work.

your worries wash away when rúben once again opens his door, looking the same as from an hour ago.

this time, his smile reaches his eyes when he sees you standing there, holding a plate with delicious looking cookies on it.

“delivery.” you say, smiling at him.

he didn’t look as mean and intimidating as he usually does in the morning. this whole ‘homebody’ look casts a whole new light on him, changing the previous thoughts you had about him.

rúben chuckles at your word, “well, well, would you look at that.”

his thick accent sends a shiver down your spine, his deep and honey like voice a nice change from what you were usually accustomed to when hearing a male voice.

“i hope you like them, rúben.” you hand him the plate, looking at his eyes, “thanks again for the sugar, really saved my evening.”

rúben laughs as he takes the plate, waving his hand at your statement, “it was nothing, really. thank you for the cookies, i look forward to eat them.”

nodding at his words, you look down as you smile to yourself, “well, have a-“

“do you want to eat them together?” he interrupted you, big brown eyes looking at you intensely.

oh, well.

“i don’t want to disturb your evening, though.” you tell him your thoughts.

or maybe it is because you don’t trust yourself to have the mental capacity right now. well, you tend to enjoy your alone time a lot, and spending your evening with your neighbor who practically is a stranger wasn’t exactly on your radar.

“no, really,” rúben begins, opening his door wide to welcome you in. as you step in, he continues, “as neighbors, we have to get to know each other. we both live alone, when something happens we are the closest to each other to help.” he reasons. and he was right, you think to yourself.

your parents live outside of manchester, your friends on the other side of town. if something were ever to happen, having rúben close would be the most important thing for you.

nodding, you take off your shoes and follow him to the big living room, “you’re right. i never thought about what might happen if no one could come in time.”

rúben brightly smiles at you as he places the plate onto his coffee table in front of the couch. as your eyes wander around the living room, you once again notice how clean and organized his home looks. not a single thing out of place, compared to this, your home looks like a battlefield. his flat was definitely bigger than yours as well, though his kitchen and living room were connected, whereas you had a separate room for your kitchen. his walls were decorated with some pictures, and you could even see a guitar leaning against the wall in a corner.

"here, ginger tea does wonders to one's body." rúben leans down to place a cup of tea in front of you, his perfume hitting your nose.

"thanks." you smike at him as you watch him take a seat on the couch next to you, respectable distance between you two.

he takes a sip from his tea before looking at you, his eyes shining under the dim lights, “how long have you been living here?”

“hm,” you begin as you try to think of a concrete date, not so sure yourself, “well, i moved here after i got my job at the university, even though it wasn’t the cheapest, it was still the closest to work and best offer i got considering how big the flat is.” you explain, grabbing a cookie as you shoot the same question back at him.

“i also work in manchester,” rúben begins, his voice deep. he leans back against the couch, his left arm now resting on top of the back, “but this is my second flat. my first one was too unsafe, considering that everyone could just enter the building.”

you nod, “yes, that was also quite important to me when i moved here.”

he smiled as he told you a bit more about his first flat and how different it was living in his old neighborhood compared to now. without noticing, you two fell into a comfortable conversation, jumping from topic to topic as the two of you had loads to tell. rúben talked a lot more than you, but that was only because you enjoyed listening to his stories, his accent also made it a lot more enjoyable.

time moved on quickly, and when your eyes catch a glimpse of the digital clock on his wall, they widen in disbelief.

“oh, fuck, i have to go.” you tell him, getting up take your cup and the empty plate to the kitchen.

rúben follows you, placing his own cup into the sink as you now move on to out on your shoes.

“thank you so much, rúben.” you say as he opens the door for you, watching you step out as he now leans against his doorframe, arms crossed in front of his chest, “it was genuinely nice to get to know you.”

he smiles at you words, “thank you, too. the cookies were amazing. i’ll bring the plate back as soon as it’s clean.” he lets you know.

you walk backwards to your door, pulling out your keys, “no rush, it’s not like you have a long way to deliver it anyway.”

“you’re right.”

“soo, i’ll see you in a few?” you ask him, opening your door and stepping inside.

he nods, “in a few.”

“okay, good night, rúben.”

“good night.”

—————————————————

tadaaaaa

just a drabble but i think we can work with this quite well. whatcha think? let me know!!!

bb

[lucy90712]

Ooo part two of the request he runs into you with a rock on your finger and your newborn baby and he’s gutted. Gutted that the baby should’ve been his.

part 1 Jude's POV

"I'm sorry I just don't think we are right for each other" I said for what feels like the millionth time in the last few years 

Since seeing y/n again I decided that I needed to move on, I blocked her accounts on Instagram and deleted her contact off my phone so there was no temptation to talk to her or see what she has been doing. I thought that would help me move on but it hasn't I still think about her all the time. I never took down the pictures of us in my house because when I tried to do it the place felt so empty it no longer felt like a home so I put them back up. Everyone has told me that I just need to do it and move on in fact they tell me that I need to go to therapy and talk about my feelings but I don't want to as it's just too painful to talk about. 

Over the last few years I've tried to see other girls and some of them were so lovely but because they weren't y/n I just had no feelings towards them. There was always something that wasn't right some just wanted my fame and money and others just weren't my type. One girl was nearly perfect she was sweet and beautiful but I just couldn't make myself have feelings for her so I ended things. Nothing has ever gone beyond a few dates I kissed a few of the girls but never went any further and they certainly come back to my place as then I'd have it explain the pictures. All I've had is situationships and meaningless one night stands which is all I deserve after the way I treated the only girl I ever truly loved. 

After ending my last situationship I had to go for a walk on my own to clear my head as all of this is starting to get stupid. It has dawned on me that maybe I do need to go to therapy or talk to someone to work through what is stopping me from moving on and letting myself love someone else. My way of living solely in the past isn't healthy and it's starting to really ruin my life as I'm not letting myself enjoy going on dates and finding someone who is right for me. It seems like an impossible task right now to move on but I know I can do it y/n did it so why can't I. Going outside and letting myself think has given me a new lease of life I'm ready to go home and and finally take down the pictures and remove all the other things that remind me of y/n even if the house feels bare for a while I can add things that have no memories tied to them. 

Just as I made it to the park near my house to just sit and think with no one else around I saw someone sat on the bench I usually sit on by the lake. It was a couple with a newborn baby but I couldn't see either of their faces at first. A few seconds later they moved and I nearly fainted when I saw who it was. It was y/n and Carlos with what must be their baby and y/n had a ring on her finger so they must be engaged. My friends told me that she moved out of Madrid a while ago and hasn't really been back but here she is right in front of me. I haven't seen her since the first night I saw her with Carlos and I thought I'd never see her again but there she is on the day I decide that I need to move on. The universe really has awful timing but I guess seeing her living her life with another man is all the more reason to move on. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Your POV

"Did I leave my rings in the bathroom?" I asked Carlos from the bedroom 

"Yeah they are here I'll bring them out" he said 

"Thank you I had to take them off to wash my hands after she was sick and then completely forgot about putting them back on I swear baby brain is going to kill me" I said 

"It's ok you don't need to stress about it if you forget to put your rings on I don't care as long as you and little one are ok nothing else matters" Carlos said handing me back my rings 

"I'm so glad we are here getting to see friends has made me feel so much more human and not like I've just crawled out of the grave" I joked

"See I told you getting away from home and having a different routine would be good you've been at home for over a month now it's good to get back some sense of normality" he said 

"How about we go for a walk in the park before we meet everyone later" I suggested 

"Sounds good I'll get the baby in the stroller" Carlos said

Carlos has been the best since the baby arrived 5 weeks ago of course he still has practice sessions but every second he can he spends helping me and making sure I'm ok as well as the baby. I couldn't ask for a better husband he has been the best partner since we got together but he really stepped it up once we got engaged a year and a half ago. It's crazy to think we have been together for 4 years now and married for nearly 1 especially when we met at such an awful time in my life but Carlos has truly shown me the bright side of life. 

Walking the streets of Madrid and going to the park I used to walk through when I lived here feels a little bit weird I haven't been here since I moved away 3 years ago but this place holds a lot of memories some good some bad but the bad memories are so far in the past they almost don't matter anymore. As Carlos pushed the stroller while holding my hand as I walked next to him I couldn't help but think about the last time I came to this park which is when I broke up with Jude. After ending things I didn't know where to go so I came here and just cried my eyes out which I think is my lowest moment in life but yet here I am just a few years later at my happiest with my perfect little family. 

We walked around for a while before the baby got fussy so we sat down on a bench by the lake so I could feed her before we meet friends for dinner. It was lovely and peaceful as there was hardly anyone else around so we sat there and talked for a while even after the baby had eaten and fallen asleep again. Eventually we had to leave so I had to place the baby back in her stroller as slowly as I could as not to wake her which is a skill I've developed since she was born. As we turned around to leave I saw someone else walking down the path in the park who looked familiar then I realised it was Jude. 

I haven't seen him since that night in the club years ago now and honestly until today I haven't really thought about him it's been so long that I've moved on. Sure what he did was awful and ruined me for a while but things have changed and I don't like to hold a grudge so weirdly it was nice to see him as I have no idea how he's been since I left. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Jude's POV

Before I could turn around and go the other way she had noticed me and waved with a bright smile on her face the smile I used to love seeing everyday. Some weird force of nature was pulling me towards her I know I should just wave back and walk another way but I'm drawn to her something in me needs to be closer to her and talk to her again. It's this part of me that has stopped me from moving on but maybe seeing her one last time and having her tell me how happy she is in her new life will be what I need to hear to realise I have to move on. 

The closer I got the more obvious the ring on her finger became and that's when I could see that she actually had two rings a beautiful engagement ring that was very much her style and a wedding ring that was equally spectacular. She was never someone to love jewellery with big gem stones or anything hugely fancy so the two more understated but still tasteful rings are exactly what I knew she would've wanted. There was a time I looked at engagement rings for her but I never actually bought one and now I regret not just taking the plunge as then this could be us. Being closer to her also allowed me to see her baby in the stroller, the baby was very small so clearly a newborn and dressed in white with pink flowers so likely a girl. I could see a lot of y/n in the baby even though she's very small but the thick black hair stood out as a feature passed down from her now husband Carlos. It got me thinking what our kids would've looked like would they end up with her best features like her lips and her beautiful eyes and would we have boys or girls. A lot of hypotheticals were flowing around my brain. 

"Hi it's been so long how have you been?" She asked bringing me back to reality 

"I've been good life has been keeping me busy but it's been good" I lied as not to make her or myself feel bad 

"Congratulations on everything you've won with the team I hear you've done really well" she said 

"Thanks how have you been I see a lot has changed" I half joked 

"Yeah it's been a crazy few years but it's even crazier now that this little one has arrived she keeps us up at all hours of the day" she laughed 

"Well congrats she's beautiful" I said 

"Not when she's screaming at 3am" Carlos joked 

"It's been great to see you again but we have dinner with friends to get to it's been lovely to catch up I hope life keeps treating you well Jude" she said 

"You too I hope you all stay well" I said letting them leave 

I sat down in the bench the two of them were just sat on as they walked away while trying to tell myself that her walking away was her leaving my life for good and my signal to let go of the past. It still hurts that she's so ok without me while I've been a mess but I don't know what I expected she's always been such an amazing person so someone was always going to see that and want to be with her. I suppose I'm glad that Carlos seems like such a nice guy as I did want the best for her and he seems like the perfect husband so if it can't be me I'm glad it's him who can make her happy everyday. 

It's finally time to move on she has her life and clearly doesn't think about her time with me so it's time for me to do the same. No one will ever be her so I need to stop trying to find someone who is she might've been my first love but that doesn't mean she has to be my last. 

[drvirgus]

Mute!

Non-Idol! Hanni X Mute! Reader

Description: Life as a mute girl in university: How does Y/n navigate her life, especially when she has to work on a project with her crush, one of the popular kids on campus? Can Y/n find a way to express her feelings?

Warnings: Trauma; strong language; kys/kms jokes; insults; bad family 😔 (kind of abuse?)

Chapter: Double Date (fully-written)

Masterlist

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

With a smile on my face, I stood down the street, waiting patiently for Hanni, who was just parking the car in front of me and hastily getting out. She almost stumbled over her own feet but fortunately caught herself on the hood. A laugh escaped her throat as she looked at me to check if I had seen it.

I immediately turned my head away from her so it wouldn't be too embarrassing for her. "I know you saw it," I heard Hanni say. "Look at me. I want you to look at me," she said with a smile, so I turned my head back to her. Her smile grew wider. "Hey," she said softly, which made my smile even broader. My cheeks even turned a little red.

Hanni chuckled. "Shall we?" she asked as she opened the passenger door of her car for me. She had to pull a bit harder since the door seemed difficult to open. No wonder... the car didn't look particularly safe.

Hanni laughed, a bit embarrassed. "I should have taken Minji's car instead, right? Wait here. I'll quickly drive to Minji and switch—," Hanni said, overwhelmed, as she tried to close the passenger door again. But I held her by the forearm and simply shook my head with a smile.

Her eyes widened as she watched me get into her car. Hanni visibly swallowed, and the redness on her cheeks was unmistakable. But, well... love made one blind... that's probably why I didn't notice it.

With a clearing of her throat, Hanni closed the door and moved behind the driver's side, buckling up immediately. Before she even started the engine, she checked if I was buckled up. "Here. You can play some music. But not too loud, otherwise there will be some interference from the speakers," Hanni said, and I nodded in understanding.

Hanni was probably a bit embarrassed, but it didn't bother me at all. After all, the thing drove. The main purpose was fulfilled, and I didn't need anything more. Now, I stared at my music and glanced at Hanni before looking back at my music. What could she possibly like?

I then played one of the songs that became famous in 2024. Hanni's eyebrows raised as she briefly looked at me and then back at the road. "Play what you like," Hanni said with a smile as she briefly placed her hand on my knee.

So, I played one of my songs, "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper. I immediately relaxed in the car and let the music play. Hanni chuckled. "Oh. This song was also on Yuna's MP3 player," Hanni said, a bit surprised, as she glanced at me.

I immediately shook my head and pointed at myself. Hanni furrowed her brow until the penny dropped. "Oh. That was yours?" she asked, which made me nod. Hanni smiled right away as she kept looking at the road, of course, to avoid an accident. "I like your music," she said a bit quieter, applying a bit more pressure on my knee.

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

With my hand on Hanni's back, I gestured for her to go ahead of me, which she did immediately. I still had my tablet in hand as I followed Hanni and the waitress to our reserved table. Felix and Hyunjin were not yet present, which made me roll my eyes.

I hated it when others were late...

Hanni sat right next to me since the two seats across from us were free, where the gay couple would sit. I immediately opened my tablet and took my stylus in hand, as Hanni seemed to have a question. The woman beside me noticed and started to laugh a little. "Well, Danielle has a crush on Felix. How long—" Hanni began, but our conversation was interrupted by Felix's snappy remark as he and his boyfriend sat down at our table.

Hyunjin's jaw was tense, his expression dark, while Felix looked as if he might burst into tears, though he also seemed pretty angry. Hanni glanced back and forth between the two, confusion written all over her face. I smiled amusedly and wrote something on my tablet, "It's always like this. Give them 10 minutes, and they'll be in love again."

Hanni read it and laughed a little. She grabbed the menu that a waiter had previously placed on the table. She leaned in closer to me as we ignored the huffing and sighing from across the table, focusing only on the menu.

"Shall we share again? Like last time?" Hanni asked, looking directly into my eyes. My breath hitched as Hanni was closer than I expected. My face reddened, and I gave a thumbs-up, my head hanging low in embarrassment as I stared at the menu.

"I hope you choke on your food."

"Oh, please. You'd be the first to cry."

"Not for you."

Annoyed, I rolled my eyes and waved my left hand in front of Felix's face, which caught his attention immediately. I pressed my lips together and gestured first to my eyes and then to the menu.

"She says to shut up and finally decide what you want to eat," Hyunjin suddenly said, leaving me open-mouthed in shock. Hanni beside me giggled a bit as she looked at the three of us. I promptly slapped her thigh gently, which made her laugh even louder.

Now Felix laughed too, and I couldn't help but join in. A nearly choking sound escaped my mouth as I laughed. Even Hyunjin, who had remained serious the entire time, started laughing at my unusual laugh. Our table was filled with laughter.

I was the first to calm down since no sound came out of my mouth anymore, though I was still laughing silently. My hand hit Hanni's arm repeatedly as I laughed. She had her hand on my thigh, also hitting me as she laughed along.

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

"So, how long have you two been together?" Hanni asked eagerly as she stole a bit of my pasta. A smile formed on my face as I watched her hold out her fork for me to try her food as well. I tasted it immediately, without feeling the stares of the two men on us. Felix's grin was unmistakable.

"Uh, I'm pretty bad at remembering dates," Felix admitted, turning his head to Hyunjin. "How long has it been? Four years?" he asked, and even Hyunjin had to think for a moment. He then responded with the exact date, causing Felix's eyes to widen. Shortly after, his expression relaxed, and he turned more toward his boyfriend.

My eyebrow raised as I observed Felix and Hyunjin looking at each other lovingly, exchanging a knowing glance with Hanni. Felix suddenly gasped and looked back at me, his hand on his chest. "I forgot to tell you," he said dramatically.

"Yeji is back."

My smile faded as I simply nodded in response. I noticed how Hanni's curiosity intensified, especially after seeing my reaction. "Who's Yeji?" she asked, making me flinch slightly. My jaw clenched a bit more than before. "My sister," Hyunjin said quietly with a sigh.

Hanni's forehead wrinkled visibly as she looked first at Felix, then Hyunjin, and finally at me. Felix sighed, "She and Y/N... were together once or... something like that," he explained, almost angrily looking at Hyunjin, who raised his hands defensively. "It's not my fault," Hyunjin said, making Felix sigh again.

Hanni hummed and leaned closer to me. "So, do we hate her?" she asked, surprising me. My eyes widened as I looked at the person next to me. I felt myself relax and leaned a bit more into Hanni as I shook my head.

"Definitely. That bitch... why is she back?" Felix asked, looking at Hyunjin, who just shrugged.

I continued eating. I didn't want to know anything about it...

I didn't care anymore...

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

Taglist: @sixflame438 @saysirhc @itzzyyyyyyydaaaa @somedaydream @wonyoungssi @gtfoiydlyj

[perfectlyoongi]

SOULMATE!JUNGKOOK who dreamed of you every day. it wasn't necessary for Jungkook to know you to love you; in his dreams, when the stars blessed his unconscious thoughts, Jungkook met you daily, sharing a feeling as old as the stars themselves, feeling immediately at home when in your presence. “i only had to look at you to realize that you are the one i’m looking for; the way you warm my heart is too familiar for you to be a mere stranger.”

SOULMATE!JUNGKOOK who counted the days until he met you. in love with love, Jungkook only tried to find you as quickly as possible, knowing that, from the moment he saw you, he would know that you were the one he should love — every day of Jungkook only made sense because it became one day closer to meeting you. “it’s close, i feel it. inside me, inside my heart, there is a force that pulls me closer to you, pulls me closer to my happiness.”

SOULMATE!JUNGKOOK who swore that the colors became more vibrant the day he met you. and, oh, when he met you, all the greens became more intense, the blues more tender, the reds more fiery; meeting you was like opening a coloring book, where your soul was the color of the rainbow and painted every nook and cranny of Jungkook's life. “it seems like i only started to see the world as it really is when you appeared in my life. it was as if everything before was just grey and white and you brought with you fireworks to color me.”

SOULMATE!JUNGKOOK who loved you from day one. already in his dreams, Jungkook knew he would love instantly; your essence had been part of his for decades; your soul was molded from the same cosmic dust as his; you yourself were the magic that came out of Jungkook's core; it was obvious that Jungkook would love you right away — you were destined to love each other. “i only had to look at you once to realize that it was you i had to stay with; didn't you feel your heart calling me? mine wouldn't stop screaming your name. it just wanted to go home.”

SOULMATE!JUNGKOOK who always knew that his place was by your side. as if written in the stars, your love story was as old as the universe itself, your souls existing long before the first star died; and you were made of the same dust, carved from the same star, shaped by the same gods — you and Jungkook were always together long before you were human; and Jungkook only felt complete next to you, next to his half. “we are born from the same flame that we consume right now; our hearts hold within them the fire that created us and brought us together in this life and in others.”

SOULMATE!JUNGKOOK who believed in past lives and lived stories. it was your connection, the way your and Jungkook's complicity was too ancestral to be from this time; the way you and Jungkook understood each other, loved each other, came from past times, accompanying all of your lives and growing with the passing of time and eras “since i met you, i realized that i had already met you in another life. you feel like home, you soothe my soul as if you already knew every particle of it. you and i, we come from past times.”

SOULMATE!JUNGKOOK who would love you even if the universe didn't allow it. and if the gods were more cruel, if the universe itself gave up on your love, Jungkook swore to you that he wouldn't stop loving you; with you being his heavenly half, you being the only person he was destined to love, Jungkook swore that this love would not wither, only expand throughout the cosmos to show the universe that it would not win. “it doesn’t matter if destiny doesn’t want it. it doesn't matter if the gods want to steal us. i promise you that my love for you will paint all the stars and constellations and forever remind them of their mistake of separating us.”

[weeeeeekly]

quarter life crisis – ot5 tomorrow x together x afab!reader

˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚

blurb !!! Reincarnation can bring soulmates together despite their time apart. Being a huge fan of TOMORROW X TOGETHER helped you get through the struggles of entering early adulthood. You would thank them personally if you ever could but when you possibly get the chance it’s more than what you could ever hope for.

info !!! txt are still idols, reincarnation au, soulmates au, polyamory, throuple²… they’ll all eventually date each other, mc has mental health struggles, universe assigned lactose intolerance, mc is team no kids, glasses wearer, lives in the middle of fuck nowhere but still a city (just go with it), pet names used are "our love" and princess, & not edited.

wc: 1.4k

WARNINGS !!! NSFW, MDNI, 18+, extremely self-indulgent, soft yandere!txt, mentions of mental health & self-harm (nothing graphic) for entire series

author’s note !!! this is fiction!!! this is made up!!! i do not condone breaking in, stalking, and other ulterior motives to get close to someone you are romantically interested in. mandatory note that i do not think txt act like this in real life.

why are there not more ot5!txt x fem/afab or gender-neutral reader… I also cannot come up with a blurb for the life of me, so please peep the info tags.

˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚

CHAPTER ONE

“I can’t do this anymore.”

You complain as you lean back in your office chair in an attempt to break your neck, so you won’t have to work or be conscious anymore. You were already having a shitty week after getting into a fender bender on your way to work and now working 8 AM to 4 PM. And 4 PM couldn’t come soon enough, on a Monday at that, so your sanity was slowly depleting. You started spacing out around 12 PM, so you took your lunch break right on the dot of the typical lunchtime. The break was what you needed as you took the hour to watch mind numbing, borderline baby sensory videos while eating your favorite sandwich with chips. Forcing yourself to add use nondairy milk this morning saved your stomach from destroying your insides. You do wish you had an excuse for getting more breaks to use the restroom though.

You let the rest of the random dance practice video play out as you space out. A light tap on your back snaps you back to reality with a startle as you remove your noise cancelling headphones.

“Huh?”

Your boss smiles as she repeats herself but it’s only her filling you in about her newborn niece’s activities over the past week.

“She had her first strawberry, and she loves them now. She even threw a fit when she finished it. Let me show you a video.”

You fake a smile as you put on an act so your boss will still like you, throwing in an appropriate “so cute” and “awe” as the video goes in for much longer than you expected.

“Wait, let me show you the inspiration for her first birthday!”

At least you got that excuse for a long break.

˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚

Soobin looks back to his members as they each give him a reassuring smile. Of course, the extrovert members would send him, an introvert, to speak to their long-lost soulmate and other half that they haven’t seen in centuries. He was not freaking out or anything. This was totally not an incredibly nerve-wracking moment.

“Hyung, your ears are red!”

“Stop teasing him.”

“Guys, please.”

The other members fall silent as Soobin finally knocks on the door. All five of them step back as they hear a faint “coming” and muted footsteps. When the door cracks open a little bit and half of your face peeks out, the group put on their brightest, dazzling smile.

You freeze in place as your eyebrows furrow in confusion as you stare at your favorite Kpop group outside your front door. In the same amount of time it takes Soobin to muster up the courage to greet you, you shut the door. They hear the distinct sound of a lock and then frantic footsteps away from them. Taehyun peeks from behind Soobin to ask their leader what they should do now but hesitates as he notices the deep frown on his face. Kai and Beomgyu share a worried look as Yeonjun pats Soobin’s back.

They’ll greet you properly later.

Back inside your apartment, you’re frantically pacing back and forth in your room as your mind is screaming a million things right now. You rationalize that this must certainly be a dream as you were quite tired from work today and must have taken a nap. Yes, a dream. You must be sleeping and comfort yourself from such a hard day you dreamt up a scenario where TXT has come to listen to your concerns and worries. But that comes crumbling apart when you look in the direction of your desk and you’re able to read the clock.

6:15 PM.

That can’t be right because you can’t read time in dreams. You grab your phone and scan the texts on your lockscreen.

            roomie i’ll be home late as i’m covering for a coworker. please don’t forget to eat dinner.

            roomie i’m going to make sure you eat something when i get back!

            roomie goodnight :)

Well, shit. Your glasses were not failing you so you could easily read and understand that your roommate was threatening you to eat dinner. So, to your disbelief and honestly terrible luck, TXT really was outside your door. The same TXT that covers a majority of your room’s walls with their beautiful faces on various posters from their albums – the same albums that you’ve been collecting sitting on their own designated shelf. The binder filled with little paper with pictures of their faces on it was not cheap either.

Your room was also pretty messy with a pile of clean clothes on the middle of the floor, the victims of your search from yesterday for a sleep shirt in a drawer. The rest of the room was a sight for sore eyes as well with the amount of shit was just everywhere. It would be embarrassing if they saw the state of it.

But why would you care what they thought. This was probably just a really insane fluke moment and if they were here to film content it would be for a few hours. Their protocol team would probably knock on your door a little later to have you sign an NDA and to not approach them. A few knocks on your door comes as a response to your thought but upon opening the door you’re only left with more questions.

There’s no one outside your door or in the empty hallway, only a tin box on your welcome mat greets you with a note taped on top.

Hello neighbor! We’re sorry for scaring you. Enjoy these cookies. Hope to meet you soon. From your new neighbors Steve, Daniel, Ben, Terry, and Kai :D

A smile appears on your face as you look to your left to see a stack of flattened cardboard boxes leaning against the door signaling that someone, or a group of someone’s, moved in. After you take the lid off another note greets you, but the handwriting is different.

sorry for not baking no time : (

You’re still not sure what to make of the course of events that happened in a short amount of time, but you do know that things will definitely be interesting.

˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚

Just a few feet away on the other side of the thin wall sit the group that take up the majority of your mind. Soobin is sitting on the makeshift couch made out of a few pillows still in the plastic, attempting to read his book but failing to get past a single sentence due to his nerves. Yeonjun busies himself trying to make ramen they just bought for dinner. Beomgyu scrolls through his phone to see if the news has been released yet. Taehyun and Kai both sit on the floor and play a board game Taehyun brought.

They had been busy traveling from Seoul earlier in the day but their nerves wouldn’t let them calm down from the stress of getting the company to agree to it to looking as normal as possible so they wouldn’t be recognized and then to finally seeing you after all this time. Their hearts couldn’t be fuller, but the rest of their body was taking the toll as they couldn’t keep their eyes open any longer.

“Let’s eat!” Yeonjun says as he brings over the fried eggs to the foldable table that was being used as the dining table.

They all huddle around the cups of individual instant ramen and dig in. Sure, this wasn’t the healthiest meal, but this was their first meal since the plane food they ate over 12 hours ago. The only sounds that filled the empty apartment was slurping, but that changed when they heard you yell “WHAT” next door.

˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚

Back on your side of the wall, your mouth is open as you reread the title of the notification you just got.

            [NOTICE] TOMORROW X TOGETHER to halt activities to film “In the Soop: Together”

Hello. This is BIGHIT MUSIC. We would like to inform you about the future activities of TOMORROW X TOGETHER.

The members SOOBIN, YEONJUN, BEOMGYU, TAEHYUN, and HUENINGKAI hope that MOA will see this as an opportunity for rest and new content. Activities will resume once the hiatus ends. TOMORROW X TOGETHER asks for MOA’s understanding and to wait.

Our company will also strive to provide all the support they may need during this time. We look forward to MOA’s love and support for future activities. Thank you.

˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚

masterlist | next

[crimsonstonetranslations]

Shinrei Tantei Yakumo Another Files - The Lamenting Doll - file 02

Shinrei Tantei Yakumo novel translation

Another Files - The Lamenting Doll ( file 01 )

file 02 - shadow of the departed

-

1 -

The window wiper moved nonstop. Despite that, large droplets of rain fell onto the freshly wiped surface and continued to wet the windshield. It almost felt like they were underwater.

The sound of raindrops violently hitting against the roof of the car irritated him. Although Gotou had started the car, he couldn’t even leave the parking spot where they had stopped due to the overwhelming downpour.

“This rain is just the worst,” he grumbled as he glared across the windshield. “If you have time to complain, you should figure out something else to do,” said Yakumo, sitting in the backseat.

He leaned against the seat and yawned nonchalantly whilst messing with his dishevelled hair. “Even if you tell me to do something...” Gotou shrugged in earnest.

Earlier, they had heard news through the radio that the Chuo expressway had been closed due to a landslide. From their current location in Yamanashi, Tokyo was roughly a hundred and thirty kilometres away.

Not an impossible distance to travel through the regular road, but it would take them longer than usual to drive amidst this pouring rain, and most importantly, the roads in this mountain were steep. Making the wrong move would only make matters worse for them. “Good grief. What a useless bear, only good for being large,” said Yakumo, mocking him.

“My bad for being useless. Besides, you’re the one responsible for this entire situation,” Gotou replied loudly until his voice echoed throughout the car. Even so, Yakumo maintained an innocent look. Instead, Haruka, who had been sitting next to him, jolted. Gotou seemed to have startled her.

He felt guilty towards Haruka, but Gotou couldn’t help complaining. They were rendered helpless in this rainstorm because of Yakumo. Besides, he was no comic book superhero. No way he had a method to stop the landslide.

Yet Yakumo spoke as if everything had been Gotou’s fault. It would’ve been strange for Gotou to not be irritated instead. “For your information, I wasn’t the one who led us into this situation,” said Yakumo, throwing a cold look towards Isshin, sitting on the front passenger seat.

Isshin’s age wasn’t too far from Gotou, yet how he donned monk robes, with a dignified expression like that of a Buddha’s, combined with the way he carried himself, made him appear more senior. He was great at taking care of others and couldn’t sit still upon witnessing those in trouble.

In the first place, everything had started because Isshin hadn’t been able to refuse the request to resolve a spiritual phenomenon at the sake factory acquainted with one of the families supporting the temple, so he had to ask for help from Yakumo. Regardless, the person with the idea to use Gotou as a driver had been none other than Yakumo.

“You’re the one who got me involved even though I had nothing to do with this!” threatened Gotou, turning towards the backseat. Such threats did nothing to shake Yakumo, who simply responded, “To think you could say something like that.”

“Ha?” “Who was it again that’s been involving an unrelated university student into all sorts of cases, countless times?”

Having that brought up was a critical hit. All this time, Gotou had been relying on Yakumo’s abilities, bringing in a variety of cases to get his assistance.

While Haruka had been the one who had brought more cases to him recently, that didn’t change the fact that Gotou himself had involved Yakumo in a number of cases. “Aah, fine. I was the one at fault.”

“Good thing you understood,” said Yakumo nonchalantly. Gotou felt like beating him, but Isshin interrupted.

“There’s a hotel about five kilometres ahead. Let’s try asking if they have any vacant rooms,” Isshin suggested as he looked at his phone. “Riverside Fuji Hotel that’s next to the Kamanashi river, right?” said Haruka, who was also staring at her phone.

Apparently she had come across the same hotel as Isshin after making a search. Saying this and that wouldn’t improve their situation.

“Anyway, let’s try heading there—” After receiving the hotel’s address from Isshin, Gotou entered it into the car navigation before starting the car.

- 2

- Upon alighting the car, Haruka was immediately struck by pouring rain.

She had known how heavy the rain was ever since she had been inside the car, but after exiting, it was worse than she had imagined, her hair was soaked instantly. “Waah,” she exclaimed whilst running into the hotel lobby.

Despite it only being a few metres away, not just her hair, her blouse was also drenched and even the insides of her shoes were wet from stepping in a puddle. “How awful,”

Even after wiping the droplets from her hair and blouse, the wetness wouldn’t go away. Gotou and Isshin were drenched as well, but they didn’t appear to pay any mind and directly walked towards the front desk.

Haruka turned towards the side to see Yakumo, shaking his head like a dog to get rid of the water clinging to his hair. Yakumo’s bed head was a trademark of his, but now that his hair was all flat and stuck together, it gave a different impression than usual.

This is not bad. “What are you looking at?” asked Yakumo, lifting his left eyebrow.

“I-I’m not looking at anything in particular…” Haruka hurriedly averted her eyes.

Her face started burning, feeling as if her heart’s contents were exposed.  “This hotel seems rather old...” said Yakumo, casting his gaze throughout the hotel lobby as if he had lost interest with Haruka.

“Is that so?” Haruka responded in disbelief, but upon closer inspection, the hotel did look old. The hotel’s interior walls were white, with brownish red carpet. As Yakumo had said, the hotel appeared to have been established for a long time.

“Furthermore, it’s dark,” commented Yakumo as he lifted his gaze. Now that he mentioned it, that was probably true. The ceiling was like an atrium that extended to the second floor, which normally would’ve given the feel of an open space. Yet for some reason, it felt dark and gloomy here.

Even so, it might’ve felt that way partly due to the constant downpour outside. Rather than the hotel’s age, Haruka was more curious about how few employees there were in this hotel. There was but a single young man employed at the front desk speaking with Gotou and Isshin; beside that there was no other people in sight that could be a hotel employee.

The lobby was quiet and felt deserted. “That’s...” mumbled Yakumo as he stared in the direction of the front desk.

What is it? Haruka turned to look, finding Gotou and Isshin discussing something with the employee at the front desk.

Could it be that they weren’t able to get a room? Not long afterwards, Gotou and Isshin approached Yakumo and Haruka.

“Are there rooms available?” asked Haruka to the two men, though she already suspected the reply. The two simultaneously made a difficult face.

“There is, but there’s only one twin room that’s vacant,” said Isshin, rubbing his bald head troublingly. “One room…?”

“Well, if we’re all guys, we could’ve just squeezed in to fit into the two beds, but that’s not the case, right,” said Gotou, glancing at Haruka. I see.

Honestly, Haruka wasn’t too keen on having four people in one room either. Not that she was wary towards Isshin or Gotou. As a woman, there were things that she wouldn’t want to show.

But she couldn’t act picky in this situation. Rather than sleeping in the car, squeezing to sleep in a cramped room was still the better choice. Since she was drenched, she wanted to take a shower as well.

“It’s fine even if we’re in the same room,” said Haruka, making Isshin and Gotou look at each other in response. After a brief silence, Gotou grinned. “Even if Haruka-chan doesn’t mind, it’d be bad if something happens, right?”

“Don’t worry. I trust that Gotou-san nor Isshin-san aren’t the kind of person to do anything strange.” “No doubt about us, but we don’t know for sure about him,” said Gotou with an implied gesture as he peered towards Yakumo.

Feeling Gotou’s stare on him, Yakumo’s eyebrow twitched and he exhaled a long sigh. “Don’t tell me Gotou-san thinks I’m going to do something?” he said, glancing at Gotou.

“Precisely,” said Gotou in reply, riling him. “I have the right to choose as well. Whatever happens, I’m not touching that troublemaker,” said Yakumo, sounding fed up.

Even though he meant to refute Gotou’s accusation, it really pained Haruka to hear that. Yeah, I am in fact a troublemaker! Besides, I also have the right to choose!

While Haruka cursed in her thoughts, the young employee at the front desk ran in their direction. Seeing him up close, his face didn’t look dependable at all.

The nametag he wore said ‘Oohori’, and above his name the word ‘trainee’ was printed.  Well, if he were still under training, it wasn’t surprising for him to not seem dependable.

Despite that, to think that they would make a trainee tend to the front desk alone—this hotel seemed to be more understaffed than Haruka had imagined. “Um...” Oohori greeted hesitantly.

“What?” asked Gotou. Oohori appeared to stutter briefly, but he immediately cleared his throat and said, “My deepest apologies. Upon checking again, there’s also a single room available...if you wish, I could get the room prepared.”

“Thank goodness,” said Isshin in relief. “We’re in luck. With this, we have one problem settled,” said Gotou in agreement.

Haruka stroked her chest in relief as well. Yet for some reason, Yakumo’s expression appeared complicated.

“What’s wrong?” asked Haruka. Running a hand through his hair to get rid of the water, Yakumo mumbled, “Something’s off.”

“What is?” “If I could put it into words, I would’ve said it already.”

Well, that’s true. “If it’s bothering you that much, feel free to stay in the same room as Haruka-chan,” Gotou chimed in with a grin.

“Who said I wanted that?” Yakumo glared at Gotou. “Oh, pissed off, are you?”

“Not really.” “Just be honest.”

“Please stop talking like I’m some kind of deviant. I’m not so starved that I’ll go for any woman whoever they are.” “Enough already,” Haruka spontaneously interrupted.

Perhaps to Yakumo, he was merely getting back at Gotou’s mockery. But to Haruka, it hurt to hear Yakumo say such things. She couldn’t stand being dragged into their unproductive conversation any longer.

After checking in and receiving their keys, they proceeded to board the elevator. The room keys weren’t the keycard type, but were instead cylinder shaped old keys with a plate of the room number.

Yakumo and the rest were on the third floor, room 301. Haruka was one floor above them on the fourth floor, room 404. The elevator door opened at the third floor and Yakumo, Isshin, as well as Gotou stepped out.

“Have a good rest,” said Isshin, waving his hand with a friendly smile. Haruka nodded, “Yes,” before pressing the close button on the elevator.

Right before the door closed, Yakumo suddenly shoved his arm to halt the door. The elevator door creaked and opened once again. “What’s wrong?” asked Haruka.

Yakumo stared at her with a serious expression. “Once you’re in the room, check places like underneath the bed, inside the closet, and the bathroom cupboard. If there are any picture frames, check behind it as well.” “Why?”

Haruka didn’t feel that she needed to go out of her way to do those things. “Just in case.”

“Hence, in case of what I have to check them?” “In case you find something that looks like a talisman pasted, let me know immediately.”

“T-talisman?” “At hotels, they tend to put talismans in places that are hard to see inside rooms that have ghosts.”

“Eh?” What’s the meaning of that?

Haruka wanted to confirm, but the elevator door had closed before she had the chance to ask. Hearing the sound of the pulley being pulled upwards made her realise how serious the situation was.

Yakumo’s words earlier signified the possibility that a ghost may be present in this hotel. Perhaps Yakumo had already seen something back in the lobby. In that case—

While she was deep in her thoughts, the elevator arrived at the fourth floor and the door opened. The corridor that extended straight ahead felt awfully long. She was aware that the glum atmosphere could be attributed to the heavy rain, yet it was terrifying regardless.

Don’t worry about it. Although she tried to tell herself that, Haruka wasn’t able to make a single step from the elevator. If she were to encounter a ghost while all alone, screaming wouldn’t solve anything.

Thinking that, without her realising, the elevator door began to close again. Haruka hurriedly slipped through the gap in the door, exiting the elevator.

With its doors closed, the elevator descended to the lower floors. She shouldn’t have forced herself to alight at the fourth floor. She could’ve returned to the third floor and asked Yakumo to inspect the room together at least. That way, perhaps she would have a better peace of mind.

But if she were to do that, Gotou would probably let the two of them be by themselves on purpose. That wouldn’t be so bad—no, that would be impossible.

Not that she disliked Yakumo, but her heart wasn’t prepared. Wait, if that were the case, that would mean she’d be okay with it so long as her heart was prepared. Haruka changed her mood and walked towards room 404.

As soon as she reached the room, she would inspect the entire room and as Yakumo had instructed, contact him immediately if she discovered a talisman or the like. Haruka convinced herself as she stood in front of the room she would be staying in.

It’s still scary after all. Why did Yakumo had to say it at the last minute like that? She felt like she’d be able to sleep peacefully if only Yakumo hadn’t said anything.

No use even thinking about it. Haruka prepared her heart before inserting the key into the keyhole.

- 3

- Once they had entered the hotel room, Gotou immediately let out a long sigh.

It was a simple room with two beds and a sofa, but at the very least he could breathe easy now. Today had been a long one.

He never would have thought he’d come all the way to Yamanashi Prefecture and had no choice but to spend the night here. All because of Yakumo.

He had a mountain of complaints, but if he were to say it aloud, Gotou was certain he would be retaliated with insults a hundredfold. Besides, their situation wouldn’t change even if he were to complain. Rather than that—

“Is it really alright?” he asked Yakumo, who was already sitting on the sofa. “About what?”

Yakumo’s expression was showing clear suspicion. “About Haruka-chan.”

“What about her?” “Earlier you spoke as if a ghost would appear,” urged Gotou.

“Oh, that,” Yakumo answered listlessly. “I never said a ghost would appear.” “That was what you said.”

“No. I only sensed something was off, so as a precaution, I asked her to do an inspection.” Now that he mentioned it, that was true. Yakumo never said a word implying that a ghost was present, just that—

“What was it that was bothering you?” “If I knew, I would’ve explained it already. As I said before, it was just a precaution—”

“If you say something like that, Haruka-chan would get scared.” “She’s not going to get scared over just that,” said Yakumo with a shrug.

That may be true. Haruka had resolved a number of cases with Yakumo thus far. She had experienced so many spiritual phenomena that she’d gotten sick of it, not to mention having seen crime scenes more terrifying than a typical police detective would.

Even if a ghost were to appear, she might get scared, but surely she’d be able to handle it calmly without panicking. Haruka used to be a frail woman who could only cry, but humans could grow stronger with time.

“Well, you’re right.” “Gotou-san, instead of worrying about others, you should worry about yourself instead.”

“Ha?” “Perhaps a ghost might appear in this room instead—is what I’m saying.”

“W-what?” Gotou frantically walked all over the room to check below the bed and inside the closet. Witnessing Gotou’s antics, Isshin complained, “What a busy man,”

It was impossible for him to stay still. There might be a ghost in this room. “If you have time to complain, come help out as well,” urged Gotou. “That isn’t necessary,” Isshin replied with a calm look on his face.

“Why not?” “There are no ghosts in this room. Right, Yakumo?”

The moment Isshin threw the conversation at Yakumo, the man simply extended his arms in a joking manner. Seeing that made Gotou understood.

If there really was a ghost in this room, they wouldn’t have to go into all the trouble of searching for a talisman as Yakumo’s left eye should be able to see it. To think he hadn’t realised something as simple as that; perhaps that was the very evidence that Gotou was the scared one.

“Dammit...” Gotou grumbled, landing his bottom on the bed right as their room door was knocked. Isshin replied, “One moment,” whilst moving to answer the door.

The employee named Oohori, who had been in the front desk previously, stood there while holding a folding mattress and a fitted sheet. “I’ve come to prepare the bed,” Oohori said politely.

“Ah, please do.” Isshin ushered Oohori into the room.

“Excuse me. I need to use the sofa, is that alright?” said Oohori. Yakumo then stood up to make room. After temporarily placing the mattress and fitted sheet on the bed, Oohori began working with the sofa. Apparently the sofa could be turned into a bed, such that the once twin room could have one more bed for a third person.

“Are there no other hotel employees around?” Yakumo asked Oohori, who was doing his work. Unlike his typically rude and roundabout manner of speech, Yakumo sounded very polite.

“It’s just me alone at the moment,” replied Oohori with a bitter laugh. He appeared to be holding back in front of guests, despite actually wanting to air his grievances.

“Are you always by yourself?” asked Yakumo again. “Not always. But today everyone’s out because of something, so I’m by myself...”

“Aren’t the rooms fully occupied? Must be tough if there’s no one else to lend a hand.” “A majority of the rooms aren’t usable as they’re under renovation. Only two groups of guests had booked a reservation, so I thought it’d be fine, but…”

Oohori stopped his hand momentarily and his face turned sour once again. It appeared that Oohori, who was still under training, had been entrusted with running the hotel since the number of usable rooms had been limited, but then Gotou and the others had suddenly arrived.

“Since the situation became like this, they said they’ll come to help, so I believe your stay here wouldn't be impacted.” As Oohori finished setting up the bed, now drenched in sweat, he spoke, “If you’ll excuse me—” as he was about to leave the room.

At that moment, Yakumo called out to stop him. “Do you need something?” Oohori turned around, still holding the doorknob.

“Pardon, but do you have any children, Oohori-san?” Oohori was stunned upon hearing Yakumo’s sudden question. “No. I’m still a bachelor…”

“I see. Sorry about that.” “Then, excuse me—”

Yakumo stopped Oohori from leaving once again. “One more thing. Have you ever heard any rumours of a ghost appearing in this hotel?“

“A ghost…?” Oohori was flabbergasted over all the questions directed at him. Well, anyone would’ve had the same reaction if they were interrogated like that.

Yakumo waited for an answer, staring straight at Oohori. Oohori appeared confused for a moment, but eventually replied, “I’ve never heard of such rumours even once.”

“I see. My apologies for asking all these questions,” said Yakumo, bowing politely. Oohori responded, “Not at all—” before leaving the room.

“Oi, Yakumo. Why were you insisting about a ghost earlier?” said Gotou after waiting for the door to close. He had mentioned that something had been bothering him, but from the way he had spoken to Oohori earlier, he now seemed certain about it.

“I know now what’s been bothering me,” said Yakumo as he brushed his bangs upwards. “What?” asked Gotou.

Yakumo placed his index finger between his eyebrows. “When we entered this hotel, I saw someone’s figure entering the area behind the front desk,” he said calmly. “What about it?”

That didn’t sound particularly strange. Gotou had seen an entrance to and from the area behind the front desk that had been covered with a curtain. Perhaps an office space was behind there. It would be normal for employees to enter and exit to and from that office.

“Do you still not realise?” “Ha?”

“Earlier, Oohori-san said he was all alone.” As soon as Gotou understood what Yakumo was trying to say, his body began to shiver.

Come to think of it, when he had been talking to Oohori at the front desk, he hadn’t seen anyone entering the area behind the front desk. In other words, that person had only been visible to Yakumo. 

And they had been none other than a ghost. -

4 -

“Huh?” Haruka exclaimed spontaneously. She had managed to insert the key into the keyhole and unlocked it. Yet somehow the door itself wouldn’t open.

No matter how much she pushed or pulled, the door refused to budge. As she deliberated calling the front desk employee, for the final time, Haruka attempted to push the door whilst putting her body weight onto her shoulder.

The door opened with a creaking sound. As it turned out, the door frame didn’t seem to fit properly. Like this, she would have trouble entering and leaving the room. Haruka decided to contact the front desk later on.

Thank goodness. She entered the room feeling relieved. The next second however, Haruka spontaneously halted her steps.

This room was incredibly dark. The further it was from the door, the darkness became more intense, to the point that the furthest part of the room appeared to be painted with black ink. “What’s with this room…?”

Haruka wavered at first, but she soon discovered the cause. The windows inside the room were entirely covered by blackout curtains. Typically when a guest first checked in to their hotel room, the blackout curtains would be left open. Someone seemed to have left it closed.

Haruka released her hand from the door and began stepping further into the room. Walking in as the door closed with a thud, the room became enveloped in darkness.

She fumbled around for the curtains and opened them. Due to the rain, you couldn’t exactly call the room bright, but she could at least see the state of the room.

She wouldn’t have to go through this trouble, had she turned on the lights first earlier. Embarrassed by her poor technique, Haruka walked towards the bathroom. First of all, she needed to dry her wet hair. Otherwise, she would catch a cold.

The bathroom was in the same room as the toilet, similar to that of one person apartments. Perhaps because it hadn’t been used in a long time, the washbasin and the toilet lid was covered in a thin layer of dust.

Well, not that she could complain. “Towel, towel...”

She tried looking for them, but didn’t find any.  Perhaps it could be in the bedroom?

Haruka exited the bathroom and gazed across the bedroom. There was a bed, and a sideboard with television and a telephone on top. She couldn’t find a towel anywhere she looked.

I give up. Haruka reached for the telephone handset on top of the sideboard to contact the front desk.

There should have been the beeping sound normally heard from the speaker, but she couldn’t hear anything even after putting the handset against her ear. Haruka continued to try and press the extension number written on the telephone, but forget being connected, she couldn’t even hear the sound of a button press.

It seemed that this phone was completely broken. This left her no choice but to leave the room and approach the front desk directly.

As she headed for the door, Yakumo’s words came to her mind. In case you found something that looks like a talisman pasted, let me know immediately.

He had mentioned that talismans would be placed in rooms that were haunted by ghosts. Haruka could just inspect the room upon returning from the front desk. But once it piqued her curiosity, she couldn’t ignore the thought in her mind.

No, towel comes first. Haruka told herself that.

Yet as soon as she reached for the doorknob, she felt someone’s stare from behind. Don’t turn around.

Despite thinking that, her neck slowly turned as if pulled by something. There was no one there.

Only the sound of rain hitting against the window. Perhaps her nerves were becoming too sensitive.

Haruka decided to leave for the front desk immediately. Yet when she was about to face the door again, somehow her gaze was drawn towards a shadow underneath the bed. There was nothing over there.

Although she thought as much, she still grew restless. It was all Yakumo’s fault that she felt this way. Because of all that talk about talismans, Haruka grew anxious and unable to remain composed in the room.

Surely her nerves would calm down once she confirmed that there was no such talisman sticking underneath the bed. Firming her resolve, Haruka approached the bed, went down to her knees, and crouched to peek underneath it—

- 5

- “I’m going out for a bit.”

After Oohori had left their room, Yakumo seemed to be thinking about something, before suddenly saying that and headed for the door. “Where are you going?” asked Gotou.

Yakumo stopped walking and turned. He appeared unenergetic as usual and it was impossible to read what he was thinking.

“It’s bothering my mind, so I’d like to take a brief look.” “You mean Haruka-chan’s room?”

“Why did it come to that? I saw a ghost at the front desk. It has nothing to do with her room.” “I see...”

It was true that since he had seen the ghost at the front desk, Haruka’s room had nothing to do with it. “Wait up. I’m going too,” Gotou slapped his knees and stood up.

When Yakumo had said that it was bothering him, it was possible something might happen. Gotou felt uncomfortable ignoring it. “I’ll go as well,” said Isshin as he also stood up.

“Even if the number of people increases, it wouldn’t make a difference,” said Yakumo, messing with his dishevelled hair in annoyance. Gotou could tell just by looking. Yakumo appeared slightly flustered, far from his usual self.

“This police detective will assist you. You should be thankful,” said Gotou, puffing out his chest. Yakumo burst into laughter. “Gotou-san is a police detective?”

What did you say now? “What do you think I am?”

“A bear whose only quality is his loud voice.” “You little—”

Even though someone had the intention to help him, he had to say something that made that intention disappear. “Don’t get all baited like that. Surely you’re well aware of Yakumo’s personality,” Isshin reminded Gotou so that he managed to swallow his nearly erupting anger within his stomach.

Isshin was right after all. Yakumo wasn’t the type to say things honestly and was a handful to deal with. If he got riled up over the smallest of things, his body wouldn’t last instead. “Anyway, let’s go,” said Isshin.

Once they were in the corridor, Gotou looked upwards to the ceiling. Perhaps due to having just listened to a ghost story, the whole atmosphere felt glum.  “So, where do we start?” asked Gotou.

“Right,” Yakumo touched the tip of his chin. “Actually, I’d like to ask around to gather information, but Oohori-san’s the only employee around at the moment.” “In that case, just ask him.”

“Gotou-san, are you really a police detective?” “What?”

Gotou wanted to lay a hand on him, but Isshin, sensing what was about to happen, put himself between Gotou and Yakumo. “We’ve already questioned him. Even if we were to ask him again, he may not know much since he’s still a trainee,” explained Isshin.

Yakumo nodded. “Precisely.” Having mentioned that, Oohori’s nametag did have the word ‘trainee’ above his name. Knowing so, Yakumo hadn’t pried too deeply when Oohori had come to their room.

Yakumo wasn’t only remarkable due to his ability to see ghosts, the sharpness of his mind played a part as well. That was how he had managed to solve many cases thus far. Gotou understood the situation now, but the problem remained on how they should proceed onwards.

“If we can’t question that Oohori guy, who else should we be questioning?” asked Gotou. Yakumo shook his head in disbelief. “I feel like crying, thinking about all the valuable taxpayer money used to pay such a useless man’s salary.”

“This bastard! Say that once again!” Gotou lifted his fist upwards, but Isshin stopped him once again.

“Please calm down. Your brain could deteriorate if you’re so quick to get emotional.” Yakumo’s words may be harsh, but Isshin’s were just as harsh despite being spoken calmly. He really was Yakumo’s uncle after all—

“None of your business. If you’re saying that, does that mean you have any ideas?” said Gotou, attempting to pressure Isshin, yet Isshin’s friendly smile didn’t subside. “There was a convenience store on our way to this hotel, right?” said Isshin.

Indeed, there had been a convenience store about fifty metres away near here. “Don’t tell me you want to go shopping at the convenience store?”

“If there isn’t anyone we can question at the hotel, why don’t we try asking around there?” So that was what he meant.

If there was a ghost in this hotel, that meant someone had died here previously. Convenience store employees had to be made up of local residents, so they should be able to gather information by asking there. Gotou understood the fact, yet he didn’t want to agree just like that.

“Well, let’s give it a try,” he said with a sour face, and Isshin nodded. Gotou felt incredibly uncomfortable as it was like he had been caught acting all stubborn and narrow-minded. If he said anything further, perhaps he’d really be exposed.

“Let’s be on our way—” said Gotou, walking towards the elevator with quicker steps. Isshin followed suit, but Yakumo remained still in the corridor. His gaze seemed empty, as if he wasn’t looking at anything despite having his eyes open.

“What’s up? You’re not going?” called Gotou. Yakumo slowly turned. “Yes. I’ll leave it to you two.”

“What are you going to do?” “I’m going to find out where the ghost went.”

I see. Only Yakumo could confirm where the ghost he had seen had gone.

“Understood,” Gotou replied before boarding the elevator with Isshin. -

6 -

With fearful movements, Haruka peeked underneath the bed— There was nothing like a pale figure lying there in a pool of blood; only shadows were present.

As it turned out, she had simply imagined the eyes of someone staring at her. Furthermore, there were no talismans pasted anywhere.

With this, I can be rest assured. Haruka was about to stand up when she noticed an object that had dropped under the bed. Behind the bed frame leg, around an angle that was difficult to see.

That object was a red shoe. Even so, it wasn’t a size any human could wear. Around a centimetre in size, the shoe likely belonged to a doll.

Haruka extended her hand and picked up the shoe. Why did something like this drop here?

Perhaps someone had forgotten about it. An object as small as this could remain undiscovered when the room had been cleaned. Either way, she needed some towels first and foremost.

Her hair had gotten fairly dry, but having gotten rained on, Haruka would like to take a shower to feel refreshed. When inquiring about the towels at the front desk, she would hand over this dropped item as well. Haruka pocketed the doll shoe and as she headed for the door, someone called to her. 

“Hey.” She turned around immediately.

And yet, no one was there. Her nerves were becoming sensitive after all. She needed to think about something else—

At the corner of her vision as she turned for the door again, was a person’s face. “Hya-!” Haruka screamed as she jumped back.

As her back crashed against the wall, the television on top of the sideboard shook. What was that just now?

With all her might, Haruka held herself back from panicking, her eyes scanning across the entire room. Then—

She spotted the face that she had seen earlier. Displayed near the bed headboard was a framed piece of painting. It portrayed a woman standing at the seashore with sorrowful eyes.

A bust-up view of the woman, its composition was similar to that of Da Vinci’s renowned painting, Mona Lisa. Due to the oil painting’s realism style, it appeared almost lifelike.

Haruka felt relief after knowing what she had just seen earlier. Yet once again, Yakumo’s words came to her mind. Yakumo had requested her to examine the back of any picture frames as well. Upon further observation, the picture frame’s placement above the headboard appeared unnatural.

There’s no way. Despite thinking so, Haruka climbed onto the bed, took off the picture frame and flipped it around.

Thank goodness. There was no talisman at the back.

With this she could really be at ease. It was only as she was about to put the frame back in place that Haruka noticed the fist-sized hole on the wall where the frame used to hang.

The painting seemed to have been deliberately hung above the headboard to cover up this hole. Could this hole be connected to the room next door?

Haruka brought her face closer to the hole. Dark—

There was no sign of a light source from the other end of the hole. Still, she felt terrified at the thought that she was being observed through this hole.

Simply putting the frame back in place didn’t sit right with her, so Haruka decided she’d bring it up with the front desk. They might not be able to seal the hole shut immediately, but perhaps they could at least cover it up. Haruka was about to draw her face away when—

Her eyes met with it. On the other side of the hole, an eye suddenly appeared, gazing intently at Haruka.

Wide open, the whites were clearly visible. In contrast, its pupil was small and the blood vessels appeared prominent and red.

Haruka couldn’t let out a sound. Her body was thrown backwards and she fell on her back. Her breathing grew difficult.

Haruka tried to lift her body and stared at the hole once more. I must’ve been seeing things. That has to be it.

Haruka tried to convince herself before she hurriedly returned the picture frame to its place to block the hole. The woman in the painting stared at her.

Haruka felt like their gazes met. The eye she had seen from within the hole earlier came back into her mind.

Had she really just been seeing things? She truly felt there had been an eye staring at her through the hole. Haruka could simply get the picture frame out of the way and look into the hole to confirm. Even so, it’d be impossible for her to peek into that hole once again.

Anyway, let’s get out of this room. Haruka got off the bed to head for the door.

That instant, her legs became weak from fear, causing her to fall to her knees. She turned to find the woman in the painting looking at her still.

That was obvious since it was a painting after all. But in Haruka’s current state, she wasn’t able to think clearly. I have to run.

Using the wall as a support so she wouldn’t fall, Haruka stood up and walked towards the door. She reached for the doorknob and pulled it, but somehow the door didn’t budge.

“Why?” Desperately, Haruka tried her hardest to pull it.

The door still wouldn’t open. You’ve got to be kidding me.

She continued turning the doorknob as she occasionally turned to look at the room. At that moment, the picture frame fell onto the bed with a thud.

The hole— The hole in the wall became visible.

And then. From within that hole—

An eye— Wide open, the eye moved from left to right as if searching for Haruka.

So she hadn’t been mistaken after all. Haruka couldn’t bear it anymore.

With lightning speed she opened the nearby bathroom door and jumped inside. Her hands were trembling.

No, it wasn’t just her hands. Her entire body was shaking nonstop that she lost control of it herself. Haruka struggled to calm her uneven breathing before contemplating what she had to do next.

That eye wouldn’t be able to find her while inside this bathroom. However, she couldn’t shut herself in here forever. That’s right, Yakumo-kun.

She could contact Yakumo to ask for help. Haruka hurriedly searched for her phone in her pocket, but couldn't find it.

She had left her phone on the sideboard. Haruka thought about retrieving it, but she immediately rejected the idea. Heading to retrieve the phone on the sideboard meant she would be seen by the eye inside the hole.

Honestly, she didn’t have the courage to do that. What should I do?

Confused, Haruka sat in place whilst wrapping her arms around her own shoulder. Gurgle—

Haruka jolted at the sound and lifted her face. “What is it now?”

Gurgle— Gurgle gurgle—

It sounded like someone coughing. Took her a while until she realised that the sound had come from the water pipes.

She didn’t know whether the pipes had made such noises merely out of their poor condition, or because of a spiritual phenomenon. Even so, perhaps the bathroom wasn’t a safe place either.

Scary— Yet in order to escape her fear, she had to open the door once more and leave this room.

Haruka gathered her strength and stood up to exit the bathroom. Right then, she spotted a black shadow standing on the other side of the frosted glass on the bathroom door.

The shadow was somewhat spread out so she couldn’t tell whether it was a male or female, but it was unmistakably the shadow of a person. “No way...”

Don’t come any closer! Haruka screamed within her heart, but the shadow came closer in her direction as if mocking her. This is bad.

Haruka held the bathroom door from the inside. She didn’t know whether such a thing would be effective against a ghost or not. Either way, she had no other ideas.

Please! Don’t go in! Haruka couldn’t even open her eyes. She closed her eyes shut, chanting those words over and over in her heart.

Just how much time had passed since then— Suddenly, she had a feeling that the shadow before her eyes had disappeared.

To tell the truth, she was scared. If the shadow were still standing where it had been once she opened her eyes, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to maintain her sanity. Regardless, standing still like this wouldn’t solve anything.

Surely it’ll be fine. Haruka convinced herself and slowly released the tension on her eyes.

Her vision gradually returned. The shadow—wasn’t there.

The shadow that had been across the frosted glass had disappeared without a trace. Haruka sighed in relief.

However, the problem was what came after this. Her courage to leave the bathroom had vanished entirely. “What should I do…?”

As she lowered her head came an unsettling click, and the bathroom lamp started flickering. “Please…enough already...” Partly sobbing, Haruka begged as she looked upwards to the lamp fixed on the ceiling.

As if signalled by her gesture, the lamp with its once flickering yellow light then went out— The bathroom became dark.

Why is it like this? Maybe the lamp hadn’t been installed properly. That had to be it.

Haruka gulped before extending her hand in the direction of the lamp. At that moment, her reflection came in the mirror.

She mustn’t look. Despite knowing that, she had already seen it unintentionally. The mirror didn’t reflect just her.

A doll with a faint smile was also reflected there. “Nooooo!” 

In full blown panic, Haruka screamed until her throat felt like it would rip. -

7 -

“Anyway, this rain sure is awful,” Gotou mumbled as he turned to watch the neverending rain from the hotel lobby. The rain was comparable to a bucket of water turned upside down.

“It certainly is,” said Isshin, who stood next to him, nodding as he stared at the rain. “Like this, we wouldn’t be able to see Mount Fuji even though we came all the way to Yamanashi.”

“We’re not here on holiday. Mount Fuji isn’t going anywhere either, we can always see it some other time.” “Well, that’s true,” Gotou replied with a sigh. As Isshin had said, they hadn’t come to Yamanashi for a holiday. Besides, the downpour might subside tomorrow.

For now, it was more important for them to find the identity of the ghost Yakumo had seen. “In that case, let’s quickly head there,” he said, looking at the convenience store located about fifty metres ahead.

“You’re planning to go through this pouring rain without an umbrella?” asked Isshin. The rain was so heavy that it would obstruct one’s line of vision. Gotou would’ve liked to use an umbrella, but unfortunately he didn’t have one with him.

“Let’s just make a run for it.” “That’s not necessary—”

Isshin was about to say something, but Gotou had ignored him and dashed outside. Obviously he got drenched in an instant, but if he sat still worrying about the fact, he would only get even more soaked.

Gotou crossed the road that had practically turned into a river and ran for the eaves of the convenience store. He took deep breaths upon reaching. He was drenched until water dripped from his hair. His socks were completely soaked as well.

“This rain is really…” Gotou wiped the droplets off his jacket as he turned towards the road he had just passed earlier.

He thought Isshin would’ve followed right after him, yet amidst the rain, the monk’s figure was nowhere to be seen. He wasn’t able to see clearly thanks to the rain, but Isshin was probably still inside the hotel, hesitant to go outside.

Geez, Gotou grumbled on the inside as he lit a cigarette. Surely Isshin would give in soon enough and come over here. Even if he didn’t, Gotou could simply gather information all by himself.

As he had that thought, he saw Isshin walking over towards him. The entire opposite of Gotou, Isshin calmly walked through the heavy rain.

To no one’s surprise, Isshin’s hand was holding an umbrella. “If you have an umbrella, why didn’t you say so earlier?” protested Gotou after waiting for Isshin to arrive.

Gotou disliked the idea of a pair of uncles walking around sharing an umbrella, but it was a better option than getting drenched from running through the rain. Isshin went underneath the convenience store eaves and said as he folded the umbrella, “I told you so.”

“I didn’t hear anything.” “I said let’s borrow umbrellas from the front desk, but you had run off by yourself.”

“Ugh.” Come to think of it, when they were about to leave the hotel, Isshin had been saying something, but Gotou hadn’t listened and ran off alone instead.

“Don’t go running into things without considering the consequences. It’s better if you stop for a moment and use your head.” “Shut up. I don’t need an umbrella with this much rain.”

“As expected, wild bears sure are tough.” “Who are you calling a bear?!”

“Anyway, let’s hurry up and ask them,” Paying no attention to the irritated Gotou, Isshin entered the convenience store. 

Gotou felt annoyed, but as Isshin had said, they better settle matters quickly. Gotou threw the cigarette he had been smoking to an ashtray in front of the convenience store, and followed Isshin inside. “Welcome,” greeted a woman who seemed to be in her fifties, with a voice so devoid of emotion. 

It left Gotou to wonder, shouldn’t it be written in convenience store employee handbooks that the employees should greet customers full of emotion? “Excuse us, but we’d like to ask something...” said Gotou, approaching the female employee tending to the store.

“Yes?” replied the woman with a confused look as she took a step back. A drenched man suddenly walked towards her. Her response was understandable.

“Actually, this is my job,” said Gotou, showing his police badge. “A police? Really?”

The woman’s voice became guarded. Furthermore, her hand was already reaching for the emergency call button underneath the counter. “A real one, of course.”

“From which department? Is there an ongoing case?” said the woman, bombarding him with questions. He was being heavily suspected. Did he not look like a detective all that much?

“No, that's why…” “He may look like this, but he’s the real deal,” said Isshin to help. “Although he looks like a bear with a scary face, he’s cowardly and gets lonely easily like a rabbit.”

Acting familiar, Isshin patted Gotou’s shoulder. Who’s a lonely rabbit around here—!

Gotou really wanted to protest, but held himself back. Saying the wrong things now would only raise further suspicion on them.

Isshin displayed a friendly smile, softening the woman’s expression in response. “What a strange combination,” said the woman as she stared back and forth between Gotou and Isshin.

Certainly, a police detective and a monk standing next to each other might be an uncommon scenario. “I think so too. The truth is, we came here to ask about something—” Isshin said in a polite tone.

“About what?” “Actually—we’re staying at that hotel over there,” Isshin pointed at the hotel.

“Yes.” “As I said earlier, this man is a coward and he made a ruckus saying he’d seen a ghost at the hotel. I’ve told him that there’s nothing to worry about, but being a coward, he said he wouldn’t believe it until he knew for certain.” Isshin explained while looking at Gotou, acting like he was in disbelief.

You’re joking me! The person who had made claims about the existence of a ghost hadn’t been Gotou, but Yakumo. Aside from that, he wasn’t that much of a coward to be complaining simply because there was a ghost.

He had a mountain of things to say, but decided to stay quiet to avoid overcomplicating the conversation. “It felt rude to ask hotel employees whether there were any rumours of the place being haunted, so we decided to ask local residents while going shopping,“ Isshin continued politely.

Gotou couldn’t accept that the story placed all the blame onto him, yet he was also impressed that Isshin could make up a story as smoothly as that. “Did you really see a ghost at that hotel?” The woman asked Gotou, her face filled with suspicion.

Gotou hadn’t actually seen a ghost, but explaining the real situation was too much of a trouble, not to mention it would go against Isshin’s story. “I did.” Gotou gave her a short answer.

“Was the ghost of a little girl?” said the woman as she lowered her voice. Come to think of it, he had forgotten to ask Yakumo what the ghost had been like. But based on her response, it might be better for him to align the conversation.

“Yes.” “So it was true...” said the woman, reaching for her mouth.

“Do you know anything about it?” “Please don’t mention it elsewhere that I’m the one who told you this.”

“Understood,” Gotou replied with a nod. The woman glanced at the hotel across the rain before she began her explanation—

- 8

- “Nooooo!” 

Haruka screamed to the point that her throat felt like it would rip. Strength left her knees and they trembled, making her fall sitting down in place. Haruka covered her face with both hands and closed her eyes shut.

Even so, she was well aware that the entity she had seen wouldn’t disappear just from her doing that. The reflection on the mirror returned to her mind once again.

This bathroom was cramped. There shouldn’t be anyone else but her in here. Nevertheless, she was certain that she had seen the shadow of a person standing behind her when she had been looking at the mirror. The shadow was black, so she hadn’t been able to see its face clearly. Yet she had felt as if the shadow had faintly smiled at her.

Haruka kept still for a while. The next second, something suddenly grazed her nape— It made her jolt and stood up.

Out of reflex, the mirror that she had been avoiding came into her sight. However—

Reflected on the mirror was her face, tense out of fear, and nothing else. The shadow she had seen earlier had already disappeared. Was I mistaken?

No, that couldn’t be it. She was certain there had been a shadow reflected in the mirror. If it had been a ghost, perhaps the ghost was still inside the bathroom. Waves of terror washed over her.

Let’s get out of here quick. As she touched the bathroom door, there was a thud and the room shook lightly.

Surprised, Haruka halted her movements. She had forgotten all about it from panic, but she now recalled the reason why she was in the bathroom.

In her room was a hole in the wall, and someone had peeked at her through said hole. Scared, she had evacuated into the bathroom to escape from that eye. Thinking about how she might get stared at again by the terrifying eye after getting out of here made her body paralyse in fear.

Despite that, she couldn’t stay inside the bathroom forever. She wanted to leave the hotel room, but the door wouldn’t move even when pushed or pulled. She’d like to ask for help, but her phone was on the sideboard next to the bed.

What should I do? Haruka sat down again and covered her face with both hands.

“Yakumo-kun...” she whispered a name as she held back the tears that welled up. Along with that, she remembered the line that Yakumo had always said.

Spirits of the dead were no monsters or a new kind of entity, they were clusters of emotions of humans that had passed away— Yakumo, with his red left eye and its ability to see spirits of the dead, had been able to understand the feelings of wandering ghosts and had resolved various cases based on that theory.

Nothing could get solved by sitting around in the bathroom. Following Yakumo’s theory, she might be able to resolve this situation by finding out the reason why the ghost had been wandering.

Haruka firmed her resolve. She took her hands off her face, stood up, and faced the mirror. She would be lying to say that she wasn’t scared.

Her knees were still shaking and her breathing was irregular. Regardless, there was nothing else she could do now. Things wouldn’t sort itself out if she were to sit around hoping help would arrive.

“Hey, are you there?” Haruka called towards the mirror. No response.

“Who are you? What’s the reason you’re wandering around?” Haruka asked once more. The silence continued.

Unlike Yakumo, Haruka couldn’t see ghosts. Occasionally she could, but only partially, like the eye and the shadow from earlier, not to mention unstable. She had doubts on whether she’d be able to clearly sense what they wanted.

But she couldn’t think of any other way besides this. Haruka gulped until her throat made a sound, and stared back at the mirror.

She nodded firmly at herself, tensed up from fear.  “Hey, why are you wandering around? Can you tell me?”

As if answering Haruka's call, the bathroom lights that had gone out began to flicker. Then—

Within the dimness, a dark shadow emerged behind Haruka’s reflection in the mirror— -

9 -

“Two uncles sharing an umbrella together, how gross—” As Gotou and Isshin returned to the hotel lobby, they were greeted by a mocking smile from Yakumo.

“Not that we’d like to, more like we had no choice,” They only had one umbrella, so they had no choice but to share during their return trip from the convenience store.

“Seems to me that you liked it though,” Yakumo grinned and sat on the lobby sofa. “There’s no way.”

“I wonder.” Gotou had a lot to say, but he had a feeling the more he denied it, the more he’d get cornered. He swallowed his anger and sat on a sofa across from Yakumo. Isshin sat next to him as well.

“So, did you two find anything?” asked Yakumo. “Before that, how are things on your end?” asked Gotou in return.

Yakumo said he had been searching for where the ghost had gone. Prior to sharing the information he had gathered, he would like to hear Yakumo’s side of the story. “How are what?”

“You were looking for the ghost, right? Did you find it?” “No,” Yakumo shook his head.

“What? You were speaking so arrogantly, yet you turned up with no results, huh,” cursed Gotou. Yakumo blatantly scowled. “I never meant to say it arrogantly, and although I couldn’t find the ghost, I did get some results.”

To Gotou, his words had merely sounded like he was trying to act tough. “What kind of results?” “A number of things.”

“That’s why I’m asking, what are those things exactly?” urged Gotou. Yakumo laughed bitterly with a troubled gesture before he began speaking. “I told you that the ghost I saw had entered the area behind the front desk, right?”

“Yes.” He had certainly said so.

“Since the ghost had gone there, there had to be something there. So I went to check for myself.” So that was how it was.

“You asked that trainee employee Oohori to let you get inside?” “No.”

“You just went inside as you liked?” “Yeah. Since that person wasn’t aware of any ghost story here, I thought it’d be troublesome to ask for his permission, so...”

As it turned out, Yakumo had stealthily sneaked inside while Oohori was away from the front desk. Gotou glanced at the front desk, unable to spot Oohori’s presence there.

“Don’t act too reckless. What would you do if you were discovered?” If Yakumo were caught trespassing into the area behind the front desk, he might get reported to the authorities.

“I’ve got that taken care of,” “Taken care of?”

As Gotou questioned him back, Yakumo turned in the direction of the stairs. There, Oohori could be seen descending the stairs, walking towards them. He held a lightbulb in his hand. “Apologies for the inconvenience. I’ve replaced it, so it should be fine now—” said Oohori, bowing politely to Yakumo.

“Thank you.” Seeing Yakumo respond to him with a smile, Gotou could hazard a guess as to what he had done.

Most likely, Yakumo had deliberately sabotaged the light bulb in their room and had requested Oohori to replace it. That way, he could freely get into the area behind the front desk. “Ah, could I ask you one thing?” Yakumo stopped Oohori who was about to leave.

“What is it?” “Is Oohori-san really the only one working today?”

“Ah, yes. What about it…?” “No. I just thought it must be tough…”

“Thank you for your concern—” Oohori made a business smile before returning to the front desk. “Is something bothering you?” Gotou asked Yakumo after waiting for Oohori to be some distance away.

“When I went to the area behind the front desk earlier, I found a strange object,” said Yakumo, narrowing his eyes. “A strange object?”

“A shoe.” “A shoe?”

“Yes. A red shoe that was probably a woman’s shoe, and it was missing the other half—” said Yakumo, with a face as if he had known everything.  A single lone shoe was indeed peculiar, but someone could simply have forgotten it in the hotel room and the front desk had been holding on to it.

Or perhaps, it could belong to another employee that had forgotten the shoe there. “Did that shoe have anything to do with the ghost?”

“I have no idea,” said Yakumo, full of confidence. “You have no idea…? How careless of you…”

“I refuse to accept being told that by a clumsy bear like Gotou-san.” “Bear this, bear that, you’re so noisy!”

“What’s wrong with calling a bear, a bear?” This bastard!

Gotou was at the limit of his patience. He wanted to beat this man even if just for a single punch. He raised his fist, ready to land it on Yakumo’s face, but Isshin immediately caught his arm and calmed him down. “Now, now.”

The bug in his stomach wouldn’t sit still, but Gotou knew more obviously than seeing fire that if he were to hit Yakumo, he’d be retaliated constantly afterwards. Gotou clicked his tongue and cooled his anger.

“So, did you two get anything on your end?” asked Yakumo, as if the conversation earlier had never happened. “There weren’t any stories in particular about a ghost in this hotel,” said Gotou.

“I see...” Yakumo responded with a slightly disappointed look. “However, there was a case that took place in this hotel one year ago.”

“A case?” “That’s right. Once, a woman and her four-year-old daughter stayed in this hotel previously.”

“Then?” “When the mother left her child inside the room to go shopping, an incident happened—” said Gotou, pausing his sentence to observe Yakumo’s expression.

“Cut the suspense and continue the story.” It was blunt of him, but perhaps Gotou was acting a little too dramatic. Gotou cleared his throat and continued. 

“The girl, who was left alone in the room, fell from the window—” Putting it into words, Gotou felt a squeezing pain in his chest.

He had to deal with all sorts of cases on the regular and he should’ve gotten used to handling tragedies with fatal casualties. Even so, the deaths of young children had always left an unpleasant feeling in his chest no matter how many times he encountered them. After a moment of silence, Yakumo muttered, “Rather than a case, that was more like an accident.”

“I thought so too. But from what we heard, something was amiss,” Isshin added. “What was amiss?”

“Apparently, the window that the girl had fallen from should’ve been out of reach for a child of her height.” “And yet, she fell from it...?”

“That’s right. According to the person who discovered her, there was a chair under the window.” “A chair that was part of the hotel room?”

“Uh-huh. Judging from the circumstances, that meant the girl had shifted the chair all by herself, climbed on top, and fell from the window—” “How did you find out about the situation to that level of detail?”

It was understandable for Yakumo to question that fact. “The husband of the convenience store employee that we visited to gather information from had been working in this hotel when the incident happened.”

“I see...so what I saw...” Yakumo mumbled as if talking to himself whilst folding his arms. Gotou couldn’t clearly grasp what he was saying as his voice was too quiet.

“What? Say it clearly.” said Gotou. Yakumo grimaced in displeasure. “No need to make a ruckus, I’ll explain eventually.”

Yakumo shook his head in disbelief, throwing a sharp gaze on Gotou before he continued, “The ghost I saw at the front desk was of a little girl around four years old—” “In that case…”

“We still have no evidence, but I think it was unmistakably her since the girl in that story died a year ago here.” “The problem now is why the girl is wandering in this hotel,” said Isshin as he rubbed his bald head.

Certainly, that was the most important point. According to Yakumo’s theory, ghosts linger in this world due to some unfulfilled desire. In other words, the ghost of that little girl had lingered for a reason.

The local police had closed the incident as an accident, but Gotou had another thought. “Seems like you have something in mind, Gotou-san,” said Yakumo who was able to guess what he was thinking.

“It’s my own instinct talking, but—” Gotou said before he continued, “perhaps the girl didn’t die from an accident, but was murdered.” “That’s an unpleasant line of thinking. Do you have any basis for it?” Yakumo threw him a look full of doubt.

“I told you it was just my instinct.” “Like this, Gotou-san is a police officer after all, right? Surely you’re not so stupid as to carelessly say things according to instinct without some kind of basis.”

“That first part was unnecessary.” “Save the complaints and get talking,” said Yakumo, lifting his left eyebrow.

Geez. What an unendearing guy. “However you look at it, I felt the part about a chair being moved under the window was off.”

“Well, that’s true.” “If she was older, there’d be a possibility of it being a suicide, but for what reason would a four-year-old child deliberately move a chair under the window?”

“Perhaps she wanted to climb to play? Nao often does that too. She’ll climb onto a chair and then jump down,” interrupted Isshin. Having no children of his own, Gotou had no opinion, but as Isshin had spoken from experience, such a thing might be possible after all.

Despite this, the odd feeling within Gotou didn’t go away. “Suppose she did want to play that way, she wouldn’t jump out the window, right?” Children had very little sense of danger. Particularly once they were fixated on something, they had the tendency to not pay attention to their surroundings.

Even knowing that, it felt impossible for the girl to have played by climbing onto the chair and then jumping out the window. Isshin also responded, “You’re right...”

“What do you think happened, Gotou-san?” asked Yakumo. His gaze was as if testing Gotou.

“I’m thinking the girl might have been pushed out the window by someone.” “Pushed out...”

“Yes. After pushing the girl out the window, the culprit placed the chair next to the window to make it appear like an accident.” “Interesting analysis coming from someone like Gotou-san, but the basis is still weak,” said Yakumo.

“I’m well aware that the basis is weak. It’s just that, if she had died from an accident, there’d be no reason for her to be haunting this hotel, right?” If she had died from being killed and now held a grudge towards the person who had killed her, that would be reason enough for her to still be lingering about this hotel.

“I’ll take Gotou-san’s analysis into consideration for the time being. Rather than that, do you know where the girl had fallen down?” Yakumo asked as he stood up. “Yes. I’ve asked about it.”

“Please take me there.” “Got it,” Gotou stood up in response, before walking outside. Yakumo and Isshin followed behind him.

Once he had passed the automated door at the hotel lobby entrance, he stopped. Large droplets of rain were still pouring just as hard as before.

The spot where Gotou and the rest stood had a roof so they weren’t hit directly by the rain, but it was almost like they were being sprayed with water because of the raindrops blown by the wind. “I was told she had been lying there—” said Gotou, pointing about 10 metres in front of the hotel lobby entrance.

“From which floor did she fall from?” asked Yakumo. “The fourth floor,” replied Gotou, starting to feel uncomfortable.

It was about fifty metres above ground. If only there had been shrubs underneath to cushion the fall, yet the ground was made of concrete instead. The moment she had fallen, she’d already be beyond saving.

“Hold on. Which room number was she in?” asked Yakumo, frowning with a serious expression. “If I’m not mistaken...404.”

As soon as Gotou said that, Yakumo reached for his phone and called someone. Watching him made Gotou come to his senses.

The room from where the girl had fallen was the same room Haruka was currently staying in. Looking from outside, the room lights weren’t on. It was incredibly dark outside from the rain, so it was unnatural for her not to have the lights on.

Yakumo clicked his tongue as he ended the call. “How is it?”

“She’s not answering,” said Yakumo, gritting his teeth, Gotou then shouted, “Let’s go!” and started running.

- 10

- Suppressing her fear, Haruka stared intently at the reflection in the mirror.

Its face was indiscernible, but based on the stature and hairstyle, Haruka could tell that she was a little girl. Why would such a small child be wandering?

As Haruka questioned that fact, her chest stung as if she’d been stabbed. Haruka had no idea what had happened, but since this little girl had emerged as a ghost, that could only mean she was already dead.

Why did this little girl had to die— The fear that had once enveloped Haruka’s entire body disappeared at the thought.

Perhaps this girl was carrying a deep sorrow. Haruka couldn’t understand the feelings of ghosts like Yakumo could. Yet even if just a bit, she could sympathise with this child’s feelings and wanted to do something for her. 

“Please. Tell me, why are you in a place like this?” asked Haruka to the shadow on the other side of the mirror. The girl gave no answer.

Perhaps she had actually said something, but Haruka couldn’t hear her. In times like this, Haruka became incredibly envious of Yakumo.

If only she had an ability like Yakumo’s, she’d be able to respond to the reflection in the mirror— “I’m sorry. I can’t hear you properly…” said Haruka without realising.

Tears welled up in her eyes. Not out of fear. A mixture of sadness, frustration, and disappointment overflowed from her chest. Seemingly out of pity for Haruka, the girl in the mirror appeared to be saying something.

“Hey, what should I do to break your attachment to this world?” asked Haruka to the girl as she held onto the mirror. No reply.

In exchange, the girl pointed in the direction behind Haruka. Following the girl’s fingers, Haruka turned around.

There was nothing but the white bathroom walls there. Could there be something on these walls? Haruka felt around the wall and tried examining it, but she didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.

“What’s the meaning of this?” asked Haruka, turning towards the mirror again. The girl kept pointing behind Haruka.

Sorry, I don’t see anything, Haruka mumbled in her heart, when a thought emerged in her mind. She had assumed that this girl had been pointing at the bathroom wall, but perhaps she had instead been pointing at the room on the other side of the wall.

“There’s something in the room?” Haruka’s question made the shadow in the mirror nod.

So that was it. Due to her panic, she hadn’t looked at the room interior closely, but perhaps therein laid the reason that this girl had been wandering.

Haruka touched the bathroom door. The image of an eye came to her mind.

The eye that had watched Haruka through the hole in the wall— She’d be seen by that eye once again if she returned to that room.

Haruka briefly had that thought, but she got rid of it immediately. Surely that eye had really been the girl reflected in the mirror.

There’s no need to be afraid. Haruka firmed her resolve and slowly opened the bathroom door.

Its hinges creaked and the door eventually opened. The room was dimly lit and quiet.

She could see the door leading to the corridor. Earlier, the door hadn’t budged at all, but if she were to try again, perhaps it would open. Once she escaped from the room, she would ask Yakumo for help—

She considered the idea for a moment, but Haruka shook her head, attempting to rid herself of said thought. If the door still refused to open after she tried again, she would remain trapped in this room.

Furthermore, the girl in the mirror might become angered if Haruka tried to escape, and could make her go through something even more terrifying. Most importantly, her desire to help the wandering girl was stronger.

Why would the ghost of a little girl be wandering in a hotel room? Even if just a little, she wanted to understand her feelings. Haruka drew her breath, gathered all the courage in her stomach, and walked out of the bathroom into the bedroom.

The painting had fallen on top of the bed. Then, a fist-sized hole where the painting had used to hang.

Earlier, an eye had been staring at her from that hole, but now there was nothing there. Haruka sighed in relief before scanning the entire room and turning the gears in her head. What exactly was the girl trying to show her?

No matter how hard she thought, she couldn’t come up with an answer. Haruka was about to give up when at that moment, she remembered something.

Back when she had been searching for any talismans pasted under the bed, she had found something. Haruka had picked it up and kept it in her pocket. She hurriedly shoved her hand into her pocket and took out the item.

A red shoe that seemed to be that of a doll’s. Perhaps the reason why the girl had been wandering was because she had been looking for this shoe.

For little girls, losing such an important doll shoe full of memories would be considered a huge problem. If she were to return this, the ghost of the little girl might be able to rest in peace.

Haruka firmly held onto the red shoe. She felt someone staring at her back and slowly turned around— A girl was standing there.

Her face had been blurred when she had appeared in the mirror, but now it was clearly visible. She was an adorable girl with a round face and big eyes.

“Is this yours?” Haruka handed over the red shoe she’d been holding on towards the girl.

In an instant, a smile formed in the girl’s face. Seeing her overjoyed face made the tension Haruka had been feeling this whole time disappear without a trace.

She even had to hold herself together so she wouldn’t collapse on the spot. However, that sense of relief was short-lived.

The girl made a terrified expression and pointed behind Haruka. What is it?

Turning around, Haruka’s eyes widened. Once again, an eye peered from within the hole in the wall—

Was I mistaken? Was what the girl had been looking for not this shoe? The eye—

Its appearance red and angry, the eye glared at Haruka. Haruka couldn’t act calm anymore.

She then held her head and screamed— -

11 -

The moment Gotou stepped out of the elevator, he heard a scream. After briefly exchanging glances with Yakumo and Isshin, they sprinted as fast as they could towards room 404, where Haruka was at.

“Oi! Haruka-chan! Are you alright?” he called out whilst banging on the door, but there was no reply. A terrible premonition passed through his mind.

He turned the doorknob, trying to open the door, but the door wouldn’t move an inch even when pushed or pulled. “What are you doing? Open it quickly!” urged Yakumo.

Yakumo was usually composed, but he must’ve grown restless after hearing Haruka’s scream. “I know,” Gotou responded. With his entire strength, he slammed his body against the door until it opened with a bam. Gotou nearly got knocked forward.

“Move out of the way,” Yakumo shoved Gotou to the side and went inside the room. They immediately found Haruka there.

Sat in the middle of the room, her body was shaking violently. “Are you alright?” asked Yakumo.

Haruka, who couldn’t grasp the situation at first, gradually showed an expression of relief and hugged Yakumo as she shed her tears. She had to have gone through something terrifying.

Gotou understood how she felt, but somehow he felt embarrassed watching them instead. Yakumo stayed quiet for a while, and only spoke after waiting for Haruka to calm down. “What happened?”

Haruka nodded quietly upon hearing Yakumo’s words, wiped her tears, and began explaining after she stood up slowly. Occasionally she would sob as she hadn’t stopped crying completely, but the gist of the story was conveyed.

As it turned out, Haruka had experienced a spiritual phenomenon in this room. Despite that, Gotou was impressed that she had continued to deal with the situation by thinking about the reason why the ghost of the little girl had been wandering, and had subsequently taken action.

All that remained was to leave the rest to Yakumo. “Yakumo, did you get anything?” asked Isshin after Haruka finished her story.

“Wait a moment,” said Yakumo, stepping away from Haruka and walking further into the room. Gotou and the others couldn’t see anything. But such wasn’t the case for Yakumo.

Gotou, Haruka, and Isshin waited as they stared at Yakumo’s back. Yakumo’s red left eye would surely discover something unbeknownst to the three of them. “So that was how it was...” muttered Yakumo shortly after.

“What did you get?” asked Gotou eagerly. “Please calm down a little,” grumbled Yakumo before facing Haruka. “Your analysis was half correct.”

“Eh?” Haruka exclaimed in surprise. “Firstly, the ghost of the little girl that you saw was of a child named Mahiro-chan that had died a year ago.”

“The girl whose story we heard at the convenience store?” asked Gotou to confirm. Yakumo nodded. “When her mother had gone out to shop a year ago, Mahiro-chan had been playing with her doll in this room. Unfortunately, the window was open at the time.”

The tone of Yakumo’s voice instantly turned depressing. Without needing to mention it, Gotou could more or less predict what came afterwards.

“Don’t tell me, Mahiro-chan accidentally dropped the doll through the window?” said Gotou. With a gloomy expression, Yakumo nodded. “That’s right. She had been throwing it upwards, imitating how adults would play with young children the same way, but the doll had gotten thrown out the window. It would’ve been better if the doll had fallen all the way down, but it had gotten stuck on the awning below the window instead.”

“So Mahiro-chan had fallen over whilst trying to retrieve it—was what you meant,” said Gotou. Isshin closed his eyes with a pained look on his face, while Haruka pressed her hand onto her chest as if holding back something.

Gotou himself couldn’t help but feel suffocated. Surely Mahiro had wanted to retrieve her doll, but since the window had been out of reach, she had moved the chair inside the room under the window and had climbed onto it.

Then, she had lost her balance and fell down. Unfortunate was the only way to describe it. If only she had been slightly older, she might’ve been able to realise the danger of the situation, but Mahiro hadn’t had such an awareness.

Her mother probably hadn’t thought that her daughter would move a chair next to the window and climb it in the few minutes she had been away. They had finally discovered the cause behind Mahiro’s death, yet on the contrary, it made Gotou understand less as to why Mahiro would be wandering.

As Gotou raised that question, Yakumo narrowed his eyes. “I’ve said this earlier, but only half of her analysis was correct.” said Yakumo, turning towards Haruka. “What do you mean by half?” Haruka looked back at Yakumo, demanding answers.

“The girl called Mahiro became a wandering spirit because she was looking for her red doll shoe—” said Yakumo. Haruka stared at the one half of a doll shoe pair in her hand. “But…when I handed this over to her, the eye over there…” said Haruka as she gripped the red shoe tightly.

“That’s why I said you were half correct.” “Eh?”

“Mahiro-chan had in fact been haunting this hotel looking for her doll shoe. But now, she’s trying to convey something else.” “Something else?”

“That’s right. I first saw her at the hotel front desk. Why was she in such a place?” “So why was she?” asked Gotou in place of the dumbfounded Haruka.

“The shoe. That was the hint.” “The doll shoe?”

“No, not that. The single lone red shoe that I found in the area behind the front desk.” Now that he mentioned it, Yakumo had definitely said something like that. The problem was—

“What does that have to do with this?” “Instead of explaining it with words, it’ll be faster to see it for ourselves. Things should be reaching its limit—” said Yakumo before exiting the room.

Just what did he mean by all that? Gotou exchanged glances with Haruka and Isshin.

No one seemed to know the answer. Despite their dissatisfaction, they could only follow after the man. Nodding to each other, the three left the room after Yakumo—

- 12

- Haruka followed Gotou and Isshin out of the room.

Yakumo, who was already in the corridor, stood in front of the door next to Haruka’s room. “Is there something in that room?” asked Haruka, swallowing her fear.

Right now, Yakumo was standing in front of the room at the other end of the hole that was in her room. “Yes. To be more precise, this actually isn’t a guest room.”

“Is that so?” “This is a linen room,” said Yakumo.

Looking closer at it, there was in fact a sign indicating that it was a linen room, and a plate declaring ‘staff only’ was also stuck there. Linen rooms were dedicated rooms meant to store fitted sheets, pillow covers, towels, and the like.

She had initially thought that this had been a guest room, but since this turned out to be a linen room, what was that eye from earlier? “Is there something in that linen room?” asked Gotou.

“Yes. Gotou-san, please open this up,” Yakumo pointed at the door. “Even if you say to open it…is it alright for us to enter as we please?”

“It’s fine since this is an emergency.” Despite his words, Yakumo’s voice didn’t sound urgent one bit.

Confused, Gotou grabbed onto the doorknob, pushing and pulling it. The door appeared to be locked; there were no signs of it opening. “It’s not opening.”

“Don’t you carry any crowbars with you or something?” “No way I have something like that,”

“Then it can’t be helped. Let’s ask him to open it,” said Yakumo, looking at the stairs. Who did Yakumo mean by him? Pondering that fact, Haruka turned in the direction Yakumo was looking to find Oohori there.

“What are all of you doing?” asked Oohori. His voice was trembling a little.

“Actually, we’d like to open this door. Could you lend us the key?” said Yakumo, displaying a faint smile. “Why do you want to open it?”

Oohori’s question was to be expected. There should be no reason for hotel guests to open a linen room. Even if he was still a trainee, there was no way he would lend the key to them. “Surely you know the reason, Oohori-san,” Yakumo spoke as if he had known everything, and large droplets of sweat began forming on Oohori’s forehead.

There was no mistaking it, Oohori was hiding something. “There’s nothing but fitted sheets and towels inside,”

He was trying his hardest to hide his panic, yet his voice was shaking entirely. “Is that really true?” Yakumo urged him.

“Really.” “It’s best if you stop lying.”

“Lying?” “From the beginning, I’ve felt odd.”

“I’m saying, what’s so odd?” “Although you’re still under training, you didn’t know whether a room was available. It’d be understandable if the hotel was larger, but at this scale, don’t you think it’s odd?”

Certainly, at first they had been told that there had been one room available. Moments later, they had been told again that apparently there had been one more vacant room, and that room had then become Haruka’s room.

“That was merely my mistake...” “Is that so? Then, what do you have to say about this?” Yakumo handed a single shoe that appeared to be a woman’s—that he had seemingly taken out of thin air—to Oohori.

“W-where did you…” “In the employee rest area behind the front desk.”

“You went trespassing inside?” asked Oohori in an accusatory tone. “Please don’t redirect the conversation,” said Yakumo, glaring at Oohori.

“I’m not redirecting...” “In that case, please answer. Who does this shoe belong to?”

“This was, um...The morning shift staff forgot about it...” “Oh? How strange. In the middle of a rain as heavy as this, would anyone go home forgetting their shoe?”

“What nonsense have you been rambling about? With what authority are you doing something like this...” “We do have authority,” interrupted Gotou.

“Eh?” Oohori exclaimed with a surprised look on his face. “Despite his looks, this guy’s a police officer,” Yakumo clarified.

That instant, Oohori turned his heel and quickly ran away while screaming. “Gotou-san! Catch him!”

Even without Yakumo shouting at him, Gotou had already gone after Oohori. Oohori ran down the stairs intending to escape, but Gotou tackled the man’s back and he fell rolling down the stairs.

Gotou then held him face down. Everything happened so quickly that Haruka had no idea what had happened and was left agape.

“What’s the meaning of this?” asked Isshin, who couldn’t grasp the situation either as he shook his head and reached for his chin. “Before I explain, Gotou-san, please get the linen room key from him,” ordered Yakumo.

While restraining Oohori, Gotou removed the bundle of keys from Oohori’s pants before throwing it to Yakumo. “Here.” Yakumo skillfully caught the throw, separating the linen room key once he had singled it out to open the door.

Just what on earth lies within that room? Haruka peered into the linen room through Yakumo’s back and her eyes grew wide.

Inside there was a woman. Strangely, the woman’s hands and legs were tied with duct tape, while her mouth was taped shut.

“Well, this is how things are,” said Yakumo as if they could understand everything just by looking. Haruka didn’t understand a single thing.

- 13

- Half agape, Haruka sat on a sofa at the hotel lobby.

Right at that moment, Oohori was being dragged away by uniformed policemen. The woman that had been trapped in the linen room had been carried to the hospital as well. Yakumo had just finished explaining Oohori’s actions.

As it turned out, the woman who had been trapped in the linen room had been Oohori’s lover. The night before, Oohori had suspected her of cheating and they had had a huge fight. Oohori hadn’t believed his girlfriend. Because of that, he had suspected that she would meet up secretly with her cheating partner while he had been at work.

He had then come up with the idea of locking up his girlfriend. However, if he were to lock her up in his apartment, the door could easily be opened from the inside.

Hence, he had decided to drag his girlfriend all the way to the hotel where he worked and had locked her in the linen room. This hotel’s linen rooms only locked from the outside, so he could easily lock her up.

It was raining heavily today with strong winds, there was renovation work on some of the hotel rooms, and he was working alone; all those factors had supported the execution of his plan. Furthermore, luckily, the room next to the linen room had been vacant, to Oohori’s relief. 

Yet suddenly Haruka and the others had arrived because of the rain. Oohori had wanted to send them away by saying that there was only one room available, but had reconsidered as it would be bad if other employees found out, and therefore had intended to get another room ready—but he had made a miscalculation.

Due to ongoing renovations, the number of usable rooms had been limited, and he had been left with no option but to use room 404. He had planned to take his girlfriend out of the linen room before other employees arrive and lock her elsewhere, but he had gotten discovered by Yakumo beforehand.

“Good grief. Causing nothing but trouble for other people,” Sitting in front of Haruka, Gotou grumbled as he looked outside. “Well, don’t say that. This time, Haruka-chan was troubled the most,” said Isshin, smiling softly as he sat next to Gotou.

“No, I...” Haruka shook her head, but to be honest, she had been so terrified when she had been trapped in the room, that she had thought she wouldn’t be able to come out safely. It turned out the door wouldn’t open due to the poor fitting of the door frame, and the lights had been flickering because it hadn’t been installed properly.

Meanwhile, the room wall had a hole in it because a drunken guest had punched through it about a month prior. As a temporary measure, they had hung a painting to cover it up.

However, the painting had fallen down as the woman trapped in the linen room had been thrashing around. Unable to make a sound as her mouth had been sealed shut, the woman had peeked into Haruka’s room through the hole, seeking for help.

After having it explained logically like this, it may not sound like it was a big deal. Yet Haruka had been panicking at the time.

“Well, either way, this was all thanks to her,” said Yakumo, who had been sitting next to Haruka as he slowly stood up. Standing at the end of his sight had to be none other than that girl called Mahiro.

Haruka had thought Mahiro had been trying to tell Haruka about her red doll shoe, but she really had been telling her about the woman that had been trapped in the linen room next to Haruka’s. Mahiro, who had been searching for her red doll shoe all this time, had witnessed a woman wearing red shoes being forcefully dragged and locked up, and had desperately tried to deliver a message to help her.

Yet Haruka had grasped the message incorrectly. “I get it. I’ll make sure to deliver it, so you can go ahead—” said Yakumo, half crouching to meet the four-year-old girl’s height. His gaze then travelled to a distance.

He must’ve been discussing something with Mahiro. “What did she say?”

“She wanted us to deliver her doll’s red shoe to her family,” Yakumo explained. Haruka stared at the red coloured doll shoe, still within her hands.

“Is that so...” Mahiro had already passed—such was the reality that just hit her, making Haruka struggle to breathe.

Mahiro had fallen because she had wanted to retrieve her doll— She must have been sad, but her mother must be carrying a deep sadness as well, alongside the guilt of causing her daughter’s death by leaving her alone in the room.

“Also, she wanted us to send her thanks to her mother,” said Yakumo, straightening his posture. No matter what, they had to convey Mahiro’s words of gratitude to her mother.

Haruka felt it was the only thing that she could do. “Don’t tell me you guys are planning to go visit that Mahiro girl’s mother?” asked Gotou, frowning his forehead.

“Of course. Any objections?” asked Yakumo, glancing in Gotou’s direction. “No,” Gotou shook his head.

Looking out the window, the rain had stopped for some time before they realised it.

[azurem]

The reason why Ink and Nightmare are kind of friendly with each other... In my inkmareverse...! (this is me yapping again I'm sorry if it makes no sense)

Ink knew. It was a very recurring trope, actually. Bad guy fakes to have good intentions, charms and sweet-talk their objective, steals and destroys whatever they have and laughs themself insane. He has seen that one lots, and lots of time,— Post-genocide pacifist run don't always end up with the human somehow rehabilitating the (if depicted as such) homicidal fallen child back into morality, after all— more than enough, to be able to tell this was the thing going on the moment Nightmare approached him, his black silhouette strikingly dark against the newly formed Anti-Void.

Classic setting, really. But it wasn't like Ink could expect more from this archetype of antagonist. As entertaining as they were, they did end up being quite repetitive once in a while. Really? Just as another AU got destroyed, leaving him unable to fully snap back into attention since the white burned him like sulphuric acid (metaphorically)? He wasn't slick at all.

But this— the promise to let him "borrow his boys" when Error came to destroy alternative universes, just in exchange of prioritizing the existence of negative AUs first over the rest of them all— was... very much attractive to ignore.

Of course, don't get him wrong! He actually doesn't quite like playing the bad guy (a lot of Creators used to get kind of snappy if he got too sassy), but even he can't deny the offer was... just what he needed.

After all, ever since a lot of Creators... lost interest, creativity has been quite low. A storm to a drizzle kind of comparison. It was kind of hard getting back into the whole fighting shtick, especially since Ink used to relay in his paint being plenty enough he could keep attacking without having to fear the possibility of getting... blank.

Hm. What was he thinking about now...? Oh, sure. Anyways, the contract slash treaty slash... whatever. Sketchy masked guy offering super appetizing looking candy? Probably evil! Bad idea all around. Boo.

(...)

...And yet. And... yet...

He didn't have to give an answer immediately, of course, (he wasn't in such a state he'd be desperate enough to accept anything, Nightmare could tell), but the proposition itself upset him more than enough he wrote it down on his scarf the moment Nightmare finally got away. He didn't even get out of the Anti-Void to write it, unable to risk the chance he'd forget it once he made the jump back to the Doodlesphere.

Once Nightmare attacked once again, forcing Dream and Blue away (hostages were as useful as ever) just to talk to him alone, he had more than enough time talking to the paintbrush that he didn't even hesitate when he gave his answer.

(He said yes, of course.)