#my best friend who just moved away has already made friends on campus

[victory-cookies]

school starts tomorrow and I’m trying to be okay

[kamiversee]

˗ˏˋ My Love Note ´ˎ˗

3 | that it has to

❧ Synopsis | In which Choso Kamo, your asshole of a best friend, starts to change after you get involved with a rather cheeky cashier, Gojo Satoru.

❧ Content | language, sexual tension, teasing, fluff, & suggestiveness.

❧ Word Count | 5.3k

❧ Pairings | Choso Kamo x f!reader & Gojo Satoru x f!reader.

| Chapters mlist |

——“You almost fucked him?” Choso’s voice practically echoes into the air of your shared apartment, a few hours after having a brief conversation on campus and minutes after you started telling him about what happened with Gojo.

Of course, you immediately sigh, “No, I didn’t almost fuck him. We just made out.”

Your best friend was sitting on the living room couch, slouched back, head resting against the couch, manspreading, and eyes plainly up on the ceiling. All while you sat on a nearby single couch, explaining everything to him.

“But, you wanted to fuck him, right?” Choso asks, feeling slightly confused about how things went down in that storage room— especially after you’d, not so long ago, told him you wouldn’t mind doing just that.

You sigh, “Not at the moment no-,”

He’s all too quick to laugh at that and it stops you from speaking for a second. To which both of you get a little quiet. Then, Choso lifts his head from the couch and sends you a look.

“What?” Your brows pinch together, “Why’s that funny?”

Choso’s got this smug look on his face as he shrugs, “I mean, I know how you are so like… You’re tellin’ me you made out with him and you didn’t wanna fuck him right then and there?”

You scoff, “That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”

His eyes drift down along your seated frame before carefully rising back up, this knowing smirk plaster onto his face, “You? The same girl who gets worked up after one kiss?”

“I-,” Your voice gets caught in your throat for a second but then you’re quick to clear it, “That was one time and we were like, in high school. Of course I’d be flustered.”

“It was twice, princess,” Choso reminds you, “Though, you don’t like bringin’ up the second time because you still think I’m an assh-“

“You are,” You’re all too quick to cut him off, sending him a very pointed glare.

Choso rolls his eyes at you and huffs out a heavy sigh, “I’m not. That was freshman year.”

An eyebrow of yours lifts, “I know you’re not still trying to explain yourself…”

“I’ve apologized for my actions back then already so, no, I’m not trying to explain myself,” He says before moving to shrug and rest his head back again. “But you can’t really discount that kiss, we almost fu-“

“Yeah, yeah,” You cut off yet again, face heating up at the slightest reminder of a very steamy moment you’d shared with your best friend in the past. “I know. I remember, Choso.”

“Right so, considering that…” He has to bite back a smile as he recalls the moment himself, “It’s a bit hard for me to believe you made out with this guy and didn’t find yourself turned on.”

“I-“

“It may have been a while but I still remember your body, princess,” Choso admits, taking a purposeful pause just to hear the way you choke on your words. Thinking about the moment from long ago even more, he does end up smiling to himself, “I know how sensitive you are-“

“God, okay,” You breathe out, eyes widened and everywhere except for in your best friend’s direction, “We get it Choso, I’m sensitive sometimes. But that’s beside the point— I didn’t fuck Satoru.”

He gets quiet again, allowing your words to simmer into the air a bit before he decides to respond. Still with that little grin on his face, he sighs, “…Yet?”

To his surprise, you shrug, “Yeah, yet.”

“I-,” Choso’s head lifts off of the couch again and his eyes are quick to land on you, “Wait seriously?”

Your brows furrow and he notices you’re looking away from him, “Did you miss the part where I said he invited me out to a gala tonight?”

“No,” He tilts his head, “But what does that have to do with you fucking him-, ohhhhhh! You freaky bastards are gonna sneak off to have sex, aren’tcha?” There’s a bit of teasing in his voice as he makes his predictions.

“Well, I don’t know…”

Choso raises a brow and grows more curious, leaning forward a bit, “You want to?”

You finally look at him, “Huh?”

“Do you want to have sex with Gojo tonight, yes or no?”

“I wouldn’t mind-“

Choso tips his head to the side and there’s that stupid smirk on his face as his voice grows oddly soft, “Yes or no, princess c’mon.”

You shrug, “Yeah, I gu-“

“Do not finish that statement with an I guess,” He chuckles, “You know damn well you want him to blow your back o-“

With your eyes going all wide, you cut him off as quickly as you can, “Fuck off, Choso.”

He snorts, “M’just teasin’, chill,” He starts laughing at your reaction and you just send him a playful little glare before standing up. To which his laughter dies down and his eyes lift along your body as you stand, “Where’re you goin’?” Choso asks curiously.

You move your arms up a bit to stretch, “M’gonna go see if I have anything to wear. If not, Satoru said he’d take me shopping for something.”

Choso’s eyes widened, “Really? That’s nice of him.”

“I know right?” A smile begins to dawn on you, “I think it’s his way of making up for inviting me last minute.”

“Mh,” Choso hums, watching as you begin to exit the living room, “…You’re gonna tell me everything when you get back, right?”

“Of course I will, I tell you everything,” You reply cheerfully.

“Alright then uh,” He stands up and rolls his shoulders back a bit to stretch, “Be safe tonight.”

You flash him a genuine smile before disappearing around a nearby corner toward your bedroom, “I will, thanks.”

And at that, Choso finds his eyes lingering in the area you’d last stood in for some reason. It’s like there was more he wanted to say to you but he wasn’t sure what. So, he ends up shrugging the feeling off before going to cater to himself.

· ───────── · ꨄ · ───────── ·

Luckily for you, there was a wonderful dress you had sitting in your closet for such a fancy occasion such as a gala. It wasn’t the most expensive or anything but, it was decent enough to wear out and it followed along with the dress code Gojo had described to you through text.

It was a rather long dress with a slit that trailed teasingly up your thigh. Decorated in a pretty dark blue fabric, it hugged your body in all the right areas and gave you a rather flattering silhouette. Do you remember when or why you purchased this dress? No, but that’s the least of your worries right now as you admire yourself in it.

And it becomes even less of a worry as the sound of a notification pinging your phone steals your attention from the mirror. Since catching up with Choso, you’d spent your time getting ready and quite a few hours had drifted by. As such, the notification on your phone was from none other than the man of the hour— Gojo Satoru.

You smiled as soon as you read his name on your screen, quickly reaching for the device and reading his text that informed you he was downstairs waiting for you. After sending a hasty response back to him, you were quick to grab the last of the items you wanted to bring with you, stuffing them into a small purse you planned to carry with you for the night.

When you left your room, Choso was spotted in the kitchen with his tongue lapping away at an ice cream cone. Unknowingly, your eyes were glued to the sight for seconds longer than you realized. He drags his tongue languidly along the sweet dessert and you only blink out of your little daze when it somehow manages to miss his mouth, a drop landing on his chin.

At that moment, Choso seems to notice you’ve exited your room and he raises a brow at your eyes all over the lower half of his face.

“What?” He huffs out, brows pushing together in quick annoyance.

You bat your lashes and swallow before meeting his gaze, “Nothing,” You nearly chirp as the word leaves your lips, almost as if you’d been caught doing something you weren’t supposed to. Then, you shake your head and start to walk toward him, to which his eyes drop down to the dress you’re wearing the second your figure becomes fully visible to him, “Anyway, what do you think?”

Choso takes his time to study you, his eyes greedily drinking in every inch of you as his gaze trails down, focuses on your legs for a second too long, and then slips back up to eventually land back on your face, “You look alright.” He hums.

Your face goes straight, “That’s it?? Just alright?”

The corner of his lips twitched, “What else am I supposed to say?”

You roll your eyes, “‘You look good’ would’ve been decent.”

“I would’ve said that if you actually looked good,” Choso replies nonchalantly, quick to flash a smile at the way a vein of annoyance pops out along your face.

“Y’know what, I don’t know why I asked you in the first place,” You practically groan as you start turning away.

The second your back profile is revealed to him, he’s shamelessly drinking you in yet again before releasing a sigh, “I was just jokin’, c’mon.”

You glance back at him over your shoulder and raise a brow.

Choso looks you dead in the eye and tilts his head to the left a little, “You look sexy. There? Happy now?”

You blink, turn around to face him again, and then take a few steps toward him, “Were you being genuine just now or are you fuckin’ with me again?” Your arms cross as you question him.

“I was bein’ serious,” He tells you, feeling a bit confused why you’re approaching him so suddenly, “That dress makes your ass look good.”

Coming to a stop in front of him, you scoff, “You were lookin’ at my ass?”

“M’always lookin’ at your ass,” Choso smirks down at you.

You return a slight smile, “Perv.”

He chuckles, “I’m not a-,“ Whatever refute he was going to say goes out the window as you lift your hand to his face. Choso seems to forget how to talk for a second while your thumb swipes over his jaw, a loud gulp coming from him before he clears his throat, “…P-Pervert.” He murmurs out.

Your thumb draws away from his face and you show him the bit of vanilla ice cream he’d gotten on himself. Choso sighed at the sight, wondering why the hell he got so nervous moments ago. Then, as if to redeem himself, he takes his free hand to your wrist and leans down.

“Sure you’re not,” Similar to him, your voice seems to die in your throat at his following action. Yes, Choso is your best friend but… he’s one of those best friends that could easily be mistaken for your boyfriend based on the way he acts and things he does.

Like now for example, as he pulls your hand back up near his face, looks down at your thumb, and licks the ice cream you’d just wiped off of his face.

You’re nearly frozen for a moment as your eyes latch onto his lips, tongue, and just every small detail on his face as he remains all too close to you for a few seconds. Slowly, his gaze flicks to yours and you gulp.

Choso all-too-casually smiles at you as he lowers his voice, “Didn’t wanna waste anything,” He tells you.

You wonder if that’s supposed to be a valid reason behind him licking your thumb just now but instead of questioning him, you just nod. “Right…” You murmur back.

Carefully, he lets go of your hand and leans away from you, returning his attention to the rest of the ice cream in his other hand. After which, he starts walking away from you, “Alright, cya,” He dismisses.

You snap out of your daze and clear your throat, “Yeah, I’ll uh, I’ll be back in a few hours I think.”

“Mhm, I’ll be up if you need me when you’re back.” He says finally.

And with that, you collect yourself with a little sigh, “‘Kay.”

Then, you were turning away and exciting the apartment before he knew it. Choso, left alone, moves his fingers to his chin that you’d recently touched, wondering why the hell he reacted that way. His hand then wanders to his lips and he nearly smiles to himself at the way you’d frozen up just from him licking your finger— as if he hadn’t done similar actions before.

Shaking his head, Choso ends up laughing at the whole thing while he makes his way to his bedroom. It’s been a while since he’s made you flustered like that. Part of him almost missed it.

· ───────── · ꨄ · ───────── ·

Meanwhile, as you made your way downstairs wiping your thumb off on your dress, you found yourself replaying just about everything from the day so far.

It felt like so much had happened— from Gojo’s tongue all in your mouth to Choso’s sudden… Clinginess? You’re not sure what word to put to it yet but he’s been acting a bit strange. And if you’re being honest with yourself, so have you. You can’t remember the last time you found your eyes lingering on Choso the way they did today.

You’re not ashamed or embarrassed to admit that your best friend’s hot but the last time you checked him out this much was a few years ago when you had a crush on hi-

Cutting your thoughts off was the sound of Gojo calling your name. You didn't even realize you’d made it all the way downstairs. Though, the sight of Gojo in a dark blue suit and his hair neatly styled was all it took to capture all of your attention.

“Hi Satoru,” You greet with a kind smile on your face as you approach the man.

His hand is out for you to take once you’re close enough and his pretty blue eyes are everywhere on you within seconds, “Hey pretty girl,” Gojo hums whilst you lay your hand in his, “You look…” He trails off for a second as he lifts your clasped hands up a bit, signaling you to spin around for him. After which, the bright smile on his face seemed to widen, “Amazing, wow.”

“Aw, thank you,” You murmur while he twirls you around until you come to a stop in front of him. “Think I look good enough to pass as your girlfriend for a night?”

Gojo shrugs a little, his eyes still taking in the way your dress is clinging to you before swiping his tongue over his lips. “Mhm…” He hums mindlessly, halfway hearing whatever it is you just said, “Yeah… Y’sure you wanna go to this gala with me?”

You blink, “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I mean,” His head tilts, “We could always do somethin’ else.”

“Like?” Your eyes remain on his face despite his gaze all over your body.

Gojo nearly bites his lip, “We could skip all that ‘nd just fuck in my car, honestly.” Voice lowering a bit, he hardly realizes he just said that out loud until your reaction comes seconds later.

Heat swarms your face and you gulp, “W-What?”

The man finally meets your gaze and decides not to play too coy about what he’d just offered, “You heard me.”

“Are you serious?” You question.

“Only if you want me to be…” Gojo smirks. One of his hands drifts to your waist and he gently pulls you closer to him, “I mean, that would be a decent enough excuse to give my parents as to why I didn’t show up…”

“I-,” You gulp down whatever it is you were going to say as you try to figure out if he’s being serious right now, “Satoru…”

“Hm?” His brows raise and he studies your expression closely. It only takes Gojo a second or two to realize you were really considering his words, “Y’know you can say no, right?”

You crack a brief smile, “Y-Yeah I know… it’s just…”

He quirks a brow, “What? You wanna fuck me?”

“No!” You chirp, glancing away, “Well-, yes, but no,” He’s smiling at the way your brows push together while you try to figure out what to say, “N-Not right now… I-I just-“

Gojo interrupts your stammering with a laugh, “I was jus’ teasin’ you sweetheart, relax.”

You move to playfully hit his arm, “Do you get off on seeing me flustered or somethin’?”

This smug expression slips onto his face, “Y’want the honest answer to that-“

“No,” Your eyes get all wide and you quickly step to the side, “Let’s go.”

He snorts before turning around to open his car door for you. The two of you waste no time settling into the vehicle and you notice how Gojo’s eyes keep finding their way to your legs at any given chance.

For the time being, you decide to ignore his little glances. If anything, you tease him a bit once he starts driving by crossing one leg over the other, your leg being revealed more due to that slit in your dress.

And you just loved how Gojo didn’t hesitate to glance over whenever he got the chance to. You think you actually liked his little glances. It feels like it’s been forever since you’ve been looked at in such a way and you were truthfully relishing in it tonight.

· ───────── · ꨄ · ───────── ·

No, seriously— the entire night was filled with those longing glances. So much so that you think you were growing rather addicted to them. Hell, perhaps you were even searching for Gojo’s eyes to be on you at nearly every passing second.

After all, he does have such pretty eyes. A feature you soon learn has been passed down from his parents. You don’t think you’ve ever known someone to be such a spitting image of their parents before.

Actually, you’re surprised you even got to meet them. Especially considering that when you first walked into the gala with your arms looped around one of Gojo’s you swore there were one too many esteemed-looking guests scattered all over the place. And when Gojo had initially pointed out his parents to you, they were surrounded by a bunch of older people and hearty laughs could be heard coming from their direction.

He made a comment in your ear about how those same elderly folks were going to come swarming the two of you pretty soon, which led you to wonder just how important a family Gojo comes from.

Obviously, they’re pretty wealthy and well known but you’re completely unsure what for. Though, before you get a moment to ask him this, his attention is dragged away by the first interruption of the night— some older businessman who was greeting Gojo in the blink of an eye.

You tried to slip away from his arm to give him time to tend to the man but with the way he tugged you closer and his smile grew more tight-knit, you got the feeling that he didn’t want you to leave his side just yet.

Such an interaction continued countless times throughout the night up until he was practically ripped away from you. Some other group of people finally got to him and his attention was completely stolen from you.

You weren’t upset over it or anything though, you actually quite liked the little moment of escape you got. It gave you a chance to explore the venue a bit up until you finally found a bar to occupy yourself at. 

Only one drink was ordered and you managed to make small talk with some people who were also at this bar until things around you somewhat simmered down. As such, you eventually found yourself seated but facing the rest of the gala, your eyes watching Gojo’s parents chat with some more people— from your perspective, it seemed like they never got a break.

You tried looking around for Gojo but he was nowhere to be found. There were a lot more people now but things seemed more relaxed. Or maybe you were just feeling more relaxed.

Either way, with a sigh, you spun back around to face the bar as the soothing melody of Sade’s Smooth Operator filled your ears. Everything around you really was quite fancy, fancier than anything else you’ve ever experienced. Though, you dubbed it down to a bunch of rich people in suits making a bunch of connections with one another. Honestly, you could get used to this kinda lifestyle-

“You come here often?” A voice murmured right into your heart, nearly causing your heart to jump out of your chest as you flinched and turned your head to the person who’d just spoken.

An immediate sigh slips past your lips as you realize it’s just Gojo being as teasing as ever, “You scared the shit out of me, don’t do that,” You say with a chuckle.

He smiles, “And you didn’t answer my question, gorgeous,” Gojo purrs, tipping his head to the side as he leans against the bar and remains close to you, “What’s a pretty lady like you doin’ at a bar all alone, hm?”

You smile, “Well, my date-“

“Boyfriend,” He corrects, “For the night, remember?”

You swallow, “Riiight… My boyfriend, ditched me to go suck it up to some rich guys.”

“Yeah?” Gojo begins to play into this conversation just as much as you are, “What a terrible guy! Y’know, I’d never leave someone like you all alone like this.” His voice is filled with so much sarcasm that you can’t help but find the natural banter between you and him intriguing for the nth time.

“Really? So what would you do then?” You tease, maintaining such consistent eye contact with him that it almost makes him nervous.

Gojo shrugs casually and smoothly holds his hand out for you to take, “See, if you were my girlfriend, I’d have you out on that dance floor showin’ you off to all these lame rich people.”

Your face practically lights up at that, “Is this your way of inviting me to dance with you, Satoru?” You ask, breaking that little act of yours.

He’s quick to smile, “It is.”

With a hum, you place your hand in his and allow him to guide you out of your seat, “I suppose I’m inclined to accept your invitation then.”

Gojo swears that every time you speak, his heart is feeling all weird in his chest, “I suppose you are.”

And with that, he’s walking you to the nearest dancefloor where Sade’s voice has grown much louder. Obviously, given the abundance of wealthy people here, most people are swaying rather slowly with their partners. So of course you and Gojo follow suit and move to sway with that sweet melody.

Dancing with Gojo is probably the highlight of your day. Forget making out with him in some dusty storage room, or gazing at Choso much more than you intended to, nothing compares to right now as your arms drape around his neck and his around your waist— your body's swaying in sync to the song adorning the ambiance of the whole party.

It was almost romantic. Almost. 

Up until Gojo starts being playful again. A smile spreads across his face so suddenly and you raise a brow. He doesn’t give you a chance to question his expression as he’s talking before you know it, “Am I?” Gojo asks very randomly.

You snort, “Are you what?”

“A smooth operator?” God, he’s the biggest dork you’ve ever had the pleasure of interacting with. All you could do was burst into a slight chuckle and shake your head at him. To which he raises a brow, “What?? That’s a genuine question.”

“I can’t stand you,” You giggle, rolling your eyes at his corny comment.

Gojo sighs, “Sit on me then.”

“Satoru,” You huff out in a scolding tone.

“What?” He questions, as if he didn’t say what he just said.

You turn your head to the side and chuckle at how shameless he is, “How do you go from being an idiot to some flirtatious freak within seconds??”

“I dunno,” Gojo shrugs, “Things just come to me.”

Nodding a little, “Do they?” You ask.

“Mhm,” He hums in response, staring intently at the side of your face.

“Well-“

“But I was being serious that time,” The way seriousness drips off of his tone has your body tensing.

Your eyes snap back over to him, “What?”

With perfect timing, he looks away, “There’s people watchin’ us right now.” Gojo points out with a little nod of his chin.

“So…?” A brow lifts in question and you keep your eyes on his face, “People have been watching us all night.”

“Nono, they’re watching like they’re seconds from approaching us.” He explains, glancing around at other people.

You chuckle nervously, “Okay… So what?”

“So…” Gojo lets out a long sigh and finally looks at you again, “I don’t feel like talking to anyone else tonight.”

“And what am I supposed to do about that?”

“Steal me away.”

Rolling your eyes at him yet again, “How?” You ask.

“Well,” He shrugs cheekily, “You are my girlfriend.”

“So?”

“Do I really have to spell it out-“

“Yes.”

“I-,” His jaw clenches a bit as he swallows any argument to that down, “Fine. No one’s gonna question me if they see you dragging me out of here.”

You blink, “Like, dragging you out to leave?”

“Mmh, no. Like, dragging me upstairs.” Gojo emphasizes, glancing over to a distant staircase.

You turn your head back to follow his gaze, “What’s upstairs?”

He finds himself looking at you again, “My old bedroom.”

“Your-,” You pause. Then, your head slowly turns to face him, “Oh.”

The man winks at you and his lips curve into a smirk, “Y’get it now?”

“Yeah, I think so…”

Gojo hums, “Think you can pull that off, sweetheart?”

You scoff at his little challenge, “Of course I can. I know how to be a fake girlfriend.”

“Do you? It feels like I’ve been putting in all the work tonight-“ His voice is caught in the middle of his throat as you tug him closer to you and tilt your head, your lips nearly on his.

“Has it really?” You whisper, eyes dropping down to his lips, “Should I start putting more effort into this twenty-four-hour relationship then?”

“Yes please,” He unintentionally begs, clearing his throat seconds later. “I mean-, yeah, that’d uh… that’d be nice.” Gojo tries to sound nonchalantly but he ultimately fails— something you find so ridiculously cute.

With one last little hum of acknowledgment, you pull him all the way in and your lips land on his. Gojo’s eyes widen for a second as if he wasn’t expecting that but in reality, he was just trying to put on a little show for the nearby lingering eyes. His hands grip onto your waist and he’s quick to shut his eyes and press his lips onto yours seconds later.

He had to make this believable after all…

As if the way you two have been looking at each other all night wasn’t enough to convince any idiot with eyes that you two were in a ‘relationship’.

And hey, maybe he gets a little carried away with making things believable because his hand somehow finds its way sinking along your body and he’s grabbing a greedy handful of your ass, groaning into your mouth, and pushing forward with you without a second thought. Then he feels you smile against him and he thinks his eyes almost roll to the back of his head.

It was such a simple little curve of your lips against his and yet he was already losing his mind. Or perhaps it was how long he’d been waiting for this, waiting for you. You’ve been inside his head all day and he couldn’t stop replaying your body against his earlier.

Fuck, if you kept kissing him the way you were right now, he swore he was going to take you right here and now– in front of everyone. Which is why he has to rip himself away for a second just to whisper to you, “Sweetheart, we-,” He’s cut off by your lips slotting against his again and Gojo can’t help but groan instead of finishing his statement.

Were you feeling the same way as him? Did he give you this unusual thrill inside the same way you did him? Was kissing him making you lightheaded? Was it distracting you from the surrounding world and making your body heat up all over the damn place? Gojo sure as hell hopes so because that’s exactly how he’s feeling now.

He tries to pull away again though, this time mumbling against your lips, “Fuckin’ need you,” He grunts out directly into your mouth.

Your grasp slips over to the sides of his neck and then up a little, hands framing his face before you ease back with a slight smile, “So have me then,” You whisper in response.

Gojo loses himself a bit at the sound of that, his lips sliding off of yours and finding themselves down against your neck and one of his hands dropping to grab ahold of you from that teasing slit in your dress, hoisting that one leg up against his hip and catching you by surprise. His other hand occupies your waist but his fingers are dancing dangerously against the fabric, as if he were seconds away from snatching something.

Your head tips back ever so slightly as a gasp leaves you, your awareness to still being in the middle of a gala coming to you, “N-Not here Satoru,” You chuckle at his hastiness, “People are watching-”

“Let them,” He hushes out against your skin, lips hot and wet under your jawline and his hand gripping onto your thigh.

You take things into your own hands by slipping your fingers down a little to his chest and giving him the softest little push, “Upstairs,” You murmur, “You’re supposed to be taking me upstairs, remember?”

Gojo shakes his head, “No… You’re supposed to be taking me upstairs.”

Rolling your eyes at his specifics, “Are you gonna let me?”

“Dunno if I’ll make it up there with you, baby,” He hums all too passionately into your neck, “I need you,” Gojo repeats yet again, this time licking your skin, “Needa taste you.”

A shiver runs down your spine and you gulp, moving one of your hands to pull one of his off of you. Slowly, you manage to remove Gojo’s grips all over your body but he struggles to pry himself away from your neck. Even so, you end up taking one of his hands in yours and walking backward, glancing around at the surprisingly few people actually looking at you two.

You’re thankful that not too many people seemed to care that Gojo doesn’t know how to keep his hands off of his girlfriend, with the exception of his parents who were among those individuals that were watching the small little show of affection you and Gojo just performed.

Your hand squeezes onto Gojo’s a bit tighter and you turn your body to walk properly toward the staircase he’d pointed at a while ago. Technically you don’t know exactly where you’re going but you assume he’ll lead the way once you make it upstairs.

Gojo snaps out of his little stupor and notices his parents are watching you drag him upstairs, making note that this plan of his seems to be working. Although, he secretly couldn’t care less that you were his excuse to escape this event– in reality, Gojo was genuinely eager to get in your pants.

But, you didn’t pay too much attention to that.

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My Younger Childhood Friend Likes Me Too Much - By Tounyu pudding (7.5/10)

The "age gap" here is a grand total of two years, and both parties are college students. The title is a red herring. The real risky content involved is dominance play and manipulation. A yandere who plays the long game. He's gentle so he can get what he wants. It's a guilt free kind of fantasy.

Hana is an average, pretty moron...or is she? She's in love with Kaname, her handsome childhood friend, but he's never even blushed at her. They're like siblings. Hana is already twenty one, and naturally she's confused about love vs lust. She develops a crush on a kind and trustworthy classmate, because that's her type. Someone like Kaname. Someone she can hang out with.

Kaname has also always been in love with Hana, but he's not confused about his feelings. He knows what he wants. He just hasn't made a move yet, because he doesn't want her to get away. He's a super perfect, clean-cut and smart guy on the surface...but he's actually a demanding pervert that really wants to control Hana.

He needs to wait for the right time.

Hana trusts him completely, so she asks for his advice. He's a popular guy. Women literally follow him around campus. Remember, he's super good at hiding his weird guy side. These women think he's available and nice. His secret long term plan to turn his childhood crush into his dog isn't...in the cards. No one would guess that's his goal. Don't hate the women for falling for his BS.

His demands start out unreasonable, but Hana hasn't been in a relationship before. She's afraid of being inexperienced. Unfashionable. Ugly.

Her insecurity pushes her into stupidity. Plus she's got this weird attraction to her best friend that she's too nervous to act on, and he's too busy making evil plans to notice her feelings.

Her shirt comes off.

First hint.

I wasn't even surprised by the dog thing at the end.

Hana notices that her crush is just a replacement for Kaname. She doesn't bother him. She doesn't use him. She's a kind young woman. She just leaves him be.

She starts to think about how and when to confess to Kaname.

Her old crush is actually interested, because her look has changed and she's more confident.

Again, I don't blame her for falling for the act.

That's because she's finally taking risks with Kaname. She's not a chicken anymore. That usually makes women more hot. A guy who "prefers" quiet women that can't function in public is a massive red flag. So it seems like Crush was a genuinely good guy. Sadly, Hana picks the Fake Nice Yandere Guy.

He demands more of her time.

More training too.

His lessons in romance become entirely dirty. She's not reaaaallllyyyy being forced, but every single thing involves her being ordered around.

He likes to make her p** and c** in front of him. That was a big part of his convoluted lessons. The more yandere part of his lessons seems to come after the main story.

He tells his friends he got a dog.

Just for the record Hana and Kaname are in a consensual relationship, and it's fine for people to experiment or hook up before dating. The creepy part was always Kaname's long term training plan. I shudder to think about what he makes her do after their official relationship begins.

Good luck Hana!

[heesdreamer]

5 times he calls you

SUMMARY ➩ 5 times series (5 times heeseung called you)

give it time first date

SUMMARY ➩ being jakes twin sister, your reputation followed you around wherever you went. add on the fact you were a known man eating playgirl with a thing for nerds and you were heeseung’s worst nightmare

anon request

SUMMARY ➩ jake is a terrible boyfriend and reader cheats on him with heeseung. smut… like really smut (popping my full smut cherry)

silenced

SUMMARY ➩ navigating life 1 year post end of the world was already difficult as you avoided rotting corpses with hefty appetites and groups with various bad intentions. things get harder when you run into a group of survivors, 7 boys who make it impossible to run away.

lost time

SUMMARY ➩ you and your bestfriends, growing up together since you were babies, had a tradition of going camping together every summer. this year you get paired up to share a tent with the boy you’ve been in love with since elementary.

fear of spiders

SUMMARY ➩ you’re pretty sure that your quiet and mysterious roommate just might be a serial killer… plus he’s weirdly afraid of spiders (spiderman au)

give up on me

SUMMARY ➩ you’re moved back to your hometown and finally moving on from your toxic 4 year long relationship with your highschool sweetheart heeseung when you get the email that the 5 year reunion is approaching

as long as you’ll let me

SUMMARY ➩ prone to a bad reputation and accepting your friends ridiculous bets and challenges, you’re hit with the task to take the virginity of your schools number 1 student

you make me you’ve made me

drabble 1

SUMMARY ➩ struck with insomnia your entire life, you’ve taken to exploring the city restless all night. things change when you meet a tall boy with tired eyes and bruised knuckles

one hundred and one

SUMMARY ➩ returning back home from a failed year at college, you’re reunited with your little brothers best friend who always had a crush on you. this definitely hasn’t changed, but he sure has.

echoes of riot

SUMMARY ➩ falling inlove with a rockstar is never easy, especially when he returns to your hometown on a successful tour three years after you lost contact

sunshine

SUMMARY ➩ basketball player heeseung x cheerleader reader. E2L smut

two for one

HEEJAKE x reader

touched starved

SUMMARY ➩ your bestfriend dyes his hair blonde and old feelings start to surface.

anything

SUMMARY ➩ Four years after he disappeared from your life your childhood friend and love returns back to town completely changed.

it will be

SUMMARY ➩ starting your life in college filled with your mothers paranoia and lack of social skills, you befriend three boys with a long twisted history. a history that somehow leads to the handsome boy with the cold stare.

off the ice

SUMMARY ➩ dubbed ‘ice princess’ at an early age for you ice skating skills, you face the biggest challenge of your career when you’re paired with your rival for a competition dance.

just be

SUMMARY ➩ bad boy sunghoon x good girl reader paired together for a class project (but with twists)

prompt challenge

22 10 & 4

let you break my heart again

SUMMARY ➩ attending the same college as your childhood friend ( and longtime crush ) jake sim, you weren’t prepared for the complete change in his personality.

skin on skin 2

GENRE ➩ religious corruption au, church boy jake au, slightly evil reader

two for one

HEEJAKE x reader

forgotten consequences

SUMMARY ➩ Your bestfriends little brother comes back from Australia and catches your attention despite knowing the consequences

homes not home

SUMMARY ➩ recently smitten with the most popular guy on campus, park sunghoon, you’re struck with the rumor that he only likes girls with experience. your only option is to ask your best friend for help.

anything else

SUMMARY ➩ life brought you four boys at different times, somehow knowing when you needed them most. how could you possibly choose?

drabbles!

harry potter headcanons

silenced

SUMMARY ➩ navigating life 1 year post end of the world was already difficult as you avoided rotting corpses with hefty appetites and groups with various bad intentions. things get harder when you run into a group of survivors, 7 boys who make it impossible to run away.

[sonnetsoncanvas]

Mess it up : pt 5

Summary: Years ago he had let you go for your own good. But this time, he isn’t sure he can

Part of the Mess it up series

Pairing: brother’s best friend rock star Bucky x fem reader (Steve’s sister) (dual pov)

Warnings: modern AU, angst, second chance, eventual smut, brothers best friend trope, implied cheating, self-deprecation, happy ending?

Inspired by: Mess it up by Gracie Abrams

Notes: This is the first time a fic has made its way from my laptop to the internet. So please be kind and do leave your feedback. Happy reading!

Chapter 5

Pull myself together, you can watch it happen

Reader POV

It’s been a long time since you dated. Too long, your friends might argue.

But how could you have explained to them that you were scared.

Scared that you will end up giving your heart to another man, again.

Scared that he will shatter it to pieces, again.

Scared that you will never be able to get those pieces together and make yourself whole, again.

So, you did what you did best. Lie. Put on a mask of indifference and make excuses. You’re too busy, there’s too much to do, you cannot afford a distraction. And it worked.

But now, after what happened last night, you needed a distraction. You needed something, someone to take your mind off those six feet of muscle and metal, before you ruin yourself, again.

And here you are, talking to Pietro Maximoff.

He was the twin brother of Wanda Maximoff, the drummer for “The Avengers” and a friend of Steve’s from his music school. Coincidentally he started his Master’s programme at Harvard around the same time you started your law, and it was through Steve you both connected. That and you ran in the same circles made you friendly acquaintances who hung out a bunch of times over the years.

He was a fun, outgoing man, unanticipatedly intelligent. You liked him, but not enough to agree to go out with the few times he did ask you. you weren’t ready to date anyway, and even if you were, you sure as hell wouldn’t go for a reckless womanizer like Pietro, who was notorious all over the campus for his flirting skills.

But maybe that’s what you required right now. A fun, reckless fling without any responsibilities or emotional attachments. And when Natasha happened to mention that Pietro was in the city for a project, you took it as a sign and texted him.

You had no compunctions about making the first move, you took what you wanted, when you wanted it.

He was enthusiastic about your offer to meet up, and so you, Y/N Rogers, dressed up to go out on a date for the first time in four years.

Bucky POV.

Advertisement shoots were going to be the death of him. Bucky was never good at standing still and holding his smile for an extended amount of time, but since “the camera loved him” according to Tony, the Band’s manager, here he was, struck in an endless day of flashes and posing.

But as he started for home at the end of the day, his fatigue seemed to melt away at the thought of seeing you. the past few days had been magical. You had started talking to him, and not just stilted monosyllabic answers, hour long conversations. You even went with him to the farmers market to get groceries. He had never thought that walking through an overcrowded marketplace in sweltering heat would make him this giddy, but here he was. You weren’t in a place to rekindle what you had in the past as of now, but a guy could dream.

he stopped the car on the way home to get you some mangoes. You had already finished the ones Steve bought for you. Maybe today he could make a smoothie for you. maybe pick out an action movie and make an evening out of it. Bucky wasn’t a fan of those, preferring to stick to rom coms in general. But you seemed to love that mindless violence, and if it was for you, Bucky would watch hours of it.

He made a beeline to your room to tell you about his idea, just as you were walking out of the door. Unmindful of where you were going, you slammed into his chest. Bucky remained unmoved, slightly amused by how flustered you were. I mean it wasn’t every day one got to the calm, composed Y/N Rogers out of sorts.

Your eyes widened when you saw him, taken by surprise obviously. But it wasn’t like Bucky could ask why. the speech function of his brain was again unresponsive as he took you in.

To him, you were always a goddess, sweatpants or pantsuits.

But today you were dressed to kill. There wasn’t anything remotely scandalous about your pale white dress, it was in itself quite cute, with those small flowers embroidered on the delicate net. The neckline, the length was all normal, modest. Nope, the dress was not the extraordinary part.

It was the way you left your hair open, cascading down your back and shoulders. It was the way your skin had that luminous sparkle that he hadn’t seen in oh so long. It was the way your subtle yet sweet perfume reached out to him, the same you used to wear when you were his girl. He was so glad when he discovered you hadn’t changed it. He had always associated that smell with you.

“hey” you muttered, zeroing in on the fact that he wanted to talk to you.

“Um yeah hi. You’re going somewhere” he cursed himself for being so inarticulate, but for the moment his brain was dead.

“Oh, yeah. I’m meeting up with my friend from college. At that bar, near Sam’s place.”

“Tha…that’s great. You should go out. You work too much”

You could only nod.

He stepped aside to give to you space to leave, only to look at your backside. He didn’t want to come across as lecherous, but God that dress did things for your ass.

He followed you into the living room where Natasha and Steve were snuggled on the couch. Every time he saw them like that, his heart panged. Because it reminded him of all that he was missing. But he was hopeful, now more than ever, that this dream was now within his reach.

“All ready for your date?” Natasha asked.

It was a pail of cold water on the warmth that had seeped into Bucky’s chest.

Reader’s POV

“A Date?!” Bucky asked, not caring how much belligerent he sounded.

You were afraid of this happening, of Bucky finding out that you were going out on a date.

Why? You had no clue. Its not like you’re together, or broken up recently. You’ve been apart for longer that you were together, plenty of time for any remnant emotion to dissipate. It was logical,

But that’s the thing about Bucky. Nothing was governed by rationality when it came to him.

“You said you were having drinks with a friend?” he questioned again. You looked around the room to find a very amused looking Natasha and a very confused Steve.

“Well, technically Pietro is a friend, and we are meeting over drinks….”

“Pietro? Pietro Maximoff?!! Wanda’s brother.?!!” Bucky thundered.

“Bucky you need to chill the fuck out. so, she’s going on a date, what does it matter to you? Pietro is Wanda’s brother, I assure you Y/N is not related to him in any way for you to be reacting like that” Nat admonished him, though her words lacked their usual bite.

All this while Bucky kept looking at you with so much heat you could feel blisters on your skin. You hated that his indignation was affecting you so much.

Suddenly he turned away from you, your body feeling physically cold at the lack of his glare.

“Steve, you cannot possibly be cool with this man. That guy is known all over as a Casanova. There’s no way you’re letting Y/N go out with him?!”

You bristled at the implication of needing Steve’s permission to date, but before you could give this dumbass a piece of your mind, Steve unexpectedly came to your rescue.

“Bucky, Its like you said, Y/N is all grown up now, capable of making her own decisions. I’m not stopping her from going out and having fun, especially after she’s worked her ass off for so long. Plus, Pietro is staying in New York for a while, and if things work out, then it’ll just be another reason for her to stay back.” Steve just shrugged casually, still uncomprehending why his buddy is getting so protective over his younger sister.

Bucky opened his mouth to say something, but you had run out of shits to give.

“Now if completely unnecessary and absolutely moronic conversation is over, I have reservations to keep.” With that, you slammed the door to the penthouse close.

It was your first date in years, and you’ll be damned if you let James Buchanan Barnes destroy it.

Bucky POV

“Pour me another” he tapped on his glass, signalling Sam to pass the bottle of whiskey over to him.

“I am not. Not before you tell me why you barged in my house and went straight to my liquor cabinet. You said you’ll tell me after you finished your drink, and you have. So, tell me Barnes!”

“I couldn’t bear staying at my place”

“Why the hell not? Did Y/N finally kick your ass out for being a pathetic fool?”

“she’s on a date.”

“Wait, what? A date?! I thought everything was going on track”

“YES SAMUEL! I THOUGHT SO TOO.BUT SHE IS ON A FUCKING DATE! SHE CAME BACK INTO MY LIFE; I STARTED DREAMING OF US GETTING BACK TOGETHER, ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT PIETRO MOTHERFUCKING MAXIMOFF IS TAKING THE ONLY WOMAN MY HEART HAS AND WILL EVER BEAT FOR ON A FUCKING DATE!!” Bucky exploded, channelling all the anguish trapped inside in his cathartic speech. And yet he didn’t feel lighter, only dejected.

Sam, however, was unfazed by this outburst.

“Pietro Maximoff? Well shit. He’s one beautiful bastard. Also, very popular with the ladies I hear…”

“Sam..” Bucky growled his name in a warning.

“What are you gonna do about it James? you know apart from sitting here and crying like a bitch.”

“What can I do? stop her? How even? “he sighed, his heart constricting at the thought of letting you go, again. “Just when I felt like I could hold onto her, she slipping away”

“THIS is what I don’t understand!” Sam threw his hands in the air in frustration.  “you are the same person who built the most successful band in the world out of nobodies through sheer hard work. Even when you had that goddamn accident, you didn’t stop. Never once did you let anything deter you from getting what you wanted. And yet, right now when you need that badass attitude the most, you’re quitting like a fucking loser.”

“You want your girl Barnes? Its time to go get her.”

Taglist: @kandis-mom @queerqueenlynn @mayusenpai666 @nothingbettertosay81 @hisredheadedgoddess28 @loustan90 @zannemes @cjand10 @stuffyownswrld

[starfxkr]

https://www.tumblr.com/starfxkr/752096980817330176/rudy-in-the-crusades-just-makes-me-think-if-jj-was

Oh my god I be you write a longer blurb with that new girl idea I need it 😭😭 bc tell me why you end up being like “he’s gross but I kinda like that” 💀💀

࣪𓏲ּ ᥫ᭡ ₊ ⊹ ˑ ִ ֶ 𓂃࣪𓏲ּ ᥫ᭡ ₊ ⊹ ˑ ִ ֶ 𓂃࣪𓏲ּ ᥫ᭡ ₊ ⊹ ˑ ִ ֶ 𓂃࣪𓏲ּ ᥫ᭡ ₊ ⊹ ˑ ִ ֶ 𓂃࣪𓏲ּ ᥫ᭡ ₊ ⊹ ˑ ִ ֶ 𓂃

going to a new school your senior year is already hell, and doing it during the spring semester feels like it was tailor made for your torment.

and in walked jj maybank.

you were grateful to have a friend, the rest of the kook girls were snobby and mean, constantly trying to pull you away from the only person who welcomed you with open arms.

but to jj it was something else completely--you were fresh meat, completely oblivious to him and his reputation on campus.

maybe that's why it was so easy for him to convince you to sneak into his room. and it was even easier for you to let him kiss you.

the room was filled with the gentle smacking of your lips, barely muffled by the music he was playing as he inched his hands up your shirt and you pulled back, "uh, jj i don't know about all that."

"why not? don't like the song? i can change it-" he starts to look around for his phone but you still him.

"no, no, not that i just don't know if we should be going that far..." you don't even get to finish before he's pushing you back down and kissing you again, pushing your shirt up higher as you squirm under him.

when jj pulls back again he has a slick smirk on his face, "i knew from the moment i saw you, you'd have pretty titties." his eyes flick up to yours, and you begin to feel pinned by his heated gaze.

"don't say that jayj, that's gross."

"who gives a fuck, you like that im gross." cruelly he grabs your soft flesh and painfully squeezes to hear you yelp.

"no i don't, i thought we were friends."

jj leans back over you, ghosting his lips over your nipple as he says, "we are friends, and you do like it, that's why you're in my room."

the conversation's over now, and you know you can't argue with him considering you make the move to pull down your shorts before he even gets the chance.

you do like that he's gross, and jj is your best friend. this is the most fun you've have had in weeks.

[fluentmoviequoter]

Beg You to Stay, Push Me Away (Part 2)

Summary: Years after your falling out in high school, you find yourself thinking about Dalton. Then the roles are reversed, and Dalton finds himself begging you to stay.

Part 1 Here!

Warnings: angst to fluff, hurt/comfort, spoilers for The Red Door (2023), I changed the frat party scene to fit this. 1.7k+ words.

“Who is that?” your roommate asks, pointing to a picture on your desk. “He’s kind of cute. In a high school, nerdy way.”

You follow her finger, spotting the picture of you and Dalton from the last summer you were friends. Nodding to yourself, you wonder who packed it and put it there, considering you put it in storage after the last time you spoke.

“That was high school. He was my best friend,” you answer.

“Was? Sounds like a dramatic ending. Tell me all about it.” She pulls her legs onto her bed and gets comfortable, prepared for the story.

“I mean, it was dramatic, but,” you shrug as you finish, “what high school falling out isn’t?”

She rolls her eyes and gestures for you to keep going.

“Basically, we had been saying for years that we wanted to go to the same college. Then one day in senior year, we had to do one of those ‘where do you want to go to college’ writing prompts and he seemed to have forgotten all of that. I probably made it a bigger deal than I should have, but the day ended in a yelling match by our lockers, and we never talked again. Over a decade of friendship ended because he wanted to go his own way, with no regard where that left me.”

“That’s rough. So, why keep the picture?”

“See, that’s the thing, I didn’t. I put it away; I didn’t pack it.”

“Seems like your family knows something you don’t.”

Your roommate smiles and begins to say something else, but her phone beeps and distracts her. She taps the screen and then quickly types something. When she looks back to you, she has a much different grin.

“What?” you nearly groan, already familiar with her myriad of facial expressions. This one means she has a “great idea,” which you probably won’t like.

“We’re going to a frat party,” she answers, standing and walking to your closet.

“Where?”

“JPU.”

“Okay. Why?”

“My friend Chris invited us. She’s taking her roommate, and I think you could handle a night out.”

She tosses an outfit onto your bed, gives you a serious look, then moves to her closet.

“You’re lucky I like you,” you tease as you stand to change.

“You love me, don’t kid yourself.”

As you get ready, your roommate distracts you by helping you with your outfit and hair, but your eyes keep straying to the picture of you and Dalton. Cheek-to-cheek, huge smiles on your face; it feels like yesterday and an eternity ago at the same time. If you were honest with yourself, you’d say you miss him, but it hurts too much, so you convince yourself that you’re still mad at him.

When your roommate deems both of you “hot and ready,” and laughs at your comment about sounding like fried chicken, she leads you to her car. As the campus fades in the rearview, you wonder what school you would be at if you’d followed Dalton or if he’d come with you. You found a college with a program that matched your interests and, as an added perk, is a several-day drive from your hometown. Dalton should be the furthest thing on your mind; he surely wasn’t thinking of you. Rolling your shoulders, you give yourself a silent pep talk, deciding to stay just as far away as Dalton had pushed you.

“Chris told me to park in their dorm lot and walk, is that okay?” your roommate asks as she turns into the back entrance of the campus.

“Sure,” you answer. “How do you know Chris?”

“Next door neighbors since we were born. I love her like a sister.”

She finds an empty spot, and you both begin walking toward frat row, following the directions in Chris’s text. The music is audible before the house is visible, and you feel Dalton slip a little further from your mind. As you walk through the door, someone squeals and then nearly tackles your roommate in a hug.

“Hi, I’m Chris. So glad you guys could come,” Chris says, pulling you into a hug.

You return the hug and introduce yourself before following them into the kitchen. Chris begins talking about something that happened when they were kids, so you excuse yourself to look around. You end up by the stairs and decide to go up and get away from the crowd for a minute.

“Whoa! You’re too pretty to go to school here,” a guy says as he staggers past you on the stairs.

When you reach the landing, you turn right and run into someone, grabbing their biceps to right both of you.

“I’m sorry,” you say at the same time.

As you look up, your eyes widen, and your breath catches.

“Dalton?” you whisper.

“Excuse me, I need to get out of here,” he says, the second part more to himself.

He takes a step to go around you and stumbles. You catch his arms again, ignoring the feeling of his hand wrapping around your wrist.

“Let me help, Dalton. Where are you going?”

He mumbles his dorm building and number, allowing you to slip an arm around his waist and support him. When you reach the bottom of the stairs, you ask him to stop and text your roommate that you’re helping someone and will meet at the car later. She sends a thumbs up in response, so you push Dalton’s chest up and encourage him to keep moving. He mumbles to himself during the walk, but you only catch words here and there. You had finally been able to get him off your mind, and then he literally stumbled back into your life.

“Dalton, which floor?” you ask at the bottom of the stairs.

His head lulls over onto your shoulder, and he whispers an answer before saying, “Close the door.”

You look behind you and ensure the door is closed before going up the stairs. It’s slow going, but you finally reach Dalton’s dorm room, and would be surprised that it’s unlocked if you didn’t know him so well. You lead him to his bed, helping him sit down. Dalton stops mumbling, and his coordination is returning. While he stares at the floor, his eyes visibly clearing as if he’s waking up, you take the time to look at the drawings on his wall.

“I see you got into art school,” you say to yourself.

One picture catches your eye. There’s a picture of you, only it looks older than the others. Your leg brushes Dalton as you lean in to get a closer look. Dalton shifts beside you, but your attention is glued to the detail he includes in his works.

Dalton whispers your name, and when you look at him, he asks, “Are you really here?”

You nod and step back, suddenly aware that you’re touching him. His arm raises, and he grasps your wrist, eyes wide as you move.

“Please don’t leave me. If you’re really here, please don’t leave me,” Dalton begs.

You freeze, unsure what to do. Realizing that the roles have been reversed, you decide not to push Dalton away like he did to you. Dalton was your friend for a long time, and you know that this distress he is showing is genuine, and you hope you remember how to help him. Stepping closer, you twist your hand to hold his as you push his hair out of his face. You’re standing between his legs, and he looks up at you, eyes glassy and brows furrowed.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I never should have treated you like that. You were right, I should have remembered,” Dalton apologizes repeatedly.

“Dalton,” you say, drawing his attention. “You broke my heart. And it wasn’t just that day; after your coma, it seemed impossible to get through to you. Every time I tried to talk to you it felt like I was walking through a minefield, and I didn’t want to ruin what we had by stepping on the wrong one.”

“Then I ruined it,” he says.

You nod, but your hands remain on him.

“I’m sorry.” You shake your head, but his fingers gently squeeze your hand as he adds, “Don’t tell me not to apologize, please, I don’t deserve that. I can’t tell you how sorry I am. If you’re willing to listen, I can explain everything – almost everything – that happened. And I know a second chance is the last thing I-“

You gently shush him before asking, “What happened?”

“It wasn’t a coma,” Dalton begins before telling you everything he knows about his ability to astral project, the Further, and the door that must be closed.

Processing his words, everything he just told you, you remain silent. You step back, and Dalton’s face falls until you sit beside him.

 “That makes sense,” you state.

“Really?”

“Don’t forget how well I know you - or knew you.”

“You still do.”

“Congratulations on getting into art school; these are amazing.”

Dalton looks past you and then meets your eyes. “The one at the end? I drew that the day of our fight.”

“Dalton.”

“You were right. You didn’t deserve to be pushed away, and I will never forgive myself for breaking your heart. But since the moment you begged me to stay, my heart has been yours,” Dalton says, leaning closer to you.

Taking a deep breath, you blink and feel a tear run down your cheek. Dalton raises his hand and wipes the tear. His hand rests on your cheek as you look into his eyes.

“Maybe you didn’t break my heart. Maybe you had mine like I had yours,” you suggest quietly.

Dalton smiles, and you lean against his hand.

“But I need you to do something before we start this again.”

Dalton nods quickly, willing to do anything and everything for another chance with you. He’ll beg you to stay for the rest of his life if that’s what it takes.

“Forgive yourself,” you say. “Because I already did. And I can’t let the man I love carry around that kind of guilt.”

Smiling at each other, Dalton decides to beg one more time tonight for a kiss from the one that nearly got away.

[huntinglove]

Peaches, pond, and moonlight for the selfship game!

Hi hi!! Thank you so much for the ask!! I'll answer these for my current faves!!

Peaches - How did you and your F/O meet?

I met Charlie because of a blind date! The app we were both using was really strict about not sharing your personal information through the chats, so we agreed to meet up and talk face to face! I was actually using the app to find some friends, because I had just moved into town, but... I'm glad we went a step further.

I ended up being a few minutes late and when I got there he was nowhere to be seen, I thought he had left so I went to a cafe to relax instead. I'm not sure how he found me, but he ended up buying me a slice of cake and sending me a note, apologizing for being late! I decided to join him in his booth and have our date anyways!

He was absolutely sweet and adorable all the way throughout it all and we even shared the slice of cake while we got to know each other! I caved and ended up telling him that I was already in love with him afterwards, he was blushing and smiling so hard he ended up passing out because of what I said (⁠╥⁠﹏⁠╥⁠)

I met Alma when I was staying on campus during the night! I had to finish and submit an assignment to one of my professors, so I ended up staying there until a little bit over two in the morning... When I went to take the elevator so I could go home, the thing got stuck and I guess Alma heard me calling for help and decided to give me a hand!

When they approached me I was... Terrified! They crawled out of the elevator's walls like something straight out of a horror movie, I think it made me black out for a second...

Once I woke up again, they were very kind and patient and we talked for a good while, just getting to know each other! They gave me some tips about my essay's hypothesis, I helped them pick a name for themselves because they didn't remember the one from when they were alive and they even told me about how they passed away...

They decided to help me out because I was nice to them, so they lowered the elevator to the ground floor and opened the doors so I could leave! We kept in close contact after that, both because I started staying late more often and because I took a job as the campus' night guard!

I met Mychael on the day I went looking for my missing cat... I guess I was a bit unprepared because I didn't think it'd take as long as it did, I forgot to pack water and food before I went into the woods. I also remember stepping in a circle of mushrooms and passing out because of the spores.

When I woke up, I was in a cozy looking cabin, laying in bed and covered by a soft blanket. My body couldn't move at all, and that's when Mychie showed up! He gave me some medicinal tea to help me regain movement and relax, asked if I was okay and was very kind and caring overall.

I don't know why, but I swear I thought he was a cosplayer when I first looked at him... I didn't mind it when he told me that he wasn't human, especially with how adorable he looks!

Pond - How do you get along with your F/O’s friends?

Charlie is quite shy and struggles a bit with befriending people, so I haven't met any of his friends yet, but we spend most of our time with one another anyways! I'm sure we'll get along great when we get to know each other though, anyone who's kind to him already has my trust!

Alma says they were always a loner, plus there aren't any other ghosts in the building... They say that other than being their partner, I'm also their best friend! Which is an absolute honor to me, of course!!

Mychael has an easier time befriending animals because they're not as judgemental as humans. It took quite some time for him to believe that I wasn't scared or upset by his appearance when we first met...

He jokes about his only friends being his lovely little hens in his backyard! They're all so adorable that I can't even blame him, I even got to hold and pet Sunny for a good while!

While it seems like my darlings have a certain.. pattern... I can confidently say that my friends absolutely adore them! They always have such kind things to say whenever we hang out together or when I bring them up in conversation!!

Moonlight - Freebie! Say anything you’d like about your F/O

Charlie gives the best hugs, even if he won't ever admit it himself! He holds me in a way that doesn't feel underwhelming or suffocating, it's like I was made to be in his arms, and he was made to be in his!

When we haven't been around each other for a while, he'll just hug me while we're sitting down and gently away side to side for comfort and reassurance, it's very nice!!

Alma really likes to feed my body and play with my hair whenever they possess me, though they have a rough time asking for it. They enjoy being able to experience actual bodily sensations again, and I'm more than happy to lend myself to them to help them achieve that!

Mychael is an incredibly fast learner, teaching him my first language has been very fun and easy! He has an easier time with writing and reading, compared to speech, which is absolutely understandable. He also has a lovely singing voice and I always catch him humming our favorite songs when he's working on chores or knitting!

[bukguhope]

in which badboy! jeon jungkook desperately needs everyone to think he has a girlfriend and out of all the girls on campus that he could’ve chosen to fake date- he chose you, the girl who hates him the most.

—> fake dating, badboy! jungkook, swearing, mentions of blood/fighting, hate(mainly oc) to love, eventual light smut, little pining

taglist/ @familiarlikemymirror3 @thisartemisnevermisses

01| 02|

you and taehyung freeze mid step and turned in sync to be met with jungkook’s confused look, how the fuck do you get out of this one?

“well, iam off to… polish my… shoes bye!” taehyung rushes away in no time and his excuse make your eyes close momentarily in anger at his pathetic excuse- although your somewhat distressed you couldn’t come up with anything like that. you glance down to find jungkook wiping his knuckles, clearly trying to wipe off the little blood that decorated them.

“what were you two doing?” his eyebrow raised slightly and you become suddenly aware of just how awkwardly you were stood in front of him

“oh he, wanted to take me somewhere but i guess… he changed his my mind oh well see you back on campus” you rush out and turn to take quick steps but curse silently when jungkook catches up to you in no time

“take you where?” his questions were starting to grate on you, mainly because it was becoming difficult to come up with lies to make it look like you definitely weren’t following him

“i don’t know, it’s taehyung he’s weird” you shrug and you can feel jungkook looking down at you, clearly not believing your rushed out excuses and you were just hoping he would give up questioning you

“y/n, were you following me?” great, he wasn’t giving up.

“no, why would i do that?” he stops now and makes you stop too, placing a hand on your shoulder.

“well, just make sure you don’t ever follow me okay? can you promise me that?” god why was he so persistent? couldn’t he just say okay and move on like a normal person?

“i wasn’t, and i won’t” jungkook gives you a little nod before letting you go and so you continue to walk

“great so where we going?”

“we?” he suddenly places an arm over your shoulder and pulls you into his side making you stumble slightly but he keeps you on your feet

“yes, we. boyfriend and girlfriends normally stick together you know” at this point the pair of you had made it back to campus and he was speaking way too loudly for your liking.

“stop people will hear” you say through your teeth, trying to get out of his grip but his arm remains strong against you. suddenly, he leans down to you- lips against your ear making you panic slightly

“isn’t that the point of a fake relationship darling?” his voice made you shiver slightly and you hoped he didn’t see the effect he had, since when did he have an effect on you?

“i guess so, but you don’t have to go over the top” you huff, finally pushing his arm off you as the pair of you walk through campus before you spot taehyung perched against a wall. he spots you and his eyes widen before he’s running off “hey! you fucking-” you don’t finish your sentence as you’ve already started to chase after him through the little crowds bundled together.

“you are the most stupid person i’ve ever met in my entire life” taehyung looks up to you, eyes glazed over as he lays on the ground. it was yet another friday where you got a call late at night, except this time it wasn’t your best friend. no, he couldn’t even manage to do that, another party goer had to snatch his phone up to call the ‘person the drunk guy keeps shouting for’. apparently your friend had drunken himself into such a state he couldn’t even compsie himself to call. so now everyone at the party knew your name, after he shouted it god knows how many times.

“y/n” he gasps as you look down at him “when did you get here?” taehyung’s voice was in a whisper, as if in disbelief he was seeing you- given the fact he could barely see you were surprised he recognised you

“does it matter? can you even stand?” crossing your arms over your chest, you watch on as he rolls onto his stomach and places his palms onto the concrete to try and push himself up. although, he didn’t get that far because he seemed to freeze in that position “so that would be a no”

“look who it is!” your own palm hits your forehead when you hear that voice shouting from the door of the house that hosted the party.

“the only thing that could make this worse, thank you!” you silently shout into the sky before looking at jungkook making his way to you. he seemed to have a little stumble in his step, clearly he’s drank more than usual.

“now what are you doing-” his sentence remained unfinished when his feet met taehyung’s form on the ground making jungkook tumble and land not far from your feet making you gasp in surprise. “whew did not see him there” great, the one man that could’ve probably helped you out of this mess was in just as much of a state as your best friend. brilliant.

accessing the situation in front of you, huffing as you watch the pair of men giggling to themselves over the fact jungkooks legs were resting on taehyung, you decide you have to bite the bullet and get them in into your car one at a time

“okay come on!” you let out as you bend down to try and pull jungkook up by his arms, which shockingly you manage to do. holding him by the arms, you guide him to your car parked nearby

“hey! you came for me why you taking him?!” jungkook whips his head around to stick his tongue out ever so childishly to your best friend still led on the floor making him whine and throw a tantrum

“iam coming back for you! not that i want to!” thankfully you managed to get jungkook into the back of your car, closing the door you turn your attention to taehyung. going over you bend down, gripping onto his arms “ready to stand?” he nods, eyes closed as if he was about to fall asleep on the ground. you pull on his arms and he manages to push himself up and you keep him balanced before ushering him into your car.

the drive back to campus was- hellish. the boys managed to find something to bicker about in the back of the car, not that it made any sense- you couldn’t even tell if they were speaking a proper language. nonetheless, you made it back to campus and you quickly figured out getting them into the car would be the easy part because finding a way to get them back to their dorms seemed impossible. parking the car, you let out a sigh as you listen to the pair of them ramble on still- deciding they’d only be one way to get them to sleep safely

“so last night was, eventful”

“i believe what you’re looking to say is; thank you for not killing me in my sleep” taehyung gives you a look, too hungover to banter and way too embarrassed to defend himself. “you’re lucky my roommates aren’t here, otherwise you’d have waken up on the streets” you were very thankful that your roommates dated and were away for the weekend, otherwise there was no chance jungkook and taehyung would’ve have a bed to sleep on. you barely made back to you’re own dorm, let alone making it to their dorms

“waking up to jungkook spooning me was a wake up call, drinking needs to slow down”

“iam great a spooning count yourself lucky” jungkooks voice makes the pair of you look over to the kitchen door as he makes his way over and sits at the table. “morning sweetheart” he greets you as he places his hand on top your head, smoothing you like a dog making you slap his hand off you. how he wasn’t as hungover as your best friend baffles you.

“iam yet to get one thank you, i did lug the pair of your overgrown asses home” the boys share a look and laugh before turning and uttering a thank you making you shake your head and raise your tea to your lips.

“did you sign that agreement?” rolling your eyes at the mention of that stupid contract you nod a yes making jungkook smile. “good because the coach wants to talk to you” you almost spit out the drink in your mouth, he wants to talk to you?

“why the fuck does he want to talk to me?”

“darling, he needs to be sure i’ve settled down. you think he’s just going to believe me? he wants to see for himself”

“that’s not that shocking” you narrow your eyes at taehyung for not only getting involved but for agreeing with jungkook.

“fine whatever, how long do i have to prepare?”

“about two hours” your eyes widen but jungkook looks calm as he reaches over to steal your tea, bringing it to his own mouth to take a sip “i guess we should practice being a couple” he suggests nonchalantly, making you huff before snatching your drink from him as he goes to take another sip.

[scorchviox]

Airhead

pairing: shigaraki x original character

genre: college au

synopsis: The protagonist's best friend sets her up on a date with someone that comes off as unpleasant. To Hibiki's, the protagonist's best friend, satisfaction the two easily warm up to one another.

word count: 8.2k

Hibiki’s saying goodbye to yet another fling.

What she should be doing is coming into the diner and clocking back in so I could get a fifteen-minute break. The diner was practically dead as per usual but leaning against the counter and staring out the window for fifteen minutes isn’t the same as sitting on the other side of the counter picking at the stale fries that sat in the back from earlier this morning. I couldn’t blame Hibiki though; she has always been flamboyant and loveable at first glance. The work uniform works in her favor as well; however, the short, black skirt with a small apron at the center always has me wondering if the owner of this ridiculously run-down establishment was a pervert. 

My eyes stray from the large windows and look around the relatively dead diner. Earl, a regular customer, sat in a corner booth with a cup of coffee and technically yesterday’s newspaper in hand. Apart from him there was a wrecked couple sitting on the opposite end of the counter from where I stand, sipping coffee. They were no doubt trying to drink away the undeniable hangover they were going to have in the morning. It wasn’t a surprise to see the good old 24-Hour Diner dead at twelve in the morning on a Monday though. 

The small bell at the door finally rings, letting me know a certain someone has finally come in. “About time!” I snap looking up to the door and seeing Hibiki walk in with a smile spread on her plump lips. “I’ve been waiting for my break,” I whine, slumping into the counter.

“Remember I told you about him? Isn’t he so cute?” She swoons, going around the counter and leaning against it right by my side. Her curly, brown hair tickles at my ears as she tilts her head to rest on my shoulder. “He’s such a hottie,” she continues, appraising him in a tone of voice that sounds dreamy. She probably was dreaming, especially by the look of her half-lidded eyes staring out into the parking lot being illuminated by one single lamp post. 

“Yeah, sure,” I say with the roll of my eyes. I stand up, causing her to almost drop her head onto the red counter. “I’m taking a break,” I say, already pushing open the greasy, white double doors that lead to the kitchen. Daisuke, the cook, sat on a bucket hunched over and scrolling through his phone with some earphones on. He’s probably just a tad older than Hibiki and me, or so I think. We’ve both seen him around the college campus, but don’t know his exact age. A while back she made a bet that she could get his age out of him before me, but I say she’s already lost that bet. Daisuke is a tight-lipped guy who, for the most part, keeps his personal life to himself. “How are the fries this fine morning?”

Daisuke doesn’t move from his spot. He merely glances at me from the corner of his eye and lets out an amused sound, something between a chuckle and a scoff. It’s that kind of laugh you give a coworker when they say something that’s not amusing at all, “Oh, you know, very delicious. The strips of potato were lightly sauteed in a thick oil until golden around the edges and seasoned with sea salt. It was then garnished with my sweat and tears,” he jokes in that sarcastic way he always does. The lilt in his tone is very much present when he mentions his bodily fluids. 

I nod, reaching for a plate and dumping some fries onto it, “That’s…” I pause staring at the sad and soggy fries, “really gross, Dai.” I look up just in time to see him sit up straight and stretch his arms out. 

The sounds of his back popping and screaming in utter bliss to be straightened out make me cringe. “That’s not my name,” he groans, standing up and pocketing his phone. The wire of his earphones dangling freely now from the pocket of his jeans. I turn with my plate in hand and see Hibiki with a wide grin just outside the ordering window. Her hand reaching through and handing Daisuke a piece of paper, presumably with an order scribbled on it. 

I don’t bother answering him and just walk back out towards the front of the diner and take a seat at the counter. Hibiki leans her elbows on the counter and steals a fry from my plate. “Look over there,” she mumbles under her breath as she discreetly points her fry in the general direction she’s talking about. “Just came in. I jokingly offered him the Two Story Beef Burger and he took it.”

An amused breath leaves my lungs as I look up slightly interested. It’s not every day someone decides to try the disgustingly tall burger Daisuke hates making. There’s that and the fact that I want to see what nutcase orders a five-patty burger at nearly one in the morning. To the right of us sat a man in a booth with his hood up. Tufts of black hair peek out beyond the hood as he stares down at what looks to be a Gameboy Advance. “So that’s what a weirdo looks like,” I whisper to Hibiki as I throw a fry into my mouth. 

The conversation doesn’t linger on the man though, Hibiki is quick to turn her attention back to me. “Did you do that lecture quiz for philosophy yet?”

“I haven’t to be honest, wanna do it together?” I reply, taking my phone out of my apron’s pocket. My fingers swipe around the screen until I find the quiz’s portal. 

Hibiki seems to be doing the same, her eyebrows knitting together as if merely thinking about the quiz would succumb her to utter pain. “That’s cheating,” she mumbles to her phone, “Bet I can finish it before you though.” Her brow is raised up and smirk dances on her lips, challenging me into yet another round of her bets. She likes betting, but I honestly don’t remember a time where either of us actually paid each other back if we won. 

“Ready?” I smile, thumb hovering over the Start Quiz button. 

Maybe we’re seen as childish when we do bets like these in public, but it makes things more fun, “Set?” she inquires, that challenging smirk never leaving her features. 

“Go!” Simultaneously we press the button and start at the first question. I see her click an answer before I even have time to read the paragraph long question. Dread fills me for Hibiki. Hopefully the idiot actually read the question, bet or not this is her grade. The first question seems threatening due to its length, but the answer comes to me relatively fast. 

The quiz takes Hibiki about three minutes to complete and announces it loudly, “I win!” she exclaims happily and dances in place as she holds her phone to her chest in pure giddy. 

“Congrats,” I giggle, submitting my own quiz and setting the phone down on the counter. “Bet I got a higher grade than you though,” I challenge looking up at her while chewing on a salty, stale fry. 

Hibiki’s green eyes narrow down at me, “Bet,” she replies as if this were the biggest gamble she would ever take apart of. “What’d’ya get?” 

I pick up my phone again and unlock it to see my grade. It was a solid eight out of ten. I just know her grade is lower considering how she probably just skimmed the questions instead of reading them in full. Proudly, I put my phone down and show her the screen. “I’m smart,” I smirk with a playful, haughty tone of voice. 

“A smart person would drown those sorry excuse for fries in ketchup,” Hibiki’s lips tremble as if trying to hold back a laugh while I turn around and look to see Earl walking to the door. “Have a good shift, girls.”

In a cheery tone we simultaneously say, “Bye, Earl.” We watch the old man leave the diner and keep an eye on him until he’s safely in his car. 

Once he’s haphazardly leaving the parking lot in his beat-up Dodge Ram, Hibiki slumps into the counter, “You win that one.”

I look past her and see Daisuke staring at us with a plate set on the order window, “You can interrupt us ya know.” 

His shoulders rise and fall as Hibiki takes hold of the plate. On it sat the greasiest burger with fries I will ever see. It honestly looks like Daisuke put in extra effort to douse oil on the poor thing. “Breaks over!” Hibiki grins widely, pushing the heart attack on a plate into my hands. “I’m cashing in my win with this.”

“Um, cashing in?” I ask unintelligibly. My eyes stay on the plate, thinking about what she means. Like I said, we never really paid each other. Not even favors. Then it hits me like a freight train, “Are you scared of him?” I whisper teasingly, referring to the stranger in the booth playing an old game.

For a second, I feel like I’m right, but I know her. The way her eyes shift to the man and her brows raise means something is up. I know that scheming spark in her eye like I know the back of my hand. Her green eyes are wide as she looks back to me, “Okay, okay,” she says in what sounds like defeat. “He’s a friend. I was thinking about the other night. You said you hadn’t gone out since like practically the civil war-”

“Did you just call me old?”

“-and I was like ‘noooo’ when I went to bed,” she continues dramatically without even acknowledging my interruption. “My poor little heart couldn’t take it. Thinking about your love life being washed up at the ripe age of twenty.”

She finally stops and stares at me. Her dramatics even bring tears to her eyes. “What about him? There’s gotta be something wrong with him.”

Her wide eyes blink once, then twice until the sign of tears have disappeared. “He’s antisocial like you. Doesn’t really have any friends.”

“So, you think he’d make a good boyfriend candidate and I have friends!”

Hibiki rolls her eyes and shoves the plate into my hands, “I’m literally your only friend, but I don’t count b‘cuz we’ve been besties since braces.” 

I slowly stand and look at the order window to see Daisuke still standing idly by. He’s no doubt enjoying our exchange. “Dai is my friend!” I say a little too loud for the nearly empty diner. The pitiful couple was gone too. They probably made a getaway when Hibiki and I were taking our quizzes. 

“Not my name,” Daisuke mentions once again and doesn’t bother to add anything else that would favor me in this position. 

Hibiki tilts her head in the man’s direction, “Go. His name’s Tomura. He’s kind of weird, but he’s nice.”

Begrudgingly, I step away from my nearly empty plate of fries and take my first few steps in Tomura’s direction. He still sat staring down at his Gameboy and this up close I could see, as well as hear, he was playing some RPG with odd Egyptian like music. “Hey, Tomura,” I say, greeting him and setting his plate down. I watch the patties slightly shake at the impact, then look to see Tomura isn’t even bothering to look up at me or reply for that matter. I stand there unsure of what to do before turning my head and looking at Hibiki with wide eyes before looking at her so-called friend. 

Her eyes are set in a glare as she gives me a nod and juts her chin in his direction. If I didn’t know this weird girl, I wouldn’t have known what she meant. 

Sighing, I set my hands on the table and slide into the seat across from him. The cracked red leather digging into my bare legs as I settle myself in and awkwardly stare at the man. “So…uh, Hibiki said you’re antisocial like me, but I think you’re a few levels ahead,” I say jokingly to him in hopes of at least getting a laugh out of him, or something akin to it.

He sets down the pink game console and finally looks up at me. This doesn’t settle my uneasiness though; a shiver runs up my spine and I can practically feel the hair on the back of my neck rise. Tomura’s eye color is so dark I can’t even distinguish where the pupil meets the iris, but that’s not what causes the primitive fear to stir in me. It’s the dark circles around his eyes mixed with what could only be described as a resting bitch face. The guy looks like he hasn’t had a good night’s rest since 2003. His pale hands push his game aside and pull the plate closer to himself. Tomura looks to the huge grease tower before looking to me and raising a brow, “You gonna get me a fork or something? Or do you expect me to Scooby-Doo this thing?”

 A mix of embarrassment and utter disbelief rain over me. I slide out of my seat quickly and smooth down the uniform’s skirt as I walk behind the counter. 

“How’s it going?” Hibiki whispers as she leans in close to me while I pick out a knife and fork. 

I turn to her quickly, “That guy isn’t socialized,” I whisper harshly, “Did his mom not take him out on walks or something? Literally told me if I was gonna get him a fork or something. Girl, the audacity on that guy!”

She clears her throat, obviously fighting back a laugh. “He’s like that. Took him a while to talk to me in class too.”

“And you’re trying to set him up?” I ask wrapping the knife and fork in a napkin. “You’re a horrible cupid. Letting them out without proper training,” I hiss quietly before making my way around the counter. Looking up at him, I see he’s surprisingly not on his game again, rather his cheek is resting in his palm and his tired eyes on me. The pressure I feel because of this makes me walk faster, “Here, sorry,” I say, setting the knife and fork down beside his plate. 

I watch him look at the rolled-up utensils before he decides to rip the napkin off with one hard yank. He takes them and cuts a corner of the burger before shoving the meat and cheese into his mouth. “You just gonna stand there or sit down again?” he asks, waving the fork towards the seat in front of him. “At least pretend we’re making happy so Hibiki gets off my case,” he grumbles as he takes a fry to his mouth. 

“Then you know about her setting this up?”

Tomura scoffs and rolls those dark eyes of his before he starts working at cutting off another piece of the burger, “Sit down will you? You’re making me nervous.” I mumble a quick apology and sit down in front of him again before he continues. “We’re in the same Women Studies class. She hasn’t stopped annoying me about meeting up with some friend of hers since she decided to sit next to me.” He looks up at me, resting his chin on the back of his wrist and letting the fork dangle in his light grip. Tomura slowly chews the meat, then says, “Wouldn’t think someone as cute as you struggles for a date…Anyway,” he says looking back to his plate for another forkful, “Told her I’d finally do it if I got a plate of food. Timing kind of sucks though. Was s’pose to help my friend raid a dungeon but free food is free food.”

“Ya really know how to make a girl feel special,” I deadpan. My eyes wander from his face down to his plate to see he’s managed to eat a good chunk of the burger. “What game were you gonna play?”

He looks up at me with a raised brow and sits back. Again, his eyes look me over, almost like he was sizing me up or trying to see if I am really at all interested in his game. He is definitely the type of guy who thinks women can’t play video games because they’re marketed towards men more. Either way, anything was better than hearing Hibiki whine later that I didn’t give this a try. “World of Warcraft.”

I nod hearing the name.

Tomura’s eyes narrow, concluding my speculation. He was sizing me up to see if I knew what a game was. “You don’t know it do you?” he asks.

“No, not at all,” I say glaring back at him, “It’s just one of the most popular MMO games that’s been running for nearly seventeen years.” 

The man sucks his teeth before he looks back down to his plate of grease before pushing it in my direction, “You can have a fry,” he says taking the fork and stabbing at a piece of meat, “What kind of games do you play?”

Taking up his offer, I snatch a fry off his plate and slouch back into the crusty leather, “Eh,” I shrug my shoulders and finish off the fry, “a little bit of everything. I hate fps though.”

He raises a brow, “Literally everyone likes fps. You’re either a liar or you haven’t played any good ones.”

I reach over and take another fry. Tomura is still looking at me, waiting for an answer while I chew on its rubber texture. “Name a good one.”

“Classic one is Call of Duty,”

“Pass. It’s so boring,” I scoff, going to grab another fry, but he pulls the plate back towards him. I lean back and look at him, his eyes narrowing once again. 

He pushes the tufts of hair away from his eyes and sits up straighter, “Not even Halo?”

“No, besides I think their outfits are ugly.” I confess to him as I look back to Hibiki and see her leaning against the back counter whispering to Daisuke. “I like seeing the characters I control run around,” I say, turning back to him. His eyes were now on the two other people in the diner as well. “You didn’t order anything to drink. Why not?” I ask, effectively changing the conversation.

“My waitress isn’t very attentive,” he says as the corner of his lips lifts into a lopsided smile. He doesn’t look half bad despite his disheveled appearance. 

I stand up and smooth out my skit once again. “Would you like anything to drink, sir?” I ask in my practiced customer service voice and even sprinkle in my fake smile for some pizzazz.

Tomura’s brow raises in amusement. That lopsided smirk never leaving his features. “Yeah, I’ll take a milkshake.” 

Once hearing his request, I turn on my heel and walk towards Hibiki and Daisuke. “Dai, make two milkshakes,” I say loudly, shooing him off with the wave of my hand. 

“Not my name!”

Hibiki shoves her phone in my face just as I seat myself at the counter. “Not gonna lie to you, babes, you two look so cute together!” she squeals as silently as she can, but I don’t doubt that Tomura heard it from his booth. 

I raise my hand and place it on the back of my neck before trying to roll out the kinks I’ve been feeling for a while. “He’s not so bad.” I mumble and stop to look back at Tomura in his booth. He wasn’t looking anymore, in fact, he was back to playing his game. His fingers picked at the buttons slowly. The pauses in between make the game seem like something you’d have to think about. Something that’s definitely not a Mario game. “Why’d you take a picture?” 

Her curly hair bounces as she leans over the counter and shows me a variety of pictures with me sitting in front of Tomura, “I’m gonna start a scrapbook for you two. You’ll be able to show it to your kids one day.” Her smile is so contagious I can feel my next life smiling as well while we look through the pictures. “He’s not so bad, right? Once Tomura gets talking he’s really decent.”

“The expectation bar is that low for him, huh?” I look away from the phone and at Hibiki before remembering why I’m at the counter again, “Dai, my two shakes!” I stare through the order window and hear his famous reply before I start hearing a blender go wild in the kitchen. 

That’s the only noise fixing through the air for a few seconds before silence overtakes the dilapidated establishment. Hibiki turns and looks to the window as well. We wait patiently until Daisuke’s hands appear with a milkshake in each. “About time,” Hibiki says playfully, her tone never really rising above cheery. “Any longer and my little creation would be no more, Daiki!”

Hibiki turns and hands me the shakes, but I stay put in place as I stare through the window. Daisuke’s brown, blank eyes bore into mine as I wait for him to say something about the nickname. “That’s… not your name,” I say as if expecting him to repeat each word after me. He continues to stare straight at me without blinking for another five seconds before turning away into the kitchen. I click my tongue before turning around and heading in Tomura’s direction. He’s still into his game, body slouched over the Gameboy in his hands like his life depends on it. “Your shake,” I say, setting his down next to his plate and sliding into my seat. Again, just like the first time, he doesn’t respond, so I sit there and sip at my vanilla shake. 

It feels like a millennium goes by before he glances up at me and pushes the game aside once again. “You got one too?” he asks, then sips at his own shake. “Don’t expect me to pay for that.”

“Please,” I scoff, “You came to a setup because you were promised free food. I don’t expect you to pay for a two-dollar shake.” 

“Glad we’re on the same page then,” he chuckles. I smile at this and take a sip of my own shake once again. We were more than on the same page. It was only common sense that someone coming into the nastiest diner due to the promise of free food at nearly two in the morning wouldn’t pay for a thing. Hell, if anything I’ll just tell Hibiki that she must add this to his free tab because I’m part of the deal here. “What were you guys talking about over there?” he asks, nodding towards the counter. “Hibiki was all giggly. More than usual.”

“Oh, that?” I ask moving around the thick liquid with my straw, my opposite hand busy holding up my head. “She was just talking about my future babies with you,” I reply casually just to see if that would get a rise out of him.

Tomura doesn’t disappoint. He’s practically spitting up and choking on his shake. I watch him with a smile until he grabs his napkin and coughs into it. “What the hell?” he asks. “Get me some water!” Without answering back, I dismissively wave a hand and walk to the counter and grab a water bottle behind it. I take my time walking back, figuring he wouldn’t die from choking on some ice-cream. When I get back to the table Tomura practically snatches the bottle from my hands and chugs the water down as I take my seat. 

“You good?” I ask out of courtesy as he sets down the water bottle. 

He’s obviously still getting over it as his body trembles, trying to hold back a coughing fit. Despite that, he looks up with a glare set on me in an attempt to seem threatening. It doesn’t quite work though as he goes into another coughing fit. I patiently wait for him to stop, then finally he says, “You’re a terrible waitress. You’d let a customer die, wouldn’t you?”

“What? You expect me to give you CPR or something? I’m a waitress not an EMT, Tomura.” He clicks his tongue annoyed, then takes another sip of water before setting the bottle down between us. “Do you need an ambulance?”

A smile cracks at the corner of his lips, “After I’m done dying?” he chuckles softly, “You really aren’t attentive at all.” Silence settles between us, and I watch as his hand plays with the bottle cap. I don’t bother breaking the silence this time and take a sip of my shake. If he really wants this to go on, he might as well speak now or forever hold his peace. “What if that old man, Earl, had a heart attack out here? What would you do?”

“Old Earl?” I laugh, looking up at him, “He’d ask for the city morgue’s number before he even thinks about calling someone to save his life. Earl’s a real pessimist.” I say with a low laugh. “Does Hibi talk about work in class?” I only decide to continue with my story when I see him shake his head. “Well, I think it was last year when Earl actually had a heart attack after trying that,” I say gesturing to the tower of grease that had now just become a pile on his plate. “Dai, that’s the cook,” I can faintly hear him yell out to me from the kitchen about his name, but I continue, “he was actually ready to call the paramedics, but Earl weakly clasped his arm and slowly shook his head. Old man really rode it out then left in his rickety old truck like nothing happened.”

Tomura whistles astonished at the story. “That’s a hardcore old man.” He then pushes his plate towards me, “Fry?”

“Or one with no health insurance” I say, reaching for one and taking a bite out of the soggy thing. Tomura smiles and picks up his game again, he holds onto the power button and watches as the dim colors fade to black before pocketing the small thing into his hoodie. “Ready to head out?” I ask, already sliding out of my seat and picking up the empty cups. “Want a to-go box for the rest of your heart attack burger?”

His black hair shakes around as he mumbles, “Nah. Your story kind of scared me away from it.” Tomura slides out of his seat and stands up beside me. He takes his plate and follows me to the counter where he places it in front of Hibiki. “Thanks for the food, Hibiki. Here,” He pulls a few crumpled bills from his hoodie’s pocket and hands them to her, “for her shake.” 

Hibiki and I look at each other and give a subtle shrug. “Gonna go then, Tomura?” Hibiki pipes up, taking the plate from the counter. 

“Yeah. I’ll see you two around,” he says before walking out into the foggy night. 

My best friend is fast to turn towards me the second Tomura is out of sight. “So, what do you think? I know how to pick them, huh?” She says quickly and rather proud. 

With a shrug, I place the two cups on top of the plate in her hands before taking it from her and into the kitchen. She follows closely behind me, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, “I mean, yeah he piqued my interest.”

Out of the corner of my eye, Hibiki seizes her giddy movements, “But?”

The dishes clatter as I drop them into the sink and turn to her with a chuckle, “He didn’t ask for my number, Hibi. He’s obviously not interested.”

She childishly lets out a raspberry and waves her arm dismissively, “That’s like a technicality, babes! Don’t worry about it, there was definitely some chemistry. Right, Daiki?” Hibiki asks, turning to get Daisuke’s input. 

On the other hand, I looked to him, waiting once again to hear him chastise Hibiki for using anything but his name. That doesn’t happen though. Instead, we all turn our heads to the door as it rings. “Shifts over!” 

Jamie and Rosalind, the late-night waitresses, walk in ready to relieve Hibiki and I. “Thank you!” Hibiki shouts, throwing the small apron off and walking out of the kitchen. “Come on, babes!” I hastily follow her out to her small Honda Civic as I messily fold my apron. “Crash at mine, yeah? We can grab a bite before class.”

“Deal,” I smile as we get into the car. 

In the morning, Hibiki and I don’t even find time to grab that bite to eat she mentioned after work. I’m running around her old, little apartment ripping drawers open and looking for the clothes I’ve left before. My brain tingles at the thought of her not having washed them, but that fear skips my mind when I see my jeans and a shirt stuffed into the back of her drawer. 

Hibiki, on the other hand, is not as flustered about already running late for our first class. “Find them?” she shouts from the kitchen. She’s been cooking up a storm since she woke up a few minutes ago. That girl has no worries in the world as long as she knows she can make a meal when the sun rises. 

I emerge from the battle with her drawers unscathed, but out of breath. “Hibi, you really need to organize your stuff,” I huff, dropping myself into one of the mismatched chairs she uses for her dining table. 

When she drops a plate of scrambled eggs and a slice of toast in front of me, she says, “If you found them, then it’s obviously not that bad.” She sits down in a wicker chair with her own breakfast. “Now hurry, my late attendance record cannot be ruined. I’m always exactly five minutes late.” 

Sometimes I wonder why she’s always late, it’s not like she lives far. Hibiki managed to get an apartment right down the street from the community college we both attend. “Right, wouldn’t want the professor thinking you don’t care about his class,” I reply with a roll of my eyes. 

“Exactly,” she says, already dropping her plate in the sink and walking towards the room. “You wanna walk with me or do you wanna go ahead?”

My eyes travel down to my old wristwatch, and it takes me a while to decipher the time because there are no numbers to help me, “Yeah, I’m gonna get going.” I say, standing up and taking one of the random little journals and a pen that Hibiki likes collecting. “My phone’s charging near the TV btw. I’ll be dropping by after my classes to pick it up.”

Hibiki appears at the bathroom entrance with a toothbrush in her mouth and a thumbs-up before disappearing into it again. With that, I walk out of her apartment and lock the door.

My mind wanders back to the previous night though. To the bet with Hibiki and the odd stranger she had me meet. Tomura was a fun change of pace last night. Night shifts were usually anticlimactic, but he made me feel like there was some kind of action going on in my usual routine. His attitude is weird if I’m being honest with myself and despite that I do in fact feel like seeing him around some more. Seeing him out in the wild would actually be entertaining. Maybe he’s just as awkwardly quiet and rude around other people as he was last night. 

Before I know it, the day races by and my hopes of seeing Tomura slowly dwindle. I know he said, “see you two around” and I know that doesn’t necessarily mean the next day. Hell, it was probably just one of those things you say to someone you’ve just met out of some common courtesy. 

Currently, I stand in the middle of the school courtyard waiting in line for an iced coffee when Hibiki bounces her way towards me. “Hey, you get your phone yet?” she asks while standing on the tips of her toes to see how long the line is. 

“Not yet,” I sigh, glancing down to my watch trying to read the time. “Probably after I get a coffee.” She doesn’t respond and lets silence fall between us as we patiently wait to order. I roll my shoulders and as I do so, I catch sight of a familiar brunette walking by with an enormous backpack. Daisuke passes by staring intently at us but gives no effort to greet us. 

“Your coworker sucks,” a voice sounds from behind Hibiki and I. “Think he’d say hi at least.”

Turning around, Hibiki and I come face to face with none other than Tomura himself. Guess ‘see you two around’ did mean today. The sight of him actually makes me feel pleasant. “Yeah? Hi to you too, Tomura.”

The man is wearing identical, if not the same, clothes from the night before. I wouldn’t even put it past him to wear the same clothes a few days in a row. “Hey…” he pauses for a second, staring at me before turning to Hibiki, “Hey, Hibiki.”

I look to her expecting a conversation to blossom between the two. Surprisingly, she just gives a small wave and turns around and takes a few steps forward as the line moves. “So, you’re grabbing an iced coffee too?” I ask, looking him over and noticing he too was carrying a backpack, but it isn’t as stuffed or hiked up his back like Daisuke’s was. 

“Yeah?” The tone in his voice makes the response sound like a question. Which in turn makes me feel stupid for asking because the little kiosk we’re waiting at only sells iced coffee. “What? I don’t look like a coffee kind of guy?”

I turn on my heel and face forward in line, hoping to hide the visible embarrassment that’s crossing my face like a hot wave. “You look like the kind of guy who’d chug a Monster for breakfast, lunch and dinner,” I say. 

This change in position doesn’t help though. Tomura’s far more active than he was when we were sitting across from each other. He steps right beside me, a teasing smile already crossing his lips. “That so? Well, you’re exactly the kind of girl I thought you were.”

“What would that be?” I’m ready to hear him say I’m a basic girl who likes iced coffee to be honest. What other kind could he be thinking of? Especially with him assuming last night that I didn’t know much about games, he’s definitely the type to go for a stereotype. Just like I did with the Monster drink comment.

Hibiki’s already ordering when he finally opens his mouth to say something, “The airheaded type.”

“What?” I snap, looking up to him. Tomura’s lips only rise into that smirk of his before he’s pushing my forward. I look ahead and smile to the cashier, momentarily forgetting his comment, “An iced coffee,” I turn to look at Tomura again, “What does that mean?”

“Two iced coffees,” he corrects me while placing some crumpled bills on the counter. “It means,” he starts, as he takes hold of both drinks and hands me one. “That you’re a little slow, in my perspective that is.”

We step out of line, and I look around trying to spot Hibiki’s curly head of hair, but she’s nowhere in sight. Great, she’s abandoned me once again. “Whatever,” I huff, finally deciding to look back at him, “Thanks for the coffee, but I have to stop by Hibiki’s apartment and pick up my phone.”

He’s sipping his drink and giving a quick shrug, “I’ll join you,” he says, inviting himself. This catches me by surprise, but I give no objection and just lead the way. He makes no attempt to start a conversation, so I don’t bother trying either. We silently make our way across the street and walk up to Hibiki’s apartment. 

“You can come in,” I mumble, opening her door with my key. 

He’s quick to note this, “You have a key to your coworker’s apartment? You’re just gonna let in a total stranger?” Despite asking the second question I can hear him step onto the tiled floor.

I glance back to see him looking around the small kitchen that’s right at the entrance. “She's been my best friend since our Proactiv years,” I explain going back to her room and picking my phone up off the dresser where her television is set on. 

“You mean that acne medicine?” he snorts from the kitchen. 

There’s a loud clang just as he finishes that question, and I’m practically flying down the short hallway to see what damage has been made. “What’d you drop?” I ask, heart beating in my chest as I see him leaning over to pick up a saucepan. 

Tomura gives no real response, just a usual shrug and sets the saucepan on the drying rack. “So, you two are really close, huh? Doesn’t explain why you’d let a total stranger into her place,” he says going back to his initial question.

I scan him over, before deciding to push him out. “She said you were friends. Really doubt she’d care if you saw her underwear hanging from the ceiling fan.” I lock the door behind us before glancing at my phone. There are no new notifications, but at least I could finally be able to tell time without feeling like I failed fourth grade. “I’m done for today.” My statement is probably too sudden because when I look to him, his features are twisted in confusion. “My classes I mean,” I clarify for him. So much for me being an airhead, we’re practically on par so far. 

“Me too,” he says, tossing his cup, now only ice, into a bin right outside Hibiki’s apartment complex. We stop walking and he looks at me. Those eyes of his that had my primitive instincts tell me to run don’t seem so bad in the sun’s soft glow. “You gonna walk home or should I offer you a ride?” 

His attitude just as bleak in the sun though.

I shrug a shoulder as I take a sip of the iced coffee still in my hand. Not exactly chivalrous this one. “I guess I could grace your car with some female presence.”

This time he rolls his eyes, probably realizing that was a shot at his probable lack of dating experience. He then leads the way back to the campus parking lot; the thing looks like a car dealership with the number of cars taking up every single space. 

Tomura’s quiet as he leads me through various rows of cars before stopping in front of a navy-blue one. “Hop in,” he says, clicking a button on his remote key. I go around to the passenger side and pull the door open and get in. The inside is surprisingly clean. His appearance really makes me draw a certain conclusion to his character. I’ve been wrong so far though, he’s not a complete slob. “Something tells me you’re judging me again,” he pauses as he starts the car. “Something also tells me you’re feeling bad that you were wrong,” Tomura says, finishing his thought as he’s looking back while pulling out of the space. “Am I right?” he asks before taking off for the lot’s exit.

“You’re not entirely wrong,” I reply, trying to make him believe that he’s not spot on. “Take a right when you leave by the way.” 

He nods and stops at the exit for a second before following my directions, “You can turn on the radio,” he says gesturing towards the screen in between us. 

I lean over and press at the power button, next thing I know my heart is wanting to jump out of my chest. The volume’s all the way up, and my fingers are anxiously spinning the volume wheel until it’s at ten. “Oh, my god! Are you deaf or something, Tomura?” I shudder in my seat and press a hand to my chest. “That was terrifying.” The fact that it was trap metal didn’t help my heart an ounce. That is the loudest type of music I’ve ever come across. “Keep going straight,” I mutter when I notice we’re at another stop. 

Tomura doesn’t seem at all fazed by the music though. He’s sitting there with a grin on his face, obviously in love with the reaction I gave at the sudden raucous. “Here,” he says, digging through his hoodie’s pocket before tossing me his phone. 

With a brow raised, I look at him then swipe my thumb across the screen. “You’re really going to let a total stranger look through your phone just like that?”

“She said you’re friends.” He says referring to my previous answer. With that answer, I decide to slide through his apps until I land on Spotify. His entire home page is filled with trap music; however, that doesn’t make me believe it’s his most listened to. 

My thumb hovers over his Spotify Wrapped story, then I look up at him to make sure his eyes are still on the road. I tap on it quickly and skip to the fourth slide and wait until his most listened to song is shown. “Awe, Tomura!” I gasp out looking at the song’s title. “Who would have known you’d be into K-pop?” The speed in which his eyes snap from the road to me is almost alarming. “What do you know about K-pop?” I ask smugly looking back at him. K-pop is seen like a more feminine music genre, just like games were seen as something more masculine. 

“Don’t be a snob,” he sighs. His initial reaction slowly fades as he looks back to the road ahead of him. “Where to?”

I hum and look up to see we’re in front of the city plaza. I haven’t been paying attention, “Oop, we’ve gone a little too far. Sorry.” I apologize quickly and look back to his phone just to press play on his most played song. “Go back to Mariposa Rd and keep going straight until the road ends.”  With that, I set his phone down in the cupholder. 

Tomura doesn’t protest or whine at the fact that I wasn’t paying attention. He simply does a U-turn and goes back to the road I told him about. “So, what’s an airhead like you majoring in?” 

My attention moves to the passenger window before I decide to respond, “That’s a good question,” but I don’t elaborate further than that. Truth is, I don’t know what I want to major in just yet. No particular subject has piqued my interest. That’s most likely why I decided to go straight to a community college instead of some University. “What does an antisocial person like yourself study?”

“That’s a good question,” he repeats, slowing the car to a stop, “Been stuck on choosing between a computer engineer and a biology major.” Tomura seems almost proud of himself as he begins driving once again. He’s probably making small bets in his head the way Hibiki does at times. “From what I’ve seen, I can probably tell you what you should major in. If you want my opinion-”

“I don’t,” I laugh and turn to look at his profile. He’s looking just as tired as he was the night before. “Thanks though. I’ll find what I like somehow.” 

“I was just gonna say you should stick to being a waitress,” he chuckles, pulling the car in front of my house. “This you?”

“Yeah,” I say looking up at my house. The little flowers in front are slowly wilting because of the weather's sudden dip in temperature. I pull out my phone and hand it to him, “Type in your number.”

He stares at the phone in my hand for a few seconds before taking it in his own hands. “Want to know why I think you’re an airhead?” he asks while tapping away at the screen. 

I take the phone back as he holds it out and hit call on the number, so he has mine as well. “Yeah, sure. Why am I such an airhead?” I ask as I watch his phone vibrate in the cupholder. 

“You haven’t introduced yourself.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t know your name.”

For a second, I feel like the world stops as I look up at him with wide eyes. Did he really say what I think he said? Hibiki obviously gave me his name, why wouldn’t she extend the courtesy to him? “Neither have you!” Obviously, I’m ready to throw him under the bus as well. Sure, I know his name, but he should have at least introduced himself too. 

Tomura shifts in his seat so he’s partially facing me. “How can I introduce myself when you’re already like “Hi, Tomura!” huh?” He says in a mocking tone of voice. “Don’t waitresses usually introduce themselves anyway?”

Defensively I reply, “Don’t customers usually say hi back when the waitress greets them?” 

Tomura sucks his teeth and looks away for a second before opening his mouth a few times like he’s trying to figure out what to say next but decides against it. It takes him a few seconds before it seems like he finally makes a choice. “What’s your name then, airhead?” he finally asks, sitting back. 

“Wouldn’t you rather keep calling me airhead?”

“No.”

I chew on my lip, pretending to think about giving him my name. In the end, I just give in after realizing I have no more comebacks to throw at him. “Sakiko.”

His fingers roam to his door and clicks a button, unlocking all the doors. “Get out. All that tension building for a basic name like Sakiko?” He says in a joking tone of voice. 

“Puh-lease!” I scoff, crossing my arms. “You’re one to talk, Tomura,” I say, dragging out the last syllable in his name. “That’s literally short for Michael. Your name is literally the blueprint for basic.”

Tomura lifts a hand to his chest as if he’d been wounded. “That stings, Saki!” 

“I only speak facts, Michael.” I say feeling a tad bit victorious. Feeling the vibe slowly fade, I smile and reach for the door handle. “I’ll see you around then?”

“Yeah, yeah. Get out of my car,” he teases while waving me away. “Can’t miss you if you’re not gone.”

Hearing that, I don’t even bother asking for a better goodbye and just take his as it is. I make my way up the path and unlock my door. Before walking in, I look back hoping to see Tomura still parked in front, but that’s just wishful thinking. The dude is long gone, there’s not even a care in sight. Shrugging my shoulders, I walk into my home and lock the door behind me. Just as I’m looking down at my phone, it vibrates in my hand and a text from Hibiki pops up at the top. 

Instead of replying to the text I decide to call her. “Hey! See my text? Are you still on campus? I can give you a ride home now.” She says quickly as I drop her tiny journal on a coffee table and walk to my room.

“Guess what,” I smile, plopping down on my plush mattress. 

This game is one of Hibiki’s favorites. She immediately starts guessing random scenarios. I think I even catch her mentioning if I had somehow met an A-list celebrity, totally disregarding the fact that we live in a washed-up town in nowhere Kentucky. “Wait, did you somehow get a tapeworm in your iced coffee?”

“What? Ew.” I say, feeling a frown pull down my lips. “No, why would you even think that, Hibi?”

I could practically visualize Hibiki shrugging her shoulders, “Dunno, saw it once on a documentary.”

“Really? That’s gross. Which documentary?” 

Hibiki laughs and says, “I’ll send you a link, but what happened?”

Remembering why I decided to call her has me sitting up straight. “Oh! It’s about Tomura. Finally got his number, but that doesn’t matter. Why didn’t you tell him my name?”

Her smooth voice hums on her end of the phone softly. I have no secrets to hide, so why hadn’t she just given him my name? “That reminds me of something else!” the line goes quiet for a second before she starts talking again, “I don’t even think his name is Tomura,” she confesses.

Now I’m silent, staring at the phone then quickly hanging up on her. My fingers are quick to call Tomura, or whoever he is. “What’s your name?” I ask the second I hear that he answers the call.

He lets out a loud laugh on his end before anything else. “You just figured that out, Saki? Nearly took you a whole day.”

“Quit playing!” I whine into the phone. “What’s your name?”

“Tenko. It’s nice to meet you, Sakiko.”

A giggle leaves me now that I’ve finally heard a proper introduction. “Nice to meet you too, Tenko.”

[wonderwomanfantasy]

Married but looking

no one asked for this I'm just on that Hanamaki Brain rot.

Hanamaki x Fem!Reader

warnings: smut, cam boy au, sex work, pantie smelling/ stealing, mentions of the economy, swearing,

Word count: 3,300 (about)

summary: Whoever said you needed to be in love to get married? In this economy who can even afford to get married for love? so technically speaking you are taken but when has that stopped anyone?

“I had a really good time with you Tonight,” Erik said, running his fingers through his hair, fussing with his messy blonde waves. He was looking at your mouth. You wondered if he’d kiss you now. 

“You’re smart and pretty, you’re funny and we have a lot in common, you’re everything I could ever want from a girl,” he said, “I gotta know, how’d I get so lucky? What baggage made you think we were on the same level, what’s wrong with you? Because right now I think you’re perfect.”

Your smile fell. 

“That’s a hell of a way to end a date,” you said evasively.

“Don’t be shy, I don’t scare easy,” he teased and reached out and circled his arm around your waist pulling you close and making you melt a little. He was going to kiss you. 

“Well as long as you promise not to run away,” you teased back, smoothing your hands up and down his chest. he deserved to know. you decided. it wasn't like he wouldn't find out eventually. 

“Legally speaking I’m married.”

Erik promised to call you after he dropped you off at your apartment. He never did. 

“Taka- Taka- TAKAHIRO,”

“What?” Hanamaki called back finally.

“Where my good dress?” you called, trying to follow his voice to find him. He helped you and stuck his head out of the walk-in pantry

“Black or Blue?” he asked. 

“Blue,” You decided after thinking for a moment.

“Still in the laundry room, it’s hanging on the back of the door,” he answered.

“Another date tonight?” he asked and you sighed, instead of going to the "laundry room" (a hall closet you'd managed to shove a washing machine into) you went into the kitchen to talk to your roommate.

“I figure sooner or later I’ll find a nice guy,” you said with a shrug.

“Hmm he better be more than nice if he gets to see you in the blue dress,” Hanamaki quipped back, which made you smile. He always made sure to tell you how good you looked, even when you were just walking around in old sweats.

“Maybe this one will even be willing to overlook the fact that I have a husband.” you sighed.

Your relationship with Hanamaki was unique, to say the least. He had been a good friend in Highschool and for the year he tried college. You would say you were best friends if you weren’t sure Matsun beat you for that position already. And the two of you were, legally speaking, Married. 

It had all happened fast two years ago. Due to events too painful to really reflect on, you were kicked out of your parent's house, with nowhere to go. You worked full time but it still wasn’t enough to afford an apartment close enough to your college campus and also work to walk both places, and you did need to walk. Your car’s engine had given up and you still hadn’t found the time or money to get it fixed. 

It looked like you would be couch surfing, until suddenly you found this place. it was perfect a spacious one-bedroom right in the sweet spot between work and school and it was even cheap enough that you wouldn’t need a roommate to cover everything. With one catch. 

The landlord didn’t rent to single people, though they were too much trouble, and he was only renting to married couples, he was old-fashioned and didn’t believe people should be living together before they were wed. You were desperate, So you grinned and told him that your husband would be there next week to tour the place. 

Hanamaki was also desperate. Desperate to finally move out of his parent’s place. He was sick and Tired of all the nagging to get a real job as if he didn’t pay his share of his bills. 

It seemed too good to be true for both of you, and it was easy, down to the courthouse and married in an hour. The apartment was yours and the two of you settled into an easy routine together. 

You worked in the mornings and had school from noon till nightfall, five days a week. While you were out Hanamaki was a full-time househusband, so to speak. He cooked and cleaned and ran errands for you. Hanamaki also did what he needed to do to pay half of the bills. 

You tried not to think about the black suitcase under his bed and what was in it. You tried not to think about the camera, the ring light, and the lacy panties that sat next to the suitcase under the bed. 

There was nothing wrong with sex work, you were glad he felt comfortable enough to post that thing online. It was only weird to you because it was Hanamaki, you had known him so long the thought of seeing him naked made your stomach turn. 

“If you’re going out tonight I might have Matsun come over,” He said thoughtfully, then asked “will you be home for dinner?”  you frowned. 

“If things go poorly,” you said, Hanamaki seemed to read your face and guess that you thought things would go poorly. 

“I’ll make Nachos, and save enough for you in case you come back hungry,” he said diplomatically. 

“Thanks, that’s sweet,” you knew firsthand how hard it would be to Keep Matsun from eating everything in sight, but that he would do it, you were grateful. 

“Of course, anything for my pretty wife, now go get ready for your date.”

You were back home less than an hour after you left for your date. Matsun hadn’t even had a chance to steal your food yet. Neither of them said anything as you stormed in, they both just winced and let you stomp into the bathroom ten minutes later you emerged with your makeup scrubbed off and dressed in gym shorts and one of Hanamaki’s tank tops. 

“What-”

“Let me fucking tell you what happened-” you shouted. Wedging yourself onto the couch,

At first, you thought your date had just stood you up, then an older man came up, slightly out of breath, and apologized for being late, and you came to realize, it wasn’t his picture online that you’d seen, but his son. Worst of all he was still wearing his wedding ring when he came to pick you up. 

“Yikes,” Matsun said, he was eyeing your plate and wondering how hard you would smack him if he tried to take from it. 

“What kind of psycho uses a picture of his son? I mean I get not using your picture, well no that’s still fucked but, your son,” Maki said 

“I just turned around and walked back,” you sighed. 

“Look on the bright side, Nachos are still warm,” Maki spoke. 

“Nachos are still warm,” you repeated, 

You were sick of being single. You hadn’t gotten laid in months and you hadn’t had a serious long-term relationship since you’d gotten married. You shot a glance sideways at Matsun, maybe some of his mortician friends were single. 

You had a love-hate relationship with Saturdays, on the one hand, with no work and no school you were free to do whatever you wanted, which was a rarity for you. On the other hand, Saturdays were when Hanamaki did most of his work. 

You were sitting in the living room with your headphones in as you tried to read with your music cranked up way too loud, you didn’t want to hear the transition between him setting up and him starting the stream. 

Worst of all, you were horny. Not because he was in the other room jerking himself off for all he was worth. It was just bad timing that was all. You fidgeted in your seat uncomfortably, trying to ease the tension between your legs without outright toughing yourself.

It was one thing for Hanamaki to fuck himself silly in the bedroom, his activities remained strictly on his bed, the couch was a communal space, it would be wrong. not that Hanamaki wouldn’t mind, you argued with yourself. It wasn’t like you would be making a mess, then you thought about that mess stuck in your pants. 

Maybe you could just tease yourself, edge yourself until Hanamaki was done where you could take the shower for yourself and really take care of things. That would be okay, right? 

You didn’t think you could take your own frustration whether it was okay or not.  Fuck it. The relief you felt was instant. You let out a small moan then sunk your teeth into your lower lip trying to gag yourself. You switched off your music to switch to pornhub. In that momentary silence you heard Hanamaki Moan loud enough you were sure your neighbors would be complaining. 

What did he look like, you wondered. Was he really good enough that people paid to see it? He monad again and this time he was loud enough that you could make out the words.

“Oh fuck that feels good,”

your clit throbbed against your finger, you wanted to feel good,

Before you knew what you were doing you’d pulled up his website. 

“Oh fuck that feels good,” he moaned again this time straight into your ears through your headphones, Hanamaki was naked on his bed on his knees pointing his hips out and bracing himself with one hand on the bed behind him, his toned, muscular body was on full display pink and blue lights playing over his skin. With his free hand, he fisted his cock. 

You couldn’t take your eyes off of him, the flushed red tip of his cock was beautiful to look at and the size of his dick alone was enough to make your head spin. 

“You like that baby? You like Daddy’s big cock stuffing your little pussy?” Hanamkai grunted tightening his hand around his cock. You couldn’t help it, you started touching yourself, rubbing your clit in fast tight circles as you watched him touch himself. 

There was a stream of comments flooding in on the side of the screen. People paying five bucks a message, just to beg for permission to cum begging him to cum, just telling him how hot he looked. You couldn’t help but shudder, you found yourself matching pace with him, pumping your fingers in and out of yourself at the same rhythm that he stroked his cock. 

You let yourself relax, and really feel the effect of his words and his moans. Before you knew it you were cumming and he was cumming, you could hear the sharp cry of pleasure come in real-time again over your headphones. 

“Fuck,” you said, instantly shutting your phone off. You felt ashamed but that guilt felt misplaced somehow.

You felt like a kid again, when you were in high school meeting Hanmaki and dreaming about kissing him instead of listening to your teachers talk. 

You had been avoiding Hanamaki for weeks now. Every time you looked at him you could just hear him moaning, see his cock straining and bobbing in his fist. You couldn’t meet his eyes let alone form a sentence around him. 

Luckily, with school and work and his work, you didn’t see Hanamaki much anyways, it was easy enough to just text him to leave your dinner in the fridge and not see him for days at a time, even so, Maki was getting suspicious, and eventually, he cornered you. 

“Hey can we talk?” he asked, leaning against the door frame trapping you in the bathroom. Sometimes you forgot how big he was, he took up the whole space of the doorway so you couldn’t just duck around him. 

“Can I at least get dressed first?” you asked clutching your towel to your chest. You were lucky he didn’t barge in on you when you were still in the shower. 

“If I let you go will you just run away and keep avoiding me?” he asked. You winced at being called out so directly. 

“Just- what's up? Did I do something wrong?” he asked quietly. Hurting Maki was almost like kicking a dog, he looked so innocent in his pain. 

“No you didn’t do anything wrong- but I did, at least it feels that way,” you started, before explaining that you had not so accidentally watched him jerk off. 

“Oh that’s it?” he asked with a laugh, 

“Don’t act so chill about this! This is a big thing!” you snapped, glaring at him. 

“Do you want me to be mad at you?” he asked confused 

“No but-”

“Then I don’t know what the problem is, it’s okay don’t feel guilty about it, and stop avoiding me,” he reached forward and flicked your forehead, more as a punishment for being silly than anything else. 

You couldn’t help but squirm under his gaze, still embarrassed. 

“I mean Matsun watches my shit all the time it’s no big deal really,”  he assured you again. 

“Wait- Matsun watches your porn?” you asked disbelievingly he just shrugged,

“He likes to watch the chat, anyways what do you want for dinner?” 

And finally, Hanamaki let you go to get dressed. For a little while, things were normal between you and your roommate/friend/husband, but the underlying issue hadn’t changed. 

You still couldn’t get a date to save your life, and your body was aching with need. worst of all Hanamaki was just out of reach looking more tempting by the day and never more than a few feet away when you were feeling needy. 

He wasn’t mad that you watched his videos once, would he be upset if you made it a habit? Matsun watched his videos often, but Matsun wasn’t getting off to them. 

You could hear him, moaning loudly through the walls as you tried to change laundry loads. Normally Maki took care of your dirty clothes but you’d dropped mustard on your good pants and well. He was busy. 

“Oh baby just like that, you’re so fucking good,” he cried out sharply and you felt warmth blossom in your stomach. Fuck it. 

You pressed your back to the wall of the laundry room and slid to the floor. You pulled out our phone and tuned in. 

He was using a fleshlight on himself, his cheeks were red and he had his lip trapped between his teeth. 

“Fuck baby look at me, I love it when you watch me,” he whimpered his hips shuddered as he bucked forward into the toy. 

You slipped your jeans off and started touching yourself you pushed your fingers in and out of yourself keeping time with his thrusts. 

You watched him and tried to keep your own moans down. Something about the way he was looking at the camera felt intimate like he was looking right at you. 

Then he reached behind him and pulled out a pair of your panties. They weren’t your favorites, but you knew they were yours. Your mouth fell open as you watched him bring the underwear to his face and breathe in deeply. 

“Fuck baby,” he moaned against the fabric and started fucking the fleshlight faster. “You smell so good baby I want to fuck you so bad,” he grunted. He was talking to you, he wanted to fuck you. 

Maybe it should have bothered you more that your roommate had stolen your panties and was jerking off with them, but you didn’t care. Your fingers moved faster and faster against your clit. You wanted to go to him now, but the fact he was streaming this to thousands stopped you.

Oh fuck, he was smelling your panties live, and people were watching him do it.

“Oh fuck baby, fuck-” he thrust up one last time and came thrusting deep into the toy. He groaned and the show clicked off. 

You were alone with your thoughts again, feeling deeply unsatisfied, your clit throbbing against your fingers. Without thinking you marched to your shared bedroom and flung the door open 

“Woah!” Hanamaki gasped quickly covering himself with his shirt 

“What the fuck was that?” you demanded. 

“What was what?” he snapped back, still obviously shook that you had walked in on him. 

“Why were you jerking off while smelling my underwear!” you shouted and his face went white with realization. 

“You were you uhm saw that?” he asked. You lurched forward and grabbed his face pulling him down into a kiss. 

Hanamaki went rigid for a split second before he kissed you back. He wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you flush against his body.

It had been so long since you had been kissed, let alone kissed like this. Hanamaki’s mouth was hot against yours you couldn’t help but moan as his tongue slipped past your lips. He pushed you back and you fell onto the bed pulling him on top of you. 

“Did you like watching me?” he asked pressing his lips to your throat. You moaned and tangled your hands in his hair.

“Fuck me,” you whimpered, ignoring his question. 

“Jesus baby give me a minute to catch my breath you just saw me cum,” he laughed helping you out of your clothes. 

“Fuck, I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” he hummed running his fingers down your chest raising goose bumps along your skin. 

“Me too,” you admitted, and for the first time, you realized just how badly you really had wanted him to touch you, to look at you as more than a friend. Maki kissed down your body, lingering at your hips and your thighs, his fingers digging into your sides. 

“Can I?” he asked looking down at your sex. 

“Please,” you asked, balling your fists into the sheets beneath you. He was slow in the beginning more just teasing you with his tongue than anything else, as he eased into you with his fingers. 

“I would have thought a pornstar would be more aggressive with this stuff,” you teased. Maki glared up at you. He wrapped his hands around your thighs and hooked both of your legs around his shoulder pushing your hips into the bed and latching his mouth around your clit. 

You saw stars as he started pounding you with his fingers and aggressively sucking on your clit. 

“Fuck baby scream for me,” he moaned, the lower half of his face was drenched in spit, and slick. You hadn’t realized how much noise you’d been making until he pointed it out despite knowing it you couldn’t help the loud noises that escaped you when he went back to making out with your cunt. 

“Fuck I’m going to cum,” you whimpered, just as you warned him he pulled away. 

“Takahiro!” you shouted, he grinned at you goofily 

“Be patient you brat, I thought you wanted me to fuck you,” he teased, lining his cock up with your entrance. 

“Fuck,” he moaned easing into you. 

“Better than your toy?” you asked, wrapping your hands around his neck and pulling him into another kiss, tasting your slick on his mouth. 

“I wished it was you, every time,” he whispered, you weren’t expecting his answer to set a fire in your chest but suddenly you were squirming with embarrassment. But then he started thrusting and you couldn’t bring yourself to care about anything else. 

“Fuck just like that,” you moaned tugging at his hair and arching your back off the bed. 

“Fuck baby when you tighten around me like that,” he sighed, dropping his mouth to your neck and kissing your throat. 

“Make me cum,” you pleaded kissing him harshly before he could answer. 

Hanamaki reached between your legs and started stroking your clit in time with his thrusts. It didn’t take long for you to cum, your hips spasming against his. 

He paused letting you catch your breath. 

“Was that good?” he asked. 

“Yes,” you gasped, “but you didn’t-” he cut you off before you could complete the thought. 

“No, but I have you now, and we have all the time in the world.”

[imaginedreamwrite]

Idea for Frat-Bro Friday - Reader and MC officially met on a party. MC has known Reader for some time and his friends noticed that his gaze is following Reader often. MC likes Reader, but also is intimidated by her - she is confident, friendly, smart and cute and beautiful and list goes on. And while MC is confident young man, he is afraid his 'reputation' will turn her off. So, because of intimidation when his friend is teasing him on same party about having crush on Reader, he brushes it off, saying 'Not my type' or something similar.

Reader overhears that and is kinda sad - MC is hot and she wouldn't mind to 'befriend' him until that moment. Eventually they became friends and pinning idiots - Reader loves MC, but his words hurt her more that she thought, which is why every attempt of MC 'make a move' is unsuccessful and it makes him feral.

One evening Reader gets a call from MC, but he is drunk af. Luckily, he is with his friends and one of them rips the phone out of his hands and explains to Reader that they are in the bar and MC promised to drive them back to the campus, but now he is drunk (because he is pinning for Reader 😅) and thought it is a good idea to call Reader. Reader offer them to drive them back, because she is not far away from the bar.

The fun part is - MC is so drunk that his mind decided that it's time to confess his feelings to the love of his life. His friends instead of shutting him up, being fed up with his whining about Y/N confirm the information and add more fuel to the fire ('he has already picked a name for your kid - he is that crazy'). Reader, behind the wheel, with face like this 😳, is thinking about the next morning - is she going murder MC, herself (out of embarrassment) or they could talk?...

For the drabble - it is the next morning, MC, of course, has a hangover. But despite that memories of his epic confession flood his mind. He remembers what he said, what his friends said (traitors), and thinking that he is alone in his room, says to himself - 'wtf have I done?'. Suddenly someone with very beautiful voice answers him - 'Idk, maybe you hid your feeling from me?'.

Reader is in his room and they are going to talk. Even if hangover makes his speaking abilities non-existent.

(MC could be any character.)

“She’s not my type.” “Your guys are perfect for each other.” “We’re friends.” “We’re good friends.”

“She liked you.”

“She likes you.” “She is the kind of person you need.”

“You got in trouble and you need someone to bail you out.” “Would it be screwed up to make a pact to marry each other if we don’t marry anyone else?”

“Idiots in love who don’t know they’re in love.”

He was still sleeping off the alcohol from the night before, the drunkenness from the night before was the catalyst that made you remember all the other comments you had heard. But it was his friend's statements that had come while you were driving that had been the ultimate indicator that his feelings had gone beyond what you had known. They were honest, they had told you everything you needed to know about the ‘idiots in love’ that had described the two of you to a t.

You picked them up when they have gotten a little too wasted and that is when it had all come out, the truth that he had been as in love with you as you had been with him. And in his acts of love and hope for your future together, he had chosen two of your kid's names that had yet to come and chosen what kind of dog he thinks would have been best for your family.

“He’s crazy about you! He loves you! You are his everything!”

“Just a little, just a little crazy-“

“Fuck, my head hurts.” His voice came from the bedroom, the pained whine making you turn from the kitchen with takeout breakfast in a bag in one hand, and a strong coffee in the other. “Shit, fuck. You idiot, you’re such an idiot. Why did you say-“

“Hey, good morning.” You slipped into the room and greet him with a soft voice, a gentle croon as he pushed himself to sit up and ran his fingers through his hair, his eyes still rimmed red. “You look terrible.”

“I feel like shit.” He cursed and coughed twice, wincing at the sound of his voice and body movements, then he slowly opened his eyes and looked at you as you stood waiting for him. “You’re…did you stay..?”

“I have coffee for your headache and a pick me up, and I bought you some food.” You stepped toward the bed and set both down, watching him closely as the wheels turned in his mind, his eyes narrowing slightly as he settled on a memory.

“Y/N-“ He started to speak only for you to cut him off and crawl onto his bed, sitting cross-legged at the end.

“You confessed your feelings and your friends told me that you have our kid's names picked out.” You had rest your elbows on your legs and tucked your hands under your chin, watching him as he went through the motions of recognition and then mild embarrassment.

“I didn’t…mean to-“

“I like the names, but maybe we should start dating?” You hummed and tilted your head, casting your attention upon him with admiration and amusement. “But seriously, we are idiots in love.”

“In love?” He exhaled, disbelief that he was awake to hear this, and that he was hearing what he was hearing. “Idiots in love…”

“Why didn’t you tell me how you felt?” You wondered, feeling as taken back by the news as you were when you drove him home last night.

“I’m kind of an ass and I didn’t think you of all people would feel that way.”

“Well I won’t argue that you’re an ass,” you grinned and leaned back against the footboard of his bed, “I will confess to being in love with you.”

“Shit, i feel stupid.”

“You should drink your coffee and eat,” you started to get off the bed watching him start to scramble after you, “relax.”

You stepped back toward him and bent, kissing his forehead. “I’m just going to make your apartment darker so you can sit and watch Netflix with me.”

“Could I propose today? Right now?” He called after you, falling back against his bed when you left the room, a wide and beaming grin on his face. “My future wife…”

[clearwillow]

Darn I was hoping for a ficlet lol. I thought I could get you cuz it does sound like something from Mating Fever. You are correct, it was Toddler Tizzy but Inuyasha was talking to himself not Miroku

It really does 😂 but I'm gonna still give you something cause I forgot the details of my own fic~ This is another one that I've had in my server for nearly a year; there's definitely more to it, but this feels like a oneshot, so here's a sample ❤

Flirting With Disaster

Sango stared at the flyer, then looked up at the boy before her. He was an adult, of course, but in that moment Miroku looked far too happy to present the neon xerox copy paper to her. “And the point of this is..?”

“Free food?” Kagome leaned over her shoulder to read the flyer. “It’s a good-sized gift card that goes to each participating club –”

“You’re missing the best part –”

“Keh. Stringing along a bunch of women to win a contest for food’s a shitty thing to do. If you want something to blow up in your face all you have to do is look down when you –”

Miroku produced another flyer from his pocket and quickly slapped it over Inuyasha’s mouth. The hanyou growled, making the paper vibrate against his palm, but he held on. Just because Sango knew on some scale that he…had moments…it was something else entirely for his friend to out him in public. Indigo eyes met amber ones and he silently pleaded that Inuyasha not finish that sentence. A moment passed, and he gingerly took away the flyer.

“As I was trying to say –” he frowned at the state of the flyer, glancing at the retreating hanyou. Inuyasha had stepped away to put in their order, but Miroku knew he would still hear their conversation. “Dude, you drool. Anyway, what I wanted to say was that the best part about this contest is that it allows for club members to get out there on campus and network! It’s always good to network with our peers that aren’t affiliated with a club, especially since our senior members will move on and create new openings.”

Kagome had taken the flyer from Sango, who wanted to return to her lunch. She reached out and felt for her own cup of fries. It was only supposed to be the two of them, but Miroku and Inuyasha had also picked the same fast food joint to pick up lunch for their group. And whenever the dark haired man saw her friend, he made a b-line for her, no matter what was going on around him.

God help the drivers on the road if he ever saw Sango across heavy traffic.

“I found a flaw in your logic,” Kagome told Miroku. “This says that you have to be the club that has the greatest number of people of the opposite sex. You can’t have an all-male organization network a bunch of women,” she quirked an eyebrow at him. He was about to open his mouth to counter her point. “I wouldn’t think a man in a happy relationship would want to participate in something such as this?”

“The food, my friend! The food –”

Sango had been trying to take a sip of her drink and couldn’t contain her laughter any longer. “Oh please, quit trying to act like you’re in it for only the food. You want the glory of being the one guy on campus whose strung along as many women as possible.”

“You wound me, love.”

Three large paper bags were dropped on the table next to Miroku, and Inuyasha stood with his hands in his pockets looking bored. “Your girlfriend’s right.”

“What do you think, Inuyasha?”

He looked down at Kagome, who looked at the flyer longer than he expected. For all of the remarks, she wasn’t considering it, was she? “Uh… thing is… this dickhead already… signed our club up.” To make matters worse, the minimum number of people required in a club to participate in this challenge was five – the exact number of members they had. ‘If that kitsune had still been in high school I wouldn’t be subjected to this bullshit.’

[windalchemist001]

"Flap flap flap flap!" I chuckled as I continued to flap the sleeve of the new jacket I was given. Honestly I was so over joyed since the fact I got something so nice for my birthday honestly made me want to cry.

But that might be rude, so taking a moment to stop t posing in the mirror, I looked to the ghost who had given me this. "You guys don't know how much this means go me!" The ghost seemed to smile at my words.

"Its no problem, after all you are one of friends and we are glad to do something for you, after everything you've done for everyone."

I smiled more and thanked Lenny (the tall thinner ghost) as well as Benny (smaller one) and Denny (round one) for everything again.

"Why don't we hold an interview? Sure it isn't really official but everyone else gets to have one, so why not try doing the same?" Benny seemed to think the idea he said was rather good

And I couldn't help but hum in thought before nodding. "Sure I don't see why not." I honestly didn't think anything of it since it seemed like it would be fun.

The ghost hummed and looked thoughtful for a moment before one begun the question.

"If you can have anyone on campus as a siblings who would you pick?" Hearing that I hummed there were so many people to pick from. "I guess duece or jack? Since they out of everyone could be cool, but to be honest not fully sure... oh! If I went with jack I could pet his ears and tail when ever I wanted!" And sure dog (or rather wolf in Jack's case) fur wasn't nice and soft like cat fur, I would still like to mess with said limps.

Grim huffed at my remark and seemed to be jealous as he begin complaining which I rolled my eyes and picked him up to give him pets and belly scratches. And despite his protested of being a cat he seemed to be purring very nicely.

The ghost who were use to me taming grim chuckled and decided to ask the second question they had.

"So if you had to be in one of the other dorms which one would you be in?" The ghost moved in a way that made me think that the really wanted to know.

Though it seemed denny mumbled something I couldn't quiet hear, so I decided not to point it out as I try to think. After a bit I hummed i decided I know which one. "I think i would pick the cerberus dorm"

The ghost already knowing all the nicknames i have for all the dorms since I can't even understand some of what the jumbled mess of letters that was the dorm names. The cerberus dorm being the one that is for the king of the underworld.

Lenny hummed. "And why that dorm?"

I chuckled since the ghost did put all my patches on they were bond to k ow but I decided to say something anyway way. "Well out of all the dorms, they are the ones I vibe with the most, not to mention a lot of them are part of my anime/manga club" a club I decided to start with a few of the friends I made here at the school.

"So the way I see it they would most likely be the ones I feel more comfortable with since I would feel more like I belong rather than be an outcast in some shape or form. Even of the dragon dorm has my friend hornton. And the hearts dorm has a few good people, I don't think I could stand a lot of things so yeah."

I sighed softly just imagining the crap I would go though. While I was in my musing seems Benny had slip away and some how had a pie.

"So just a fail.warring, for your birthday its expected to throw a pie at the birthday boy... or rather girl in this case, face so while again its normally thrown i think it might be best that we don't." Benny moved closer was was clearly holding out the pie to me.

I looked at grim half sleeping in my arms and debated on if it would be cruel to wake him. But than again if I was careful he would remain asleep as I put him down.

With that thought in mind I moved to the couch to carefully set him down and with a few head scratches grim remained a sleep just shifting his postion slightly but sleep away he did. Honestly it was rather cute. But I shouldn't let myself get to distracted as I went back to the ghost (after waking my hands)

And quickly removed my glasses putting them on the collar of my shit before taking the pie from Benny, glad again that the ghost knew me well enough that it wouldn't be wise to yeet anything at me, and with using the large cake spatula thing I took a good chunk of the cream off the pie before slapping that onto my own face. Keeping the rest of the pie safe to eat.

I than chuckled and again thanked the ghost for everything since I some what got to the heart of the things and we manged to do this honestly it was a nice birthday.

[blueberry-beanie]

Dota at Steintor-Varieté, Halle a.d. Saale | 20th September 2023 | photos by me

Read about a wonderfully chaotic concert with Dota and her band below. I've divided the text into sections so you can skip right to the main part.

Reunion with an old friend

Often when I go to concerts, I'm going on my own. This time, I went with someone special: An old school friend of mine, Christina, whom I haven't seen for seven years. We stayed in contact just a little bit and a few months ago realised that now we don't live as far away from each other anymore. So I asked her if she wanted to come to the Dota concert with me and she agreed.

So shortly after 3pm after a bit of an odyssey with Deutsche Bahn, I arrived at the train station in Halle. I immediately recognised her on the platform, we hugged and were overall overjoyed to see each other again. It was as if we had never parted and we instantly found many topics to discuss while taking the tram back to her place. We stopped by a supermarket to get some food for the evening and breakfast.

Christina's apartment block is a construction site at the moment because they are modernising the entire building. But her flat was small and homely and we dropped off our stuff there before taking the tram back to a restaurant that served tasty bowls and home-made lemonades.

We talked so much about our studies (she studies something like sociology and political science and will be working on her master thesis next year), our common friends, concerts and festivals and many political topics that are important at the moment. It's very refreshing to talk to someone so knowledgeable and engaged in politics and general developments in Germany. We discovered that we both like satire shows (she has even been in the heute show audience once!) and Christina immediately wanted to come to Munich with me to see Die Anstalt (sadly, tickets are sold out). Funnily, I know Dota from Die Anstalt, because she performed her song Grenzen there back in 2018! So everything fits together, afterall.

Then it was already almost 6pm and time to head over to the Steintor-Varieté where the concert would take place. There were only three elderly people already at the doors so we decided to go on a walk around the block. The location was directly next to Christina's university campus with the library, café and some offices just on the other side of the building. So we already saw them setting up the merch stand from the window on the back. We walked around some more before they opened the doors around 7pm. As we were one of the first people, we got the best seats in the front row, right in the middle. Now it was time to wait and chat a bit more until the concert would start.

A tribute to Mascha Kaléko

There was actually no support act - at around 8pm Dota and her band appeared on stage. They started out with some very quiet and contemplative songs. The tour is dedicated to their album with musical interpretations of Mascha Kaléko's poetry. Mascha Kaléko was a German-Jewish poet born in 1907. In September 1938 Kaléko emigrated to New York City together with her second husband, Chemjo Vinaver. Her poetry is witty and very precise, describing daily life of ordinary people as well as offering a look on society during that time. Dota has been given a book of her poetry many years ago after a concert and started making the texts into music.

In between songs she often stopped to explain the background of a certain piece or recite another poem. It was at times funny and amusing (like one poem about the role of the women as an artist's muse) and sometimes very moving to hear about personal events in her life as well as feeling at home nowhere and being the outsider wherever she went.

A chaotic-good concert

The band had a difficult time that evening because one member got sick unexpectedly and they had to find other ways of dealing with this. The woman who played the thrombone also sang lovely backing vocals. At one point their drummer Janis Görlich came to the front to sing a duet with Dota as well. They were however unlucky because if the general improvisation wasn't enough, Jan Rohrbach's guitar string broke. They had no roadies and no spare so he went to change it. Dota decided to play a few songs by herself to keep us entertained.

Later Dota realised that we haven't been told there will be a break and sent us off for a few minutes. After the break they continued with a few more songs with poetry before switching over to their own songs. Dota was once again on her own and presented a few unreleased gems she has written for the next album. One was especially funny: A song about seeing all sorts of viral content on tik tok and trying to create some herself while secretly thinking all of this isn't as funny and cool as it is said to be. The whole audience was laughing about this and the mood really improved after a rather serious and quiet first part of the concert.

Then they played a few older songs, including Sommer für Sommer and Wir rufen dich Galaktika, a song from their previous album about wanting a superhuman being to rescue us from the mess we've made as humanity. At that point everyone stood up and started dancing and singing. We got an encore with Bademeister*in - a very witty song that praises the job of swimming pool attendants, both male and female. Then another song, Für die Sterne, about a guy who refuses to conform to other's expectations and lives freely for the sake of experiencing and enjoying life. Because the audience was really enthusiastic they even came out for a second encore, playing another very funny song, Rennrad.

After their very final bow, the older guy next to us, whom we already met in front of the door earlier, already wanted to take the setlist. This one time in my life I was faster and got to it first. Yay! My first setlist I got from a main act. I am not even sure how true this setlist is, given the many improvised passages that evening. It even has something crossed out and written further down. And it has a back side too! We let the other guy take photos of the setlist and then slowly went to the entrance hall where the merch stand was.

At the merch stand

There were really many people at the merch stand wanting to buy vinyls, t-shirts, posters and tote bags. To my delight they also had CDs so I decided to buy the previous album which I didn't have yet. Then I saw they had a few markers lying around - and sure enough, shortly after Dota appeared to help selling and signing things. When it was my turn I said "Hi! I got your setlist! Would you sign it for me?" She agreed and signed it with the date, and I managed to thank her for the great concert and reassure her it was a good kind of chaos that was a lot of fun.

There were a few elderly women who were quite impertinent and shoved others aside to be first. I stood there quite patiently to pay for the album when one of them grabbed the CD for herself and also wanted to have it signed but couldn't open it. I helped her to open the packaging when she decided that this was the wrong album afterall. Dota asked if someone else wanted it and I said, yes me, please! Then I proceeded to help that woman with a second CD and she got it signed for a friend of hers before it was my turn for signing again. So now I have a personally signed album as well. I thanked Dota again and got myself out of that crowd. Christina did not want to get anything and waited for me where it was a bit less crowded.

Evening conversations and a sunny morning

Christina and I wandered to the market to take the next tram. We talked about the concert and agreed that it was a great experience for both of us with many moving and funny moments. Our conversations kept wandering to topics of media, journalism and politics the whole evening. Curiously both of our studies overlap in quite a few aspects and we really click with our views and interests. As we arrived at home we drank tea and had some snacks. It got really late, around 2am, as we had conversations about anything and everything. Sadly the construction workers didn't let us sleep in peace as they started drilling the walls at 7 in the morning.

After a relaxed breakfast Christina had to get ready for a conference and we took the tram back into the city. We parted with many hugs and promises to see each other soon, maybe in November when I have the whole flat for myself or for a comedy show. It was a sunny morning at the market place, and I decided to wander around a bit before going home. They have a huge book shop I got stuck at for quite a bit and a big organic grocery shop. I also wandered through the small but lovely park. Then my backback got heavy and the sun was too strong. Around 28 degrees in September without a cloud in the sky - thank you, climate change, I guess. I was very tired, actually, and fought not to fall asleep in the hot, crowded train. It felt good to be at home again - and there were some photos to edit and some new songs to listen to as well...

Dear Dota and dear Christina, thank you for the wonderful adventures in Halle. Hopefully we get to repeat this experience again soon!

[blackbutler-readerinsertsandjunk]

What are some of Maurice's courting his crush moves, both before and after his exposure?

oh my Goddddd I wrote WAY too much because I love Maurice, OOPS-

Before he’s exposed, people just sort of… fall at his feet. Isn’t his inherent charm enough without him having to make a move in the first place? He’s got his pick of who he wants to go with, because everyone wants him. After all, who wouldn’t want to make time with the most beautiful gentleman on campus? The one exception is, apparently, the person he manages to catch feelings for. Some call it irony; Maurice calls it frustrating.

He’s incredibly unpracticed in trying to actually court someone. Not only is he gorgeous, he’s well-born. For most of his romantic life, his beauty and gentility have sort of done the job for him, so he’s very used to people simply being naturally attracted to him. Once they’re interested, he just keeps them there with things like gossip. (And he knows it all, so friends and the like are always clamoring at him to find out who likes who and what scandals have gone down recently and what’s what with fashion.) To find that he has to pull out something more than that, he feels like he’s in trouble.

That’s not to say he can’t do it, of course. He reeled Joanne in by acting sweet, but… Joanne was a special case in that he was lonely and desperate already. If the person Maurice has feelings for isn’t, then he has to work a bit harder. He can’t just give them a smile and compliment their outfit and think that’s all there is to it. Even though he can accomplish more than that, he’s not exactly used to hard work.

His most reliable tactic is to have his network of friends gather information for him that he can use. “You know (Name), don’t you? Where do they go after classes? Are they in the library often? The gardens? What’s their favorite subject? Well, if you don’t know, go find out for me, please.” It’s a safe bet that someone in his friend group will be familiar with his crush, or more likely multiple friends will know them. So he learns everything he can to find out what kinds of things they’re into, whether it’s reading or sewing or science or, well, anything.

Once he has information, it’s only a matter of chatting with other friends to figure how to best apply that knowledge. If they enjoy reading, for example, he’ll show up in the library acting quite lost, asking them if they’ve read this book before because he has to do a report on it. The excuse for interaction is entirely fabricated, (in this case, he undoubtedly doesn’t have a report to do), but he’s hoping that whatever conversation comes of it will be genuine.

Other than that, he does things he thinks of as ‘thoughtful’. He gives (Name) flowers or candy, invites them on walks, sends them romantic letters… anything you could really think of that someone might do to show their interest in someone, he does. Thanks to his gentility, he’s got access to a rather generous allowance from his parents, so he really is able to spoil the object of his affections. Mainly that kind of thing is to ensure that he has as little competition as possible, because not everyone is capable of doing that.

After he’s exposed, it becomes more difficult for him to make any moves at all, quite honestly. The fact that Edgar broke off their friendship is bad enough, because for as manipulative and mean as Maurice can be, as many friends as he thinks he has, Edgar was the only one he really felt was a true friend. Not having Edgar in his life is devastating, and makes him feel very alone, to the point he’s not interested in making new friends at all. Going along with it, though, is the fact that now everyone knows Maurice has been using makeup to cover his average features. It’s made him a target of mockery so much so that he usually keeps his head down on campus, even once the initial teasing has faded away. His grades have obviously suffered, meaning his father is furious with him. Every aspect of his life is just terrible now. He’s lost all his friends, his good marks in class, and the approval of his father. All he really has now is this little spark that pops up in his chest when he sees (Name).

He’s gotten quite shy and has trouble connecting with other people now. Following all the weeks of cruel comments and snickers aimed his way upon going out without his makeup, he no longer feels like he’s worth any attention. He’s just trying to get through days without being teased again, so he’s quiet and unobtrusive nowadays despite the storm of awful feelings he’s carrying round. That said… his crush may well catch him staring at them. Maybe pretending he’s gazing into space whilst thinking, or maybe with his eyes peeking over the top of a book. It’s like he doesn’t know what to do about his feelings anymore except admire (Name) from afar.

If he manages to get the courage up, he may approach them in the most casual way he can possibly think of. Maybe they’re sitting in the gazebo reading, so he gathers all his nerves up and goes in, asking if it’s alright for him to sit here. His heart is hammering away the whole time as he tries to focus on whatever work he’s trying to do, but he does sneak glances at them. Finally they’ll have to be the one to speak up; “… It’s Maurice, right? Your hair looks nice today.” And it shocks him, because their tone is sincere unlike all the mocking he’s endured about his appearance. He’s scarcely able to stammer out a thank you before they ask about what he’s working on, and then it doesn’t take too long for the conversation to become comfortable, natural… real.

He does his best to take cues from what he did before, except he doesn’t want to give (Name) shallow, meaningless gestures. So when he gives them flowers, he picks their favorite instead of defaulting to whatever’s most popular, and he gives them one or two instead of a bouquet. The walks he invites them on are through places both of them enjoy rather than him just deciding where they’re going to go. And any letters he writes for them don’t steal lines from flirtation cards ― they’re written from his own thoughts and feelings. He tries not to go overboard, mainly because anyone he did big things for before isn’t around now. He’s realized that, much to his disappointment, buying love doesn’t work.

Even though it’s a struggle for him after his exposure, he starts to think it’s… worth all the effort. It’s better this way. He doesn’t have to worry about what (Name) will think of his real face, because he’s not hiding it anymore. He doesn’t have to doubt why they stick around him, because he’s not giving them material rewards for being with him. Oh, and one thing he isn’t going to miss? The self-conscious horror that comes with pulling away from a kiss only to see he’s left a lipstick print behind. He’s much shyer now, but… he’s almost happier trying to win someone’s affection the old-fashioned way.