#like memories make who you are - memories made sans and he's afraid to lose them all

[what-have-i-unleashed]

welcome back blud what-have-i-unleashed ✨✨✨✨✨ what's your favorite theme present in dust's lore :3333 ❓❓❓❓

hi tricycle!!! it's good to be back hehe :333

hmmmm there are a lot of delicious themes in murder's lore that i love, but right now i guess this conflicting desire for nostalgia in him is the one i vibe it the most (totally not because i've been writing and obsessing over it or anything 🙂). he wants things to go back to the way that it was so bad, but also he hates his past self and he hates being stuck in a loop of ostensibly the past also...... it's all so very thematically interesting 💖💖💖

[marshmall]

For mimic!sans it's very hard to put everything together at once, and I chose to put it up a little bit in advance because it's going to take a long time. He needs too much explanation.💀

This will probably be deleted when the setup disclosure of perfect mimic!sans is complete.

Yes, it's a new official Character art that I drew to organize later.

MIMIC! SANS

- He doesn't like his name. Who wants to describe themselves as "mimic"?

- It was not observed accurately. However, it is smaller than other sans. On average.

- His legs are not the same length.

- He is a wanderer who belongs to outcode. In fact, he saved so many SANS. But he describes himself as a wanderer.

- His soul exists, but it doesn't exist at the same time. If you're asking exactly what you can specify, it's the one that doesn't.

- The smoke above his head moves like smoke, but it's actually something between a liquid and a solid. Like rubber.

- His right eye doesn't exist. It's a soul that's replacing the right eye. It's not his representative soul. It's made of his body parts.

- He's been alone for a really long time, so he's learned emotions and languages by himself. He feels significantly less emotion than others. It's not that he don't feel emotions. Therefore, he expresses his feelings more strongly and pretends to feel the same as others.

- His usual personality is a little immature. It's the same as the reason for the emotion. So, just like his emotions, he's just 'mimic' like that, the he's not a real personality.

- His right eye and smoke melt when there is no soul in his eyes. But melting doesn't affect him.

- When his right eye is empty, that is, when smoke flows down, he loses the memory as much as it does. So it makes him impossible to be himself. He won't want to 'mimic' his personality and emotions from this point on.

- The soul in his eyes disappears when he feels strong anxiety or a strong physical shock.

- Even with his hat, his acting is not covered.

- He can't read long texts because he didn't learn to write from anyone. Short writing is possible. Maybe, he doesn't understand from line three.

- He can't taste it, so he can only judge the taste by the texture. Don't trust his food. He learned to cook from the Papirus... x3

- He is, on average, a little weaker than other SANSs. Can't you feel it just by looking at the size of Milky? XD

- He can turn into other SANSs at any time, but he doesn't even bring the ability. However, if he have a they soul, he can also imitate their abilities. At this point, he prefers to wear the soul on his necklace.

- He periodically appears to have lost his memory. It never happened naturally. He loses his memory by doing something.

- No matter how connected he is to all SANSs, he doesn't identify them as soon as he meets them. No matter how much you feel all SANS' lifetimes at the same time. It would be impossible to remember it all.

- He understands and respects all sans, but at the same time he doesn't understand and doesn't respect, he doesn't make an attempt to understand. Because they didn't understand him either.

- He rarely feels pain. Maybe it's... It's probably been dulled by the pain that you've experienced for a very long time. But he's afraid of the damage. It affects the soul in one's left eye.

- He's probably been around for a long time... No, it's probably the soul that existed from the very beginning.

It's really long, but his setup hasn't been fully organized yet. Because it's very hard to explain him... In fact, he just wants to be regarded as a harmless and stupid sans!

[mister-eames]

how do you think arthur and eames would take in other slowly growing old.. I don’t see either of them as characters being insecure about themselves but how the other person would see it is kinda a mystery and exciting.. so how do you think it would go? hugs xx

Oh my goodness I love this question. I agree on them not being overly insecure in themselves - not much, or too seriously, at least. They may lament a thing here or there but nothing that would take up too much mental space.

I know it sounds a bit cliche, but overall I think they'd fall more in love with each other, tbh. Growing older is a sign of survival against an often unkind world. Of experience. It's the sexiest fucking thing in the world to see your SO earn those signs of age alongside you, to say you made it, you keep making it, despite everything life has thrown at you, you are strong enough to survive.

Though, at first, I can see Arthur having a sort of existential crisis about it.

Not because he finds Eames any less attractive. On the contrary, he loves Eames extra padding, the changes in him; the very real markers that signify that they both have survived and they are experiencing this very real privilege to get older and to do it together; that they get to share a life, full of good and bad memories - to trust someone with who you were, who you are, and who you are going to be.

But in that same regard, I can see it finally hitting Arthur in a very real way (kind of the way it hits all of us); oh... our time here is actually limited... isn't it.

Perhaps it's when they're no longer in dreamshare, risking their lives, but it occurs to Arthur in a strange, sudden sense that some day the world will go on without them. That they are in fact, mortal, despite cheating death so often in their dreams and in real life too.

Arthur might be having this crisis at 35 or 45 (probably has it every ten years after his mid-thirties tbh) and he has literal decades ahead of him, but their own own mortality really hits him. He knew, intellectually, and with Mal and Dom, and with others in his life, that nothing is guaranteed. It's just... he feels like he has earned this life with Eames, after all they've been through together and personally, and it's not even that they're geriatric or "old" by any means, but the signs are there - they are not getting younger. They are visibly growing older. There's the greys, and the aches, and the weight gain here, the fat loss there.

The fact is plain and simple with life: there is no turning this car around.

Time is a real thing. One day it starts tick-tick-ticking away very loudly in Arthur's brain, like a bomb about to go off, setting off the same kind of panic in Arthur that says do something about it -- but there is nothing to be done about it. That's the worst part. It's just life, and not even Arthur, point man extraordinaire can mitigate it or stop it.

So Eames unearths the source of Arthur's panic after Arthur takes up three new languages, asks Eames for the fiftieth time if he's sure he won't regret not having kids, dyes his hair to get rid of the greys, takes up trumpet lessons and books them a cruise or seven - and then Eames is utterly bewildered by Arthur's heightened state of existential panic because he's not even fucking old, they've never been better or happier.

At first, Eames is like, "Calm down, dear. Complain to me when we have liver spots and we're both using walkers to get around. Old is just a state of mind."

Arthur, in the midst of frantically planning a new diet for them both sans-alcohol, is not amused.

So Eames asks him, "What are you so afraid of?"

"I don't know... losing time, I guess." Arthur replies. "Or... not making the most of it."

To which Eames asks plainly, fondly, "Aside from spending your days panicking, what are you gonna do about that? What do you need to do, at the end of it all, on your final day, to look back and say 'I regret nothing'?"

"I..."

"Ask yourself: what does your life without regrets look like?"

Arthur thinks, and after a long pause says:

"I... need us to live... exactly as we are now."

"That's good."

"Maybe tell you I love you more."

"And I will do the same."

Arthur takes the deepest breath he's had in days.

Then Eames adds, "By the by, I hear that not being on your husbands back about folding laundry is the key to a long, happy life."

"Nice try," Arthur rolls his eyes, taking his beloveds face in his hand and kissing that cheeky smile. "Speaking of which. I hear helping your husband fold the laundry does wonders for longevity."

--

The press of his lips against Eames and the quiet laughter between them in that moment, is one he never forgets.

--

Later, once all the laundry is folded and they're enjoying a glass of wine, Eames will Arthur that he is wrong. They are not losing time - that every day is more time they gain together.

Arthur will concede that Eames is right, sometimes.

--

As for Eames, well. He has all the pride, heart growing with love, etc etc, but you best believe he has several canvases and sketches and papers with a timeline of every iteration of Arthur, a visual chronicle of a beautiful man, drawn by Eames, over time, in varying mediums.

Not to say Eames has never felt strange about growing older, or Arthur growing older. But he's very much at peace with it, and earned the ability to be at peace with life - and himself. He's not afraid, not when there is so much to look forward to, and so much to learn.

And so many more versions of Arthur to appreciate and adore; on paper, and in person.

--

They both take the other ageing as something wonderful, something to be cherished. We only get one chance to get old, after all, but we get near endless chances to grow older. They don't get it right every day -- that is to say that sometimes life is an alarm clock that you get up and get on with on first ring, and sometimes in life you just press snooze and both is okay -- but they get it right often enough that they can call theirs 'a life, lived'.

So, yeah, they fall deeper and deeper in love with all the signs of age on each other -- it's all the time they've had, and all the incredible time they still have to gain.

[philtstone]

your choice of Fellowship members, 17

#17 -- "San Fransisco", The Mowgli's I've been in love with love and the idea of, Something binding us together, You know that love is strong enough :')

For all that Sam has only just traversed half of Middle Earth and faced unspeakable horrors, there is still a small part of him, which he is sure many a self-respecting Hobbit would be proud of, that feels wholly out of sorts at an event of Men so grand as this.

The food at Aragorn's coronation feast is right delicious, though. This does make Sam feel very confirmed in his choice of friends.

"I don't think they'll do it," comes Pippin's voice, while Sam finishes the last of his ale and happily digs into a very flavourful sweet potato pie, "there's too many people watchin'. And her father's right there and everything."

"I'll bet you half of Gimli's best pipeweed,” says Merry, “in ten minutes -- alright, fifteen -- they’ll be off. Go on, look at their faces, Pip."

"Bet on your own pipeweed," grumbles Gimli, rather more loudly than might be advisable. "And nae, they'll last another twenty yet. These elf types are made of unnaturally strong stuff, I've come to find."

"You're only saving the pipeweed because you are afraid of losing it to me," says Legolas calmly. "As I am correct in thinking they shan't last five."

Sam watches as Gimli takes back his compliment, and Legolas's flagon of ale, with great ceremony. Legolas is handed a second, unscathed flagon immediately by Pippin, who seems to have produced it out of thin air.

Amongst all the everything else, Sam has to admit there's something relieving about being able to simply sit in companionable tomfoolery with his old friends. There is still loss, lingering around them, but it doesn't hurt so -- certainly not at a time like this, when joy ripples through the room like a bubbling brook, carried by most everyone in the court but none so effortlessly as Aragorn himself, whose face -- ever grave, often warm in Sam's memory -- is transformed completely into a beacon of radiant, cloudless laughter.

Beside him, almost literally glowing with her own happiness, is Lady Arwen.

Throughout the former half of the day, Aragorn had admirably devoted his attention to any and all who required it, with a forward sincerity that no one could question. It’s by now late evening, and the King and his lady have spent the day standing closer and closer to one another until now they are all but bound at the hip like lovers (which Sam supposes with a little private nod to himself they are), sat at the great table at the front of the room (most folk are too caught up in their own celebrating to notice anymore), arm in arm (like black-eyed Susans wrapped ‘round each other!), and with their heads bowed such that their cheeks almost touch but not so much that the whole hall can’t see their delighted, whisper-y, intimate laughter. 

They’ve been at it for nearly an hour by now. It’s a little hard to tell whose robe starts where. Sam’s sure that were this any other time and place, there'd be a lot of tongues wagging about propriety and such.

Then again, Sam doesn't know much about propriety when it comes to Men and Elves, does he? 

“I’m telling you,” says Merry. “Fifteen more minutes, and then we’ll look over, and they’ve snuck off.”

“No, no,” says Pippin, wiping importantly at his froth mustache; they are, Sam’s got to admit, all a bit in their cups. “They’re too much in their own world. I don’t think it’ll occur to them to do it.”

“Five,” says Legolas primly. “The people are reveling and Lord Elrond looks pleased.”

“He’s looking pleased at the wall all the way over there,” says Gimli, stifling a dignified burp. He passes Legolas the ale again, who takes it and finishes it off, “which is well enough, I’d agree, but dear Pippin makes a good point.”

“Why thank you, Gimli.”

“What do you think, Frodo?” asks Merry, crossing his arms in a preemptive triumph.

They all look over; Frodo’s been more quiet than any of the rest of them all evening, which is to be expected these days. Sam thinks this with a sharp ache in his heart. Merry and Pippin and Gimli, alongside many others, have loosened their proverbial neckties and rumpled themselves the way grand feasts ought to rumple you; even Legolas has hairs sitting the wrong way on his head. Save the scarf Pippin lent an hour ago for additional warmth, Frodo looks just as he was early this morning: clean and tired, and occasionally with a small smile on his face whenever he looks upon his friends. For Merry's question he does not have a smile, and takes a long moment to answer, and Sam worries that perhaps in their own enjoyment they’ve left him too long to be caught in his own head and heartache – on a night like this! – and the thought carries with it a sort of sadness that a Sam of only a year ago wouldn’t have thought possible.  

Then Frodo says,

“The real question we ought to be asking, Merry, is — how much do we think Aragorn has had to drink?”

And he isn’t his old self, to be sure, but he’s got a little sparkle of mischief in his eye that gets Sam grinning a big old grin.

The collective begins muttering contemplatively amongst themselves quite immediately.

“Now that is a good question,” says Merry. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him have more’n a cup,” opines Gimli. “Now, Legolas — Legolas --" (He reaches an arm over to swat at the elf) "you've known him longer than the rest of us --"

“Hmmmm,” is all Legolas says, deep in a consternated focus, looking with such drunken intensity at the king that Sam thinks it’s a miracle Aragorn doesn’t notice.

Or maybe he does, and is just ignoring them.

“He does seem awful giggly-like,” says Pippin, drawing his chin back with wide eyes and a voice tinged with a bit of awe, “that’s right enough.”

Even Sam finds himself seriously considering Frodo's question.

Then,

“He has had barely a drop,” interrupts a sudden, sonorous voice, and the group of them startles sharply. There, of course, is Gandalf: appeared robed and overall perfectly put together behind their table, sucking serenely on his pipe where he stands tall above them, “for the King's attention has been elsewhere; what you are observing is simply the effects of being in love.”

His eyes twinkle with the same mischief Frodo's held.

“Or,” Gandalf adds slowly, “indeed, what you are not observing.”

He nods with significance, and Sam turns back to see a thoroughly empty pair of seats.

“Oh!” exclaims Pippin.

“How long’s it been?” demands Merry.

"I cannot see them!" cries Legolas.

“Oh, not four minutes,” says Gandalf gravely, and Legolas makes a dismayed face.

“But a moment off!” he laments.

“So I suppose not a single one of you may claim Glimli's good pipeweed,” Gandalf informs them. He blows a perfectly shaped smoke ring towards Merry, who sighs with yearning; Pippin is still looking around the room open-mouthed with surprise. “Now, if you might excuse me, I must go meddle in some affairs,” says Gandalf.

He sweeps away, towards the other far corner of the hall, where between the dancers Faramir stands shooting looks (Sam's sure he himself has had such looks in the past) at a resplendent (if slightly red cheeked) White Lady of Rohan.

Sam sits back in his seat. It's true, all in all: Aragorn and Arwen really are nowhere to be found. Lord Elrond, Sam notices, continues to look very determinedly at that wall, but with a happy sort of expression on his face.

Sam's seen just enough of the world to figure when how some elves are feeling, at least.

"He could've come said goodnight," says Merry, sounding slightly put out.

"Ach," says Gimli, with a surety that's very characteristic of him, yes, but terribly comforting all the same. "We'll see him again tomorrow."

And the simple truth of it, Sam thinks -- if just for now -- might be the greatest relief they've all felt in some time.

He looks towards Frodo; he has a hand held over his mouth, and is working very hard to smother his laughter. With another private nod to himself, Sam digs back into his potato pie.

“So …” begins Pippin's voice again after a moment, emerging from the cheerful bustle and chatter around them. “How long do we think, 'til Faramir and Eowyn sneak off?"

[zombiedumbie]

01. BUT STILL, THEY LEAD ME BACK TO THE LONG, WINDING ROAD;

chapter 0 here.

my head was filled with this fanfic all week, so I had to keep going.

2521 words.

modern au, she/her reader, use of "y/n", cora being the clumsiest yet most loving human being in the world, swearing, heavy tw on post-traumatic stress, descriptions of heavy feelings. mdni!

The journey back to Flevance was peaceful. Law huddled in the passenger seat as he tried to rest his heavy, tired body, but he couldn't even close his eyes as he watched the familiar route. Rosinante held back from bombarding Law with questions as Law held back from yelling every time a car passed them, the beginning of the hangover affecting his body as well as his mind.

The blonde carefully drove the car; as much of a walking disaster and a danger to himself and others as he was, he always made an effort to make Law comfortable while driving (even though most of the time it was Trafalgar who took the wheel).

And he consistently avoided that section of the avenue that led to Flevance.

Not that Law was afraid to go there or anything like that. In fact, he had returned to that avenue many times before, taking the same route. However, it was quite noticeable how he audibly held his breath and clenched his eyes shut.

The white city waved at them with its rooftops and walls of the same color, bathed by the early morning sunlight. Neatly arranged gardens of clustered trees and perfectly trimmed and positioned bushes adorned the houses, with their white bricks and marble parapets. Some water fountains with intricate carvings adorned small squares along the way to his house.

The entire city seemed to come from a movie where everything in the world was perfect.

He remembered clearly walking around there holding hands with people whose faces he would have forgotten if not for the photos. He remembered the mischievous smiling little brat that everyone practically loved and was a big fan of walking around the city, just observing the architecture and the choice of monochromatic tones.

Now, Law felt disconnected from that place, where everything seemed to be only one color and the architecture seemed more of the same. The smile had been replaced by a scowl, and he had become worthy of being called a bitter old man. He felt like his listlessness was a blot of paint on a blank canvas, much like the faded patches on his skin; and so, he closed his eyes every time he passed through the streets of the white city.

Trafalgar sat on the stool in the kitchen, his fingers contracting before stretching under the cold counter. Corazón smiled as he put a kettle of water on to boil, then turned to the man, giving a big smile before launching into his famous session of questions.

"So... how was the party?!" The blonde asked, excited to know more. He leaned against the counter as if preparing to hear the biggest gossip of the year.

"Uhm..." He pondered for a while. "It was nice."

"And the others, did they go?" By "the others", he meant Bepo, Penguin, Shachi, and Ikkaku.

"Just not Bepo. But I ended up losing track of them at some point", and after that, I don't remember anything else. He thought to himself.

"Did you meet someone new?" Corazón had a smile on his lips, like a father trying to find out if his child had gotten a girlfriend.

Law rolled his eyes, realizing what Corazón was implying, but his cheeks burned with the memory as a smile threatened to invade his lips. "None of that. I met a girl, that's all".

Corazón's expression became slightly more serious, but his smile didn't completely disappear. "Oh, a girl? What was she like?"

"I don't know, I didn't pay much attention", Law replied, trying to sound casual, even though his mind was reliving the image of you on the beach. Due to exhaustion, the memory seemed more distant than it actually was.

"You don't pay much attention to your own love life, huh?" Corazón joked.

"I told you it's not like that, Cora-san!" Law replied, a bit annoyed. "We just talked. She helped me when I was... a bit out of it", Cora widened his eyes.

"'A bit out of it'...? What does that mean, Law?" The young man swallowed hard, realizing the mistake he had made. What was even worse was the element of surprise. Law didn't know how he would react. He might scold him or freak out because he had been irresponsible, or maybe he would just laugh.

But what followed really shocked him. Cora just shrugged and continued: "Actually, don't tell me. You're an adult now, I have no right to meddle in your life", the kettle whistled behind him, and he turned and calmly turned off the heat. What Law didn't see was the twitch in his eye as he launched into a rant about how Law was drinking at parties and how that was wrong and how he couldn't complain and how it was dangerous and how...

"Cora...? CORA-SAN!" Law shouted when he saw the man in front of him pour so much hot water into a glass that it overflowed, burning his hand.

After a session of shouting, cold water, and complaints, Cora was sitting on the stool, his hand submerged in the cold water and a few ice cubes. "Damn, Cora-san!" Law grumbled. "I can't take my eyes off you for a split second". Trafalgar was muttering as he watched the man in front of him breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's just my way", Cora smiled and tried to make a peace sign with his burnt hand, immediately plunging it back into the water when he felt the sting. Law slapped his forehead.

"I'm going to sleep for a bit", Law sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"Take a shower too", Cora requested. "I can smell your stench from a mile away."

"HUH?!" Law looked incredulously at Cora, who was holding his nose between his burnt fingers, immediately putting his hand back in the water.

Trafalgar lay on the bed after a hot shower, wearing the most comfortable clothes he could find in his meticulously organized wardrobe. He was ready to sleep when his phone vibrated with some random notification from a game he had installed to pass the time. His yellow eyes opened reflexively, he unlocked the phone to set it to silent.

He looked at the screen for a while, it was almost 10 in the morning. Your contact was highlighted: "Y/N :p". Law bit his lips before pressing the message space. His fingers roamed the keyboard that appeared, thousands of things went through his mind, maybe he could send a joke or introduce himself, maybe this was his chance to thank you... Or maybe he could just send a "Hi, this is Law."

That's what he typed, but his fingers never dared to send the message, instead, he just threw his phone under the pillow and fell asleep.

He woke up hours later, his head aching, his throat dry, and he felt awful inside. Laughter echoed down the hallway to his room, making him sigh before getting up. Whoever was out there, he wouldn't want to face them. He looked for his phone to check the time, but a notification on his screen caught his attention: "'Y/N :p': 2 new messages".

Law's face turned red. What? Why did you send a message? He hadn't even said anything. Maybe you got his number, but why save yours on his phone?

Law sighed, rubbed his irritated eyes, rolled on the bed, sighed one more time, thought a bit more; and decided to ignore it. His phone stayed in the same place as always, beside the pillow, as he dragged his heavy body down the narrow corridor to the living room. There were Rosinante and Doflamingo along with a girl and a boy he never remembered the names of, but he always called them "Baby" and "Buffalo", respectively. He shuffled into the kitchen as if he hadn't seen them, grabbing water and searching for some medicine that could help him.

"Laaw!" He knew it wouldn't be that easy when he heard that girl's shrill voice pierce his tired eardrums.

"What do you want, Baby?" He didn't bother to turn to her, not needing to look to know that Buffalo was with her.

"Wow, is this how you treat me after not seeing me for so long?!" She sighed. For some reason, she started to think they were, somehow, cousins, and Law hated that in every possible way.

"I have a headache, leave me alone", he tried to get rid of her, just to hear another annoying voice.

"You're hungover, aren't you?" The voice was almost whiny, in a way that was funny to Law. He grumbled, turning to the two of them. He almost jumped in surprise when he saw Rosinante and Doflamingo right behind them.

"Cora-san... What did you tell them?" Law grumbled, Doflamingo laughed, scaring Baby and Buffalo who hadn't noticed them there.

"Relax, Law. He just said he had to get up really early to pick you up from a party", his guardian's brother said. Doflamingo always had a mocking tone in his voice, Law hated talking to him, mainly because he felt like he never took him seriously. He was like one of those uncles you adored when you were a kid, but when you grew up, you realized he was one of the worst human beings to ever walk the face of the earth.

Not that Doflamingo had done anything to Law, but his reputation wasn't the best due to his choice of profession. Law didn't even know how he had managed to get custody of these other two idiots.

"There's lunch in the fridge if you want to eat something, Law", Rosinante lovingly pointed out.

"Law going to parties, I can hardly believe it!" Baby exclaimed, seeming excited about the idea. "I thought you didn't go to parties, Law. Why did you go to this one?"

Law grumbled as he grabbed the plate of food from the fridge, carefully wrapped in plastic wrap. "Because I wanted to, you nosy little brat", he normally treated her badly, but his bad mood made it worse sometimes. "Now stop bothering me about it!"

He didn't need to turn to see the girl pout as she clung to Buffalo.

And that's how it was the whole time he was in the kitchen. Those two bothered him as he tried to eat his lunch (almost in the late afternoon) in peace, the siblings chatted quietly as they observed those 3. And after a light session of disturbance by Baby and Buffalo, Law responded impatiently:

"Fine, fine! I'll tell you why the fuck I went to a party!" he grumbled. "Now shut up."

The two sat properly on the chair, observing Law curiously, biting their lips in anticipation to hear his story. He ate a bit more of his lunch, wiped the remaining food on the knife with his fork, looked at them for a few more seconds, took a sip of his water, noisily placed the utensils back onto the plate.

"ARE YOU GOING TO TALK OR NOT?!" Baby yelled, irritated by Law's teasing, who smirked, satisfied with the reaction. Law knew how to be an annoying little brat when he wanted to.

"Okay, okay", he decided to stop torturing the two anxious people in front of him. "I literally went because I wanted to. I heard there was a party, and my friends were going, so I invited myself to go with them", he said it as if it were so simple. The two looked at him incredulously; there was a very important point in the story that Law wasn't telling.

"But you didn't even want to leave the house!" Buffalo replied. "You spent years without going out!" Law grumbled.

It was true, after the accident, Law spent practically years not wanting to leave the house. The idea of facing the world outside the walls of his home became terrifying; suddenly, everything became dangerous, deadly. The noise of cars passing by the street in front of his house stressed him out, bright lights were dreadful, any shout made his heart race, blood made him sick. Even sirens were disturbing.

The little boy had gone through hell that day; all he wanted was to avoid all of this happening again.

And worst of all, by leaving the house, everyone would look at him with pity, treat him like he was just a poor victim instead of a human being. It was obvious that he was traumatized by everything that had happened, and people looking at him like that, constantly reminding him of who he was and what had happened, added an extra pinch of fear to the constant dread of getting hurt again.

"But now I do go out," he retorted, his heart was pounding hard and his cheeks flushed. "I'm in college now, aren't I?! I have to get out of the fucking house! So, don't bother me about it anymore!" Law stood up, annoyed. He left his dirty plate in the sink before heading back to his room with heavy steps, taking deep breaths.

He could still feel the trembling hands and the racing heart of that frightened boy. The memories of the accident still hit him like a punch to the stomach, suffocating him with the paralyzing fear he experienced on that terrible day.

It took a long time for Law to start living without fear, like a human, he would say. At the beginning, everything was much harder, the constant visits from neighbors, the constant messages of condolences, and the thinly veiled looks that were never as discreet as they seemed made him feel like an ant. The only people who looked at him as a person and not as a victim were Rosinante and a small group of friends from his old school: Bepo, Shachi, Penguin, and Ikkaku.

Talking about it with people who seemed to lack even the slightest bit of sensitivity felt like walking along a long and winding road of memories.

Law threw himself on the bed, banging his head against the pillow several times, trying to somehow clear his mind. Unintentionally, he hit his phone, which slid under the pillow due to the impacts of his face against the bed, causing it to hit the hard surface of his nose.

He groaned in pain, clutching his nose with his hands and applying pressure, a small tear escaping his eye. When the pain subsided, he felt an urge to laugh at his own stupidity.

"'Y/N :p': 2 new messages."

He sighed before opening the messages, deciding he had ignored you for too long. That's when he realized the mistake: "Hi, this is Law." He had sent the message by mistake. His face heated up as if somehow he had just embarrassed himself by just talking to you.

"'Y/N :p': hi law!!!! sorry, i was working, just saw the message now".

"'Y/N :p': how r u??"

The messages had been sent a few hours after his message. Law cleared his throat, trying to shake off the feeling of needing to justify himself for sending you a message. He thought for a few minutes about what to reply; there was nothing specific he wanted to talk to you about, just to thank you for helping at the party, but even so, he felt like he should say more than just "thanks for helping me."

"'Law': I'm fine, thanks for asking."

"'Law': Are you working on a Sunday?"

He wanted to chew off his own hand for writing something that, in his anxious head, was so stupid.

[sakuraswordly]

Tsofph season 1: Episode Hikaru Shidou

Kinomoto: Hikaru-chan! Where are you?!

Kamui: Hikaru!!

Somewhere else

Chester: Hikaru! Answer if you're there!

Syaoran: How is it?

Chester: It seems like she isn't here.

Syaoran: Last time we landed in different places in that other world. Let's search over there now.

While Walking

Syaoran: The ruins?

Chester: I remember last night. In the desert, I saw the ruins of the castle. Those ruins were always covered in a sand storm and sometimes the entire country shook. Almost as if.........

Syaoran: ......................!!

*Flashback*

*End of Flashback*

Syaoran: The ruins were trying to fly away from that desert and were thrusting around.

Chester: So that's mean......

Syaoran: That ruin.......is actually in the land of Clow.

Chester: But how.....? This didn't connect to my necklace at all......

Syaoran: But I was so sure.......you never ever appear in the Kingdom of Clow at all.....the only one who appeared from another world is "Syaoran".

Chester: Syaoran?

Syaoran: ........................

.

.

Chester: Maybe you're a very very important person......a family.....

.

After the defeat of Seishirou and rescue Chester

Chester: I remember what happened to my sister and my purpose for continuing to live.......I am not more than a puppet that Fei Wang Reed create me!!

Syaoran: .....................

Chester: I am only a body clone, however, and was created purposefully without a heart so that I could gather feathers without any emotional restrictions. Even I was reborn.....I am nothing more than a puppet too.....the reason I can live because to take revenge for my little Ami......I don't really care about protecting the world or whatever. If I can just kill Dhaos, I'll be satisfied........I never really believed I deserved to be with you. Every day I thought about ending it all… just acting like a stranger from that day on.

Syaoran: You can start over, Chester-san!

Chester: I can't Syaoran........I just can't.............I was afraid to lose you... Just like back then...

.

.

Chester-san is crying. He's crying and doesn't know what to do, which just makes him cry even harder. He was so lost.......he didn't know what to do now.... all I can do was to be there for him.

Someone I want to protect. Someone important to me. Someone I never thought I would lose again.

Syaoran.........my father.......

Syaoran knows nothing about his origin or his true purpose and aimlessly wanders the streets where he's eventually found by the archaeologist, Fujitaka. At that time Syaoran had no name, no memories of his past, and no sight in his right eye because of the seal. Fujitaka readily adopts him as a son and names him 'Syaoran'. The two travel to many countries for excavation work which leads Syaoran to meet Princess Sakura of Clow Country. Even though Syaoran is blunt and emotionless from his mysterious past, Sakura takes an immediate interest in him. Her kind heart and open personality draws Syaoran to her and she very quickly becomes the thing Syaoran cherishes most in life.

Chester: If you hurt someone, then even if I can heal my wounds, the sin of hurting them doesn't go away, doesn't it? No matter how hard I try, I can't erase the mistakes I've made.

Syaoran: I will stay with you until the very end, Syaoran.

Chester: ...............................

Syaoran: Not until the end......." always "......

Chester: But I will cause so much pain to you.

Syaoran: I also have my burden. You and my mother already share this burden enough....let me avoid helping you, please. And don't forget.....we need to save Sakura from her curse as well and I didn't on my own like in the past.

Chester: Me too. I am not alone. But didn't it feel comfortable to be around them?

Syaoran: Well yeah.....

Chester: Then that's good enough. Syaoran...if you still continue on this path.....then, that makes things simple. Please don't let me say you're quit. Hang in tight until the end, even if you have to clench your teeth! You're here because you want to be, and that alone is good enough!

Syaoran: Chester-san..............

Chester: Protect Sakura......the person that you love the most. Don't forget what Lelouch told you. If you do, I can continue to live in this world for you.

[songmingisthighs]

[9.55] mafia!wooyoung × reader

⇀ good thing you're smart, if not Wooyoung wouldn't have a whole attitude change

⇁ tw : violence, torture, kindapping, mafia life

⇁ part 1 / 2 / 3

⇁ disclaimer : the author does not support any and all criminal/illegal acts. the narrative written in this story is purely fiction out of the author's imagination. the things written here does not portray real mafia life nor is the author aware of how the mafia life is like. the author is a hermit loser.

You don't remember how long it has been since they captured you. Being stuck in a basement would do that apparently.

Whoever was behind your capture had been torturing you beyond your own imagination. They had starved you, hit you, kicked you, attempted to drown you, tied you in an uncomfortable position every night, and sent in someone to make sure you don't get an ounce of sleep.

All that just to get information on Wooyoung.

Currently, you're being tied to a chair, being once again interrogated for informations you had no clue about, "things would be much easier if you'd just give us what we want," the buff man in front of you said, he held a knife to your cheek but at this point you couldn't even flinch, "where is Jung Wooyoung's headquarters?"

Your cold outfit was clinging onto you like second skin, it's uncomfortable and it's dirty, the cold had definitely impacted your health.

Recently all you've been able to feel is just the headache and the burn from inside your body. Not even the abuse given to you was able to inflict you pain.

Everything's just numb.

You look up at the man, almost with a challenging look as you press your face daringly to the blade, "I. Don't. Know." you spat each word like venom.

The man laughed, pretty amused at how daring you are being, "you're his wife, there is no way you wouldn't have known," you rolled your eyes at him, bitter that he used the word 'wife' because you know fully well that Wooyoung would never treat you as such, "then I must've not been his wife now, am I?" You retorted back at him, slightly shocking him because this is the first time within the (apparently) 7 days you've been captured that you had said something else other than 'I don't know' or 'fuck you'.

Everyone was startled at the revelation, they probably hadn't concidered that you might not be Wooyoung's wife. No one really know about Wooyoung's personal life, it seems.

Seeing their hesitance, you take this as your chance of escaping.

The buff man grab your hair harshly, his eyes narrowing at you in suspicion, "don't lie to me, whore, if you're not his wife, then why'd you have a wedding ring on?" "Stole it from my mistress before I ran away, needed the money," you lied easily, surprising yourself.

"And why are you wearing it?" He asked again, "to make it less inconspicuous, people need to believe that this belongs to me or else they'll alert the cops that I'm a thief,"

He seemed to be having an inner turmoil on whether or not he should believe you.

With how you've been acting and the lack of evidence that you are Wooyoung's wife, you could really have been the wrong target.

"That means Handong lied to us," he said as he push your head away, talking to one of the men next to him, "bring him in and get this bitch out," he said simply before turning back to leave.

But before he walked out of the room, he looked back once more at you with a bitter smirk, "make sure to... deal... with her first, insurance for your silence,"

When the doors closed, 5 men approach your figure, still tied on the chair.

One of them crouch down in front of you, he brush your hair out of your face with a sad smile, "I'm sorry that we have to do this, pretty girl," confused at what he said, you just stared at him. But then he suddenly slap you so hard that you fell down along with the chair you're tied to.

And thus began one of the longest night of your life.

Meanwhile Wooyoung was getting antsy. His men couldn't find you anywhere and there isn't a second when he didn't regret turning his abundance of cctv off

He spent his days either in meetings or trying to track your whereabouts. San had to step in and actually force him to eat, going as far as cuffing him to his chair and spoon-fed him, even throwing a cheesy "would (Y/N) be happy to see you in this state?" At him to which he replied, "considering how I treat her, I wouldn't be surprised if she is,"

So far, neither yours nor his parents were aware of your disappearance. His dad only asked about you once to ensure he still has leverage, which of course Wooyoung lied, he's already stressed over your disappearance the last thing he need is for his dad to bit his head off.

Each night he spent sleeping in his bedroom, moping to the fact that he genuinely misses and worried about you. He regret taking you for granted, taking your presence for granted. Now, he could only imagine your sleeping form next to him using the memories of when he actually slept in bed with you. He used to be able to feel your warmth next to him, now it's just cold and he dislike it.

Tonight was no different. Before he got into bed, he went to the walk-in closet and look at all the dresses he had brought you to events that you went to (re : events he was forced brought you because his parents would be there). He remembered every how you looked in every single one of them.

It's pathetic of him, to be pining over the woman he claimed to have no care about.

Just as he turned the walk-in closet's lights off, there were commotions from downstairs, then a huge bang like his front doors had been barged open.

Diving into his instincts, Wooyoung grabbed the nearest gun he had hid all around the room and ran out, thinking that it was a raid by his rivals.

But when he looked down from the second floor to the living room, his heart wrenched and he froze.

San had you in his arms, you looked sickly pale with bruises all over your exposed arms and legs, clothes had chunks of them torn, and you weren't moving. One would assume that you're dead.

Wooyoung dropped his gun and ran to his friend who had just put you on the couch.

The sight of you looking so broken panicked him. He wanted to hold you and be glad that you're home, but he doesn't wanna hurt you. He wanted to tell you how sorry he is and that he'll make up to you but he's not sure whether or not you're still alive.

He snapped his head towards his staff, "call the doctor! Call Kang Yeosang in!" He barked to which his staffs immediately obeyed, scrambling to do as he ordered.

"God, baby, who did this to you?" He muttered to himself, reaching forward to brush your hair out of your face.

You stirred a bit when you heard his voice ans managed to open your eyes despite the splitting headache and the soreness all over your body.

When your eyes met his, you smiled, "hey, what are you doing in my dreams?" You croaked out, throat obviously sore and beyond parched from having been denied fluids for so long. It was your turn to brush his bangs from his eyes, something you've always wanted to do but know never could considering his dislike that turned out to be hatred towards you.

You suddenly frown at him, making his gaze on you softer, "I'm sorry," you muttered, not able to speak louder. At that, he tilted his head, "for what?" "Not being able to stay gone, I had to had the will to live, I should've let them kill me," you said before you slip into unconsciousness, rendering Wooyoung speechless at your words.

Before he was able to retaliate, San had swoop you back into his arms to take you to an empty room so Yeosang could come in and treat you.

"No," Wooyoung called, stopping San in his tracks, "bring her to my- our room, she should feel comfortable," to which San just nodded and obey, knowing how important it is to have you next to him as much as him next to you.

Yeosang came in not long after and spent 3 hours cleaning and stitching your wounds, checking for possible internal injuries, all the while making sure he's handling you with the utmost care as Wooyoung had been glaring daggers at him. Whether it serve to be a warning to not harm you or a sign of jealousy as Yeosang had a perfectly valid reason to cut your shirt and shorts off for handling.

"I can't make a clear diagnosis without checking for internal injuries, we have to take her to the hospital," Yeosang said. But Wooyoung just snap at him, "then freaking bring the machines here! She's not leaving this mansion and she's not leaving my side!"

Both men just stared at each other for a few minutes, Yeosang holding onto his ground on wanting simplicity, and Wooyoung being afraid of losing you from his sight again.

Knowing how stubborn his friend can be, Yeosang was first to crack, sighing and nodding at Wooyoung, "I'll see what I can do," he said simply before going out to talk to San about possibly transporting some of his machines.

The rest of the night, Wooyoung took care of you. He had put you in one of his large, white button up because it's the easiest to put on you. He stayed by your side in a chair, afraid that he might hurt you (than he already necessary does with his words) if he were to slip in bed with you.

As he watch you, his hands moved to held yours in his. His thumbs were rubbing the back of your hand when it suddenly caught on something.

Looking down, he noticed that it's your wedding ring, matching his own which he's wearing.

It brought a smile to his face seeing you're still holding onto it so dearly. You could've left it for him to find and throw away the day you left, but you had decided to take it with you.

Could it be that despite everything he's done to you, you don't want to completely erase him from your mind?

And that's what made Wooyoung broke down and cried.

He didn't deserve you, not one bit. But despite that, he knows that he's the only one capable enough of taking care of you, to provide for whatever it is that you need.

So at that moment, with you back in hia arms, he decided to step up and assume his responsibilities and treat you as how you deserve to be treated.

[kstewdeux]

@inukagfluffweek

August 11, 2021 - Touch

Lewd

For the life of him, Inuyasha could not figure out why people were staring at them more than usual or, more unnervingly, why Miroku kept giving him some very uncomfortable glances filled to the brim with amusement. Per the norm when the things made him uneasy, Inuyasha had taken to sticking a little closer to Kagome than he traditionally would have in a clearly hostile village. Not because he couldn’t protect himself, okay? He was perfectly capable of protecting himself and had for over a hundred years. And, to be clear, being around her didn’t make him feel safe. Definitely didn’t need to feel safe when he could defeat these assholes with one hand behind his back. He absolutely did not need Kagome to protect him and she wouldn’t be able to do much on that front in any case. It was just that he felt a little more secure near her. Secure was not the same thing as safe. Not at all. He didn’t need her to feel safe. Just…a little more confident when he was admittedly a little anxious people were staring. At first, it actually wasn’t that bad but the stares just kept getting worse and so…

But he was not staying close because he was scared. He wasn’t scared of anything. Except, well, losing her so…so that was probably why he felt the need to stay close. So he could protect her if shit hit the fan. Knowing that she was safe made his chest less tight and his stomach stop churning. Sure as hell wasn’t because…

Letting out a controlled exhale, Inuyasha distractedly flicked at some crust that had somehow lodged itself in the corner of one eye before letting his hand drop again.

“What a beautiful public display,” Miroku hummed as he sidled up to his companions and gave Inuyasha a mischievous grin, “It’s almost heartwarming to see two young people so in love.”

For some unknown reason, Kagome choked as her heart started beating so fast from fear Inuyasha’s instincts nearly went into overdrive. Why the hell was the wench so terrified?

Glancing around, amber eyes widened at the realization that Kagome might be just as worried about the stares they’d been receiving. Maybe she was staying close to him for….similar reasons he’d been staying close to her.

“You need to shut up,” Inuyasha hissed quietly before lowering his volume more so as to not be overheard - somehow making the monk look even more amused, “This ain’t the place to say shit like that. The villagers have been watching me like a hawk.”

“I absolutely cannot imagine why,” Miroku snickered as he pointedly glanced down and set his jaw to keep his shit eating grin in check, “In any case, Sango is almost done buying provisions so why don’t we move on ahead, hm?”

“Fine by me,” Inuyasha huffed as he began walking forward only to realize - when the thing in his hand jerked once to keep him in place - exactly why people were staring. Amber eyes widened in mild horror as they darted to the hand clasped securely in his own which was attached to the miko herself.

When did they start holding hands? He sure as hell didn’t do that and yet his palm was slightly sweaty indicating he’d been holding her hand for some time now.

“We should wait for her,” Kagome chided nervously as she gave Inuyasha’s hand a light squeeze making butterflies erupt in his stomach, “It shouldn’t be much longer.”

Mentally going over their day, Inuyasha tried to pin point when exactly the hand-holding started. They’d been walking side by side most of the day but he…he didn’t remember…

She must’ve started it.

“Why are you holding my hand?” Inuyasha asked - even though he took no action to cease the contact.

Giving him a strange look, the miko gave him an answer he did not like.

“Because you kept putting your hand in mine?” Kagome replied slowly - her worried look morphing into an amused one, “Wait…”

Some flashed behind her eyes and the melting look on her face made his stomach churn.

“Aw, you didn’t…”

“No ‘aw’. There is no ‘aw’ here,” Inuyasha huffed as he pulled his hand back and tucked both hands into his sleeves, “You did this. Not me.”

The melting look increased and Kagome gave him an affectionate smile.

“Awww….”

“What did I say about no ‘aw’!” Inuyasha huffed desperately, “I didn’t start this.”

“Yes you did,” Kagome sing songed and much to Inuyasha utter shock, a nearby elderly human woman chuckled softly to herself while looking between the pair with something akin to strangerly affection. Which disturbed him as much if not more than whatever was happening with him and his wandering hand.

Breathing heavily, Inuyasha’s mind continued racing down every moment of this fateful day. Trying to find the moment or apparently moments where he’d been the one to instigate the offensive touch but no matter how hard he tried, he had no memory of it. None whatsoever. Every minute of that day had felt natural. Normal even.

“D-do I do shit like that a lot?” he finally asked - his Adam’s apple bobbing as he tried to keep his composure.

“No but I liked it,” Kagome admitted with a hum before taking a step closer and giving him a shy smile that had his ears pinning back against his head.

And then she did something that absolutely crashed his mind…

She stood on her tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss on his cheek.

“You can hold my hand whenever you…”

“Are you insane?! You can’t just kiss me like that in strange villages,” Inuyasha hissed as his mind finally caught up - his hand desperately trying to wipe away the perceived sin. Kagome’s grin only made his anger and discomfort grow hotter.

“To be clear then, it’s okay if I do that in familiar places?” came her teasing retort and for a moment, Inuyasha was almost very, very stupid. He almost said something along of the line of forbidding kisses entirely. Something he most certainly did not want to forbid. Especially considering she was pretty much saying she’d give him kisses if he wanted them.

Blushing faintly, Inuyasha decided the best course of action was to react normally. Brush her off and declare her stupid…

Thankfully the old woman watching saw the incoming relationship bomb coming before it landed and for some unknown reason, felt inclined to defuse the explosive before it detonated.

“Be bold boy and say yes,” the elderly woman chuckled softly, “A girl like that won’t wait for you forever and the monk is right. Anyone with eyes can see you love her.”

“Stay outta this” Inuyasha snapped irritably - a reaction to which the old woman thankfully seemed amused by, “What makes you so bold?”

Miroku’s hand flew to the top of his head - hoping his friend didn’t just incur someone’s wrath and also…didn’t Inuyasha just say they shouldn’t draw attention to themselves? Was this just how he coped with fear and anxiety? Antagonize people? If so, how was Inuyasha still alive?!

“Well this was my husbands village and now it belongs to my son. Everything that happens here is my business,” the old woman hummed - giving the somewhat nervous trio a reassuring smile, “And seeing as how you’re in my village, what I say goes.”

“Crack pot,” Inuyasha huffed - earning a full blown facepalm from the miko - and the old woman, to her credit, simply smirked. Not at all afraid of the teenager even with all his fangs and demonic energy. Mostly because he was obviously domesticated and in the presence of equally powerful friends who could stop him from doing any real damage but also because this demon clearly had a good heart and therefore, she reasoned, wouldn’t harm her.

And while that was all mostly true, that didn’t mean Inuyasha wasn’t seriously considering punching her.

“Inuyasha, you need to be nicer to people.”

“Fine. Fine,” Inuyasha huffed as his blush deepened. Glancing at the old woman to make sure she wasn’t upset by what he’d said, Inuyasha turned his gaze back towards the miko who was clearly expecting him to apologize to the old woman. Which he wasn’t gunna do but he could fix one thing that probably needed fixing for a while now.

Squaring his shoulders, Inuyasha cleared his throat and…tried…

“It’d be annoying but if you…you want to kiss me sometimes, I won’t stop you.”

Kagome blinked once then twice.

“Come again?”

Quickly reaching over to push Miroku away face first before he could add in his two cents, Inuyasha tried to look like what he’d said wasn’t awkward as hell.

“I said if you want to kiss me, go ahead. Old bat was right,” Inuyasha hufffed before his eyes widened in horror at what he’d impulsively implied, “I mean, you already j-just do shit. I c-can’t really stop you.”

Kagome made a bemused face and wrinkled her nose at this bizarre admission. That was at least twice now that Inuyasha hadn’t shot someone down after they announced he loved her. Which was unusual and for someone as easily triggered as he was, that left her with a most wonderful conclusion.

One that he apparently realized she’d come to and so Inuyasha did what Inuyasha do.

He tried to protect himself. Poorly.

“I see that look. Don’t be stupid. I mean…yeah, she was right about…about the love part…I do, um, love you, ya know, as a friend. A good friend. And, um, sometimes friends they kiss I think.”

“Well if that is true I must inform San…”

With a soft groan at his own cringeworthy awkwardness, Inuyasha once again necessarily pressed his hand against the closer than usual monk’s face and gave it a light push. This was already nerve racking enough without the monk making it more weird on purpose. First he was holding his woman’s hand without realizing and now he’d all but admitted how he felt. Something he’d been denying himself because he didn’t want to force someone to walk beside him as he faced the constant pile of shit being thrown at him. Add to that he didn’t deserve to be happy when Kikyo was suffering and it was just…wrong to feel like he did.

What he wanted didn’t matter. It never mattered…

Kagome smiled and his stomach turned into pleasant knots.

Except it did. Hell did it ever. He couldn’t even go more than a day without this woman before he lost his fucking mind. What was he going to do if she knew and didn’t feel the same way? Or worse, what if a chance at a relationship ended badly?! If she left him, she’d take the only friends he’d ever had with her…

He’d be alone…

“Uh….huh…”

Panicking now, Inuyasha decided to rely on old faithful and go for an insult to force her back into friendship lane. This was getting into dangerous territory. She knew. Mainly because he told her but he…he could fix it.

“W-why are you so s-stupid, huh?” Inuyasha added a little desperately and much to his horror Kagome’s knowing smile only grew, “I’m just saying you just do shit and…I mean, what am I supposed to do, huh? You just throw yourself at…”

The old woman snickered at the scene and threw in her thoughts with a bemused laugh, “Please just kiss him young lady and put us all out of our misery. He talks far too much for his own good.”

“STAY OUTTA THIS YOU OLD…” Inuyasha began to bellow before whimpering softly when Kagome sealed his mouth with her own. Before he knew it, his arms were pulling her up and against him to give her the best access. It was beautiful and pure and everything he’d hoped a real kiss would be like. While she had done that before, this was the first time she’d done it for a reason other than saving his sorry ass. She’d done that only because she wanted to and that fact that she’d done it just because nearly brought a tear to his eye. Did she…did she love him back?

“You know,” Kagome panted lightly as she pulled back and nuzzled her man’s nose, “I love you too.”

Visibly wilting in relief, Inuyasha gave Kagome the most affectionate look anyone had ever seen on his face. A look that crumpled and turned to annoyance when Miroku made another comment about ‘public displays’.

The old woman simply rolled her eyes and continued on her way - mentally chuckling to herself about how the youth of today could be so foolish and how life was far too short.

A short distance away her middle aged son was watching his mother with a weary smile while the pair of mercenaries seemed to discuss something of great magnitude.

“That’s a dangerous thing you just did.”

“I did nothing but nudge those two down a path they were already on,” the old woman chuckled softly - reaching out to pat her son’s arm, “Love is love sweetheart. It’s one of those funny things in life that just is.”

For a long moment, the son watched the newly formed couple as they resumed holding hands before sighing and turning to follow his mother.

“I meant you meddle far too much” the son continued - glancing over his shoulder to make sure they went being overheard, “They’re mercenaries by trade. You saw their weapons. Probably fresh from some war and…”

“Mercenaries deserve love as well…”

The son let out a long exhale and rolled his eyes.

“Mother. That boy had claws…”

“Claws deserve love…”

The son stopped mid step and groaned that kind of exasperated groan only a child with an embarrassing parent would understand before glancing over his shoulder to watch the little band move on towards their next bounty. One day his mother was going to try to play matchmaker with the wrong two people…

But thankfully, it would seem she always managed to pick the right ones.

[thatmultifandomhoe]

Loving the Sun

Pairing: Sun God (Apollo) San and Reader

Group: Ateez

Word Count: 1,451

Genre/Rating: Greek God AU - Established Relationship AU - Forbidden Relationship - Fluff - Angst - Teeny tiny implications of smut - PG-13

Overview: He may have been immortal, but with you, there was just never enough time in the world.

Warning: Faintly implied mentions of losing a baby

A/N: Shout out to my sweetest @ezralia-writes​​ for putting up with my constant dumbass and helping me out when I need it, whether it’s to be a beta-reader, or me messaging her at 11 at night on how to describe men’s hair, or simply having a good simp session. You’re the best sweet pea and I hope you enjoy this - again - hun! *sending you all the flying smooches*

Tagging: @skyys-universe​ @kunrengui​

Main Master List:

©thatmultifandomhoe 2021. Do not repost, translate, or use my stories without permission.

The blankets were warm as you shifted on the bed, lazily blinking your eyes open only to close them immediately afterwards, the sunlight streaming in through the window was much too bright this early in the morning. Rolling back over, you tried to open your eyes again, the sight of San’s bare chest coaxing you back to him as his body heat and faint remnants of his cologne from the night before made your mind foggy. With him lying next to you, and the silver chain of his sun necklace that reflected in the light, - that matched the one you wore - made it easy to forget about the outside world. At least, for right now.

Responsibilities? Gone the second his lips curled into his infamous smirk.

Deadlines? They vanished the moment his hands slipped into your back pockets; fingers always eager to grip what was forbidden to everyone but him.

Your name? Easily forgotten about when he kissed you. He’d settle his arms around your hips and carefully bring you closer until your bodies pressed together. Only then would he slide his hands up to your waist for a hug, breaking the kiss to bury his face in the crook of your shoulder because it had been so long since he last got to see you.

In the early morning light of dawn, the room looked like it was on fire, but a glance at his face had you thinking that he was being bathed in golden fairy dust. While awake he was beautiful. Asleep, he was ethereal. With cheek bones that the Gods and Goddesses were envious of, you gently reached a hand up to lightly trace its path, following the curve to his lips that even in his sleep, formed the slightest pout.

He suddenly inhaled, eyes blinking open just in time to see the tired smile that grew on your face.

“It’s early,” San murmured, his voice husky as he took your hand, his grip loose so that he was able to drop your arm around his waist. When he was satisfied, he slipped his left arm underneath his head and wrapped the other around your waist to drag you back to him, eliminating the space once more. San liked to feel you against him at all times, especially since he risked everything to take these chances to sneak his way back into your embrace.

You softly chuckled, feeling his fingers lazily stroke through the locks of your hair. “I know,” you whispered. “But I don’t want to lose any more time.”

There was a tired hum coming from him, lips tenderly pressing against your forehead before he laid his head back down on the pillow. The slightest shift from either of you and your heads would be bumping into the others, but done carefully, it was reminiscent of cats rubbing against each other.

“Don’t worry about time.”

“All I do is worry about time since we have so little of it,” you softly countered.

His black hair fell into his brown eyes and you reached up, brushing them away for him. He captured your hand then, bringing it closer for him to kiss your palm. Once. Twice. Thrice.

“The sun will rise whether or not I am there to guide it,” he promised.

Heat from his body appeared to transfer to you, spreading from every single spot where your bare bodies touched underneath the blankets that sat on your hips.

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” you whispered. “And you know it.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed when he swallowed. Briefly, his gaze flicked towards the window behind you, the gauzy curtains doing nothing to stop the sunlight from filtering through the blinds that were opened at an angle. At most, he had maybe a few hours before the others woke and noticed his absence. He couldn’t let them find out that he was visiting you once more.

“I love you,” San murmured, setting his arm down to tap the back of your spine in a rhythmic pattern.

Your lips trembled despite pressing them together. Sliding a leg over his, you shook your head. “Why do you say it like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re apologizing.”

He was quiet. The room silent with the exception of the bed creaking with every shift made in order to get comfortable and closer. No matter how hard the two of you tried, there was always space and time trying to get in between you.

“Because for as long as I live, I will always be sorry for what they did.”

A chill blew across your face, and not surprisingly, the tears fell off your chin and onto the blankets. “You can’t apologize for your entire life for something you didn’t do.”

“Yes, I can. Our little one was meant to be here by now, I should have been here to protect the two of you but I wasn’t, and they took that away from us.” The corner of his mouth twitched. In the sunlight, you watched a stream of tears slide down his cheeks. “All because I fell in love with a human and as punishment, they took away what we both treasured.”

Out of instinct you lifted a hand to cup his cheek as you both leaned your foreheads together; the memory of a night not so long ago was still raw, the sting not yet having gone away. It was punishment for a crime that all the Gods committed, but yet, San was the only one to live with the consequences of his actions. That had been the first day in eons that the sun – having only been bright and full of warmth minutes prior – turned black as night and painful to gaze upon with the naked eye in mere seconds. There wasn’t much from that day that you recalled, the majority of it had faded away as a result of the events, but you remembered a looming figure with lightning flashing in his eyes, and the piercing screams. Whether they were yours, San’s, or a combination of both, you weren’t entirely sure.

What you were certain of, was that the man you loved had been taken away from you, and the child you carried, who had called its home inside of you for the last six months and you fondly teased for making it impossible to fit into your old jeans. It was that little one who had San crouching in front of your belly to sing the sweetest lullabies, who was suddenly gone, like they had never been there to begin with.

You had thought it was all a dream. Months had passed and you were starting to believe that it had been all a figment of your imagination. That you weren’t possibly pregnant or had met a man who wasn’t supposed to exist, but when you had been sitting at the park bench and the sun kissed the earth goodnight, he appeared. Kneeling in front of you with a cut on his cheek that hadn’t been there before, his clothes dirty with soot and the edges singed as if he had been reckless and gotten too close to a fire.

Kissing him, you slipped your hand through his hair as the tears mingled together. He rolled you over on your back, his body blocking out the sunlight as he slapped a hand on the blinds to close them. You could taste his please forgive me in his kisses, knowing that he would never be able to forgive himself for what happened that day. As you kissed him back, beads of sweat began to build up along your temple when he sat down on the bed and brought you onto his lap, his arms tightening around you even though you were already clinging to his shoulders.

Even as he loved you, his arms held you in a tight embrace, his breath and tears intermingling with yours with every desperate, but loving kiss. San was afraid. Fearful that like the little one, you too, would be ripped away from him.

It had never been easy, and it certainly wouldn’t be in the future. There were lonely nights when he couldn’t sneak away, whispers from jealous Goddesses trying to dissuade you from his advances, to having to keep the love you shared a secret. Even the heartache of losing him and the little one. But you’d go through it all over again. You had known that to love a God – a sun God nonetheless – was going to hurt.

As much as it hurt, loving him was worth the pain and even more. To live without the sun after all, was to die a cold and painful death.

[alicemitch09writes]

first love

pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou x reader

summary: You never forget your first love.

author’s notes: This is what prompted the many angst fics to come in my repertoire. I’ll just to slowly transfer some of my one-shots that are reader inserts here on tumblr.

twenty one pilot’s cover of ‘can’t help falling in love’ really helped me in the writing of this fic. It’s a favorite of mine I keep going back to when writing fics. Reader is a musician, who plays the ukulele and violin and at the time when I wrote this (back in 2017), I was learning to play the uke, mostly for fun.

also available on ao3.

disclaimer: i own NOTHING but the plot.

Wise men say, only fools rush in

But I can't help, falling in love with you

 They moved to Tokyo when she was 8.

And at a young age, she was pretty much a timid and shy girl, always hiding behind her parents whenever in the presence of new people, especially when she was being introduced. She wasn't very good with socializing, always wary and scared that she'd make a horrible impression.  And of people, in general. People were generally scary, especially those she was unfamiliar with. She found solace in music, due to her father's influence, who was a music instructor at a university. "When words fail, music speaks." He'd tell her as they played 'Heart and Soul' together on the piano, her mother taking a video of them from the side. And a little while later, by some miracle, she made friends with the local kids – Tetsurou and Kenma. The two were an odd pair, given Tetsurou's loud and mischievous demeanor being a total contrast to Kenma's quiet and well-behaved and aloofness. Still, they were the best friends she could ever have.

 Years passed, and the three were inseparable.

Over time, the two proved to be more trouble than they were worth – Tetsurou, with his never-ending schemes and provocation abilities, and Kenma, with his indifference to the world so long as he was playing his games.

Nothing's changed much of her, other than her ability to keep the dynamic duo grounded. Also, she had her flair for music. Still, she was terribly shy. Though she has a voice, she chose to stick to the background, wanting to be out of the limelight.

Tetsurou would scold her, saying that it was a waste because she had a good singing voice. In which, would make her blush. Kenma would say the same thing even without looking up from his game console. But Tetsurou's words resounded, her heart beating like a drum.

    Shall I stay, would it be a sin?

If I can't help, falling in love with you

   It was the clichest thing to happen – she fell in love with her childhood friend.

She fell for Tetsurou.

For all his cockiness, his mischievousness, his peculiar affinity with cats (ironic that they attended Nekoma), and his atrocious bed hair – she loved it all.

Of course, she'd never tell him.

She doesn't have the heart to.

Neither will she tell Kenma, being the perceptive boy he was.

Plus, she'd have to go against a throng of his admirers (who made up of about half of the female population, by the way). There was no way she had a chance. And besides, who was she to him but his ever dependable, timid and adorable best friend?

When he bought her a ukulele on her 16th birthday – he knew she had wanted to try to play it for the longest time, she knew that it was simply out of friendship.

For a while, she became the volleyball team's manager. And for a while, she was able to play it cool with her feelings. This was okay, she thought, its better like this.

"This is my best friend, (Last Name) (Name)." he says, wrapping his arms around her neck as he hugged her from behind, introducing her to two players from Fukurodani.

The shorter of the two – Akaashi Keiji, smiles. "Nice to meet you, (Last name)-san."

"Oh! She's so cute!" says the loud boy – Bokuto Koutarou. "Are you sure she's not your girlfriend?"

Tetsurou laughed, chin digging into her head. "I've known her forever, that'll be weird."

"Kuroo, you're hugging her too tight." Kenma says with a frown.

Best friend.

That's all she'll ever be to him.

    Like a river flows, surely to the sea

Darling, so it goes, this love was meant to be

   It was rare to find Tetsurou at his lowest since he was usually contented with whatever happened. But they lost, unable to secure a spot at nationals.

So when she found him all by himself at the gym, she knew he needed to be cheered up.

Taking her ukulele from her bag, she started playing. Tetsurou looked up just as she started singing. "You with the sad eyes don't be discouraged, oh I realize" she kneeled in front of him, watching him with careful eyes. "It's hard to take courage, in a world full of people; you can lose sight of it all, the darkness inside you, can make you feel so small."

She continued singing to him, feeling her heart beat faster with every line. It was so hard seeing this down, it was so unlike him. He rested his head on his folded arms, eyes closed as she sang. He always loved hearing her sing.

"And I see your true colors shining through," she wished her words reached him. "I see your true colors, and that's why I love you."

For a moment, she choked up. Not intending to say those words out loud, but they were part of the song, and the way she sang it with so much emotion that the look Tetsurou was giving her made her nervous. His golden eyes stared deep into her (eye color) – filled with so much emotion, but she focused on confusion, probably at why she had stopped.

Regaining her composure, she continued. "So don't be afraid to let them show, your true colors are beautiful like a rainbow."

Tetsurou cracked a smile, reaching out to ruffle her hair playfully. "When did you get so cheesy?"

"And when did you become this uncool?" she teased back, slapping his hand away. "Are you feeling better now?"

Sighing, he leaned his back against the wall, staring at the ceiling. "A little, but thanks for coming after me."

"It's not the end of the world," she tells him kindly. "and after all, there's next year. Right, captain?"

The look on his face was priceless – clearly not expecting that. But their senpai had already decided, Kai and Morisuke were on it too, as was Coach Nekomata – before it broke into a grin.

His grin was the biggest she's ever seen.

     Take my hand; take my whole life, too

'Cause I can't help, falling in love with you

  Tetsurou got mad at her, saying painful words to her face.

Furiously, he turned to face her. She took a step back in surprise, clutching her ukulele to her chest. Then her instrument slipped from her hand, landing on the ground with a loud crack. The words coming out from his mouth were hard to bear, and she could just stand there taking it all in.

He didn't mean it really, but the stress and frustrations were just getting to him. She knew that.

"You know nothing. I never want to see your face again." He seethed.

When all was said and done, he up and left.

It felt as though the life was sucked out of her. She couldn't feel anything, she felt too numb to move. It only came as a surprise that she was still there when she found herself sitting on the ground, rocks digging into her skin.

Picking up her ukulele from the ground, she was surprised to find that it was still in one piece. Except for the scratches on the surface, and crack on the rim of the saddle boards. Funny, they seemed like an allegory.

Despite it all, the pain in her heart and Tetsurou's harsh treatment towards her, she found herself smiling. Hot tears streamed down her face, teeth digging unto her lower lip as if to keep her sobs in.

But the pain of it all was too much, she was only human.

Hugging her instrument to her chest, she allowed herself to cry, sobbing loudly, body shaking violently as her heart broke into smithereens.

    She heard that they had made it to the semi-finals, being one of the top four schools, which shouldn't be a surprise. Actually, it was secondhand information from Kenma. Right after what happened with Tetsurou, she decided to cut ties with anything associated with him, which was basically everything – the volleyball club, Kenma.

It was something she had to – no, something she wanted to do.

No matter how much it killed her.

           "Hey, let's make a little bet. If I win, you go out on a date with me."

"And if I win?"

"You won't ever see me again."

          Gentle strums silenced out the lull machines, the dripping of liquids. Faint scents of flowers and fruits hid the overly sanitized room, with walls too white and dull.

"But I can't help," her voice was quiet, low, eyes transfixed to her fingers on each string on her ukulele. "falling in love," a lone tear slips down her face, though a smile graced her lips. "with you."

In front of her, the television displayed the live coverage of the nationals - Nekoma won against Fukorodani, and then lost to Karasuno.

She smiled, hugging her ukulele as tears slipped freely.

The memory of the bet they made when they were younger came to mind, making her smile. That was such a long time ago, Tetsurou probably forgot all about that just as he forgot all about her.

"Don't worry, you won."

Now you won't ever see me again.

          He was surprised when they came back to school, she wasn't there. She was the first person he looked for since she was absent during the whole finals match. But she wasn't anywhere to be found – not in the library, the music room, the club room.

He had a promise to keep, and an apology to make up.

So it came as a surprise to him when his classmates' expressions turned grim at the mention of her name. Some had begun to cry, some looked away, nothing was making sense.

But one word was clear to him – cancer.

He turned to his best friend, who met his gaze. For the first time in his life, he saw anger in those usually stoic eyes. He knew then that he knew, he always knew. There was also pain, pain for his best friend's condition. And for (Name)'s sake, he decided to keep his mouth shut.

Without a word, he ran, as fast as he can, ignoring the calls from his classmates, teachers, teammates. He had to get to her. He had to apologize; he didn't mean what he said. He wanted to see her, hold her, tell her he was stupid and an idiot-

           But he was already too late.

[fanmoose12]

the devil you know

Сharacters: Hange Zoe, Levi, Moblit Berner, Zeke Yeagar, Armin Arlert

Genres: Action / Drama

Summary: Can you still miss a person, if everything you knew about them was a lie?

Сhapter 3/?

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

"Falco, c'mon!" Gabi tugged at his arm, so roughly and forcefully Falco’s sleeve got almost ripped off.

"It's dangerous," he repeated for the tenth time, refusing to give in. "And this thing—" he pointed at the large stone Gabi concealed inside a deep brown cloth. "It could kill someone, Gabi."

"It should kill someone," she rolled her eyes. "They're all devils out here. If we kill them, they'll thank us, when we get home. Maybe, even throw a parade! Falco!" she punched his arm, grinning. "We have to do this, don't you understand? We have to get out, save Mister Zeke and Professor Hange—"

"Are you sure?" Falco suddenly interrupted. "Are you sure that... Professor Hange wants to be saved?"

Gabi frowned, staring at him quizzically. "What do you mean, Falco? Of course, she wants to be saved! She lived years with those demons and now they dragged her back into their hell. You've heard Reiner talk about all of them, can you imagine how hard it was for her? How much she is suffering now?"

He heard Reiner talking about his life in Paradise, and then he heard Reiner talk with that man... Eren Yeager.

And he saw, he watched Professor Hange Zoe.

Her father was a hero, an honorary Marleyan who lived and died for his country. His child was very much the same, possessed the same intelligence, loyalty and fierceness, if Colt's stories were true.

But Colt also said that in many aspects Professor Hange was different from her father. And, from what Falco could see, his brother was right.

Professor Hange was curious, enthusiastic and incredibly kind, especially to the young candidates. She had never called them names, never looked down on them. On the contrary, she was always ready to cheer them up with a smile, a joke or a bag of candies she claimed to carry with her all the time specifically for them.

On a battlefield, she was fierce and fearless, a perfect leader. Around her comrades, she was witty and cheerful, a bright beam of positivity in the middle of the dark, cruel world.

But when no one was around, when she thought no one was looking, the light in her eyes faded and smile slipped from her lips. The exhaustion and guilt slipped through the cracks in her façade. Worst of all, she looked so sad. Maybe, Reiner wasn't the only who felt like this, wasn’t the only soldier, who was broken by this war and their country.

Maybe, Eldians weren't the only ones who could be called devils.

Maybe, Gabi - and all of them, obedient soldiers of Marleyan Empire, ready to sacrifice their lives just for a chance of receiving respect - were actually wrong.

"Alright, let's do it," Falco sighed, surrendering to his fate. With or without him, Gabi would do what she had planned to. It’d be best for both of them, if he followed. "But at least promise me to—" he swallowed, afraid to even think of it. He had seen enough deaths in his lifetime - in battle, at home - but to take a life himself… he was still reluctant to do so. "At least, promise me to try and spare that guard, alright?"

"You're too soft," Gabi chided, but, nevertheless, she nodded and even ruffled his hair, making Falco blush in embarrassment. "Thanks for sticking with me, Falco. I promise to get us out of this."

***

This part - the part with luring out a guard to their cell and then knocking him off - was surprisingly easy.

Those devils are too dumb, Gabi claimed gleefully.

Or, maybe, too kind, Falco argued softly.

Hand in hand, desperately holding onto each other and trying not to show their fear, they made their way through the dungeon.

"Do you even know where they keep Mister Zeke and Professor Hange?" Falco asked, extra careful to make his voice even quieter than usual.

"Only one way to find out," Gabi grinned and then stomped her leg on a stone floor, loudly.

The sound reverberated from the stone walls, making Falco shudder.

"Gabi!" he grabbed the sleeve of her dress, wide-eyed and absolutely terrified. It seemed like he could almost hear the guards marching to them, rifles in their hands.

To his immense horror, Gabi repeated her action again and again, holding a finger to her mouth.

"Yes," she said finally. "I think we're on the lowest level of dungeons. So, naturally, we need to go up, if we want to find them, and," she paused, squeezing Falco's hand almost painfully. He watched her, a little perplexed and worried over the passionate fire in her eyes. He knew that expression too well, it usually led to some kind of disaster - explosions, high-risk missions and them jumping on an enemy plane to try and kill as many soldiers as possible only to end up tied up and thrown into prison. Gabi's endeavors always led to disasters and rarely had good outcomes. "Then we save them. We'll save Mister Zeke and Professor Hange, Falco!" Gabi jumped up and down, still holding onto him. "We'll save the smartest, most important soldiers. They'll call us heroes!"

"Only if we manage to escape safely," he reminded, shushing her. "And that won't happen if you continue making a ruckus!"

"Alright, alright," Gabi conceded, lowering her voice. "Let's start moving."

Falco nodded and together, they slowly continued walking through the dungeons. The floor they've been put on didn't hold other prisoners, and it seemed like no guard, except the one they’ve knocked out (and possibly killed, Falco thought, shuddering once again), was stationed there.

Still, there was no such thing as too much caution, or so General Magath always told them.

"Professor Hange really is amazing, don't you think?" Gabi asked, thankfully, keeping her voice down this time. "To live among these devils for so long all by herself, without a friend or a comrade... I wouldn't be able to take it. Have you seen them? That Captain of theirs, he's so short, but so scary. I actually thought he'd throw us out of that ship."

Falco thought so too. Captain Levi was indeed a very scary-looking man, although it seemed like Mister Zeke's accounts of him were slightly exaggerated. He didn't look like a monster at all. And, perhaps, Falco simply didn't see him in battle, but up on a ship he looked... sad. His eyes, they seemed to hold pain deep inside them.

They actually looked a lot like the eyes of Professor Hange.

Perhaps, the source for the pain inside their eyes was all the same.

Before going to that plane and seeing Captain Levi in person, Falco thought that Professor Hange was a lot like Reiner. And they still seemed to be alike, still carried guilt with them and sometimes looked lost and confused, but Professor Hange's eyes... and Captain Levi's too... There was a look of heartbreak inside.

The way they seemed to avoid looking at each other, but still their eyes inevitably darted to one another made Falco wonder just what happened to Professor Hange during those five years she had spent on the island.

Reiner lost Marcel, lost Annie and then Berthold as well.

But who did Professor Hange lose that made her seem so sad when she finally had come home?

"Do you think they allowed her to keep the candies?"

Gabi's dreamy voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Falco narrowed his eyes at her, feeling even more confused by Gabi’s behavior than usual.

"Candies," she rolled her eyes, making an emphasis on the word. "You know, like the ones Hange-san always brought us?"

Ah. Of course, he knew about those candies. Hange-san frequently visited young candidates at training facility. As one of the main strategist and engineers she had more than enough right to. She said that watching them train helped her think, made her understand how to create and adjust the new weapons, so they were more suitable and comfortable for the simple soldiers.

Whenever she came, usually with the Warriors in tow, it was almost like holiday. Professor Hange brought laughter and positivity with her, generous enough to share her energy with all of them. She ruffled the hair on their heads and pinched their cheeks, telling them how good they were and how proud they made her feel.

She showered them with praises and gave advises on how to become even better than they already were.

And she brought candies - so many candies. Different ones too, not the plain-tasting, awful candies from the Interment Zone. No, candies from Hange were special, allowed only for Marleyans, and she shared them willingly and happily.

She usually brought a whole sack of them - chocolate, marmalade, caramel, candy canes, corns, chewing gum, fruit drops, jelly candy.... Professor Hange memorized everyone's favorite type of sweets and she always made sure that everyone got their share.

Their commanders didn't approve, obviously. Zeke didn't approve too, saying she spoiled them too much. Porco didn't like her attitude as well, claiming that Hange was turning them too soft. Reiner usually didn't pay much attention to it, and Pieck picked a candy or two of the bunch and chewed on them with a radiant smile.

So, of course, Falco knew about the candies. How could he not? They were inextricably linked with one of the best memories he had.

That's why - against all of his doubts - he was eager to save Professor Hange too. Not to become a hero, like Gabi claimed they would, but simply to repay for all the kindness she had bestowed upon them.

"Of course, I know about candies," he muttered. "You weren't the only one Hange-san shared them with."

"Huh," Gabi raised her chin, that self-contained smirk blooming on her lips. "I thought she only gave them to me. I was her favorite one, after all."

"You weren't even close to being her favorite," Falco rolled his eyes, playfully punching her arm.

He wasn't her favorite too. Hange-san didn't have favorites, or so she said. She said that all of them were equally bright and exceptional, destined for great things in the future. When Professor Hange said it like that - with her eyes burning and staring right at him, Falco could almost believe in himself. He could almost believe he could do whatever he put his mind to.

Professor Hange didn't have favorites, but if she had, it definitely would have been Udo. The smart, fierce Udo, Hange simply adored him. When asked, she told that he reminded her of an old friend. She never went into any details, but her smile seemed to be just a little bit gentler at the mention of that mysterious friend. And her eyes – they became just a little bit sadder.

After that question, she was quick to change the subject, turning all of the attention back to Udo.

"Just look at those cheeks," she always cooed, pinching them between her fingers. "So puffy and cute!"

Under her touch, Udo's cheeks always turned red as a tomato. However, as fierce as he could sometimes be, he never - ever - attempted to get away from her. He didn’t even complain or mumble that she was embarrassing him.

Professor Hange was just that kind of a person. It was almost impossible not to like her.

"I think I hear some voices," Gabi whispered into his ear.

Falco nodded, squeezing her hand just a little tighter. "Be quiet," he warned.

Gabi narrowed her eyes at him accusingly, but didn't retort, keeping quiet just as Falco advised.

The stairs were right before them and they started to slowly climb up, stopping at each step to make sure they remained undetected.

The voices grew louder, and soon one of them became distinguishable.

It was Professor Hange's voice. They both realized it at the same moment.

Gabi beamed, but Falco frowned.

Something was wrong.

The tone of her voice... It wasn't angry or scared or defying.

It was kind, gentle. Caring.

It was the same voice Hange always used with them.

"Gabi!" he meant to grab her and take her away, before she discovered the truth.

But Gabi was too fast, Gabi was too excited— she skipped to the edge of the stairs and reached a large wooden door. Glancing back at Falco, she winked and swiftly squeezed through the door.

Falco hurried after her. He couldn't let Gabi see what he just had discovered. If she did... it wouldn't be pretty.

He walked through the door, entering the narrow dark hallway. There seemed to be no guards here, but Gabi still tensed, slowing her step and allowing Falco to catch up with her.

The closest cell to the door was empty, second one - too. It was the third cell that voices were coming from.

Professor Hange wasn't the only one talking, from what Falco could hear, there were approximately three other people with her as well.

"Gabi," Falco murmured, grasping her hand. "Gabi, maybe, we should go back—"

He wasn't fast enough. Gabi took another step and from there she could clearly see the inside of the cell.

Just as Falco had thought, Hange-san wasn't alone. On one side of the table two men sat - one small with short light hair and one tall and long-faced. On the other side was Professor Hange herself and beside her— a girl, brown-haired and lean.

The same girl Gabi had failed to kill.

Professor Hange was smiling - all of them were, but they were talking in low voices, too quiet to decipher the words. The conversation wasn't a tense one, though, it was obvious. It became even more apparent when Professor Hange raised her hand and ruffled the girl's hair, smiling gently all the while.

That gesture— Falco had seen her do it so many times before. She used to raffle his hair, Gabi’s, Zophia’s and Udo’s.

But it seemed like they weren’t the only ones, who were lucky enough to receive affection from her.

It seemed that, maybe, Professor Hange wasn’t as loyal to Marley as she had always claimed to be.

Gabi gasped, and Falco moved, clasping a hand over her mouth and dragging her a few steps back.

She didn't protest, staring at the scene in front her with shocked, glassy eyes.

"Devils," she mumbled against Falco's hand.

"Let's get out of here," he whispered and led Gabi back to where they came from.

It took them hours of crawling around to finally find the unguarded exit. Gabi was suspiciously quiet the whole time, and the eerie silence made Falco even more nervous.

He didn't dare to start a conversation, though, knowing that one wrong word, one wrong move and Gabi would tip over the edge.

And she did, the moment they were out of the prison and away from its grounds.

"How could she!" she roared, kicking the nearest tree. "How could she betray us like this? And for who? Those devils?" she turned to him then, eyes wild. "See, that's why you should never trust them! They tricked her, they fooled her, I'm sure! We can't trust Hange-san too. And Zeke - he might be with them as well. Falco," she took a shuddering breath and then looked up at the towering forest in front of them. "From now on, we can't trust anyone, but ourselves."

[chaseatinydream]

pirate king (24) || atz

The ship, for the first time since you stepped upon it, is completely silent.

As silent as grave, the Treasure drifts through the night, lost and aimless. You’re seated where you first started upon this ship, at the main mast, waiting for your judgement.

The deck is completely void of anyone.

Your fingers come up to touch the crystal hanging around your neck. The crew can’t bear to look you, your mere presence like a stain in their eyes. It’s your fault. It’s your fault the ship ended up in such disaster. Your fault Yeosang got shot. Your fault that Seonghwa has lost his only chance of making amends.

You can’t find it in you to cry anymore. Wrung dry, every bit of you completely exhausted, you simply want to close your eyes and sleep for eternity, uncaring and unknowing of everything around you.

You’ve had enough. You’ve done enough. You just want to sleep.

San is tending to Yeosang in the sickbay, whose life and death hangs in the very balance. Even exhausted, the healer refuses to stop keeping vigil over the navigator, afraid that with every second that passes he might slip into darkness, that every breath might be his last.

You haven’t spoken to a single person since the battle ended. The only one who managed to comfort you even just a little was Jongho, who gave you a tight squeeze before going below deck with the rest of the crew to lick his wounds.

You shouldn’t have come to this ship.

You hear heavy footsteps on the floorboards behind you and you instinctively know who it is. They stop behind you, a tense silence settling in the air.

“Captain wants to see you.”

You can’t muster the energy to answer the quartermaster. All you do is push yourself to your feet, and for the first time since the battle, your eyes meet.

His stare is one of barely restrained fury and anger, you can feel it radiating from him like a burning stove. From the look in his eyes, he probably wants to hurt you in every painful way possible, but he keeps his fists clenched at the sides, his teeth grinding as he fights to maintain a facade of calm.

You wish he’d hurt you. At least that might distract you from the crushing anguish in your chest.

But he doesn’t, so you simply get up and follow him.

Right before you stop at the captain’s cabin, your hand lingers on the doorknob. Wooyoung had been in the captain’s cabin before you, explaining the events of the night before.  Are you ready to face the eyes of your captain and crew, to take the punishment for your lies?

You aren’t and you never will be, but you push the door open anyway and step inside.

The first thing you see before you is your captain, sitting at the desk. His back has been treated with San’s most potent cleaning spirits and as much healing energy he can spare, wrapped with a light gauze to prevent infection and numbed with one of your master’s anesthetic concoctions, but you still have no idea how he’s physically able to sit upright before you.

Wooyoung is seated at the side, head bowed against his chest. He’s picking at his shackles, something you know he does when he’s upset about something, and your heart twists in your chest.

When you step into the room, he doesn’t look at you.

Your captain’s face is unreadable, completely inscrutable. It’s like the first time you’d met him, all over again, when you had been terrified of him, fearing for your life. It’s like the beginning, when Mingi had forced you to your knees in front of the captain, and you had felt more than learned exactly how dangerous this man was.

But at the same time, it’s not.

Now, the cold sting of reality is like a steel blade to your chest. The crew had picked you up from nothing, given you warmth, comfort and a home. They had given you a name, protected you like you were one of their own, and made you family.

And the only thing you had given them in return were lies.

Your captain’s one green eye meets yours.

People often say that eyes are the windows to the soul, but you can read nothing from your captain, and it scares you.

“Tell me everything.”

So you do. You tell him everything, the truth, unfiltered, gushing from you. How you truly had no memories the day you had awoken. Hearing the voice of the sea monster in your mind. Your visit to the sea witch. How you had single handedly caused the whole mission to fail, effectively knocking over the first domino in a line, and essentially screwing everything up for the Treasure and its crew.

The whole time, neither Wooyoung nor Hongjoong say a word.

When your story ends, Hongjoong merely meets your eyes coolly in spite of the agonizing pain he must be in, shifting to look at you. It’s as if he’s never met you, never shared any memories with you, never cared in the least about you. Your blood turns to ice.

“Thank you for telling me.” He replies calmly, but you recognise the expression on his face. It’s a cold, silent anger, one that grows in the chest and wraps its poisonous vines around the heart and lungs, slowly choking its host with emotion. “I’ll decide what to do about this at a later time-”

“Captain!” San bursts into the room, you whirl around in shock to see your master at the doorway, tears spilling over his eyes. Dread crushes you in vice grip at the sight of your master’s face.

“Yeosang’s dying.”

The words are like a sledgehammer to your chest and for a moment, you feel like the air has been knocked out of you. Wooyoung’s eyes darken in horror.

“What?” The gunner breathes, so soft and so desperate, mirroring your own feelings. You can’t even form words to voice the emotions raging in you.

San’s desperate, tear filled eyes meet yours. “I can’t do anything to save him.” The healer chokes out, body trembling from trying to keep in his sobs. You feel like someone has just swung a hammer at you. There’s silence as everyone takes in the severity of his words.

“We’re losing him.”

It isn’t enough. San’s healing powers aren’t enough to replace all the blood Yeosang has already lost. The musket wounds are too numerous, leaving the already weakened navigator vulnerable to infections. Yeosang is going to die, and it’s all your fault.

There’s a sudden violent breaking sound and a scream almost leaves your mouth, but it remains lodged in your throat. Your captain has just sent a fist through his desk, and there’s the crunch of the bones in his hand shattering. Blood trickles between his broken fingers and torn skin, but the expression on his face remains unchanged.

It terrifies you.

“Captain-” San begins to say, but Hongjoong gets to his feet and leaves the room before any of you can say another word. The healer dashes after him, and you’re left alone in the room with Wooyoung.

“Wooyoung-” You begin to say, but he cuts you off with a stare so piercing you can feel it physically hurting you.

“Don’t speak to me.”

You recoil, the words like a whip to your soul. Wooyoung has never, ever spoken to you this way before. There’s something dark in his eyes, something brimming with hatred, pain and anguish, and your heart sinks when you realise that it’s all your fault.

Your fault.

“I wish…” Wooyoung struggles to force the words out through a clenched jaw, hands fisted so tight his knuckles are white. “I wish you’d never come with me on this mission.”

You feel like he’s slapped just slapped you across the face.

“I wish…” He continues, grinding his teeth to the point you can almost hear his molars creaking. You continue staring blankly at him. “I wish that you’d died that first battle after Raguza.”

Pain, so physical and so real, buries itself like a sword in your chest.

“I wish… I wish you’d never come onto this ship.”

Your heart shatters into a million, tiny pieces. Part of you wants to make amends somehow, but something in your mind tells you it’s impossible.

“Wooyoung-hyung-” You try to say, reaching for him, but he knocks your hand away. The look in his eyes is one of terror, like those of a wounded animal, and your heart sinks in your chest. But worse, he looks betrayed, silent fury and hurt rippling under his skin and brimming in his gaze. He trusted you, and you deceived him. “Stay away from me.” He spits, eyes cold as ice. With that, he spins on his heel and leaves, never once looking back. The door slams behind him, and then you’re by yourself in the captain’s cabin, trying to process everything that has just happened.

They hate you.

For the first time since you joined the crew, you feel utterly alone.

You slump to the ground like a marionette whose strings have been cut, unable to keep yourself upright anymore. Your fault. Your fault. Your fault.

If only you hadn’t come to this ship, the sea monster wouldn’t have come for them.

Your fault.

If only the sea monster hadn’t attacked them, the crew wouldn’t have fired their cannons in Navy infested waters.

Your fault.

If only they hadn’t fire their cannons, the Navy wouldn’t have attacked and the ship wouldn’t have stopped at Tortuga.

It’s all your fault.

If the ship didn’t stop at Tortuga, Seonghwa wouldn’t have seen the hanging incident.

You’re nothing but a burden to them.

If you hadn’t dropped the book during the mission, none of this would have happened.

Seonghwa would still be happy and smiling. Wooyoung would be cheerful and messing with everyone on board. Captain wouldn’t have had to endure such torment.

Yeosang would still be well and alive.

You hunch over yourself on your knees, mouth open in a silent scream as you bury your face in your hands. Why did you have to exist? Why did you have to escape that prison cell?

You wish… you wish…

You wish that you’d died the day you’d awoken.

You don’t know how long you stay in that position, but you don’t want to move an inch. You want time to stay this way forever, until the ocean dries up and this world is a scorched wasteland, until the stars themselves burn into nothingness and you are nothing more than a pile of bones.

But then the ship rolls with the waves, and you hear the sound of something wooden scraping against the floor. It manages to pull you out of your sorrow for a short second, your eyes glancing up to see what has ruined your moment of grief.

Under the bed, you see a dark shape shifting with the pitch and roll of the ship, and you frown. Then it comes to you.

“If I don’t make it… Beneath my bed… In captain’s cabin… there is…”

You lunge forward with desperate hands, tugging the wooden chest out from beneath the bed frame. It’s clean, not covered in dust like you’d expected, meaning it must have been put under the bed just recently. Your trembling fingers struggle with the latch and finally, the little iron bar slides free of its catch.

The lid swings open easily and you discover the inside of the chest is full of papers. They’re all of different sizes, different types of material and thickness, some with messy scribbles and some with clean lines, notes jotted neatly on every piece.

In Yeosang’s handwriting.

You realise every piece of paper has been torn out of some book, all with some sort of red marking on them. You pick up the first one you find.

In Egyptian culture, they believed that the god Khnum created children of clay, before placing them in their mother’s womb.

The second piece.

Incan mythology states that Viracocha, god and creator of the universe, formed humans from clay on his second attempt of creating living creatures.

It can’t be what you think it means.

Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Finally, you pick up the piece of paper nestled at the bottom of the chest with shaking hands. This one is done completely by Yeosang’s hand, every word and letter in his writing, and you clutch it to you as you read it aloud.

“In Jewish folklore, there were anthropomorphic beings of clay, constructed from the earth. Just as humans were constructed from clay with the breath of life (a soul) by the Creator, humans attempted to create humanoids from clay as well.”

“Who made you?”

“These could usually only be crafted by immensely powerful beings, such as mages or magicians.”

“I am unworthy of looking upon her face, the one who you have made a deal with, the sea witch!”

“The magicians used them for all sorts of different purposes, such as spell casting to more mundane tasks like housework. They were crafted with shells of clay, made in the image of man, and animated with powerful magic. However, due to the weak state of the bodies, they often crumbled to dust in a few months.”

“I can’t believe I got to lay eyes on a vessel that has only existed for a moon!”

“They were called-”

You feel your heart stop beating the moment your eyes touch that single word. You understand everything now. Why Yeosang was so desperate to hide this from you, to save you from yourself, to spare your heart from being shattered into a million pieces like a broken jar of clay. He was only trying to help you, to keep you from the truth. The word leave your mouth as if you’re in a trance. It’s your identity, who you are, what you are. And it’s like poison on your tongue. “Golem.”

Yeosang had known what you were the whole time, an animated lump of clay. The paper slips from your fingers and you turn them over in shock, staring at the smooth skin, the lines of your palms. Clay.

A empty, hollow husk without a soul.

Your body is an illusion. Human in form, but nothing more than a puppet made of dirt. You are a golem crafted from clay. For a moment, you raise your arms and are terrified whether you’ll see cracks will appear on your skin.

Yeosang sacrificed his life for you. He chose to take not one, but three bullets, for a piece of clay.

You sink to your knees.

Sea Witch.

Made.

Humans.

Clay.

Golem.

A deprecating chuckle leaves your mouth. So does another, and another. Your laughter grows in volume, then you’re laughing at the sheer absurdity of it all and how true all of farce has turned out to be. Tears leave your eyes, but at this point you don’t even care.

A pile of clay crying? You’d laugh at the thought, except for the fact that you are the pile of clay.

I wish you’d never joined this ship.

The words didn’t hurt as much anymore. You knew what you had to do to make things right again. You burst from the captain’s cabin, thinking of Yeosang, dying in the sickbay, who knew about what you were, and still chose to save you regardless.

You’d never managed to thank him.

Well, you would now.

You’d make everything right again.

After all, no one would mourn something made of clay.

[twisted-imagines]

leona, jack and floyd realizing they have a crush on a male student and how they manage to get their S/O attention please 🥺

That's a weird mix of scenario and headcanon format, but that's all I can post for now 😅 I'm really glad you're so patient with me, fishies~ I'm not doing the best right now and it bothers me quite a lot... I worry more about my writing than I actually write.

The reader is gender-neutral in this one btw, there are no pronouns at all, crush is such a universal thing~

Please, while waiting for more content from me, enjoy this ❤

Getting his crush's attention

Leona Kingscholar 🦁

• Scurrying and running about. Those herbivores were really irking his nerves, and Leona just wanted to sleep peacefully. But there was a particular person among that crown. It was somebody who managed to catch his attention and never let it go. What was so special about you, that made him so weak and vulnerable, longing for any bit of affection you would sometimes offer him? Walking past you in the corridors, he couldn't resist to graze you with his tail, a ghost of a touch on your skin. He fell asleep purposefully in the areas he knew you visited often. Just how soft did he become?

Weak and feeble, possessing this annoyingly beautiful smile, you were currently Leona's only daydream. He closed his eyes and your image immediately surfaced up in his mind. He opened them, and once again the only things he saw were you.

Speaking of that, why were your face above his?

• "Oh, you're awake, prefect Leona. Ruggie was searching for you. You choose a really secure spot today."

"And you herbivore still found me. So, proud of yourself? Now go or you'll face consequences."

It wasn't too threatening, coming from somebody who could barely lift his eyes and so you persisted, trying to make Leona go to his own dorm, like Ruggie wished you to do, in case you found his dorm leader.

•"Shut up. Ugh, so annoying, I warned you!"

His rebuttal came pretty fast and before you could react you already were in his arm, pressed to his side. You could feel his warm breath on your face and the rhythmical beating of his heart under your hands.

"Um, prefect Leona? Leona?..."

But the lion was fast asleep.

• After the surprise of waking up hugging your warm form, Leona hadn't gotten a break from intrusive thoughts of your peaceful face, when you went ahead and fell asleep on him that day or the lovely scent of your hair. They were imprinted in his memory and at your every sight his instincts were screaming at him to go up to you and relive it once again, show everybody that you were his. But, you, in fact, were not and Leona knew he had to do something about it ASAP.

• Alas spending time with you became increasingly hard for Leona. You had no lack of attention, didn't you? Always in company of some other punks, he couldn't get you alone at all. If he thought about it, he didn't see you much recently. It was driving him mad, just like a possibility that some other man, and not him, could be spending more time with you then he did. And if it was on purpose, that he couldn't get ahold of you, did you really think you would be able to hide from him, Leona Kingscholar, the only apex predator in the whole college? Naive herbivore.

• Dorm leader of Savanaclaw was always difficult, but after that incident, you no longer understood how to act around him. You got to know him better, much better than even some members of his dorm knew him, but were you two really close to such an extent? It made you question the nature of your relationship, and the way Leona felt for you. Think of the devil. You were careless, not scouting your surrounding properly and the prefect was steadily approaching you now. He wouldn't allow you to run from him, would he?

"Hey, herbivore, long time no see. I almost thought that you got expelled by chance. But were you actually avoiding me?"

"Prefect Leona! N-no! Why would I?"

A scowl twisted his face. What a troublesome prey, but Leona couldn't allow himself to give up. Wanted he that or not, you were occupying a place in his heart now and getting you out there would not be that easy. It was worth a shot, his ego would get a word in later.

"Tsch, don't try to lie to me. I can see past that pathetic act of yours."

The lion moved closer and closer still, until you had nowhere to go, a wall against your back and his hands on both of your sides, a prey for him to feas upon. But there was no malicious intent in his eyes. Green orbs, two will-o'-wisps, playful and mischievous, were also holding some tenderness to them. Itching even closer, Leona came impossibility near. The man's deep voice reverberated near your ear.

"Quit fooling around. You made me work quite a lot for this, so now listen. I like you, [Y/n]. If you have any objection against becoming my mate, better tell them now."

Trapped between the wall and Leona's hot body, you were milimeters away from his face. It would be so easy just to lean forward and press a kiss to those lips. Was it what you really wanted?

Jack Howl🐺

• That morning you were shocked to see Jack Howl dragging his feet, barely paying attention to his surroundings and sporting horrible eyebags. The sight was alarming, you had never seen him be so tired in the morning, not even once. Like the best friend that you were, you rushed up to him, just in time to drag Jack away from a pole on his way. Apparently, he didn't even notice it.

"Wow, Jack, careful. Morning. Didn't get much a shut-eye at night?"

His reaction wasn't immediate, but when he finally registered you holding his hand and closely inspecting his face he jumped up a foot, instantly turning a dark shade of crimson. Incoherent "I"s and "you"s were everything you heard from him before he ran away, too fast for you to follow.

• You met him neither at your classes, nor at the cafeteria, nor after school. It couldn't be a simple coincidence. Did he not want to meet you? This thought resonated with a painful pang in your chest. Did something happen? You thought you two were good friends.

• Jack however could no longer see you as "just" a friend.

"Jeez, aren't you an obvious little puppy, Jack? You're head over heels for [Y/N]. Everybody except for you two can see it."

"Shishishi, Leona-san, look what you did. You broke this poor freshman. "

Every time Jack looked at you now, he could hear Leona's words in his head once again. He didn't even protest, didn't tell them they were not right. He did like you, and he could no longer ignore it or tell himself that what you had between you was purely platonic. And if he wanted to get rid of this agonizing grip, that constricted his breathing and crushed his heart every time he just thought of you, he had to act.

• Easier said than done. He couldn't help but keep a certain distance from you, afraid of spilling the beans instantly and that's the last thing he wanted to do at that moment. He didn't want to endanger your friendship, no, anything but that. Jack became even more observant, and to his great distress now every little joke Ace told you or how familiar others were with you now seemed too "friendly" for his liking. Were they always like this? What if he's not the only one who harbored such feelings for you? The more Jack thought about it, the more anxious he got. What if somebody "snatched" you before he could at least confess his feelings to you?

• With that worrying thought in mind Jack gathered enough courage to come some evening to your dorm after his club activities. What a surprise it was for you, to meet him at your doorstep, after the days of going without as much as hello form him, not even a glimpse of his tall frame in college hallways, even though you knew he was fine. His dorm leader said as much when you cornered him a Botanic garden. The sudden rift between you was saddening, even more now that Jack was standing before you, barely looking at you. Was he angry? Was he going to put your friendship to an end?

• Yes and no. But how could you know that, without him saying it out loud? Jack was trying though, but his pure heart wasn't allowing him to do that, hammering loudly in his throat. Whatever speech he prepared, it seemed so lacking, so stupid now, when you were everything he could see. He's been observing you from afar, while he longed to be near you, to touch you, to do those things that lovers usually did.

Yes, he'd decided. Losing you completely was not an option, Jack understood, you were too precious to him. But remaining close, and doing nothing about those feelings was an idea much more appalling to him. He had to try, hopefully, your answer would calm the turmoil in his heart.

"I've been thinking a lot. Mostly about you, [Y/n]. And the way I see you, it's not just friendly anymore. I want us to become something more."

"What will you say? I'll respect any your decision, but I still want to be a part of your life. As a friend or as a lover, any is good, but I like you, [Y/n]."

Floyd Leech🦈

• "Sh ri m py - chan~" There it was again. You no longer tried to escape, you learned it the hard way you were no match for his speed. Once again Floyd Leech was crushing you in his hug the first thing in the morning. It was a normal occurrence, really, you didn't mind it as much now as you did at least a month ago. He was friendly with you, it definitely wasn't the short end of the stick if you were to compare it to how Floyd treated other NRC students.

The times you were luckier you met him at the lunch break. Did he now specifically go out of his way to search for you in the morning?

You were no wiser, that yes, he did. Floyd didn't meet such interesting people often, even on land, and usually, he quickly lost his interest in them. But you? You were a special case. You were so amusing, so warm in his arm, so squishy and cute. He considered to just gobble you up a couple of times, and each time you gave him that pointed look that sent shivers down his spine. Indeed, Floyd liked that little shrimp~

• But it seemed you didn't share his feelings though? No matter how much he lavished you with his attention, scared away other competitors, or made advances at you, he didn't get any reaction back... It boiled down to one interaction that nearly broke poor eel's heart.

"Shrimpy~~"

"Floyd? Can I ask you for what reason do you yawn at me?"

"What? Shrimpy, I'm not yawning. C'mon, look~"

"I-I honestly don't what you're doing and it's drawing even more attention than usual, could you maybe stop?"

Bewildered, you could only look how fast Floyd strode away, displeased expression on his face. It's not like you didn't know about his moody nature, but wasn't he just too strange today? No matter how much time you spent with him, his heart was still a mystery to you.

• "Jade! Jade-!"

"My, my, Floyd, what got you so agitated? Oh, are you... Crying?"

Jade couldn't remember when was the last time he saw Floyd with tears in his ears, and not fake crying, there was unfeigned sadness within those mismatched eyes, while he harshly bit his lip to the point of bleeding. Jade tried to approach his twin when Floyd suddenly took the offensive stance.

"You were lying! Shrimpy doesn't love me, I've tried times and times again-! No reaction...Even told me to stop."

What a predicament and Jade genuinely thought his brother had all the chances, he definitely saw you reciprocating his hugs and the way you smiled at Floyd, not out of politeness, but of adoration. Were all of those signs actually misinterpreted? A curious thought visited Jade's head. He had to ask something important first...

"Ahaha! I can't believe it! Floyd- No, haha, it's too much even for you. Did you really think that a human, from an entirely different world altogether, would understand that your gaping was actually you flirting?"

"It was Jade who told me to "just be myself"! Quit laughing, or I'll make you stop. Don't try me~"

Who could have thought a misunderstanding like that would happen? At least Jade was able to clear this one out. The next action, approaching you in a way that you would understand, was entirely on Floyd, who now got much more useful advice from his brother and was already on his way to you, eager to finally hear your answer.

• "Shrimpy, there's something I want to talk about."

It scared you, Leech twin's voice emerging out of nowhere, right behind you. You warily turned to him. Floyd left very angry the last time you spoke, and he was standing before you, face more unreadable than ever. It instilled fear in your heart nonetheless. You two were good acquaintances...friends? Some kind of understanding was developing on your side, but maybe you were wrong? What was he going to do?

"I'm listening, Floyd. What do you want to talk about?"

The man was fidgeting, his hands behind his back for some reason, probably hiding something. That was getting into the direction you didn't quite follow. Tracing with your gaze up to his face you found it had turned completely red, the shade being the most prominent on his cheeks. He looked cute, an involuntary thought emerged in your mind.

"Shrimpy and I have been spending a lot of time together and... Damn, that's not it! And, well, little Shrimp is very interesting to me and I..."

"Ugh! Just take it! Why is confessing like a human so hard?!"

Standing there, with a bouquet of your favorite flowers thrust in your hand, you had to become the one continuing this conversation.

[amphxtrite]

2 • Hideaway.

chapter summary: Cedric finally catches the chance to talk to you, hidden away in the shelves of the library. What starts as an innocent attempt to befriend you ends in your walls crashing down, but Cedric is willing to change and listen.

series summary: alone almost everyday from the moment you were born, thrown to the side by everyone in society because of who your parents were and who you were said to be, a death eater. Your parents were to of the most powerful dark wizards ever known and because of that you were shunned everywhere you went. When the hufflepuff golden boy sees you for the first time and falls, but is he willing to be judged, feared, and hated, and how far will he go, To Be At Her Side.

warnings: swearing, flashback, breakdown, mentions of wanting to be dead.

taglist: @mullthingsoverinthehotwater @hoe4cedricdiggory @queenl04 @persephone-archives @0niko-san @annasdani @joalinbenefits @awritingtree

word count: 2.2k

enjoy <3

__________________________________________

Hideaway.

a place used as a retreat or a hiding place.

The Hogwarts library was a grand room, filled top to bottom with books of all kinds; Fantasy, romance, science fiction, history, anything you could imagine, could be found in the pages of a thick leather bound journal or thin paperback with a cracked spine.

Most students took the library for granted, preferring to spend their time at Hogsmeade or around the lake, but for you, anywhere with too many students was a disaster waiting to happen.

The library was your hide away, a retreat from the prying eyes of the student body. A place you could smile, read and do whatever you pleased without judgement. Madam Pince had practically left this place for you to roam, she was far enough away where you could be at peace from her constant shushing, and because of the lack of students most days, it was usually just you.

The past few months, you’d been slipping into the deep bookshelves to hide yourself, immersing yourself in the text of the wise witches and wizards who had come before you, reading their stories and spells and learning all they knew.

Your safe space became the closed shelves, home smelt like old books and wood, tranquility came in the form of muggle stories and old journals.

While you sat stowed away in a far corner of your hideaway, eyes scanning over the stories of old Greek heroes, Cedric sat in the great hall, eyebrows furrowed in worry.

He had barely seen you since the incident in potions all those months ago, winter had arrived, and he felt strange saying it, but he missed you.

He missed the girl whom he’d never even spoken to.

He missed your eyes filled with strength, holding yourself with pride despite what people believed.

He missed your hair that frames your face so perfectly.

He missed you although he barely knew who you were, and he wanted to see you more than just a quick glance in class before you disappeared through the door.

Cedric wasn’t proud of it, but he began following you after your last class with him, to see where you snuck away to.

The first couple tries resulted in him losing you through the crowd, but he’d managed to catch you slipping into the library on a Saturday morning during breakfast.

His hand hovers over the door knob, mentally debating if he should enter, try his luck at talking to you.

It was Saturday, Hogsmeade weekend. No one was going to be in the library today, he should be alright.

Pushing open the large door, Cedric readjusts his eyes to the dim lighting of the library paired with the bright white light streaming through the windows.

He made sure to be quiet, closing the door and slowly walking through the room, using his lightest steps in hopes not to be noticed.

Pince must’ve been at breakfast because besides the small ruffle of pages being turned in the distance. The library was completely silent.

A small yellow light flickered in the corner of Cedric’s eye, guiding him as you lay unaware, nose stuck in a book.

He follows the sound of paper being turned, and light breathing.

He begins his ascend up a stairway to the second story of the library and through the shelves where he saw the flicker of light.

His heart began to rush as your breathing grew closer. His hands were clenched into fists and his face was flushed. This was it, he was finally going to talk to you.

You sigh in content as you set down the muggle classic ‘To Kill A Mockingbird.’ You lay for a couple moments just staring at the ceiling as you shook your head, maybe you didn’t have it as bad as what others dealt with in the muggle world.

You sit up and pick up the small novel, slipping it back into place on the shelf.

“Harper Lee. I’ll have to read up on her.” You mumble to yourself as you skim the old spines.

Your thoughts are cut short when a shiver runs down your spine and you sense a presence behind you. Swiveling your body, only the sight of rows upon rows of books make themselves present, but you knew better than to believe you were alone.

“Who’s there?” You ask no one in particular.

You’re about to open your mouth again, when a mess of brown hair, pokes out from behind the science fiction shelf.

“H-Hello.” The boy spoke, finally revealing himself from the shelf.

You recognized the boy as the one from your classes. The one you gave the note too.

He doesn’t give up does he?

“If you’re here to make a snide remark, please leave me alone.” You sigh, pulling a random novel from the shelf as you turn and retreat back to your spot.

“I-I would do no such thing.” the boy states, beginning to follow you. “I’m Cedric, Cedric Diggory. We have potions and transfigurations together!”

“I’m aware.” You nod, trying to ignore him.

You almost felt bad for the boy, Cedric. He obviously hadn’t planned this far and his mind was frantically searching for words.

“Look I’m sorry for coming around like this I just-.”

“I don’t need your pity Diggory, now please just leave me be.” You remark, sitting on your blanket laid neatly on the floor.

“No please, y/n right?” Cedric smiles extending his hand.

“I know you know my name Cedric. Everyone at this bloody school does.” You hiss, voice laced with venom, surprising Cedric and causing him to step back.

You don’t mean to be cold, but you were not in the mood to make friends. This was bound to end in disaster, and you didn’t need to add another person to the long list of failed attempts.

“I-I understand, I was just-.”

“Oh that’s rich.” You scoff.

Cedric can see your attempt at being rude, but for some reason, he isn’t hurt by it.

Your eyes are jumping around him, refusing to meet him. Your leg is shaking up and down anxiously. Your hand is massaging the area on your chest your locket should be.

You were nervous.

Cedric takes a deep breath, refocusing himself.

“Look y/n, I just wanted to talk to you, try and become your friend.”

Your eyes flicker down, doubt and fear swim through them as you shuffle away from Cedric, trying to make yourself as small as possible, hoping he’d grow bored and leave.

“W-Where’s that locket you always wear?” He attempts, only causing you to flinch back further and drop your hand from your neck.

“None of your business Diggory.

Cedric wasn’t about to give up, and he took a seat on a chair at a desk not too far from you.

“I-I’m not interested in making friends.” You murmur, cursing yourself for your voice, cursing yourself for being weak.

“There’s no need to be afraid, I’m not here to hurt you.”

“There’s no need to be afraid, I’m not here to hurt you.”

“I’m not here to hurt you.”

Your mind is thrown into a distant memory that haunted you, and your head begins to spin.

The horrid day the aurors surrounded your house.

Your parents clutched you close to them as the wizards holding wands to their throats ripped you from their grasp.

“Take the child for a moment.”

Unfamiliar arms encased you before placing you on the carpet, leaving you as you bawled for your parents. You could only see them being disapparated away as your mother's locket appeared in your hand. Your last piece of her and your father.

The large boots of ministry workers and auror’s stood before you, discussing amongst themselves what to do with you.

“There’s no need to be afraid, I’m not here to hurt you.” One remarks, lifting you up, but holding you an arm lengths away.

“There’s no way people will be safe around her.”

“Her parents have probably already brainwashed her.”

“Can someone shut her up?!”

That was the last thing you heard before the sleeping charm was cast on you.

Your vision goes red, your fists clench and without thinking you pull your wand from your pocket and stomp forwards.

“You said you wouldn’t hurt me, but you ruined my life! You’ll never know what I fucking went through because of your ignorance. I was a child you asshole, I was three and you fucking took my parents from me and left me to die at that god forsaken orphanage!” You scream, eyes clouding with tears as you press your wand closer to someone’s neck, but it slips your mind, who.

“They may have been evil, but they were all I ever had! You should’ve just killed me there, it would’ve been better than living this life!” You rage, bringing your wand to meet their neck.

Cedric stands with his hands beside his face in surrender, his breathing heavy as he watches your grip on your wand tighten and your tears stream down your face.

“Y/n, I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. P-Please don’t hurt me.”

Cedric’s eyes squeeze shut and after a couple moments of silence the sound of wood cluttering on the floor signals him to open them again.

Your hands fly to your face as your legs fail you, dropping you to the ground as you back yourself into the nearest wall, tucking yourself into a ball.

“I-I’m so sorry, I’m so so sorry.” You sob, pulling your hair and using your palms to wipe the tears.

“Y/n!”

“No! Stay away from me! I’ll only make it worse.” You sniffle, trying to escape Cedric’s gaze.

“Please just leave me, I’m a monster Cedric, leave before I do hurt you.” You sob, hiding your face again.

Cedric ignores this and slides to the floor next to you, pulling a handkerchief from his book bag and holding it to you.

“No, y/n it’s not your fault. I made you remember something. Didn’t I?” Cedric sighs, sitting in front of you.

“Does it matter? I could have killed you! I’m just like them.” You shout, turning away from the hufflepuff as he turns with you.

“Y/n, look at me. Please look at me.” Cedric pleas.

“You’re afraid of me, admit it.”

“Y/n, I-”

“Admit it Cedric.” You cry, pushing yourself farther away.

“It's not your fault I made you cry y/n. I’m sorry.” Cedric apologizes, gently pulling your hands away from your tear stained cheeks.

“D-don’t touch me. I could have hurt you Cedric. I can’t forgive myself for that.” You whimper, turning your head to avoid his kind grey eyes.

“I’m fine y/n, look at me. You didn’t hurt me, just scared me is all.” Cedric smiles, attempting to reassure you.

“What have I done?”

Cedric’s smile drops at your comment.

“Y/n.” Cedric lifts his hand to wipe the tears from your face.

“No, please don’t.”

Cedric sighs and drops his hand, opting to take your hand into his instead.

“You could never hurt me y/n, please don’t do this to yourself.”

“Oh it’s too late for that Diggory. I’ve been doing this my whole life.” You smile incredulously.

“I’ll always be the daughter of the l/n’s. I’ll never be able to change that. And you saw what I did. I’m just like them.”

Cedric opens his mouth to deny your claim, but you cut him off.

“You know what's funny too? I still miss them, I still wish they’d come to hold me, but I guess that’s just the childhood loneliness talking.”

“Y/n.”

“How could they bring a child into this world after everything they did and expect it to be okay? How could they leave me here?” You whimper as a fresh wave of sadness hits you.

“I’ve been alone everyday of my life Cedric, treated like an animal, a threat, a monster.”

You take a deep breath and allow the tears to flow freely.

“I feel like I’m just payment of a debt my parents owe, l-like I’m nothing.”

Cedric listens intently, slowly stroking the back of your hand and offering the handkerchief to you again.

You shake your head.

“I-I’d like you to go now.” You mumble, retracting your hand from Cedric’s warm grasp.

“Please don’t push me away y/n. If you don’t want my pity I understand, but I really do want to be your friend.” Cedric smiles gently and extends his hand out to you.

Your eyes flash in fear and doubt again, but you accept his outstretched hand.

“You understand how hard it’s gonna be for me to trust you?” You state.

Cedric nods his head.

“You’re not going to be afraid to be seen with me in public?” You push, remembering the first day he saw you.

Cedric freezes for a moment, knowing what you’re referring to, his head fights with his heart, but he knows his answer. He pushes his own fear aside and smiles.

“Why would I? You’re my friend now right?” He chuckles, earning himself a small grin from you.

“You have a beautiful smile you know.”

Your eyes lift from their spot on the floor into Cedric’s bright grey ones.

“T-Thank you.”

Cedric nods, sitting in peaceful silence beside you as you slowly catch your breath.

“Any chance you’d like to meet here tomorrow?” Cedric suggests, scratching the back of his neck.

“I-I’d like that.” You smile, sniffling into your sleeve.

[archangeldraws]

Reunion

Since some were so interested in the story of King Ghidorah and their human Eva, this is their story. Please, enjoy (also give me feedback as I don’t usually write stories ^^)

A King Ghidorah fanfiction 

Dorat AU

„Wake up. Come on Ni, wake up boy. Time for walkies!“ A soft voice rings through the air, tickling Ni's ear. The Dorat stirs, sleepily opening one eye and looking around the living room. “Come on Ni-Ni! Don't you want to go outside?” His gaze falls upon a young human girl, standing by the door, hastily putting on her shoes and leashes on two other Dorats like him. His brothers watch him, waiting for him to move. Ni yawns, stretching his golden wings and climbs off the comfortable couch he was sleeping on, trotting over to his master.

She smiles, putting a red collar and leash on the third Dorat, giving him a pet on his fluffy head. “Good boy. Lets go!”

It's a sunny day today, the air is crisp and fresh. It's spring! Eva, their little master, loves this season the most. And they love seeing her happy.

The walk is the same as always. Passing by the same houses, going down the same streets, towards the park.

The park is great. It's big, big enough to stretch their wings and fly around all they want and play.

San, the youngest Dorat loves visiting the park. He's always so eager, flapping up and down, back and forth, almost crashing into his brothers and trilling happily.

Unlike their older brother Ichi, who glides gracefully through the air, looking down on all the passerby.

At the park, Eva lets her Dorats fly free and unzips her backpack, pulling out their toys, a blanket and some drinks and snacks.

Everything is great. They play, enjoy the sunshine and food. Master brought those fish crackers they like.

Ni is chasing another Dorat, a brown one, around the park. That one dared to take a toy! That thief! That one will pay!

A shriek pierces the air, disrupting the chase. Perplexed, Ni looks back. Master?

He watches in horror as a dog, a filthy beast, is attacking Eva. That thing dares to harm HIS MASTER?!

In a rage Ni races towards that monster, flying as fast as he can, not stopping for a second. He doesn't even notice Ichi and San also trying to get in between the girl and the dog.

Ni crashes into the foul beast, bearing his teeth and snarling. The thing yelps, rolling on the ground after the collision. The Dorat, though a bit smaller than the wild dog, put himself between the animal and the girl.

San and Ichi stay with Eva, hissing and screeching angrily, not moving from her side as she weeps and cries in pain, a puddle of blood already forming around her leg on the ground.

Ni growls, daring the dog to move. Do it! Come on! I'll tear you limp from limp!

Not that the dog would have understood it anyway.

In a flash the animal was upon Ni, biting and snapping at him. But Ni isn't afraid. All he sees is red. He bites and claws at it, chomping down on the beasts neck and shaking violently. Ni himself gets thrown around, bitten and scratched. It doesn't matter. He doesn't even feel it. Ni snaps at the soft neck of his opponent, biting and shaking him over and over. The dog screams, letting go of the smaller Dorat and jumps back. In a defiant stance, Ni stays between it and the girl. He growls. And finally his enemy yields and runs.

“NI! OH MY GOD! NIII!! NO!”

Ni turns, Eva approaches him with a limp and she wraps her arms around him.

“Ni! You're hurt! Oh my god, your ear! Your eye!”

A few hours later, Ni wakes up again. Was it a dream? He is in his bed, but something is blocking his view. Why can't he open his left eye? What is that thing?

“Be still, brother. Don't move. You need to heal.” Who is that? Oh, right. It's Ichi. Ichi looks down from his spot at the wall. He likes sitting there. San comes rushing to Ni's side, gently grooming him in a comforting manner. “Are you ok? That fight was really bad! You were lucky you didn't lose your eye, Ni!”

Fight? Oh, yes. Right. That dog. But, what about Eva? Is she ok? Ni looks around the bedroom, trying to see past that weird, round thing around his head. There she is. On the bed. “Ni. You're awake? I'm so glad you're ok!” She smiles, walking towards him and petting him, carefully stroking his back fur.

“The vet said you were really lucky! That dog almost got your eye with it's teeth. But your ear wasn't as lucky, half of it is missing.... Oh Ni, you were so brave! Thank you! I was so scared!”

She quivers, wiping off the tears from her soft, round face.

“You're my hero!”

Ni, not wanting to see her cry leans into her small hand and purrs reassuringly.

“You were hurt.” “It's ok, my leg is better now. Don't worry, everything is ok now. See?” She grins, showing hims her bandaged leg. “Rest now. You'll get a big treat later, ok? You're a good boy, Ni. I love you”

I love you

I love you

I love you....

Ni groans, opening his eyes and stretching his long, powerful neck. Groggily he looks around, spotting his brothers by his side. They've curled up around each other, still sleeping.

As always. Ni, first one to wake up and last one to fall asleep. He hates sleeping. Not sure when it started, but it's been a long time. Sleep brings dreams, memories he'd rather not see.

And now he has to wait for Ichi and San to wake. He sighs, keeping look out. Ni isn't known for being the patient one, but he can be. Not that he has much of a choice. It's not like he could just, get up and walk around. Not anymore. He could wake Ichi. A good bunt in the head would do. But that would also mean getting bit in the snout and right now he wasn't in the mood for a fight. Usually, yeah. But not right now.

His mood was too sour for that.

“Good morning Ni!” San has risen from his slumber and yawns, stretching and rubbing his head against his big brother in a greeting. “Did you sleep well?” Ni sighs. “Same as usual. You?” “Uhm.... I guess so. Got enough sleep at least.”

Ni wasn't the only one plagued by bad memories. San's weren't just memories. They were nightmares. Nightmares that had happened.

Sometimes the youngest brother would wake up screaming and thrashing during the night, begging to be “let out” and biting if you came too close. Ichi and Ni would have to subdue him together, just until the left head would calm down again.

Poor guy had been through a lot. They all have been. But it seems fate has been more cruel to the younger one. He had lost his head, quite literally, many times. Each time he lost more and more of his happy go lucky attitude, if only slowly.

But since that fat lizard had ripped him off last.... They know the memories. They weren't there, but San shared what had happened to him with them, after they reformed that last time.

Last time.... Was the worst. Things are a bit confusing, since they regenerated from a dead head, from a brain that had been dead for some time. They knew their old version had fought on, but their memories stopped after San's death, only to resurface once the humans did something to his brain, feeding him with the energy needed to come back to life.

They know of the pain and fear San had endured, being nothing but a thought in his own mind. Again. Again humans tried to control them, their minds, making them their toys!

But San didn't share everything with them, that they knew... Or they would know of the things he dreamed about and woke from, screaming for help.

They also heard what had happened to their old self. That that one was completely destroyed by the “King” of the monsters, with the help of his Queen.

It is weird to know that you did something, without being there yourself... Never before have they been.... two Ghidorahs. Can they even call it that? Are they themselves even real? Or just a copy?

They know each time a head dies, it grows back with all it's memories. But there had never been a time where.... They had to regenerate their whole being. Until now....

Ichi wakes, shifting and yawning before looking at San and Ni.

“How long have you two been awake?” “Oh hey Ichi, good morning. Not long yet. How was your night?” San smiles at the middle head, greeting him like he greeted Ni with a head rub.

“Luckily, uneventful. Full night rests have become rare” “Yeah.... sorry about that.” “Don't be, San. It's not your fault... Well, now that we're up, let's get out of here. I need some fresh air.”

With that, Ghidorah rose to their feet and walked out of the cave they had carved themselves some time ago. After they had regenerated, they had traveled the world for a while, not knowing what to do with themselves. They were thinking of going after Godzilla again, but..... They were just tired. So they made themselves a small home, if you could call it that, on monster island. They had made an agreement with Godzilla. While they would never yield and submit to him, they promised to stay out of his way and leave the humans alone. As long as they didn't destroy anything, they could be at piece.

Or at least by left alone. And the other Titans did leave them alone.

Wherever they went, the other Kaiju would run and hide. No one dared to try and talk with them.

Except for Godzilla, who would sometimes pass by and check if they still hold their part of the deal.

Sometimes Rodan would come and try to talk with them. That firebird is a huge chatterbox.

Right now Ghidorah made their way down the mountain they had made their cave in, living high above the others, where they had a good view over the island.

“Brothers, look there. A boat” Ni and Ichi look towards the sea, where San was pointing at. “Ugh, humans.... Those pests. They better not think about stepping on this island!” “Calm down brother. What do we care what they do? As long as they leave us alone, I don't give a crap.” Ichi snorts, moving their body down and to the other side of the mountain.

They walk towards a lake and San has a little drink. They don't really NEED to drink and eat, but it's a nice treat and it gives them something to do. One of the few things they can still enjoy, since destroying and conquering is now off the table. At least for now.

Ni looks at his reflection. It's him. But it's also not.

Gone is the round face and the big eyes, gone is the little snout and ears. Gone is the fur on his head and back.

Instead there is a long, strong snout, filled with rows of sharp teeth. His eyes are beady and red and his head adorned with jagged horns, sharp and deadly. Everything on them is sharp and deadly.

But the scar is still there.

He remembers, like in his dream. The scar that made him unique, a hero in that little girl's eyes.

But she's gone now, long dead.

Why is the scar still there? They can heal. And it was gone. But he made it again. For some reason, even though he wants to forget.... He scars himself over and over again, each time it heals, he takes one of their spiked tails to his face and draws blood. He's done it many time, he knows exactly where to cut, how to cut it. Each time a perfect copy.

And his horn. The second horn on the left, he always breaks it off. Where half his ear used to be.

Ichi keeps a look out, watching the smaller kaiju hiding in the shadows of the trees, waiting for them to leave and have a drink.

As they should. Useless lot, they are beneath them. Look at them quivering, shaken to their very core by their fear, Ghidorah's presence almost crushing them like little worms.

Ichi has always enjoyed looking down on others. Since he was a cup, he'd find the highest places and sit there, watching the others. He's always been more cruel than his brothers, that's just who he is. Not that he doesn't know how to be compassionate. He loves his brothers.

Sure, he reprimands them often, especially Ni, as he likes to act up and square off with Ichi.

But he still cares. And he'd do anything to protect them.

Once he cared for someone else. A little someone, though bigger than them at the time, but so small and fragile.

Somehow she made him want to protect her. To love her. And he did. He loved and protected and cared and vowed to stay forever-.... Until forever was over.

Gone were the good days, the days filled with happiness and love and care. Replaced with fear and pain and numbness instead.

They were like her. But they were not like her. Not soft and sweet and loving and warm. No high voices carrying nothing but goodness to his ear but instead, cries and screams and yells of malice and horror and the stench of rotting flesh and dry blood.

Their new “masters” were nothing like her. They never gave them the feeling of being safe. Only fear. Only pain. Only rage!

And then.... Nothing. Sleep without dreams, dreams without sleeping. Moving but unmoving.

Pain but no feeling.

And then they woke up. They woke at a cold place, nothing but ice and piercing cold and blinding white. No humans in sight. No... Her..... Alone. They were alone. And they were one.

They knew they were, have been for long. But now that they were awake, it was strange. Having to learn how to move again.

And the urge.... The urge to.... kill... destroy.... It was ebbed into their mind so deep, into their very core.... All they could think about was “Find Godilla. Kill him. Destroy him. Kill. Destroy. Kill. Destroy. Destroy. Destroy. Destroy. Destroy. Destroy destroy destroy destroydestroydestroyde-....”

The thought was still there, once jackhammering in their head, now a soft drumming... They had found Godzilla. But that one was not the same they knew now. That one fought long and hard, made them weak and trapped them in the ice, where they had awoken the first time. And they slept.

And now.... The same thing. They found Godzilla, a different one, fought and lost again. Were killed this time and somehow they came back.

You'd think knowing that you were able to cheat death like this would make you stronger, would make you want to try again.... And maybe they will, one day. But now they're just tired....

“Hello?.... Are you there?” They look up. “Yes? What is it?” San looks to Ichi. “I didn't call you.” They look at Ni. “Wasn't me” “Can you hear me?”

Confused they look around. Was it one of them? One of the small ones hiding in the shadows?

“What do you want?” Ichi growls at the trees and the little kaiju skitter away quickly.

“It's me. I'm here.”

“Who the fuck is calling us?! Who is it?” They stand and Ni snarls and snaps at nothing.

“Come to me. I'm here. Are you there?”

“What the fuck?” Ichi grows more and more irritated, looking around but seeing no one.

“Come find me. Were you waiting?”

“Ichi.... I think it's coming from there.” San points back at the ocean again. Is it a water Titan? Manda perhaps?

“I swear if that snake is out making a fool of us then we'll have it for breakfast!”

“Good idea Ichi, sound delicious!”

They follow the voice, down to the shore. They don't see Manda, but the human boat is still there.

“Ohoh, it's the humans! It must be them. Of course. Why am I not surprised?”

“Wouldn't be the first time, Ni.” “Should we kill them?” “We can't, Godzilla-” “I know San, I know! But he never said we can't defend ourselves. If they try to attack us, it's free game!”

“My sweets....” They freeze. What did they just call them? No one ever called them that but-... No. No, she's gone.

“Can't you hear me? Please answer me. Remember our promise? I promised I'd come find you”

No... No, no no no, no! It's not true! This is a trick! They are tricking us!

San leans closer, looking down at the boat and the humans on board.

“Ichi... Ni... San.... Do you remember me?”

They stare. They stare at the human woman with the dark hair and eyes. The eyes they know, the eyes they only see in their dreams.

“It's her!” Sam rears ups, shocked and confused. It's her. She's back! She's come!

“Ichi, Ni, it's her! It's her! Master!” “NO! Get a grip San, it isn't!” Ichi roars, staring down at San. “This is a trick, clearly!”

“But-”

Ichi doesn't believe, doesn't trust. Ni wants to believe, wants to trust. San believes, San trusts.

San bends down again, trying to reach the boat, he needs to see her, smell her, touch her. “Master!”

“NO!” Ichi snaps, he grabs San by the scruff of his neck and pulls him away. They stagger, their body, twitching. The heads fight.

Middle tries to dominate left, biting and power grooming him into submission. Usually San would yield, but not this time. He rises, roaring at his brother in fury.

“STOP IT ICHI! It is her, I know it!”

“IT CAN'T BE SAN, SHE IS DEAD!” They are torn apart, feeling an array of feelings.

Yes! No! Want! Don't! Believe! Fear! Trust! Rage! Can't be! It is!

“STOP!!”

They stop. Ichi and San look at Ni. He glares at them. Is this what happens when they see a glint of what had been? It tears them apart just like this? How weak have they become, how low have they fallen?

“Brothers.... Please.... Who else could talk with us like that?” San pleads at Ichi and Ni, lowering his head. His eyes displaying nothing but sadness.

“Our connection is still there... After all this time, all those years our link is still strong. Who else but her could speak with us? Who else knows the names she gave us?”

All three heads turn to look back at the boat. The humans, pointing their weak little weapons at them, stare, waiting for them to move.

Except the woman. She stands at the railing, tears in her eyes, her face contorted as if in pain.

“Please, don't fight... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry. I couldn't protect you. I promised you, remember? That I would find you, no matter what. I said I would come. And I am here now, my sweets.... Please forgive me....”

She cries. No humans ever cried for them but....

“Eva...?”

Her head snaps back up so fast, you could almost hear it crack. Ghidorah leans down towards the boat, all three heads until their noses almost touch it.

They look at her. The face, the scar of the dog bite on her leg. The way she smiles. They smell her.

Like spring. She smells like spring. Like her favorite season. And fish crackers. She reaches out, placing her soft, small hand on Ichi's snout and smiles that smile that sings of love and happy memories.

“I'm sorry.... Did you wait long?”

[rolotouto]

Banjou no Geass Gekijou

Before I post a list with all the games Rolo’s been featured in, here's more about my favorite one: the Nintendo DS board game, Banjou no Geass Gekijou. These are some of the lines you get when you land on Rolo’s squares.

へぇ、すごいですね、ライさんって。　何人もの人の声を、同時に聞き分けられるなんて…僕が必ず分かるのは兄さんの声くらいですよ… Wow, you are amazing, Rai-san. To be able to recognize the voices of multiple people simultaneously... The only one that I recognize without fail is Brother's...

すごいですね、ライさん。人を簡単に笑わせるなんて…僕にはできそうにありません。 You are amazing, Rai-san. Being able to make people laugh so easily... I don’t think I could do it.

ライさんはどうして、そんなに簡単に人を笑わせることができるんですか？ あ、いえ…　別にうらやましいとかそういうことではないですけど…　ただ、すごいなって… Rai-san, why are you able to make people laugh so easily? Ah, no... It's not that I am jealous or anything like that... It's just, that it’s so amazing...

I think lines like this show how strong Rolo’s true self is despite being trained as an “emotionless” assassin. The sight of someone making another person happy makes him feel admiration. He had the potential to be a really good kid...

やった！僕の勝ちですね！あ、ごめんなさい…　僕ばかりが楽しんでしまったみたいで…　あ、あの…　また遊んでください！ Yes! I won! Ah, I'm sorry... It seems I ended up being the only one who had fun... U-um... Let's play again next time, please!

And he isn’t just in touch with his own feelings, but also those of the individual he’s interacting with. I wish these pretty scenes with Rai could lead to a Good End where, having gained another person he can trust, Rolo actually started believing in his right to be loved simply by being Rolo, instead of assuming his value is tied to his usefulness as an assassin. But yeah, the Good Ends have him killing Rai, so I guess deep-rooted beliefs take long to change...

えっ！事故に遭ったんですか！…兄さんはッ！にィ~さ~んッ！！ Eh! You had an accident?! ...Brother is...! Bro~ther!!

There’s a driving minigame where you play as Rivalz and Lelouch, and this is Rolo’s reaction if you crash Rivalz’s motorbike. Before playing the minigame, Rolo had asked you to please accompany Rivalz-san and Niisan because he(Rolo) doesn’t trust Rivalz-san’s driving skills. I find it amusing that Rolo actually went through the process of learning how to drive a bike and that he probably understands about vehicles (and mechas), while Lelouch likely has no interest or knowledge whatsoever. His fakememory!self was probably initially totally confused by his little sibling’s ability to drive, and it’s things like these that make the time he spent with Rolo be memories with Rolo rather than “with a Nunnally replacement”. Anyway, if you play the driving minigame when Rolo has come to like Rai as well, he will be calmer and say something like “I’m glad Niisan and you are safe”. Rivalz doesn’t even exist for Rolo.

あれ、失敗ですか。もしかしてオモチャのハンマーじゃ本気になれないですか？僕のナイフ…　貸しましょうか？フフフ… Oh, you lost? Maybe it's that you couldn't take it seriously using a toy hammer? Should I lend you... my knife? Fufufu...

This is what you get when you lose on the whac-a-character minigame. Sadly for Rolo, one of the rules in that minigame is not to hit Nunnally.

あ、ライさん。ほら、見てください！兄さんからもらったんです、この回転パズル！ねえ、ライさん。一緒に組み立ててみませんか？ Ah, Rai-san. Look, look at this! I received it from Brother, this rotation puzzle! Hey, Rai-san, why don't we assemble it together?

思ったより簡単にできましたね、ライさん。でも、せっかく兄さんがくれたものなんですから今度はひとりでやってみます。じゃあ… You were able to do it more easily than I thought, Rai-san. But since it's something that Brother gave me, next time I'll try to do it on my own. Well then...

Rolo allowing others to play with something given to him by Niisan? And poor Victor from the OSI had to get killed after touching his locket...

The next part needs some context first. This is from when you overhear his conversation with Villetta and Lelouch at the basement. Once he notices you there, he'll normally just kill you instantly, but if you visit them after he's already grown to like you, he hesitates and, seeing how neither Villetta nor Lelouch noticed you, offers to spare your life with the condition that you don't tell anyone what you heard. You can answer "yes" or "no". As one can guess, saying that you won't keep the secret leads to a game over.

First, "yes": じゃあ、これは…　僕らだけの秘密です…　そう…　兄さんにも内緒の…

Then, this is... a secret that is only ours... That's right... a secret even to Brother...

And "no":

なるほど…　僕がバカでした…　やっぱり信じられるのは…　兄さんだけ…　他のヤツなんて… …ライさん。　あなたならわかってくれると思ったのに…　残念です… I see... I was stupid... Indeed, the one that can be trusted... is only Brother... Of course there would be no one else... ...Rai-san. I thought that you would understand, and yet... It's a shame...

It might be because it’s a game and he’s merely letting the player know what’s going to happen, but still, I like that Rolo doesn’t kill Rai right away and instead expresses his emotions to him/her first. Like Rolo barely talks to people he doesn’t feel a connection with, but once he does feel it, the love he has for that person is really important to him. Enough that he’d die mainly to honor those feelings that made him feel human. Lastly, there’s a conversation between Rolo and Lelouch that you get right before Rolo’s route is completed. (Lulu)やあ、ライ。 Hi there, Rai. (Rolo)あ、ライさん。 Ah, Rai-san. ほらな、ロロ。やっぱりライはここに来ただろ？ See, Rolo, Rai did come here after all, didn’t (s)he? う、うん… Y-yeah... 今、ロロと賭けをしてたんだ。ライが15分以内にここに来るかどうかをね。 結果は、俺の勝ち。　ロロ、今日の洗濯当番は代わってもらうぞ。 I just made a bet with Rolo on whether you'd arrive here within 15 minutes. The result is I won. Rolo, today you do the laundry instead. う、うん…　あ、で、でも！夕食当番は兄さんだからね！ Y-yes... Ah, b-but! Don’t forget that Brother is in charge of dinner! む、そうだったか…　じゃあ、こうしよう。俺が今からライと何かのミニゲームで対戦する。俺が勝ったら、ロロ。オマエが夕食当番だ。 Hm, was it so?... Well then, let's do this. I'm going to compete with Rai in some minigame now. If I win, Rolo, you take care of dinner. え、また賭け事？ Eh, betting again? そうさ、わかりやすいだろ？ライ、何て対戦する？オセロか？パズルか？何でもいいぞ。 That's right, isn't it simple? Rai, what will we compete in? Othello? Puzzle? Anything will do. 兄さん、水泳はどう？ Brother, what about swimming? なに！？なぜ体力勝負を…！ What!? Why a trial of strength...! 何でもいいって言ったじゃない？ Didn't you say that anything would do? クッ！いいだろう！速く泳ぐ理論はわかっている！負けるわけがない！ライ！水泳で勝負だ！ロロ！オマエは夕食の献立でも考えておくんだな！ Tch! Fine! I know the theory for swimming fast! There's no way I'll lose! Rai! It's a swimming match! Rolo! Start thinking about what to cook for dinner! It���s adorable how Rolo is so comfortable with Lelouch that he isn’t afraid to show him that he wants him to lose. Lelouch is hilariously slow at the swimming minigame despite “knowing the theory” (lol), so usually you’ll win without trying: やった！これで兄さんの手料理が食べられるよ! ありがとう、ライさん！ Yes! Now I can eat Brother's home cooking! Thank you, Rai-san!

チッ…　しかたないな…　晩御飯はビーフストロガノフだ！いいな！ Tch... There's no helping it... Dinner will be beef stroganoff, okay?!

うん！ Yes!

I’m laughing at how in-character it is for Lelouch to loose his cool when he doesn’t win. And notice how Rolo didn’t actually mind cooking dinner himself, he just wanted Lelouch to do it so he could eat his home cooking ♥ You can also just do nothing at all during the minigame so Lelouch can beat you, in which case the conversation goes like: 水泳で兄さんに負けるなんて…ライさん、遅い… To lose against Brother at swimming... Rai-san, you're slow... ロロ、夕食は何か凝ったものが食べたいな…そうだな…流しそうめんなんてどうだ？ Rolo, for dinner I want to eat something elaborate... Let me see... What about flowing noodles? 兄さん…たしかに凝ってるけど…それじゃ昼食みたいだよ…大丈夫、もっと栄養のあるものを作ってあげるから。 Brother... That's certainly elaborate but... then it would be like lunch... It's alright, I'll make you something more nutritious.

頼むぞ、ロロ。 I leave it in your hands, Rolo.

A Japanese person will probably find this funnier and be able to explain it better, but I think the joke is that flowing noodles are really plain in terms of what the food itself is, and that what is elaborate is the process to prepare them (you have to make noodles slide down a structure of bamboo pipes). So Lelouch seems to be deliberately choosing something Rolo can’t possibly prepare just to feel a bit evil? On the other hand, it’s really cute that he will eat Rolo’s cooking. He isn’t disgusted by it or anything, as much as he’d want to convince himself that he hates Rolo… And that’s it. Afterwards you get the endings, in which he kills you. Yeah, he spared your life at the basement, but now he stabs you out of respect, because he wants your ghost to protect Niisan. And he smiles and laughs when saying so too!? Well, to be precise, that’s the ending if you are playing as male!Rai. As female!Rai he seems more pained and doesn’t want you to leave, and it’s not so clear whether he kills you or not. Maybe he kidnaps you, since you simply disappear after Rolo took you to the airport. Creepy stuff... Someone uploaded a video of Rolo’s route, where you can see everything we’ve been talking about. ---- By the way, the official blog for this game was run by staff members who seemed to like Rolo a lot. The blog isn’t available anymore, but you can find the original texts in Japanese through Wayback Machine: part 1, part 2, part 3.

For example:

“I’m now playing through the previous game LOST COLORS and I was chased and killed by Rolo!”

“By the way, I wear Rolo on my employee badge.

It’s cute how Rolo’s charm is shaped like a heart!”

“So, since the anime’s last episode aired, there’s a new DS ‘Banjou no Geass Gekijou’ advertisement. We tried changing Lelouch and Rolo’s lines! Rolo 'Niisan... is cute' You are the one who’s cute-!”

“Good... mor   ning. It’s No... zawa... First, um, yeah, I haven’t posted updates. U.... Usui san is the only one who... was... writing... If you’re... wondering... why, on 17th August’s broadcast... Rolo  Rolo d... died”

“You can see Rolo in the advertisement... (tear)”

“Lelouch’s emperor outfit... I wanted Rolo to see it”  ----- It’s nice to know the staff was allowed to openly fangirl about their favorite characters. Although we already knew that from Sakou-san...