#look at hotshot's lil 'i did nothing wrong...yet' face

[antenanotaic3]

[tcookies777]

Here is a sneak peek at a side story I've written for The Anatomy of Love (a KakaSaku modern college au - AO3 hyperlink included)! You don't need to have read the fic to read this side story since this is a flashback to Kakashi's past when he was a teen, but it does help to understand since it's in the context of the fic itself!

The Anatomy of Love: Side Story - The Angel from Hell

About 14 years ago….

Summer in Sound country was utter shit.

Fire country had its droughts for sure during this season, and more often than not the trees would catch fire just from the mere glare of the sun on a dried leaf. But at least the trees also offered plenty of protection from the heat so long as the Firewatch was making sure those trees weren’t burning first.

Sound country, on the other hand, had nothing but empty golden plains that seemed to stretch on for eternity. If it didn’t look like a sort of heaven, Kakashi would’ve thought he was in hell what with the sun burning through his clothes and the scorched patches of earth peppered throughout the fields—a telltale sign of the bombs that had rained down on the area not too long ago.

A summer thunderstorm last week had given them a brief reprieve from the intense heat wave, but it had still left them uncomfortably soaked in their own clothes. A week later, the sun was back with a fiery vengeance, and they were back to soaking through their tactical gear in their own stink and sweat again, but this time with the muck of the marshlands clinging to their boots.

It had taken almost the whole day to sludge through the marshes and find shelter at a farmhouse that seemed to have been completely abandoned days ago. They’d cleared the house and finished in disappointment upon finding that all of the livestock were either gone or already getting feasted on by the maggots. Most of the food in the pantry had also long been raided save for a single jar of strawberry jam and a cracked egg left to spoil on a shelf. It wasn’t that everyone was starving—although they were certainly hungry after a day out trudging through a war zone—but a jar of sweet strawberry jelly was practically bliss compared to their MRE rations. Even Kakashi himself was getting wearier and wearier over every pound of rice he had to eat with the bland curry packed in his ration meal.

So the moment Anzu had spotted the bright red jar, there had immediately been a scuffle over who got to eat it. Being the fifth in command (and with the first four already dead), Kakashi had asserted the order that each person would get their fair share of strawberry jelly: one scoop and only after they’d finished their MREs for tonight. Everyone except Obito had glanced warily at each other, reluctant to follow the command of a 17-year-old boy despite him outranking them all. But, not wanting to throw a tantrum over strawberry fucking jelly of all things, they’d each grunted in answer.

And now that last bit of the jelly was getting scraped out of its jar by Obito after Kakashi had passed his share over to him. Sweets weren’t his thing anyway even if he would kill for something homemade rather than a meal full of preservatives.

The leftover spicy powder clung to the base of Kakashi’s back teeth no matter how many times he swigged down some water from his canteen. It was like chewing on sediment, and judging by the faces of everyone else, he was willing to bet none of them were intent on eating curry anytime soon after the end of this tour. He didn’t blame them.

“Piece of shit!” Tsutomu suddenly snarled, unsheathing his kukri to swipe at the fly that had been assaulting his face for the last half hour. The fat insect buzzed around him before disappearing into the man’s beard that was still coated with the blood from when a Sound soldier had tried to bash his face in back at the marshes. With a growl, Tsutomu swatted at his beard, prompting two flies to crawl out and give him double the work.

Sitting closest to him, Yori ducked when his blade nearly chopped her ear off. “Watch it!” she barked at him, flicking her chocolate brown braid aside to pick up some of the cards she’d dropped. She was the only woman among the twelve of them here, and she was also the only one besides Kakashi who had the guts to speak up against Tsutomu whenever his bitching got too loud or too obnoxious. Usually both.

The rest of the unit was in the middle of a very intense game of Spoons, using a beat up pair of playing cards someone had the smarts to bring. Considering it was his first tour though, Kakashi initially could not fathom who would want to play a card game in the middle of a war zone, and especially deep in the trenches of enemy territory. But he’d soon discovered that a card game was the best way to pass the time when there wasn’t much else to do but scout, kill, and sit on their asses to do it all over again. As it was now, they were on their thirty-fourth round of Spoons, and he just needed an Ace of Hearts to complete the set in his hand.

Passing another card to Obito, Kakashi wiped away a bead of sweat from his brow. Tucked beneath his shirt, the hot metal of his dog tags rubbed uncomfortably against his slick chest. Summer nights in Sound country were almost as bad as during the day. The good thing about it was that the humidity dropped, leaving the air so dry that his tongue felt like paper every time he opened his mouth. The bad thing was that, with the place so arid, they couldn’t risk lighting a fire lest they burn down their only shelter for the night (or attract the wrong kind of attention). So they’d turned on their flashlights, thankful that the equipment had somehow survived the trip through the marshes but not so happy that they couldn’t even light a cigarette.

Even without a fire, the summer heat had become far more unbearable than the mosquitoes that assaulted them every hour of the day. By midnight, everyone had resorted to stripping their tops off and leaving only their tactical vests on, filling the small space with their stinky sweat. It went against protocol, but nobody—not even Obito—listened to him when he offhandedly commented that they were sooner to die from a mosquito bite than a bullet wound if they dawdled around half-naked like that. Even Yori had given up, leaving Kakashi as the only one fully clothed in his combat fatigues.

“Bet you we could cook an egg on the ground with this heat,” Obito rasped out, pressing the cool, flat edge of his kukri against his cheek. Not the smartest move unless he wanted to risk stabbing his eye out, but he was far too desperate to care at this point. “Fuck, man, what I wouldn’t give for a sunnyside egg.”

“There’s one on the pantry shelf downstairs if the flies haven’t got to it yet,” Kakashi replied dismissively, passing a Queen of Hearts card to him and then picking up—ah-ha!

Holding his fourth and final Ace, Kakashi surreptitiously slid a hand out to grab one of the eight bullets that sat on the stool they were all sitting around. It took twenty seconds for anyone to notice that there were now only seven bullets remaining, and then chaos ensued as the rest of the unit members wrestled for the last bullets.

Once the dust had cleared and the knocked-over flashlights were propped back up, they each opened their hands to show who had a bullet and who didn’t. Tsutomu didn’t, and he did not look pleased about it.

“All right, who won it this time?” Midori sighed even as everyone looked expectantly to Kakashi who’d already flipped his deck around to show them his complete set of Aces.

“Fuck this!” Tsutomu threw his cards down and jabbed his kukri in Kakashi’s direction. “He’s always winning!”

“And you’re always too slow,” Yori said with a roll of her eyes. “You don’t hear me bitchin’ about it.”

“Maybe because I would’ve made you shut the fuck up!”

Before the two could begin snapping at each other's throats again, Midori was already nudging his glasses up as he said aloud, “He’s a Hatake. They don’t call him the prodigal White Fang for nothing, so of course he'd win. He's one of those freakin' geniuses who excel at everything.”

One of the Aces in Kakashi’s hand folded slightly under his grip, but he said nothing as Obito glanced his way.

“Sounds like a freak to me,” someone mumbled.

With Anzu collecting all the playing cards to reshuffle, everyone had time to listen in on the conversation now.

“Ah, yeah, your old man was one of the hotshots in the military, right?” Genki sneered at him. His face looked like a weasel’s what with his long, sharp nose, narrow jaw, and beady eyes that twinkled as if he was constantly thinking of an insulting joke for anyone who caught his attention. But he was also the kind of weasel that shrunk back when a predator stared him down, and he did just that when Kakashi calmly turned his sights onto him. “B-Bet he has plenty of medals to show for it.”

Kakashi quickly looked away in disinterest. Fuck if he cared about his father’s medals. They were probably collecting dust and cobwebs somewhere in the back of a closet.

“Heard his Pops always carried a lil’ sword around in battle,” Tsutomu nodded to the hilt jutting out from behind Kakashi’s lower back. “Just like that one.”

“Who the fuck brings a sword to a gunfight?” Genki sniggered but just as soon stopped when he saw nobody else was laughing.

“It’s a tantō, you nitwit,” Obito said, slamming down the empty jar of jam with more force than necessary. Genki jolted in his seat from the harsh sound. “And it’s really no different from the standard-issued kukris we all carry.”

Tsutomu frowned at the knife in his hand that was almost double the length of Kakashi’s shortsword. He met Kakashi’s gaze over the curved blade, tawny eyes squinting at him for a second as if they were having a dick-measuring contest. Pleased with the extra inches he had over the younger man, Tsutomu lowered the knife to give Kakashi a smug grin. His shit-eating grin instantly flipped into a scowl, however, when the two flies from earlier suddenly appeared to attack his lips.

His breath must be that rancid, Kakashi thought with faint bemusement. While he could stand the pompous ass and his snide remarks, he couldn’t stand to watch Yori have to consistently dodge Tsutomu’s knife as he returned to stabbing at the flies with a vengeance.

Kakashi nodded towards the staircase that led to the bedrooms upstairs. “Tsutomu, Genki, switch off with Haya and Jun. It’s your turn to be on lookout.”

They clicked their tongues in unison but obeyed without question, grabbing their flashlights to head upstairs and keep watch for the next hour. As soon as they left the cramped room, the stink seemed to follow after them (although that wasn’t much of a surprise). Haya and Jun came in, propping their sniper rifles against a cabinet that held nothing but smashed plates within. As they searched for a decent seat where they could put their feet up and relax as well as they could in a warzone, Kakashi pulled out a map from his pack and spread it out on the floor. With the beckon of his hand, he urged everyone to pay attention.

“Amegakure is fifty miles from here,” he explained, tapping a finger on the northeast quadrant of the map. “The package is reported to be held within an underground bunker disguised on the topside as a water tower. At 0600, we’ll be leaving to cut through the Dead Marshes to reach Ame by 1800.”

“Why is it called the Dead Marshes again?” Anzu asked before slapping a fly off his sweaty face.

“Because a hundred of our men died there just last month. Cut down in an ambush after the enemy got ahold of our intel. Everyone’s been calling it the Dead Marshes since then.”

“So why the fuck are we going there?” Yori demanded. “I'm betting those corpses are still floating around for all the fishies to nibble on.”

“Then that just means we have even more cover,” Kakashi said.

Jun snorted and leaned over to snatch the map off the ground. Like most of the other survivors here, Jun liked to question Kakashi’s leadership at every chance. In fact, he was the kind of guy whom teachers would rip their hair out over had he chosen to stay in high school rather than head straight into the military academy. Running a hand through his greasy blonde hair, he snorted at the map before tossing it back to Kakashi. “There’s a river that we can follow for a few miles. It’ll lead us straight to Amegakure much faster than the marshes.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Because it's too tiresome to explain to a numbskull like you. “Because I said so.”

“A fucking kid said so.”

“At least I have a high school diploma.”

“And a Bachelor's and a Master’s,” Midori coughed out. When Jun glared at him, he took off his glasses and pretended to get busy cleaning them.

With a sneer, Jun pointed his flashlight directly into Kakashi's face. “I don’t care if you're a Hatake. I don't care if you're some genius with a dozen degrees. And I definitely don’t give a flying fuck if our superiors kiss your ass and call you the White Flash—”

‘Fang’, Kakashi almost corrected him, but even he found the nickname distasteful.

“—I'm not going to put my life in the hands of some kid who cares more about the mission than his own comrades,” Jun spat out.

“Look,” Obito sat forward, prying the map from Kakashi’s grip and smoothing it back down on the floor. “The obvious choice is the river, right?”

Jun nodded and then stepped on the foot of Haya who’d been too busy staring at Yori’s cleavage. “Y-Yeah, duh!” Haya nodded vigorously until the heel digging onto his toes relented.

Obito spread open his palms in gesture. “Then you would think they’d have an ambush set up for us there too since it’s the ‘obvious choice’. The river will be guarded, but Sound won’t expect more Fire soldiers to try the marshes after the first group failed.”

“Ah, so reverse psychology?” Yori still didn’t look so convinced, but she was already eyeing the marshes on the map again with renewed interest. She frowned and then looked to Kakashi. “You said you want to use the dead bodies for cover?”

“The marshes are our best bet if we want to get to the package on time. And without getting butchered,” Kakashi added firmly. “We’re the only ones left of our unit, so we need to play it safe but right. But I also wouldn’t expect Sound to turn a blind eye, so we need to move with stealth.”

Yori rolled her eyes. “Tsutomu is the opposite of stealth, but I guess we could always use his bitch ass for cover if needed. I just fucking hate the marshes,” she said with a sigh, sagging in her rickety chair, still exhausted from slugging through the marshes all day. “But Hatake’s idea makes more sense.”

“The fuck it does not!” Jun snapped at her. “I say we take the river—”

“And I say we’re taking the marshes,” Kakashi said, his voice low but harsh enough to make the fresh graduate stiffen. When Jun fell silent, Kakashi swept his gaze around all the others sitting and staring at him. He took turns challenging each and every one of them silently for a moment, daring them to question his orders anymore. “I don’t care what you think of me. I don’t care if you don’t like swimming with the fishes and corpses. I don’t care if any of you live or die. I care about completing the mission—and that is securing the package. That is our duty as a soldier and if you disagree then you are free to take off your vests and dog tags, put down your guns, and walk out that door and all the way back home.”

Everyone shut up at that, and for the first time in six months, Kakashi was finally afforded the peace of silence without someone bitching about the insects, the commercial taste of their rations, or a stone that had found its way inside their boot. Satisfied with the room’s consensus, Kakashi leaned back in his chair, unsheathing his tantō to wipe off today’s coat of blood and mud that stained the edges.

It was Yori who broke the begrudging silence first when she suddenly withdrew her pistol from its holster. “You keep staring at my tits, Haya, and I'll blow you a new eye. Right in the center of your fucking forehead.”

“Chill, darlin'!” Haya raised his hands placatingly. “I was just checking out your tags.” As if to prove his point, he leaned closer to her, training his eyes on the cleavage that could be seen just above the collar of her vest. Still under the pretense of reading her tags, he hummed and stroked his chin. “Impressive.”

Yori cocked her gun in warning.

“Hey, I got a place where you can blow me,” Jun snickered at her, prompting Haya to do the same.

“That’s it—”

“Enough,” Kakashi leaned across to grab Yori’s hand that was reaching for the kukri at her hip. Something then slipped out of his front pocket, fluttering down until it landed atop of the map to reveal little Rin shyly hugging onto a scrawny boy with silver hair and a dead gaze.

Jun swooped down in the blink of an eye, snatching up the photo with his blood-stained fingers. He whistled low, angling the photo for Haya to see. “Damn, Hatake! You like your girls really young, huh? But I didn't take you as a guy who likes four-year-old pussy! Or is she three?”

Over the men’s cackles, Kakashi resisted the urge to skewer the Private 1st Class with the tip of his tantō. Especially not when he had just finished wiping the blade clean of today’s muck. “The only pussy here is the one in front of me,” he replied coolly.

Midori choked on the water he’d been sipping from his canteen, letting it splash all over the glasses he’d just finished cleaning.

While Jun was still sputtering from the retort, Obito stole the photo away from him. He peeked at it for just a split second before handing the picture back to Kakashi who immediately tucked it back into the safety of his pocket. He wiped his sword down one last time and then sheathed it loudly enough for both Jun and Haya to flinch.

A grim silence fell over the group as everyone else seemed to recall all the beloved people they themselves carried in their pockets. Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, and lovers. They were all waiting for their soldiers to return home—even if it meant in body bags or as dog tags.

“Is she your girlfriend?” Obito quietly asked as Anzu started to deal cards for the others to play a round of Thirteen with.

It was a sincere question, but it was still a personal one that had Kakashi scrubbing a hand over his jaw. His hand came away tinged with the thin film of blood that had yet to finish congealing on his mask. He could smell the sharp notes of copper with every intake of breath, so he made a mental note to retreat to the bathroom later and wash off the grime. It was pointless, he knew that. By tomorrow noon, his mask would be dyed in splotches of red again, but tonight he wanted to sleep without inhaling the stench of a dead man.

Sensing Obito still waiting for an answer, Kakashi wiped his hand on his trousers and then sighed.

“She's a girl. And she's my friend….” And he had kissed Rin before, but that was more out of curiosity than desire. Besides, he didn't count it as an actual kiss since he'd just been seven years old at the time. “She's… special to me,” was all Kakashi gave in answer. “What about you? You got anyone back home?”

This time, it was Obito’s turn to shift in discomfort. He rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. “Nah, I was... disowned by my family. I was always the black sheep, but one day, I fucked up and...” He paused to scratch his cheek for a moment. “And it cost my twin brother’s life. I mean, he’s not dead,” he added quickly. “But he got fucked up pretty badly from the accident to the point that... he’s like a shadow of himself. So I got kicked out of the family after that, got put in a group home, then joined the academy as soon as I could. I haven’t talked to my family or my twin brother ever since, so if I die... guess that’s it for me.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s the end for you. I mean, you’re free to haunt me if you’d like.”

Obito's mouth quirked into a grin. “You don’t mind me pulling all that poltergeist shit on you?”

Kakashi snorted. “With your butterfingers, you’d be dropping shit rather than throwing it.”

“Oh, fuck you!” Obito shoved at his shoulder with a laugh.

His laughter was cut short, however, when the heavy tread of boots stampeding down the staircase followed by the most unholy screeching interrupted everyone. Genki and Tsutomu appeared at the threshold, faces flushed with angry scratched lines marking their cheeks as if a cat had gotten the jump on them. But it wasn’t a cat that was making that screeching noise; it was a girl. Slung between them with her wrists bound in ripped sheets, she thrashed around wildly in search of an opportunity to—not escape but to bite at the men holding her captive.

White teeth flashed between long tresses of ebony hair as she tried to snap her jaws at Tsutomu’s thick neck. The man responded with a harsh slap that sent her face whipping towards Genki who was forced to reel back to avoid her bites.

“Lookie what I caught!” Tsutomu announced, grinning proudly as he grabbed the girl by the base of her head and yanked it back. She winced but made no sound that she was in pain. Even though her whole face was streaked with filth, it was obvious that she couldn’t be any older than fifteen years old. Only two years younger than Kakashi himself, but already looking as if she’d lived through an entire war. “Caught this lil’ bitch skulking around in one of the bedrooms. Probably was finding a spot to hide in so that she could slit our throats while we slept.”

There was no way she could’ve taken on twelve armed soldiers even with the element of surprise, but Kakashi didn’t doubt that she would’ve tried it anyway.

“I would’ve shat on your corpses too afterward!” she sneered at Tsutomu, earning a second slap to the cheek and making Genki flinch when specks of blood from her mouth landed all over his face.

“How the hell did we miss her?” Jun asked, stopping Tsutomu from slapping the girl again. “I thought we cleared this house from top to bottom.”

Apparently, you guys were sloppy about it, Kakashi was half-tempted to say. Instead, he stood up and yanked the girl out of Genki and Tsutomu's clutches by her bound hands. She struggled against him but just as soon froze when she felt the sharp tip of his tantō dig into the small of her back. Don’t move, Kakashi told her with a mere prod of his sword.

“Hey! Finders keepers,” Tsutomu growled, displeased that his catch was being taken away from him. His grubby hands reached for the girl, but Kakashi pulled her away from him and towards the staircase.

“We’re guests of this house,” Kakashi said aloud despite knowing that there wasn’t much of this house or its occupants left anymore. “This girl will be locked up in the master bedroom where no one is to touch her. Is that understood?”

Tsutomu took a heavy step forward to protest but stopped when the young Hatake turned his steely gaze onto him.

“Is that understood?” Kakashi spoke low, the lethal edge in his voice cutting through the tension like the blade in his hand. When Tsutomu bowed his head in answer, Kakashi glanced over at Obito who was looking at him strangely. “Relay to Tsutomu and Genki the plan for tomorrow.”

With a sharp nudge of the sword against the girl’s back, Kakashi prompted her to continue up the stairs. She remained silent on the way to the bedroom, but she didn’t stop trying to squirm out of the sheets roped tightly around her wrists. Kakashi took the moment to observe her calloused hands, deducing that she was a surviving member of this household. Probably the daughter of the farmer who’d lived here.

He didn’t ask where her parents were or why she was still here. Even though there hadn’t been any bloodstains found while clearing the house, he guessed that the rest of the girl’s family was already dead in a ditch somewhere.

“If you’re going to kill me then just do it already,” she finally said the moment she stumbled into the bedroom.

Kakashi closed the door first, watching her flinch at the sound of the latch clicking in place. “Turn around.”

She hesitated for a moment before obeying with a slow, reluctant pivot. Under the sharp beam of his flashlight, Kakashi could see the tear tracks that left a clean streak through the cake of dirt and dried blood on her cheeks. He raised his sword and she bunched her shoulders up despite the defiant tilt of her chin. The tantō flashed under the moonlight for a split second as he swung it down upon the girl.

She squeezed her eyes shut but then opened them when she found herself still alive... and with her hands free now.

Kakashi jut his chin towards the bed. Its sheets were still made as if nobody had ever slept in them at all. “Lay down there.”

She stiffened at this order, her body locking up more notably than the last time she’d hesitated. She took one step forward, and Kakashi caught the way her whole frame seemed to tremble before she hurriedly crossed the room and laid down on the bed, stiff as a board. The springs of the mattress creaked harshly, and her eyes widened as if the sound was a threat itself.

Grabbing a chair by the vanity mirror, Kakashi dragged it to the side of the bed before plopping down. His sudden close proximity to her had her sitting up rigidly, slim hands squeezing into fists on her lap. He would've preferred for her to remain lying down, but it seemed she was more comfortable sitting up, so he let her.

Leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, he took the moment to study the girl. She had a split lip, a small cut above her brow, the red mark of a building bruise on her cheek (no doubt courtesy of Tsutomu and Genki), and dark bags of exhaustion weighed heavy beneath her eyes—eyes so black that they seemed to pierce right into Kakashi’s soul the longer he held her sharp gaze.

He looked away to reach for something in his pocket, pausing only when he sensed the girl stiffen again. Slowly, he withdrew the white handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to the girl. “Wipe your face.”

She scowled at the implication but snatched the cloth from him. Glimpsing the little sunflower design Rin had sewn into the corner of the cloth, the girl stared at it first before remembering to wipe the dirt off her face.

“My name is Hatake Kakashi,” he said as she cleaned herself. “What’s yours?”

When she refused to answer, he reached into another pocket, slowly again like last time. He watched as her wary eyes flicked down from his to the orange thing in his hand.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, peeling the fruit for her. “It’s a mandarin orange.”

A rare delicacy among their rations, but he was never one for sweets anyway.

The girl watched him peel the skin of the orange off like a hawk would with its prey. As soon as he offered her a slice, she seized the small piece from his fingers and stuffed it into her mouth. Her lashes fluttered slightly as she took that first bite of tangy sweetness.

“Good?”

She froze at the question as if she was a thief who’d been caught stealing the mandarin he’d offered her. Without warning, she spat the mashed bits of orange to his face, her frown deepening when she saw Kakashi didn’t even flinch from the attack.

“You’re a bastard!” she said as he casually brushed off the pieces of orange clinging to his mask. In an effort to add insult to the non-existent injury, she flung the now dirty handkerchief back at him. Kakashi merely plucked it off his chest, folded it two times into a small square, and then tucked it into one of his pockets before placing the rest of the orange in front of her.

He stood up and she shrunk back from him after clutching the orange to her chest.

“We’ll be gone in the morning,” Kakashi said as he scanned the room for any dangerous objects she might try to use in retaliation. “You can rest easy tonight. I’ll make sure no one touches you.”

Although he was kind of late for that.

“But if you try anything, we will have to use force.”

The warning was vague, but it left her shivering and glaring at him with enough spite to make any man give pause. He gave her one final look of caution before leaving the room to make his way to the bathroom. The farmhouse was old, and every floorboard creaked under his boots, but he preferred it that way. It kept him on edge—kept him alert for any signs of danger that may be lurking around the corner.

Even upon entering the bathroom, he swept aside the shower curtain just to make sure no other stray kid was waiting in the tub to ambush him with a butterknife or whatever these civilians resorted to.

Seeing the coast was clear, he stripped off his tactical vest and then the black sleeveless shirt underneath. The water ran lukewarm as he turned the knob of the faucet, and he splashed a handful down his chest for a brief respite from the blistering heat. Taking his shirt, he detached his mask and held it beneath the stream. Black, brown, and red tainted the pool of water along with loose sediment of dried mud. He grabbed the soap bar from the corner and scrubbed his mask inside and out, letting the bubbles froth.

After rinsing his mask, he wrung out the excess water before hanging the cloth on the edge of the sink to let it finish dripping.

A shout could be heard from downstairs—either Tsutomu or Jun since those two loved to butt heads with everyone—but Kakashi didn’t care so long as heads weren’t rolling. Scrubbing a hand down his face, he shrugged on his shirt and vest but paused upon hearing a sharp creak just outside his door.

Creak...

There it was again, but further this time.

Kakashi heaved a sigh and then yanked his mask back on, unsurprised to find it already dry. Tugging the door open, he stepped out of the hallway and was met with the hulking figure of Tsutomu. His burly back was hunched over as if the guy was in the middle of sneaking... towards the girl’s room.

The rest of this side story chapter will be published soon on AO3 and Fanfiction.Net! Thank you for reading!

[every1studio]

REQUESTED:“reaction to booty smacking”mafia edition [ateez]

genre: suggestive

ficstyle: reactions + bulletpoints

request: “ Henlo! I wanted to see if you could mayhaps do an Mafia!Ateez reaction to you backhanding them after they smacked yo booty in their own club cause you didn't know who they were?💀 thank you ily and I love your works omg - 👻 a new anon “

note: tysm for the request + hope you enjoy

You didn’t want to go out tonight.. But your friends insisted since you finally broke up with that headass of a boyfriend. You gave in; they invited you to a hard-to-get-in club and it was pretty packed. You knew it belonged to one of the most known mafias in the city so it made you feel a little uneasy. It didn’t take long for you to start enjoying yourself until you felt someone smack your ass. You were caught off-guard because wasn’t a light love tap; you felt the hand linger for a while. Until you turned around and backhanded them in the face... 

HONGJOONG

(type: mischievous dom)

you saw the bouncer come for you as he yelled, “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING YOU LIL-”

but the guy that you slapped raised his hand and shooed him away

the bouncer left

you were surprised that a little guy like him would have any authority over a big bouncer

“still I startle you sweetheart?” he made his way to the seat across from you

you crossed your arms at him, “even in a club setting, that would be considered as sexual harassment..”

he peeked through his eyes as he cracked a little smirk

“I like how that word sounds from your mouth.. sexual..”

you couldn’t believe this guy; you scoffed as your rolled your eyes

he’d use playful yet sensual skinship; practically ghosting over your skin

“whatever..” you turned to leave but he slithered his arms around your waist and pulled you in

he cocked his head, “I wasn’t done talking to you yet, sweetheart..”

you tried to push him by his chest as you tried to threaten him

“if you don’t let go, I’ll find the person in charge and-”

“and what? seduce him? you’re already one step head of yourself, love..”

you were about to speak up but you realized that HE was the person in charge

you left your mouth gaping as you were trying to comprehend the whole situation

he tilted your chin up to look at him, “keep on leaving that mouth open like that and I’ll give you a reason to keep it open..”

you quickly closed your mouth and looked at your friends for help

but they were just encouraging you to make a move

even though he wasn’t the tallest or the buffest guy, he definitely knew how to use his playful charms

he let go of you and gestured over to the bars

“now, sweet little kitten, what can I get ya?”

SEONGHWA

(type: godly dom)

Seonghwa’s eyes went hungry as they scanned you as you walked into the club

you were definitely not a regular at his club and he wanted to “get you know you” more

he makes sure that you were as beautiful as you were in all different angles and lighting before he pushes himself out of the circle of girls that were leaning up on him; they were disappointed to see him on the move with his eyes obviously on you

Seonghwa was the type of guy who had girls run to him; it was never the other way around

never

he couldn’t help but look at how good you looked in your outfit; it look like it was made for your body

he walks over to you and leans in from behind you, “you look good, but you’d look better with me ramming my dick in that ass of yours”

before you could react or say anything, he slaps you on the ass

this causes you to backhand him in the face

the only thing you felt was his strong jawline

and when you looked up, the only thing you felt was fluttering in your chest

despite of how incredibly handsome he was, you couldn’t deny the fact that you were extremely taken back by his actions and words

“you definitely hit harder than the bouncer of my club.. I guess you really can’t judge a book by it’s cover, can you, sweet pea?”

(his club?) your thoughts echoed as you pieced together that this man in front of you was the head of a well-known mafia

he was completely unfazed at your actions but he was completely infatuated with you

“I-I’m sorry..” you didn’t want to be involved than you already were, you had suspicious people staring at you

but he held you back and pulled you into his toned abdomen

he’d use his godly features into his favor

you didn’t want to flutter.. but your body had other thing in mind

“the only apology I’ll accept from you will be in a form of kiss.. would you be a dear and apologize to me one more time?”

YUNHO

(type: appearance? dom, personality? masochist)

there was a eerily and deathly moment that you had ever experience in your life

it had occurred to you that you had just use your full strength to backhand the owner of this club that you were at

aka the head of a known mafia

he bore holes through your entire body

his dominating aura was present and it was oozing

you didn’t want to back down but you felt your confidence slipping with every second that passed by

he chuckled before grabbing the wrist of the hand you slapped him with

he couldn’t believe this luck of his

rarely, Yunho was able to find a lady like yourself who had a little more rough around the edges

he wanted to prove himself that you were THAT lady

Yunho pulls it up to his face to caress it

then he uses your nails to firmly and slowly drag it down his body until it got to his LV belt

“that rough hand could be doing more important things”

you just stood there in shock

you thought he would be more rough with you but it was the biggest reversal of the century

he closed the space between you two, brought your hand through his hair and made you tug on it for dear life

he hisses through his smile, “time starts now”

he would buck against the hard material of your outfit

every movement was a grunt of satisfaction

as you found some sort of dominance over this big hotshot of a guy

YEOSANG

(type: prince charming)

he thought you were some other girl when he swung his hand onto your ass

like any other girls reaction, you slapped him back on the face

you held a strong eye contact with him; letting him know that you were not the one to mess around with

but your friends pulled you back

murmuring things along the line of how important the man before you was and that you all should leave asap

but in the midst of all of that, how could he ever mistake you for someone else?

you were the most beautiful creature he’s ever come across

he was completely captivated; like one of the rarest edition of drones that he has yet to attain

this was his chance to use his one of many charms

he wraps his arms around you and offers you an “apology” drink

his actions seemed like it did a whole 180 degree turn right before your eyes

Yeosang instantly became the sweetest guy you’ve ever met

you would be the only person he would be paying attention to from then on

giving you the royal treatment; every girl’s dreams

wouldn’t be EXTREMELY aggressive but he would know how to lead you like a gentleman

Yeosang was both a prince and a mafia leader

SAN

(type: psychopathic yandere)

San always gets what he wants

no one could ever go against that

until you decide to be the only person that shined brightly in such a dimly-lit club

San fell for you at first sight

he wanted to make sure that people knew NOT to even approach you

he wanted to make you his; right there, right then

the sound of San’s hand against your ass resonated throughout the whole club and over the sound of the music

you yelped in pain

you had turn to try to slap him in the face

“WHO ARE YOU T-”

but he was faster than you

he caught your movement by grabbing your wrist and leaning in for a makeout sess

as if the ass smacking wasn’t obvious enough, San really wanted people to know that you were one to be reckoned with

although his hair was in his face, you knew that face from anywhere and you gave into fear and let San rummage your body like fine china

he left the softest kiss on your forehead before shifting all of his weight on his back leg; taking all the view of you in

the soft kiss was the complete opposite of what dangerously, reckless things he was known for

now you were stuck between flight or fight

“you will be mine.. and what’s mine lasts forever..”

in fear, you nodded in agreement

little did you know, you signed up for something that you didn’t want to be apart of

because you knew what would happen if you even denied him once

MINGI

(type: the dom/scheming rascal)

you definitely felt someone smack your ass; hard

you could barely stand

but in a crowded club setting, you couldn’t find the culprit

your friends were scattered and you couldn’t move from your spot

every nudge, shift, or movement made you want to accuse them of smacking your ass

which is still stinging at this moment

Mingi watched you the whole time

he didn’t think he’d like to see your reactions this much

he finally shows himself

“what’s wrong are you okay? you seem like you’re on edge..”

you sighed; finally you can lean on someone who didn’t seem so threatening

“someone smacked my butt earlier and I’m feeling pretty unsafe..” you spoke to him with doe-like eyes

he wanted rile you up like you riled him up

“like this?”

he smacked the other side of your ass just as hard maybe even harder

at this point your legs completely gave on, you had no choice but to lean on him

to your surprise, you felt an uneasy yet welcoming warmth pool in between your legs

“j-just like that..” you mumbled for only himself to hear

Mingi, a mafia leader, who probably has a bounty on him, who also owns this club, was completely smitten by your not-so-innocent whines

WOOYOUNG

(type: sheep in wolf’s clothing)

although Wooyoung was an infamous mafia, ruling the underground kingdom, he wanted nothing more but to be in love

he wanted to be in love with someone who was the complete opposite of him

he wants an unattainable spice in his life

no one ever satisfied him

that was what he thought until you came into his club; his territory

he did what he knew

that was to be rough

that’s his style; his brand; his signature

he made his way to you as if the only people that were in the room was you and him

he raised his hand high to strike his hand down onto your ass

feeling confident, he would try to say something snarky

but he was interrupted by the back of your hand smacking against his chiseled face

this was a new feeling; girls would fall to his feet and lick his shoes without asking but you were the difference he needed in his life

not only were you were on another level of beauty; you were on another level of spice that he never had before

he couldn’t handle your spice and he loved it

he pulled your face in to feed his craving but you pushed him away

you knew who he was and you were scared but you couldn’t let him treat you like all the other girls

Wooyoung shifts his face backs to you as he smears your lipstick that was on his lips

“I’m gonna make you fall for me..” he challenges

“bite me” you barked back as you leaned in to show that you weren’t all that afraid of him

but that slightly changed when he hoisted you up onto his shoulder

you couldn’t fight against his strength as he makes his way to his “room”

“my. fucking. pleasure.”

he was already planning cute little dates he wanted to have with you but he’ll never be able off of his brand; out of habit

JONGHO

(type: sugar daddy who’s looking for a mama)

he was the YOUNGEST mafia leaders ever known

and he’s become quite successful

but he was tired of playing with younger girls

they were predictable

he laid eyes on you when he saw you

you had a different aura about you

you weren’t looking to be taken care of

you were definitely a boss lady; a dragon lady

you had already shooed away 3 guys since you just walked into the club in which he owned

you sat at the bars and ordered The Oldfashioned

which was Jongho’s favorite drink

before you slipped the bartender your black card

Jongho took it from you and nodded at the bartender as he nodded and left to attend another customer

you gave Jongho a side glance before taking a sensual sip

you turned your body to him as you crossed your legs and reached for your card before he teases you with it

never breaking your calm, you huffed, “whatever, it’s not like I need that card anyways”

you downed the drink and left

Jongho smirked as he mumbled, “playing hard to get, huh?”

he came up behind you and smack you in the ass

the moment he smacked you, you turned around to confirm that it was him before slapping him back in the face

Jongho’s face only slightly tilted to the side from your relatively strong slap that would send most guys on the ground; but Jongho wasn’t any guy

he pushes you up against the wall, “bet you never had a man treat you this roughly..”

you being unable to say anything, fed him into his dominance over a sexy, older lady like you

“you’re nothing but a little princess in a queen’s crown.. I’m gonna show you what little princesses like you get treated like”

~end

[thejilyship]

Wishing you all a Good Evening - Part Two

AN: So here we are, with Part Two. This story is definitely getting longer than I expected it to, but that is the way that almost every story I've ever written has gone, as I mentioned in the last author's note. I hope to be able to stick to my original plans one day, but for now, I'm having a lot of fun with this story and I hope that you all are enjoying whatever this is.

Remember to review if you like it! And not just on my stories, but there isn't a fanfic author I know that doesn't appreciate some sort of feedback

WC: 6.3k

PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR | PART FIVE | PART SIX |  PART SEVEN |  ff.net

james_potter: had drinks with the lovely lilyjane last night. Someone was thoughtful enough to send me a pic

The picture was attached.

A picture of her laughing more than she remembered laughing and him leaning closer than she remembered him leaning.

Her head pounded.

Then there was a pounding on her door and Mary and Em both walked in, Mary clutching her phone in front of her, the screen pointed toward Lily and a look that demanded an explanation on her face.

"He's a dick." Lily said, tossing her phone to the other side of her bed and pulling her blankets up over her face. "I didn't have drinks with him." She said, before they could ask, because of course they had questions. She felt the mattress give and then Mary was tugging her blankets away from her.

"Yes you did, Lily. I'm looking at a picture of you having drinks with him."

"Okay, I was drinking at the same time he was, and he bought me a drink, but he- I didn't have drinks with him."

"Yes you did," She said, shoving the phone in her face again.

"Mary, let her explain herself here." Emmeline said, sitting on the edge of Lily's bed as opposed to crawling almost on top of Lily as Mary had. "I mean, she was telling us how terrible she thought he was yesterday, about two hours before this photo was taken so I'm sure she has a good reason." Emmeline didn't sound as though she thought Lily had a good reason though and Lily was starting to rethink the whole 'was Emmeline a twat?' thing.

"Why would he post a photo?" She asked, picking up her phone again. "Why would he post a photo that someone else took and tag me?" Though these were just two more questions to add to the list of things she wanted answers to when it came to James.

"Why is there a photo of the two of you at all?" Mary asked, she seemed far too worked up over this. Especially for it being before noon the morning after they'd been out.

"Well people take pictures of him on occasion. And he was near me."

"Quite near you," Em added, unhelpfully.

"Okay. Stop. He came up and sat down after I told him that all the seats were taken. He said something about how Remus was right and that I would remember the last conversation we had and would still think he was an arse, then something about how Sirius had said that I wouldn't remember but that I would end up thinking that he'd made an arse of himself a second time." She shook her head. "He wouldn't leave. And you know that I'm good at getting boys to leave when I want to."

"Yes, and he didn't leave. So what does that tell us?" Mary pursed her lips and Lily rolled her eyes.

"No. Stop. I told him to leave as soon as he sat down. Then everything was just weird. He asked me to dance- multiple time. I said no the first time, then he bought me a drink and asked me a second time. Then I left because he wouldn't." She shook her head. "It was weird, but this picture isn't what it looks like."

"Alright, then what are you doing the pretty-girl-laugh for?"

Lily clenched her jaw and closed her eyes, trying to remember when she might have laughed like that at all. "It could have been when he asked me to dance the first time. I laughed at that." She shrugged and then Mary laughed.

"I think this boy might be into you, Lils."

Lily pulled a face, "Don't say that."

"I'm just saying, this is some pretty next level shit if he's just trying to be friends with you."

"This is weird is what this is." Lily said, looking down at her phone.

"What are you going to do about it?" Em asked.

"Nothing." She shrugged.

"You're not going to reply?" She narrowed her brows. "Not even by messaging him privately?"

"Yeah," Mary smirked. "You could slide right into his DMs."

"Don't say that." Lily and Em said at the same time, both pulling a face. Mary pouted and shook her head.

"And no, I'm just going to ignore it." She said, looking at the stupid picture one last time before she turned her screen off. "Telling him to sod off clearly didn't work last night, so maybe if I just ignore him then he'll get the message. Now you two need to leave so I can go back to sleep."

After a few more teasing comments from Mary, Em managed to get her out of Lily's room and close the door for her. Lily really did like her.

And that should have been the end of it.

oOoOoOo

Lily held her notebook close to her chest and stepped over a puddle as she walked into the familiar stone building she had come to think of as something of a second home. She tucked her notebook under her arm, so she could open the door (a coffee from Hopper's restricted her from using her other hand) and she was a bit overwhelmed at how loud it was.

She was already in a bad mood, and when she saw that there were far too many people encroaching on a space that she thought was rightfully hers, it made her grind her teeth.

She spotted Marlene and walked up to her as quickly as she could. "Why are all these people here?" She asked, glaring at a short blonde girl standing in the doorway of the studio.

"Auditions?" Marlene shrugged. Lily raised a brow and turned back to notice that all of the people she was gripping about earlier, did appear to be in a line of sorts.

"Why are there so many people?" She asked, "I put up a notice in the classrooms, but that's about all I was able to do. I was expecting maybe three people."

"Lily?" She turned around and took a step back as soon as she saw James walking toward her.

"No," She shook her head. "I definitely don't have the patients to deal with you today."

He gave her a crooked smile, "Yeah, I figured you were annoyed when you didn't say anything about the tweet."

Lily made her expression as blank as she could manage and looked him in the eyes. "What tweet?" Though of course she knew exactly what he was referring to, because her phone hadn't shut up since he'd sent it out Saturday morning. James looked down and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Well alright then. Definitely played that wrong."

"This isn't a game." She said, and then looked back to the line. "Are you somehow responsible for this?"

He grinned and looked over his shoulder. "Yeah, I might have told a few people that you were having auditions."

"And why would you do that?" She sighed.

He looked back at her and frowned. "You didn't want more people to choose from? You told me that it was last min-"

"Lily!" She heard Emmett's voice from down the hall and she turned around.

"We were supposed to have a meeting." She said, angling her head up as Emmett got closer. He really was ridiculously tall. He noticed James standing over her shoulder and narrowed his brow slightly before looking back at Lily, clearly surprised to see him there.

"Yeah, well I don't mind making this lot wait another hour or so if you still want to have it. They found the donuts that Marlene brought us." Lily squeezed her coffee cup a bit too tight and the lip popped off. Emmett reached out and caught it for her. "I know." He sighed ruefully.

"No. I suppose we should just do the auditions now. If we manage to get through them all before five, then we can have the meeting."

"And what's he doing here?" He asked, looking at James again. James grinned and stepped up, holding his hand out.

"I'm James, Lily said I could be on the show."

"Really?" Emmett asked, sounding almost excited. Lily knew that he was a fan of James'.

Lily let out a frustrated huff through her nose and shook her head. "Is that why you're here? I said we could do an interview. I didn't say you should show up today."

"I told you that I was coming though."

"When did you do that?" She asked, getting more and more agitated the longer she talked to him.

"At the pub. After drinks." He shrugged, maybe trying a bit too hard to sound nonchalant. She saw Emmett shifting his weight from one foot to the other and cross his arms over his chest. He had always been a good buffer, and she noticed that James took a half step back, but she also knew Emmett far better than most people. She could see, quite like Mary had been yesterday morning, he was quite amused by all of this. Lily was not the type of girl who sought after the attention of college football playing hotshots and yet here she was. And here James was.

She sighed, deciding that maybe if she just spoke to him like he was a stranger- in her overly polite voice of hers that got librarians to ignore that she was returning her books late- then maybe he would stop talking to her like he knew her. "Alright, well we're having auditions today. So, unless you're auditioning to be my co-host, there's really no need for you to be here today." She said, with a polite smile. "I'll let the writers know that you're interested in being interviewed and someone will get in touch."

"You're good at that," Emmett said quietly, nudging her arm with his elbow and then walking off. He knew exactly what she was doing, but it didn't seem that James noticed any difference at all. "I'm going to find more donuts. Feel free to start auditions without me."

James had quite the unreadable expression on his face when she looked back at him, waiting for him to say something. She was about to politely excuse herself, so she could start dealing with this mess he'd made (though she supposed she couldn't complain about a lack of options anymore.) "Alright," He said with a nod.

"Alright," She repeated and then started walking away, glad that her unexpected time with James for the day, hadn't gone on for too long.

Lily got up in front of the line and ushered people into the room, telling them to find a place to stand and that they would be going in order of who signed in first. Then she left a girl named Amelia in charge and went to sit at the news desk that they used for the show. They had a short script written up for them to practice on, and upon Lily's request, they were filming everything. She would definitely want to go back over it later.

And so, auditions started, much more rambunctiously than Lily had expected them too, but aside from not having a donut from that café she liked near the river, she thought that things were going pretty well.

"I need a coffee break," She called out after a few hours had gone by. They'd gone through more than thirty people, some not needing more than the two minutes required to read through the script before they knew they weren't a fit, and some needing a bit more time to do a second read of a different script. There were only six who Lily had asked to read the second script and that seemed like a much more manageable number.

"How many are left?" She asked Amelia as she started toward the break room.

"Three." Amelia grinned and Lily sighed. Taking a break for coffee seemed silly now, but she really did need to use the loo and she'd been talking almost nonstop for the last couple hours, so she needed something to drink as well.

"I'll be back in a moment," She promised.

She came back with one of the donuts Emmett had found and saved for her, as well as a mug of tea. "Alright, let's finish up." She grinned, taking her seat again. The next girl was already seated at the desk and she looked nervous. She sounded nervous too, and Lily didn't ask her to read the second script. The next was a freshman boy that Lily had seen around the building before and when he finished his read through, Lily smiled at him and asked him if he'd like to work on the show behind the scenes. He didn't seem disappointed in the least and Lily was glad as she hadn't wanted to hurt his feelings, and she liked having the digital media students working on the show.

"Last one," Amelia grinned, looking excited. Lily was excited too, they'd been here all afternoon and she did have other things that she needed to stress out about. "James, you're up."

Lily didn't think anything of it if she was being honest. James was a common name so until she saw him walking toward her, still wearing that ridiculously crooked grin of his, she didn't even suspect that it could be him. She gave him a look that clearly said, 'what are you doing' and he just picked up the script that was laying on the table and took a deep breath.

"Ready?" He asked her, somehow knowing that she wasn't going to say anything if she wasn't prompted. She didn't know how he knew that, but he did.

"Good evening, UCL" She said, turning back to look into the camera and smiling as she always did when addressing the student body. "I'm Lily Evans and this is my new co-host,"

"Hullo everyone, I'm James Potter and I couldn't be happier to be here."

"Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself, James?" She said, still wearing her show-smile as she turned to look at him.

"Well I'm a junior here at UCL, I play football for those of you who don't know, and I've been watching this show for the last three years. It's always been wonderful and I'm chuffed that I get to be a part of the team."

"Happy to have you," Lily grinned, though she could feel it tighten. He was going off script- which wasn't bad. It seemed more natural if you did it right. But he was doing it right and it was bothering her that he seemed so comfortable. She could also see that everyone watching the two of them was smiling.

"Thank you," He grinned. "In tonight's broadcast, we'll be checking in on our schoolmate's work in Ethiopia. A study abroad group that has been working closely with Save the Children has sent us some footage of the projects that they've been working on down there, and I can't wait to see it." How did he say that without sounding at all sarcastic? Normally when people said they couldn't wait to see something, they sounded sarcastic. That's why it was in the script, it had caught almost everyone.

"Alright," She shook her head and picked up her tea, taking a sip. "Let's close it out." He nodded and flipped to the next page.

"With that, we come to the end of another hour. For UCL News, I'm James Potter,"

"And I'm Lily Evans. Goodnight."

She tapped her papers on the desk and then stood up, picking up her mug again, she started walking away.

"You're not going to have me read the second script?" He asked, standing up as well.

She shook her head. "You did well, we'll let you know." She didn't bother to turn around. She could see the looks that some people were giving her, but she couldn't be bothered. She managed to go the last two years without so much as seeing this bloke, and now he'd tweeted a picture of the two of them looking like they were on a date, and auditioned to be her co-host all within a weekend.

"Is this because of the picture?" Marlene asked when she reached the production room.

"If you're asking about his motives, I haven't a clue. If you're asking about mine," She sighed and slammed her mug on top of her notebook. "Well then yes. No… Maybe." He made her feel like she was off balance. Like she was missing something important, like the existence of any kind of foundational relationship between the two of them.

"They're all going to want-"

"I know." She huffed, falling into her chair. "You know, counting that audition, I've talked to the bloke four times in my life."

"I know," Marlene said, "But despite the fact that he fancies you, they're still going to want him on the show."

"He doesn't fancy me." She said, because it was the only thing she could counter. And even she knew that she was lying at least a little.

"Usually when a bloke acts like a loon, it's because they fancy someone."

"He doesn't know me. Four times, remember."

"Right. Well, it doesn't take much to fall for you." She grinned.

"I know you're trying to be supportive and cute, but you're not helping."

"Sorry," She said, looking slightly apologetic. Lily sighed again. "We have to make a decision, today don't we?" She asked, turning on the computer screen and shaking the mouse to wake it up the computer.

"Shows tomorrow." She nodded. "Good thing there are only seven people we have to choose from."

Lily sighed and started going through the footage to the people who had read the second script. The rest of the crew that would be helping make the decision started filing into the room and someone turned on the projector and the lights went off and she started playing them.

None of the auditions were truly spectacular. If they were, then Lily could have (and would have) made the argument that one of them should have been given the spot. She wanted to give it to someone within the department, but only two of the prospectives were in the department and they were both freshman. She'd give them jobs making pieces, and they'd be happy, but they weren't polished enough for an anchor position.

"With that, we come to the end of another hour. For UCL News, I'm James Potter,"

"And I'm Lily Evans. Goodnight."

"That just sounds nice," Amelia said, tapping her pen against her clipboard. Out of everyone in the crew, Amelia took this as seriously as Lily did, and so Lily had come to trust her judgement as much as she trusted her own. "James Potter and Lily Evans." Lily cursed internally. Maybe she couldn't trust anything anymore.

"I like him too." Someone spoke up from her right. "I didn't think he'd be any good since he's just a football player, but he was. At speaking. I was surprised." The boy shrugged, and Lily appreciated his comment since he had said 'just a football player.'

She didn't say anything as they all debated, Marlene tried to get people excited about an exchange kid from Canada, but in the end, the consensus was unanimous. They were going to ask James Potter to be the new anchor and Lily let her head fall onto the desk in despair.

OOoOoOo

Lily went to the library after that. And because she was already in a bad mood, she pulled out her phone and opened Twitter. She told herself it was to get rid of the notification icon at the top of her phone, but she couldn't really help her curiosity. The comments that the picture had sparked ranged from would-have-been-sweet-if-it-actually-was-a-date to psychotic. Lily knew that James had a large fanbase, of mostly girls, but some of these comments were jarring.

I hope that BITCH knows how lucky she is to breathe the same air as james_potter

Would literally kill(her) to be with him #notjoking #literally

And the comments just kept coming. James hadn't been exaggerating when he'd said that they both had a lot of twitter followers, and she'd actually gained quite a few since he posted the picture, even though she hadn't even replied or acknowledged it in any way.

The sweet comments were just as jarring.

james_potter, how do you even find a girl that sweet? That smile of hers is just about blinding #feelingabitjealous #baegoals

james_potter, how come I didn't know that you weren't single anymore? lilyjane, same question goes to you? I follow both of you and this is how I find out?

Lily knew the girl who'd posted the last tweet, but she didn't understand why should would have been at all invested in Lily's dating life.

And now James was going to be her co-host. Was she going to be subjected to this kind of bullshite all the time now? She took a deep breath and started typing.

lilyjane: Don't forget to tune in tomorrow night to see who our new anchor will be! #uclnews #byemichael

She hesitated before posting it, deleted the bit about Michael, and then hit send. It was still her show to promote and it was something that she'd planned on doing before she knew how things were going to go down. She posted about the show all the time, she shouldn't stop now just because things were… weird.

It hadn't even been thirty seconds when:

james_potter has liked your tweet

She rolled her eyes and turned off her screen, slipping her phone back into her bag. It's funny how hard it was to ignore it now. She'd been so good at it a couple of days ago.

When she'd finally decided to leave, she didn't feel as though she'd gotten anything done. Whatever studying she'd managed to accomplish, hadn't managed to stick. She was wired and annoyed and she needed a hot shower and a Parks and Rec marathon. Also some wine. She was definitely having some wine.

She pulled out her phone to tell Mary that she was on her way back to the flat when she saw that she had a text from a number she didn't have saved in her phone. It wasn't uncommon, as everyone in the crew had her number and she couldn't be arsed to save all of their numbers.

The text was asking if she was free to meet and if she was still on campus. If this wasn't someone from the crew, she would definitely be alerting some kind of authorities.

Lily: You're going to have to tell me who you are if you want the answer to those questions.

She started to text Mary again when she got a reply right away. It's James. The words popped up at the top of her screen and she felt herself deflate a bit. Of course it was.

Lily: Why do you want to meet up? Didn't Amelia go over everything with you?

James: yes, but I still think that it'd be nice for the two of us to meet up and talk before tomorrows show

Lily: And why is that?

James: you seemed pissed at me

James: and I'd rather you weren't pissed at me

James: especially not for our first show

Lily: I'm not pissed at you. I don't know you. I just know you're a strange bloke who thought it was a good idea to get hundreds of women to internet stalk me/threaten to kill me because I laughed when you asked me to dance.

He didn't reply right away to that, so Lily texted Mary and started for the train. She'd made it halfway there when her phone buzzed again.

James: the picture wasn't some kind of revenge for not dancing with me if that's what you're thinking

James: I didn't know that people were going to be mean to you

She rolled her eyes and put her phone away, hoping that the 'read at' would speak for itself. Ignoring him seemed to be the only thing that got to him. At least he'd looked properly shamed when she'd stared him down in the studio.

When she'd taken a seat on the train, she pulled her phone out again. Four new messages from James. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She'd have to block his number.

James: I also didn't know that it would bother you

James: well at least not that much

James: I thought you would think it was funny

James: also it's a really nice picture of you

She tapped her thumb against the side of her phone, not sure how she was supposed to navigate through this conversation. She couldn't shut him down entirely, not now that she was going to be working with him three days a week at minimum. And then a thought hit her, though she didn't let it get her hopes up.

Lily: How are you even going to do the Friday show? Don't your games start at 7?

James: the season is half over, games move to Saturday afternoon instead of Friday evenings

Lily: Right. I forgot.

James: a lot of people do

James: so can we meet up?

Lily: I'm already on the train.

James: that's alright, we can meet somewhere near your flat

James: I have a car

Of course he did. But even if he offered to come to her flat and cook her dinner, something that would require zero effort on her part, she wasn't interested in being around him. She gave it a few minutes to let him stew, or because this conversation was actually exhausting she wasn't sure.

Lily: I have plans with my roommate this evening

James: lunch tomorrow?

He was a fast responder, wasn't he? That annoyed Lily as well.

Lily: That might work

And then she put her phone away again and refused to look at it even though she heard it buzzing.

She walked into her flat and saw Mary on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and two glasses of wine. Netflix was loading, and Lily sighed since she'd been hoping she could use the telly.

"Hey," Mary said, turning towards her and smiling. "Marlene texted me."

Lily gave her a tight-lipped smile. "James won't stop texting me. I hate whoever gave him my number. I haven't checked my phone since the train, but I'm sure that there's at least four new texts from him."

"He's a bit of an eager beaver." She chuckled.

"Yeah, I'll be in my room." She started toward her door when Mary made a sound in protest.

"I've got this set up all nicely for you, why would you go to your room?"

"This is for me?" Lily asked, eyeing the glass of wine in a way that could only be described as lustful.

"Of course it is!"

"I just assumed that it was for Emmeline."

She shook her head. "I told her that you were bummed so she had to get lost. She's been over all weekend anyway. She can spend some time at home."

"Just give me a heads up before she moves in for real." Lily said, falling back on the couch and reaching for the wine immediately.

"She's not moving in." Mary rolled her eyes, though there was an edge to her voice. Mary wasn't good at relationships. Lily was her best friend, and had been since they were eleven and sang her praise to anyone who would listen, but even she would admit that Mary wasn't good at relationships. She gave too much, and too quickly and she almost always ended up hurt. And then when she did have something solid, she just kept waiting for it to fall apart in her hands. But Lily didn't think Em was going anywhere.

"Well not yet, but when she does, give me a heads up." She shrugged, trying to keep her tone light so that Mary wouldn't get all sweaty and nervous.

"Right. Okay, in this hypothetical scenario where Em moves in with us, I'll give you proper notice."

"S'all I ask." Lily grinned, taking another drink of her wine. "What are we watching?"

"Whatever you want," Mary grinned, handing her the remote. Lily started flipping through the different shows and she didn't notice that Mary was staring at her for a couple minutes. When she did notice she reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"What? Do I have something on my face?"

"Aren't you going to check your phone?"

"Why would I do that? I just told you that I didn't want to do that."

"I know that's what you said, but that's what girls always say."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know, you pretend not to be interested because you think you shouldn't be, but you really are interested because how could you not be- and you can't sit here and tell me that you're not actually interested." She quirked her brow and when Lily made a face to let her know that she actually wasn't interested.

"Okay. I mean I can believe that you're not interested in him like he's clearly interested in you," She clicked her tongue and reached for her wine. "But you have to be a bit interested in what's going on. What he could have texted you? Why he decided to audition for your show? Why he's shown up out of the blue and demanded your attention in the strangest way I've ever seen and made me glad that I've not dated a bloke since I was thirteen." Lily laughed and shook her head.

"I mean of course I want answers, but whatever he's texted me isn't going to give me answers, it's just going to make me more confused about whatever the hell is going on." She said, pulling her phone out to prove her point. "So far he's just said that he'd like to meet up before we do our first show tomorrow-"

"Well that seems pretty normal."

"Yeah, but I didn't want to see him again today, so I blew him off and said maybe to having lunch tomorrow. And that's when I shoved my phone into my pocket and ignored it."

"Alright, so what did he say then?" Mary asked, tucking her legs up under her and leaning closer so she could look at Lily's screen.

James: awesome!

James: I know you said 'might' and not 'yes' but still

James: also do I bring something to wear tomorrow or is there like a wardrobe?

James: I'll bring something either way since I don't want to wear Michael's old clothes

James: I've just realized how many questions I forgot to ask Amelia

James: but you're not responding anymore so I'll shut up now

Lily raised her brow and looked over at Mary. "Who is this kid? Why is he- I mean when did I- How…" She trailed off and closed her eyes. "I'm not forgetting that I was friends with him at one point right? Like I didn't wake up the other day after having been in a terrible accident and just forget a chunk of time where I was friends with James Potter. Because that's how I feel. I feel like I have amnesia because he seems way too chummy with me to have only had two drunk conversations with me. Two drunk conversations that totals maybe ten minutes."

"Six messages in a row is a lot to send a stranger." She agreed. "If I sent you six in a row and it wasn't an emergency, you'd probably put out an ad for a new roommate."

"And you would understand why I did." Lily sighed, taking a few more sips (gulps) of her wine. "I mean this is ridiculous."

"A bit. Maybe you make him nervous." Lily snorted at that.

"The boy is not acting nervous. You should have seen him during his auditions today. There were no nerves." She shook her head. "And don't blame me for his behavior," She added. "He's acting strange and that's on him."

"Sure, but you might want to reply before he thinks you've been murdered and sends an officer to our door to check on us." Lily shook her head, hoping that that wasn't something that James would do.

"He doesn't know where I live." She said, because she honestly knew nothing about James aside from the fact that he was an over-texter and played football. And, "He watches the show." She said, realizing that she hadn't told Mary that yet. Mary narrowed her brow, since she knew as well as Lily that not all that many people watched the show. "He told me at the pub and sited to stupid things we did a while back. One that he wouldn't have known about if he didn't watch the show. Unless he stalks my twitter or something." She shrugged.

"I did notice that he liked your tweet earlier, so that is a possibility."

"He told me that they have the show on in the locker room before games." She said. "He complained about how terrible Michael was for saying he was the best part of the show on air. I think he actually does watch it. I just don't know why."

"He's not actually stalking you, is he?" Mary asked, lowering her voice and looking concerned for a moment.

"I really hope not." She sighed, pulling out her phone again. "I'll make Marlene come to lunch to be safe." Mary nodded and then paused for a second.

"Maybe you should ask Emmett to come as well."

"I would but he's got practice on Monday afternoons."

"Right. And when are you going to start dating him?" She asked. She asked this quite frequently and Lily had learned to ignore it for the most part. Emmett was a nice bloke, and everyone expected her to start dating him, or to want to date him, but it wasn't going to happen. She had never thought of him that way, and she was sure that he'd never thought of her that way either.

"Ha ha," She rolled her eyes. "I've decided that we're going to watch the Breakfast Club."

"Again?"

"You promised that I could pick anything I wanted."

"But we watch the Breakfast Club too much."

"Alright then we can watch Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." Lily shrugged.

"No we can't, it's not on Netflix anymore," She said, sounding a bit too smug.

"I own it on DVD." Lily said back, just as smug.

They eventually agreed that they could watch Lily's first choice and then Mary would get to pick. Apparently, it had been a long weekend for the both of them and it was only fair that way. She pulled the bowl of popcorn closer as the opening sequence began to play and shoved her feet under the blanket that Mary had draped across her lap.

Lily: Marlene and I are having lunch at Hopper's at one. We can go over any questions you have then.

Lily: And I can't blame you for not wanting to wear Michael's jackets