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greaterawarness · 4 years ago

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Brothers Ch. 6 "Retired Commander and Captain"

(A slow morning for Cody and Rex.)

Cody was up by 0600 like most mornings. When he was in the army, he would consider 0600 sleeping in. He supposes he’s gone a little soft since being out. His morning routine was nothing glamorous. He normally showers but today he’s skipped that step, shaves, spends a small amount of time making sure his hair is in order, then dresses in sensible clothing. Today he plans on going for a run, so he wears breathable workout clothes.

“What are you doing? Come back to bed…” A sleepy voice calls. Cody walks out of the bathroom and leans against the doorway with a smile. Obi Wan is turned on his side with their red sheets resting at his waist. His usual neat and tidy hair now sticks in every direction.

“Can’t. Promised Rex I’d kidnap him for a run.” He walks over to sit on the bed. Obi Wan reaches out to gently touch Cody’s wrist. Cody leans forward planting a gentle kiss on Obi Wan’s forehead. “Go back to sleep. I should be back before you finish getting ready.”

Obi Wan grabs his shirt when he starts to pull away. He presses his lips to Cody’s before falling back on his pillow and rolling to his side of the bed.

“Very well. Run an extra mile for me.” He yawns while pulling the sheets up to his shoulders.

“Always do.” Cody pushes himself off the bed. Before leaving their room, he walks to his closet out of habit. He checks on his Mandalorian armor making sure it was still in tip top shape as if it would change from his last inspection before bed. With there being no changes, he leaves their room.

Cody and Obi Wan live in a luxurious spacious apartment. Only riveled by Padme’s and Skywalker’s. He walks across their pristine white marble floor to their white clean kitchen. Everything is sleek and modern just how they liked it. After leaving the Jedi Order they both developed a certain taste for things. Ahsoka had called it being boujee. Whatever the hell that means. He starts the caf so it will be ready when Obi Wan wakes and for when he gets back from his run. He leaves their apartment and makes his way down to the lobby.

“Morning Wooley.” Cody says as he passes his brother behind the main desk. After Obi Wan purchased this building, he gave a few jobs to the 212th. They’re simple jobs but his men seem to enjoy it. It doesn’t hurt that they all congregate in the speakeasy in the back. Easy to make 212th meetings if you work in the building.

“Early as ever Sir. Want me to pull your speeder around?” He asks.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll just call a cab.” Cody says. When he’s on the street he hails the cab while taking in the sun’s rays. Cody always loved Coruscant in the morning. Wasn’t as busy as during the day or rowdy like at night. Though, things definitely got more interesting when the sun went down. Cody sits in the back of the cab admiring the buildings as they passed. Rex didn’t live to far and he could have walked it but knowing Rex he only has a finite time to reach him before the man collapses back into deep sleep. When the cab parks in front of Rex’s building, Cody slips out and pays the man. Before walking inside, he can’t help but glance at Skywalkers building only a block further down. Most people in this area are Senators or work in high-ranking positions. Not even on the handsome funds that Cody and Obi Wan pull in from the Jinn clan could they afford a place in this area.

Cody walks through the lobby and nods at the stern man behind the front desk. He meets his eyes before looking back to his screen. Cody punches in the code that grants access to the lift and rides it up to Rex’s floor. When he approaches Rex’s front door, he can already hear the madness on the other side. Cody grins before knocking. After a few moments the door opens when a blue twi’lek girl appears.

“Good morning Luna. I’ve come to kidnap your father.” Cody says. The teenager turns her face inside.

“Dad! Uncle Cody’s here!” She yells. She steps aside so Cody can walk in. While Obi Wan and Cody preferred a modern home that mostly consists of white marble and sleek finishes, Rex liked a more rustic feel. While the wall facing outward to the city is made of almost entirely of glass the other walls are exposed brick with exposed wood beams and columns. His floors, when not covered in scattered toys or clothes, are a light hardwood. It definitely felt more homy then Cody’s.

“You off to school?” Cody asks when the door shuts behind him.

“Yeah, just waiting on the gremlin to get ready.” She says, crossing her arms.

“That’s not a nice thing to call your brother.” Cody eyes her.

“Sorry,” She nods. “I meant to say bantha.”

Cody has to hold back a laugh. Luna slides across the floor in her long school socks to retrieve her datapad. Cody almost jumps when a woman rushes down the stairs holding a human toddler in her arms. Her blonde curly hair bounces with every jerk of her head. Cody crosses his arms with a smile waiting Morrigan to notice him. Her frantic busy eyes scan the kitchen island that is cluttered in papers, cups, and toys.

“My keys… where are my keys?” She asks with her one free hand held out frustratedly. Cody takes this time to walk forward. She stares at him slightly taken off guard before calming back down.

“I believe,” Cody starts while reaching for the thing in the toddler’s hands. “I’ve found them.��

Morrigan closes her eyes relieved.

“Thank you, Cody.” She says placing a hand on his shoulder. “You must be here for Rex.”

“Yes, I had planned on kidnapping him.” Cody explains. He leans against the messy kitchen island. She gives a sarcastic eyeroll.

“Good luck. I’m afraid my nine year old has beaten you to it.” She walks over to her bag to rummage through it. As if speaking his name summoned him, Rex walks down the stairs with his son slung over his shoulders.

“I don’t want to go!” Bjorn yells but shows no real struggle. Rex lets out long sigh.

“I know,” He says while setting the boy down. Bjorn’s a spitting image of his father. Well, Cody guessed all clones really, but he was Rex’s boy through and through. “But you have to. Otherwise, mum and I are going to go to prison!”

The boy rolls his eyes. He tries to walk away but is stopped by Rex’s hand. Rex pulls out a pair of glasses and puts them on Bjorn’s face.

“But…”

“No buts. You’re wearing them.” Rex waves a finger at the boy with a stern eye. Bjorn says nothing while grabbing his school bag and walks over to his eldest sister.

“Be safe! Don’t take your eyes off each other!” Morrigan calls when the two eldest children walk towards the front door.

“We know!” They yell back before closing the door behind them. With two out of the three kids gone the adults took this moment to breathe. Rex looks to Cody for the first time.

“Sorry that you had to walk in on our hectic mornings.” Rex says looking more tired than he did when they left to go home last night.

“Don’t worry about it. Love any chance I get to see my favorite nieces and nephew.” Cody says. Morrigan shifts her daughter while slinging her bag over her other shoulder.

“Well, I’m off to work. I’m running late as it is. Cody, try not to kill my husband. I do enjoy his company.” She says walking past him. She walks for the door making Rex chuckle.

“Love?” Rex calls.

“Yes?” She turns back around.

“I’m not sure how your meeting is going to go while holding Serin.” Rex crosses his arms. Morrigan pauses realizing her daughter is still in her arms. She shuffles over and hands her to Rex before giving him a quick kiss and rushing for the door. Rex calls out “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

Morrigan responds by letting out a loud and sarcastic laugh while running out the door. Rex shakes his head while smiling at Serin who is content just sitting in Rex’s arms.

“If its just you and Serin we can go for a run another day?” Cody offers. Rex lets out a tired sigh.

“Nah, we’ll bring her along.”

After getting little Serin situated in a stroller Cody and Rex do a short stretch in front of Rex’s building. After they feel warmed up, they start jogging. When Cody goes for a run with Obi Wan they usually start out much faster and go for longer but ever since becoming a dad Rex has lost a bit of his steam. They run a few blocks before stopping at a crosswalk. Rex leans over with his hands on his knees breathing heavily.

“You okay?” Cody raises a brow at him.

“Don’t judge me Cody… I’ve got three kids…” He breathes before straightening up and pushing the stroller as he continues to run. Everything is so different now then it was when they were in the army. Before he and Rex ran a tight ship. Nothing got past them, and they were constantly working to keep their bodies and minds in top physical condition. Now, they’ve learned to take it easy and take things as they come. Not that they’ve gone completely soft. Cody and Rex still pride themselves on their combat skills and marksmanship.

They decide to end their run early when Serin starts to get fussy. They now walk at a comfortable pace after stopping to buy the child a juice box. Cody and Rex drink one of their own.

“So,” Rex says after they toss their drained juice boxes. “What are we going to do about that batch of clones?”

That batch. Cody knew exactly what he was talking about. Cody lets out a sigh through his nose.

“I could use some guys like that. It’s hard to find younger clones so willing to run into battle.” Cody starts.

“True but running headfirst into danger isn’t always a good thing.” Rex says making Cody laugh.

“Ironic coming from you!” Cody says wincing when Rex elbows him.

“All I’m saying is that they seem a little to eager.”

“What do you expect? They’re too young to have seen any battle but to old to not remember life and training on Kamino. They trained for a Republic that already didn’t want them.” Cody snorts. They fall silent for a moment. Memories of the days after the war. When it first ended everyone was so happy. It may have only been one real battle but so many clones and Jedi had died. Everyone celebrated and the clones were seen as heroes. For a time. Then the Jedi who had fought beside so many of the clones turned away from them. Some completely abandoning squads on random planets trying to wrangle up any remaining separatists. The anger from those times still burns in Cody and Rex.

As they contemplated on the past, they can hear the shouting of protests. Cody and Rex exchange looks before continuing on. They find a large crowd surrounding a stage built of crates with a few clones standing on top.

“We fought their war and look how they treat us?” A clone yells. Cody stops to stare at him. He looks familiar. “Clones only earn a small percentage compared to any other species on Coruscant but we far outnumber any other species when it comes to homelessness! We’re denied basic rights!”

Cody is both surprised and pleased to see that the crowd is a good mix of nonclones and clones. Serin starts to get fussy again, so they start to walk on. As they walk away from the rally, they can hear them chanting “We fought your fight now give us rights!”all the way down the block.

They decide to take a rest on a park bench and let Serin stretch her legs.

“That was Slick up there, wasn’t it?” Rex asks. Cody nods. He holds a twig that Serin hands him before she waddles off.

“I just hope he keeps it peaceful.” Cody sighs. Rex lets out a snort.

“He’s not wrong though. Some clones are lucky and get decent jobs and live a normal life. Most aren’t. unless they want to live like us working as bounty hunters and mercenaries. We do okay but this life isn’t for everyone. It’s most certainly not one I want my children.”

Cody looks over at Rex who keeps his eyes on his daughter.

“Bjorn looks just like us. What happens when he’s older and he can’t get a job because his face resembles mine? Serin… well I tell myself she’ll do fine because she’s a girl and she takes after her mother thank the Force. But I do worry about them.” Rex scoops his daughter in his arms and holds her close. She doesn’t appreciate this and squirms out of his arms to continue playing.

“I hate to break this to you Rex old boy, but your son is probably going to become a bounty hunter just because he has your wife’s attitude.” Cody says making Rex laugh.

“Oh, don’t I know it too?” Rex shakes his head. His face settles into a sad smile. “Still… I want him to have a choice.”

Cody lets out a breath while leaning back.

“Then I guess we’ll have to hope Fox and Padme can pull through.” Cody looks up at the sky before staring at Rex when he lets out a pfft.

“Never thought you would be saying that did ya?” Rex snorts making Cody laugh.

“Fuckin’ Fox man… who knew?” Cody shakes his head. When they fall silent again Rex leans on his knees.

“So, what are we going to do about that batch?” Rex asks again. Cody leans his head back with his eyes closed.

“I don’t know…” He groans. “Wolffe has probably already recruited them but… then they have the Force sensitive ones and I’m sure Skywalker will throw a fit if he doesn’t get them.”

“Yeah, probably. He and Ahsoka were fighting about it the other night. But they were drinking so it quickly turned into who’s fault it was who crashed the last ship.” Rex says with his chin perched on his hand.

“… It was Anakin, wasn’t it?”

“It’s always Anakin.” Rex nods making Cody chuckle. They sit in silence again while watching Serin play.

“You don’t think that day we ran into that batch wasn’t a bit…”

“Perfect?” Rex finishes for him. “Yeah. I know.”

“I mean all three of us were recruited for the job and then the batch is there for no apparent reason, and they were carrying blasters which according to our research none of them can afford. Seems like that whole event was planned.” Cody watches Rex carefully. His face is unchanging but deliberately still. “It has her fingerprints all over it.”

“I know.” He says softly.

“That means those boys are probably in over their heads. It might be best if we cut off all ties with them. Save ourselves a headache.” Cody says aware of how stiff Rex is next to him. It’s so apparent that Serin walks over to try and mess with his face. He loosens up so not to bother her.

“I’ll deal with it, Cody.” He says sternly. He stands with his daughter in his arms. He puts her back in her stroller telling Cody it was time to go. Cody doesn’t push the subject any further. Rex has a complicated history after the war. It often comes back to haunt him. Cody walks beside his friend feeling bad for even bringing her up. They would have to come up with a plan for that batch another day. Today Cody was only focused on getting back to the apartment to catch Obi Wan before he left for the senate.

Read full story HERE at AO3

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satsuki2406 · 4 years ago

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Dear Aomi Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

"I've seen you in a dream before, you are the warm and bright presence that embraced me on Cape Kamui a long time ago on a June afternoon."

Shinohara (Y/N) is a normal girl who had everything she could ask for, a loving family, a beautiful home, friends, and a fluffy cat. For a long time, she gave her life and happiness for granted, never imagining that she'll face one of the worst and crueler facades of society so closely, destroying what once was a happy, harmonious and normal family. One day, in hopes to recover what they lost, the Shinohara family took one of the more difficult decisions of their lives; leave behind their home back in Hokkaido and travel hundreds of miles south until Musutafu, the place that could grant them a solution and help close the yet fresh wound and scare away the ghosts of the past. Hardheaded, passionate, and ambitious (Y/N) is forced to confront the incarnated face of the superhuman society that she hated the most; Bakugou Katsuki.

PAIRING: (Bakugou Katsuki x Reader)

GENRE/WARNINGS: Romance, Fluff, Angst, Dark Themes, My poor attempt of humor, Strong language (Courtesy of King Lord Explosion Murder God *********💥), Manga Spoilers.

STATUS: On going

Chapter 1: School is a Great Place to Make Enemies

Chapter 2: My Stupid Classmate, The Angry Dandelion

Chapter 3: In Conclusion, This Day Was...

Chapter 4: Welcome to the Neighborhood

Masterlist \(￣︶￣*\))

✒A/N:

OH-EM-GEE-

It's really been a while since I updated this story, I really thought it was a couple of months ago, I’ve been very busy lately and just kept pushing writing for later, and later transformed into 8 months! I had to admit that I also had a huge block with this story, but recently I got a lot of inspiration and energy, chapter 6 is almost ready but editing needs to be done after all. Hopefully this would be a good one! There’s more details coming in future chapters and also new characters! I got a thing for OCs recently, I feel they add more personality to the story!

Enjoy!

o(*°▽°*)o

5: Aldera Chronicles

‘Just a good day’ That was what you prayed, asked for last night, and what you tried to repeat to yourself to keep calm and serene while you looked desperately for your earphones. As soon as you did, you connected them to your phone and searched for the loudest song you kept in your collection.

“Oi! I’m talking to you dumbface!”

The loudest one of all.

After the whole ‘neighbors fiasco’ you got stuck with Bakugou on your way to school, both of your mothers insisted that you should go to school together at least today, so you could ‘amend your differences and get closer’ you almost gag at the suggestion, but your mom looked so ecstatic about the idea of you making new friends, after all she hasn’t looked that excited in a while, so you could not find yourself saying no to her.

Although you ‘accepted’, that didn’t mean that you will stay with him all the way to school, right now you were still in their field of vision, so if you left him behind, they will notice. You were just waiting for the perfect moment, as soon as you made it to the end of the street and turned to the left, you will take that as a cue to hop on your bike and leave him behind eating your dust.

“What a shity morning, stuck with this idiot. That friking hag threaten me to change the wifi password if I didn’t come and to top it off, she had the fucking nerve to take my phone, fan-fucking-tastic…” Bakugou was right in front of you grumbling angrily and throwing profanities left and right. His anger was more than evident; he was more hunched over than normal; his hands were way deeper in his pockets to the point you thought he could rip them open and his feet were stomping on the ground with such intensity that you could almost feel it vibrate under your own.

Despite the fact that you could not see his face, you could bet your (F/C) post-its that there was an extra deep scowl and curled pouty lips ‘decorating’ his face right now. You tried to distract yourself with your phone and avoid Bakugou as much as possible, it was bad enough to spend more time with him than you already did in school, not to mention that unwanted encounters may become commonplace being next-door neighbors.

You sighted dejected at the thought, you really were kind of excited about moving to a new city, Musutafu was way bigger than Sapporo was, with bigger malls, parks, shops, restaurants and more fun things to do. But sadly for you, Bakugou manage to crush your hopes and expectations as soon as he opened his mouth, hell, even by existing actually.

Your attention was snaped back to reality when the sound of cars passing by and other students came to you. You got on your bike again, getting in front of Bakugou so you could reach the avenue faster, “Oi! Don’t go in ahead of me dumbshit!” You ignored him as he yelled at you, his words more and more inaudible as you got farther.

After a few minutes you had lost him completely, he probably went the opposite direction to the bus stop or the train station, Aldera was close, but not enough to go walking, you did it there in twenty five minutes with your bike if you took your time, fifteen if you were in a rush, you made sure to verify how long it would take you to get there the days prior that you had to actually go back to school.

You decided to relax and enjoy the view of the city and listen to your favorite songs like the day before. Luckily the Tatooine Station was open, safe and working at its fullest.

“Not a single villain in sight, phew, how good that they managed to clear the area otherwise I would have had to…” Suddenly memories of your crossing trough Dump Beach™ came to you, that was an experience you were so willing to don’t repeat ever again. “I wonder who else from my school had to make a detour like me yesterday, or if someone was involved in the incident… those ladies said it was a middle schooler, but it’s quite ambiguous data to make any conclusive statements, there are hundreds of middle schools in Musutafu and the commercial district is in the center, so it could be anyone.”

You stopped in front of a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change. ‘I’ll ask Midoriya if he knows something else, he probably passed by or something’. You had to admit that you were kind of excited about the idea of befriending the green head, even with his nervous, anxious, jumpy and shy personality he gave you a kind and sweet vibe. His insecurity gave away his true nature; his clumsiness, the nervousness, overanalyze everything, the mutter, for some they could be annoying but you found it rather and oddly fascinating, it made him feel real, genuine and honest.

‘He’s almost like…’

The chirping sound of the traffic light snapped you out of your rampant thoughts announcing that the light had finally turned green. You started off with your bike along the rest of the pedestrians and continued on your way to the school.

The rest of the way to Aldera passed without any hitch, you left your bike locked and took your stuff to walk to the shoe lockers like yesterday, just a few feet ahead you distinguish a very familiar mop of green curly hair. He seemed slightly hunched and deep in thought, probably way too deep in thought to the point that you could see a colorful smeared aura surrounding him and the word mutter coming out of his mouth. And you were not the only one, as you could see the people around walking away, with slightly perturbed expression on their faces. You just took it as a cue to let your presence being known.

“Good morning Midoriya!” You hopped by his side and greeted him enthusiastically. The poor thing almost had a heart attack and jumped out of his own skin as you just scared the shit out of him. He released a muffled scream and seem to calm down a tiny bit to immediately turn the shade of a tomato and babble a greeting.

“G-G-G-G-G-Good mo-morning Shinohara-san! You-You-You caught me by su-surprise.” He squeaked as he covered his face with his arms and his eyes moved erratically to look everywhere but you.

“Did I scare you? I’m sorry! I guess I let myself go a little bit.” You trailed, resting a palm against your nape.

“Oh nonono! Please don’t apologize! Y-Y-You were been courteous after all. He whispered breathlessly at the end fidgeting his fingers nervously. “I…nobody ever greets me or says good morning, I didn't expect it and that's why I got a little nervous. T-That’s all, so don’t worry.” His little confession shocked you for a moment, it was really depressing to be honest but it motivated you at the same time.

You beamed confidently at him, “Well Midoriya, I recommend that you get used to it then, because I intend to greet and say goodbye to you every day without fail from now on.”

He looked up at you with a surprised and somewhat puzzled expression, his fingers started to twitch nervously, his countenance became even redder if that was even possible.

“B-B-B-B-B-But Shi-Shinohara-san-!”

“Shush, shush, shush! I am not going to put it up for discussion this is how it’ll be from now on and it's over.” You placed your hands on your hips, a slight scowl adorning your face to accentuate your mock annoyance. “Besides, who will run away from Bakugou with me after I tell him how much of an asshole he is for the umpteenth time in a row?”

You relaxed your demeanor again, offering him a goofy smile, so he could notice that you weren't even mad to begin with. The poor greenette thought for a smidgen that he made you angry and that worried him profusely. But one glance at you told him that you were being sincere, he was scared that you could be trying to play a prank just to make fun of him as it has already happened to him so many times. that alien feeling of relief and tranquility invaded his chest, apparently the chance encounter he had with his childhood hero had been a good omen and brought him more good things that he could imagine.

His eyes teared up with hope and a squiggly smile adorned his face, he dried his tears with his gakuran sleeve and clenched his fists excitedly.

“So, what do you think?” you asked eagerly.

“I look forward for it!”

“Did you see what happened yesterday at the commercial district? It seemed pretty rough” You commented to Midoriya absentmindedly while you took your uwabaki from your locker. He visibly flinched as he heard your question almost dropping his shoes in the process.

“Ye-Yeah, they said that the pro heroes could hardly put up a fight because of the villain’s quirk.”

“Right? Hopefully All Might was nearby, otherwise who knows what would have happen. I wonder if the hostage is ok, I didn’t watch the news last night so I’m not pretty sure what exactly happened. Do you know how it was?

He flinched again and turned his head to you rigidly as you raised an eyebrow at his sudden odd behavior.

“I do-don’t know a lot but I read that everything was ok afterwards, the hostage walked out with just a couple of scratches, so there’s nothing to be concerned about Shinohara-san, it’s pretty nice of you to worry so much, especially since the hostage…” Midoriya looked down and tapped his trembling indexes together; he wanted to tell you something, but didn’t know how.

“Come on Midoriya, you already told me the hostage is ok, what can be so bad that you are hesitant to tell me?” You inquired him softly.

“Is nothing bad per se, well, you’ll see the hostage…” He paused and looked in all directions to check if anybody was listening. Ok, weird. He got a little closer to you and cupped his mouth with his left hand.

“The pe-person captured yesterday was-”

Your little hush-hush conversation was interrupted when the metallic sound of a locker being abruptly opened echoed in the sudden silent space. Your ears located the unexpected noise behind you and instinctively you turned to see what had caused such a ruckus.

A couple of lockers from you, a really angry and really frustrated Bakugou appeared right in front of your eyes. You observed how out of the blue everything and everybody seemed to freeze in time, and all eyes were on him. The atmosphere turned tense, every person there watched attentively his every movement, talking with just a glance, some people were whispering among themselves no even taking their eyes off him.

‘What the hell is happening?’

He took his uwabaki and slammed them on the floor, removed his shoes and buried them unceremoniously in the locker, slamming the door shut. He grumbled, trying fruitlessly to put his uwabaki, cursing that he couldn't put them on as smoothly as he would’ve liked. He suddenly stopped his movements, acknowledging the unwanted attention he was receiving.

“The hell are you looking at you fucking losers?! Why don’t you mind your own damn business, huh?!”

His voice echoed with fury at the school entrance, despite their obvious fear, nobody moved an inch, all the eyes glued on him. He finished to put on his shoes and stomped further inside. At the corner of his eye he noticed your presence and immediately stared at you, he seemed even more infuriated than before, this clearly soured his mood even further, if that was even possible.

You returned it with one of your own, as intense or more as his, the attention seemed to turn your way as your little staring contest became longer, Midoriya nervously looked between you and him, probably waiting for another showdown to break out, just like yesterday. Everybody’s breath hitched by the minute, but you didn’t back down, your (E/C) eyes met the fiery inferno of his crimson ones, after a couple more seconds he just tsked and stomped away with his hands buried way deep in his pockets.

After he left, the clock started ticking again, everyone took a breath of relief, averted their eyes from his retracting back and continued their lives like always. Midoriya’s shoulders relaxed significantly at the time that his soul slowly returned to his body. When you noticed him more calmed and focused, decided to address the elephant in the room.

“What. The. Heck. Just. Happened?” You whispered bewildered. “Who peed on his cereal? If this is something usual here, I’ll be more than glad to take my bike and go all the way back to Sapporo.” You crossed your arms over your chest and stared irritated at his retracting back.

“Well, now that Captain McTantrum™ left, what was that you wanted to tell me about yesterday’s incident?” You asked relaxing your demeanor to something more gentle and friendly. Midoriya flinched slightly and his poise appear suddenly uneasy.

“Um, well, the person-the-the person th-th-that got trapped by the mud villain, tha-tha-that person…” Midoriya tried over and over but it was useless, he couldn’t complete a single sentence without stumbling over his own words. Noticing that using his words would be useless, he looked at you in the eyes to then wander his gaze, pointing to something behind him. You started at him completely lost while he kept repeating the same cycle of looking at you and then looking away, urging you to get what he was trying to say, not moving his head once, like he was unsure to look back.

You exanimated what was at his back; just a couple of students walking to their respective classrooms, friends greeting each other, and Bakugou turning to the right at the end of the corridor to go upstairs-

‘Wait, Bakugou?’

Then it hit you, the awkward silence when he arrived, the unwanted starring, the murmuring, his more than usual foul mood, the outburst, Midoriya’s reluctance to tell you, he probably though he would get into trouble with him if it reached his ears that stupid Deku was talking shit of him to thief bitch. Everything made sense now. You broke out of your trance and looked at Midoriya “Was Bakugou?-” He eagerly nodded his head, satisfied that you finally understood him.

“Oh, I see…”

“Y-Yes…”

“…”

“HOLLY SHIT-”

With the issue clarified and only five minutes left before the class started you two proceeded to go upstairs as well. Midoriya and you made small talk with some intervals of comfortable silence here and there, soon enough you both reached your classroom, people chatting lively when you opened the door. Midoriya walked in just behind you as you made it to your designated seats.

‘If I’m not wrong, Math is our first class of the day’ your mind wandered to other school related topics while you seated at your desk, just as you did the bell ringed and your teacher entered the classroom and started his lesson of the day.

Midday finally came, which mean it was finally lunch time, you invited Midoriya beforehand to eat with you, he timidly accepted, after a lot of nervous quacking but you could tell he seem excited about the idea. As soon as the bell that announced the so waited lunch break ringed, you proceeded to pack your books and stationery into your bag and take out your bento when your desk was crowded by what it looked like to be all the girls in your class. One of them, a girl with short brown hair and blue eyes was the first to approach you.

“Hey Shinohara! Do you want to have lunch with us? We didn’t actually have the chance to talk yesterday and we thought it would be nice to know you better.” She spoke.

“Yuki-chan is right! Is refreshing to have another girl in the class after almost three years since we are very few, with you we are eight now!” Said another one of them visibly thrilled.

“You looked so cool yesterday when you confronted Bakugou!”

“I think nobody has managed to do that and live after it, or actually do it”

“Right?!”

“So awesome!”

They gave you a really kind and chill vibe, chatting and praising you animatedly. Although they seemed to really enjoy Bakugou’s antics against your green head classmate, well, nobody's perfect, noted. You can’t judge the book by its cover, but when you looked at them, it’s impossible to not think about…

The offer is almost irresistible.

Almost.

“That sounds lovely! But Midoriya and I agreed to have lunch together today, so I’m afraid we’ll have to leave it to another time.” You almost cringed at how cutesy and honeyed your voice sounded but they seemed to buy it, until their expressions made a 180. Their faces were shocked and almost offended at the thought of you putting him over their proposal. It was a ‘are you for real?’ reaction over all. You kept smiling at them to emphasize that you were serious, when the girl that talked first tried to dissuade you.

“B-But why don’t you eat with us today and leave your lunch with him for tomorrow? I’m sure Midoriya won’t have a problem, right?” She turned and looked at him just as the rest of the girls did after she, Midoriya flinched nervously holding his bento at the unexpected attention he was receiving.

“Eh…! I…! Well… Um…”

“You see! He’s ok with it!”

‘He hasn’t even said a thing!’ You thought trying to conceal your disbelief. ‘Let’s put all the beef on the grill then’

“Oh, I got an idea!” You chimed. “Midoriya! Why don’t you join us for lunch too? That way nobody eats alone and we get to know better! It’s a win-win plan! What do you think?” You were not dumb, although it was true you can’t judge anybody by a simple glance, you had a somewhat firm idea of why they were so eager to mingle with you, so you just did what you thought it was necessary to make sure it was not that, and what a better way than with your nerve-wreck of a friend.

‘What a better way to know someone’s character than by the way they treat others?’

The poor guy looked like he was about to have a seizure and your classmates were not any better; they looked at you even more astonished than before, and you could swear that they started to sweat. Suddenly they look to be hesitant, even the more insistent one. They looked at you, at each other and then at Midoriya.

“I-I think you are right, it wasn’t very nice to insist after you already had plans with…Midoriya, I guess we can leave it for another day.” The others seem to agree, a bit crestfallen but relieved nonetheless.

‘I knew it…’

They shortly left after that; you kept your friendly smile until they finally disappeared behind the door, when they were out of your view completely you let your smile fall and collected your lunch from your desk. You marched to the door, but stopped midway when you noticed that certain someone was still standing lost in his own world, mumbling nonsense as usual.

“Midoriya” You called him, he seemed to have got out of his trance and looked at you eyewided, confused and bewildered.

“Huh?”

“Are you coming or what?” You said smiling.

He stared at you genuinely surprised, but he swiftly shook his head and walked towards you.

“Yes!”

“A-Are we going to eat outside?” he asked curiously.

“I mean, it’s a beautiful day the temperature is perfect and this would actually be the first time ever that I had the chance to be outside in early April without freezing my butt. Do you have any place in mind?”

“No, I-I always eat by myself, so I prefer to stay in the classroom” He answered somewhat ashamed.

“Its ok, I know the perfect place.”

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packsbeforesnacks · 5 years ago

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Zip Zap Zop || Blanche & Winn

TIMING: Friday, October 11th, 2019, Midday LOCATION: UMWC PARTIES: @harlowhaunted & @packsbeforesnacks SUMMARY: Winn makes his first friend (?) in White Crest. Oh God, Blanche has AirPods in. She can’t hear us! WARNINGS: None.

“—don’t think you can ignore me young lady! Blanche! I am speaking to you!” Blanche guessed that ignoring the ghost of her great-grandmother was probably some cardinal sin or something, but she was going on and on about things that just didn’t matter. Like her class load for the semester or how she was still an accounting major or how the boots she was wearing wasn’t appropriate for October (for some reason). Blanche was not going to get caught speaking to a ghost today. Everyone already thought she talked to herself, and she wasn’t really in the mood to pull an excuse out of her ass. She just wanted to go to class, take her test, and go home so she could nap before going to the night shift at Mooseventures. She was unwinding her headphones as she sped-walked through campus. “Blanche! Don’t you dare!” Oh, she dared. She shoved her earbuds in her ear and immediately blasted the first song she could find on her Spotify. Looked like Billie Ellish was what she was going with. Of course, she could still see Granny, and had to sidestep her a few times to ignore the unpleasant bone-chilling sensation she would get if she walked through a ghost. Sure, it looked a little ridiculous, like she was constantly trying to walk on something very specific, but she didn’t give a shit because she was just focused on four things. Class, test, home, nap. Class, test, home, nap. Class, test, home, nap. Class, test, home, nap.

Fridays had always been Winn’s favorite part of the school week, especially once he’d gotten to college. Drinking on Thursday nights with his packmates and waking up with nothing to do other than plan a party or a prowl had been a highlight of his years as an upperclassmen. Graduate school, Winn was finding, had a much more regular rhythm to it. He could manage to get his schedule to end early enough — there was no chance of him going furry in the middle of an Abnormal Psych lecture — but he and his attention span were doomed to fight through Friday classes. That struggle was all the worse this close to a Full Moon, when the wolf wanted nothing more than to tear Professor Rafferty limb from limb for no reason other than Rafferty looking like a snack — and not the sexy kind. But sweet freedom was in his clutches now, as he jogged towards the parking lot. Winn was getting some strange looks from undergrads for his mid-October clothing choices. Most of them had retreated into at least a loose jacket, some into sweaters. Winn had enough body heat running through him from his other half, thanks, and would wear a tanktop until the moment the odd looks turned into thinly-veiled suspicion. Winn had somewhat of a reputation, back home anyway, for his allergy to covering his arms or legs. He’d only recently switched into tanks and jean shorts, evolving from the crop tops and athletic shorts that were often still too hot for him in Virginia summers. Maine was cooler, sure, but not by that much. Winn stopped to stretch his calf out on the edge of a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change. But as he leaned down, he noticed two things in rapid succession: first, that a blonde girl had just wandered past him and into the crosswalk and, second, that a university bus was coming fast down the street. Shit.

That was the thing about university buses. Did they care about speed limits? No. Did they care about students? No. In fact, more often than not, students could be seen hauling ass after one that had just closed its doors on them. Blanche had been there once or twice before she just gave up. Her car was easier, or even her bike when her car decided it was too good to work. Blanche was determined to ignore Granny and just stay listening to her music in peace. Except, as she sidestepped a guy (who had to be cold from how he was dressed. Then again, she shouldn't judge him, the bitter cold hadn't sunk into Maine yet. But, as Game of Thrones was fond of saying, winter was coming), Blanche had managed to wander right out into the middle of the road when it wasn’t her turn to walk. This hadn't been the first time something like this had happened. Usually it was for the same reason: trying to get the hell away from ghosts. She was lucky she hadn’t been hit yet. Blanche, though, had never walked in front of a bus. Granny’s screech of warning caused her phone to go on the fritz, and just as she looked up to start yelling, she saw the bus. Not only was there not enough time to move anyway, she was rooted to the spot. Frozen, like a deer in the headlights. At least I won't have to take my test or go to work, her mind cruelly supplied. “Oh fu—”

This was why he had to let the wolf out more often, actually! The proximity to the full moon was causing him to be sloppy and adventurous. Normally, he could work off the excess energy in the woods, but he’d been so, so busy. So, when Winn saw a person in danger, he leapt to action. Later, he would say he knew it must’ve looked strange, from the outside, when he bent the rest of the way down and ran at the girl on all fours, but, as he’d argue, he was already so close to the ground and he was faster on his hands and feet — his paws — than he’d ever be on two legs. In the time it would take him to bend back up and bolt into the street, the girl would lose precious time. ‘Course, he wasn’t much thinking about this at the time, his brain mostly concerned with blaring “DANGER” since he was, pretty much, a dog running into traffic and the wolf howling “GO, GO, GO!” in the back of his mind. Unlike when he was in his wolf form, though, a hit from a bus could do a lot of damage to his objectively nice bod. Fortunately for him and the girl both, the bus was fast, but Winn was faster — thank goodness for speed limits and relatively self-aware drivers. He grabbed the girl, tucking her smaller form under one of his arms, and shoved his body through the crosswalk. They landed with a thud on the edge of the sidewalk, a bit bruised but alive. Nothing in his life could be so easy, though. Winn sprang to his feet, too fast and without letting go of the girl under his arm... and almost immediately, Winn and the girl were tumbling together through, somehow, a window. Now, how’d that get there?

Blanche was pretty sure she blacked out sometime between Granny going absolutely batshit and the fuckboy running into her at a million miles an hour. She came back just as her and the fuckboy hit the curb. Ouch. Well, she wasn’t dead, so that had to be the bright side here. Except, she still didn’t really know what was happening. Granny was still losing her fucking mind. That was the problem with seeing and hearing ghosts that no one else could. Too frequently, they kept talking to her, and it was too hard to focus on the people who were among the living. It was overwhelming. Blanche coughed slightly, a tad winded, before they were moving again. Fuckboy — she should stop calling him that, he just saved her life — hadn’t released his hold on her, and to be honest, she was kind of holding on for dear life. The window was a surprise, because, really, why the hell was there a fucking window in the middle of campus. There wasn’t even a building attached to it. They tumbled and landed on the ground again, and this time Blanche hurriedly let go before any other harm could come to them. Well, maybe harm was a little strong, because for going through a window, she was feeling pretty alright. Blanche carefully scrambled to her knees to see a crowd of shocked students wearing all black staring at them, and realized almost instantly that they just dove straight through the theatre majors’ set piece. Blanche, a little dazed from the adrenaline, looked at Fuckboy. “Your shirt’s broken—” Blanche said, eyes wide as she started to stand. Bad move, bad move, super duper bad move. Her head connected what felt like concrete and she dropped like a sack of potatoes back to the ground.

There was nothing like flying through a window to bring some real perspective on things. For one, that Winn should maybe wear sturdier tanks to class. The one he’d had on was shredded — just, completely torn to bits. A piece of fabric hung from one of his nipple rings and, while Winn had very little shame, it was pretty embarrassing. It looked more like the world’s worst party streamer or, eesh, tassels? Tacky. He ignored the wolf-whistles (ha) from a few of the folks whose window Winn had just busted as the blonde scrambled away from him. Her clothes were fine, though they looked frankly suffocating. He heard her say something as he pulled himself up off of the ground, but his senses were finally coming back into their typical resting place and, well, he was admittedly distracted. With dim shock covering his heightened perception just enough, he didn’t notice the girl picking herself up off the ground until she connected with his head. Winn barely felt it, though from the way that the girl dropped back to the ground, he supposed she had to feel it. Huh. Guess what his ma had always said about him having a hard head was true. He crouched back down, ignoring the fairly indignant rumbling from the people dressed in black surrounding him and the girl. He looked at the glass surrounding them, finally realizing that the “window” had been something more fake. Winn had busted through actual glass before and, well, his shirt wouldn’t have been the only victim if they’d tumbled through real glass. That was a mark in his favor, but, well. The girl was definitely going to hate him. He’d shoved her through a window! Dumbass. Dumb wolf, dumb man. Dumb wolfman. Sighing, he reached out his hand, “Uh, sorry… about that. Are you okay? I was trying to get you out of the way, but think I might’ve done more harm than good…”

Maybe if she just laid there, they would leave her there to perish due to the forces of nature. Now, she had a headache, but all things considered, at least she hadn’t been squashed by a bus. Blanche opened an eye, before letting out a low groan as the Fuckboy said something to her. He looked ridiculous. How the hell did that happen to his shirt, there had to be, like, physics against that. “I’m okay,” she said, reaching out to grab his hand and pull herself up. This time, she was carefully avoiding smashing heads with anyone else, much less concrete head over here. “I wasn’t paying attention. I’d rather go through a thing of stage glass than get hit by a bus, honestly, so thanks for that.” She rubbed her head, before fully examining the contents around her and the disgruntled theatre majors. “Um,” Blanche lowered her voice to a whisper, wincing slightly. “I don’t think they’re too happy about the window, though…”

Winn whistled lowly at the destruction. “Yeah, uh, sorry folks. We didn’t mean to break your window. Honest. Just, er, an unfortunate accident. I’m Winn, by the way.” He wasn’t sure whether he was saying that to them, or to the girl he’d tackled near halfway across campus. Was it a bad idea to let them know his name? He could run away, but then Shorty would be straddled with the clean-up, or retribution, or whatever theatre majors could actually do. Method act at him? Winn hadn’t been a bully or anything in high school (he didn’t hang with bullies either, so he didn’t know how to shove people in lockers), but he was sure he could rumble with a few (honestly, kinda scrawny) undergrads dressed in black. As he was contemplating this, a put-upon looking older woman ran a hand down her face, bags under her eyes. She sighed deeply, but before she could say anything, Winn interrupted: “We could, I don’t know, do something for y’all? Quip bro quo, or whatever? We, um…” He licked his lips, panicking, and looked to the girl standing next to him. One hand raised and covering his lips moving, he stage-whispered (ha), “Do you have any ideas?”

This could not be happening. Blanche looked warily between Winn and the angry theatre majors. How was this her fault, exactly? She was considering just backing up and running away, and leaving Mr. Nipple Tassel to deal with it himself. As if Granny could sense what she was thinking, she hissed in her ear: “You were the idiot that walked in front of a bus. Take responsibility for your actions!” Sure. Okay. But did Winn, as she learned his name was, have to jump through a window while still holding on to her? Blanche’s gaze snapped from the tired woman who could only be the drama director when Winn offered up a Quip Bro Quo. Oh god, he was an idiot. And then he turned to her and asked if she had any bright ideas. “Uh—” Oh. She sure didn’t. Blanche grimaced, and looked between everyone. “Um. Well. Hi. I’m Blanche.” Well, that was stupid, now they knew her name. Fuck. The woman was giving her a withering stare. “We could… offer labor?” Blanche said, weakly. She glanced up at Winn. “I don’t know, paint sets? Or something?”

The woman was still glaring at the both of them. “Or something,” she confirmed.

#wickedswriting #para #Blanche #Zip Zap Zop

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skvaderarts · 5 years ago

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Soliloquy Chapter 1: Advent

You can check out the Masterlist here for more links to places to read!

Otherwise, you can read the new chapter below!

Chapter One: Advent

Stepping through the portal that Vergil had cut through the fabric of time and space was perhaps the most disorienting thing that Dante had experienced in his entire life. Well, maybe that was an understatement. Everything about being on Malet Island had been a massive trip into a new dimension of confusion and headaches. But this was a very close second. Everything seemed to go faster than it normally did but, at the same time, things were slow enough to take in and try to comprehend. It was a blur of bright light that fluctuated from blisteringly bright to suffocatingly dark that seemed to transcend time and space itself. And that was probably because it did transcend time and space itself.

Oh, and it was probably the most nauseating experience Dante had gone through in a long time.

As quickly as it had started, it ended. Although experience had taken less than a few seconds, it had felt more like a minute. Dante landed feet first on the cobblestone pavement, his head swaying slightly before he shook it to regain his senses. He stretched before looking around to gain a bearing on his location. Vergil was in the process of standing up and brushing himself off, as he hadn’t landed quite as gracefully as he normally did. Being kicked in the back spartan style through a tear in reality tended to do that to a person.

“Dang it,” Dante scoffed, trying and failing to repress a playful snicker,” I was hoping you’d land on your sword. You know, see what it feels like for yourself for once.”

Vergil straightened his coat and turned around to face Dante. He couldn’t have looked more unamused if he tried to. “Oh, I am very aware of what it feels like, brother.”

Dante shook his head and let out a short laugh. “How’d that happen? You stab yourself with your own sword?!”

Vergil didn’t answer his brother’s rhetorical question. Instead, he opted to just stare at him blankly, his silence saying everything that it needed to given the context of the situation. After a moment Dante slowly stopped laughing and stared back at him, a look somewhere disbelief and confusion crossing his face. “... Wow… um, yea... You need professional help, Vergil. That’s… that’s pretty messed up. You okay?”

In an unflinching display of unamused irritation, Vergil shook his head once. “Absolutely not.”

An uncomfortable silence settled between them. The alley they stood in was a veritable audio sink. Barely any ambient noise from the nearby road traveled far enough down this dead-end inlet to pierce the uncomfortable silence. Though neither of the twins would ever admit it, they were starting to notice how bad they were at basic conversation with one another. It was actually astounding how quickly almost every conversation they had turned to an unpleasant experience that dwelled on topics neither of them wanted to relive. Dante shifted in discomfort, switching his center of gravity back and forth between his left and right feet. He shook his head and sighed, looking down at the pavement for a moment before looking back up at this troubled brother again. What on earth went through his twin’s mind sometimes. “Seriously Vergil, you okay?”

The eldest Son of Sparda gave his brother a thoughtful look before turning to walk towards the end of the alley. Dante opted to follow him, coming to the conclusion that he had reached his tolerance for genuine progress with his brother today. Vergil didn’t seem to be equipped to deal with continuous emotional conversation, and Dante wasn’t going to try and force him. He’d made it a decent amount of time without finding Yamato embedded in his sternum, and his older twin had shown an unusually high amount of restraint in not putting it there.

The twins stepped out onto the main sidewalk and were greeted by the blinding light of the early morning sun peeking over the rooftops of the adjacent street. A stray car or two passed on either side of the road, contributing to what little noise there was to be heard. Rows of attached business lined the street, some with apartments above them. A few quaint townhouses were squeezed in between the shops; a few planters with thin birch trees sprouting from them lined the sidewalks providing a comfortable amount of shade to pedestrians. The smell of salty water permeated the air as a light breeze rustled the leaves of the nearby trees. It was almost picturesque.

They both stood there quietly for a moment, silently taking in the calm. It was the first time in a long time that they had experienced this kind of quiet serenity. The first time in an immeasurably long time that they had just enjoyed silence the presence of each other’s company. Vergil glanced around the street, taking in the area. Just as he did, the vintage brass streets lights flickered off, their automated timer taking note of the ambient light level. Something seemed to occur to him, causing him to stop and turn to his younger twin. “Where are we then?” He spoke plainly, seemingly trying to change the subject from their previous conversation. Dante decided to chalk it up as a loss for now and simply move on. There would be another time. They had plenty of time.

He glanced up and down the street, taking in their surroundings. This area seemed vaguely familiar to him. He could almost sware that he had been here before, but wasn’t sure how recently or for what purpose. This wasn’t a part of town he spent much time in, but at least he knew what town they were in. “Capulet. Pretty sure this is Capulet.”

Vergil nodded slowly, seeming considering this for a moment. “Which way then?” Dante shrugged obtusely. “Can’t say for sure. I don’t spend much time down by the waterfront. I live further inland from here. You know, where all the crime is.”

Vergil scoffed at the comment, shaking his head. His twin brother really was something else, wasn’t he? Before he could enquire as to possible context clues or landmarks they could use to regain their bearings, Dante stepped forward and looked down the long street towards the right, nodding in confirmation to himself as if he’d figured something out. He casually started to walk in the direction he was facing, gesturing over his shoulder for Vergil to follow him as he headed away from where they had just been. “It’s this way. Now I recognize this place. Had a run-in with an interesting demon on a foggy morning a while back around here. Tried to take my head off with two blades,” He kept a steady pace up the street as Vergil caught up with him in the blink of an eye,” There’s a park up this way. It’s basically the center of town. Once we get there, I can tell where we are.”

With that, the pair walked briskly towards the end of the block, crossing the oversized roundabout that surrounded the square into the park. The lush greenery of the hedges that surrounded the park was bordered by a tall wrought iron fence. Each of the four crosswalks that connected to this central park area was aligned with entry gates for ease of foot traffic flow, so they didn’t have any issues finding a way in. The twins entered the park and followed the path into the central plaza where they both came to a stop for a moment to figure out their current position.

“We need to go this way, Vergil. Vergil?”

Just as Dante was going to question his brother’s silence and explain that they should go north from here towards the upper part of the hillside to reach his office, he stopped. Something had seemingly drawn Vergil’s attention, as he was standing slightly off to the side, only half facing him. Dante allowed his gaze to follow his older brother’s and then stopped once his eyes landed at the object of Vergil’s fascination.

Fuck… How on earth had he forgotten about the statue?

Capulet City was well known in the region for a few unfortunate happenings over the years, a status that had now been totally dwarfed by the calamitous Redgrave City Disaster. While being the resting place of the once again slumbering Temen-ni-gru was nothing to scoff at, and Abigale’s fires had raged for several days after the gargantuan demon had lit the town ablaze during his attack, being a mecca for demonic activity was, while an unattractive trait for a city to possess, a totally different thing entirely from having an entire city literally turned inside out from the tectonic plates up. But, one of the few good things the city was known for was this park and its towering onyx statue of the Dark Knight Sparda astride his dark steed, a horse that, in retrospect, was almost certainly a Geryon. People came from far and wide to take pictures of the monument the city had erected to the dark knight over the now filled in hole where Temen-ni-gru had once emerged from the earth. And in the process of trying to find their way home, Dante had completely forgotten that the stature was here as he had grown so accustomed to seeing it over the years that he didn’t even register it as he passed by it today. To be succinct, there were several things about this park that he had put out of his day to day thoughts, this fine piece of craftsmanship included.

Vergil seemed to be taking a moment to consider it, having not set foot here during or since it’s construction over a decade ago. The art installation’s significance was not lost on the eldest Son of Sparda, nor was it’s geographic location. They could both sense the demonic tower below them, a powerful reminder of the underworld’s never-ending connection to the human world. But then again, nothing about their father was lost on him. Not his legend, not his legacy, and most certainly his bottomless grief at his sudden and unexplained disappearance. They were all things he still carried with him and would never shed; a forthright burdon anchoring him firmly in all things that he did. Vergil shifted his gaze downward and then away from the monolith, quietly dispelling the profound internal battle that he would never win for now.

It was a simple, immutable fact that he still mourned their father’s loss and always would. He just hadn’t dwelled on it in a long while now.

Dante didn’t need to say anything. Interrupting his brother’s train of thought to garner the answer to a question that he already knew the answer too would be utterly pointless and unkind, and this was one silence he was willing to wait out for the sake of its importance. After what felt like a decade, Vergil finally turned back to his brother and joined him at his side, eager to leave this place and his unbridled feelings of grief behind him. He drifted past Dante as he approached, not making eye contact. “... Which way is it then? Or are we still lost?”

The younger twin pointed towards the northwest, taking a mental note of Vergil’s understandably unaccommodating mood. “It’s up there, probably about a mile or so. If we’re lucky, we might make it before one of the girls burns it down in a fit of rage or something.”

Vergil didn’t speak. He simply nodded in silence and followed Dante in the correct direction. Despite the fact that they were just traversing normal human streets, he couldn’t have felt more out of his element if he’s tried. It was the first time in a long time that he’d simply walked somewhere and something hadn’t jumped out and tried to kill him. And he didn’t have the emotion reserves left to contemplate how that made him feel right now.

-~-

The front of the office was surprisingly just as Dante had left it. The doors were still attached for once and the front windows were still intact. The only notable difference was the lack of light coming from the sign out front. It was only then that something occurred to the younger twin: how long had they been gone? It had only felt like a day or two, but unless the sign had shorted out (again) then they had been gone a little longer than he’s originally thought.

“So um Vergil,” Dante started as they approached the front steps,” About how long do you think we were gone?”

Vergil stopped as if to consider the question for a moment. He’d been quiet for about fifteen minutes now, more than likely still lingering on his internal baggage. “That could be rather hard to tell. Much like the human world, time works in zones in the underworld. The time discrepancies are just a bit more… pronounced in some places than they are here. Some parts of the underworld are stagnant and don’t have time at all. Some don’t even have a day and night cycle. And they are all prone to shift under certain circumstances.”

Dante sighed. “So we could have been gone ten minutes or ten years for all we know. That’s what you’re saying, right?”

Vergil shook his head. “Let me clarify. At best, we’ve been gone a few days, at most a few weeks. Volatile as the underworld’s perception of time maybe, I can’t think of a region where time distorts quite that far in the timespan of fewer than three days.”

Dante shrugged as they started up the front steps. “Nothing I can do about it now. But I guess that explains why you kinda look younger than me now, at least.”

Before Vergil could retort, a faint male voice on the other side of the door could be heard. It was unfamiliar to him. The voice was accompanied by the sounds of two other female voices from what his keen sense of hearing could pick up, but he couldn’t discern any of the owners. From what he could make out, the man was saying something about the rent not being free and him having the deed to something.

Dante smirked and shook his head, snickering under his breath. This was no mystery to him. “Good to see that they are still hanging around.”

Just as Vergil was going to ask what Dante was going on about, the doors to the front of the office burst open, and out came one of three people came out. Vergil was correct in his assumptions of their genders from what he could tell, but the man he didn’t recognize at all. The man stopped dead in his tracks and let out a loud, clearly overjoyed laugh. “Well, I’ll be damn! Where the hell have you been for so long, Dante!”

At the mention of Dante’s name, the two women who were just stepping through the doorway (presumably walking a short distance behind him) raced ahead and stopped dead in their tracks. In unison, both of them shouted Dante’s name, shock, concern, and disbelief heavy in their tone. The trio stepped forward and immediately set upon the youngest Son of Sparda, greeting him happily. The one with the black hair that Vergil now recognized as Arkham’s daughter (though he couldn’t remember her name) Immediately batted at him in frustration. “You crazy bastard! I was starting to think you weren’t coming back!” The well-dressed man in the hat reached up and removed it, clasping it in his hand as he laughed a the scene unfolding in front of him. Dante seemed to be about three seconds shy of catching a bullet from his younger friend. She was clearly less than amused with his leave of absence.

“You’ve been gone for six weeks, Dante,” A familiar voice spoke,” I was just starting to wonder I you were coming back myself...”

Vergil felt a barely contained barrage of complex emotions hit him at the sight of the blond devil. Her presence truly took him off guard in the worst way possible. He wasn’t sure if he was showing his seething rage, and he’s wasn’t entirely sure if he cared at this moment in time either. Though no one had seemingly noticed his presence quite yet as he was standing at the bottom of the stairs and slightly behind his brother. But he recognized her anywhere. How could he forget such an instrumental person from his time on Malet Island?

“What the girls are trying to say is that you have perfect timing because we were just having a little conversation about this,” The older gentleman produced a white envelope from his pocket and returned it to Dante in one elegant movement, still laughing to himself as he did so.

Dante shook his head and allowed a smirk to cross his face. “You guys are just the worst, ya know that. I mean, I take a vacation for a few weeks and you figure I’m not coming back?” There was a tone of humor to his jest that was immediately lost when he glanced back over his shoulder and recalled the fact that Vergil was still with him. And that he looked undeniably pissed. It wasn’t something that anyone else but him would probably pick up on, but it didn’t slip past him for a second. “Um, Vergil?” Three additional sets of eyes followed Dante to his brother as he said his name, just noticing him for the first time in their excitement. Lady looked shocked, to say the least, Morrison was looking back and forth between the twins in obvious bewilderment and Trish… well, Trish and Vergil were making what was perhaps the most uncomfortable eye contact of their respective lives. Vergil seemed to be looking into her more than he was at her, obviously thinking rather intensely and Trish was returning his stare, albeit with a look of caution akin to the sort that you would give a big cat that looked ready to attack if you approached it in the wild.

It took Dante all of about three milliseconds to figure out what the issue was here and, although he didn’t understand the history behind it, he wasn’t stupid enough to be ignorant of the notion that Trish and Vergil had prior. And he also wasn’t stupid enough to not notice that Vergil was very clearly considering entering devil trigger and ripping her throat out with his bare hands. Dante carefully placed himself just close enough between them that it made further action on either of their ends unfeasible and he shot Vergil a look, clearly asking him what was going on. Trish took the opportunity to step towards the others and give the twins a parting look, silent trepidation evident in her gaze. “... We were just leaving. Let’s have this conversation later.”

Dante wasn’t sure which of them she was actually addressing, but he didn’t get much time to think about it as, as if from nowhere, a loud screech split through the air. Everyone stopped and turned their head in the direction of the van that had just pulled up, missing the stairs and the side of the building by mere centimeters. Dante would’ve laughed at the awful timing if it might not have been the spark that could set everything alight. He heard a car door open and then slam shut on the opposite side of the car and then a familiar face stepped around the front of the car. The white-haired young man stopped dead in his tracks as if he had just been slammed face-first into an invisible brick wall. He stared in evident shock, wide-eyed at the sight before him before taking a decided far left into instantaneous, unbridled rage, his casual demeanor shattering like glass. At that, Dante let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and chuckled to himself under his breath. Nero really was Vergil’s son, wasn’t he? “Hey, Nero…”

The younger white-haired man shot him a look of white-hot seething rage mixed with other emotions he couldn’t quite place, but he knew they were probably bad nonetheless. Oh shit.

“Dante,” Nero shouted at the top of his lungs,” What the fuck is this bullshit?!”

And then he triggered.

… Oh shit...

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sophcaro · 8 years ago

Text

Destiny | WMatsui - Chapter 29

Jurina took her earphones out as she entered the rehearsal room of the SKE theater, waving at the few members already present. In less than ten minutes, the fifteen girls that composed SKE’s senbatsu were expected to work on their next important event. Indeed, the idol group was supposed to do a mini showcase in Nagoya in two days, the performance being broadcast live on TV for the occasion. Jurina dropped her sports bag in a corner of the room and nonchalantly sat on the floor, her attention caught by the two girls dancing in front of the large mirrors.

Nao Furuhata and Ayuka Kamimura.

While the other members already arrived were chilling out or chatting amongst themselves, those two girls in particular were already hard at work and practicing a few choreographies together. Jurina wasn’t astonished to see them already practicing even before the official beginning of rehearsal. After all, those two girls were anything but random members. At the end of the year 2019, Nao and Ayuka had been appointed as SKE’s current Center and WCenter.

Four months had already passed since that day.

Jurina observed more especially the younger member, noting again how much Ayuka had grown up over the years. At the age of sixteen, Ayuka didn’t have much in common with the insecure and emotive girl she had shared briefly the spotlight with after Rena’s graduation. Now, a certain air of confidence surrounded the newest WCenter, and Ayuka was capable of mastering a choreography faster and better than ever before.

Ayuka was indisputably one of Jurina’s greatest sources of pride.

Jurina couldn’t have been more satisfied with management’s latest decisions. It had assuredly taken many years and a lot of discussions to reach such a stage, but management had eventually opened their eyes and accepted the fact that their long-time strategy – that had worked so well for so many years – now needed to be revised drastically to assure the sustainability of the Nagoya-based group.

At the end of 2019, management had decided – and this for the first time in the history of the group - to rotate SKE’s Center and WCenter on a regular basis. The plan was to change both leading figures every two singles, in order to give more members the opportunity to shine and accustom the fans to less-known faces. With the constant emergence of new 48 and 46 groups, the competition had never been so tough. More than ever, it was primordial to find a way to stand out from the other idol groups.

Jurina was conscious that nothing was set in stone and, if this innovative concept proved to fail in the long run, then management wouldn’t hesitate to reverse back to a permanent Center and WCenter. This new approach was still in its early stages, yet it already showed promise. Ayuka’s tireless determination and all the progress she had accomplished through the years had thankfully been acknowledged. That’s why, when Jurina had urged management to give Ayuka another chance, they agreed to test their new strategy with her.

During the group’s December single of 2019, Ayuka Kamimura was appointed WCenter and Nao Furuhata SKE’s new Center.

Jurina couldn’t deny that a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders. During more than ten years, she had been SKE’s faithful ace. She had relished every second of it and the teenager that she was back then would have wanted for nothing in the world to switch her position with another member. She enjoyed leading the group and being in the spotlight. Nothing could have made her prouder than seeing her face displayed on posters and buildings, proclaiming her as SKE’s official representative.

A few weeks ago, she turned twenty-three.

Jurina could feel she had gained a certain maturity: a maturity that was enabling her to see the group’s situation from a brand-new perspective: so many aspects of this business that she couldn’t fully comprehend when she was still a teenager, or even a young adult. Winning the SSK in 2019 had been one of her greatest victories. Witnessing SKE’s management taking the group’s fate seriously and the right measures had been another.

Since 2008, the idol group had gone through so many rough patches. At one point, when Rena Matsui – Jurina’s eternal WCenter and other legendary member of the group – had shockingly announced her graduation, many people in the business had been prone to predict the slow and gradual death of the idol group. In spite of the forked tongues, SKE had always managed to bounce back and overcome its difficulties. It was the group’s undeniable strength: members never surrendered without a fight.

Nine generations.

Many talented members.

Plenty of other girls with hidden potential.

A potential that ought to be discovered and awaken.

It was precisely for all those reasons that Jurina was hopeful about the future. More than ever, she was confident that the group was far from over and still had a lot of offer. For many more years, SKE would continue to shine. In December 2019, an important page had been turned, and another one was about to open up in 2020.

Tokyo, two days later…

This Friday in early April, Rena was spending the entire day outside of Nagoya, having a few jobs to do in Japan’s capital. Having just finished an interview with NHK, she was now heading towards her next destination for lunch. When Yosuke had been informed that – not only they would both be in Tokyo at the same time, their schedules also miraculously matched - he hadn’t hesitated to invite her out. The actress had immediately agreed. Given their mutual busy schedules, they hadn’t been able to see each other these last two months, and mostly kept in touch through occasional exchanged messages on LINE.

This offer of lunch arrived just at the right time: it would be the perfect occasion to do some catching up.

Rena’s eyes lit up in recognition when she spotted from afar the Korean restaurant the actor had mentioned, relaxing a little when the latter didn’t seem to have arrived yet. Her interview with NHK had lasted a little longer than expected. At some point, Rena even got afraid that she might be forced to cancel their lunch, remembering that the actor couldn’t afford any important delay as he had another engagement in the afternoon in a completely different area of Tokyo.

Thankfully, she had been able to make it in time.

As Rena was waiting at a crosswalk for the light to turn green, the strong wind of Spring blew across her face, messing up her long brown hair that had been so neatly brushed for her previous interview. Raising her hand to brush back some hair that the wind had caressed out of place, she noted in surprise a few pink petals upon her shoulder. Soon, her attention got drawn to the majestic tree standing proudly on her right by the side of the road. The cherry tree responsible for the countless pink petals spread out on the asphalt all around her.

Carefully seizing between her fingers one of the petals that had fallen upon her black vest, she studied the delicate and fragile pink petal laying into the palm of her hand. She smiled reminiscently in spite of herself as a certain fond memory began to play back in her mind, and drifted five years back in time.

Rena checked her watch in apprehension, growing a little concerned as they were expected at the SKE theater in less than ten minutes. Thankfully, they were very close from their destination now. If there was one personality trait people had always associated with Rena, it was her impeccable punctuality. That’s why the mere idea of risking arriving late – even for just a few short minutes – and make the other members of the group wait, made her feel unquestionably a little uncomfortable. Increasing her pace, she didn’t have time to go far that a hand grabbed her arm from behind without warning.

“Rena, look!”

Halting abruptly, Rena turned around at the sound of Jurina’s enthusiastic voice, discovering her girlfriend contemplating a large cherry tree that they were passing by. So engrossed in her thoughts, Rena had admittedly not paid the slightest attention to her surroundings all the way here. Lifting her gaze, she took a brief moment to observe the cherry tree that was monopolizing Jurina’s attention.

A small smile inadvertently formed on Rena’s lips at Jurina’s childish amazement, before recalling that the clock was ticking. “We’re going to be late. I don’t want to make the others wait.”

“Yes…” Jurina replied but showed no sign of moving, her eyes still glued on the cherry tree as if she had never spoken.

Understanding that her girlfriend would need a little more convincing, Rena extended her arm to take her hand. “Juri-”

“Let’s take a picture together!”

Taken aback, it took Rena a few seconds to register what the other girl had uttered. “You want to take a picture now?” Rena repeated in bewilderment.

“Yes,” Jurina affirmed, turning around to face her. “Do you remember last week’s handshake event?”

“You mean, that morning when you sneakily took a picture of me in my sleep, and believed naively I would let you post it on social media?” Rena faked indignation.

“Yes, that day.” Jurina grinned maliciously.

“Then yes, I remember it perfectly.” An easy smile played at the corners of Rena’s mouth. “Why are you asking?”

“While you were still sleeping, I took a peek outside from our hotel room’s window and noticed a cherry tree in a park nearby. As I was watching it from afar, something occurred to me…” Jurina’s expression stalled and grew serious. “These last seven years, our life has been so hectic, that there are simple things we never find time to do. Hanami will be over in a few days: I would like to take a picture with you before it’s too late.”

It wasn’t a caprice as she initially believed: Rena was now positively sure of it after listening to her girlfriend’s arguments. Rena didn’t know what had triggered this sudden urge but, the more she analysed the situation, the more it looked like Jurina was simply trying to make memories. Memories with her. If that was the case, then how could she deny her such a legitimate wish?

“Alright…” Rena smiled with affection. “Let’s take a picture, then.”

Jurina’s face brightened and, after taking her phone out of her pocket, tugged at Rena’s hand to bring her closer. Rena obliged and came to stand by her side, waiting patiently while Jurina raised her phone in the air to take a selfie. Rena gave her best smile to the camera and got herself prepared - expecting the other girl to take a picture at any moment – but was surprised when things didn’t go exactly as planned.

Indeed, Rena followed Jurina’s moves as the latter kept rotating the phone left and right and up and down, evidently failing to find an angle to her liking. Rena suppressed with difficulty her amusement at her girlfriend’s antics. “Would you like me to take the picture?”

“Why? I know how to take a selfie.” Jurina’s lips formed an adorable pout. “I’m only trying to take the best picture possible.”

“But it doesn’t have to be perfect.” Rena shook her head softly. “What’s important is that we’re both on the picture, no?”

The younger girl ignored her statement and continued her little game, moving her phone in every direction possible again and again. Unfortunately, that kind of behaviour was inevitable when you had Jurina Matsui – self-proclaimed and proud perfectionist – as a girlfriend. Rena couldn’t keep it to herself any longer. “You’re impossible…” Rena chastised her gently, stopping her motions at once when she covered Jurina’s hand with hers. “Let me do it, alright?”

After a moment of reflection, Jurina reluctantly relented, letting Rena take the phone away from her grasp. “I think this is a good angle.” Rena positioned the phone, after making sure she had both of them on the picture, and the best view possible of the cherry tree in the background. “Are you ready?”

“Wait, wait.” Jurina drew closer and circled her arm. “Alright, I’m ready!”

Jurina’s enthusiasm was so infectious that Rena couldn’t help laughing a little, a small click being heard the moment after as she took a picture. Lowering the device, she handled it back to Jurina, knowing the latter would definitely wish to inspect the result before moving on. “Do you like the picture, or do you want to take another one?”

“No, it’s perfect…” Jurina’s face alight with happiness. “I love it.”

Rena regarded her with amusement before stepping out from under the cherry tree - expecting her girlfriend to follow her - but was startled when she didn’t hear any sound of footsteps behind her. Turning around to see what the other girl was doing, she noticed that Jurina was still focused on her phone and even staring intensely at the picture taken.

“We should get going or we’re really going to be late.” Rena reminded her of the imminence of their rehearsal.

Jurina’s eyes shot up to meet hers. “Ah, you’re right.” She put her phone away and joined her side hurriedly.

As they began walking away, Rena was caught off guard when Jurina placed all of a sudden a quick kiss on her cheek. The unexpected action made her unconsciously slow down her steps, and she regarded the other girl quizzically. “What… What was that for?”

“Just a thank you kiss.” Jurina smiled brightly. “I really wanted to take a picture of us during hanami.”

Rena’s gaze travelled over her face, grasping by the joy shining in her girlfriend’s eyes how truly important it had been for her to capture such a moment of their relationship. Reaching for Jurina’s hand, Rena slipped casually her fingers inside hers. “Yes, it will make a nice memory…” Her eyes brimmed with tenderness. “Send me the picture later, alright?”

Rena blinked, Jurina’s image slowly dissipating from her mind as she perceived in the distance the voice of someone calling her name. Almost as if her brain was refusing to leave the comforting place this peaceful memory procured, she ignored the voice at first, but the second calling of her name - this time much closer and clearer – made her come back to her senses completely.

“I thought it was you. Admiring the view?”

“Y-Yosuke…” Rena’s eyes widened in astonishment when she discovered the male actor standing right in front of her. “Yes, I guess you could say that…” She turned to follow Yosuke’s gaze on the cherry tree.

“Spring is one of my favourite seasons.” Yosuke watched with keenly observant eyes the branches’ movements, as they suddenly wavered under the force of the wind. “When the cherry trees blossom and the petals cover the pavement like an eiderdown. It only happens two weeks a year, but I always try to find time to pause - even for a short moment - to marvel at such a beautiful, ephemeral phenomenon.”

Rena dragged her eyes away from the cherry tree, and watched the play of emotions on the actor’s face. Today, Rena was discovering for the first time an unexpected aspect of her friend’s personality: Yosuke had quite a romantic and poetic side to him. Rena looked down to her phone and went through the gallery, her index pausing on the screen when the précised picture she was searching for appeared.

As Rena observed with fondness the picture of she and Jurina smiling in front of a large cherry tree, she couldn’t help thinking that Yosuke was not the only one to share such charming personality traits.

Ten minutes later, Rena and Yosuke entered the Korean restaurant, settling down at a table before beginning to take a look at the menu. If there was something that Rena had learned about the male actor these last years, is that Yosuke was somewhat particularly fond of Korean food. When they happened to go out for lunch or dinner and it was Yosuke’s turn to choose the place, a Korean name would each and single time escape his lips.

The recurrence was somewhat comical, yet Rena didn’t mind Yosuke’s preferences. She might not share the actor’s undivided love for this food in particular, she still found it quite tasty and enjoyable. Reciprocally, Yosuke never refused when it was her time to choose the place and she opted for slightly more uncommon food, such as an Italian or French restaurant.

“I want to go abroad during the Golden Week,” Yosuke announced once the waiter had left with their orders. “Don’t get me wrong: I love my job but I have been so swamped with work lately, that I haven’t been able to take a single day off.”

“I know the feeling…” Rena sympathized with him. “These last ten years, I haven’t taken a lot of vacations either. I would love to take a few days off once in a while, but my schedule…”

“Yes, that’s the main issue. Our work schedules.”

Both actors shared a knowing smile.

“You said you wanted to go abroad.” Rena’s curious gaze fell on him at the new piece of information. “Did you have any place in mind?”

“Yes, I was thinking of going to Korea. I’ve always wanted to visit Seoul.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Rena didn’t bother to hide her amusement. “I think it’s a great idea. I really hope you’ll enjoy yourself.”

“Why don’t you come with me? It would give us the chance to try out even more Korean restaurants.”

Yosuke’s teasing tone made her smile. “I wish I could, but I’m planning on going back to my home town for the Golden Week. I haven’t seen my parents in a while and I promised I would visit them.”

“You’re from Aichi, right?”

“Yes. From Toyohashi,” Rena specified. “To be honest, I also want to travel. There are so many countries I would like to visit: especially in Europe. But I’m not sure when I’ll ever have time for that...”

Yosuke nodded in understanding. “I hope you’ll still manage to fulfil all your dreams. Life is too short: we should make the most of it while we can.”

“Maybe next year. Actually, I would really like to go to Par-,” Rena started, but didn’t have time to finish her sentence that she was interrupted by the sound of her phone beeping. “Sorry…” Rena winced, and shot her interlocutor a small apologetic look. “It must be my manager: she was supposed to get back to me to give me more details about today’s schedule.”

Rena seized the phone laying on the table and went through the text she had received, a text from her manager as she had rightly predicted. Making a mental note to remember the small time change of her afternoon photoshoot with UTB, Rena blinked in perplexity when – as she was about to mute her phone and put it away - noted the surreal number of notifications she had received from her Twitter account.

After leaving the television studio of NHK, she had already checked her Twitter account: even updating it by informing her followers of her work schedule of the afternoon. She hadn’t noted anything out of the ordinary. So what could possibly have happened during those thirty minutes? Another time, she would have waited to be alone to go through her social accounts, but this strange commotion piqued her interest.

The article that charged on her screen made her heart stop.

Jurina Matsui, 23 years old, announced her graduation today at the end of a live showcase in Nagoya.

Frozen in place, Rena stared at the screen in stupor. Almost as if to make sure of the veracity of the article and that it wasn’t just a weird, silly prank, she resumed reading and didn’t pause until she had arrived at the bottom of the article. As she studied next the white and black picture accompanying the news – showing a mature and calm Jurina answering the journalist’s questions – realization dawned on her that this important day had truly arrived.

Jurina Matsui, SKE’s last first-generation member, was sailing off to new horizons after a twelve years career in the idol group.

“Is everything alright?” Yosuke asked worriedly.

Rena jolted out of her musing and looked up to meet his eyes. They glanced at each other silently for a little while, until Rena opened her mouth when she finally found her voice back. “I just learned…” She fumbled with her words. “I just learned that Jurina announced her graduation.”

Yosuke looked faintly surprised. “She’s leaving the group and she didn’t warn you in advance? As you seemed close friends, I thought…”

“No, we…” Rena’s face clouded with uneasiness. “We haven’t spoken in three years.”

Yosuke was taken aback by the revelation. “Did something happen?”

Rena nibbled on her lower lip. “It’s… It’s complicated.”

“You know how much I hate to pry but...” Yosuke paused in hesitation. “If you need someone to talk to, I’m here. I don’t really know how you view our relationship, but I want to believe that we are friends. I’m a good listener and I would never betray your confidence. Don’t ever doubt that, Rena.”

“I think of you as a friend too.” Rena managed a small, tentative smile. “But it’s a long and complicated story. I’m not… I’m not the nice person you think I am. I’ve hurt people: people really important to me.”

“By people, you mean… Jurina?” Yosuke asked tentatively, receiving a small nod in reply. “It’s true I’ve never met her in person and I don’t know what kind of relationship you two had but I was sometimes present when you spoke on the phone with her during the shooting of Destiny. And, I saw the way you reacted when she won the SSK last year: you looked so happy for her. It’s obvious to me that you still care about her.”

“I don’t just care about her.” Rena smiled sadly and looked down to her phone, lingering on the article, and most especially on Jurina’s picture. “But none it matters anymore. I caused her so much pain: she’ll never forgive me. I’m not even sure I want her to.”

When Yosuke reached across the table to take her hand, she stiffened in reaction when he gave her fingers a light, comforting squeeze. “I don’t agree when you’re saying you’re not a good person. You feel and express remorse, and I genuinely believe that everyone deserves a second chance.”

From her peripheral vision, Rena noticed the waiter approaching their table. Slowly retracting her fingers from Yosuke’s grasp, she fell abruptly quiet, reflecting upon Yosuke’s words as the male employee placed both their orders on the table. Was it really not too late to mends things as he surprisingly seemed to believe? Did she and Jurina still have a chance to reconnect? Rena found herself terribly torn between two conflicted emotions.

The pragmatic side of her wanted to scold Yosuke for daring giving her false hopes. Surely, Jurina had already moved on: there was no use in stirring up the past and reopening old wounds. However, another more selfish side of her – tinged with nostalgia and feelings of love she had never managed to bury – foolishly wished that he could be right.

#Destiny #wmatsui #matsui jurina #matsui rena #wmatsui fanfic #SKE48 #AKB48 #Partners sequel #chapter 29 #Heartbeat trilogy

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frostmarris · 8 years ago

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Clairvoyance

The Second

FF.net | AO3

notes: i had absolutely nothing to do today so! decided to write more for this sasosaku fic. honestly?? i dont have much more in mind for this fic so this might??? be the end

we'll see! if enough people want more to this fic, i might sit down and work out an actual plot.

hope you enjoyed! if youd like to see more to this fic, please let me know!

That night, after Sasori had returned home - stumbling and distracted and questioning what he had witnessed in the park - and spent a couple hours researching gemstones and monsters, he found himself laying awake in bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Who was that woman? Where had she - the monster - both of them come from? Why did he seem to be the only one who had been able to see them?

Had that really happened?

Rubbing his temples, Sasori sat up and swung his legs over the side of the mattress, hunching over for a moment as he glared through the darkness of his bedroom. Eventually, he stood, shuffling over to his clothing hamper and searching for his discarded pants from the day. After a few moments, he found what he was looking for and removed the labradorite stone from the pocket, returning to his bed and flopping down with a groan.

Crossing an arm behind his head, he idly examined the stone in the darkness, his injured forefinger still stinging slightly. His eyes have adjusted to the dark enough for him to see the stone pretty well and, making himself comfortable on the mattress, he rolled it between his fingers as his mind started to relax.

There was a sudden glimmer that passed over the stone, highlighting its colors and shedding the barest amount of light, and he blinked in surprise before frowning in confusion. It was too dark in his room for the stone to have caught any sort of light...

Groaning again, Sasori pinched the bridge of his nose and set the stone on his bedside desk before rolling over and pulling his covers over himself.

He was seeing things, wasn't he?

Eventually, he drifted off into a peaceful sleep, curled up under his bed sheets and his face buried into the cushion of his pillow. He couldn't have been asleep for very long before the dreams began.

Later, when he awoke to a cheery morning, he would remark that they were the strangest dreams he'd ever had.

It started off as a memory, the scene of the mysterious woman with pink hair and the strange beast replaying through his unconscious mind, before things started to shift.

Nothing was in focus, his surroundings blurry and unclear and Sasori found himself unable to move, his subconscious blank and unaware that he was dreaming. There was movement around him as the dream played through several unintelligible scenes, the sound muffled and distant. Eventually, bit by bit, they became a little more clear and he was able to make out specific details as he stood and watched.

The cry of a child, out of time with the sight of a little boy sitting on the ground and crying over his skinned knee.

The feeling of something brushing against his leg, the scene shifting as if he was looking down and bringing an orange and white tabby cat into focus as it rubbed against his leg, it's purr and meow garbled and muffled before becoming clear.

Books falling off a shelf, the echoes of their thuds much louder than they should have been and lasting for too long, the barest sound of ruffling paper meeting his ears.

Each scene seemed to materialize in from nothing before disappearing, distorting into wisps of smoke as the next scene began.

The scenes repeated, but each time felt like he was watching it for the first time, fresh and new in his dreaming mind. He was unable to tell exactly how many times he watched them before, finally, there was a change.

The strange woman's face came into focus and, had he been awake, Sasori would have realized that his heart was racing. She frowned at him and he felt the urge to look over the rest of her, but only her pretty face was in focus, his senses muddled and unable to discern the rest of his surroundings. She seemed to be saying something, her bright green eyes regarding him seriously, but Sasori was unable to hear her words nor read her lips, a soft hissing sound, like that of an angry animal, steadily growing in volume from somewhere behind him.

She held out her hand to him and he was able to make out a bracelet on her wrist - small, perfectly round beads, alternating between pale green and a smokey blue dusted with lighter specks.

In the morning, when he replayed the scene as he prepared his breakfast, he would recognize the green as jade stones, but would be unable to name the blue beads.

As the dream continued, the woman sent him a confused look, her pink hair loose of its braid and floating around her head as if she was submerged in water, before looking surprised.

Time seemed to reverse and she was suddenly moving away from him, her moments blurred and quick, before there was a pause and time seemed to right itself.

She was running towards him now, her expression serious and determined and, as she bounded over some unseen obstacle, she reached out to him but, before she could make contact, there was a blinding flash of white light and-

And he woke up.

It wasn't a sudden, rude awakening - he doesn't bolt upright, his eyes don't snap open, he doesn't shout in surprise.

Instead, he turned slightly to roll onto his back, groaning under his breath as he moved the arm draped over his face and blinked wearily at the ceiling. His heart was beating loudly in his ears and Sasori frowned to himself, the rays of morning sunlight peeking through the blinds over his window and the memory of the dreams flooding his mind.

He found the dreams odd firstly because he rarely remembers his dreams.

Secondly because it had seemed so real.

Thirdly because he could still feel the ghost of a touch on his hand, warm and barely there - as if he had just let go of someone's hand - and the memory of his dream self reaching out towards the woman left his mind reeling.

Still a little groggy, Sasori shuffled through his kitchen with a tired frown after getting dressed and eating a quick breakfast, filling his thermos with coffee before heading out.

Mind still full of thoughts from the day before - and now with the strange dreams - he decided to head to the library and see what he could find on invisible beasts. Lore and mythology books... Perhaps research treatment for hallucinations.

He was sure to slip the labradorite stone into his pocket before he left his apartment, thermos in hand and his messenger bag slung over his shoulder.

The walk was uneventful, but he eventually found himself pausing outside the playground of a school, glancing through the fence as the sound of a crying child brought him to a stand-still. Looking over, he could see a young boy sitting on the pavement of a basketball court, large tears rolling down his cheeks as he cried over his bloody knee.

Sasori stood there and stared for a few moments, expression confused and a little worried as he realized it was the same boy from his dream, right down to the dinosaur bandage on his left arm and the ketchup stain on his shirt.

His heart was pounding again as he hurriedly tried to convince himself that it was just a coincidence - it had to be - and his right hand suddenly jerked, darting out to catch a leaf that had been falling out of his line of sight. He jumped in surprise as he looked over, quickly dropping the leaf as if it had burned him before staring down at his hand in confusion. The small wound on his index finger was still a little red, though it had scabbed over during the night, but, the harder he stared at it, the more it throbbed.

Rubbing his forehead, Sasori shoved his hand into his pocket, fingers brushing the labradorite stone, and continued down the street, grumbling to himself as he made his way to the crosswalk. He glared at nothing in particular and tried to clear his mind, determined to not think about anything until he made it to the library. He traveled down a few blocks, walking determinedly for a few minutes before he paused, waiting with a group of pedestrians at a corner as cars passed by. Tapping his foot impatiently, Sasori took a quick sip of his coffee before suddenly jumping in surprise at the feeling of something rubbing against his leg.

He looked down almost hesitantly, face paling at the sight of an orange and white tabby brushing against him, the starburst shape of white fur in the center of its forehead exactly like the one on the cat in his dream. It meowed up at him and he could detect the barest sound of a purr and it took every bit of self-control for Sasori to keep from running across the street when the group started to move forwards.

His pace was faster now as he hurried to the library, but he ultimately paused just outside the entrance, remembering the scene in his dream with the falling books.

Well, that was almost too much of a coincidence.

Should he just head home? Surely this was some sort of bad omen - wasn't it?

Groaning, Sasori adjusted his bag and made his way up the steps to the doors of the library, muttering under his breath.

"I'm being ridiculous. It's all just a bunch of coincidences."

It was quiet in the library, as libraries tend to be, and Sasori headed for one of the tables, setting his thermos and bag down as he plopped into a chair and ran a hand through his hair before glancing around. There weren't many people in the library at the moment and he was perfectly okay with that - more than happy to isolate himself amongst the books for a few hours as he tried to find answers to his many questions. Removing his laptop from his messenger bag, Sasori stood and headed towards the shelves to start searching for some books, inwardly wondering if he should do a little research on premonition dreams.

The library was large, with a maze of shelves and hundreds upon hundreds of books but, eventually, Sasori found a few books that looked promising and returned to his table, taking a sip of his coffee as he opened his laptop. Bringing up the webpages he had been checking last night, he clicked open a word doc and pulled one of the books closer - an encyclopedia of sorts on different mythical monsters from across the globe. As unreal as all of this felt, a little bit of research always managed to calm his mind and let him figure things out - if he could identify what he thought he had seen, he might be able to figure out just what was going on with him and these hallucinations.

Taking a few notes in the word doc, he made a list of possible beasts, mentally wondering if he should go get himself checked out by a professional. Maybe there was a significance to the monster he had 'seen'?

"Hellhound, chupacabra, inugami..."

Nothing seemed to match up exactly with the creature in the park but he persevered, pausing only when the sound of a soft hiss came from somewhere behind him.

Sasori froze, fingers hovering over his keyboard as he resisted the urge to look over his shoulder.

Auditory hallucinations too?

The hissing was grating, a scratchy, garbled sound that was less like air passing and more like a warning cry coming from an animal's throat. He tried to look around inconspicuously and found that no one else in the library seemed to have heard the hiss and, finally, the curiosity was too much and he turned his head.

Perched on one of the bookshelves was another black beast, though it looked much different than the one from the park. It had a longer, sleeker body with six legs, each with three long, dangerous claws and patches of diseased-looking feathers covering its inky-black skin. It's tail was a long plume of feathers and flicked through the air in agitation, its bright blue eyes pinned to something past him. Cat-like ears were laid flat back against head, hackles raised and its beak - much larger than any bird should ever possess - was open slightly, revealing rows of wicked teeth as cerulean saliva dripped onto the bookshelf.

Sasori stared up at it in horror, it's angry hissing steadily growing louder, before following its line of sight.

And, for the second time, he saw her.

The pink-haired woman from the park was at the front desk of the library, chatting with the librarian who definitely seemed to be aware of her presence. She was dressed differently from the day before, sporting pale blue shorts and a floral-print sweater, her hair loose and her sword and pack strapped to her belt.

Inwardly he wondered why the librarian didn't seem at all curious about the katana.

Hearing movement, Sasori glanced back over his shoulder to see that the creature was making it's way across the top of the bookshelf, its gaze pinned to the woman and the hissing becoming more of a challenging growl, though still not loud enough for her to hear. It's tail darted through the air, swinging down and brushing against Sasori's arm and, instinctively, he jumped to his feet in surprise, shoving his chair back and making the wood screech across the floor.

Instantly, both the creature and woman looked at him.

Her expression was one of surprise before a flash of recognition passed over her face.

And then shock as she noticed the creature.

Which now had it's eyes set on Sasori.

"Shh!" The librarian suddenly called over to him, frowning and apparently annoyed by the sudden squeak his chair had made.

Obviously unable to see the monster.

The pink-haired woman glanced to the librarian once more before looking back to him, her gaze darting between Sasori and the beast that was now stalking towards him, it's head tilted curiously but its fangs still bared.

Much more preoccupied with the creature, Sasori was only vaguely aware of the woman hurriedly moving out the librarian's line of sight and reaching up to her earlobe, a brief shimmer passing over her body and her green eyes focused on the increasingly worried redhead.

Gritting his teeth, but rooted to the spot, he watched the monster move closer, jumping back only when it suddenly batted a clawed paw at him. It sat up, it's beak opening as it gave an inhuman screech that sounded almost amused, before it crouched, as if it was getting ready to pounce.

Instead, it's tail shot out towards him again, the razor-sharp feathers now looking almost like blades as it moved to strike him. Just before it could make contact, Sasori's right hand jerked, grabbing the chair and raising it just in time to block the creature's attack, leaving him staring down at his hand in shock - it had moved much too quickly for him to have even processed what was happening, the path of his hand sure and steady. The tail gave another flick, hitting the shelves below it and sending a few books tumbling off, landing haphazardly but giving him a clear enough view of one of the titles - the exact one he'd seen in his dream.

The beast gave an angry hiss and it sat up on its haunches but, before it could strike again, the sound of thudding footsteps caught Sasori's ear and he glanced over just in time to see the pink-haired woman racing towards him. Her expression was determined and, as she leaped over a table, he realized it was also the same scene he'd seen in his dream. She had an arm outstretched towards him and, once more moving of it's own accord, his hand raised to meet her grip and he was tugged down and away from the beast just as it swiped another clawed pat at his head.

His heart was thudding and he struggled to keep his footing as she pulled him after her, the pair racing around a corner and deeper into the library's maze of shelves. After a few moments of darting around shelves, she suddenly skidded to a halt and dropped down into a crouch, tugging him down with her and quickly reaching into the pack on her hip. She immediately pulled something out, grabbing his hand once more and quickly slipping a ring onto his middle finger, her expression serious.

"You need to put this on or they'll think you're crazy." She muttered, before dropping his hand and reaching for her sword, her gaze darting around as she checked to make sure the coast was clear.

Mind reeling, Sasori looked down at the ring, recognizing the stone resting on the simple silver band as an opal, before looking her over once more. This close, he could pick out smaller details - like the opal earring stud she was wearing and the matching opal embedded in the hilt of her katana and, of course, the bracelet of blue and green stone beads around her wrist.

"Keep your head down and head for the exit," She suddenly said when she looked to him once more - with the movement he could see another stud in her other ear, though he didn't recognize this pale blue gem as it was definitely not an opal, "Wait for me in the park - I'll meet you there after I deal with it."

"Who are you?" Sasori eventually managed to blurt out, unable to make sense of what was happening. "What the hell is going on?"

She snorted and stood, unsheathing her malachite blade as she moved back towards the way they came.

"Just get out of the library. I'll answer your questions later, alright?"

Before he could answer, she rushed off back into the maze of bookshelves and he was left kneeling on the ground, staring at the spot where she'd been standing. He glanced down at the opal ring on his finger, but jumped when the sound of footsteps approached, making him jump to his feet as a a man carrying a stack of books rounded a corner.

"A-ah," he struggled for words for a moment, "Excuse-"

He cut himself off as he hurriedly stepped out of the way and the man kept walking forward, not even sparing Sasori a glance and very narrowly walking right into him. Pressing himself against the bookshelf, Sasori shot him a glare, calling after the man before pausing when he didn't respond - didn't even slow down.

"Hey, wait, can you not-"

And the man turned another corner and disappeared from sight.

Did he not hear him? Did he not see him?

Suddenly, from somewhere in the library, there was a monstrous scream and, almost instantly, Sasori was racing towards the sound, passing a few people who neither noticed him nor seemed alarmed by the screech. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a flash of pink and managed to spot the mysterious woman just in time as she raced over the top of the bookshelves with that same inhuman grace he'd seen in the park. He continued to run, deciding to take heed of her advice - okay, it was more of a command - and leave the library.

Trying to figure out the path back to the main lobby, Sasori took a sharp turn and continued to run, watching for any sign of the monster. He managed to skid to a halt just as something large and black darted in front of him, the smell of cinnamon heavy in the air. Pressing his back to a bookshelf, Sasori peeked around the corner to see the feathered creature stalking the aisles, its tail swishing from side to side in agitation.

Sasori didn't even realize he was panting until the beast suddenly stiffened and twisted around, its blue gaze falling on him and its beak opening for another shriek.

It pounced at him faster than he could have anticipated but, even faster, his hand shot upwards and he felt a something grab his wrist, quickly hoisting him up and out of the way.

"I thought I told you to get out!" The pink-haired woman hissed after she steadied him next to her on the bookshelf.

Sasori shot her a glare, trying to ignore the way his hands were shaking.

"I'm trying! It's kind of difficult with that- that thing appearing around every cor-!"

He was cut off by another screech and the pair looked over just in time to see the beast scramble up onto a nearby bookshelf, blue saliva flying as it screamed at them. Sasori just barely caught the sound of the woman cursing under her breath before she suddenly grabbed him and, the next thing Sasori knew, he was in her arms. She stood, holding the redhead bridal style, and jumped to a different bookshelf, darting across the tops as she ran towards the library's entrance, carrying him with unnerving ease and the beast close behind them.

Later, when Sasori was home and trying to come to terms with what had happened, he would be embarrassed to admit that he had clung desperately to her as she raced over the tops of the shelves, but felt surprisingly safe in her arms at the same time.

Quickly, she ran out of shelves to jump across and, leaping into the air, she landed in the middle of the lobby with ease before depositing Sasori on the ground and spinning around, her malachite sword raised. The creature was flying towards the pair, its claws outstretched and fangs bared and, yelling that same battle cry from the park, she swung her blade upwards just in time to slice diagonally across its chest, its screech dying in its throat and becoming a garbled whine as it fell to the ground.

Around them, the rest of the people in the library continued on with their business, unaware of the scene Sasori was witnessing.

Like in the park, the monster seemed to shrink in on itself before that same shimmer of blues and greens and yellows passed over it and it exploded in a spray of liquefied, black flesh, the feathers shriveling up and turning to dust in the air. The globs of flesh and the speck of dust were quickly absorbed into the malachite and Sasori heard a soft, dull thud as something landed on the floor.

The pink-haired woman stood and he peered around her legs to watch as she picked up another labradorite stone from around where the creatures chest had been. Letting out a relieved sigh, she snapped open the pack on her hip and dropped the stone in, sheathing her katana once more. After a moment, she finally turned to face him, her lips turned down in a frown as she moved forward, holding out a hand.

"Are you hurt?"

Sasori stared up at her hesitantly for a moment before reaching for her offered hand, holding back a sound of surprise when she easily pulled him to his feet - he swore the blue beads on her bracelet glowed for a split-second.

"No, I-" He paused, voice hoarse, and cleared his throat, running a shaky hand through his hair. "I'm fine. Are you...?"

She smiled and, inwardly, Sasori realized it was the first time he'd seen her do so. With her hand still holding his, she turned and pulled him back towards the bookshelves, glancing over her shoulder at him.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking. Let's go somewhere a little more private, alright?"

Sasori would later be abhorred to admit that his cheeks had turned pink in a small blush for a moment.

Standing amongst the maze of bookshelves once more, the woman turned to face him, her expression serious once more. After taking a moment to slip the opal ring off of his finger and deposit it in her pack, her lips parted and she started to speak but, before she could say anything, Sasori quickly hurried out his question from before, frowning at her as he began to calm down.

"Who are you? You said you'd answer my questions after you dealt with that... creature."

She bit her lip before giving a defeated sigh and nodding to herself, shifting her weight from one leg to the other.

"My name is Sakura. I know I said I'd answer all of your questions but I think it would be easier if you just- uh, if I..." She paused and frowned to herself, looking away for a moment before opening her small pack again and reaching in. After a moment, Sakura pulled out a small, smooth, glossy stone. It was a pale, pale green, marbled with white, and oval in shape and rested perfectly in the palm of her hand as she showed it to him.

"Do you know what this is?"

Sasori frowned down at the stone before sending her a blank look, crossing his arms over his chest. It sounded like she didn't want to answer his questions and, frankly, he found that rather irritating.

"No."

Sakura didn't seem surprised and, holding it between her thumb and forefinger, she took his hand, placing it in his palm.

"It's called variscite. It'll help you forget about everything you've seen." He stiffened at this, shooting her a wary frown - what?

She didn't seem bothered by the look he was giving her and simply rested her hands on her hips. "When you get home, let it sit in a glass of water for about an hour. Drink the water before you go to sleep and, boom, you'll have forgotten all about today and yesterday's occurrences by the time you wake up."

"Excuse me?"

Sakura waved him off before seeming to remember something, her expression turning serious once more as she looked at him.

"Ah, right." She held out her empty hand, the bracelet of blue and green beads dropping further down her wrist, "Okay, hand over the labradorite."

A vague sense of familiarity washed over him but Sasori was more preoccupied with a different question.

"How did you know I-"

She huffed and tapped her foot, the labradorite on her forehead shimmering slightly as she continued to frown at him.

"It's why you can see the monsters. And me, right now. It also grants the beasts the ability to touch you so, if you don't want to end up as a snack for another one of those things, hand it over. I'm not going to tell you anything more than that since you'll have forgotten all about this by tomorrow morning."

Sasori shifted, unsure and almost a little unnerved at the explanation - would this be the last time he saw her? Why did that thought make him feel so disappointed...?

Still, the thought of more of those creatures hunting him outweighed the disappointment and, reaching into his pocket, he removed the labradorite teardrop. It shimmered in his hand as he sent it one last glance before dropping it into Sakura's hand. Waiting for... something to happen, he continued to stare at her, crossing his arms as he frowned.

She watched him in return for a few moments before her expression turned confused and he quirked an eyebrow in response.

"Well, is something supposed to happen?"

A look of surprise passed over Sakura's face and she took a step back, her eyes narrowing when his gaze followed her movement.

"That's not supposed to..." She muttered under her breath before her focus dropped to his hands, a suspicious look flashing through her green eyes.

Her shoulder's twitched slightly and, before Sasori could even understand what was happening, his right hand moved of its own accord, jerking up to block a sudden strike from her, her body spinning faster than he could have anticipated.

The redhead stumbled backwards in surprise, his shout cut off when she grabbed his right wrist, inspecting his hand with a serious frown.

"What was that for?!"

Sakura ignored him, eyes narrowing as she found the mostly-healed wound on his forefinger, peering closely at it. As Sasori watched, resisting the urge to yank his arm back, he swore a shimmer passed over his fingertip but, before he could respond, she was letting out a sigh.

"Crap. You cut yourself on the labradorite, didn't you?"

"What the hell? Yes, I-"

She turned away, rubbing her temples as she paced for a few moments, muttering curses under her breath.

"Shit, shit shit, this is a mess. I'm going to have to-"

Pausing suddenly, she raised a hand to the ear with the pale blue earring, frowning to herself before glancing up at the confused Sasori, a look of frustration passing over her. After a few more moments of focusing on something he couldn't see - hear? - she sighed out another, "Shit, shit, shit," before turning to face him once more.

"Look, I have to go," Sakura quickly reached out and snatched back the variscite, depositing it back into her pack. "You won't be needing that anymore. At least, not until I can get this mess," here, she gestured to his hand, "sorted out."

"What is going on, Sakura?"

Another sigh.

"I'll have to explain later - I really need to get going now. Here just," Pausing to remove the opal stud in her other earlobe, a brief shimmer of colors passed over her quicker than a blink and, grabbing his hand, she led him out of the maze of bookshelves and to the lobby. Snatching a pen and sheet of paper off of a table, she quickly scribbled something down before shoving it into his hand.

"Meet me at that address tomorrow and I'll explain as much as I can. And try to fix your little problem."

"What about those mon-!"

She interrupted him with a quick, "Shh!," glancing around at the other people in the library before searching through her pack once more and quickly dropping a crystal in his hand. Unlike the other stones which were all polished and smooth, this one was a raw chunk that weighed comfortably in his palm. It was mainly lime green, with a mix of darker and lighter greens mixed in throughout the crystal and nearly opaque.

"Peridot," Sakura explained and, inwardly, he recognized the name as a birthstone, "It'll keep you safe until we meet up again tomorrow."

"Th... thanks?"

She offered him that pretty smile once more and he glanced away, frowning at a random shelf and his hands clenching around the crystal and the paper.

Once again, by the time he looked back, she was gone.

This time he at least had a few answers, but, unfortunately, many more questions than the day before.

#sasosaku #this is like twice the length of the first chapter wtf #thirrinwrites #thirrinspeaks #clairvoyance

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