#like she's with everyone when they're with him but she's jumpy as fuck the entire time

[monty-glasses-roxy]

Making this a new post so not to flood people’s dashes with one giant AU post!

@jellycreamjammedart​

Ooooo being away gives him enough time and the space necessary to have the strength to come back at all and Gregory gave him the focus he needed not to get swept away by his own mind... Maybe he stays in touch with Vanessa and they can be talking buddies or he gets an over the phone therapist or something I dunno. Could be fun. Definitely space and time for him to come to appreciate that sometimes arson is the answer to your problems.

Also lmao Roxy yelling at him from across the room to keep his gremlin on a leash. “He don’t bite!” “YES THE FUCK HE DO”

No one tell Gregory the power he has over her now. He will absolutely abuse the fuck out of it.

[bronze-and-silver-keys]

i was telling my sister about the ghost au and she said "i think it would be cool if everyone alive can see the ghosts of the people who were executed because they're the ones who voted for them and sent them to their deaths" and i think you mightve said at one point that the "killer" is a more literal thing but. thoughts on that

I actually had the loopholes of the ghost au on my mind since this post and there are definitely cool things I can do with it, SO I will be answering a lot of the questions brought up by that previous post because I think it would be sick as fuck and add to the uneasy atmosphere of the killing games themselves

Spoilers for THH, SDR2, and NDRV3 below

Can Makoto see Chihiro? (In one of the FTEs he reccomends training with Mondo)

I would imagine Makoto is kind of haunted by all of the people that died in the killing game, including Junko, both figuratively and literally. He'll catch glimpses of their ghostly forms out of the corner of his eye, in the bathroom mirror, in the shadows.

I want to see this boy driven insane by the constant reminder of all the people he couldn't help or felt so responsible for dying. I want more of that scene in DR3 where Makoto volunteers to watch the killing game video and sees everyone that died.

I love Makoto, but I love subjecting him to endless despair even more.

Can Aoi see Sakura?

Can Hiro/Syo see Sakura (because they think they killed her)

Similar to Makoto, Aoi sees Sakura everywhere as a ghostly figure that's not completely there. She'll see her at the end of a hall, turning a corner, and shout her name and bolt after her, only to find it empty as she breaks down from the guilt of not being able to stop her and essentially handing Sakura her own death.

For Hiro it'd be similar, because he believes in ghosts (as shown by his insistence in the 5th trial that Kyoko was a ghost), but he'd be more jumpy.

Genocider Syo wouldn't be as prone to seeing her ghost, but Toko would be the same as Hiro. Seeing her everywhere and being terrified to sleep at night.

Can Nagito see Twogami?

During the first investigation and trial, I think he would be able to see Twogami's silhouette when it hangs around Teruteru and passes silent judgment. I like to think he'd at least feel some guilt over it. Yes, he set this all up to start the killing game, but Twogami did this to protect him. He gave his life for him. How could that person who pulled you back from the fate you created with your own hands, only to fall victim to it himself, just fade away entirely?

After Teruteru’s execution, the sightings of Twogami became less frequent, until they disappeared altogether. Until he died, of course.

Can Sonia see Hiyokos ghost because she told her to go to the music venue to tie her kimono?

The guilt of that would definitely chase her, and only build more after Gundham's death (the betrayal and the thought that she could've stopped him [she couldn't. His fate was inevitable]) and the fifth trial (she knew the bombs were fake, and this piece of information eventually helped condemn Chiaki to her fate).

I would argue she felt partially responsible for Mahiru and Peko's deaths as well. It was her enthusiasm over Sparkling Justice that gave Peko the idea of her cover to be voted as the blackened, and just inspired a large part of the murder overall.

She loves to talk about her interests, but refrains from speaking about them, just in case someone used that information for a murder. She would see Hiyoko in mirrors constantly. Every interaction she had with the Devas hurt more than the last. Nagito and Chiaki are always just out of view.

I never thought about how haunted Sonia would be by just trying to help keep everyone safe, and have some kind of normalcy by making friends and talking about her interests. Huh.

Can Maki see Ryoma (<- Because they swapped Motive Videos and that gave Ryoma less will to live)

Ryoma would hang out a lot in his lab after he died, thinking about his life, what went wrong, why no one was left for him outside of the academy.

The night after the trial, Maki stops by his lab, posture stiff and shifting from one foot to the other, and start apologizing to the empty air. After Kokichi revealed her true talent, she doesn't want to be seen as just a killer. She feels guilty about giving him the motive video, even if she didn't know what was on it. She apologizes for killing him before Kirumi dealt the final blow.

Ryoma suddenly appears before her while she's finally starting to tear up and her throat is closing. There he is in front of her, clear as day, reassuring her that it wasn't her fault. He would've found out one way or another. He should've been stronger, he should've fought for the others inside of the academy and made an effort to be closer to them. He shouldve made them his reason to live. He just wasn't strong enough.

He tells her to live. Even if you have no one out there, live. Live for yourself. Live for the friends you will make in the future. Live for the days when the sun is shining while rain pours down on everything. Live for the trill a cat makes when disturbed by pets during a nap in the sun. Live for all the color in the world, for the music, for the intoxicating scent of sweets and fresh bread. Live, damn it.

Can Himiko see Tenko? (<- Himiko was supposed to die at the seance)

Sometimes, when she can't sleep, Himiko will sit up in bed, and see Tenko's familiar outline sitting in the chair by her bed, watching over her. Every time, she breaks down into a mess of tears and repetitious apologies.

Can Maki see Kokichi? (<- we still don't know if the poison killed Kokichi before the press)

Teehee I'm already writing a fic about this with canon divergence (it's in my pinned post, if you haven't read it please do I'm working on a new chapter) BUT if we stay with canon, with Kaito being the Blackened:

Maki would never see but always hear both of them. She would hear them bickering just out of sight nearby constantly. Both of them would greet her in the morning, wish her a good night. She would be sure she was going insane from the guilt.

If she hadn't intervened and fired the crossbow, maybe she wouldn't have had to go through the heartache that was the entire 5th trial.

Can Himiko see Kaito (<- Gave him the crossbow/weapon to fight Kokichi with.)

This is an instance where i don't think she would have as strong a reason to feel responsible for his death. I believe she would see it more that she did what she could to help him, but have no real power in the whole situation. That doesn't mean she doesn't miss the hell out of him. He was the last remnant of Tenko she really had. They acted so similar.

[oc-siblings-bracket]

OC-Siblings-Bracket 1.13

info down there because these posts are long ↓

Riley & Kiara Parker by @attorneybout

Info:

OKAY. SO. leaving out a lot of details because their story takes place entirely in a huge crossover roleplay and it'd be fucking wild if halfway through i was just like "so anyways, dimentio-" so we will not do that <3 no info about these guys is on my blogs. they're only on discord sorry.

ANYWAYS.

so. riley and kiara are sisters, with riley being th younger sister, at 12 (kiara is 16). kiara's dad actually found riley alone in the woods one day, and, with seemingly nobody else looking for her, took her in. neither he nor kiara knows about her biological parents but judging from how riley acted and how scared she seemed when he found her he hopes they never come back for her (they will! well. her bio mom will. her bio dad isn't relevant)

riley was basically very jumpy and anxious for the longest time because of how her mom treated her but eventually she came out of her shell and now shse's so sillygirl /pos she's very close with kiara and also close with kiara's friends it's really nice. kiara is really quiet mostly but undeniably Very Cool and she's also a streamer (sometimes she streams playing games with her friends or with riley too!)

however! a lot of stuff happens to riley, like an obscene amount. she got possessed, once. she got kidnapped into a fucking void dimension for a while. and she even got mind controlled. and kiara couldn't take seeing her sister hurt so often and even though she can't do much she has to try to get her sister back, so she ends up joining this vaguely shady organization who promises to help get riley back.

and! it works. sort of. they manage to catch the guy who mind controlled riley, with some outside help, and kiara questions him for a way to reverse the mind control. but he say he can't just reverse it like that. BUT. he offers her something. if they let him go, he'll give them something that they could use to try and reverse engineer a way to get riley back.

but if kiara lets him go, then he could go on to cause more mayhem. mind control more people. possibly even destroy the world.

but like. small price to pay for your sister being okay. so kiara, after some hesitation, lets him go. and, for the time being, they've even gotten away with it. sure, someone else got mind controlled, but not riley. never riley again. and nobody suspects that they let him go, at least not to her knowledge.

but she still feels a little bit bad about it. i mean, who wouldn't? sure, she can tell herself it will work out and that they had no choice, but she knows it's not true. and the truth is, riley wouldn't have really wanted that. but riley, despite having more confidence in herself now, is insanely self-sacrificial, and would have said it's better for everyone if she was simply gone forever if that meant everyone else would be safe.

other fun bonus things include:

riley is a realm-hopper. she doesn't know it yet. realm hoppers can basically teleport and travel between dimensions. kiara is vaguely aware of this but hasn't told riley about it yet

riley is trans!

kiara she/they swag

kiara is nonverbal at times

one of kiara's friends is also siblings with one of riley's friends but they're less iconic so i'm submitted these two instead. but their names are liberty (libby for short) eagle lawson and justice forall lawson and i need you to know that their parents are fucking insane for that one

kiara aroace swag also

riley lesbian swag

kiara doesn't share all of the same interests as riley but she always knows so much about riley's interests second-hand

kiara taught riley how to do crafts

they have a cat!! the cat's name is kiki :) i'll include a picture of her too but that's just for infodump purposes. kiki is actually named after a nickname riley used to call kiara

riley (first image) drawn by me and kiara (second image) made using this picrew https://picrew.me/image_maker/92646 and kiki (third image) made using this picrew https://picrew.me/image_maker/1713721 if i'm lucky enough to get motivation i might draw them together because i really need to anyways honestly

Additional Cat Photo:

Mischief & Magic Grape by @mystic-sunni

Info:

Mischief Grape is a Adventurer who travels around to the islands in Poptropica. With how much he travels he helped many people and became a hero to many. Magic Grape is his little sister just a year apart. Magic Grape is a well known author who has many successful books and is very kind to people. They both love helping people whenever they can. Also fun fact about Mischief Grape is that he has some clumsy moments that definitely are only seen in cartoons.

[juvederm]

is it tough for anyone else to really rank the ud characters like??? let me ramble for a second

separating player base and fandom. i know the players have very BASIC rankings. ie, mike is usually #1, and emily is lowest. like that's a let's players ranking of the characters. i think it's very shallow and boring but. they're like a player. not really a fandom person.

with that out of the way, i don't understand the fandom's rankings of the characters. because for me personally, i like all of them. for every bad thing i have to say about them, i have a positive thing to say. for every action of theirs i criticize, i can also defend them. so i can't really rank them based on bad shit they do

in my eyes, i don't understand hating ashley but liking josh. that doesn't compute to me. or hating jess but liking emily, vice versa. because they're all equally shitty or can do horrible things. and before you say sam, she can like kill everyone in the lodge fire. so yeah. (but a post about sam's character is another post for another late night)

i find every ranking of the characters really boring. like every tier list, every numbered list or anything like that is usually just predictable. you know either emily, jess or ashley is gonna be at the bottom (which is a shame bc those three are in my personal top 4) and you know chris is gonna be high, mike or matt is either high or middle, sam is usually high and josh is high sometimes as well. or really low. it's kind of a toss up.

there's a lot to be said about the low rankings of the female ud characters. i think it's boring when someone ranks emily low, to me that's just bad taste. and like sheep behavior in a way. the game wants you to hate her so... you hate her. that's something the playerbase does, except for maybe a few let's players who enjoyed emily. but majority of them dislike her because she was like. written to be disliked.

not entirely though? she has her redeemable moments but even then people still hate her. like being mean is a death sentence for emily and i find that strange. because the people who say that about her, in the same breath, like michael, who quite literally harassed a girl in the prologue (and emily, jess, ash and matt were also participants so this is what i mean by they're all equally shitty in their own ways)

so that's why i personally can't rank them because... they're all equal in my eyes. and yeah i have 4 that i geek about, and josh is one that i publicly geek about (i know nobody is gonna believe my top 4 but it's: emily, josh, jess and ashley) but i love all them like on the same level. like i have so much to say about all of them. except josh is like. the one i have been thinking of making content for like stories and art, etc, so that's why he dominates a lot of my ud posts bc he's just in my headspace

and also. once you stop thinking about the morality of the characters, ranking them doesn't fucking matter!!!! because they're all put into this horrible situation but not necessarily horrible people. like there's sympathetic moments that i feel like are just glossed over for the sake of saying you dislike them.

this happens for ashley. she's a sweet girl, she's kinda just silly when it comes to humor, and she's jumpy and not a fan of scary things. but god forbid she freaks out and suddenly she's a whiny bitch who's useless compared to chris (that's just misogyny not even gonna hold you) and she does horrible things that people ALSO hold above her head and then forget how she STARTED at the beginning of the game.

i've already said how i feel about the whole "ashley killing chris" thing. you should know that that is an out of character choice for chris who spent the entire basement sequence saying "ashley i won't let you die" only to shoot her? is that not an OOC choice for him? ofc you're gonna get punished for doing that. the game straight up tells you in a TIP: sometimes doing nothing is the best thing to do. which is something you can do in those trigger control-like options.

hell, even josh is like: "mike knows how to treat a lady. hint: it's not to shoot her in the face!" to chris if he shoots ashley (also kinda foreshadowing ? to mike potentially shooting emily) so like. it's not even ashley's fault that YOU chose an out of character option for chris and got punished.

and to conclude this, yes she can kill him but DID U KNOW??? she can also open the door and Save him ??? she doesn't Just kill him no matter what you do. that's absurd.

anyways. i got carried away. in conclusion, ranking the characters in fandom is pretty much useless. i'll end it off with this

you either like all of them or hate all of them.

[fingerboardrhapsodist]

It's really nice up there, there's a lake and sometimes you can find spirits and shit if you're lucky. I ended up fleeing a murder attempt and passed out after being poisoned up there. Dunno if they're there whenever you're at, but there was a hidden village of separatist Sheikah up there that found me and kept me from dying. Also my then-infant daughter. Which I appreciate. But also they're kind of xenophobic as fuck. Maybe don't go looking for them, actually.

Oh! I know where I recognize that from now! I know her descendant! She found a way to get back to Hyrule and spent a while hanging out in our shadows. Unsure who she's stuck with now, or if she's gone home. I've been away a while. From what her descendant said, if memory serves, she was awesome and did a lot of good. And they passed down stories about the hero that she traveled with. This is all from before I initially went on my wandering way, so I don't want to give details that might be like....entirely wrong because memory of then is foggy.

Fi spent a long time asleep and only really woke up this cycle. So I don't know that anybody but the first incarnation of the Hero got to actually meet her before us. She's really neat, though. Very smart. Gave me a replacement arm when I lost mine. I promised to bring her shit to study about other worlds when I return. She knows everyone who's used the sword and what they did, though, so she definitely remembers you.

Big tree is probably the Deku Tree. He sleeps a lot too. I lived in that clearing for I think months and I only saw him awake ONCE, and that was when I had company over. I didn't get to see a skull kid, but then I didn't really go in the forest outside the clearing unless I had to.

Honestly I try to look back at it with some amount of humor. Goddesses won't let me die, I got too much shit to do. As for the different time thing, this thing seems to connect all over the place at once. Different worlds, different times, all kinds of weird shit. We've talked to Kid, who is a Link from my brother's second lifetime, on this place. Also my brother back during his second lifetime. This place is fucking weird.

My parents unofficially adopted Zelda. She had a traumatic ass experience, nearly died, got put in a shrine to recover for a hundred years, and woke up with no memories of anything. We spent like, ten years waiting for her to wake up because who knows what'll happen, especially with the Yiga. Uh...separatist Sheikah who, instead of running away to hide, decided 'what if we worship the Calamity and help it destroy shit for funsies.' And they FUCKING FOUND HER FIRST. When I met her it was like a few hours after one of them attacked her and she was jumpy as FUCK. I paid for her food and a bed at the stable, then fucked off before she could stab me. Did not blame her at all.

Nnnno, west side of the field. Satori Mountain, I think it's called. I've also been up to Zora's Domain, lovely place. Very friendly. Attractive folks, too.

Midna...that name is familiar. And hey, I know the spirit of the Master Sword! She's aces. I think Fi's a she, anyway. Did you get to see the Great Deku Tree? One of the Links I know calls it 'the grandpa tree.' It's the fuckoff massive one in the Lost Woods that kinda casts most of the area in shadow. Lived there for a few months too.

Also said time's kinda fucky for me here. I spent a literal lifetime wandering around, died, stayed eons playing the part of reaper of souls for a world of immortals, and then got shuffled off into the goddesses' hands to supposedly go to whatever afterlife we should go to. But then they decided to give me back my body in the state I left Hyrule, short a scar on the spot where I died. Then they dumped me in the Spring of Wisdom up on Mount Lanayru. I'm guessing it was a jab at wisdom being the thing I need the most. And instead of like, 80 fucking years, six MONTHS had passed in Hyrule.

Honestly, I've seen weirder shit. I've been in past versions of Hyrule before. I met the first incarnation of the Hero and tried to help him keep his Zelda, who was a childhood friend, out of trouble. Maybe my Hyrule is in a different time than yours is? My brother reincarnates with memories of his past lives, and he tells a lot of stories that may or may not be true, so...who knows if it'd be past or future for either of us.

Also the Zelda I know is a knight. Was a knight. I don't actually know what she's been up to since the kingdom's being rebuilt. Hopefully she took a good long nap, though.

[sailorwritesstuff]

more Madrigal family headcanons (their Tics, Tells, and Dirty secrets.)

Someone sent help This is like my 4th one.

warning: spoilers...duh, some of these are kind of dark, EDs, unintentional self harm, anxiety and panic attacks, paranoia episodes, BAD OCD. I usually try to keep these light-hearted but I've been in the mood for angst.

"You fucked up a perfectly good family It's what you did! look at it. It's got anxiety!" Mirabel (at some point probably.)

Pepa PULLS at her hair when she's overstimmed and it's not pretty sometimes

Julieta zones out sometimes while cooking and when she makes a mistake she'll break down.

Bruno will practically slam his fist into his head to stop unwanted visions

Young Mirabel used to spend hours crying thinking that if she was prettier like her sister her Abuela would like her. she went days trying not to eat as much as possible so her body would match Isabela.

Dolores gets overwhelmed and slams her palms over her ears as she lets out a flurry of uncontrollable squeaks that hurt her throat and chest.

Luisa is scared to be affectionate with a partner. she's afraid she'll hurt them.

Camilo sometimes forget what he sound like and panic so bad he can't breath or see straight.

Antonio plays with his hands when he thinks he's being lied to. he doesn't mean to but some times when his familia says they love him his hands are drawn to each other.

Isabela spins her hair around her fingers when she's stressed about the future She does it so often small strands of hair will fall out.

Alma can't look at Bruno for too long because he looks too much like his father and Bruno's known for a long time while his mama can't look him in the eyes

Agustin doesn't like when his wife has to heal him ALL the time. It makes them feel guilty like she's less of a wife and more of a mother.

Felix loves the family but he wishes that him and his family could just leave and get their own house. He doesn't like that the family has to work so hard.

one of Pepa's darkest secrets is she was very detached from Camilo at birth. she didn't want to look at him for days. And even though they don't remember now that they're older she tends to overcompensate.

Julieta has frequent night terrors about her family dying or injured and she can't help them.

Bruno's ocd/superstitions gets so bad sometimes He becomes fully convinced that if he doesn't do what it is his brain is making him do his entire family will die and it will be all his fault

Mirabel's darkest secret is about how she accidentally burnt herself on her mama's hot pan but she liked how it felt and that made her feel disgusted with herself. But sometimes she can't help but think about doing it again on purpose.

Dolores darkest secret isn't particularly her own. But she knows that some of the children in the town aren't their fathers children. she knows everyone who's ever cheated and with who. and she can never tell anybody. So she keeps a journal of every dark secret she knows about everyone

Luisa feels resentment for the adults in her life. They didn't let her or any of her siblings or cousins be KIDS. She knows that she's supposed to help the community but SHE wanted to be a little girl who played with dolls and never had to stress. and she missed out

Camilo gets really jumpy when he haven't been himself for more than a few hours.

Antonio is slightly paranoid that one day his gift might not work or the animals just won't listen and he'll get hurt.

Isabela wishes she had been born a boy (not in a transgender way) but feels like she wouldn't have as much pressure on her shoulders to be married and perfect

Alma knows that Mirabel and Camilo used to be very close before He got his gift. She forced them apart. And while she still believes it was for the good of the family it's one of her biggest regrets.

Agustin was secretly glad his youngest daughter didn't get a gift. He doesn't feel bad about it but he knows he can never say anything.

Julieta heavily associates her worth with being maternal. So when Peppa could have another baby at 45 and she couldn't it took a very heavy toll on her mental health

Felix was kind of okay with the magic dying. His wife's power doesn't often feel like a "gift" when he sees what pain she's going through.

Bruno returned home but he's never really been the same as before he left. he eats very little even though there's plenty, He avoids eye contact at any cost, and he's so jumpy that it scares his sisters

Mirabel has tried to run away multiple times. She planned it out perfectly each time and the only thing that's kept her there for so long is that she didn't know Antonio would get his gift and Casita wouldn't let her leave after she found out he would be okay.

Dolores hears everything. And some of the things she hears makes her feel disgusting like she's imposing on people's privacy It's gotten so bad she'll completely shut down for hours or days.

Luisa doesn't want to have kids in fear that she'd only ever be too tough on them.

Camilo clicks his teeth twice randomly People usually think it's because he wants to be annoying but he genuinely can't help it.

Antonio taps his leg when he's anxious. which is a lot. It's not unusual to see a tiny handprint bruise on his leg from tapping all day.

Isabela's darkest secrets is sometimes she sneaks out of the house at night to do things "normal" teenagers do.

Alma doesn't really feel sorry for what she's done to everyone's health and how they interact as a family. She's sorry for the result of her actions. she's sorry she let Casita fall. nothing more.

Agustin knew what he was signing up for when he married into the family but as time went by he started to really notice how inferior he felt

Felix biggest regret is not standing up for Bruno. he knew he didn't mean harm and he could tell Bruno was joking at the wedding. but he wasn't even in the family yet he didn't want to risk it. so he forced himself to forget what he thought he knew.

[itoshit]

Giving them privacy I went into my room, trying to calm the rapid beatings of my heart. I fucking wanted to smash her face in the wall, no jokes. Who the hell she thought she was to talk to me like that?

Brushing my teeth again I checked the time. Almost 20 minutes have gone by, their friends would surely arrive soon.

Re-entering the living room, I could hear Vee and Natalie whispering shouting at each other, and clearing my throat, they turned to me.

Are they soon here?

Yes.

Raising an eyebrow at Natalie, I looked at Vee.

Vee are you okay?

I am no worries

Giving me a smile to comfort me, she didn't even look at me in the eyes. What was going on at the end?

I really need to go but I also want to wait for the girls to arrive so I'm just gon-

No! You can go, they don't want to see you, too scared of you. If could just... leave? It would be better for us all

Hm? The hell are you talki-

Listen to Nat please Manji'?

... Okay. Well then, just send me a message when they're leaving okay baby? Will come back right after.

Nodding, Vee waved at me. I wasn't going to kiss her again, I knew that Natalie would prevent me from doing so anyway.

Taking my keys I left my place, closing the door behind me. Getting up in my car, I smiled.

Vee will have a surprise.

Going to Shibuya, I parked and strolled in the busy streets. I had two goals in mind today. To find a Christmas gift, and to do... something else.

I checked many shops but none of them looked interesting enough. I didn't even know Vee that much when I thought of it. I didn't know if she had any siblings, her favourite color, her favourite weather... nothing. But we had all the time of the world to get to know each other more, and I was looking forward to it. I knew the situation wasn't the best for her. I took her freedom away, but it was only to protect her.

Throwing a glance at the clothes shops, I stumbled upon a cute coat. She didn't have one, that would be a good start. I knew her size too, so I bought it. It wasn't too personal though and I didn't like that. I wasn't a man of emotions but I guessed I could try for her.

And then, I found the perfect gift. I recalled her talking about her favourite artist, and they were miraculously on a tour, the last date being Tokyo, mid-January.

Here I go, the perfect gift.

An hour after, and still no news from Vee, I entered the shop I wanted to go to.

Hey what can I do for you today?

I'd an appointment, the name is Sano. At 4pm

Ooh yes Mister Sano come come! What will it be today?

Could you dye my hair in black please? It's my natural colour and I'm kinda sick of the blond

Clapping her hands excitingly at my request, the hairdresser nodded happily at me.

Of course! You wanna get your hair cut too?

No! Please not the hair.

Okay then sit here, someone will come for you shortly!

Nodding at her, I sat and waited.

Few hours after, I exited the hair salon. I just wanted to go back home and see Vee again, to show her and be with her.

Thank you come back again!

Waving at her I left the place and directed myself to my car. Vee hasn't contacted me yet, almost four hours after I left. It was now 8pm, and taking my car again, I drove to my penthouse.

In the elevator I rearranged my hair in the mirror. Black hair definitely looked better on me. Turning the key in the lock, I noticed that it was already opened.

Frowning, I pushed the door slowly.

Vee baby? I'm back!

But no one was in the living room. No noises from the bedrooms and the bathroom too. Something was off. Walking quickly down the hall to my room, she wasn't here.

I could feel my breath starting to be irregular, and reaching her bedroom, the bags fell on the floor. The drawers, the shelves, were empty of her belongings. There wasn't anything left.

Vee left me. She left. Falling on my knees, a hand over my heart, I was trying to find oxygen but my lungs were constricted. I was having anpanic attack. Another person leaving me. She left me. Alone.

And then, nothing. I closed my eyes, forehead pressed against the cold floor. I was used to it. Used to being alone. After all, loneliness was my best companion.

-Mikey

So we chose pain today? 🙃

WAAAIT BABY I CAN FIX THIS JUST WAIT!

Natalie had done it now. She wanted Mikey to suffer and she wanted to use me to do it, packing up all my stuff so I could move in with her and Sanzu at his apartment. It was all annoying to me. She was treating me as if I was a child, someone who wasn’t consciously deciding to stay with Mikey, to be with Mikey. I wasn’t naïve. I wasn’t pretending to know what’ll happen to us after the Yamaguchi issu was done with. In fact, I braced myself with the fact every morning I woke beside him.

Once he was through with protecting me, Mikey had no obligation to me, and with the way our lives were so completely different… I don’t know how we’d make it work without endangering the other person. I knew Mikey was selfish, but I also knew he was selfless and according to him, people had died because he lived. I couldn’t imagine what the thought of me dying did to him, if he even imagined it at all. I surely didn’t. It scared me too much, that Senju incident was the closest he ever came to it, and that was the closest I’d ever want him to go.

To me this entire spectacle was a dramatic way for Natalie to endanger her life. Mikey was patient with her, but only because she was my friend. I had seen him murder people who were working under him with no remorse. I knew his patience with her only ran so thin. If he were to find out that she’d done this… it’d run out completely. So I went to call him while she was packing my things, trying to tell him to come home early so his presence could stop Nat from doing something she’d regret, but she must’ve picked up on it and took my phone away from me. I let her, but only because I had a plan of my own. Scribbling a small note of where we’d be, I left it under Mikey’s pillow just before Natalie dragged me out of the house. I know how bad it must’ve looked, and I could only pray Mikey scoured the house looking for me and found the letter before he jumped to conclusions.

The ride to Sanzu’s made me jumpy. Every five seconds I turned my head to see if Mikey’s car was following behind us, heart sinking when it wasn’t. Nat looked completely calm which I just couldn’t get considering she was fucking with Mikey. Her face was completely rid of fear and nervousness. She was lax.

Hey, Vee, she called after watching me look behind me for the umpteenth time. You wanna know why I really hate Mikey?

I was annoyed she’d asked me that, considering it was something I was trying to figure out the entire fucking time. Yes.

Because he brought you into this.

Not this again. Natalie, you already told me-

I’m not finished. He brought you into this, and because of that I had to use you.

My blood ran cold. Use me? Nat, what the fuck are you talking about?

She just smiled at me, eyes suddenly filled with a coldness that I wasn’t used to, and one I was also so familiar with. Like the one she used to give me before all of this. The one she gave me in the club that night I met Mikey. You know I’m still looking for my father?

Your dad? Didn’t Mikey agree to help you look for them?

Yes, they haven’t gotten back to me though.

Why didn’t you ask Sanzu to check on it?

Sanzu’s still on probation from Yamaguchi affairs for nearly slipping up with me. Mikey assigned another exec to gather information on my father. Some fucker named Ran. He hasn’t gotten back to me, yet. Neither of them have. Her lips twitch. I don’t know what Ran does in his spare time, but I know that Mikey’s sure been busy lately.

Embarrassment and guilt flushed through me at the same time. Was I really the reason why Nat hadn’t gotten info about her dad yet? Hand me my phone, I’ll call Mikey myself. I tried to reach for the phone but she smacked my hand away. Nat what are you doing?

She just continued on, talking while looking out of the window. I was fine looking for my dad myself. I couldn’t trust anybody else with it. I knew they’d disappoint. I used anyone and everyone to get information about him all these years. I became an escort. Hell, I even became a spy. All to find him. That’s why I couldn’t tell you about this life, Vee. Because you’d be in it, either as a spy yourself, or as somebody I’d have to use.

Dread wormed its way through my gut. My ears rang. Goosebumps peppered my skin. I had an inkling on what she was trying to imply, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it. It was too painful. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say to her next, because the next thing I heard was the screeching of tires and car honks. I smelt the burning of rubber.

Brace yourselves! Our cab driver screamed right before the car barreled into us.

It was kinda funny. I watched several shows and movies where car accidents happened. They never quite captured the real thing. Glass flew everywhere and caught wherever it could: skin, hair, beneath the nails. Your body was thrown around the small space like it weighed nothing. Your life flashed before your eyes, or for some people, it ended.

I didn’t know which part I landed in when I opened my eyes. My head felt so light and my body so heavy I almost thought I could very well be dead. Something sticky trickled down the side of my face. I didn’t move to inspect it. Instead I looked around, finding the driver’s neck bent at an odd angle as his head was lodged in his steering wheel. He was obviously dead. Natalie, though nose was smeared with crimson, had a shallow breathing pattern to her chest. We lied there, dying or struggling to live for God knows how long until I felt a jolt—somebody was trying to open the car door. But I heard no sirens. Was this a civilian? Could it even be Mikey?

The answer was neither. The answer was much worse. When the door had managed to be ripped open, a man incredibly unfamiliar and terrifying smiled down at me showing me yellowing teeth.

Well it looks like our Natalie was right, the dead girl lives after all.