#only for that meeting after class to result in me being yelled at and told I need to perform better

[mikashisus]

PARTNERS IN CRIME!

SYNOPSIS: soul eater au with genshin characters part one!!

PAIRING: kinich, venti, yelan, nilou x gn!reader

warnings: slight angst, mentions of death

notes: yall one of my irls finally got me to watch soul eater and it gave me so many ideas. i literally started the show back in june but i got so busy that i just.. never continued watching it.. 😭 until my friend invited me over to watch some episodes LMAO. there’ll be a part two to this cause i have more ideas with more characters teehee. anyw enjoy!!

KINICH

• the two of you became partners on a whim. your last partner had been tragically killed in battle and you were in the market for a new one. though, you were pretty standoffish towards everyone because you were grieving

• kinich was also looking for a partner around the same time and happened upon you after a meeting with lord death. you looked pretty worse for wear and he offered his shoulder for you to cry on. without thinking, he offered to be your new partner, and you agreed

• training together for the first time was a shit show, and your best friend, mualani, sat there laughing her ass off the entire time. you kept yelling at her to go find her meister and leave you and kinich alone so you could focus

• you had even more trouble adapting because kinich’s weapon form was a greatsword and your last weapon had been a gun. it was a huge change that required you to workout and build up muscle in order to properly wield him

• after a month or so, the two of you were able to finally build up your teamwork and trust. you spent a lot of time together in and out of classes to get to know each other better and form a bond. you easily formed an attachment to him, but he was a bit more reluctant due to his introverted personality

• you were shocked at how close you became in such a short period of time. before you knew it, you were taking on missions again and working on your soul resonance

• due to losing your last partner, you now had an irrational fear of losing kinich, which caused a lot of problems in battle. instead of letting him do his duty and protect his meister, you put yourself between him and the enemy and sacrificed your life to protect him. this habit eventually caused a huge fight between the two of you, with kinich sputtering out a confession

• shocked, you were left to mull over everything until you couldn’t take being away from him any longer and went to apologize. he also apologized for raising his voice, and you had a heart to heart talk that left a confession of your own slipping out

• you asked if he could forgive you, and he said he would, but only if you stopped taking the heat and let him actually do his job. reluctantly, you did, because you couldn’t say no to him when you loved him so much

VENTI

• the two of you had been long time partners, or “partners in crime” as he liked to call it. you were childhood friends turned lovers. he was your loyal weapon, and to him, you were his trusted meister

• you got on like oil and water, but you also couldn’t be more similar. opposites attract, after all. everyone always told you that you two were the most compatible weapon and meister ever. also the strongest… literal power couple

• you were able to collect 99 souls and a witch soul in no time together. together, your strength rivaled gods. venti himself was on par with a god, even if his weapon form was only that of a musical instrument

• on weekends, you spent your time training and venti would watch you from the sidelines, simply admiring you. you’d tell him to join you, which would always result in him asking for kisses in return if he did. every time, you’d say yes, because you just couldn’t say no

• whenever someone asked how you two got together, venti would come up with something different on the spot. once, he said that he was majorly attracted to you while watching you fight with another weapon in battle, and afterwards, went up to you asking to be your weapon instead and you dramatically threw away your last partner to become partners with him

• another time, he said that he dropped his uncle’s glass of wine on you while he was drunk and you ended up taking care of him for the night, which led to him professing his undying love for you. safe to say, no one actually knows the true story

• the true story of how you two got together was actually a bit more tragic. he sacrificed himself for you when you were teenagers. during your battle to collect a witch's soul, venti heroically threw himself in front of you to protect you and he was almost killed. in a fit of rage, you completely obliterated the witch and rushed over to your injured best friend. he played the situation off by making a few jokes, though they did nothing to stop your crying. thinking he was going to die, he confessed to you before you fed him the witch’s soul

• when he came to and was all healed up, you returned his sentiments. from then on, your bond grew stronger and served as an example for younger generations

YELAN

• being yelan’s weapon was rough work. you complained that she overworked you during training and you always seemed to have a quip ready on your tongue during battle

• never a dull moment between the two of you, as you were always the reckless type, and she tried her best to reel you in. after years of working together, your bond was exceptionally strong

• she teaches at DWMA, you think it’s hot

• you have an odd job outside of being a weapon. you work part-time as a tailor’s assistant

• you like to make dresses for her and she absolutely adores them, though she never admits it because she hates (not really) seeing that smug look on your face. it’s okay though, she’ll get you back by kissing you and laugh at your stunned expression

• you spend more time arguing with her than actually helping her fight enemies. she hates it, as she just likes to get things over and done with— especially since she’s an assassin

• your personalities are wildly different, but it makes you two all the more compatible

• at the end of the day, you make a great team and you have a bond that could never be severed. you’d sacrifice your life for her no matter what, even though you had full faith and trust in her that she could handle herself

NILOU

• she was more on the timid side than you. when you first met, your explosive personality made her a bit scared of you. it took a bit of time for her to warm up to you and gain the courage to actually say something

• you were the one who took the first step and approached her first. when you did, you accidentally scared her off, which caused you to sulk for a while. you just thought she was pretty and wanted to say so..

• after talking with her friends, dehya and dunyarzad, she went on a mission to find you and apologize for the way she acted. when she did find you, you were overlooking the city and sat in complete silence. she didn’t want to interrupt, but you already knew she was there

• she apologized profusely (after gaining the courage to sit down beside you) and the two of you talked for a long while. right before she was about to go home, she told you she was looking for a partner and would love for you to be hers. that was what set everything in motion, and you pledged to protect her as best you could

• she was tough for someone who looked very shy. she moved with a grace and elegance that entranced you, and you found yourself wanting to learn how to dance as well as she could. she immediately offered to teach you, and most of the time you spent bonding together was through dance lessons

• in turn, you taught her how to wield a sword better. the close proximity was a bit of a distraction for you both (in both dancing and sword training). soon, you found yourself wishing to be by her side like that forever

notes: shoutout to the stellaronhvnters disc for suggesting the last two characters. baizhu was also suggested, but he gives me the ick, so i didn’t include him LOL 😭 i have a discord server! it’s nice and cozy there, feel free to join! <3

© 2024 mikashisus. do not plagiarize, copy, repost, feed to ai, or translate my works to any other platforms.

[jxmis]

Second Choice

Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Summary: You're tired of always being the second choice... even in your own relationship you were the backup.

Warning(s): Angst with no happy ending

Word Count: 1.5k

A/N: Inspired by the Little Women scene of Laurie and Amy but with my own twist <3

(gif not mine! credit to the owner!)

You knew what everyone thought of you. Oh poor Y/N, always the second choice. Her being the second choice in her family, her brother always being the first and favorite. Always being the second best in her class in the Academy. And even her boyfriend’s second choice. How pathetic of you. You know that. 

Of course, he’d rather be with the beautiful blue eyed dirty blonde haired woman. She’s not only beautiful, she’s smart, amazing at her job, a great friend, and everyone loves her. You on the other hand, you’re just… you. You will never compare to Jennifer Jareau.

It shocks you how Spencer Reid even noticed you at all. Sure, you work with him, but you never would’ve guessed that he'd ever want a romantic relationship with you. You’re not blind or naive, everyone practically knows how Reid is in-love with JJ. You witnessed it from the very beginning when JJ had joined the team as the media liaison. But they never really happened, to your surprise. 

You knew what you were getting yourself into when you agreed to go on a date with Spencer. That one date turned into two… three and eventually, he had asked you to be his girlfriend. You thought that maybe… just maybe he could love you the way he loves JJ. That he’d look at you the way he looks at her. You thought that you could help him move on. However, that wasn’t the case.

It’s been almost a year since you two have been together. It never even feels like you really had all of him. That's because… you never did. Unlike JJ, who always had all of him, she has his full respect, trust, and most of all… love. 

You can’t help but see looks of sympathy from others. Even they notice the way Spencer would sneak glances at JJ, how he looks at her, hugs her, how his smile would grow brighter and bigger because of her. You’re tired. Tired of competing for Spencer’s love. You should've known this was a battle you’d lose. Of course, you have no resentment towards JJ. She’s with Will, you know how much she loves her husband and Henry. You know her love for Spencer will always be platonic. The only one to blame is yourself. Though, you can’t help this burning anger towards Spencer. For- For leading you on, making you let him in when he couldn’t even do the same. Mainly, for making you fall for him. 

You’re sick of being the second choice. Today will be the last day and you vow to yourself that you’ll never let anyone make you feel that way again. You deserve better. This ends today. 

 ———

You had told Spencer earlier how you wanted to talk after this case. Well, the case was over, it was a tough case and as much as you’d like to be comforted by Spencer’s arms you know alcohol will be what will comfort you tonight instead. However, you all had landed almost 20 minutes ago and most are preparing to leave. Instead of Reid doing the same thing, he’s rather smiling and laughing with JJ. 

“Spencer, let’s go,” you called out. To no one’s surprise, you were ignored. You see JJ motioning for Spencer to go but resulting in the opposite. 

“Give me a sec! I’ll meet you at the car!” Spencer responds back. The urge you had to yell, but instead, you took a deep breath to calm yourself down. You put on a fake smile and indeed go down to the parking garages. Tears started to run down your face as you head to the car. Instead of waiting for Spencer, you drove off. 

Right as you had arrived in your shared apartment with Spencer which was originally his until he had suggested you move in with him. You had honestly thought this act of his meant he’s finally moving on, but it was another misleading act of his. 

You began to pack all your stuff as fast as you could wanting to leave this place as soon as possible. When you open the door to leave, you’re surprised to see the person about to knock. 

“Derek? W- What are you doing here?” You ask very confuse. 

He raises his eyebrows, “You goin somewhere?” You look down, your eyes becoming filled with tears dying to fall. 

“You got a place to stay tonight?” Your head snaps at his question. Your mouth opens and closes but couldn’t get a word out. “C’mon, you can stay with me till you find a place.” 

———

You and Morgan arrive at the BAU the next morning together. You both were bickering about the movie you two had watched last night. Watching a movie and drowning both yourselves with ice cream was a way Morgan hoped to make you feel better. It honestly did help along with him listening to you. There was not a single moment did you see or even feel judgment coming from him. He’s a great friend. You’ll miss him. No, you’re going to miss everyone. 

Unfortunately, your bickering and thoughts were interrupted by the one person you wanted to avoid. “Y/N!” Spencer calls out as he speeds to you. “W- What happened last night?! You- you left me! A- And all your stuff… they’re gone!” Spencer’s reaction genuinely shocked you. It actually seems like he cares.

You snap out of it and scoff, “I’m surprised you even noticed.” You walk past him and head to your desk. Now, all eyes are on you both, but they don’t forget to eye Morgan. All he does is put both his hands up, not giving them anything. 

“What’s going on with you, Y/N!” That was the tipping point for you. You turn to the brunette and drag him to Hotch’s office, closing the doors. You were so angry, you didn’t even think to close the blinds. 

The rest of the team couldn’t help but watch you both obviously having an argument. They’ve never seen you so angry… so full of rage. They’d be lying if they didn’t think it was bound to happen at some point, they’re profilers for god sakes! JJ is standing there and can’t help but feel guilty as she watches the scene. Morgan sensing this, he puts his hand on her shoulder and whispers, “Don’t go blaming yourself now, JJ. It’s not your fault.” 

“I’m tired, Spencer! I’m tired of us, I can’t do this anymore. We- we’re… We’re done.” Spencer stands there in shock whilst you head to the door so close to heading out. 

“That’s it? You’re just going to give up on us?” You couldn’t help the laugh that erupted from you. 

“Give up on us? Are you serious right now, Spencer?” You turn facing the clueless brunette. “I had done nothing but hold on for dear life!”

“Well, you breaking up with me with no explanation really shows you holding on to us, huh?” At this point, you didn’t have it in you to yell and fight anymore. He wants a reason, you’ll give him one. 

“I’ve always been the second choice in everything in my life. My family, past relationships, even the academy! You knew that… I told you.. Trusted you with that information. God, you even promised that you wouldn’t make me feel like that.” You sigh, “The problem is that you did, Spencer… you did.” 

The tone of your voice… so broken… so fragile breaks Spencer’s heart. The door being open, the team could now hear the conversation and it kills them to see you in such a state. “Y/N…” but before Spencer could say anything, you raise your hand up not wanting him to interrupt.

“I will not be the person you settle for just because you cannot have her. I won’t. I won’t do it.” Tears now escape your eyes much to your dismay. You didn’t want Spencer or the others seeing you cry. You start to back away, “I won’t- not when I’ve spent my entire life loving you.” With that, you leave Hotch’s office, sadly, only to be met by looks of pity from the rest of the team. 

You wipe your tears. You head to your desk grabbing your belongings and walk past all of them, not once daring to look them in the eye knowing what their facial reactions already look like. Even though you hear your name being called out by some of them, you continue your way not once ever looking back.

You thought you could stay at least the rest of the week to say your proper goodbyes to the team. You’ve been with most of them since the beginning. They were basically your family, it was only fair to have a proper farewell. But now, it’s too late for that, you can’t bring yourself to step foot in there anymore. Maybe someday, but for now, you’re okay with how things were left. You’re left with only sending them a letter as your goodbye. Your only hope is that they’d understand. You grabbed your stuff at Morgan’s and got everything in your car. You email Hotch your transfer request. You don’t know what’s next for you, but you couldn’t wait. This time, it’ll be different, it’ll be better.

[verilly]

Dilemma

Yoshida x Reader x Denji

aliusworld's songfic event- inspo: MANNEQUIN album (Deco*27)

[Description: “Who else am I supposed to love but you?”, “Don’t play around, how much I’ve done for you…”, & “Please hug me, kiss me, but it won’t come true.”]

Warnings: OOC, blood gore I guess if you squint.

{4065 words}

•••|•••|•••|•••|•••

“[name], you’re here.” Yoshida perks up as you step onto the rooftop of your school, next to him is a boy with blonde hair. He’s tall, but not as tall as Yoshida.

You knew the plan, go on dates with that guy so Yoshida will keep dating you! It felt wrong and you didn’t know why Yoshida wanted you to, but you loved him. You wouldn’t do anything to make him turn away from you, Yoshida knew that.

“This is Denji, he can take anything you say to him.” Yoshida says again as you walk closer to the blonde guy.

“Hi Denji! My name is [name], nice to meet you” You smile up at him, he was cute. You could do this.

“Hey [name], uhh…” Denji looked down at you, his eyes shifted up and down.

“Yoshida’s said some nice things about you!” You lied, you know nothing about this kid, you didn’t even know his name until now! “Let’s get to know each other, yeah?” You held out your hand for him to shake. He takes it quickly.

“Yeah! Let’s uhm, get to know each other!”

“So, would you want to go on a date?” You know it’s a sudden change, but one thing Yoshida told you was that ‘he’s desperate’.

“R-Really?!” Denji isn’t letting go of your hand.

“Yup, how about we go to… oh! There’s a festival happening soon! Why don’t we meet up here on Saturday?” You pull away slightly, as a result: he let goes. Saturday is in three days.

“Of course! A festival is good, Saturday is good too!” Denji is basically shouting now, he looks really desperate, cute.

“Alright then, I can’t wait.” You back away, the silence is unbearable. You have to say something, he’s staring at you, both of them are. “How about we eat lunch together, this period only just started and I haven’t eaten mine yet.”

“Uh yeah! There’s a few benches over there” Denji points out the obvious, you walk over with Denji and Yoshida both following.

You sit down, the bench is uncomfortable to say the least; furthermore, you ate your lunch in silence as Denji shoo’d Yoshida away.

“Denji, do you not have a lunch?” You speak up once Yoshida ‘leaves’, you know he’s not really gone.

“Uh, nope. I usually just eat before and after school.” Denji was laid back against the bench while you were sat straight up

“Why don’t you have some of mine? I’ve done that before too, and it sucked. Here.” You hover a chopstick full of food in front of his face. Denji takes it happily. He’s too easy…

-

Your back in class, Yoshida sat beside you this afternoon, nice! The classroom was empty, no one had returned from lunch yet, not even the teacher.

“How was Denji after I left?” Yoshida asks

“I know you didn’t leave, but it was… okay? I don’t know, he was staring a lot. It was kind of awkward.” You sigh and lay your head onto your desk while looking at him, he’s still so handsome…

“Just take care of him, date him, and then you can date me.” He lowers his head to your level, your face flushes.

“Y-yeah, alright.”

-

“Denji! The pretty boy is back again! And he’s with someone else this time!” Denji’s classmate yells, Denji quickly responds by getting out of his chair and rushing towards the door.

“Why is he here???” Denji complains as he locks eyes with Yoshida, you take a step back as you watch closely.

“What’s wrong with me being here? I’m only showing [name] where your class is, they were asking for you.” You were not.

“Yeah, hi Denji! Wanna walk me home?” You smile and wave, he waves back with his mouth opened

“Why would I walk you home?” Is this guy dense?

“Because I want to get to know you better! We don’t have any classes together, so this could be our only way…”

“Oh, alright then” Denji made his way next to you, most likely to get away from Yoshida. You look at him and he nods as your cue to leave.

You take Denji’s hand and pull him away, his feet stumble after yours. His hand was warm, not soft, but it was comfortable to hold. After some distance, you let go.

“Alright Denji, I’m gonna ask some questions! You don’t need to answer them truthfully, I just want to make conversation.” You say as you walk some more, you don’t look back, you can sense his presence behind you

“Mhm, okey”

“What’s your favorite color?” You cringe at your first question, what is this? Preschool??

“Hmm… Red- No, uh orange? Maybe blonde” You mentally sigh at his answer

“Now it’s your turn to ask something” You slow down and start walking beside him instead of in front of him

“Right. What do you think about Chainsaw man?”

“Chainsaw man?” You look into space for a bit. Chainsaw man? You hadn’t thought much about him, “Well I think he’s cool? He’s a hero or something, but he’s also a devil I think? Like a good fiend?”

“No, he’s like a mix of human and devil”

“What does that mean?”

“Like a fiend… but the human can control the devil…?”

“… I guess that makes sense? How do you know all about this anyway? Are you some-“

“Because I’m Chainsaw Man, duh!” Denji smirked with pride while pointing to himself with his thumb, what the hell?

“…Alright Chainsaw Boy, I guess you really are just some fanatic” You laugh at his gesture.

Soon later, he drops you off at your home. You wave goodbye, he seemed giddy. You hope he had a good time today because you sure as hell didn’t.

[Thursday]

You walk the school from home, you didn’t live that far.

Last night, you had a dream. It was horrible. Not that it was a nightmare, but today, you felt extra tired.

Yoshida skipped class today, he always does this. You long for the day when he can embrace you in his arms, for now though, all you get are small touches. You can’t tell if they even mean anything.

Class was boring; you wrote notes, the teacher doesn’t exactly like you, all your friends are busy doing their own thing. Therefore, you’re left all alone. Maybe trying to find Denji isn’t a bad thing after all.

The lunch bell rings as you hurry out to find him, maybe if you do, Yoshida might treat you to something nice. Will he though? He’s not even here to witness it play out.

You step into the classroom to find Denji on all fours with a girl on top of him. You mentally sigh and strut towards them, maybe they’re bullies? Maybe they aren’t. Why should you care? You squat down to Denji’s level to get his attention and he definitely caught it. You two were so close.

“Denji, why is this girl sitting on you?”

“Because she paid me to, duh” He laughed, his body was still in the same position.

“Mmm, alright then. I guess then we won’t be having lunch together, bye for now!” You show him a peace symbol while lifting yourself back up.

“H-huh?! Wait-“ You didn’t stay long enough to hear him finish his sentence, you made your way to the roof top. It’s usually empty and it still is. There’s a slight breeze, but even without the breeze it’s still cold. You hoped Denji would come after you, eating alone makes you feel like a loser.

You eat your lunch in silence, it’s actually quite comfortable.

“[name]! I knew I could find you here!” It was Denji, he did come after you! How cute.

“The girl isn’t sitting on you anymore? Congrats.” You joke, he sat next to you, warmth was radiating from his body.

“No- it’s just that, she paid me so it’s the right thing to do!” There’s a pause after that, what could you do so that he’d stop letting people sit on him? You slowly think to yourself while you hand Denji a few bites of food.

“Hey Denji”

“Mph, Yeah?” His mouth is full of food, your timing was awful on that one.

“Do you really wanna go on a date with me?”

“Hell yeah! I do!” He looked at you as he gulped, he came pushing closer, he was still so warm even after being out here in the cold with you.

“Hold your horses, if you want to go so bad, then you’re gonna have to stop letting people sit on you”

“What?! Even if they offer me money??”

“… If the price is right, then go on ahead. How much was that girl paying you?”

“Five yen.”

“Five yen?? You’re letting go of your dignity for five yen??” You look at him with concern and sigh again, you take your hand and reach for his shoulders, “Listen, I’ll give you… twenty five yen to stop letting people sit on you until you raise your price.”

“Nice, alright!” Denji’s hands grabbed your forearms gently, he’s not that bad.

“Alright then, this Saturday at 6 PM, let’s go to the festival.”

-

“How was your lunch? I saw you with Denji, good job.” Yoshida says as he watches you enter the classroom

“You’re here now? Why’d you skip?” You ask as you furrow your brows, shifting your head to face the taller man.

“It’s nothing you need to worry about.” He smiles at you, your heart flutters for a second.

“I’ve been so good, I think. When am I gonna get my reward?” You ask quietly as you sit down next to him

“Don’t worry about it.”

“What?!— ugh. Fine.”

-

You didn’t walk home with Denji today, he was disappointed, but you explained that you had clubs you needed to go to. You patted his back sympathetically as he whined.

Devil Hunting Club, what a pain. You wandered around school with two strangers ‘in search of devils’. You never found anything. Worst part about it was that Yoshida ditched today’s club meeting too, you’re alone yet again.

[Friday]

Denji showed up in front of your apartment complex today! Weird.

“Good morning, [name]” He waved at you with a bright smile, his sharp teeth showing.

“Denji, why are you here?” You looked confused, your eyebrows furrowing as you approached him slowly.

“I didn’t get to walk you home yesterday, so I decided to walk to school with you today” He had dark circles under his eyes, just how long was he waiting here for you?

“Th-thank you…” Your face reddens just a bit, but you brush it off quickly.

The walk was cold as usual, but today you had someone to stick close to, someone warm. You hook arms with him at some point, you don’t remember when. Maybe this won’t be as hard as you thought it would’ve.

-

“This is my class Denji, thanks for walking with me~” You wave a goodbye before turning down onto your chair. He waved back before rushing away. He couldn’t get far though, Yoshida was already in front of him.

“Hello Denji” Yoshida greeted him outside the door.

“Ew, leave me alone!” Denji grunted as he continued to rush past

Yoshida watched Denji while he was walking over to you, “Good morning, [name].”

“Morning, Yoshida! You’re actually at school today.” You laugh as he sits where he usually does, right next to you.

“Denji appeared in front of our class room, what happened?”

“He walked me to school today, isn’t that sweet? I think I’m doing a great job.”

“It looks like you are.” His voice was mellow, his usual demeanor shifting to one of gratitude.

“Since I am, why don’t you treat me to something tomorrow? It’s Friday, so we can spend time together outside of school!”

“…I’ll think about it.” His demeanor changed just as quickly yet again, shifting himself to face the board in the front of the class as you mentally punched yourself, we’re you pushing too hard? That’s probably why he’s acting like this.

“C’mon! I’m gonna need an answer at some point- or… or I’ll stop working for you or whatever.” You pout, you wanted this. You wanted this really badly.

“Fine, I’ll go to your home. We can do whatever you want.” Yoshida smiled gently, it seemed fake, but you’ll take it.

“Finally! It won’t suck, I’ll make sure it won’t!” Your eyes glimmer with excitement as you smile quickly before reverting back to your normal calm-and-collected self.

-

Yet again, Denji showed up in front of you. Yoshida waved at Denji and was promptly ignored.

“Why don’t we stay here today? Whenever we go to the roof it’s too cold for you” Denji suggests, he was thinking of you, that’s so nice!

“I didn’t know you were paying so much attention to me, of course.” Denji sat at the seat in front of you and quickly turned it around to face you.

“Go away Yoshida!” Denji stuck his tongue out at him while Yoshida watched, he seemed a little annoyed.

“Why should I? This is my classroom too.” Yoshida smirked while looking at Denji, not you, but you decide to take Denji’s side for fun.

“Yeah you should leave!” You joke, knowing fully well he wouldn’t actually leave. Even if he left physically, he would hear everything, he always does.

“So the festival… since you remember where I live so well, why don’t you pick me up at my apartment at 6?”

“Hell yeah!” Denji shot up from his seat, followed by a bunch of eyes facing him as he quickly sat back down, sweating.

-

The day went by fast. Nothing really happened, you didn’t really talk at all. Too busy trapped inside your head.

“[name], are we gonna hang out today?” Yoshida asked as he tapped you on your shoulder.

“Huh? Oh yeah! You can come to my house, unless you want to go to a café instead?” You were giddy, you were waiting for this moment for days. You already had everything planned in your house. Watch movies, eat snacks… actually, you didn’t plan at all.

“Your home? Sure, I don’t need to be spending more money than I already have.” Yoshida sighed, he was being blunt. He doesn’t really want to spend time with you. It’s crystal clear, but you looked past it. You were wrapped around his pinky finger since day one. You wouldn’t let this opportunity go so soon.

“Okay!” You get up from your desk and hop out the classroom with Yoshida right behind you. “My parents work away from home so they won’t be here… so, you can make yourself at home!”

The walk was silent, a comfortable silence though, right? It’s normal for people to walk quietly together once they’ve gotten close! You two are definitely at that level already… probably?

“Here it is” You unlock the door and let Yoshida inside. The apartment is large. Larger than the average apartment in Tokyo, not considered fancy, but big enough for two separate bedrooms with different sizes and a ‘living room’. It was barely touched, whenever you were home you were stuffed up in your room, “I don’t actually have anything for us to watch, but we could just watch TV, they usually have a movie on at some point.”

Yoshida left his book bag on your sofa, it looked light. A lot lighter compared to yours. He never responded to you. You sweat before turning on the TV switching it to a channel to one that was playing some sort of show.

“Do you want anything to eat? I usually eat after school anyway, you should too.” You suggest, Yoshida grumbles for a second before putting on a smile and agrees. His smile, it’s… concerning. You grab something from the fridge, you didn’t really care to check, his eyes were on you and you didn’t want to keep him waiting.

Sitting next to him and placing the bowl in front of you, you slowly lean into him, he doesn’t move. Success!! He’s cold, it feels like he doesn’t have a heartbeat either. Weird.

“You don’t have any allergies, do you?” You ask as you look up at him, his eyes were already on you. You did move. You sweat but stay still.

“Not at all, it’s fine [name]. You don’t need to try so hard.” His voice is rough, you couldn’t help but scoot off of him. It wasn’t a lot, but he definitely felt it. Did he not want to be here? I mean, it was still a part of the deal, but maybe he doesn’t like you.

“Try so hard..?” You stutter a bit on your words as you rest your head onto the couch, “I-I’m not trying hard to do anything…”

“Liar.” Yoshida chuckled softly, maybe he did like you! Maybe you were just reading it wrong. You know Yoshida though, maybe he’s just putting on an act. You wouldn’t be that surprised… but this felt nice.

“Fine! Maybe I am trying hard. Can you blame me? You aren’t really doing anything with me. This is supposed to be a date, right? So treat it like one!!” You murmured, it was loud enough for him to hear, obviously.

“Right. A date.” Yoshida looked away from you for a split second. Another one passes and he’s above you, he’s fast, really fast. You couldn’t even tell that he moved in front of you.

You turn red, I mean, what other reaction would you have? He’s only a few inches away from you, four at most, he creeps closer and closer. You don’t move. What’s he going to do? It’s exciting.

“Y-Yoshida..?” He’s still close, right above you. His hand is behind your head, fingers barely grazing your hair. He shushes you, your breathing hitches.

Your lips touch. He’s kissing you. You can taste him. The kiss wasn’t long, he was quite literally on top of you. You were cornered onto the edge of the couch, the only thing holding you up with the couch’s arm.

“Is this better for you? ‘Date’ enough?” His voice was in a whisper, his eyes were void of any emotion but his blush betrayed him.

“Yes” You break the eye contract and stare off behind him before speaking again, “Can we do it again?”

“Honestly, [name]. It’s already hard enough to keep myself from you.” Yoshida smiles at you, it felt real, he leant down closer to you again. You wrapped your arms around his neck to pull him down slowly onto you.

“Well you’re doing a hell of a good job…” You murmur as your hands play with his soft dark hair

“Do you want me to stop doing that?” Yoshida asks, his voice soft and shallow, but you could tell he was asking in a sincere way.

“Stop keeping yourself from me? …I don’t know.” You ponder quietly as your hands stop and lay softly on his back.

[Saturday]

Last night was really nice. It felt amazing to finally be in his arms, but he said something while he was on top of you.

‘I thought about it a lot [name], and I think you should stop the whole dating Denji thing now.’

It only started three days ago, why stop? Did something change already? Does Yoshida actually like you? You told him that you still promised Denji a date today. He was ok with that.

Yoshida left your apartment a little bit after you fell asleep. Yoshida is confusing. His sudden change in emotion towards you was lovely but strange at the same time.

You wake up alone on the couch. He didn’t even decide to put a blanket on you, or he did, it was just laying on the floor next to you. The time was 10 AM. You groaned to yourself as you walked to the kitchen for something to eat.

-

The kimono you wore was pretty. It was a pain to get on by yourself, almost impossible, but you found a way. It wasn’t exactly tight, but it wasn’t exactly flexible either.

The time was 5:47, you looked outside your window, Denji was already there. He looks like he’s been standing there for a while. He catches your eye and waves, you back up and close your window after you wave back shouting ‘I’ll be down in a bit!’

Denji waiting for you this long made you happy. Really happy. You rushed down the stairs with a small bag full with yen to properly greet him, “Hi Denji, you’re awfully early” You smile, he smiles back.

“Yeah, I couldn’t stop thinking about the whole date thing… and it’s better to be early than be late, right? That’s what Ak-“ Denji looked you up and down before looking away, “I’ve never seen uh, what you’re wearing before. What’s it called?”

“A kimono, usually I’d wear a yukata, but it’s been cold these days.” You take Denji’s hand, “And as expected, your hands aren’t cold at all. The festival isn’t that far, it’s right over that way!” You tug on his hand and he follows next to you, his hand was kind of sweaty. “I’m surprised you didn’t know what a kimono was, I guess these things really are going out of style”

“Is it? I think it looks good on you.” You look at him, your face turns red, he said it so nonchalantly! Does he do this with everyone— no way. Yoshida said he was desperate, so he’s definitely never talked to anyone else before.

“Thanks Denji, I think you look good too” You said sweetly, he wasn’t wearing anything special, but it’s not like he looked bad or anything.

“Really?! I knew my fashion sense wasn’t bad!” He smiled, he smiled at you. Well, it was more about what you said, but it made your heart flutter again.

-

The festival was fun! You wouldn’t change anything about it. The food was amazing, even if you had to pay for most of it, there was scenic music playing, and Denji was really good at playing a bunch of the games. You hadn’t noticed until now, but you were holding Denji’s hand, pulling him to wherever you wanted to go.

“Ah- I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to pull so hard on you” You apologize as you let go of his hand.

“What? It’s not a problem at all!” Denji’s face was red, was it because of the heat or was it because of you? “No… I liked your hand. Could you hold mine again?”

“Oh, sure!” You took Denji’s hand again.

That’s when you saw it. Not only the people rushing fast to get past the two of you, but you saw a… a devil?

It was large. Almost as tall as two of the food stands combined, you stood there in shock as people almost ran on top of you. Quickly coming back to your senses, you pull Denji away from the devil as fast as you could.

He wouldn’t budge after he made eye contact with the devil though. Was it a power it had or was it something else? You didn’t know or care.

“Denji?! Hurry up and move, we have to go! Now!” You shouted, you were still holding his hand. You soften your eyes and murmur a ‘sorry’ before letting go and leaving him.

A few seconds later you heard the noises of a chainsaw. ‘So he’s here to save the day again.’ You sigh in relief, then maybe Denji will have a chance to survive this disaster. You turn you head to look back, Denji isn’t visible to you, but Chainsaw Man is. He’s wearing the same things that Denji was. Strange. You decide not to think about it as you continue to make your way out of the situation.

<“it’s your choice now, who will you choose?”>

Yoshida Route || Denji Route

^Click your Choice^

Tag list: @myneighboreve

•••|•••|•••|•••|•••

Yours truly, 💟

[the-delta-42]

Pulling the Trigger

Pulling the Trigger

Marinette nervously bit her bottom lip; her new school was a boarding school just outside of Paris. Kaalki had agreed to help her get back to the city in the event of an Akuma attack. She’d been forced to change schools after Adrien had gotten her a meeting with his father, Gabriel Agreste, one of Marinette’s idols. In the meeting, Gabriel had torn into Marinette’s designs, belittling them and mocking her choice of style, before tearing into Marinette as a person and her effects on his son and then, quite coldly, informed her that she would never have a future in the fashion industry and if she was ever near his son again, he’d be sure to have her behind bars.

So, here Marinette was, sitting in a hallway, waiting to be called into a classroom full of strangers. No pressure.

PTT

A blonde-haired girl with tanned skin, called Allegra, pulled Marinette through the halls, talking at a mile-a-minute and introducing Marinette to other students along the way.

“Claude, Allen!” Yelled Allegra, waving at a light-skinned boy with brown hair and a dark-skinned boy.

“Who’s this?” Joked the light-skinned boy.

“This is Marinette Dupain-Cheng!” Said Allegra, making the dark-skinned boy choke on his drink.

“That designer you’re obsessed with?” Asked the boy, as Allegra nodded eagerly, “I’m Allen, this wannabe magician is Claude.”

Marinette waved nervously.

“Sorry, we’re not used to being in the presence of a celebrity.” Said Claude, grinning, “Speaking of, what are your next designs like?”

Marinette winced, “It’s not, I’ve, erm, I’ve kinda been black-listed.”

The three froze.

“Um, can I ask by who?” Asked Allegra, her voice strained.

“Gabriel Agreste.” Responded Marinette, as Allegra sighed in relief.

“Oh, phew, for a moment I thought it was someone relevant.” Said Allegra, “The Gabriel Brand has really gone downhill lately, it doesn’t help that the new model keeps making Adrien look uncomfortable.”

“Yeah, she’s always like that,” Said Marinette, folding her arms, “trust me I went to school with them.”

Allegra froze, and then started squealing.

PTT

Adrien’s leg bounced as he waited for class to start. His father had spoken to him last night about how he had issued a restraining order against Marinette, as well as blacklisting her. He’d made a similar announcement at a social dinner with other fashion designers and members of the elite. His father didn’t like the fact he’d been laughed out of a room.

“Hey, dude!” Greeted Nino, Alya and the rest of the class behind him, “How were your holidays?”

“Could’ve been better.” Said Adrien, glumly.

“How’d things pan out with Marinette?” Asked Alya, smirking slightly.

“Terribly, my father issued a restraining order against her and black-listed her.” Answered Adrien, glaring at the table, “All because Lila claimed Marinette was a stalker and was crazy.”

“Lila, said that?” Asked Alya, in disbelief.

“She practically gloated about it at the photoshoot, actually,” Said Adrien, looking around for Juleka, “Juleka, I need to borrow some of your makeup.”

“Why?” Asked the Goth, frowning slightly.

Adrien pulled back his sleeve, revealing crescent-shaped scars all along his arm, “Lila got handsy and refused to let go.”

“Didn’t anyone do something?” Asked Rose, tears gathering in her eyes.

“They did, but father,” Adrien spat the word out like it was a curse, “refused to listen to anyone but his precious little Lila.”

Alya looked Lila up on her phone, dread filling her when the only result was her interview and Lila’s social medias.

“The lying bitch.” Said Alya, collapsing into her seat, “Marinette told me, and I didn’t think to check!”

Adrien glared at the table, trying to set it on fire with his gaze, “Father’s lost two of his biggest sponsors because of this.”

Alya frowned, just as Lila walked into the class.

“You guys aren’t going to believe what Marinette did to me!” Whimpered Lila, as everyone in the class glared at her.

“You mean telling us about your lies?” Snapped Alya, burning holes into Lila’s head.

“I’m not a liar!” Gasped Lila, her eyes darting to Adrien with a silent command to defend her.

“What?” Scowled Adrien, glaring at Lila as well, “If you’re expecting me to defend you, that deal only worked while Marinette was still in school.”

Lila gaped like a fish, as Adrien leaned forwards, “You do know that lying to my father made him lose two of his biggest sponsors? The Cheng’s and the Ricca’s cut their contracts immediately. The thing is, they had a little clause in their contracts that should their partnership with my father was ever terminated for whatever reasons, he would have to pay back every penny they gave him?”

Lila continued to gape, before clearing her throat, “Well, my mother is a Ricca, they’ll be back in the fold soon enough.”

“Lila, they’ve started proceedings to claim the mansion and they’re claiming all the bank accounts in my father’s name.” Stated Adrien, “Your lies have practically cost my father everything.”

“What’s going to happen to you?” Asked Nino, breaking his glare form Lila to look at Adrien.

“Father’s been under investigation, and I’ve been moved into a temporary home.” Shrugged Adrien, leaning back in his chair, “I’m not getting my hopes up about anything yet.”

Lila went pale, if Gabriel went under, she could kiss her dreams of being rich, famous and wanted goodbye. Lila’s eyes darted around the room, before she scarpered out and started to make her way home. Perhaps it was time for a fresh start somewhere else, somewhere far away from this mess.

PTT

“I can’t do that!” Protested Marinette, as Allegra stared at her with starry eyes.

“Please?” Begged the girl, forming a pout, “I can ask him for modelling tips, and you can just happen to be in the classroom?”

“That would only succeed in getting you in trouble, Allegra.” Said Felix, a blonde-haired, grey eyed boy a couple seats away from them. Marinette felt she’d met him before.

“Oh, please, Felix,” Sighed Claude, “just because you can’t meet Kitty section doesn’t meant I can’t meet Adrien Agreste.”

“Ms. Dupain-Cheng, Ms. Grey, Mr. Cadabra, Mr. Ricca, please be quiet and face the front.” Said the teacher, making the four flush.

“Sorry.” They all muttered and focused on their books.

The name Ricca niggled in the back of Marinette’s mind, trying to remember where she’d last heard it. Her Nonna’s maiden name was Ricca. Marinette’s mind screeched to a halt, and the girl’s head snapped up and stared at Felix.

“Is there anyone in your family called Gina?” Marinette asked Felix, making the boy look up.

“Yeah, my great-aunt, she travels around the world, why?” Responded Felix, as Marinette gaped at him.

“Her surname wouldn’t happen to be Dupain, would it?” Questioned Marinette, leaning forwards.

Felix frowned, before he made the connection.

“Holy shit.”

PTT

Candence Ricca jumped when the phone went off, she quickly checked the caller ID and frowned when she saw it was Felix.

“Sweetie, what’s wrong?” Asked Candence, before quickly pulling the phone away from her ear.

“Why didn’t you say Great-Aunt Gina had family here?!” Demanded Felix, making Candence sigh.

“Rolland doesn’t want to be part of the family, Felix-” Felix cut her off.

“No, not him, Aunt Gina’s son and granddaughter!” Said Felix, making Candence frown.

“I thought they were still in China.” Mused Candence, as the dog ran behind her, chasing the cat.

“Marinette’s attending my school!” Said Felix, making Candence freeze.

“Felix,” Said Candence, her tone serious, “Keep Marinette with you, I’m coming to you.”

“Why?” Asked Felix, confused at his mother’s tone.

“Because we’ve been operating under the assumption that Marinette and her parents died in that plane crash.” Growled Candence, before hanging up.

Candence grabbed her coat and walked out the door towards her car.

PTT

Marinette stared at Felix’s phone. She and her parents were believed to be dead? But they weren’t. They were alive. Weren’t they? Marinette pinched herself, wincing as her nails dug into the skin on the back of her hand. Nope, definitely not dead.

“Any idea what that was supposed to be about?” Asked Felix, looking at Marinette.

“This is the first I’ve heard of being dead.” Shrugged Marinette, frowning, “Unless everyone’s actually dead and this is the afterlife.”

“The afterlife fucking sucks.” Said Felix, before looking at his phone, “Should we head outside and meet her, or should we just wait for the wardens to collect us for death row?”

Everyone stared at Felix.

“Boy, you’re a freak.” Said Claude, after a moment had passed.

The sound of squealing tyres made them look towards the window, a woman with brown hair and forest green eyes all but charged out of the car, while a chauffeur calmly started reading a book.

Felix shrunk slightly, Candence was tall and boarder line intimidating and the impassive expression on her face was usually reserved for the paparazzi. Candence stopped in front of her son and looked down at the, ridiculously, short girl next to him. A familiar pair of blue eyes stared back up at her.

“Marinette?” Murmured Candence, frowning.

“Hi?” Marinette gave a small wave.

Candence grabbed her face and looked either side of Marinette’s head. After letting Marinette go, she turned to Felix, “Wait here.”

Marinette and Felix watched Candence stalk over to the school’s receptionist. A moment later, both of them were in the back of the car Candence arrived in, while Candence was snarling down her phone in Italian. Marinette prided herself on how much Italian she’d learnt from her Grandmother, but now she was silent in shock at the number of profanities coming from Candence’s mouth.

The car came to a stop and Candence hopped out and stalked into a building. Marinette paled that the bakery, before sinking into her seat in an attempt to hide from any passers-by. Felix idly watched his mother speaking with one of the bakery’s owners, a short Asian woman who looked confused. His mother’s posture relaxed, before she calmly made her way back to the car. Opening the door, she gestured for Felix and Marinette to get out. Marinette rushed into the bakery as fast as she could, in an attempt to avoid being seen.

“Marinette?” Asked Sabine, as Felix and Candence came in after her.

“Hi?” Marinette waved.

“What’s this about?” Asked Sabine, looking at Candence, “I’m not sure I understand what you meant when you said we’re ‘supposed to be dead’.”

“You were in a plane crash, ten years ago.” Said Candence, “The majority of my family were under the impression that you, Tom and all five of your children were on board.”

Marinette frowned, “What do you mean ‘five’? The only siblings I have are Michael, Skye and Toby.”

Sabine groaned, before locking the Bakery door and leading the group upstairs.

“This is going to take a while.” Muttered Sabine, as they entered the apartment.

PTT

Adrien shifted uncomfortably as Chris ran around being chased by the twins. The rest of the class were scattered around the living room, Chloé was hugging her legs to her chest, in an attempt to prevent either Chris or the twins from touching her.

“Why are we here again?” Complained Chloé, getting scowls from most of the group.

“Chloé, you weren’t invited, you just followed Adrien here.” Said Alix, leaning back against the sofa.

Chloé huffed, but didn’t say anything.

“We’re here to figure out how to get Adrien’s dad to withdraw the restraining order and blacklist on Marinette.” Said Alya, “She’d do the same for us. Now, we need to focus on what Lila said to him and how we can disprove it.”

Meanwhile, across Paris in Gabriel’s office, Gabriel was fighting off an incoming headache.

“The Chengs and the Riccas are willing to come back to the table if you reverse you decision on Dupain-Cheng’s restraining order and Blacklist status.” Said Nathalie, standing by the door, “It would seem your attempt to akumatize her has failed. Again.”

Gabriel groaned, but Nathalie found she had little sympathy for him, “There’s also the matter of Mlle. Rossi, she’s at risk of being sued for defamation and/or slander by a number of parties. A number of Gabriel employees have now come forward and have reported that Mlle. Rossi has been harassing Adrien during the photoshoots.”

“Release her from her contract, as get M. Hayworth on the phone.” Grumbled Gabriel, as Nathalie sent the various messages off.

“Today couldn’t possibly get any worse.” Muttered Gabriel, taking his glasses off and looking up.

PTT

Hector frowned at the letter in his hand. He’d just posted his notice; he was getting too old to deal with the mayor and having to cave to his whims and wants. He hoped Arthur would accept his request.

Contrary to popular belief, he didn’t tolerate Bourgeois, any of them. He only bowed to their wishes because otherwise the school’s funding would ‘mysteriously’ get cut. But, Arthur’s school was independently funded. It had a lot of wealthy doners, preventing Bourgeois from taking full control of the school for their principle. Hector knew he wasn’t a good man, evidenced by his handling of the Dupain-Cheng-Rossi incident. He acted to hastily, due to the fact that Rossi was shaping up to be another Bourgeois. A headache within a migraine, within another migraine. Hector ignored the pain in his chest, putting his proposal to Arthur in an envelope, before getting to his feet and walking out of the school to find the nearest post box.

PTT

Marinette choked on her drink as she saw the headline on the common room tv.

Local Paris School Principal found dead

Marinette quickly located the remote, before turning up the volume.

“Don’t be bemused, it’s just news,” Said Nadja, to the camera, “Earlier today, Hector Damocles, Principal of College Francais Dupont, was found dead near the Eiffel Tower. Police are not treating his death as suspicious, and believe it to natural causes.”

Marinette stared at Damocles’ picture before it faded away as Nadja moved on to other topics she had to cover.

PTT

Arthur Coleman frowned down at Damocles’ letter to him. The Academy had been looking to expand its reach, as well as find an appropriate campus for ‘day’ students. He decided to put the letter to the side and bring it up at the next governors meeting.

PTT

“Don’t be bemused it’s just news,” Marinette idly listened to the TV in the common room, as she scribbled in her sketch book, “earlier today, Gabriel Agreste, Head designer and owner of the ‘Gabriel’ brand, formally ‘Papillon’, has declared bankruptcy. This occurred after two of his main investors unexpectedly withdrew their support after nearly twenty-five years. Neither Gabriel Agreste nor the investors were available to comment.”

Marinette stared at the TV, before Allegra dropped down onto one of the sofas, “Didja hear the news?”

“You know, you have the powerful ability to chew and swallow before you speak.” Said Felix, snapping his book shut, “But of course, you have to get the first word in, as always.”

Allegra chewed a couple of times, before getting up and walking over to Felix, crouched down to they were level and opened her mouth, showing him the mess of chewed food and saliva, “Blegh!”

Marinette internally groaned, before resting her head against her sketchbook. Claude and Allan were greeted to Felix trying to hit Allegra with his book, with Marinette curled into a ball with her hands over her ears, nursing a headache.

PTT

Adrien stared down at the pile of paper in front of him, “You mean I own everything?”

“More or less.” Said M. Hayworth, “The house, the company, practically everything your father had been using.”

Gabriel scowled as Hayworth spoke.

“If he hadn’t made that ridiculous restraining order, no one would’ve known.”

“Oh.”

“As it stands, your father made illegal modifications to your property, as well as some other, far more serious, charges.” Stated Hayworth, “Mdm. Sancoeur has volunteered to look after you while this matter has been settled.”

“Okay, what were the other charges?” Asked Adrien, making Hayworth sigh, before he cast a dark look at Gabriel.

“It came out that your father has some…connection to Hawkmoth.” Revealed Hayworth.

“What the fucking shit?!”

PTT

Ladybug skidded to a stop on the roof of the police station, before looking up at the detective, “Sorry, I’m late. I had to sneak out of my dorm.”

“You’re in university?” Asked the detective, getting a wince from Ladybug.

“No, I’ve started to attend a boarding school.” Answered Ladybug, rubbing her arm.

“And you’ve snuck out and come here,” Said the detective, slowly, “on a school night?”

“You, erm, you said you had a lead on Hawkmoth.” Excused Ladybug, looking up at them.

“Gabriel Agreste had been allowing Hawkmoth to use modified areas of his home as a lair.” Said the detective, “He’s been cautioned and is currently being questioned. We’ve also made sure to confiscate everything he had on him, minus his clothes and glasses.”

“And you want me to go over the stuff and see if any of them are a miraculous.” Stated Ladybug, getting a nod from the detective. “Okay,” Sighed Ladybug, “let’s do this.”

PTT

“Settle down.” Yelled M. Coleman, looking out at the sea of students, “SILENCE!”

Everyone went quiet, allowing M. Colman to continue, “As everyone knows, the foundations beneath our school has started to degrade and, as we are a private school, we lack the funds to repair it.” Coleman took in the faces of the students in the first few rows, “Which is why we are entering a partnership with College Francois Dupont, allowing us to continue your education while were repair and decided what to do with this campus.”

Some muttering broke out amongst the students.

“As of January, everyone will be attending Dupont.” Said Coleman, “We have been allocated dorms by Dupont, so that any students who live further away from Dupont will still be able to attend and keep with any groups they may have made or joined.”

The muttering started up again, as Coleman walked away from his podium, talking quietly with another member of staff.

PTT

“So,” Said Allegra, looking up at the school, “I guess this is the last time we can look at the dump before we go to your old stomping ground.”

Marinette hummed, “Part of me doesn’t want to go back. I haven’t been in contact with my friends there, I didn’t want to find out if they’d agreed with Adrien’s dad. I mean, I know they probably didn’t, but I didn’t want to take that risk, and I didn’t know if the restraining order covered allowed me to contact them, since there were around Adrien so much.”

“Being scared is normal,” Shrugged Claude, playing with his deck of cards, “unless you’re Felix, who has no emotions.”

“Say that again and I shove those cards right up your-” Felix was cut off by Allan clearing his throat, “rear.”

The group silently looked up at the school.

“Two and a half years.” Said Allegra, suddenly.

“What?”

“It’s been two and a half years since Marinette came here.” Answered Allegra, wistfully, “It’s been a fucking ride.”

“You can say that again.” Muttered Allan, before picking up his bag, “I think I can hear the bus arriving.”

“Thank god, I’m freezing my tits off.” Shivered Allegra, getting a snort from Felix.

PTT

Tom helped Marinette carry her bags into the apartment above the bakery, with the latter making sure she didn’t walk into anything. Marinette blinked as she tried to adjust to the darkness of the living room, after placing her bag on the floor, she reached out for the light switch and clicked it on.

“SURPRISE!” Everyone yelled, making Marinette yelp and jump a foot in the air.

All of Marinette’s former classmates, and the friends she made at the boarding school stood in front of her.

“The, the ‘surprise party’ trick,” Gasped Marinette, “is for birthdays only.”

“No, it isn’t.” Disagreed Alya, before throwing her arms around Marinette, “I’ve missed you girl.”

Marinette gingerly wrapped her arms around Alya, “Me too. I’m, I’m sorry that I haven’t been in contact with you.”

“Allegra explained everything, with the whole restraining order and phone troubles you’d been having.” Said Alya, “Adrien’s had his lawyer rescind the restraining order, but I think they’re attempting to use it as evidence in his dad’s trial.”

Marinette winced, before glancing over at Adrien, “Yeah, I heard about that. I’m so sorry.”

“I’m not.” Chirped Adrien, his hair streaked with green, “I brought a copy of the restraining order. And a cigarette lighter.”

Marinette gave Adrien a small smile, before the sound of someone choking got her attention, “Allegra, you're supposed to chew before swallowing.”

[respectthepetty]

Since I'm enjoying NetJames as color-coded men in love King and Uea in Bed Friend, I thought I'd share NetJames being color-coded boys in love as Captain and Foei in Catch Me Baby.

Captain is a Red Rascal (passionate, spontaneous, energetic), while Foei is a Blue Boy (reliable, loyal, sincere).

They are the side pair in the series, and align with the main couple, who happen to be family members and color coded as well (even their shoes were color coded!).

The main couple, Cher, a Blue Beauty, and Phat, a Red Rascal, swap colors throughout the show as people tend to do when they are in love.

And Foei takes his alignment to his family as a Blue Boy very seriously.

Captain and Foei begin the series as rivals with their pens matching their colors.

But when assigned a project, they are told nobody wants to work with either of them, so they have to work together.

Yet Captain, being his mischievous self with his red background to support him, pranks Foei, which results in Foei's shirt being ruined, and Foei yelling at Captain for being immature.

Throughout this lecture, Captain slowly realizes his mistake, and we see the wall being painted blue. They end the night, with Foei in a blue splattered shirt borrowed from Captain, working together in their changing blue and red space.

They meet again, but Captain drinks too much and invites Foei to his room. Captain, in red sitting next to Foei in blue lighting, immediately starts crossing the line.

Which results in Captain kissing Foei.

The next morning, Captain wakes up alone in the blue.

But because he can't remember anything, he questions Foei with his blue straw while wearing a red bandana to cover what he thinks is a hickey.

Foei denies anything happened but is drowning in confused green.

Captain, while attempting to make out with a girl, gets flashes of making out with Foei, and confronts Foei who wears a blue sweater.

Captain, in red, is bothered that Foei not only kept their kiss a secret, but that Foei doesn't want to pursue anything more.

Captain continues to try to convince Foei they should date, but when he tries to kiss Foei while tied up and basically being held hostage (a mess!), Foei becomes upset. Captain, deep in the blue, can't figure out what to do.

However, they are thrown together again because of their relatives' jobs.

Foei continues to avoid Captain.

But Captain finally decides to make a move (which goes a lot better than Palm and Nueng's confrontation in the same space in Never Let Me Go).

Foei runs away after the kiss, but Captain finds a way for them to work together, while wearing his red striped shirt and touching the blue pen to his lips.

They have to go on a trip together, and, as usual, Captain is crossing the line.

Foei tells Captain that he will let fate decide their future while they sit on red and blue.

However, Foei gets upset at Captain for always crossing the line and never caring about his feelings. Captain, letting Foei's words sink in, doesn't cross the line.

This puts a wedge between them.

But after Phat talks to a heartbroken Captain, Captain, in a red shirt, decides to asks Foei how Foei feels...in front of the entire class (Captain is a mess!). Foei's answer is cut short because they must search for Beauty, the one in the middle above, who goes missing.

During the search, Captain gets hit by a car (I'm telling you, a mess!), but this gives us the cutest confession in recent memory when Captain puts the heart monitor on Foei's finger and notices Foei's heart beating faster around him and tells Foei that even though he tries to deny he loves Captain, his heart can't lie. *squee*

They officially become boyfriends!

Yet, unlike Captain who was openly showing he was deep in the blue for Foei, Foei never wore Captain's red color.

And Catch Me Baby had the audacity to make jokes about it!

That's Foei, our true Blue Boy, saying the colors can't mix to Captain, so they had a fight.

Bless this mess.

[doberbutts]

I am a firm believer that it's not just what he experiences in his life, but what he witnesses too. Okay so you don't do any of those to him but you do those things to his sisters? His cousins? His mom? He is learning consent is for him hut not for women.

One of my sisters has young children, both of whom are some flavor of neurodivergent. She is too, and as a result she often lost patience quickly with some of their quirks. The biggest offender is that her kids are extremely wary around anyone they deem to be a stranger, making social connection very difficult for all participants.

When I first met her daughter, she was 3 or 4, and was extremely reluctant to come and meet me. My sister began to shame and push and pull her towards me and I stopped her. I said "don't force her, don't teach her that she has to let men she doesn't know touch her, she doesn't need to hug me"

My sister froze in place, processed it for a moment, and let her daughter go. She went back to hiding behind mom. We continued our conversation and her son slowly approached me, hugged me, and climbed up onto the chair I was in to sit beside me and partially in my lap. After a few minutes, her daughter joined him. She didn't hug me, but she came over to touch and talk to me.

My sister was speechless. Her kids DON'T do that. I've heard many complaints from many family members about how antisocial they are. All I did was stick up for their right to offer or withdraw consent- and really just her daughter's, as her son had met me pre-covid and had already gotten over the hurdle at 2 years old, but her daughter was born during covid and thus it made her severe distrust of strangers even worse.

Now her kids are in elementary school and making friends easily and I regularly get stories from her about how she witnesses them connect with other socially withdrawn kids and stand up for both themselves and their quieter friends. She took my advice to heart and started allowing them to voice whether they consented to something and now her little boy will approach a crying kid on the playground and say something like "do you want to play, or do you want me to just sit with you, or do you want to be alone?" and then actually listen to what the other kid tells him.

My niece has an incredibly traumatized boy in her class who escaped war with his family, and he doesn't talk to anyone. But he visibly relaxes when my niece goes to sit next to him when he's too scared and curled up in the classroom's Quiet Corner. She reads to him and shows him her toys and holds his hand on field trips and yells at anyone who is mean to him. I'm told she's the only person who can approach or touch him without causing a meltdown besides his family, and it started because the first time she sat with him she asked if it was okay if she did so and she waited several minutes for him to nod before she sat down.

But they still avoid the family members that forced them to interact even when they were uncomfortable. I still hear those complaints, hundreds of miles away, and the jealousy that I've only met the kids a few times but they talk incessantly about me. If I call one of my family members and the kids are over, I can hear them in the background trying to talk to me if they figure out it's me on the other line.

Anyway. Long story short I didn't have to advocate for my nephew the way I did my niece, but advocating for my niece in front of the both of them dramatically changed the way both of them were taught to manage social interaction. Consent isn't just about teaching the boy. It's also making sure he sees that consent being practiced with everyone.

I see a lot of posts saying "teach boys about consent".

While that is true, a lot of parents will do that and fail to see how their own actions are the problem.

If you've spanked him, he's less likely to understand consent.

If you've forced him to sit on Santa's lap, he's less likely to understand consent.

If you've forced him to give hugs and kisses to family members, he's less likely to understand consent.

If you've grabbed him in order to force him to sit still, he's less likely to understand consent.

If you've labeled him as "too sensitive" for not wanting to be touched, he's less likely to understand consent.

If you've assumed he's okay with something because he technically allowed it even though he felt pressured, he's less likely to understand consent.

If you're only going to criticize his actions but not your own, it won't work.

[dagger-n-ravvi]

Chapter Six: Do You Trust Me?

Jade’s sexual desires draw him back to Scarabia for a little fun with Kalim. Surely nothing could go wrong…

This chapter contains some intense scenes that result from a misunderstanding, but otherwise should be pretty light. Also, Jade is an unrepentant brat, which should not be a surprise to anyone XD

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A03 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46007587?view_full_work=true

It’s late and Jade has classes in the morning. Usually, he’s able to drop off to sleep effortlessly, but instead, he’s alert, unhappy, and faintly aggravated. Every inch of his skin is sensitive and aching. His own body has never been quite this rebellious before. Something about this whole experience feels like he’s being yelled at by an old, and well-trusted friend, and the betrayal is both uncomfortable and surreal. Even the transition from his eel form to his human one hadn’t been this tumultuous, and full of moments where he genuinely had to fight back against his instincts and innate biology. It’s exhausting…

He rolls over onto his back, trailing a hand under his shirt to idly stroke his chest. He frowns, then closes his eyes and lightly squeezes one of his nipples, rolling it between his index finger and thumb. 

‘Harder…’ He tugs it upward and arches his back a bit, then opens his eyes with a disappointed sigh. It feels so hollow… 

He lets his fingers creep downward, brushing over his side, then the groove where his hip meets his thigh. He tries to imagine that it’s someone else touching him. Someone with soft, uncalloused hands… a sweet smile… chocolate-kissed lips… 

White hair…

Kalim was interested. He was. And Jade was so, very disappointed when Jamil interrupted them. 

‘You should stay to eat! My treat for all your help~’ 

Does the invitation still stand? It’s well past dinner time, but still…

Silently, Jade slips out of bed and pulls his clothes on. If he can’t sleep anyway, then he might as well indulge himself, just a little? No more fighting with his instincts. No more deeply unsatisfying struggles for self-control that only make him regret even trying…

The hallways are nearly empty. The handful of students who he encounters are easily slipped past. He makes it to Scarabia without alerting a single person, and his very soul seems to sing as the smell of warm spices caresses his senses again. Yes…this is exactly where he wants to be~

===

Jamil makes his way back through the hallways after finishing his post-dinner security sweep. He still feels deeply uneasy after Kalim’s unplanned study meeting with Jade. What on earth could be going on for Jade, of all people, to try to poison Kalim in front of witnesses, and in broad daylight? And more importantly, what had he told Kalim to make him so tight-lipped about the whole thing? It had to have been something truly shocking, or terrifying. Or perhaps embarrassing…? Azul’s Vice Housewarden does deal in blackmail, after all…

A flicker of movement catches his eye as he turns the corner toward Kalim’s room. Automatically, he flinches back, pressing his shoulders to the wall and peering around the corner with just one eye. No… it can’t be…

With the silent grace of a predator, Jade turns the handle to Kalim’s bedroom. He pushes the door inward and slips into the room, expression focused and eyes glittering faintly in the dim light. Everything about his stance, his expression, and even the white gloves he’s wearing that will prevent him from leaving fingerprints screams ‘assassin.’

‘I KNEW it! Whatever Azul’s client paid you will NOT be worth the dire mistake that you have made on this day…’  

With well-trained precision, Jamil slips down the hallway and to the door of Kalim’s room, carefully blocking the light as he opens the door himself and slithers in after Jade. ‘It’s time for you to obey a new master…’

Jade’s breath picks up and he slips over to the bed, gazing deeply into Kalim’s relaxed, care-free face. He’s asleep…of course he would be. Now, how to wake him as gently as possible? He doesn’t want an surprised shout to alert Jamil and result in another aggravating interruption.

Smoothly he begins to reach out, intending to gently cover Kalim’s mouth with his hand…  

Jamil’s eyes narrow as Jade reaches toward his target with an empty, gloved hand. He seems utterly oblivious to the threat Jamil poses, even though he’s standing right behind him now. Strange… wouldn’t a trained assassin have accounted for his target’s servant by now? And surely waking Kalim up is the wrong move, unless…

‘Ah… he intends to smother him. A more gentle death than a knife in the chest. How very generous, as they’re all so fond of saying...’

“Jade,” he whispers sharply. Jade whips around, eyes widening in shock.

 “The one you behold is your master. When I ask you a question, you will answer. When I give you a command, you will assent. Snake Whisper.”

Jade is immediately caught by the full brunt of the spell. He buckles forward slightly, face crumpling in surprised pain and irises flickering a dull crimson as he fights it. Despite the agonising headache, he remains utterly silent, fingers curled tightly into his own hair and eyes watering as they remain locked with Jamil’s.

“The pain will last for as long as you fight. Give into me, for I am your new master.” Jamil gives him a crooked smile, watching him squirm. He wants to question him, of course. He is going to make him reveal everything about this ill-conceived scheme, from the amount that he was paid, to the names of everyone who was involved. But not here. He doesn’t want Kalim to wake up and witness this. 

“Follow me.” He motions for Jade to follow him out of the room.

‘Shit shit shit -’ Jade exhales shakily, resisting the urge to scream as the splitting headache intensifies. He knew about Jamil’s unique magic, but had never been on the receiving end of it before. It truly is excruciating…to resist it... 

He takes one step toward Jamil, moving like a puppet with half its strings cut. The moment he gives in, the pain dips, and the relief is so intense that he shudders and loses his concentration. The spell presses itself deeply over his mind with the smothering weight of a lead blanket. His irises glow a dull red, and the tension leaves his neck and shoulders. Silently, smoothly, he crosses the room and stands obediently at Jamil’s side, following him as ordered.  

"That’s right. Follow your new master." Jamil chuckles to himself as he leads Jade to one of Kalim's smaller treasure rooms. It’s the furthest away from Kalim’s room, and Jamil has one of only two keys that unlock the door. They shouldn’t be bothered here, no matter how much noise Jade decides to make. 

"Stand here. Hold your hands out like this." Jamil indicates that Jade should stand in the center of the room, with his wrists held out in front of his person. He lifts a pair of silver manacles out of a treasure pile, and locks them around his wrists with a heavy clink. Just an extra precaution. It’s taking a lot of focus to keep him under hypnosis, and Jamil has seen enough of what Floyd is physically capable of to be extremely wary of his twin.

"You are now my servant, and will address me as ‘Master.’ Is that clear?" There’s more than a little relish to the unnecessary command. Despite the threat to Kalim’s life, he has to admit, he’s enjoying this immensely. Having one of Azul's slippery eels under his command? And his right-hand-man, no less? It is thrilling, and he is going to enjoy... every... moment...  

Jade just stares at him, irises flickering between crimson and his own, mismatched gold and olive. His jaw muscles flex as he refuses to speak. The spell is punishing him brutally for the disobedience, making his vision blur and ears ring from the pain. If he’d had a little longer to think, to be strategic about this, he would have simply given in and soothed Jamil’s meaningless little fantasy. But he’s been torn away from Kalim for the second time, dragged into this room, chained, and painfully bespelled into obedience. He doesn’t. Want. TO BE HERE.

He bares his teeth and hisses, reminding this snake of who, exactly he’sdealing with. The effect is lost a second later when he cringes and makes a pained whimper, shaking from head to toe like a newborn kitten.

"So it's going to be like that, huh? Stubborn fool. Give in, and call me by my rightful title." Jamil is faintly impressed by his stubbornness. Jade clearly isn’t Azul's Vice Housewarden for nothing, and he has to give credit where credit is due. Even if all his resistance will be meaningless, in the end.

“You have no spell to deflect this, like Floyd. I'm prepared to keep you here all night if I have to, and you will gain nothing from your resistance but pain. I don’t know what Azul’s client might have offered to pay you for this attack, but as a servant of the Al-Aisms house, I will NOT let you kill Kalim.”  

Kill…? No…he didn’t want…Kalim is…Kalim… Something deep inside Jade’s sinuses pops from the strain of resisting the spell. His nose begins to bleed, dripping down his chin and onto the collar of his shirt. The faint surprise and alarm is enough to disrupt his concentration, and his irises fade behind the spell’s hazy crimson. “Your wishes are clear, Master.”

Jamil cringes at the sight of blood dripping down Jade’s face. “Now look what you did. You hurt yourself and for what?” Jamil chastises as he takes out a handkerchief. “Tilt your head back.”

Jade obediently tilts his head back, holding still as Jamil begins to gently clean his face. “Good. Now tell me - who sent you?”

“Nnnn…” Jade whimpers softly. The question makes no sense, and he can’t think how to answer it properly even though Snake Whisper is viciously insisting that he has been sent here by SOMEONE.  “I was not sent, Master...”

The spell tangles around what he knows to be true, and snaps at him to reveal WHO SENT HIM. Jade winces as the needling pressure inside his mind threatens to increase, despite his honesty. “I sent myself- hhh! I am here of my own volition…” 

The spell is barely satisfied with this, and he shivers as it continues sullenly pressuring him to supply Jamil with an answer that does not exist.  

“Hmm… is that true?” Jamil asks skeptically, looking into Jade’s eyes to see if he’s trying to lie.

“Yes, Master.” The response comes easily and cleanly, but Jade’s already shown that he can resist and suppress the pain of the spell. Still, even the strongest mind shouldn’t be able to lie so blatantly in response to a direct question without it showing up in their eyes. At least his nose has stopped bleeding, but if he’s fighting this hard to keep his purpose here a secret, then his plans must have been truly brutal.

“Very well. Then tell me, Jade… what are you here for this evening?” Jamil projects the spell at him hard as he circles around his new servant, watching carefully as he stiffens again. 

“Urgh…n-ngh-“ Jade stares at the wall, panting heavily. He’s here to court Kalim, but he doubts that Jamil would believe him. And even if he does, he’s unlikely to approve.

“H-here…fnnnngh…khrrrrrrrr…” Jade struggles with the spell, making small, strangled noises. On one side, his body is pushing at him to keep Kalim a secret at all costs, and on the other, Snake Whisper is relentlessly torturing him for an answer.  

“You were here for Kalim yes? Why would you go into his room if not? What were you going to do to Kalim?” Jamil watches him stand there and shake for a moment, then sighs and lets up on the spell. This won’t do. He’s likely to give himself an aneurysm and drop dead if he keeps fighting this hard.  “Kneel before me. You're much too tall.” 

Desperate to pacify the spell, Jade drops immediately to his knees. It soothes his torment, for a moment. But then Jamil’s other commands begin to wrap around his perception of the truth again as they dig viciously through his mind for an answer that does not exist. His intention was not to do anything at all to Kalim. Kalim has far too many things done to him already. Jade’s goal was to coax out Kalim's desires, and see what HE might want to do to JADE instead…

“Master…To him…? No…should be treated…how he w-wants…” Jade sways, feeling faintly nauseous as Snake Whisper demands to know what he intended to do to Kalim. “T-treat him how he wants…”  

Jamil taps his fingertips on a nearby table, not accepting this explanation even a little. He needs Jade to relax…to give in further. Pleasure and relief can be just as destabilizing as pain. Perhaps he needs to try something a little softer.

He takes out a dropper bottle of peppermint oil and dabs the contents onto his fingers. He’s sure that Jade’s head is hurting. He’ll use this to ease the headache, get him to answer a few simple questions to drop his guard, and then…

Without explaining, he begins to massage the oil into Jade’s temples, rubbing it over his skin in slow, firm circles. “Does this feel good?”

After all that resistance, Jade’s head is pounding so hard he’d been seconds away from throwing up. The smell is overwhelming at first, but it quickly cools the ache and soothes his stomach. “Yes, Master,” is his relieved response. In spite of himself, his eyes drift closed.  

“Would you like more?” Jamil slowly works the oil down the back of Jade’s neck, pressing firmly into the straining muscles.

“No, Master.” Jade glares faintly at the floor as Jamil tuts at him. He wants to leave. He underestimated Jamil’s vigilance, and he fears that this mistake will have critically damaged his chances to ever see Kalim alone again. This is now just an embarrassment, a literal headache, and a colossal waste of time. He WILL puzzle out how to find time with Kalim somehow, and it will be easier to do that without the consequence of his sloppy work forcing him to overuse the honourific master…

‘Stubborn! So stubborn. This spell is best for giving orders, not extracting information, but STILL. It should not be this difficult. Hmmm… ’ Jamil thinks, putting the peppermint oil away. 

“I see. Until I tell you otherwise, I am Kalim.” Jamil circles back around to Jade’s front. He’s performing actions much more readily than speaking, so perhaps if Jamil makes this next command a request for a demonstration… “I am Kalim. Now show me what you were going to do.”  

“GNNK-“ Jade flinches HARD at that. He fights the spell, hands balled into fists. There’s a moment where Jamil is sure he was right, and Jade was here to smother Kalim in his sleep… 

And then his expression softens into something kind, patient, and so wholesome it makes Jamil blink in confusion. 

“Kalim…” Jade whispers, then gently takes one of Jamil’s hands and kisses his palm. The smell of mint and Jamil’s sharper, spicier scent is different from Kalim’s, and his body is a little unhappy with that…for a moment. 

“What the…?” Jamil is too deeply in shock to finish the sentence. His skin breaks into confused goosebumps from the gentle contact, and the hair on the back of his neck stands up.

Jade inhales deeply and presses another kiss to the inside of Jamil’s wrist, then reaches upward and hesitates. His hands are still chained together by these pretty, albeit poorly-made shackles. This is confusing. Kalim put these on him, but he can’t properly cup his face with these in the way… 

“I-I-I…“ Jamil stutters. His stomach flips, and his heart pounds in his chest. Kalim is trying to have an affair? WITH JADE? Kalim did very bluntly say that Jade liked him, but surely…?

Jade calmly flexes his arms until the chain snaps apart. Jamil’s eyebrows shoot upward in shock. 

‘He broke them!?’ Jamil backs up a step, suppressing panic as Jade rises to his feet. He hesitates, then tenderly cups Jamil’s face and traces a thumb just below his lower lip.

“May I steal you away for a time? I would show you the world you’ve been hidden away from…” he leans forward and lightly kisses him, a delicate, butterfly-light brush of lips that does not press or demand reciprocation. “And let you live for a moment as you are, and not an unreachable idol made of glass.”  

The blush on Kalim’s face… The insistence that Jade wouldn’t hurt him. No, this has to be a joke. A ruse… Yes. This could’ve been a… a way to weaken Kalim. To distract him before ending him! And it would have been so easy. The way Jade broke those shackles just now makes his heart lurch. So much for an extra bit of safety… Jamil SEVERELY underestimated how strong Jade is…

Jade simply watches him silently panic with a faint, fond smile. There’s a part of him that knows full well that the person he just kissed is NOT Kalim, but as Jamil’s scent and adorable confusion rolls over his senses, his body is finding this new development more and more acceptable. Jamil is strong, cunning, and even though he’s rather rudely holding him in thrall with his magic, he’s now requesting that Jade treat him as a lover. Is this what he wanted all along? Jade feels fuzzy again, and playful as he watches his captor blush. 

“Come with me, Kalim,” he purrs, semi-intentionally selecting his words in a way he knows will poke teasingly at Jamil’s sense of pride. “Jamil is asleep and we will return before he wakes. He works so hard…let him rest…” He brushes Jamil’s bangs back off his forehead with his fingertips, waiting for his answer.  

'... Oh Seven. He's serious-' Jamil shudders, eyeing Jade's saw-toothed smile. Briefly, he wonders what it would feel like if those teeth sunk into the flesh of his neck. His spell wanes for just a moment before he inhales sharply and glares, renewing his concentration. Kalim... Kalim couldn’t be sleeping with Jade, right? Surely it’s too soon for that amount of intimacy. So maybe Jade actually does intend to court Kalim. But if that's the case, then he needs to slow down. Especially if he was intending to take Kalim somewhere under the cover of night, and ALONE! Kalim is the heir of Al-Asim, he can’t be flung around without planning or consequences!

“Where do you want us to go?” Jamil leans forward, feigning interest as he grabs Jade’s wrists. He should figure out where Jade was planning to drag Kalim off to, so he’ll know where to look in the future...

Jade smiles back at him, ignoring the slight, annoying jingle of the broken chain still attached to the shackles. Is this to be a contest of wills and cunning, then? Jade has little chance of overwhelming Jamil while Snake Whisper is active, but as long as the command is broad, he seems to have a surprising amount of latitude. The trick is to work around each new command without outright defying it. To move sideways beneath the lead blanket, as it were, without trying to throw it off… "Kalim, you seem upset. Are you sure that this is what you want? We can stay here instead, if that’s what you’d prefer." Jade’s voice is soft and concerned as he slowly rubs his thumbs over the backs of Jamil's hands.  

'Odd…how is he resisting?'

"I uh..." Jamil frowns thoughtfully at Jade, considering his options. His irises are still a deep, steady crimson, showing that Jamil is still firmly in control. Jade can’t hurt him. If Jamil can just play the part, then he shouldn’t have any choice but to reveal his secrets, no matter how clever he is. He takes a breath and tries to channel his inner Kalim. Jamil is 'asleep.’ He’s Kalim, not Jamil…

Jamil lets go of the attempt before even starting with a frustrated sigh. 'No... no, you’re not. This is getting ridiculous.'  

"Stop. I’m no longer Kalim..." Jamil places a hand over his face, trying to decide whether this whole, ridiculous thing really is a case of love-sick stupidity. "Jade..." 

Jade merely looks back at him, expression lightly mischievous, but otherwise unreadable. All of his cards are on the table now, whether he wants them there or not.

“For pity’s sake…” Jamil is in a bind. He has to protect Kalim. Jade apparently isn’t going to hurt him, even though sneaking outside with him in the middle of night is a big no-no. But despite all that, if Kalim wants this, then Jamil cannot stand in his way. His purpose is to make these sorts of encounters safer, not ban them altogether. How wonderful. Another mountain of logistics for him to plan.

Tiredly, he looks up at Jade. "You’re not the only one with a headache now. Did Kalim ask you to come?"

"No, Master," Jade hums, eyes glittering faintly. "Surely you, of all people, wouldn't credit him with so much initiative..." The spell is only lightly pressing at him to continue addressing his classmate as 'master' but he hadn't missed Jamil's earlier little thrill at the title. He clearly enjoys being in control.

"No... no of course not." Jamil rubs his forehead with his fingertips. Once again, he’s overestimating Kalim. Though it’s still surprising that he kept a secret from JAMIL, of all people? Kalim ALWAYS shares things with him. Always. Kalim keeps HIS secrets, not the other way around.

"Shall I continue to show you what I intended to do with him? Or have you already guessed...?" Jade coyly circles around Jamil, trying to see if he can stealthily get behind him.  

Jamil frowns. Out of all the 'servants' he’s bespelled over the years, this one is the most... cheeky. Strong minds are always the hardest to suppress. He should stop pushing his luck and just wipe Jade's memory of this event, them make him leave and dismiss the spell. If there’s no threat, then there’s no reason for him to be here…

But on the other hand, Jade is acting much stranger than usual. Jamil might expect this kind of chaotic nonsense from Floyd, but Jade is supposed to be the calm one…? Why this sudden interest in Kalim anyway?

“I can hazard a guess, though I am curious about the details. What in the world was your plan?" He sighs.

Without even a second of warning, Jade's hand claps tightly over Jamil's mouth, curling tightly around the lower half of his face and pinning his head back against his chest.

“MMPH?!” Jamil yelps, grabbing onto Jade’s hand and trying to wrench it away.

"My plan, master ? I already outlined it to you earlier. I intended to find Kalim and sneak out onto the grounds with him for slow, gentle sex, as befits someone who is likely inexperienced in such activities." Jade chuckles in his ear, grip terrifyingly iron-tight. "Such a curious unique magic. Do you need to speak commands aloud at me, or are your thoughts sufficient to compel my obedience...?" 

‘DAMN IT! ’ Jamil claws at Jade’s hand, fingers scraping across the loose shackle. He feels like kicking himself. How could he have been so stupid!? He let his guard down for one minute and now…

"Mmf mo oohmmff!" Jamil tries to toss his head, desperate to get his mouth free. He does need to speak his orders aloud for them to be followed and Jade clearly knows it, damn him...

"Such a pity. Your fangs are so easily pulled," Jade buries his nose in the crook of Jamil's neck and breathes deeply as he feels Snake Whisper's hold over him break. The warmth of rich spices makes his heart flutter happily, even if the sharpness of Jamil's stress and growing fear underneath it wrenches a pang from the pit of his stomach. He doesn't want Jamil to be afraid or stressed...  

His hand loosens slightly over Jamil's mouth. Not enough for him to speak, but enough so that his grip won't hurt. "A viper with his head pinned is in no position to trust his captor, but on the other hand," Jade lightly presses his cheek to Jamil's temple, staring fondly past him at the far wall. "I've been bitten once by you tonight, and I'm not eager to repeat the experience. I could hear how your heartbeat quickened when you coerced me into kissing you...were you not expecting that…?" 

Jamil freezes, his heart thrumming in his chest as a cheek nuzzles the side of his head. Panicking, he flails and tries to bite Jade’s fingers. Jade’s hand tightens across his face until it burns, and he quickly falls limp in his arms, panting shakily through his nose. Oh god, if he struggles too much will Jade break his jaw?! He’s clearly strong enough, and that would be a brutally efficient way to keep him from speaking…

Jade squeezes his arm soothingly, then relaxes his grip again. "This impasse will get neither of us what we want tonight. So tell me...if I let you go, will I find myself immediately in your thrall again? Shake or nod as you find appropriate..."  

Jamil's eyebrows furrow and his nose flares angrily at Jade's comments. He stares at the wall of the treasure room, trying to calm his breathing. He can't struggle his way out of this, so he needs to think his way out of it instead. Cautiously, he looks down at the hand over his mouth, then shifts his eyes sideways toward Jade. Slowly, he shakes his head. He will play 'nice' for now. Intentionally, he slumps just a little in Jade’s arms, suppressing his frustration at the forced humility. No need for violence, he's being pliant…agreeable...  

"Hmmm..." Jade sighs. Too easy. Jamil is likely lying, but if Jade stands here for hours with a hand over his mouth, then the only thing that will change is that eventually, it will be morning. One of them needs to make a move, and as much as Jade has a very healthy respect for what Snake Whisper can force him to do, it's part of the appeal. Fire isn't any fun to play with if there's no risk of getting burned~

"Very well, master. I cannot serve you if you cannot speak..." He lifts his hand away and lets Jamil go. Perhaps a little faith will buy Jade some good will... 

Jamil is sure that this is a trap. He quickly stumbles forward and out of reach, then spins back around and looks at Jade with thinly veiled alarm. If he strikes too soon, then surely Jade will get him again and be much less merciful the second time. He needs to be EXTREMELY careful…

“S-so… serve me was it?” He lightly traces his jaw where Jade squeezed him. Why had he decided to use that phrase, specifically? He isn’t under Jamil’s hypnosis any more…?

"Is that not what you wish, master?" Jade slowly holds his hands out, palms upward in supplication. "We are quite similar, but also different in a very meaningful way. My service has never been demanded from me. When I deign to support and care for others, it is entirely of my own choice..." He smoothly drops to his knees again, head tilted to one side teasingly. "Would you trust that I could care for you freely, if only you would ask?"  

“You… you would do that?” Jamil is deeply suspicious, but also intrigued. He did declare that Jade was his servant under hypnosis. With weaker or more willing minds, those messages stick around after the spell breaks. But surely Jade is neither weak, nor willing…?

“You want to serve me? I don’t know… Prove that I can trust you.”  

Jade eyes him thoughtfully. That isn’t quite a 'yes,' but still... 

Moving slowly and smoothly, he rises to his feet and walks forward. Eye contact is fraught for both of them - Jade's Shock the Heart requires it, and of course, so does Snake Whisper. So he looks slightly off to one side, lips curled into a smile. He pauses for just a moment to wait for an objection, then reaches out to touch Jamil's hair.  

Jamil tilts his head up at Jade’s touch, subtly trying to regain eye contact. Jade immediately flicks his eyes away, and Jamil swears silently. He knows too much about the mechanics of his spell…

Jade gently and deftly begins to unpin his hair, carefully gathering the coins, hairbands, and pins. Jamil snickers to himself, smirking at Jade’s ridiculous attempt. His hairstyle is extremely elaborate, and he does it with magic. The thought of undoing it by hand…

Jamil hesitates, still staring at Jade’s averted eyes and waiting for him to slip up as he continues. His fingers never waver, competent and so delicate that it feels more like a light massage than a necessary service. There's always small places where his hair gets tangled around the bands, and even magic can't prevent little flashes of pain when he has to tug it free at the end of the day. Jade is slower, but he’s managing to do it very neatly, and without causing him even a moment of discomfort.

“...You know that I use magic to make this hair style, right? This is-“ the sentence isn’t finished. He relaxes just a little as a pair of tightly-woven braids are pulled apart and stroked flat, drawing an aching tingle out of his scalp.

"I assumed as much..." Jade removes another braid and combs his fingers lightly through the loose strands. Jamil is leaning ever-so-slightly into him now, and his expression has softened. Out of the braids, his hair falls past the middle of his back. It’s silky, long, and temptingly easy to grab onto. Maybe later~ "You care for it well, but Kalim's needs surely take up so much of your time. It can be refreshing to slow down occasionally..." He draws Jamil's hands together, palms upward and cupped. "And manage just your own needs." He drops the hair ornaments into his palms and runs his fingers through his hair again, feeling carefully for tangles or stray hairbands.

“Ha...” Jamil stares down at his hair ornaments as they fall into his palms with a faint jingle. No one but him has taken his hair down since… Since he can’t even remember. Not since he was very little, and then it was usually a rushed, impatient task of undoing a simple ponytail. Nothing more…

‘Slow down and manage my own needs?’  HA. What he needs is space from Kalim, but he can’t get that in large intervals. He’s always at Kalim’s beck and call. And when he’s not taking care of HIM, he’s taking care of the basketball club, and the dorm, and his sister….

And now this ridiculous mess.

“Are you trying to woo me like you did Kalim? For shame… you’ll break his heart,” Jamil chuckles, looking up at Jade and trying to catch his eye again.

“You already asked me to show you how I would have wooed Kalim,” Jade hums, leaving him for a moment to grab a gilded, richly padded chair out from under a gold statuette. He sets it behind Jamil, then reaches past it and tugs gently on his shoulders to coax him to sit. “So you tell me. Am I treating you the same as I would him?”

“That was…” Jamil fidgets, feeling a little bit called out. “That was my duty. I had to be sure that you wouldn’t hurt him. But since you mentioned it, I must admit that this is very reminiscent of that…?” Jamil looks behind himself to the chair being offered to him. He bites his lip, refusing to sit, even when Jade touches his shoulders. “I…it’s not appropriate for me to sit on that. It’s only for someone like Kalim.”

Coyly, Jade tugs his shoulders backward and shoves the chair forward into the backs of his knees.

“Hah?!” Jamil recoils as his backside slams into the plush cushion.  Hair ornaments go flying everywhere. They jingle and roll across the ground, quickly becoming lost amongst the piles of treasure. 

“It is appropriate for someone who would call himself my master,” Jade chuckles darkly. There are more sets of fancy, silver manacles lying on the ground nearby. Jade is unimpressed with their durability, but they should give Jamil a harder time than they gave him…especially if he is so reluctant to damage Kalim’s treasures. Impulsively, he grabs a pair and shackles Jamil’s wrists into the ornate openings in the chair’s back before he can recover himself.

“Jade!” Jamil screeches as he pulls against the shackles, then forces himself to stop struggling. He can’t damage this chair! 

“Oh dear. You’ve dropped your hair ornaments, master.” Jade sighs theatrically, then flicks a hand and gathers all of them up with a simple spell. “There we are…” he sets them safely on a silk sheet that’s likely worth more than the chair that Jamil is currently sitting on.  

“You…” Jamil pants heavily, fitfully twisting his bound hands and forcing himself to speak in a lower tone of voice. He’s no longer certain that no one will hear him and come to investigate if he’s too loud, and the thought of being discovered like this is mortifying. “You… do you REALIZE how much everything in here is worth?!”

“I realize how much one thing in particular is worth,” Jade purrs happily, kneeling on the floor between Jamil’s knees and lightly nuzzling his cheek into his inner thigh with his eyes closed. “You outshine every treasure in this room. But silly me. You asked me to prove that you could trust me…” Mismatched eyes glitter up at Jamil from between his knees, making direct, deliberate eye contact. “If you truly don’t want this, then make me stop.”  

Jamil sputters, face going red. How could someone so blatantly say a thing like that?! Him?! Worth more than these treasures?! He instinctively wants to cringe away from the declaration, even if there’s a tiny part of him that fervently, almost angrily agrees. He stares down at Jade's face between his knees, and something about this picture…haahhh. NO. This is a trap. If he tries to take back control, Jade will find some way to break it, and then he’ll leave him here…

“Don’t you dare leave me like this…” his tone is so pleading that he makes himself cringe unhappily.

“Like what, master?” Jade nuzzles into his inner thigh again. Clever fingers begin to creep up the outsides of Jamil’s legs, teasingly tracing the waistband of his pants before pushing up underneath his shirt to palm at his chest. The rest of Jade follows shortly, as he crawls up onto his lap like a gigantic, overly affectionate cat.

“You know what I MEAN!” Jamil flushes, leaning away. Goosebumps scurry over his skin, and he snaps his legs together out of instinct. He can’t get too loud, no matter what.

“I haven’t the faintest idea what you mean,” Jade snickers. “Does the thought of others finding you here so… indisposed, concern you…?” Jade is feeling fuzzier and fuzzier as he pushes Jamil’s shirt up and fondly squeezes his chest. His free hand creeps lower between Jamil’s thighs, brushing teasingly at the parts of him hidden under his clothes.

“...nngh…” Jamil shivers unhappily, shying away from the touches. He doesn’t say it aloud, but from the look on his face, the idea of someone finding him like this would shatter him. Jamil takes a lot of pride in his self-image. Otherwise, why would he put so much effort in his hair and makeup? 

Interesting... Jade hums thoughtfully. His cruel streak would normally be much stronger. The idea of others finding him in Jamil’s position is, of course, out of the question. But the idea of leaving Jamil gagged, bound, and tastefully half dressed for Kalim to find in the morning as a gift? Mmmmm, the chance to create such a fantasy would normally be far too enticing to pass up… 

“If you do not trust me, then you only have to say the word,” Jade gently cups Jamil’s face, once again making deliberate eye contact with him. “You have the power to command my obedience, master. Is this not what you wish?”  

Jamil’s charcoal gray eyes gaze uncertainly into Jade’s mismatched ones. Jade is…he is deliberately putting himself in danger of falling back under Jamil’s explicit control? Why? Why would he do that? It’s messing with him. 

“And if I did… put you back under my control… what then?” Jamil asks faintly. Sweat is beading on his forehead, and beginning to make his shirt cling damply to his back.

“You tell me…” Jade’s fingertips brush backward past Jamil’s ears, down the sides of his neck. “After all, you would be the one in control…” Over his chest, down the front of his stomach. “Not me…”

His fingers dip promisingly below the waistband of his pants, brushing lightly over the skin just below his belly button.

“I’d tell you to let me go, and for us to get out of this room.” Jamil says shakily, taking another deep breath. If they are really going to do this… then not here…not like this.

Jade curiously tilts his head to one side. Yes…having sex on the lovely, shiny, plushy things is enticing, but Jamil looks genuinely conflicted. This isn’t HIS space. It’s Kalim’s, and he likely feels uncomfortable because of that. Fair enough.

“Your wish is my command,” he purrs. He reaches behind the chair and unlocks the cuffs, letting them fall to the ground. Then he gets up off of Jamil’s lap, stands, and looks down at him expectantly.  

“Do you trust me?” He teasingly holds out a hand to help him up.

Jamil looks up at him, then takes his hand with a tentative smile.

“Ha ha…no. Snake Whisper.”

[miamoo27]

Chapter 2 Surrounded by boys

As I got older my mom met more people from our town. Tina being one of them who is still her best friend today. Our neighbors in our first house had a son Sams age named Cade. The two would play together while cades mom and my mom drank wine and smoked cigerattes. Sam and Cade rarely let me play with them because i would "destroy things" I always got yelled at for picking the flowers in Cades yard. HIs father was a florist and had the most beautiful flower in there yard. I would pretend there were fairies inside them but then i would pick them and eat the petals.

Eventually more boys entered the mix of "friends" I shared with my brother. Only being two years apart made it diffcult not to share friends. But all his friends were boys and I was too much of a loner to make any friends or the girls would call me mud girl. I did not know how to play like a "girl" this was pre woke times. When I did make friends they usually got weirded out because i would chop the heads off all the barbies and rip there hair out, sometimes even trying to put them on fire. I would give all the heads of the barbies to my brother letting him shoot them with his airsoft gun.

Tina and her late husband Anthony had two kids one being my age (Nick) and Anythony my brothers. Nick was somewhat of a cry baby. I would wrestle him make him race me and trip always resulting in him crying hysterically. Tina loves Nic more than anything and would rush to him. My mom was usually in her own world, a couple years after I was born is when my mom and dad started fighting. My mom would drink wine and complain about my dad or her mother. I didnt cry because I knew no one would hear them. Unlike Tina who would rush to Nick if he even whimpered.

My moms drinking and my dads inattentiviness resulted in me being a tough ass once I got to 1st grade. I didnt let anything bother me, I didnt like playing with that many other kids but then I met Yasmine.

Yasmine and I hated eachother at first of course just like any best friends would. I would squirt my juice box at her head but at the end of the day we were imediately attached. We played every day together even when everyone made a rumor that I spoke to squirrels outside and ate flowers (not rumors both were true). Everyone knew me as the weird girl who also should ot be fucked with who is in sped.

Id stick my tongue out at Nick which made him cry and my kindergarten teacher screamed at me. She lectured me about my behavior and how I was disruptive to the class. That conversation haunted me. I stayed quiet and shy not speaking to Nick or any of them. I played by myself writing stories in my head about far away places. I wanted to be on the ocean. a fairy or even the squirrels in the trees. I didnt want to be here on the playground bored.

My mom noticed one day while walking our dog Jojo that I was sitting alone during recess. She told my teacher and she informed my mom that its because I was "bullying" three other girls Arielle, Ava and Katherine. My momw was shocked because I was sweet at home. The teacher told my mom I wrote them apology cards and my mom got furious calling my father right away.

One thing I can say about my dad is he knows how to put up a fight. When he cares he REALLY cares. My dad knew I was being targetted because I was already labeled as the "sped weirdo" that he spoke to my teacher.

I told you my dads a fighter he got her demoted to being a computer teacher. Later on I meet MIchelle, a greasy blond girl who also loves fairies. We play and let Yasmine join, we become a group, these are my frist true friends.

Sped. Special ed, You can not say sped anymore. But for reference of the times which this takes place in 2006 we would call it sped. I was in sped. In kindergarten the teachers noticed how fidgety, talkative, expressive and inattentive I was that they said I had ADD. They took me out of my classroom with the only friend I made and I was put in a small room with a smelly teacher and two boys. Boys. I thought maybe they would get along with me since I relate to them more.

Andrew and Turlough become my new friends too since we are forced against are will to be together. Putting three kids who cant even sit for more than a minute in the same room is a terrible idea. We never got anything done and I had a strong hatred for my teacher. I was always polite but in my head id be cursing her out. I would tell my Aunt CC all of this when she picked me up.

"Can I live with you please" I asked my aunt a million times when she would pick me up.

"Maybe" she would smile deep down she would love for me to live with her.

She never asked why but we both knew. My parents fight got louder once I got into 4th grade. There fights were sometimes about me and that would make me feel bad. My dad was upset I wasnt able to do my homework or be caught up with anything. My mom thought I was fine and to leave me be. My mom and dad did not understand me the way CC did. CC let me be myself and in my own world she did not force me to go on playdates or sit with Nick while my mom and Tina drank. She let me play with her dogs in the dirt and mud. We would have ice tea and grilled cheese. Her house was my fantasy. I wanted to be her when I was older.

My brother was my mom favorite. My mom loved Sam I could not blame her. Sam as easy going, he was not a diffcult child. The worst thing he ever did as a kid was write relentless all over our playroom wall in sharpie. He had some anger but for the most part he was easy.

My on the other hand was a walking disaster. I didnt brush my hair, I hated eating, I hated watching TV I couldnt sit with my family for too long, I was horrible in school and I cursed and said innaproiate thing all day long to everyone besides my aunt and teachers. I grew up hearing my mom trash talk everyone of course I was going to have a mouth.

Yasmine and I reunited when we were in the same 4th grade class with Mrs. Hoy. Mrs. Hoy understood all of us she was the best teacher I ever had. Being in the same class as all my best friends was amazing. Yasmine, Andrew, Turlough, Nick and Matt who would become our new friend.

Yasmine and I did everything together and she had it hard as well. Yasmine parents would fight all the time too. Her mom also would get angry at times and take it out on her. Yasmine had the responsibility of her two younger siblings which she resented. Everytime we would go downtown they would come and we couldnt talk about our crushes or One Direction.

[oh-katsuki]

okay so it’s late and this is super off topic for my blog but… I’m thinking about the teachers I’ve come across in my life that genuinely.. had grudges against me.

I mean… professional educators who went to school to learn how to teach, holding personal grudges against a third grader. how awful is that? how does that happen?

I’m sitting here thinking about two particular teachers, the first being my third grade teacher who treated me so poorly. he consistently picked on me in class and would get upset with me for asking questions during our math lessons. I feel so indignant because what did I, as a child in the classroom to learn, do to deserve that type of anger from a 30 something year old man?

I’m thinking about how a grown adult can look at a child and justify being foul and sour to them, to the point that it made me believe that I was just… not capable of doing math like the other students were. his insults, unwillingness to be patient, and expectation for me to fail was so obvious to me as a child that I carried the belief with me that’d I’d never be good at math through my adult life. I still think I’m incapable of doing math properly. Because of him. I genuinely cannot help but think how my life would be different had he not made the choice, as an adult, to pick on me about my math skills to the point that my parents noticed. it is the reason I don’t like math. it’s the reason I didn’t do WELL in math as a young child. because this particular teacher made me feel not as if I needed extra help… but as if I were incapable because he decided he didn’t like me.

another was my fifth grade teacher. a fifty year old woman who made it so obvious that she didn’t like me that other students didn’t want to sit in the same desk group as me. constantly picked on me for talking when I wasn’t and actively discouraged me from reading in the classroom.

when I found that I wasn’t good at math, I developed a deep appreciation for reading and would read in my free time at school. in her class, I would sit in the classroom during recess (because we had the option to) and read books I’d checked out from the library because… reading was something I could understand and something I knew I was good at.

when the bell would ring, if I didn’t snap my book shut immediately, I would be yelled at and have the book taken from me for the remainder of the day. this happened even if my classmates were still coming in from the yard. I would finish assignments early and pull out a free reading book, only for this educator to snap at me and tell me I wasn’t allowed to until I’d finished my assignment (despite the fact that I had). I remember feeling so humiliated and picked on by this woman who was supposed to foster that love for reading and education. instead, what was once her snapping at me only for me to correct her that I had finished the assigned became her asking if I had completed all my homework for the week. what was once a free reading period in class became a homework period for me specifically.

I remember feeling awful in class to the point that I stopped reading books entirely out of a fear of being picked on. I’ve been a well behaved kid most of my life, I have ADHD which affects my focus (undiagnosed at the time), but I would complete my class work. I remember feeling so defeated because I already felt I was incapable of succeeding in math and now, I felt afraid to read in an environment meant for that. after leaving that class, I never picked up reading as a hobby again. not until I was a senior in high school and had an English teacher who I particularly appreciated.

this is all just a long winded way of me saying that my life… my interests… my own self confidence in my capabilities would have been different had I had educators who understood what it meant to be an educator of young children. it’s incredibly odd to me that students as young as 10 can say “my teacher hates me” without adults raising an eyebrow. why is it okay for a grown adult to pick on a child in the classroom that way? why has it been so normalized for grown adults to take their anger out on the youth in their classrooms?

children are not perfect. children are not machines. they require patience and time and care and repetition. the fact that the some educators in my life didn’t understand or respect that, yet they are still educators, and as a result my future and my confidence in my skills into adulthood were affected… is a disservice. normalize empathy in classrooms for children over 8. normalize understanding that to be a teacher means you can’t hold a grudge against a fucking child because they can’t pick concepts up as quickly as you can.

[iwadori]

When they neglect you for another girl Part 5 (Kuroo)

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five

Word count: 1.3K

Genre: angst, fluff

masterlist

You and Kuroo have been dating all throughout highschool and now your in you first year of university

It’s a bit harder to see each other because of your conflicting class schedules

But when you did see eachother kuroo has been acting a big suspicious, ‘secretly’ glancing at his phone or always needing to head out early.

And you were going to get to the bottom of this.

You were just finished with your class, and you had plans to meet your boyfriend at the library so he could tutor you for your chem test that you on Tuesday. On your way over there, you got boba for both of you and some study snacks to get you through the session.

You arrived their first, which you didn’t really mind as Kuroo was usually a bit late to your study sessions (especially recently with his dodgy behaviour.) You decided to go over your recent class notes as you were waiting, which was pretty useless as you didn’t understand anything.  

You actually met Kuroo bonding over chemistry, since it definitely wasn’t your best subject so in your first year your chem teacher suggested getting a tutor and recommend Kuroo Testuro the self proclaimed best ‘chemist’ in the school.

It’s been half an hour and Kuroo hadn’t shown up, you were about to call him until you saw a quite disheveled looking Kuroo who is heaving out of breath.

“Tetsu, what happened to you?” you exclaim with amusement.

“Umm I kind of got in a fight?” he said questioning himself “well not really a fight but a disagreement.”

“A fight? With who?” you said a bit too loudly, as the librarian gave you an obnoxious ‘shusshhhh’ glaring at you.

“It doesn’t matter babe.” he said nonchalantly “I see you have your electrolysis work out, why don’t we get started.”

“But what abo-”

“So what is positive, the anode or the cathode?” he asked distracting you from asking him about what happened.

You spent two hours going over all the topics that were going to come up on your exam, and you can’t lie and say Kuroo didn’t help you. However, you weren’t as focused as you were wondering what happened to him.

After your study session, you both went to your dorms. Sadly, you couldn’t share a room since your University didn’t allow co-ed dorms (and maybe if you did live together, you’d be able to understand his odd behaviour.)

Even though he was still in highschool, every Friday afterschool you and Kenma made sure to spend atleast an hour playing a game online together, and today it was minecraft.

“Kenma help, theres a creeper outside my door!” you screech frantically running around on game.

“One second Y/N” he murrmed

“Kenma, do you know what’s going on with Kuroo.” you inquire.

“What do you mean, isn’t he being his loud cat-like self?” he responded

“Well yeah of course, but recently he’s been on his phone ALOT, and always leaving our dates early or showing up late and stuff so I don’t know I thought maybe you’d know something.”

“Oh maybe it’s just that he’s been pretty busy with Hana right now.” he said nochalantly

“Who’s Hana?” you say, your eyes squinting.

“Oh you don’t know Hana,” he said a bit surprised “Ooops Kuroo’s going to be so mad at me.”

“Mad at you, what do you mean mad at you?”  

“Um, I got to go by Y/N!” he said quickly

“But Ken-” the sound of him leaving the party cut you off, and now you were in more of a confused slump then you were before. What is Kuroo hiding? And who the hell is Hana?

Since you couldn’t go over to Kuroo’s dorm right now because of your universities weird curfew times, you decided the only thing you can do right now is call him. After a few rings he finally answered and you could hear his background was really loud.

“Um, Y/N this isn’t really the best time right now – ow shit.” he said frantically.

“Kuroo, what's going on it sounds like you’re at a rave. Wait are you at a rave?”  

“No I'm not at a rave I'm just – Hana stop doing that.” he said trying to whisper the last bit.

“Who’s Hana, Kenma mentioned her on PlayStation tonight but he didn’t explain.”

“Kenma did what? God – Ouch “there was ruffling in the background before Kuroo finally “Sorry Y/N I got to go..”

He hangs up before you could respond. What is wrong with these boys today?  

It was your study week break, so you don’t really go into school to do classes you just have to prepare for studying. Which was great for you, since you could actually get revision done without being distracted and you can avoid Kuroo whilst thinking about what happened a few days ago.

Kuroo didn’t message you anyways, which kind of sucked, since these chemistry notes aren’t going to learn themselves. You went over each of your topics that you need to learn and you’d say you were pretty much ready for your exams. So for the rest of the week, you didn’t have much to do. Kenma was pretty busy with volleyball and his high school life and your boyfriend was still being odd and you didn’t have any real close friends at Uni since you’re only a first year and Kenma and Kuroo were mainly all you needed anyways.

You chose to go on a date, by yourself, to your favourite bookstore café to have some ‘self care’ time. On the way their you heard a familiar voice shouting down the street, looking in that direction you saw your boyfriend yelling “HANA!” “HANA!” repeadetly.  

Going over to him you said, “Kuroo, are you okay?”

“Umm hey Y/N...” he said awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck “to what do I owe this pleasure?”

“The pleasure of being my boyfriend properly again,” you said smartly.

“Oh Y/N shit, im sorry about that” he apologised “I’ve just been really busy right now with Ha-”

“Hana.” you say rolling your eyes “Who is she?”

“I can’t really say Y/N, it was meant to a be a surprise.”

“A surprise for who?” you say  

“Well fo-”

Before you can finish you say a loud ‘HISSS!’ Come from near your feet. “Hana! Thank god!” Kuroo said picking her up, but then dropping her again when she did a even louder HISSS at him. “Umm I really need to work on that..”

“So this is Hana.” you say a bit stunned “She’s a cat.”

“Indeed she is.” he said “ surprise...”

“You got me a cat?” you said still very stunned

“Indeed I did.”

“A feral cat?”  

“Feral!” he said shocked “What do you mean feral!”

“Tetsu! She’s obviously feral!” you say reprimanded him.

“No she’s not! Look” he tried to pet her again and she nearly bit him and then sped off “Okay...maybe she is.”

Kuroo explained that he saw this cat one time outside of his dorm building and wanted to adopt her and give her to you as a gift. He’s been spending his time trying to ‘train her’ but every time it would result in Kuroo getting scratched up or him having to try and chase her around the city. You did appreciate the sentiment, however you reminded Kuroo that if he would’ve told you, you could’ve easily shown him that she was feral or if he listened to Kenma, then Kenma would’ve told him (which he did) that she was feral.

Kuroo did feel bad that his big plan didn’t work and he ended up looking like an idiot, not knowing the difference between a stray and feral cat. But you took him to a cat café as a little ‘pick me up,’ and promised him that for his birthday you’ll adopt a real cat for him.  

An: this is basically a shit post but who cares 😃 Also am I the only that thinks that hana being a feral cat in the end is funny? Or is my humour that dry😭

[inhuman-obey-me]

Excuse me! it’s just me, this blog’s stalker because your works amazing. I kinda am in love with your demon’s nature series. I if I could request something. Could you possible do MC seeing the brothers do something that is “demonic”. Similar to what happens in the series. Thank you!!!!

Hello!! Haha, thank you -- we’re so glad you like our content! ;u;

And I’m glad that you enjoy the Demon’s Nature series! It’s been a lot of fun to write.

Sorry this took a bit! I wasn’t sure if you wanted this to be something with one of the brothers or all of them, so I ended up doing little short blurbs for each of the brothers and MC accidentally catching them doing something demonic/violent. Tried to keep them all pretty short, which was hard.

[Mod Cosmos]

MC accidentally catching the Demon Brothers being Demonic/Violent

content warning: blood/gore, body horror (especially in Beel’s), and general violence

Note: This is through the perspective of an MC that knows that the demons do their thing, but perhaps doesn't want to see it happening in front of them.

LUCIFER

You were supposed to go shopping together after meetings for the day were finished, and he had told you to just wait an additional thirty minutes so that he could finish up some business. Thirty minutes passed, but there was still no word from him, so you decide you’ll go and see what was holding that workaholic up. You soon realize that was a mistake.

You hear muffled cries, and a familiar deep voice. Cautiously, you approach the source of these sounds -- a room located off a dark corridor. You didn’t think there were any classrooms here, and your curiosity got the better of you -- so you approach the door, peeking through the crack. You recognize the intimidating silhouette and --- there’s blood. There was another figure in the room, their body limp on the ground in a puddle of red, the mighty first-born’s claws tearing through flesh. A loss of balance in your surprise results in you tumbling into the room, earning a sharp turn from Lucifer, whose crimson eyes were wide in surprise. His wings spread out to try and shield the unsavory scene from you.

“MC, you were supposed to wait for me.” His voice is stern, but there’s a gentleness to it. He sees the queasy look on your face, and decides he can put this torment to an end. With a swift motion, he fully blocks your line of sight before slitting the lesser demon’s throat. He then turns back to you, lightly embracing your body with black feathers. His voice is soft as he did not want to frighten you. “I’m sorry, you weren’t supposed to see that. Let’s get you home, shall we? I’ll make you some tea.”

MAMMON

It had just been a scratch. A low-level demon had taken a swipe at you in passing, but hadn’t been able to cut too deep. Mammon insisted he was just running off to get a bandaid after you insisted he didn’t need to go after the other demon. He said that he’d be right back--”I’m just gettin’ a bandage, I swear!”-- and told you not to move an inch. But this bandage quest was taking longer than it should have, so you go after him, pressing a loose cloth against your wound. And there he was, having cornered the offending demon. He seems to be staking the demon in the arm with a sharp metal object, speaking in a tongue you couldn’t understand.

You hadn’t even realized you had dropped the Majolish bag from your hand, not until it hit the ground with a thud and Mammon whipped around to see you there. A flash of guilt appears on his features, his eyes going between you and the lowly demon. He drops them, though he can’t resist one more swift kick to their chest before running back to you.

“I told ya I’d be right back!” He’s about to cup your face in his hands, but retracts them as he realizes they’re covered in blood. “Uh, okay, let’s go get that,” he motions to your injury, “...taken care of, yeah?” He mumbles a sorry as he picks up the bag you dropped before ushering you away from the scene, promising he’d do whatever he needed to do to make up for having to witness it.

LEVIATHAN

You’re browsing games at a shop, having tagged along with Leviathan who had been raving about a new release. At one point, however, Leviathan had vanished from your side. You now realize it’s been … quite some time, actually. You wander about the store, unable to find him anywhere. Did he step outside? You decide to check, missing the anxious glance from the clerk behind the counter.

You hear some sounds from the alley by the shop. Is that … someone choking? Worried, you round the corner to make sure whoever it was is okay -- only to see the one doing the strangling was Leviathan himself. He had his tail tightly wrapped around the other demon’s throat, and … what, what was that inky substance leaking from their eyes? Leviathan caught your shadow against the alley wall, turning to you with a slightly panicked look.

“M-MC!” His tail quickly slithered off and away from the demon’s throat, leaving them to collapse to the ground. He’s suddenly at your side, hands on your shoulders as he turns you around and makes you walk out of the alley with him, murmuring something about how the venom will take care of the rest. “S-sorry about that, MC. You look a little sick … let’s get that game and go home and play, okay?”

SATAN

You had been ambling through an aisle in the grand Royal Library, wondering what random book you should pick up next to flip through idly. Satan had wanted to spend a quiet day reading and studying together, to which you readily obliged. But it was easy to forget just how large the Royal Library was -- what floor were you on again? -- and you wonder if you should head back to where the two of you had set up. Then you suddenly hear a distant crash. It seemed to be coming from one of the meeting rooms at the back, and you couldn’t help but want to take a peek to see what had happened.

“Fuck you!” You knew that voice, and you knew that anger. There was a muffled yell, and what sounded like shattering glass. Then there’s a chilling, mocking laughter, and you can feel the goosebumps starting to cover your skin. You nervously approach the slightly ajar door, and there he is, his tail impaling another demon with its sharp ridges. Oh, there is fury burning in those eyes -- ones that shift to land on you, and that glowing fury is replaced with exasperation.

“MC!” Your name comes out as a hiss, but he quickly tosses the other demon, slamming them into the wall. “You…” He’s unsure what to say, his wrath calming at the sight of you, especially with that look on your face. “I … I’m sorry, I just had to take care of something. Please, let’s go. We can talk about this later.”

ASMODEUS

The music is loud, the drinks are pouring, and you’re having an absolutely wonderful night out clubbing with Asmodeus. You were returning from the bar with two drinks in hand for the both of you, thanking one of the security guards on your way for managing the crowd of fans that had now dispersed, only to find that Asmodeus was not to be found at your table. He had left a note-- “BRB! ♡”--with lipstick on a napkin. You waited, sipping your drink as you demon watched from your seat. Some time passes, and you realize you’ve finished your drink a bit more quickly than intended. There’s still no sign of him, so you might as well go get another.

On the way to the bar, however, you pass by what you assumed was the hall to the restrooms, and you hear a desperate “I’m sorry!” cutting through the heavy bass. Should you be concerned? Well, you decide to at least be nosy, so you slip into the hall to see what was going on -- and are met with the sight of Asmodeus holding a heart he had carved out of some poor demon’s chest. In your shock, your empty glass slips through your fingers and crashes to the floor, earning your demon’s attention.

“Oh, MC!” Despite his surprise to see you, he gives you a smile -- one that gives you chills as you see blood spattered on his face. “Ah, what a mess…” He lets the lesser demon slide to the floor, debating on what to do with the organ in hand, but hides it behind his back for now, coming over to place a quick kiss on your cheek. “Sorry about that, darling. I’m just going to go clean up, so wait for me at the table, ‘kay?”

BEELZEBUB

You had agreed to go with him to Madame Scream’s after finishing up classes for the day, but he was running late. He’s not picking up any calls, either, so you decide to go to where his last class would have been -- maybe they were just running way over, and he hadn’t realized the time? The hall is quiet, and you end up reaching an empty classroom. Walking back out, you decide to try calling him again. Ring, ring. After a moment, you realize you can hear Beelzebub’s ringtone in the distance, and you follow your ears to where his D.D.D. and ultimately he himself must be.

You weren’t prepared for what you saw next. A head of bright orange hair buried in a lesser demon’s abdomen, the sound of squelching and slurping from his feasting sounding so much more insidious than usual.

“Beel!” You can’t help but cry out his name in shock, which causes him to jolt upright -- with intestines still hanging from his mouth. Oh, you were going to be sick …

“MC … sorry, Lucifer always says I need to work on my table manners … “ He gulps down what was left hanging, but his eyes widen when it registers just who caught him in the act. “Oh, uh, guess that’s not the point, huh … “ He sheepishly wipes at his mouth with some torn cloth that you can only assume came from his victim, standing up and walking around to block your view of the mangled body. “I’ll clean this up, and then … well, we can do whatever you want to do. Sorry, MC …”

BELPHEGOR

You’re looking around for where Belphegor could possibly be napping. Beelzebub had to go to Fangol practice and asked that you make sure his twin got home, as he had seemed even more tired today than usual. He’s not in the Western Courtyard, so you head to the Southern Courtyard next. You think you remember him saying that was one of his favorite spots…

You perk up as you spot the ever-familiar cow patterned pillow, but you fail to see the demon that was usually attached to it. Peering around the area, worry starts to set in -- and then you hear a scream. It certainly didn’t belong to Belphegor, but the gears in your mind start turning and you run to where the scream came from. Of course, no one else was around here -- it wasn’t the busiest area on campus in the first place. Turning a corner, you see just what you feared -- Belphegor had his claws at another demon’s throat, his barbed tail wrapped around their body and squeezing them tight. You feel weak, the scenario a bit too close for comfort as you recall what he had done to you in the past.

“MC?” Belphegor turned to see you, his eyes wide. He must have sensed your presence at some point, or maybe your heart was pounding much louder than you realized. He drops the other demon, growling something you can’t make out to them, and then slowly approaches you. He sees you tense up, causing him to stop in his tracks. He averts his gaze, not wanting to meet your eyes as he tries to figure out what to say. “I just … had to deal with something. You … you can head on home first, if you want. I understand.”

[wpdarlingpan]

How would yandere Damian Wayne react to his beloved having a fondness for books? Will he get jealous that she keeps gushing about non existent fictional characters? Lol I have a feeling he will 🤣

I absolutely love this idea, it was fun to write.

Trigger Warning: Abuse

(Not on Damians end but Y/N’s father)

Nothing descriptive and very brief.

~*~

Damian had met his beloved at school after she was the only one who didn’t chase after him. She didn’t even seem to notice he was there. He was determined to change that.

The first day they talked he introduced himself, waiting to see her reaction to his last name but gained nothing more than a polite introduction from herself than she returned back to the book she was reading before he interrupted her. If she hadn’t got immersed back into the book than she would have seen the surprised look adorning the young Wayne’s face.

From there on he was determined to know everything about her. He used the bat computer to find out that she lived with her father in a nice house near his own. Her mother died during child birth and she had no siblings. Damian wished he didn’t have ‘siblings’ even if he never called them that. Well... maybe Grayson. But Todd could go along with Drake.

He decided to go to her house to check in on her and his excuse was to gather intel, but what he saw was not what he was prepared for. Damian saw Y/N’s Father yelling at her as if she had nine something terrible. Damian watched as the man cursed out his young daughter making Damian scowl and tighten his hands into fists. But they suddenly stopped fighting so Damian left as he had school tomorrow and he wanted to talk to you then. If he had stayed a second longer he’d have seen her getting locked into the cupboard under the stairs without dinner.

But luckily for her she had books. She read hunger games, Harry Potter, and many more. Even twilight even though she absolutely despised the ‘Bella’ character. But they all had love. She loved to read about love and the feeling of euphoria it gave people.

“Maybe one day.” She thought to herself.

The next day Damian Wayne talked to her again. He made more progress but it was hard to keep her away from her book.

It continued for weeks and then to months. He had slowly broke down her barrier and she finally stopped ditching him to read a book.

After 3 months of talking and Damian following her around daily to make sure she was safe he finally asked her on a date.

She met him at the park during sundown. When she arrived there was a picnic blanket with a basket on it and a couple of cushions. She saw someone walk up to her from where they were sat by a tree and they gently grabbed her hand and led her to the set up.

“Do you like it?” Damian asked nervously. He knew that this date was what determined his future plans. She was his beloved even if she didn’t exactly know yet. If she didn’t like the date or found out she didn’t like him the same way he loved her than she would learn to with force and time or she could love the date and he will spend every moment of the day with her after he asks her to be his.

She smiled widely, liked it? She loved it! It was exactly like something out of a book. A grand romantic gesture.

He smirked at her smile and he just knew he was already successful in gaining her feelings. He noticed the shiny glint in her eyes.

“I love it Damian. Thank you.” She spoke smiled at him and leaned over to give him a hug making his heart spike with happiness.

They had a wonderful date and it resulted with a 2nd and 3rd one. Then he dropped the question and she couldn’t bring herself to say anything but yes.

Even as she noticed that some of the few friends she had distanced themselves from her after she agreed to be Damians girlfriend after the 3rd date.

Even when some of her romance books began to disappear, which is what really made her sad. Once she told Damian with tears in her eyes that a. Few of her books were missing he gave in and hid them in her room for her to find the next day.

That’s when something happens. Y/N’s father was killed in a police shooting after he had assisted the Joker himself on a robbery. Worst part was Y/N found out over the news.

Damian was very happy with the news of the death fo his beloveds dad. He found out about the abuse after he snuck in to her house the second time and heard a lock click with no Y/N in sight.

Damian told his father about the girl and Damian played his fathers weaknesses against him he told him that she was abused and that she needed help. She needed to be safe. That thing that convinced him finally was that Damian told Bruce that she was the one and Bruce’s eyes widened greatly before he moved into a smirk. Of course his son had found his beloved, Bruce was a Yandere too of course, where else would Damian have got the tendencies from? His mother Talia or his grandfather Ra’s? They both would be caught dead saying the four letter word.

That’s how Y/N was adopted by the Wayne’s.

That’s how she ended up staying in the room next to Damians.

That’s how she ended up being with him 24 hours a day, since he got his classes switched so he was in all of hers but when it was questioned it was for academic reasons.

Y/N was sad though. She had no friends other than Damian. Her father was dead, her mother was dead, she had no family. No matter how bad her father treated her all she could think was that she deserved the pain.

A month after the shooting Damians Yandere side began to progress. She wasn’t allowed out of the Manor without being accompanied by him if she was allowed to leave at all.

She had been taken out of school alongside Damian by Bruce at the request of his son who didn’t like that boys and girls were looking at his beautiful beloved.

He was obsessed with his love.

A few months after living in the manor, meeting everyone, and adjusting to Damians possessiveness and rules she was doing okay. She wouldn’t dare go against Damian after he had guilt tripped her after she said she wanted to be alone for awhile and take a walk. Damian was glad that she was so easily manipulated that she didn’t even attempt to fight his love. He had to protect her form the cruel world he had experienced first hand. Her kindness, innocence, and trusting nature would get her killed in Gotham. But there was nothing to worry about because he was there to protect her. He always would be.

But she grew slightly distant from Damian after she began reading the books in the Wayne Library. There was a whole room stocked shelf by shelf with books.

She had been in there reading a book where the main character was trained with a sword and was a Assassin but he fell in love with his target. That’s where Damian saw her after he had been searching for after he began to getting annoyed after being away from her for so long.

“What are you reading My Beloved?” She had gotten used to the nickname and would slightly blush at every use of it. It was another thing that seemed like it was straight out of a book, he was her knight in shining armor.

“It’s called His Mission, His Love. It’s about this dashing guy who can sword fight and is a very skilled Assassin. He falls in love with the girl he was supposed to assassinate for his group of assassins. But he failed it by falling in love. I haven’t found out what happens yet. He sort of reminds me of Finnick from that other book I told you about, Hunger games remember? Well he wields a trident and it looks super cool and...” she was cut off from Damian snatching the book from her hands and shutting it without even marking her page making her lose her page.

“Hey!” She cried out as he tossed the book across the room. He scowled when she yelled at him which result in him standing directly in front of her as she sat on the couch and he leaned down to her height the grabbed her chin making her face towards him instead of that insufferable book he had tossed across the room.

“You don’t need that book got it? You have me, and you only need me.” He spoke looking into her eyes as his face was only inches apart from her own.

“But...” she began to say. She loved books, it was nice to image the love. But she couldn’t exactly say she didn’t know the feeling for herself now after dating Damian. He had done so much for her to keep her safe and well after he father died.

“I can sword fight, I’m a assassin, I am even more handsome and richer than any character in those terribly pointless books. You don’t need them when you have me.”

She looked at him weirdly and that’s when he realized that in a fit of jealousy - over a book character- he admitted by secret he hadn’t told her yet.

“Assassin? Fighting? What are you taking about Damian.”

He rolled his eyes at her but explained.

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m Robin. My fathers batman, Graysons Nightwing, Todd is Red Hood, and Drake is Red Robin.” He watched as her eyes widened making him begin to lose himself in the beautiful eyes he loved so dearly.

“Really?” She said in disbelief but it did make sense. But that’s when she suddenly blushed at a thought and by the fact it took her so long to blush Damian was thinking that she was thinking back to her book character again as her eyes darted away from him coincidentally to where the book was.

“What are you thinking about My Beloved?” he demanded in a cool tone that was laced with jealously. He grip on her chin tighten a little more and his other hand laid on her waist.

She murmured something he couldn’t hear which was very surprising as he was so close to her.

“Repeat what you said but louder. Please” he spoke waiting for her to say she was thinkjnt about the assassin from her book but he wasn’t prepared for what she would say.

“I used to have a crush on Robin, he is my favorite.” She spoke then closed her eyes willing the blush that adorned her cheeks to disappear.

This would be the first time that Damian let out a huge smile and a slight laugh of disbelief.

“I pictured him... or well you as the character from my book because of the similarities.” She spoke still lightly dying from embarrassment which worsened when he scooped her up from the couch and into his arms before kissing her face multiple times while she laughed at the feeling. Then he sat down o the couch with her in his lap, not letting go as she tried to climb out of it.

“Stay here My Beloved. Why don’t I tell you real stories?”

And that was how Damian got jealous... over himself.

And how Y/N found out the identity’s of the Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, and most of all Robin.

And it all started because of a book.

[tooruluv]

Katsuki Bakugou x F!Reader ( part 1 )

❝ ...and then there’s you. ❞

description: you and bakugou have hated each other since childhood. through the constant bickering, fighting, and actual fist fights... you had no idea that you had been writing to him.

genre: angst, soulmate au where you have a notebook that you can write to your soulmate in

word count: 3.8k

warnings/notes: strong language, lots of angst, aged up characters, bakugou being bakugou, reader has an air manipulation quirk created as part 1 of 3 for my winner of my tooruluv2kparty contest @katsulovee​ <33

teaser | part 2

| masterlist

“ ‘cause when the sun goes down, someone’s talking back ” - talking to the moon, bruno mars

┏━━━━━⋇⋆⋆⋇❦⋇⋆⋆⋇━━━━━┓

The storm only escalated, casting the sky in deep blues and greys. Loud rain clattered against the roof of your apartment building, the ceiling of your top floor apartment being the only thing that separated you from the pour. 

The rain may be cold, but you were on fire.

You had been livid all day, positively outraged by the man who seemed to always be in your way. He was the most arrogant, most opinionated, and most… loud-mouthed person you ever met. You were screaming from the inside out, burning with rage.

Groaning, you sprawled out on your bed.

Katsuki Bakugou was the biggest fucking issue on the planet. His absurd need to be the best at everything he did, his cold demeanor and venom that spews from his mouth -- you wanted nothing more than to punch him directly in the throat. 

With a deep breath, you flipped open your Soulmate Journal. 

The world was such a strange place, full of quirks and criminals and heroes and villains. To add on top of that, when you turn thirteen a journal just… appears. And whoever is your soulmate can read everything you write. Once they read it, they can reply or talk to you that way and the ink disappears. There are plenty of rules that go along with it, like if you turn thirteen before your soulmate does, the ink is red until they receive their own journal. Or how the journal itself is indestructible. Or the biggest rule: you cannot write any given name. 

When you’re thirteen, your life is full of hope and wishful thinking. Almost everyone at that age is excited to start writing to their Person, the one who they were supposed to be created to be with. You were surprised when you opened yours to find nothing written.

You assumed that you were a bit older than your soulmate, but that was quickly shut down as you wrote in black ink. Your soulmate hadn’t written anything. 

It took two months for him to write back. Two months of your excessive writing and nearly diary-like entries. Two months of you wondering if they would ever write back. Until he did.

Today sucked.

That was all you wrote, your past two months of writing still ever present and glaring at you with smudges and hinted annoyance. The ink started to fade like Harry talking to Tom Riddle, reappearing with new handwriting.

It was scrawled across the page with terrible handwriting, very much one of a middle school boy. 

Life sucks. Deal with it.

You were now twenty two, an adult and that once hope and love has turned into pessimism and indifference. And life still sucked. 

You were pretty famous, your air manipulation quirk one that catches a lot of attention. That, alongside your rivalry with the second most famous hero Bakugou, brought an abundance of recognition. Bakugou completely steals your thunder every chance he has, stealing your light and victories. 

You hated him. With the utmost disrespect, you hated him. Since your days in the hero academy, the two of you were at each other’s throats. He would even stop in the middle of antagonizing Deku to make some horrendous comment towards you instead. 

You ended up scribbling along the Soulmate Pages, heated rage boiling with each word.

Hey Honey! I need to vent if that’s okay.

Of course.

You would not believe the shit I have to endure in real life. I wish I could describe the hatred I have for this man I work with, he’s a real piece of shit. Anyway, how was your day?

My day was about the same as yours, living with the idiots of real life. If we could write names I would because there’s this bitch I work with that I fucking hate.

Maybe we need new jobs (insert laughing face even though I’m livid right now)

Yeah. Maybe. But we’ll get through it.

It took years for your soulmate to warm up to you. The first interactions were hesitant, slow, and barely considered conversations. But now you can discuss your day as if you were texting a friend, talk about your likes and dislikes. 

He was your soulmate after all.

You learned that he was a boy and an only kid, he had a strong quirk, and that he liked ramen. He was a rule follower and his handwriting always used proper punctuation. You told him all about your life and how you wanted to travel away from everything.

You wanted to know who he was, more than anything. 

You wished you could tell him your name and quirk, where you lived and who you were. You wished he could do the same. 

You’ve tried, of course, to write out your name and location. But the second the words were written onto the page, they turned into a random assortment of letters. Gibberish. Never to be written, never to be known.

“Dude, fucking relax!” You rubbed your temple at your desk, voice spitting venom against Bakugou’s loud vocals. “Not everything is about you, just sit down and wait to be sent on a mission.”

“What did you say to me?”

Katsuki Bakugou had been going on and on about how Deku got assigned to a mission in upper Japan, sent to work with a separate force for a bit to expand his horizon. He was outraged, yelling and standing tall and broad to pretend to be bigger than he was. 

You were doing paperwork, trying to concentrate despite his yelling and complaining and bitching. You were hovering above your seat with your legs crossed, papers scattered (it was a habit of yours, to just kind of hover a couple of inches off the surface of things; air manipulation and all that). 

“I said,” You turned to look into his ablaze eyes. “Sit down and wait. Not everything is about you.”

You only threw fuel into his fire, you could hear the sparking between his fingers. You turned back to your paperwork. 

“You don’t get to tell me what to do, you’re not even in the top five heroes.” Bakugou barked in your direction. You could feel his heat as he approached your desk. “You can sit and do your own paperwork all you want! I need to be put on serious cases, just like stupid Deku is always placed on.”

“You can argue with me all you want.” You moved to continue your work, pretending to be unbothered. You could feel the anger boil in your chest. “But you still are and will always be measly little number two. Now shut the fuck up, you’re interrupting those who are actually working.”

He was going to hit you, you knew he was. You two ended up fist fighting all the time, oxygen and explosions ending in destruction. Before he could, your boss walked in with a bellowing, “Bakugou! Get over here, I have something for your loud ass!”

You decided to give him a bored middle finger as he walked away.

They say that words are the way of life. You could say an infinite amount of words and sentences in your lifespan, you could say a word and only ever say it one time. Each assortment of words are different each time, something new every day. 

You figured that’s why you hated the soulmate thing. 

Finding your soulmate should be one of chance, of pure coincidence and meeting of strangers. With the journal, you are starting something you only hope to find. You could go your whole life without finding your soulmate.

And that is terrifying.

There are horror stories of writing to an endless notebook, sad movies created where the lettering turns back to red before they’ve found each other. You wanted nothing more than to meet and just… be with the man you’ve been writing to since you were thirteen.

It seemed to be some sick joke, a tease in the palm of your hands.

When you were young, you attended UA High. It was meant to be the best school for heroes, grooming them into the best of the best. Both of your parents had been heroes themselves, your mom with a cloud quirk and your dad with wings. You took after a bit of both, no wings and no clouds but could create air currents and manipulate the air surrounding you within a certain radius. It has something to do with your breath and lungs, but you never looked too much into the actual DNA aspect. 

When you arrived in the hero program, you passed the tests with ease. You tried to focus mainly on yourself and gaining your own points, alongside a couple of students with the same idea. 

You were pissed when you were placed in 1-B instead of 1-A. It was the start of your rivalry with the explosion boy. 

Luckily, you quickly gained friends. You actually seemed to have a soft spot for Hitoshi Shinsou, and you and Itsuka Kendou seemed to be the only two with brains (this led to many conversations resulting in shit talking and giggling). So in the end, you weren’t too upset to be placed in the second best class. 

And you did get to fight with Bakugou a lot more without punishment, your professor wanting to be number one as much as anyone else. 

One particular day that you remember to this day, one that really labeled your hatred for Bakuogu, was just a normal day at first. You were finished with your normal morning classes and just beginning the hero portion of the day, the training and fighting. 

Your class was working with Class 1-A for the day, teaming up with one of their students and seeing how your quirks would act both against and with each other.

You were, of course, teamed with Bakugou.

The fucker was already set in his ways, loud and in need of attention at all times. You were well aware of his… loud personality… at that point, being beside Shinsou when he called your class “extras”. He was already someone you wanted nothing to do with. 

“Good luck.” Kendou muttered to you when your names were announced as partners. “See ya.”

The second you headed to him, you could feel his apprehension. He wanted nothing to do with you. And you wanted nothing to do with him. In fact, you were hoping for Uraraka as your partner, wanting to see how your air manipulation would work with her gravity. 

Apparently the professors wanted to see the oxygen working with the burst of flames. Which, honestly, is cool yes — but it was the person behind the explosions that you did not want to be a part of.

Bakugou was not one to mumble under his breath. 

“Why am I paired with you?” He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms across his chest. “I could at least be with someone interesting like Mind Control over there.”

You already wanted to punch him. “You’ve obviously never seen my quirk.”

“Clearly it hasn’t been interesting enough to be worth my attention.”

“Say that again when I remove the oxygen straight from your lungs.” You threatened, knowing damn well you didn’t know how to do that yet. “Let’s just get this over with.”

He let out a long exhale, moving into position. You were already flying by the time he let off his first explosion.

His utter disrespect for you and your quirk not only irritated you, but only was the start of a long term competition on Who Can Be Better Than Who that lasted the rest of your time at UA.

Through the constant loud arguments, the yelling in the cafeteria and the comments just loud enough for the other to hear, the fist fights and the swearing that was reserved only for each other, you found comfort in talking to your soulmate. It was relaxing after a long day of pure annoyance and shit talking to finally just get to have normal conversations with someone you enjoy. 

Are we allowed to ask about school in this thing?

I don’t think so.

I’m sighing. Pretend that you could hear my sigh.

Wow, that was a loud sigh.

YOU’RE FUNNY! Anyway, I really want to know if we go to school together :(((

I don’t even think we can talk about JRTPD or BO::SOMD. See, they turn into gibberish.

 I mean… we can say school. So we can ask ABOUT school just not… specific schools. 

That’s true. I go to a special school and am the best in my class. You’re getting lucky by having me as a soulmate.

Well I would only hope so. Need a smart soulmate for fun facts.

Fun fact: you’re pretty cool. I guess.

Ah, the admission of your love for me.

Not love. I don’t hate talking to you if that does anything for you.

The one person you don’t hate. I’ll take it, Soulmate.

Don’t push it.

We should give each other nicknames. Since we can’t call each other by our real names.

Does the book allow it?

My parents did it before they found each other.

Okay. Like what?

I can call you Hot Head, because you’re hot and because you are always writing about how mad you are.

No.

I can always go with something cute like Honey.

This is gross. I was thinking like gamer tag nicknames.

Okay, Honey.

I take back what I said, asshole.

Honey and Asshole. The perfect pair. We could solve crimes!

I’m going to bed now.

Goodnight Honey ♡ I know that you aren’t reading these but you will in the morning. Dork.

“Do you know who your soulmate is?” You asked.

You were hanging out with Kendou, Monoma, and Shinsou in Kendou’s bedroom. The dorm rooms were all set up the exact same way, but for some reason Kendou’s always seemed to be bigger. 

“No idea.” Monoma shrugged. “I don’t think I want to know until I’m older, we’re too young and I want to focus on graduating first.”

“He’s right.” Kendou twisted in her position on her bed. “Why? Do you want to know who yours is?”

“I want to know more than anything.” You sighed. Your head was laid across Shinsou’s lap on the floor. “We get along so well and I try to talk to him every day.”

“How do you know it’s a he?”

“He told me.” You laughed. “We tried really hard to narrow it down as much as possible.”

“It sounds like he wants to know you too.” Kendou said. She giggled. “I should ask my soulmate their gender.”

“What about you, Shinsou?”

“I barely write to mine.” He shrugged, making your head tilt a little. “I’m sure they understand.”

“I’m sure they do, they were made to be yours.” You looked up at him with a smile. “Of everyone, I thought you would write the most.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because most people are scared to talk to you in real life.”

He flicked your forehead. “You aren’t scared to talk to me.”

“I’m not scared to talk to anyone.”

“I’ve noticed.”

You sighed and closed your Soulmate Journal, the rain now casting a dark shadow across the entirety of the sky. Your face was flushed in red, hair disheveled and you were still in your hero uniform, dirty and kind of burnt. 

Katsuki Bakugou had not only interrupted your victory, but he had claimed it as his own. His desperation to be the number one hero hadn’t stopped. It’s been years, you’ve grown past his stupid desire and he simply… hasn’t.

You fought the villain yourself, using your quirk to it’s full capabilities and trapping them in a circle of air. You fought for over an hour by yourself, taking up the mission while out and witnessing it first hand. Your freshly bought coffee was long forgotten as you raced after the thief.

The second you landed the thief, the ball of air dissipating as you grew tired, Bakugou arrived in a fiery feat and handcuffed the villain. Of course, the main photos were of him with the handcuffs, standing proud as if he hadn’t stolen your fight. 

His argument was that he did help. Yeah, he did ‒ for three seconds.

Katsuki Bakugou was a piss stain upon himself, truly the worst of the worst who’s own personal interest outweighs anything else in his life. He will never be anything but second best because he never thinks of anyone but himself. 

If only he could read thoughts instead of turning his sweat to ignition. Then you wouldn’t have to put your harsh thoughts into tone.

Your Soulmate was one of two people you genuinely enjoyed talking to, he always seemed to be on the same page as you. The other is Shinsou, from your high school. He was the only one you really kept in contact with.

Sometimes you like to convince yourself that Shinsou is your soulmate, since he hasn’t found his either. But you compared the handwriting and it didn’t match at all. Shinsou’s handwriting was much smaller and neater than the man you would eventually call yours.

“This is so fucking stupid!” You screamed, your rage reaching its max.

You threw your journal across your bedroom, the storm masking the sound of it banging against the wall by your bed. You were pissed, you wanted nothing more than to see Bakugou’s downfall. It’s been years. You were over it.

You were over it all. You were over him, you were over not knowing your soulmate, you were over being alone in your stupid apartment. It all reached it’s apex. Maybe you needed a shower, or maybe you needed to move from your job.

Your fit was interrupted by a loud crash on the roof of your apartment building. You nearly jumped at the sound, the sound not even close to the crashes of thunder. 

You rushed to the roof, your hero senses kicking in more than your regular carefulness. Once you were outside, you were almost instantly drenched in the rain. Only a couple of yards ahead of you was a man crumbled to the ground; they must’ve hit the roof harder than you thought.

When they turned, clutching their side, you knew instantly who it was.

“Deku?” You rushed towards him. “I thought you were in Hirosaki for some serious villain.”

He moved to stand, much taller and broad than he was back in high school. Yet still with the fluffy green hair and bright eyes with hope always seemingly sewed in. 

“I was. I just… I need your help.”

“Why do you need my help?” You helped him stand fully, taking his hand from his side to check for an injury. He wasn’t bleeding. “Doesn’t Uraraka live around here?”

“I don’t… want to involve her in this.” He stood straight. His healing must’ve started. “I… this is something I need you for.”

“Okay…” You crossed your arms. “What do you need?”

“I know what you’re going to say.” Deku started, and you didn’t move. “But it’s Bakugou.”

“No.”

“C’mon, Aero, I know that you two…”

“No.”

“Please, I…”

“Deku, you know more than anyone how and who he is. Whatever it is, he can deal with it himself.” You started back towards the stairs. “I appreciate you coming to me, for whatever reason, but this is something that you have to find someone else for.”

“Don’t think of this as us doing something for him.” Deku rushed to stand in front of you. “Think of it as a favor for me. You owe me one.”

“Don’t do this now.” 

“I’m officially cashing in my favor.”

You sighed, “Fine. Can you at least tell me what we need to do for the asshole?”

“I’ll tell you on the way.” He nearly jumped in joy. “But you cannot tell anyone. Not Shinsou, not the police, and not our boss. This is under the radar.”

“Oh, shit.” You followed him as you flew next to him. “What are you getting me into?”

tag list: @katsulovee @paradisebabey @seaofemptygold @zhaixiaowen @daylghits @haikyuusimp91 @darknessyournewfriend @samwise-though @liaxxx109

[pastxlscorp]

Bully! Mitsuya Fanfic (pt.1)

Chapter I: Inception

✿ Word Count: 2.1k

✿ Pairing: Takashi Mitsuya x reader

✿ Topics covered: (Eventual) Enemies to lovers trope, Y/N POV, tsundere-Mitsuya, bully! Mitsuya, fem. reader, minor manga spoilers, Bully! Mitsuya headcanons from last post

He lifted his large palm, coated in silver and black rings to match his attire. He was wearing a black mock turtleneck that matched his jet black hair. In his youth, he had lilac-colored hair that was either in a buzz-cut or grown out to a mullet. Now, he sported his black hair in his college-years. He was studying to become a fashion designer, a dream he had since his youth after his love blossomed for sewing. It had begun as a chore in order to keep his sisters satisfied and happy, saving money from buying toys by simply creating them himself. As he practiced it more and more, he began to realize how intricate fabrics were. How beautiful colors could come together and form the prettiest structures and designs -- how even the ugliest colors would look elegant if you paired them properly with the right colors, or carefully took apart the threads to create something new. You on the other hand were not studying to become a fashion designer, but rather a photographer. In your youth, you were a free-lancer in art and a quiet overachiever. You had many different career options open to you, but nothing really opened you up in the way art did. You participated in many different types of art, you loved painting, sewing, embroidery, name it, you’ve probably dabbled in it. One day, your class was introduced to your photography unit and all the puzzle pieces fell into the designated places, the pieces being lost and untouched for years. Nothing brought you more joy than snapping someone’s photo on the street to surprise them with the way the sunlight beautifully encapsulated their figure. Nothing brought you more joy than taking an eerily aesthetic photo of the rain pouring on the people below your building as a lady frolocked in the rain below, eager to rejoice in mother nature’s beauty.

Truthfully, your relationship had not started out the way it was now. With his palm ever so elegantly shoving you to the floor, your photographs spilling out of your portfolio as you hit the cold tile floor, protecting your chest by landing on your elbow and knee. Snickers, chuckles, giggles-- they all filled the hallway after seeing you collapse. Only a select few actually took pity on you, including one of his loyal followers, Hakkai Shiba. Mitsuya was usually followed around by two close-friends, Yasuda-san and Hakkai. Yasuda-san was also a fashion major, while Hakkai was planning to become a model. Mitsuya was very well respected amongst the campus for many different reasons. Firstly, he was gifted with the intellect of sewing intrigue designs that made everyone sigh in awe. Secondly, pretty-privilege. You hated to admit it but Mitsuya was a very attractive-looking man, his hair was always fluffed to the right extent, he was well-dressed, and leading into the third reason, he was smart. Despite being a part of the Tokyo Manji Gang, otherwise known as Toman, as one of the second division captains, he was able to manage schoolwork as an overachiever and was known for his intellect. Not to mention, keeping his division in check along with his two younger sisters AND the sewing club that he managed at his school? It was no wonder he was seen as the perfect boyfriend, he had all of his together. This was the reason why his disregard of you was seen as acceptable, everyone assumed you must have done something wrong for him to treat you this way, right?

Incorrect assumption. You have never done anything wrong to Mitsuya-- in fact… you don’t really remember doing anything to him, period. You both met by chance in his home-economics club, which he decided to suggest to the college board upon seeing there was not a club that actively encouraged sewing. At the time, most participants on campus were graphic designers, artists, not really looking to take the fashion industry by storm as Mitsuya was. However, he was able to persuade the board and even got petition signatures to seal it all off. He was the president of the club and upon seeing the posters taped in the hallways, you instantly took the opportunity to get any extracurricular activities on your transcript. He welcomed you into the club but it wasn’t like you got that much of his attention-- after all, the club filled up quickly with Mitsuya’s admirers. Although, shortly before he began his cruel treatment and behavior towards you, it actually seemed like you two were becoming friends. He would begin to check on you a little more frequently than the rest, tapping your shoulder with a warm smile, asking you how your project was going. You would show him your small projects, nothing too big as it had nothing to do with your major, but projects that you enjoyed and had fun doing nonetheless. He seemed most amused by the sweater you created for your dog by letting out a soft chuckle. In return, he showed you the sweaters he made for his sisters, who were now teenagers. It became a routine for him to walk over to you after checking up on everyone else and talk until club hours were over. He’d find anything to talk about and it made your heart swell with how he actually took the time out of his day to make sure you didn’t feel alone. You were sure he had picked up on how you lacked friends in his club, he was clearly trying to make you feel welcome and you couldn’t help but begin to admire him even more than you once had.

One day, however, it suddenly changed. His demeanor was suddenly cold and unwelcoming to you. You noticed when you walked into his club as you normally did, taking your seat. He did not visit you within the 10 minutes it usually took him to check upon everyone else. It took much, much longer, so you simply assumed everyone needed more help than usual. However, when he came over to your table, his words startled you so much that you pricked yourself with your needle, rushing your eyes to meet his own at his sudden harshness.

┃ “Looks like someone isn’t paying attention.”

The venom in his words made your cheeks flush with a tint of red, noticing some of the club members staring at you, also in surprise of his harsh tone. You open your mouth, quickly questioning his behavior, all of your words coming out panicked, in fear you’ve done something wrong-- something to disappoint, or upset him.

┃ “What do you mean, Pres? My projects have never been an issue before.”

┃ “Nicknames are a privilege. Call me by my proper title.” He snapped, your peers widening their eyes, for he never required anyone to call him by his last name.

┃ “...President Mitsuya, I apologize. However, you can’t just--”

┃ “Look around,” he motions his arm towards the surrounding students working at their tables, sewing much larger projects and others measuring their models for their designs. Your right eyebrow began to raise in confusion, he had never minded your small projects. Yet, here he was, embarrassing, no-- humiliating you in front of your peers about how minuscule your projects were in comparison.

┃ “Your peers all have their mind set on a big project or several larger projects. Yet, here you are with your small little trinkets. They’re working hard, and you’re doing the bare minimum to have your work completed for this club.”

Tears began to prick your eyes, questioning what his true motive was here. Surely, the projects weren’t the issue. This… this was too strong of a switch-up. Something had triggered this outburst of his, but you weren’t sure what. He was always stressed, all the time actually-- had he perhaps overwhelmed himself and he was taking it out on you?

┃ “(Y/N).” Your name so violently came out of his mouth, as if it had just crashed on cement. It wasn’t the silky and softer voice you were accustomed to hearing when speaking with him. “Get your head out of the clouds. Are you listening?”

┃ “Sir… I mean, President Mitsuya, with all due respect, you seem to be… unfairly targeting me. Some of these students are creating something as simple as a sweater for their friends, why is something for my dog any different?”

The rest of the club began planning your funeral. While never seeing him this upset on school grounds, they have heard about how foul he could get with his division members. Questioning him was bound to make him explode. They all froze, eyes drifting to Mitsuya for an incoming scolding.

┃ With a harsh grab, his fingers glide under your chin as he lifts it up to meet his face directly. “'You questioning me?”

┃ “N-no sir! I mean no disrespect, I just-”

┃ “You’ll be staying after club hours.”

┃ “B-but sir I have-”

┃ “I was NOT asking.” He half-shouts, dropping your chin from his harsh grip as he makes it back to the front of the classroom where he continues to work on his own projects. Your fellow club members pitied you at first, but after seeing how harsh he got later on with you as the bullying continued, they assumed this was the result of an external conflict.

You don’t remember what he told you after club hours. He was yelling something about how you were stupid, a dumbass, and well, you get the rest. Cruel words were thrown at you as if the day before he wasn’t so fondly helping you with the sweater for your dog-- helping you perfect the stitch of his name. Any time you questioned him or flat-out denied his accusations and heinous words, he would yank your chain and pull you so you were right in front of him as he stared down at you. It was enough to scare you out of ever providing a rebuttal, and you soon learned that as the bullying continued.

Now, here you are, on the floor, calmly collecting your portfolio photographs, not even phased by his now-normal harassment. Usually, a shove would be enough to appease him, but today it seemed like one of those days where he wanted more. He walked over to your kneeling figure as you collected your portfolio, your head turned away from him to avoid giving him any form of satisfaction.

┃ “What do you say after you bump into someone?”

┃ “I didn’t bump into you, dickhead.”

With a swift motion, he forcefully grabbed your chin and forced you to look at him, his lavender eyes piercing straight through you. He was clearly unsatisfied with your response.

┃ “What do you say after you bump into someone, skank?”

Every time you questioned him or talked back, you knew it simply made him angrier. You quickly learned that him acting out was his way of earning your attention, but for whatever reason it was, you couldn’t figure out why. What you did learn, however, from your many other incidents with him, is that he would praise you when you were obedient. Eager to get this over with and save yourself any more humiliation, you replied:

┃ “I’m sorry.”

┃ “I’m sorry…?”

┃ With a sigh, you continue, “I’m sorry, President Mitsuya.”

He smirks, now satisfied with your answer. He taps your cheek with his right index finger and replies:

┃ “Good girl.”

You swipe your face away from his grasp and continue collecting your photographs, along with your notebooks and planner that had slipped out. Mitsuya scoffs as you once more retract your attention away from him and walks away with Yasuda-sun snickering. Hakkai, however, stays behind and examines you for a few brief moments. He walks over to you and begins helping you organize your bookbag. You look up and smile-- despite his silence, his eyes offered every form of apology he could give you. You had learned Hakkai was afraid to speak up to Mitsuya because he was his best friend and was afraid any talkback from him would only result in a deeper hatred for you. You didn’t mind, however, you just appreciated how Hakkai kept you grounded. He helped you remember you didn’t do anything wrong, this was Mitsuya’s doing and his alone. Hakkai was always well-dressed as well, you noticed. He was wearing an incredibly long trench coat with beautiful shades of baby blue, ocean blues and a bright orange that made everything pop. It covered a black mock turtleneck that seemed to be matching the one Mitsuya was wearing and in fact, Hakkai also seemed to have an earring on one ear, similar to Mitsuya. It appeared that he deeply respected Mitsuya, his outfit seemed to be heavily inspired by his own. With everything settled in your bookbag once more, he offered you a pat on the head with a smile as you nodded and thanked him before running off to your first class of the day.

✿ a.n. // I finished this chapter while finishing my AP Psychology hw. I had started writing it and then idk why but I was re-reading the manga and went “wait, now what if we have Hakkai and Yasuda-san…” and ta-da, take my 2.1k words of pure a$$. If this chapter does well, I’ll be sure to upload it on my ao3, too. special tags for @the2ndl and @bren-heron because they both really wanted a fic out of this concept. I hope you enjoy loves <3

[kimthwariru]

Namjoon reaction—calling him a ‘friend’ when he clearly has a thing for you

❀genre: smut, a bit of fluff

❀collage au

(This was originally supposed to be a quick reaction but something happened to me and I couldn’t stop writing)

“Look, Jisoo, I’d agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong” you flash a cheeky smile at your best friend. She’s being going on and on about how this Kim Namjoon guy had a thing for you.

You can’t lie, you’ve seen him around in campus and sometimes you’d wish he would suffocate you with these thighs of his. Ugh. The perfect combo, lean yet masculine physique with a brain that actually functions for a change. You’ve seen the way these collage girls were circling him around and you can’t blame them, the guy was a catch.

But he was not your crowd of people. He was outgoing, social and had loads of what you like to call “the lad friends”. You guessed his main activities were partying and getting shitfaced every night.

You’ve talked to him a couple of times. He uses the same bench as you to read now and then. You would eventually take sneak peeks at the books he was reading, check if he had any taste or not, and the result was always better than what you expected. This guy knew books. He was not just reading what was on the best seller’s that week to look sophisticated in front of others.

When he caught you peaking he’d started having small talk with you. You swear you’ve never experienced a better conversation flow with another human being. This guy screamed comfort. He seemed genuinely curious about the things you were saying. None of that painful act of pretending to be interested just because he wanted to get laid. You had been talking with him for a month straight and aside from a few moments of some what flirty looks his actions never suggested something more.

His aura was welcoming and he always paid attention to the little things. Unlike some other shallow guys out there, he felt…different.

But how different could he really be? You’ve seen the people he hangs out with. Kim Taehyung? He had a relationship with three girls at the same time. Didn’t even apologize for being the biggest jerk in history. You’ve heard Jung Hoseok’s body count was reaching a 3 digit number AND Jeon Jungkook once fucked 4 different girls at the same night.

Just thinking about it makes you sick. It pains you to admit but there’s only one truth to this. Even if Kim Namjoon was interesting, he was definitely a person you needed to stay away from. All the data point to a big fuckboy alert!

“Come on y/n…. If he wasn’t even in the slightest interested in you then why did he tell me explicitly that he wanted you to attend the party??”

“An invitation to a party doesn’t mean anything. Besides, I’m sure I’m not his style. Have you seen the type of girls he hangs out with? Yikes.”

Jisoo smirked at you “Oh, I see you’re stalking him now?”

You shake your head “Don’t be ridiculous! We take Econ together, that’s all. What? Am I supposed to cover my eyes every time I see him?”

“Maybe you should” Jisoo came closer to you “Y/n, we’re going to that party”

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“This is a big mistake, I’ll get bored within the hour” You scream at Jisoo over the loud music.

“Don’t be a whiney ass and enjoy yourself for once” she handed you a drink.

Enjoy yourself for once. You and Jisoo’s definition of enjoying one self were clearly very different. You scan the room to look for any familiar faces you could talk to. Unfortunately, not a lot of your acquaintances attended frat parties.

Your head motion immediately pauses when you meet eyes with Namjoon across the garden. Was he looking at you this whole time? You feel your cheeks burn.

Initially, you don’t know how to react but eventually you flash him a small smile and focus back on Jisoo

“Kim Namjoon just gave me the biggest stare of all time” you say as you down your drink

“What!?” Jisoo’s eyes widened “This is the time where I say I told you so.”

You think for a second that maybe Jisoo was right all along. But that just makes the whole thing more dangerous for you. You can’t lie, Namjoon is attractive, but you knew he was trouble. Maybe he liked you today and then liked another girl tomorrow.

Suddenly, you feel a hand touch your shoulder “Hey y/n, Jisoo. Glad you guys made it” Namjoon’s low voice pierced your ears.

Jisoo gave you a look before replying to him “Hey!! We couldn’t miss such a night!” She smiled “right y/n??”

“Yeah!! Totally” you cheer kind of awkwardly.

Namjoon’s eyes fixed on you. You felt his stare eat you up. His whole presence felt angelic yet overwhelming. “Do you guys maybe want to join us? We’re sitting right by the pool”

“Oh! Sure, why not!” Jisoo answered almost immediately

You were walking towards the pool, Namjoon was pacing right next to you, he was so close to the point where you could sort of smell his cologne. You swear you could get drunk off his scent.

“I have to be honest, I didn’t think you’d actually come” He chuckled

“Are you disappointed?” You teased and raised an eyebrow.

You see a dimple smile making its appearance, how can this dude be so incredibly hot and cute at the same time? “I think pleasantly surprised would be the right way to put it”

Why do you feel like you can not breath? He hasn’t said much, yet you feel yourself burn up all of a sudden. “Good to know” you smile back.

“Joon! You have to see this” was the first thing Taehyung yelled when you arrived to the place where the guys were sitting “12 o’clock, Hobi making out with Mina from 3rd year. Can you believe it? After two years of trying to get it, he finally succeeds”

Of course the main talk is girls. No surprise there.

“Jungkook bitch, you owe me 20 bucks” Taehyung eyed Jungkook

Your expression screamed disgust. Apparently, Namjoon noticed “They are not as bad as they seem” he elbowed you.

You give him and awkward laugh “I’ll take your word for it” You lie.

“Guys, this is Jisoo and y/n. Can you stop trying to head lock each other and say hello? You’re embarrassing me” Namjoon introduced the pair of you to the boys who were still arguing about the bet. 

“Oh, hey girls.” Taehyung paused to inspect Jisoo’s face. “Hey, business and shipping? Ain’t it?”

“Oh, yeah, right!” Jisoo smiled

“Hyung aren’t you taking that class for like the third time? How many times can you fail you recon?” Jungkook teased him and Taehyung answered by giving him a slap on the shoulder.

“Hey y/n, do you want to go grab a drink? I think you’ll need it if you are to tolerate these guys” Namjoon offered.

“I trust you know best” you smile and quickly follow behind him. His shoulders wide and his muscles very visible even through his airy shirt. This guy was a whole statue.

“By the way, I’ve never seen you at parties before. I think I saw you once at the December ball but that’s about it. Not really a big fan of these kind of things, are you?” He suddenly said. You can’t really decode his words. How did Kim Namjoon know you even went to the December ball? You’re pretty sure you didn’t even talk to him that night.

“Interested in me much?” You give him a cheeky smile but he was just looking at you, a couple of seconds passed without him responding “I’m only joking! It’s true I don’t really attend these sort sort of things.”

“And what do you do for fun miss y/n?” He laughs and you swear if you could bottle the sound and get drunk on it you would.

“Oh you’ll think I’m lame”

“Try me” he said in a serious tone while starring right through your eyes. Suddenly, your body felt too heavy for your legs to bear. How can he get to you like that?

“Okay…” You start, him looking at you like that didn’t help control your train of thought, but you manage to get a hold of yourself “So you know that little corner cafe on willow street? Every Friday they have these comedy music nights. A guy-“

“Park Jihoon and the little funny guitar, yeah! I used to go there every Friday during my freshman years! Do they still do that old thing? I swear the pun with the atom never failed to make my day.” He started laughing again.

“Whoah what? You’re telling me you’ve been to the shrieking shack?” That place was a little treasure you’d found earlier this year. It was an amazingly cozy place, perfect during the cold winter time. The staff were all so kind and wore these big oversized colorful ties. But the people going there were all much older than you. You’ve never heard someone your age talk about that place. Let alone a person like Namjoon.

“Careful how you talk to a veteran y/n. I’ve basically helped to build the place” he chuckled.

“Y/n is that you?” A familiar voice greeted you.

“Jimin! Oh my god, hey! It’s been ages since I’ve seen you!” You hug him.

Jimin was a great soul, he majored in contemporary dance and ballet. He had been traveling for the past couple of years enrolling in some extra ballet classes in the magical city of Paris. You envied him for his talent and admired him for his passion.

“Girl, you have to come visit me. You’ll love Europe!”

“I would also LOVE to have some money in my wallet” you laugh “Oh Jimin, this is my friend, Namjoon. We go to collage together”

Namjoon gave you a look and soon after shook Jimin’s hand “What’s up. Nice to meet you”

“Nice to meet you too! But y/n, I’m so so sorry, I have to go. I was actually on my way out just now. I sort of uhm, have a thing-you know” he coughed “I’m leaving in two weeks, can we please meet before that?”

You knew Jimin was probably off to his ex boyfriends house. They broke up before Jimin left for Paris but every time he got back he’d have a couple of hookups with him. “Oh yeah! I bet you’ve got something very important right now, you better go quickly” you teased him “I’ll text you tomorrow, ok?”

Jimin laughed so much his eyes were barely visible “definitely! text me! I’ll be off then! Bye mister Kim Namjoon” he playfully said and was out of your sight a second later.

“You two seem…close” Namjoon suddenly commented

“Yeah! We were! But he has been studying abroad for like two years now.”

Namjoon’s facial expression was quite enigmatic “Did you guys ever… you know”

“Oh no no no.” You pause to make a small chuckle “Jimin isn’t exactly interested in, well, girls like me, or to be exact, girls in general”

Namjoon’s eyes widened and he immediately bursted into laughter “oh… I see” he made a pause “So tell me then, how come the old soul that never goes to parties finally attends one?”

You feel your cheeks burn red. Partly because the reason you went was him. You don’t know why, but the past month you and Namjoon hit it off very well and you wanted to test Jisoo’s crazy theory, you wanted to make sure for yourself if Namjoon was interested in you or not. Now the problem was, even if it turned out he did like you, you didn’t know what you’d do exactly. Namjoon was a really nice guy, but he didn’t come without his red flags.

“Just wanted to try something different, I guess”

“And how’s that 'different' treating you so far?”

What could you possibly tell him? That you have enjoyed every minute you guys have been talking? That you think that just by staring at you he could make you feel things no other guy could? You barely can admit all of that to yourself. “I think pleasantly surprised is the right way to put it” you repeat his words from before.

You see him smile at that. “You know what y/n? I’m really happy you came”

How can he make your heart beat so fast with just one sentence? “Oh really? And why is that?”

“I don’t know, I guess… I just like talking to you, you know? Whenever I’m around you I feel at ease, like I can tell you anything. I feel different when I’m with you, but in a good way”

“Wow” that sound escaped your lips without your consent

Namjoon laughed “Why? Is it too weird?”

“No! Definitely not weird, more like, I don’t know, surprising?”

“In what way?”

“Well you’re… Kim Namjoon, you’re the 2021 class president and you’re like the most popular guy in the whole campus right now.” You made a pause “And I’m just..-“

“The most interesting girl I’ve ever met” he cuts you off

The way he was looking down at you made butterflies grow in your stomach “You really think so?”

He gently grabbed your waist and pulled you closer to him “I know so” he leaned down, you swear his eyes had the whole galaxy painted inside of them. You couldn’t even breath properly at this point. Kim Namjoon was too close and the only thing you were thinking about was how well his kiss would feel “God, you’re so beautiful” he said and pulled you in for a soft, gentle kiss.

You couldn’t believe your senses. Kim Namjoon was kissing you and you really thought the earth had stopped spinning right then and there. You could feel his big palms traveling up and down your back.

His kiss was breathless, jubilant, filled with the joy of life, and you should stop him, he is no good to you, you know that, but his scent is delightful and his lips are so warm.

Unconsciously, your hands reach the inside of his shirt. His skin hot and soft at the touch.

"y/n" he practically moans your name, and just the sound makes your knees go week "Don't do that, I don't think I'll be able to stop"

"Who said anything about stopping?" You say and go back to kiss him even more passionately this time.

“There’s a lot of people here, my room is upstairs, would you perhaps want to-“

“Yes.” You immediately say. You don’t care about anything anymore, you’d let your future self deal with the consequences of today’s actions. The only thing that has been lingering in your mind is how good he’d feel inside of you.

The moment you’re finally alone in his room, he lifts you up, swinging you around and kissing you. It was like a dream. Namjoon was everything you wanted. Your reluctance about getting with him didn’t matter any more, the tingly feeling in your stomach overtook every single bit of hesitation you had. You needed him.

“God, you’re lovely” he exhaled

He looks at you as he sinks you down on the bed. Planting a soft kiss before his hands quickly begun to peel away clothes, yanking his belt loose, fumbling hurriedly at his trousers.

You look at his lips tracing your skin and the faint moisture left behind, you look at his muscly arms as he lifts you up and sinks you down again, you look at him looking at you, with eyes brighter than the sun itself. Was this all a dream?

When your dress was finally off he undoes your bra clasp on the way down. Slowly planting kisses on your collarbone, the tops of your breasts, your sternum, and you arched you back as you were needy for more.

His lips finally reach your nipples .Your boobs smooth under his hands, your nipple firm under his tongue, and there, that makes you squirm again, a little more insistently this time.

“Fuck, I’m so fucking wet right now, I feel it” You moan

You see him raise an eyebrow. A vivid smirk painted on his face “Let’s check, shall we?”

He splays his hand low across your belly, and the first brush of his thumb over your clit makes you breathe in sharply and him forget to breathe at all.

“I’m your friend?” He breaths in, his voice dangerously low

“Oh come on” You manage to say in between moans “what was I supposed to tell Jimin?”

His strokes and flicks are light and teasing, his thumb carefully circling around your clit. He gives you a slow, constant, unyielding pressure that makes your breath come up short, makes your toes curl in the effort not to move.

“I’m gonna fuck the word ‘friend’ right out of your pretty little mouth” he covers your mouth with an intense kiss before slipping two fingers of his free hand inside of you, and you makes a noise like triumph and want all wrapped up together. If his fingers felt like this, you can’t imagine how his dick felt like.

“Hmm?” He doesn’t look up, he keeps his eyes on his hands, on you, spread out beneath him “You like that baby?”

God, just the way the word 'baby' sounded coming from his mouth could make you come right this second. You look at him, his eyes look as hungry as his voice sounded. This dude was out of this world.

“Please Namjoon, I want it, I want you inside of me right now”

Namjoon lowered his underwear, and simply pressed his hard member on your slit. You could feel his balls softly caressing your clit as he made subtle movements while kissing you. “Such a needy little thing” he teases “Tell me how bad you want my cock inside of you”

“Oh..” you moan “I’d do anything, please…give it to me… fuck me like you own me” you whined as you used your pussy to caress his length up and down. He seemed to enjoy they way you touched him.

“Fuck y/n… that feels so good” he rests his forehead on yours.

“Imagine what my inside will feel then” you whisper in his ear “I’m such a tight good girl” you move your mouth in front of his, bitting his bottom lip as he growled when he felt your movement grow faster

“Fucking hell” he immobilized your body with his hands and pressed you down to the bed. He immediately shoves his dick inside you, filing you up to the brim before staying there for a couple of seconds and then pulling out completely. That movement made your vagina crave to be filled all the way up again.

“More” you whine, a dopey expression all over your face. You were so needy of him, but you didn’t care.

He lowered his left hand towards your thigh and gave it a big squeeze, kissing you aggressively while doing so. He quickly braced himself back into you, you felt your walls completely wrap around his member. It felt magical.

His strokes long and steady in the beginning. Every time he went in and out completely you felt the pit of your stomach burn in pleasure. Namjoon was doing everything right, you can’t lie to yourself, this is the best sex you’ve ever had. Normally with other guys you don’t even come close to coming, but now, you feel yourself trying not to do so.

“You like my dick being inside of you baby?” He plants a small kiss on your neck and goosebumps run down your spine.

‘Like’ was nowhere near good enough of a word to explain how much the sensation of him thrusting his hard member in and out of you made you feel. “I love it Namjoon… I just love it…”

Your words must’ve turned Namjoon even more on, because his pace immediately started becoming faster and sloppier. Every time your skin touched a loud sound could be heard. Namjoon was thrusting deeper and deeper into you, and every time he’d fill you up completely you’d cry out his name.

“Ah, I like my name so much better when you fucking moan it like that” he says and started shoving his dick inside of you like crazy. You could tell he was close to coming, and so were you.

It wasn’t long until you felt your walls clenching and your toes curling. The sensation overtook all of your body, it was mad… your heart beat uncontrollable. Namjoon made you feel a completely new range of emotions.

“Ah y/n, I can feel you cumming all over my dick” his voice cracky, You could see how turned on he was by all of this, by you. “Fuck” he shoved harder “You’re so” harder “fucking hot”

Namjoon stopped and pulled out immediately spreading his cum all over your tummy. The sight was breathtaking, you’ve never found a man so attractive while coming before, but then, Namjoon is no ordinary man.

He quickly grabs a couple of tissues and wipes you clean before laying on top of you again, placing another soft kiss this time. His hand playing with your hair. You were both naked and sweaty and a mess but it felt so magical. You wrapped your hands around his broad shoulders, pulling him even closer to you. You didn’t want even a centimeter of distance between you and him.

He suddenly stopped kissing you and simply stared at your eyes. After a minute or two, or maybe three, you're not really sure, time didn't exist right now, he tacked a string of hair behind your left ear.

“Y/n, let me take you on a date. Please. I know you don’t normally go out with guys like me, but I swear I’ll make it worth your while-“

“Park Jihoon and the little funny guitar. How does that sound? Or are you too good for the shrieking shack now?” You chuckled

“I’d love that” he smiled, making your heart melt a little.

[cuinaminute229]

Soul

Warnings before reading: Death, murder, violence, implied/ referenced suicide, no dialogue until near the end (if there are anymore pls let me know)

pairing: Natasha Romanoff x reader

Soulmate AU

...

Soulmate.

A word that’s been spread around in whispers and speeches as long as you can remember. It’s a tale as old as time.

Soulmates are painted as a piece of a puzzle completed when found, they are proof that someone out there was destined to love you, destined to be loved by you.

You remember being told that everyone has a soulmate, that everyone has a unique way to their other half.

Mrs. Richards told your class on the last day of 5th grade how she found her soulmate and everyone stayed just a little longer past the bell to hear it.

Shared heartbeats, she said. Pure chance.

An accident that led both her and her soulmate to the same emergency room. She explained how if it weren’t for the gossiping nurses on duty she could have very well walked out alone.

One of the kids in the class blurted out after her story that he had a string that leads nowhere and how he can never find the end. A different kid, one of the popular ones, told everyone she has dreams of her soulmate, that they talk until the other has to wake up.

Mrs. Richard smiled and said that one day everyone would find their soulmate but we had to be patient and wait because destiny isn't at the snap of a finger.

Sure, there are those who look for their soulmate, but that doesn't guarantee that their soulmate is looking for them.

You learned that as history plays out right before your eyes.

It made the news by your freshman year of highschool. Some big name was rejected by his soulmate, so what did he do? Not one sensible thing. He took a gun and fired it like he was hunting deer.

No arrest was made until three days later. No one spoke her name, only his. He killed his soulmate, he took a deal, he said he was the victim, he played everyone.

And he thought he’d won, you could see it on his face as the judge tells him what he’s facing, not near enough time. He killed her, but she became the face that resulted in the aftermath.

The protests and crowds, the yells in waves came not even a day after the news broke of his punishment. People yelling and moving through the streets like chaos. A voice united that demanded to be heard.

News crew and police stood on the side as people spoke her name, demanding for justice.

She was an awakening to those who were too blind to see past the tales of happy ever afters and those who were too afraid of speaking against it.

Soulmates were people like everyone else. No perfect shell that promised to bring happiness, not a puzzle piece, not someone who has to live up to the mantle of what it means to be two half of the same coin.

Nothing was done though. No matter the backlash, no matter the many voices that spoke, no matter her own family coming up to the camera and pleading for the justice their daughter deserved. Nothing was done, for her or those who followed after.

So what do people do when no one listens to their voice, when no one turns their way and looks. They stop trying.

People stopped searching, stopped following their stings, stopped talking in their dreams, stopped hoping for the day the words on their wrist will be spoken. It felt safer that way, you heard someone say at one point.

The word soulmate grew smaller and smaller until it was a whisper barely loud enough to hear.

You’re in your third year of college when one of your classmates found her soulmate, eavesdropping on the conversation rather than studying for the test you had tomorrow. She said he was sweet and caring, and how she felt at home with him. She explained the meeting as accidental, he bumped into her and offered to take her to lunch for spilling her coffee. She told her friends how she felt when she looked into his eyes and could finally see the only color that was absent from her life.

One of the three sitting around her, with a fishtail braid and freckles that littered her cheeks, spoke up first and told her that being tied to another person is just a trick of the universe, that the happiness that the two of them could share could be shared with anyone. She said soulmates weren’t special.

You feel bad for her as your eyes wander over the words of the book that sits in front of you. Ironically it’s about the bond shared between two people, listing the differences between soulmates and people who stay together even though destiny says otherwise.

The one who found her soulmate huffs at her friend and you can imagine the pout on her face. Deciding that you eavesdropped enough, you gather your stuff and check your watch to make sure you have enough time to grab some food before being in your next class.

You put your headphones in as you descend the stairs rather than take the elevator, listening to the playlist your cousin sent you. A distraction from the wandering thoughts about your own soulmate, the very soulmate you haven't thought about in months.

It’s not shouted from the top of rooftops anymore when you find your other half, not congratulated or blessed, not like it once was.

People stayed together if they were destined to or not, some were happy, some made it work. Some refused to look for their other half, some even said they didn’t have a soul mark. Others still cursed god above about how they had free will and didn't fall in love with someone else because ‘it was meant to be’.

Your own roommate Emma had tried to get rid of her soul mark. A string, she said. One that was colored white and tied around her wrist, one that never ended. She admitted at one point that was why her wardrobe was mostly white, that some part of her was still believing in the universal system of matchmaking, her words not yours. She seemed fine with knowing someone was out there for her, she was determined to meet them before they chose to give up on her.

You were studying one night, it was late and the only light on was the lamp at your desk. Emma was out at a party and you knew she wouldn't be back for the rest of the night so you took the time to take notes.

You're in the middle of rereading a definition to a word that you keep mispronouncing when the dorm door opens and she comes inside as the door slams shut. She doesn't turn the light on, doesn't say a word as she takes a seat on your bed.

You’ve known her long enough to know that if Emma Frost is quiet then something is wrong so you abandon the definition to the word you swear if you could set on fire you would, to turn in your seat and look her over.

She’s missing a high heel and the coat she left with hours ago and her cheeks shine from the light of the lamp. She’s crying and you’re moving before the thought hits you, sitting beside her but giving her enough space to move away if she wishes. You don't talk first and you try not to assume the worst as you wait for her to speak.

She said it was dumb and to leave her alone but you refuse her offer which makes her chuckle as she wipes the tears away when you look down at your hands.

You had to talk her out of severing her string that night, pointing out that no matter what others said, no matter what they demanded it was her choice and hers alone.

She then pointed out that your opinion shouldn't matter and that she would go ahead with it. You gave her a point and then asked her if she really was ready to give up on finding her soulmate. Does she know what cutting her string would do, if it would even work? How would it affect her other half?

It took way more to convince her and a promise in the end but she listened. The two of you went for ice cream afterwards because it was well into the morning until she relented. She promised to help you study and give you some of her homemade muffins if you kept that night a secret.

You promised and she gave you such a dazzling smile you forgot how to think for a second, she laughed as you blushed and blamed her for catching you off guard.

It’s two years later and the beginning of October when you finally get the job you’ve been wanting since 1st grade, a photographer.

You photograph the people of the city, the people on the buses, the ones on the corners, the teenagers that don't accept fear, and the old couples sitting at the park feeding the pigeons. You take the moments frozen in time and develop them as the journalist writes their stories.

It’s surprisingly easy for you, being in moments as the watcher that does not interfere.

The things you capture are simple and mundane and some would say ordinary but they don't see the story each photo is painting, they aren't there to know what’s going on behind the lens.

You still catch glimpses of the woman who didn't mean to change everything.

Painted on brick walls on certain corners that no one goes down anymore. Hearing the sound of her name still being spoken like it didn't happen so long ago, some  blame her but more than most do not. It’s not her fault that her death would cause this, she didn’t make the people afraid, she didn’t make them resentful.

Everyone knows who is responsible for this future that is now present.

The need to travel when working helps give you a glimpse of other parts of the world, you get to see places you’ve only seen in pictures and you meet people who share their stories with you. It’s overwhelming in the best ways and you barely have any time to think about things you’d rather not.

Hope, your coworker and one of the best journalists you know has a knack for jokes and knows the best whiskey for when things are feeling down. She knows how to capture anyone with words, hook, line, and sinker. She’s the one that makes you smile when she knows that certain things that need to be photographed are hard to see and you admire and appreciate her for being able to do such things.

You wouldn't admit it to her face but you wouldn't want to work with anyone else. The nights of take out and easy conversation as she works, sharing wine and stories that you can't remember in the morning after a game night that way too many people are invited to. The pep talks that she’s surprisingly good at and the dates that end in tears and ice cream, you definitely wouldn't trade any of it.

Walking into the office one day you see her pulling her auburn hair up into a ponytail and you shake your head as you place your camera bag down on her desk. She gives you an innocent smile but you know she woke up late because her shirt is on backwards and you notice her glasses aren't on her desk. You hand her the coffee that's in your other hand as you point out her shirt and hope that today is easy and you can get home to feed the black cat that's been staying around your place for the last few weeks.

She says that a local theater is to show a ballet in a few days and that it’s being practiced in one of the studios down the street from it and it would make a great story. She explains that it’s already been figured out and even sends a smirk your way right before she begins taking her shirt off to fix it when you only nod and tell her the name of the studio, Soul.

You’ve heard about it before, stories of soulmates finding each other while inside the theater is well known. The older residents still talk about it, some even say they found each other while at play or ballet long ago. The younger ones think it's merely a story, some old tale that hasn't happened in years, at least not one that’s been told.

With a pinky promise that involves her buying you breakfast tomorrow and the 50 cents that's been sitting on her desk for the past month, you give in and tell her you will go to the studio before your other stop.

The day feels warm and the sky is bright blue, it’s the beginning of spring and you can’t wait to capture the changing scenery that follows. A chirp from your phone makes you pause on your walk and check who’s texting you, it’s Emma and you can't help but smile when you see photos of her cat that’s named Blizzard. She asks if you want to visit because she has some news that she wants to share but points out it has to be in person because your expressions when being told something are a delight. She also demands you tame the stray so the kids can be friends and that her spoiled prince misses you.

You shake your head with a smile as you reply before you start walking again full well knowing it’s way too easy to bump into a stranger, something that’s happened way more than you’d care to admit.

A slight breeze brings the smell of a bakery that's just around the corner, it’s pleasant and makes you want to stop and take something to go but you continue on your way.

It’s not long before you're inside the studio, it’s two days before the ballet is set to be performed and you imagine for a second what it would be like to dance the way they do. To surrender to the music and move in tune with the sounds around them, to tell a story not through photos but through dance.

You talk with the director for a short moment before he brings you where the dancers are practicing at the moment. A few spare you a glance before turning back to the only two who are dancing and your eyes follow them. A man with scruffy blonde hair dips a woman low enough where her auburn hair touches the ground, both dressed in black and looking like they’ve been practicing for a good 30 minutes. You are mesmerized as they move in sync, as they dance to the music that's playing throughout the studio.

Both look like they’ve been doing this for years, both are flawless in the way they move before the choreographer tells them to take a break. You decide to sit down as you open your camera bag and make sure you have everything just in case, not looking up when you notice the woman start walking towards you.

She sits down a little bit to your right before reaching for and opening the water bottle that had been lying on its side between the two of you.

“You’re a photographer?” You freeze, camera in hand before you gently place it in your lap. You watch the two dancers for a moment before you turn to the redhead who spoke. Her eyes are so green and she has a slight flush on her cheeks that’s probably from practicing.

“You’re a ballerina?” The words come out before you can even register what you're saying but you don't add anything more. There is silence between the two of you and you can see the moment it clicks for her, that you’ve just found your soulmate. 

“You’re…” She doesn't finish her sentence but you nod anyway because you're itching to show her the proof that's written on your skin. In a world where it’s easier to hide, you still found her.

She’s standing and speaking to one of the other ballerinas in a language you don't understand before she turns to you and holds out her hand. “Come, we have a few minutes before you have to start taking photos.”

You’ve just noticed her slight accent as she speaks and even with her teasing smile because you just stare at her for a long moment you nod before placing your camera back in your bag and taking her hand. She pulls you gently out of the practice room and down one of the halls, her hand is warm in your own and a part of you never wants to let go. You try to pay attention to the turns the two of you keep making but you’ve noticed her hair is in a braided bun and you can't help but wonder how soft it would feel, how it would look let down.

She pulls you into a bathroom and the door behind you shuts with a soft click and suddenly she’s standing in front of you and of course you had to totally just figure out she’s two inches taller than you. “You’re staring.” She speaks with a smile and she still hasn't let your hand go. “You’re beautiful.” You tell her the truth and she looks so adorable as she blushes from your words.

“You’re okay with this? Do you want this?” She looks uncertain when she speaks and you can catch the glimpse of worry that she’s trying to hide. “I do. What do you want?” You take a step towards her, keeping her hand in your own because she’s right in front of you and she’s your soulmate. If she asks you to stay then you would stay till the world turns to ash.

“I want you.”

...