#or will you always see that miserable highschool student when you look at me

[afternines]

.

[whataboutsimple]

Let me just cook here for a moment-

An AU where the main gang aka Lukas, Petra, Olivia and Axel are all highschool students and that one "weird group of friends". One day wandering around the forest they find an old backpack. Inside there is a bunch of random school stuff like: books, notes, lunchbox with a name "Jesse" and an old phone. Curious as always, gang goes to Olivia's home (cause she's the nerd and prob have something to turn this thing on).

After some time they scroll through the phone, looking at photos and social medias. Those looks old. Maybe even before they went to school. Than Ellegaard (Olivia's mom) comes into the room and says they all should head home since it's becomes late.

Well, that was an interesting advanture. Time to get home.

At night, they all recieve some messages from unknown number. Since Axel is the only one who stays up late, he answers a bunch of them. The person texting claims to be "Jesse" and says that they need help. Axel answers for fun for some time thinking it's Olivia who tries to troll him. Jokes on her, no one can troll the Troll Master.

Next day they all hang out in school during lunch. Axel brings up how Olivia tried to troll him, but miserably failed. Lukas and Petra say that they recivied messages too. Olivia meanwhile looks confused because she didn't send anything. Where even would she get a second number for that? They laugh, thinking she still tries to prank them, but Liv looks too serious to be joking.

Okay, so who then texted them? Who would know they even have this backpack? Maybe someone set this all up for some prank video on YouCube? But how didthey got their numbers? Gang decides to meet up in Axel's hous this time and speak a litlle with this person through Axel's phone since he's the one who spoke with them a lot.

Once they get home, they see Magnus and Gabriel are there. While everyone greating them, Petra seems a bit of pissed off and when Gabriel tries to talk to her, she burst into Axel's room. Gang, confused, follows her, while pretty upset Gabriel continues speaking to worried Magnus.

As soon as gang turns Axel's phone on, new message pops up "You should be nicer to your father". Furious, Petra grabs Axel's phone and writes some agressive texts, demanding answers on what the heck is going on.

Jesse says, that if they want answers, they should check out account named "Jason Bennett" on Instapixel. As soon as they do it, they see a profile of young man. He probably six or seven years older then they and last post was made seven years ago. It's says that if anyone has any information where he can be, they shoud contact his family or the police.

Whole gang is shocked. Yeah, no way dead guy writes them, right? He says they should login in his acc using his password. How would he know the password if he wasn't him?

He asks them for help. To find his murderer. It's pointless going to the police since they'll say it's just some kids pulling a prank. Jason claims he himself doesn't remember anything from his last two days of life. He suggests they can either visit his sister Jessica or his girlfriend Stella.

Now it's up to th gang: help the poor guy or say it's all a prank?

-

Okay, I didn't excpect this to be THAT long honestly- it's just silly idea and nothing more, I'm not sure if someone already did this before but if yes, then please tell me so I can tag them or delete the post!

If you want me to continue this, please tell me!

[thememesthatwerecreated]

To say the new teacher wasn’t quite what Hugo expected would be an understatement. 

He looked like he’d crawled out of bed five minutes ago and would give anything to crawl back.  He was a lot younger than he’d expected, a buff guy, hair combed, in a suit and tie, and carrying a clipboard under his arm.  

He promptly ignored the ten teenagers staring at him while he walked over to his desk. When he got there, he shrugged off his jacket, took off his tie, and unbuttoned his dress shirt revealing a t-shirt underneath that said ‘the book was better.’

Hugo turned to Xander, who was silently — yet uncontrollably — laughing into his hands.

The girl in front of Hugo raised her hand. “Uh, Mr. uh-” she tried.

Their teacher raised a single finger as he opened a drawer and took out a mug and a thermos. He poured the contents of the thermos, probably coffee, into his mug and chugged it back in one long gulp. He set his mug down on his desk with a resounding thud.

The bell rang.

“Alright, you little gremlins! Here’s what’s up! My name is Mr. Nemo, and you have a choice. I can be a mentor and help you have a wonderful life, I can be a tormentor and make your life miserable, or I can be a dementor and suck the life out of you. Your choice. Any questions?”

I choose this part. Can you say what you were thinking about it and stuff?

Thanks for the ask! It was a while ago, so some of this is going to be my thoughts on the writing now.

The 'mentor, tormentor, dementor,' bit was actually something my 10th grade english teacher would say to her students. I don't actually think she said it to me, but my best friend told me about it. That teacher was a really influencal mentor to me during highschool. She was sassy and salty as heck and I still consider her to be one of the wisest women I've had the blessing to know.

I think the main thing I was to show the student's first impression of Jacob Nemo. I'm not sure when or why I chose a student pov but I think it was the right choice. Through their eyes it gives the reader a fresh perspective on Jason's teacher persona. In a way, I'm reintroducing Jason. Jacob Nemo, while an alias, is very much a part of Jason. It's tapping into his 15 year old passionate self who wanted to become an english professor, while keeping his personallity.

While I was typing this answer I tried to think of a major difference in character between Jason and Jacob, and there really isn't one. If you look back at the snippet (I think it's at the end of the last chapter of the prologue) you see Jacob's interview and it lists the details Jason added to Jacob's fake backstory. Jason purposfully made someone very similar to him because he didn't want to be someone else or act in front of these kids. He even included that he was in the military and has ptsd to offer an excuse in case he ever breaks down while as Jacob.

This is Jason's dream job, what he would have been if he hadn't died, but even more than that, this goes back to his resove at the end of chapter 9 where he is trying to make the most of being in this timeline. Jason realizes he would not be who he is without the people who have poured into his life. People like his family and, I think, his english teacher as a kid. He knows what a trusted adult routing for you can do for a kid and wants to pay it forward.

I'm pretty sure I wanted to show Jason being tired, becuase he does patrol pretty much all night and then have to show up at school. Pretty sure I purposfully made Jason only have one class always at the end of the day. It's Gotham's private school so I immagine they would/could have their own special exclusive rules about their AP classes. So Jason would be able to sleep through the morning and show up at class in the afternoon. He looks like he rolled out of bed because he probably just did.

I made a lot of the english students and Mischief members way before introducing them. I sat down and just whipped up a bunch of oc kids and then later decided who would be in what group. Hugo was one of my favorites from the english kids so I decided to do his pov.

My beta made a comment about how Jason would totally be buffer than the PE teacher and that made me laugh.

Thanks for the ask and letting me ramble a bit. I realize this is pretty long, but I really enjoyed it! Honestly this helped me make connections about my writing. This reminded me of things I planned I totally forgot about, and made me realize I did things that looked planned but were totally not.

[angelic-vibez]

Jungkook x f!readers | Bully

Genre; Hella angsty but with fluff ending.

Warning; bullying, violence, Kisses....? I guess ..

Summary; Jeon Jungkook is your bully. But doesn't like the thought of someone else bothering you let alone hit you.

Jeon Jungkook. The man that feels like he's destined to make your life miserable and is actually successfuly doing so. You always thought he must be a psycho, out of his damn mind to bully people in college.

The man never cuts you some slacks. The classic smacking your books out of your hand and sending your papers flying around in the hall ways was his daily religious ritual. His assignments were yours to complete, no matter how exhausting. Whatever he orders, you're obligated to do.

You sometimes would wish you'd go back in time to change what you did even though it was the right thing to do. You stood up to Jungkook when he was bullying an innocent boy along with his stupid friends. Ever since then, it was never the same. And as much as you wanted helping that poor boy and you tried, you wished you had stayed hidden to avoid the never ending trouble you are still in to this day.

Libraries. The quiet place you get some peaceful reading aren't so peaceful anymore. He had dropped a damn living spider in your hair causing you to shoot up from your seat abruptly and tried to shaking it off your hair as you screamed on top of your lungs. Turns out, it was fake. He held his stomach, trying hard not to fall off his chair as he laughed so hard while you got kicked out.

Cafeterias aren't a safe place too. Like when he flipped the tray of food all over you as he walked by chuckling as if it was nothing was his normal routine.

Waking up everyday to go to class has been a dreadful experience so far. Or at least until you make it into one. The only time you feel like you could breath a little is when your in class. You were a freshman and he's a third year student so you never had the same class. That's why you started to spend a little more time in class just to catch a break and it was also the reason why Jungkook spread rumors about you sleeping with your professor to get the grades that you got for studying your ass off day and night. It was just traumatizing.

You had thought you'd live the aesthetic college life you dreamed of since highschool ended. But no. Not when Jeon freaking Jungkook was alive.

Gums he'd stick in your hair, trip you over so you'd fall face first, the lies he tells to get you in trouble. It was getting way out of hand but whose gonna tell on Jeon Jungkook? Unless they desperately have a death wish.

Half of freshman year has passed with you leading a horrible life so far. You've definitely decided to transfer to anywhere after the year ends at this point.

_

An ordinary day for you as you let you dark long hair cover you, books clutched in your arms tight, back pack slung over your shoulders as you walked down the hall head held down with your friend beside you continously ranting about something you quiet didn't hear.

*bump*

You crash into a big figure. You sighed thinking it's Jungkook. But you were terribly wrong. You looked up only to find another face. Infuriated one. You looked down to see he was holding an open soda. Which has also spilled all over his white shirt.

"What the fuck?" He spits at you.

"Im- I'm so sorry- I didn't- I wasn't looking"

He takes step towards you giving you a dirty look. "Hey, she apologized. Move along retard" your friend defends you.

"T'fuck did you just call me?" He turns to her and grabs her by the collar of her shirt.

"Hey! Stop it!" You tried defending but-

*SMACK!!*

One back handed slap right across your cheek sent you flying straight to the floor. You felt dizzy from the harsh blow you received. The hall way went silent after gasps where heard here and there. Your vision begin to blurr. Hot tears streamed down your cheek as the man finally let's go your friend and walks over you.

"What the fuck? What was his problem anyway? He got some anger issues or something? Who hits a girl?" Your friend says as you were both sat down in lecture hall waiting to begin the class. Your metal bottle of water on your cheek to ease the stinging pain and burning sensation.

"It's my fate" you chuckled.

"*tsk* girl shut up! We are definitely reporting that psycho. This stupid bullying needs to stop" she shakes her head and scoffs making a mental note for later.

Everyone stole glances at you at school that day as they whispered to eachother. They were surprised that you actually made it alive. You were at the cafeteria to eat lunch. You expected the same bullying there as you held your tray to make it to your table. You peacefully did and it was a miracle.

You did not glance at Jungkook to notice the unusual concerned look he was giving you. But then he was red. In boliong rage as he sat among he's group of friends who were unusually quiet. His eyes followed you as you sat with your friend, long black hair covering your small face and the trauma it has received earlier.

In the midst of your conversation you looked up when you felt a preense and you saw Jungkook towering over you. To say he was infuriated would be a completle and utter understatement. You looked at him back at your friend and back at him as you swallowed.

You were scared. You tried to think what went wrong. What you had done.

"Oh" you say as it clicked and fish through your bag to find the papers "I-Ive done the assignment" you say innocently handing him the papers. Just like always the paper went flying from your hands but this time it was technically his not yours. Frowning a little you got up to collect them but he sat you right back down as he also sits down facing you before pulling you closer to him. You thought you were going to recive another blow today and shilded yourself holding your hands up while squeezing you eyes shut.

"Let me see!" He growls grabbing your face and pushing you hair behind your ear to observe the giant red mark evidence of what he had been hearing the whole morning. His jaw clenched as your tears threaten to spill. His chest heaved with each breath he took and you were finally out of his grasp. Through your blurred vision you could see his figure storming toward the group of guys and picked the one that looked quiet familiar to you. And before you knew it, he was throwing his fists like there was no damn tmorrow.

Few seconds into the fight and a crowd formed around, some students jumped in to separate the two before they killed eachother. Or rather before Jungkook killed him because even though he did take some blows, it was nothing compared to the damage he had done.

You suddenly feel light headed, witnessing the incident that unfolded before you. "Oh my god" was the last thing you whispered before the darkness consumed you completlety and you fell to the floor.

It took your friend a couple of seconds to pull her eyes off the men. She looks to the side and you weren't there where you stood seconds ago. She looks down to see you laying lifeless on the floor.

"Oh my God! Y/n!"

_

You woke up feeling your head aching. You shifted a little before your eyes open to stare at the white ceiling above you. You blink a few times before you pull yourself up and observed your surrounding. Your eyes widen as you found yourself in a completley unfamiliar room, laying on a bed.

You looked around completley baffled by your current situation. You scan around the room. The walls were painted black and the room had a quiet dark aesthetic. But the question was, why were you here?

After ganing full conciouness, you pull yourself off the bed and got up to investigate.

"Careful" you hear a strangely familiar voice. Head snapping towards its direction. And..Jungkook? "You should seat down"

"Wait-What? Who- Why am I- Why are you-? " You couldn't form a proper sentence.

"You passed out, princess" he plainly says and walks toward you where you took a step back as you felt him get closer.

"Here's an idea, how about you spare my life?" You say with a nervous smile. But he only sighs and grabs your wrist. He pulls you towards the bed before he sits you down on the edge. "Do not... move" he says before he leaves the room once again.

So many questions left unanswerd as you sat there afraid and awaited for something to happen. Jungkook was back with an ice pack in his hand. He pulled his chair so he was sat right infront of you. He gently placed the cold pack on your head. The spot you hit as you fell to the floor.

You were utterly confused by Jungkook's sudden behavior. He was acting kind? Towards you?

"What happened?" You ask.

"I told you. You passed out" he says retrieving his hands away "I guess you couldn't handle watching me beat him to death huh" he smirked before placing the ice pack on your head again.

Your eyes widen as you begin to recall the whole situation. He actually did beat a man almost to death and you wonder why he sat here as if nothing happened and why he wasn't in any trouble at school.

"I- I need to leave" you say as he thought he might actually be a psycho.

"You're not leaving, baby. Not unless I make sure you're alright and that dumb fuck is taken care of" he says.

"And since when do you care? Last time I checked, you're not any different than he is" you finally muster up the courage to say which caused him to shot up from his seat and run his fingers through his hair, rage slowly building up.

"That's different, princess, I never lay a finger on you" He explains. As if that makes it okay for him to do what he had done to you all along. And you could've told him that but you were still scared of him so you didn't want to poke the bear.

"Have you eaten anything lately? You look so weak" he squats down infront you and places hand on your for head to check on your temperature then down to your cheek as his thumb rubs circles soothingly.

From some reason your heart skips a beat and your stomach forming knots "Come here" he says not waiting for your answer as he takes your hand in his and pull you out of the room.

He told you to sit on the couch while he brings you food. Minutes pass by and he was seated infront of you with ramen in his hands. "Open up" he orderd. He was actually going to feed you.

"How can I be sure you did not posion that?" You say squinting your eyes at him. Jugkook sighs and rolls his eyes before shoving the noodles on the chopsticks into his mouth. He then begins to feed you. He'd whipe your lips with his thumb whenever you got something on it. He'd push you hair behind your ear and observe you preety face.

Who is he and what has he done with Jungkook? You think to yourself as you were seated there feeling like you're looking at a whole new person. He was taking care of you. And he is your bully, who finds pleasure in making you suffer.

"What's wrong?" He searches for your eyes as you zone out into space "Y/n!"

You suddenly feel a wave of overwhelming emotions hitting you all at once and the urge to leave. "I need to l-leave" you get out of your seat and decide to find your way out of wherever the hell you were.

"Y/n , wait!" He chases behind you.

"Where's my shoes?" You asked but didn't waste another second to wait for his reply determined to leave bare foot if you had to.

"Y/n" he calls once again, softly as his hand grab onto your wrist and pull you back to him. You slammed into his chest.

"Kiss me" he says breathlessly.

"W-What?" You stutter.

"Please?" He pleads with doe eyes as his hand wrap around your waist to pull you more closer if that was even possible.

Before you know it, Jungkook leans down to capture your lips in his. And now he was kissing you? His lips were so soft as he desperately continues to glide them against yours. The lack of oxygen reaching your brain made you feel light headed and your knees weaken. If it wasn't for his strong arms keeping you in place, you would've fallen.

You pushed his chest a little, finally separating your lips and gasping for air. "I'm so sorry Y/n. I'm sorry for everything I put you through" he whispers eyes closed against your lips. Your small hands made their way to cup his face, thumbs dragging down his redden bottom lip.

"Jungkook...." You whisper and he almost let out a whimper at how right it sounded to hear his name coming from your mouth. "I- I can't do this"

He weaknes at your words. He was hurt but tries his best to keep himself collected. "Okay" he says and moves out of your hold before walking away hand gripping into his hair.

You stood there for a second, processing what had just happened and you turned to leave but you stopped at your tracks when you hear drawers being open and slammed shut. You wanted to leave again but you were concerned so you just wanted to check on him.

Walking back, you find him in the kitchen as he gulps down a glass full of alcohol like it was water.

"What are you doing? Are you crazy?" You question feeling a bit concerned at his behavior.

"The fucking door is that way Y/n, leave!" He demands.

"What did you excpect? For me to forgive you so easily? Incase you haven't noticed you've made my life a living hell for half a year" You point out.

"Your absolutely right! I'm the monster here. Nobody argued so please just leave and I won't bother you again-" The man was boiling with utter rage. He did take hits for you, fought for you and took care of you even though It was for one day. But maybe that wasn't enough for your forgiveness. "-ow! fuck" he curses as the glass completley shatters to pieces in his hand from the way he had a grip on it. A piece cut his palm a little. That's how mad the man was.

"Jungkook!" You rush over to see his injured hand.

_

You were almost done cleaning up his wound. It wasn't that bad but it scared you. It also took you a few to drag his ass to the couch because he was so damn stubborn.

"Stop acting like you care Y/n" he says earning a deep chuckle from you.

"I didn't say that and you're my bully" you comment.

"Whatever" he rolls his eyes, head leaned back on the couch.

"There you go. All done. Make sure you don't hold glasses too hard next time" you say with a chuckle and placed a peck on the band aid. He cups your face and pulls you close.

"God you're so beautiful" he breaths.

"And you, my friend, are very complicated" you smile trying to maintain concerned look.

You felt the soft bed against you back as he slowly lays you down, hovering on top and not breaking the kiss. He was gentle and passionate with his kiss and was hard for him to separate from your lips for the past ten minutes.

He kept peppering your whole face with kisses whilst you giggled. You both spent the rest of the night talking while laying in bed. Just you and Jungkook and things you never knew about eachother. Every now and then he'd get close and peck your lips before he continues to talk. His heart would flutter whenever your eyes shined as you talked about things that you loved. You had never thought you'd connect deep to this level with whom you thought was your worst enemy.

"You're not a monster, Kookie" you whisper in a sleepy voice, your eyes closed and you laid there on your chest.

Jungkook beams with smile and turns to look at you, carefully studying your beautiful features and the way you look cute laying on the side of your face.

"What did just call me?" He asks but you were already going into a deep slumber. He leaned in to kiss you once more. "What are you doing to me Y/n-ah"

°

°

© angelic-vibez 2022. Do not edit, repost, translate or copy.

[dojunie]

★★★ maknae line ver.

PART 1 / YOU'RE READING PART 2

desc: more random iotas on what character from the anime 'ouran highschool host club' i think each member of nct dream would be! plus, also, what their roles/personality would be like as a host member :-D

(pov: you're a student at ouran, and these are the members of the host club! + mini confession hc!)

warning: none (a previous knowledge of ohshc, mayhaps? you can definitely still read this standalone, but the characterization might make a lil more sense lolol)

wc: 1.5k

click to continue!

lee donghyuck; hikaru hitachiin

⋆ thing 1

⋆ mischievous, mischievous, MISCHIEVOUS

⋆ prioritizes having fun over anything else

⋆ if there’s a prank in the host clubroom? It’s 100% hyuck's doing (with help from chenle for sure)

⋆ someone is screaming indignantly and making noise for seemingly no reason? also 100% hyuck

⋆ will ALWAYS find a way to get what he wants, usually through mere outsmarting, but for anyone who’s just as stubborn as him? he breaks out the pout ( and that pout? lethal... and it always gets you, which his miserable ass is aware of and definitely uses to his advantage)

⋆ smarter than everyone gives him credit for

⋆ people think he's all fast fun and no thinking, only in it for the good times, but donghyuck is actually the one who comes up with a majority of the most loved club events

⋆ school wide hide and seek, halloween costume ball, club trip to the beach, he's surprisingly business-minded when he needs to be

⋆ but all those smarts go out the window once he gets challenged

⋆ because he is COMPETITIVE

⋆ especially with you, because you never give in to his scheming. he'll die before he lets you win (and by die i mean he'll cheat like a motherfucker)

⋆ you're probably the only person who comes to the host club that hyuck can't instantly and shamelessly charm

⋆ which is so weird to him that it becomes his Mission to Capture Your Heart

⋆ (which really just means he'll pout and pout and pout until you break and officially deem him your favorite host)

⋆ (but you're surely not going to tell him that he's been your favorite since the first day he tried to woo you, because where's the fun in that?)

⋆ he's constantly making up and bringing in new games to try to defeat you in because he can't stand the idea of being tied with anyone

⋆ you're not feeling too great one afternoon when you come into the clubroom, but sure enough, hyuck is basically waiting at the door with a game of ddakji, insisting you play with him before you even have a chance to sign in

⋆ you oblige, and he's so hyped up that he doesn't notice how tired you look

⋆ he wins

⋆ obviously

⋆ because you're barely playing

⋆ but he gloats anyway, getting all up in your face about it, really hamming it up because he’s never won that quickly before, especially against you— you always give him a run for his metaphorical money

⋆ but then as he grins at you, peering up into your face catch how you usually roll your eyes, or scowl, or call him a cheater: he realizes you're crying

⋆ and his smile drops immediately

⋆ then it's like every alarm bell in the entire world has started to blare at once

⋆ '...y/n-ah?'

⋆ but you bolt out of the room, expecting him to stay behind and continue to host, like he should, but surprise! he follows you out, grabs you by your wrist when you wont stop walking away from him

⋆ he thinks that you're upset that he was being a sore winner and immediately starts to grovel, bending down to see your expression (but you keep looking away because?? who the hell wants their crush to see them cry) so hyuck just grabs your face between his palms and forces you to look up

⋆ he looks... panicked

⋆ “I was being mean, I was totally being too mean, right? Man, I really overdid it this time... C'mon, you're too pretty to be crying like this, y/n-ah… Will you cheer up if I let you flick me?”

⋆ and the shock of him saying this has your tears stopping in utter confusion— at first you assume he’s just nervous about the consequences of making a visitor cry

⋆ but it's obvious that he's being genuine, eyes huge, actually worried he hurt your feelings this time

⋆ and that's endearing enough that it makes you feel a little better, and to your surprise, when he leads you away, it’s not back to the club room, but to to the student courtyard that overlooks the grass pavilion so you can just have a moment alone (or as alone as you can be with donghyuck pressed to your side as you sit on the ledge and talk about nothing and everything)

⋆ (but you do take the offer of flicking him, which he happily takes, because the way you laugh when he yelps is definitely worth the red spot on his forehead for the next few hours.)

na jaemin; tamaki suoh

⋆ are you surprised? you absolutely should not be

⋆ because if there's one main thing jaemin and tamaki share, it is their absolute, unbridled shamelessness

⋆ because this boy is bold... but not on purpose? which gives him the unique attribute of being disgustingly charming, but also terribly naive

⋆ like hyuck, is also smarter than people give him credit for; most people just assume he's a pretty face, but he's actually rather observant, just lets a lot of things slide because his life is easier that way

⋆ jaemin is secretly Very Weird

⋆ like... Concerningly Weird

⋆ it's more like he is a weird person who happens to be beautiful, instead of just a beautiful person who's a little weird

⋆ though all the other students could never guess that from how he composes himself

⋆ it takes quite a few trips to the club for even anybody to even sneek the barest peek through his perfect, Anime Love Interest facade; which is why it startles him so badly that you saw right through it the first time you guys met

�� but it's also why he thinks you're his favorite visitor, because he can let the mask down for a bit and just... exist

⋆ instead of immediately starting the spiel on you when you arrive, doing all the host checklist stuff of making you feel like the only girl in the world— smiling even if he doesn’t feel like smiling, following your every beck and call, stuff even he gets tired of sometimes even though he loves hosting— when you request him it feels like a break

⋆ you come in and ask him how his day has been, instead of the other way around

⋆ you eat with him and everything is just so… relaxed, compared to the insanity of how the clubroom usually feels

⋆ he starts to get oddly protective of you

⋆ stepping in when any of the other boys are talking to you for too long (which is at all, according to jaemin), pretending that he's tugging you away from all his leering friends because they're annoying

⋆ (and totally not because he doesn't like your attention on anyone else)

⋆ it grows to the point that his odd new attitude even begins follow you out of the host club, monopolizing all your time in the classes you share (declaring you his partner, walking you to and from class, texting you whenever he can’t physically see you, butting in when students get a little to touchy with his y/n)

⋆ "Don't you think you're getting a little close... What was your name again? Moowoo? Ever heard of personal space?"

⋆ and then as your classmate hyunwoo disappears (because an agitated na jaemin is a sight you do not trifle with) you simply stare at the boy standing idly beside you, (half because wtf was that?? and half because if anyone doesn't know about personal space it is na mf jaemin)

⋆ but the most confusing part is that he doesn't even know why he's so frigid all the time when other people flirt with you

⋆ that is, until hyuck teases him, shouting that 'his little girlfriend is here' when you walk into the clubroom, and you only swat at the boy, saying nothing in response,

⋆ your dismissal of it bothers him for hours afterwards

⋆ you, of course, already know of his crush on you even if he hasn’t yet (the poor boy is as obvious as a green sky)

⋆ but you allow him to figure it out on his own

⋆ (mostly for your own convenience)

⋆ (because once he realizes that he likes you, his presence in your world will probably quadruple, and no matter how cute he is, that is something you're going to have to prepare for)

⋆ (because if aloof jaemin was already stuck to your side?)

⋆ (in-love-with-you jaemin is going to be even better worse)

zhong chenle; hikaru hitachiin

⋆ thing 2 to donghyuck's thing 1

⋆ half the time he cannot be bothered, the other half he's certifiably insane

⋆ either watching the drama silently, munching on chips, as the entire clubroom descends into chaos around him, merely keeping points on who's winning

⋆ or he's in the center of it, shrill voice screaming, the sole perpetrator of whatever world-ending event is taking place

⋆ host chenle stands by the mantra of Do First, Think Later

⋆ the rest of the host members sic chenle on people like he's some sort of scary bodyguard, simply because his resting bitch face goes CRAZY

⋆ even though he's truly the most easily fluster-able person in the whole host club

⋆ and to prove this point, you realized a while ago that zhong chenle has one fatal crutch: physical contact

⋆ he'll tease and tease and tease his visitor, insistent on being annoying because that's how he gets under people's skin and his favorite pastime is bothering people, but if you want him to cut it out?

⋆ just touch him

⋆ put your hand on his arm, he'll get quiet (which in and of itself is a feat, because chenle? voluntarily quiet? and it only takes you patting him and asking him to simmer down a bit? magical)

⋆ you’re about to leave, and chenle does what he always does when you tell him you’ve got to go: he’ll beg and nudge and pester you, because he knows the quickest way to get him to stop is to just give in to his antics

⋆ “Can’t you stay just a little longer? It’s only four, you’re really going to go? You can’t, you can’t, you can’t! What will I do if you’re not here? I’ll die of boredom and it will be all your fault!”

⋆ but you actually need to go, you can’t placate him this time, so guess what?

⋆ you pull him down into a hug, patting his head before you bow and leave

⋆ “I’ll see you tomorrow, Lele. Stay strong!”

⋆ chenle does not murmur another word above 10 decibels for the next 12 hours

⋆ the next time you visit, for the first time (ever) he doesn’t scream your name the moment you walk into the room

⋆ merely nods sheepishly when you sit next to him, and it's like that for the next few times you visit

⋆ (tell me this boy doesn’t do a total 180 the moment he realizes he likes you a little more than he should)

⋆ but this is Not a permanent change, because as soon as he realizes you like him too? prepare to be terrorized (with love) as he focuses all his energy on you

⋆ though you can't say you'd have it any other way

park jisung; honey mitsukuni

⋆ baby vibes but actually WAY stronger than you think he is; can and will actually fuck you up if he needs to (but he'll be crying and apologizing the whole time)

⋆ uses the cute image to get his way sometimes, but always feels bad about it afterward so he doesn't do it often

⋆ sweet tooth

⋆ does not think before he talks; is always asking seemingly stupid questions because he genuinely does not understand, doesn't always catch onto the obvious, understands the joke fifteen seconds later

⋆ quickest way into his heart is to feed him because this boy is Always Hungry

⋆ and that's initially how he starts to find interest in you

⋆ because you initially requested him not because you found him attractive or wanted to get to know him better, but because you’d heard around school that the host club had the best snacks, and that he was the boy to request if you wanted to know what was tastiest

⋆ eventually, after you’ve both eaten through everything on the club cafe menu, you start to bring him interesting things to try from outside

⋆ special chocolates, delicious cakes, rare flavors of candy boba from places he’s never even heard of before

⋆ and park jisung is about as oblivious as mark is, which is why he thinks for quite a while that his odd perception of you is just because you always bring him the best snacks

⋆ because why else would he get so happy when he sees you walk into the clubroom? why else would his heart jump when you request to eat with him over the other club members?

⋆ but on the one day all you can do is drop off a lunchbox cake for him, another arrangement already planned for that afternoon— so you can’t stay and eat it together— he's oddly irritated for the rest of the evening

⋆ (he'll still moodily scarf down the lunchbox cake though, and make sure to tell you how it just didn’t taste as good without you there)

⋆ he is definitely the type to follow you around outside of the clubroom too, from class to class, during outside activities, chattering endlessly with you the whole time, not even realizing that the interest he's showing in you is Not Normal Host Behavior

⋆ it takes the rest of his members mentioning offhandedly how much he lights up when you come around, and how they've never seen him so happy around someone that wasn't his own host club (or the food delivery man)

⋆ but he just shrugs it off, not understanding what they mean because duh? he likes having you around

⋆ but the true realization comes when you mention that you just love chocolate mocha cupcakes, which is awesome, because jisung loves them too! they're actually his favorite flavor out of all the cakes the club sells, and they only make a few of them a week!

⋆ but... there's only one left

⋆ and jisung immediately gives it to you, shrugging

⋆ “I can just get another one next time. This is the type you like, right, Noona? Just make sure you eat it deliciously and I’ll let you have it!”

⋆ which freezes just about everyone in the whole room, because... jisung never shares his food. ever.

⋆ (but as the pair of you try to split the tiny cupcake down the middle not even ten seconds later, giggling, completely aloof to both of your own feelings, it’s all the rest of the hosts can do to just keep their mouths shut and roll their eyes.)

PART 2 OF THIS SCENARIO

MASTERLIST

(a/n: woo! second post!)

[forsworned]

[♥] academyau!substitute teacher {renguko kyojuro x reader}

Genre: Slight Fluff, Comedy

Categories: F/M

Relationships: Kyoujuro Renguko/Reader, Giyuu Tomioka/Reader

word count: 2,538

a/n: this is a pretty long read, so read at your own risk of boredom. i guess it could also b classified as a "x giyuu" but the title is just way too long and kind of throws the main focus off. might turn this into multiple parts so let me know what y'all think! also this is just a filler for the requests i have rn i don't want to leave you guys hanging

❀⊱┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄⊰❀

"I literally don't know shit about history."

Giyu sighed in exasperation. "You don't need to know anything about history [first name]. The teacher already has a lesson plan and you literally just need to pass out the papers. I just need you to cover for a couple of a days because one of the teachers are out sick."

You groaned as you threw your head back in annoyance, pushing your feet up against the edge of your desk. Even though it didn't look it Giyu was practically begging you to substitute for one of his coworkers. And he almost never asks for favors.

Giyu ran a hand through his hair. "He's super picky with his subs and everyone he's had come in hasn't come back."

"So you're saying that I'm a good pick." You mused, with your head in your hands with an annoying smug look.

"Don't push it."

You scrunched your face in disgust. "I just really, really don't want to Giyu. Middle school kids are the absolute worst. All they do is make moaning noises and forget or neglect to wear deodarant."

Giyu lightly chuckled. Your eyes darted to watch his usually solemn demeanor melted away into a small smile which immediately disappeared when you caught wind of it.

He cleared his throat and continued to speak like nothing happened.

"Anyway, so you'll do it?"

You rolled your eyes.

"Yeah, whatever. I'll do it."

Giyu looked pleased with himself when he heard your answer.

"I mean after all, I do owe you like a million and one favors." You sarcastically mused.

Which you kind of did. Giyu was your childhood best friend and always kept your out trouble in the nick of time. Whether it was you getting chased down by the neighborhood cat, or when you got gum stuck in your hair and you didn't want your parents to find out so he quickly snipped it out of your hair with everything seemingly in place like nothing happened. Yeah you could say you were a bit of troublemaker growing up, but Giyu was like the older brother that always looked after you.

"I'm so glad you realized." He replied cooly. "Be here by 7:30AM. Don't be late, I already have enough on my plate and I don't need you embarassing me."

You used your hand to shoo him out of your office space. "Mhm, you can leave now."

"I'm serious."

"Yup."

He squinted his eyes at you."[first name]"

"Ok! I got it. I'll be there 7:30 sharp." You exclaimed throwing your arms up in surrender.

He smirked in satisfaction. "Good."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The morning air was crisp as the sun shone down on your blurred eyes. You absolutely dreaded waking up in the morning and despite that you still agreed to be here. Oh, how you hated that man.

"Good morning." A familiar voice muffled beside you.

Speak of the devil.

He was munching away at his raisin bread walking next to you in the most nonchalant manner. Typical Giyu.

"Shut up." You mumbled miserably.

"You know, you could be a little nicer."

Your eyes narrowed at him. Expression in full death stare mode, but Giyu was as cool as ever, and as always completely unfazed by your behavior. But before you could retaliate, middle and highschool girls were practically lining up to say good morning to Giyu, blushing like mad when he acknowledged them. You on the other hand, were getting the death stares and whispers instead.

"Must be nice to be the heart throb PE teacher." You teased, poking him with your binder.

Giyu ignored you as you walked into the building, showing you to your classroom. You ignored the stares of kids burning holes through your back as you analyzed everything. Tons of inspirational historical quotes lined the walls, pictures and signatures of past and possibly current students covered one single wall. You inspected closely trying to catch a glimpse of who the teacher you were substituting for. One person in particular caught your eye, and he was hot. With a capital H. But before you could look at the other pictures to confirm Giyu called you over.

"Miss [last name], can you come up to the front and introduce yourself."

You sighed as you approached the front of the classroom and watched as the students all stood up. As their whispers got louder, you had to resist the urge to roll your eyes.

"Good morning class. I'm going to be your substitute teacher for the day as Mr.--"You glanced over at the desk and moved the plaque in your direction. "--Renguko is out sick today."

As the class bowed in respect getting their good morning greetings, some of the children could't help but show their disappointment. You noticed most of them girls.

"I'll leave them to you." Giyu stated, and then looked at the class. "And be good to your substitute. I don't want to hear anyone misbehaving."

They bowed as he exited the room and now all eyes were on you. You sighed to yourself.

I really gotta learn to say no sometimes.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

To say you were exhausted was an understatement. It’s not that you hated kids or anything, but they always just see to have so much energy and well, you didn’t. Not even a cup of coffee could save you right now. You watched as the clock above your desk ticked and felt yourself getting more and more sleepier by the moment. Your consciousness fleeting as you lie under your warm blankets.

The image of that fiery haired man popped into your head and your eyes shot open.

You totally forgot to ask Giyu about that hot guy!

You let out a loud groan, knowing that your timing was off because now he would most definitely be suspicious if you asked him tomorrow. The curiosity of knowing that man itched at your skin. You absolutely had to know who he was.

What if he was a high school student, or worse a middle school student who looked very grown.

You outwardly icked at the thought, closing your eyes and scrunching your face in disgusted.

No way. He definitely had to be an adult. Maybe even a teacher.

“The history teacher!” You exclaimed out loud, shooting your whole body up.

It had to be him. You smiled victoriously to yourself, mentally patting yourself in the back.

And you had the perfect plan set up to find out.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You had to have looked in the mirror for about three hours to make sure you looked absolutely stunning. Hair curled to frame your face perfectly, and make up subtle but very much enhancing your natural features. You rubbed your lips one more time in the mirror before smacking your hands to your face to wake yourself up. Giyu was not going to be happy.

The morning bells chimed and you were seated at the desk welcoming students as they walked in. You discreetly checked your make up in your compact mirror under the desk to make sure nothing was running and not a hair was out of place.

“Perfect.” You whispered to yourself, running a hand through your blow out. All this work for a man that probably wasn’t even a teacher here.

“Miss [last name], what are you doing here.”

You froze at the voice. Nothing could prepare you for the icy glare that Giyu shot down at you. It sent a shiver down your spine. But his glare melted right off of you as you glanced over to the man next to him. Your mystery man finally come true!

“Oh hello, Mr. Tomioka. It’s pleasure seeing you.” You smiled, standing up. You looked right over to the handsome man right next to him. His hair like rays of sunlight with eyes to match. You could barely contain your excitement. “And you must be Mr. Renguko.”

His smile as big as the sun. Scratch that. He was the sun.

Bright, beautiful and fiery. He physically made you warmer just being in his very presence. You could’ve sworn you heard simultaneous female sighs in admiration, but you were way too distracted by how utterly gorgeous he was.

“Yes, I am.” He cheerfully stated. “And you must be the substitute that was in for me yesterday.”

He took your hand in his and you could’ve sworn you melted at his touch. Finely calloused hands, indicating that he worked with his hands a lot. Not that his physique couldn’t already tell you how absolutely fit he was.

“Yes, I am. Your class was wonderful. I didn’t have any problems with them whatsoever.” You couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear. This really was the man and it took every ounce of you not to pinch yourself to see if you were awake or not.

“So are you going to tell me why exactly you’re here today.” Giyu chimed in. This time his icy glare had no effect.

“Oh yes, I thought I was still scheduled for today. I never heard anything back from Mr.Tomioka so I assumed that I would head back in.” You lied right through your teeth and Giyu could see right through it.

He narrowed his eyes at you. “And I remember emailing you last night confirming that Mr. Renguko was fully recovered and ready to work again.”

You couldn’t see it but Giyu was totally spitting out venom with every single word he spoke. It was almost terrifying, but you were way too distracted by the glow of the man that was the literal sun right beside you.

As if the smile on your face couldn’t get any bigger.

“That’s odd. I don’t remember getting an email.” You innocently put a finger to your lip, and looked upward as if you were searching your head for the memory of the email confirmation that you definitely recall getting.

Giyu’s went from you to Mr.Renguko. And then it finally clicked for him. His shoulder dropped in defeat. He did not have the strength required to dealing with your shenanigans today. He turned around heading out the classroom, raising a hand to dismissively.

“Just don’t burn the place down.”

You gave him two big thumbs up. “You got it!”

"So would you like to observe the class since you're already here?" Mr.Renguko interjected. He motioned to the empty seat right beside his desk and chair.

You beamed at him. "Only if that's okay with your class, of course."

"Oh trust me, they are more than okay with that." He grinned at the students. Most of them smiled and blushed looking away from your direction. You sat there in confusion, but before you could inquire about what he said, he shot out of his seat and grabbed the stack of papers on his desk.

"Alright, class we are going to go over your classwork from yesterday and finish the rest of chapter six."

☆彡

It seemed like forever until Mr.Renguko had settled into his seat while he let his students work together on their classwork.

"I can see why my students are such big fans of you." He mused. You looked up from your phone and saw him warmly grinning at your face. This time you didn't fight the blood rushing to the surface of your cheeks.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well," He pulled out a stack of notecards and began shuffling through them. "I always have my students write their own evaluations of my substitutes and yours were outstanding. Lots of compliments about your appearance and how you carried the class."

Evaluation? Appearance?

Your jaw went slightly aslack at his words. The only thing that left your lips: "Evaluations...?"

His grin grew. Mr.Rengoku knew that this had caught you off guard but he continued. "Yes, I like to know what substitutes are doing their job and keeping my students in line and comfortable."

You were almost speechless. "Wow, you must really care about your students."

He smiled softly this time, and fondly looked over at his students working diligently and quietly together. "Yes, I do. They're kind of like my own kids. I want the very best for them."

Just when you thought you couldn't admire him anymore that you already did. Hot and caring? It had to be too good to be true. You pointed to the best teacher of the year awards on his desk. "I guess you didn't get those just based off your looks alone then."

He visibly blushed and chuckled at you statement as he rubbed the back of his head. "Nah, I don't think so."

You raised an eyebrow at him and pointed at the wall of photos and signatures that lined his wall. "That wall definitely says otherwise."

He laughed a hearty laugh this time. "I don't really think that's the case. Like I said I just look after my students like their my own. They really are my pride and joy."

It really was incredibly hard to not let yourself melt into a puddle in his presence alone. But before you could collect your thoughts, the lunch bell rang and students filed out to their homeroom's and handing in their assignments on their way out. Most of the girls shot you dirty looks before heading out as a way of showing their contempt towards you before the smiled at Mr.Rengoku who was collecting papers at the doorway. At this point, you literally couldn't blame them. Their teacher was a total hottie and you were practically stealing him right under their noses.

As the last student handed in their assignment, Mr. Rengoku closed the door behind them and approached his desk to set aside the stack of papers. He pulled put a box of tissues, picking one out and sneezed rather loudly into it. Cheeks were now a hue of vermillion and he slighted groaned while holding his head.

"You don't look so good, Mr. Renguko." You stated worriedly.

He waved you off. "Nonsense, I'm fine. And you can drop the formalities when were not in front of students. Call me Kyojuro."

You sighed as you fumbled through your bag handing him some cold and flu pills and a packet of vitamin c. "Ok, Kyojuro. You can call me [first name], but I'm going to need you to take these for me and get on home."

He blew loudly into his tissue before tossing into the trash revealing his very red nose. "I-I'm fine, Miss [last name]-- I mean [first name]. Really, I'm ok." He stuttered as he tried to collect himself and get up. Unfortunately, he couldn't hold himself up for more than ten seconds before collapsing and luckily you were there to catch him. He seemed to have been mumbled incoherent words as he laid heavily in your arms. You sighed as you slowly laid him down on the ground and reached for your cellphone to dial the one person you knew could handle this situation the best.

"You didn't actually burn the place down did you?"

You rolled your eyes. "No, idiot. Teacher down."

"Ah, fuck."

[oftenderweapons]

Apple of my pie (2) — Jin

A Small Town Swoons story

Chapter 2.

Pairing: Kim Seokjin x reader (nicknamed Buttercup)

Wordcount: 3.0k

Genre: non-idol!AU, Baker/Café owner!Seokjin, University student!reader Flatmates!AU, Friends To Lovers, Fluff, slightest angst

Rating: suggested 18+ (there are brief apparitions of dirty thoughts, also future episodes will contain NSFW material); 

A/N: Hello my sweet poppies! Welcome to the Small Town Swoon Universe! 🥰✨

In this episode: Jin goes on his first date with Grace, who is actually a sweet person. However, during the date, he casually meets a friend who is more than capable of making him open his eyes. Meanwhile, Buttercup remembers exactly why they’re friends. The following day, the young woman faces a challenging conversation with her classmate and friend, Lara — who is also Jin’s assistant at the bakery. 

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Sweet date; some angst between friends (Yoongi, the psychiatrist who always cuts too deep when he speaks his mind). Meet Yoongi and his sweet and horny girlfriend, Spice. Lots of swearing, especially from Lara and Buttercup towards the end. Dirty thoughts, mentions of wet dreams, playful bickering and name calling between Buttercup and Lara. There are a couple very painful references to Severus Snape and Lily Potter (lowkey Harry Potter spoilers, just in case).

Remember to vote for next prompt (check the link in my bio) and in case you need it, here’s my masterlist 💜

In case you need it, here is the music companion (Spotify only, sorry 😔)

Enjoy! ✨💜

Navi: Chapter 1 — Chapter 2 — Chapter 3 — Chapter 4 — Chapter 5 — Chapter 6 — Chapter 7 (7/7)

Sitting at the pizza shack near the university campus, Seokjin realised that Grace wasn’t a plain human being.

She was actually cute and funny. He could see himself with someone like this.

Someone who didn’t make him feel dull and a bit of an understudy.

Grace liked puppies. She was at her last year of vet school, she was interning at the local animal clinic and she had spent all day visiting pregnant cows. She hoped she could assist to at least one birth, even though the first expected date of delivery was a couple days after her internship formally ended.

Jin grinned as he listened, genuinely warmed by her caring ways and her childlike laugh. Her name really did fit her. She had a gap between her front teeth and a very sweet dimple that made him grin each time it appeared. Small, a little soft in all the best ways — and best places, he had unwillingly noted — and terribly endearing.

The date wasn’t bad. At all.

And it was way more than decent. Almost too good for being a first date.

No misunderstandings, no embarrassment, no shyness whatsoever. The pizza was good — not as good as his, but it was an eight out of ten, solid — there had been no accidents of choking on drinks or on food, no talking while having mouths full, no uncomfortable flutters in his heart as he looked at her. It was warm. It all felt warm.

However, the more time went by, the more he realised that a few things were missing,

Like you, humming at how good the food was, making jokes about unsuspecting patrons sitting around you, people watching, building impossible scenarios and stories about specific clients, basing yourself on stolen snippets of their conversations.

The strident chord was the sudden appearance of a familiar face. Actually two of them, one slightly less familiar than the other.

“Seokjin?” The very familiar face called.

He turned. “Hello Yoongi!” He greeted with a smile and a small wave. “Hello Spice!” He said, turning to the woman at his side, his hand laced with hers.

“Where’s Buttercup?” Yoongi asked, before he turned and spotted a woman sitting before his friend.

That was not you. Yoongi turned to Seokjin and eyed him suspiciously, making sure that Jin’s table companion didn’t notice.

“Guys, this is Grace.” He introduced the girl.

Spice looked at Yoongi with a meaningful look before turning to the young woman.

“Nice to meet you, Grace.” She said warmly.

Grace blushed. “Nice to meet you too, guys,” she replied with a soft smile.

“We’ll leave you to your night, he seems to be enjoying your company, Grace.” Yoongi said politely, before turning to Seokjin. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

Seokjin’s ears blushed. He felt ashamed, “Sure. Have a good evening,” he said, bidding his friends goodbye.

“To you too,” Spice said it’s a tight smile.

The two left, moving like one, perfect as always.

Seokjin knew how that felt. That’s how he always moved with you.

“They seem good people.” Grace noted, genuinely kind, as she had been all dinner long.

“They are.” Seokjin agreed. “And they’re smart too.” He said, beginning to worry for himself.

You weren’t in the living room when Seokjin arrived at the apartment. He was glad. He was glad he could have a few minutes to rethink about how Grace had stretched to her tiptoes with her hands laced behind her back and had placed a playful peck on his cheek before wishing him goodnight and dashing upstairs.

He was glad he wouldn’t need to confront you. And from the sounds coming from your bedroom, you were very likely watching one of those dramas and films you loved so much. Once more, he was glad.

However, that small peace lasted little.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. He exhaled and picked it up.

Is Pollyanna still around?

Yoongi wrote. Seokjin shook his head in hopelessness.

I’ve just arrived home.

Yoongi called immediately. Seokjin hid into his room. “So you decided to follow Namjoon’s way?”

“I have to save myself. I can’t stand there forever, hoping for her to notice. Or to care.”

“You decided to follow the advice of a miserable man abandoned by the highschool sweetheart rather than that of other four sane men who told you to talk to her?” Yoongi said, raising his voice.

“You never said your opinion.” Seokjin noted.

“You don’t need my opinion. You didn’t care about anyone’s opinion. You had already made up your mind even before the discourse started.”

Seokjin exhaled, exasperated.

“Can’t you just say it?”

“What?” Yoongi snorted. Hearing his frustration, Spice rubbed his back trying to calm him down. He nuzzled into her warmth.

“Just say what you think for once in your life.”

Spice frowned at Seokjin’s voice blasting from Yoongi’s phone. He patted her head.

Yoongi huffed. “Fine. I think Buttercup deserves to know and choose for herself. I think she does care, no matter what you think. Also, all that self convincing you’re trying to do is just you trying to keep yourself from losing something that makes you feel comfortable. Because after all you’re comfortable, aren’t you? You just drown yourself in her so much that you don’t even have to face yourself and what you want. And we both know Pollyanna is not what you want.”

Seokjin frowned and pouted. He already knew he was being childish.

“This silence is precisely why I don’t state my opinion.” Yoongi said, speaking softly when he noticed Spice had closed his eyes beside him, on the pillow next to his. He smiled and looked at how beautiful she is. He cupped her cheek, brushing her hair off her face.

“Yoongi. I can’t go on like this forever.” Seokjin said, his voice hopeless and tired.

“I know. All I’m saying is… you should tell Buttercup first.” Yoongi replied, his voice more comprehensive and gentle.

“I am such a coward.” Jin whispered, sitting on the bed, combing his hair with his free hand.

“Listen. I know Buttercup is to you what Spice is to me. I know it.” Yoongi said, his girlfriend scooting closer to him and pressing her face to his chest. “I know I would give her anything she asks and do anything to stay as close as she allows me.” He petted her hair while her warm fingertips danced on his spine.

Seokjin shut his eyes tight. “I’m just trying to get as much as I can before they take her from me.”

“No one will ever break your bond except your lack of communication. Someday a brilliant, smart man will come along and realise how damn precious she is and snatch her for himself. All you’ll have left will be possibilities and smoky dreams.” Yoongi took a pause. “You guys are amazing. You are borderline disgusting with the amount of private stuff you know about each other. Tell her.” Yoongi said, smiling and closing his eyes once Spice’s lips tickled his throat.

“I’ll try.” Seokjin replied. “Goodnight doctor.”

“Goodnight, lover boy. Try not to have wet dreams of your flatmate.”

“Don’t you have better things to do? I bet your girlfriend keeps a list.” Jin said, biting back.

Spice’s voice rose in the background. “Jin is almost right. However, why be doing things when you could be doing me?”

Jin blushed and snickered. “Goodnight, lover boy.” He quipped before shutting the call.

Yoongi placed down his phone, then shook his head and chuckled. “Doing you, uh?”

Spice licked her lips and closed the light before she bent to his neck. “You’d better provide, Min.” She warned before he pounced on her with an ecstatic grin.

Seokjin went to grab a glass of water sometime around one a.m., quite unusually. His routine is basic: he falls asleep at ten thirty and wakes up at four thirty, showers, dresses and runs to the shop. He starts the ovens and by six fifteen the first morning batch is ready.

But that night for some reason, he woke up. He stood up. He reached the kitchen.

Maybe it was because his sleep had been fitful. Maybe because all he had been thinking about was you. You and how it would have been like to be on a date with you, what you were like on a date, if you would have kissed him goodbye on his cheek, if you would have invited him up, had you been in Grace’s shoes, hadn’t the two of you been flatmates.

First he noticed that the fridge was open. Next he noticed you, in thick flannel pjs and a tank top. You were sniffling and drying your eyes, filling your mouth with the leftovers from breakfast.

“What happened?” He asked, spying on you.

You stood up straight, his face appearing in the dim, yellow glow of the fridge.

“His patronus was a doe.” You said, your lip wobbly, cheeks still wet with tears, filling your mouth with chocolate pudding.

He rose from his position slowly, raising his head from his arms, once crossed on top of the fridge door.

Why are his shoulders are always so damn big? What’s the use of all of that… wingspan — ? — when your kitchen is so tiny? And when he needs to move in the narrow lanes of the bakery? What is he so big for?

As you watched him turn on his side, trying no to hit the fridge or the counter as he stood behind you and hugged you close.

“After all that time.” You murmured.

Seokjin held you closer as you turned around. That’s why he was so big. All those good bear hugs.

“I know.” He replied, one arm snaked around your waist, the other wrapped around your shoulders and head while his hand patted your head. “I know,” he repeated as you hiccuped and sobbed. Of course he knew. He had been stuck there himself. Loving someone after all that time. Always.

“Who pissed in your latte?” Lara asked the following day after your nine a.m. bibliology lesson. “You look awful.”

“Thank you Lara.” You said, pushing your stuff into your bag. “Jin went on a date last night.”

Lara frowned, “What do you mean?”

“On a date. Pizza. With a girl.”

She laughed. “You’re joking, right?”

“I’m serious.” You said, placing your bag on your shoulder and wrapping your scarf around your neck.

“Listen. You’ve been friends for years. Honestly, it was a matter of time before it happened.”

“He’s never had a girl, a boy, a… partner. In four years.” You said as you and Lara walked out of the room, stopping by the closest heater in the main corridor.

“Do you think he would be your loyal servant forever? Your knight in shining armour?” Lara took a small bag of caramelised almonds: she had negotiated that she would work for Seokjin for a monthly pay and a weekly amount of his grandmother’s almonds covered by raw crystallised sugar.

“I am not opposed to it, it’s just… I’m uncomfortable, okay? What if he moves out and leaves me paying full rent. I can’t do that!” You stated weakly with strong disappointment.

“He’s just dating the chick, not marrying her!” Lara replied, throwing another almond in her mouth.

The mere idea of him getting married made you even more petty. “I don’t want her to barge in and change our friendship.”

“Friendship...” Lara scoffed. “You weren’t screaming friendship at my birthday.”

“I was having a nightmare!” You snarled playfully.

“You were having a wet dream. How long has it been since you’ve—”

You pressed your hand to her mouth. “Shut the fuck up. Not talking about that.”

Lara licked your hand, making you yuck and pull it away, cleaning it against her jacket. “We should talk about that, though. Think about it, Buttercup; he’s not gonna be single forever and you definitely have a bone to pick with that Grace girl.”

“She can have him like… on weekdays.” You said, trying to be reasonable. “Except on free mornings. We have breakfast together on free mornings.”

Lara shook her head. “Don’t wanna burst your bubble, but you do realise that soon he’ll be out on dates on Saturday night and staying out until Sunday morning?”

You frowned, pouting. You opened your mouth, trying to object.

Lara snickered proudly. You couldn’t let her have that.

“Well, at least I’ll be able to get laid with him out of the house.”

“Don’t worry. He’ll be getting laid too, fucking finally. He needs it and deserves it.” Lara muttered as she thought about all those years he had spent looking at you with heart eyes. “And remember that Grace will be getting Saturday dinner. Filet mignon. All that meat...” Lara commented.

“The meat...” You said, dreamily. Juicy steaks and roasted chicken and ribs and… Meat.

Your brain short-circuited. He was tall. Handsome. Well-built. And you sort of knew he’s large. For fuck’s sake, that was your best friend you were talking about! Why would you suddenly think about his junk?

You shook your head.

Still, Lara went on, grinning as she saw you falter. “Grace will get all of that. Saturday evening. Sunday morning. Breakfast in bed. Milkshakes. Homemade gelato. Apple pies. Picnics with his granny. Trips to the lake. His granny’s roast-beef—”

“Don’t touch the roast-beef, bitch!” You hissed, pointing a finger against her chest. “Grace won’t have my roast-beef, my homemade gelato, my Sunday breakfast in bed, she won’t have my apple pies, my coffees, my picnics with granny and my Saturday dinners. And no, she will not have the meat either!” You snarled.

Lara cackled. “Nice. Then you should make a plan. ‘Cause I think she wants to take it all. Now that you’re having this sudden mystical revelation, can you also vaguely perceive that you are in L-O-V-E with your flatmate and he’s been pining for you for years and he’d love it if you accidentally fell tits-first on his cock, you big fucking dumb idiot?” Lara said, completely exasperated while a posh, preppy girl gave her the side eye, tutting in disappointment.

“Stop talking about love and all that jazz. We’re platonic. We’re fine. We’re great and we’ll always be, forever.” You said shrugging. “We’ve been friends for years. He’s had plenty of time to make a move, if he were interested.”

“He blushes when old ladies call him charming! God, you’re big dumb!” Lara said, kicking her foot against your toes.

“What?”

“He’s shy! You want him! You’re attracted to him!!! You were literally sobbing his name!” Lara punched your shoulder

You shook your head, making to walk away. “Night-fucking-mere!” You objected violently.

“Li-fucking-ar!” She mirrored as she tugged at your arm and followed you.

Yes. After all, you were a liar. And well, first and foremost, you liked lying to yourself.

“He’s my best friend. I am not attracted to him. And I know I’ll never be.”

--------------------------------

Navi: Chapter 1 — Chapter 2 — Chapter 3 — Chapter 4 — Chapter 5 — Chapter 6 — Chapter 7 (7/7)

[fluffymcu]

Bleachers (Bucky x reader)

Highschool AU

warnings: mentions of making out? Nothing graphic though.

This is my first time writing something like this, I surprised myself with this one, hope y’all enjoy! This is a highschool AU that takes place around the early 90’s so it has a little bit of 40’s Bucky vibes. I really enjoyed writing this :)

Fun fact: I kinda dreampt this up in my head while trying to go to sleep but it kept on going so I decided this was too good of an opportunity to pass up so I got up and risked a good nights sleep and wrote this and now here I am :) no regrets tho.

—-

You pulled out your math and reading books out of your locker and put them in your backpack before taking a look in the small mirror you ínstaled in the door of your locker and fixing a few stray hairs. A few seconds later, the air around you was filled with a very familiar scent of cologne.

“Hey pretty girl, where are you headed?” You blushed at the pet name your boyfriend had for you as you turned around to face him.

“Calculus. You?” You greet, draping your backpack over your shoulders.

“Gym.” Bucky nods. You pause to look at him with narrowed eyes.

“You don’t have gym this period.” You say, a slight smile playing at your lips.

“No? Then what do I got, doll face?” He smirks.

“I don’t know exactly what class you have but It ain’t gym!” You scoffed.

“I thought I’d skip science today” he shrugs.

“Bucky!” You scold, a hand on your hip.

“What? It’s one class! It ain’t gonna hurt.” He brushes it off, leaning against one of the lockers. You roll your eyes. “Why don’t ya skip with me? It’d be a lot more fun if you were there with me.”

“No thanks.” You say quickly, as you begin to walk to class. You may have been dating a “bad boy” but it didn’t mean you were itching to do the things he did.

“Aww come on doll, why not? Just one class!” He started.

“No Bucky.” You sighed. You weren’t giving in that easily.

“Pleaseee?” He begged. With a sigh, you stop and look at him. He increases his puppy eyes as you look. “Please.”

“Don’t look at me like that Buck, you know it makes me give in.” You chuckle as you continue walking, silently waving at some of your friends in the hall.

“That’s why I’m doin’ it doll face. Just one class.” He chuckled, still on the subject.

“No Bucky. I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because.” You sigh.

“Because why?” He insists, stepping in front of you, stopping you from moving.

“Bucky-“ You start.

“Please, dolly just one class. Just stick with me, you won’t get caught. I promise.” You look into his pleading blue eyes.

“I don’t like the idea of this Bucky...” you whined.

“Come on, I’ll show you my hideouts and my shortcuts. It’ll be fun! Doll, I know you want to.” He sang, poking a few times at your belly, making you flinch and bat his hands away.

“Don’t, buck.”

“Then skip with me.” He asked again. After a few moments of thinking you finally give in with a sigh.

“Just one class, Buck. I mean it.”

With a blinding smile, Bucky cheers and wraps his arm around your shoulder, guiding you. “I knew you’d come around, doll face. Come on, we’ll take a shortcut.”

—

You both arrive at the gym doors and Bucky quickly glimpses through the small glass window to see the gym coach’s back towards you. With a nod, he opens the door and rushes you in, pulling you in a space behind the bleachers.

“Are you sure no one will see us?” You asked nervously, looking cautiously at all the kids playing volleyball and practimg running drills.

“Positive. We’re safe here.” Bucky said with a reassuring smile. You nod and start to take out some papers from your backpack, a moment of silence between the two with just the sounds of whistles and shoes squeaking in the gym floor. Bucky furrows his brows. “Whoa, what are you doin’?”

You look at him innocently. “Homework.”

Bucky laughed, raising his eyebrows and taking the papers off your lap. “Darlin’ I think you’re missin the point of skipping class. The idea is to not do schoolwork.”

“Well, there’s not much else to do now that we’re just stuck here behind the bleachers.” You shrugged. Bucky smirked and leaned closer.

“I can think of a few things...” he said before capturing your lips in a kiss. It didn’t take long for it to evolve into a full on make out session though, Bucky always makes sure of that. As his hands stroked your sides, holding you from falling, one of his hands gripped a bit too tight, making it have more of a tickly feeling.

With a squeak, you flinch and break away from the kiss, your cheeks flushed and lips a bit swollen. Bucky chuckled when he realized what triggered your reaction. A mischievous glint appeared in his eyes.

“Are you really that ticklish?” He teased.

“Yes- I mean, no. I’m- not really..” you waved your arm, trying to brush it off, still panting from the kissing session you had. But Bucky wasn’t taking any of it.

“I think you are,” he sang, poking and squeezing at your sides.

You squealed and fell with your back on the bench. “Bucky! Stohop! You’ll get us cahaught!” You struggled to keep your laughter under control, panicking inside, afraid one of the students would call attention to you and your boyfriend skipping class.

However, Bucky didn’t listen and instead was too entertained by how ticklish you were. He moved from scratching at your sides and ribs to digging his fingers into your hips.

You squirmed and bucked your hips, failing miserably at containing your laughter. You tried your best to slap at his hands but it didn’t seem to faze him. “Buhuhuhucky stahahahahap!” You squealed, looking around to make sure no one saw you. The gym was already very loud but that didn’t mean you could let your guard down.

Bucky chuckled at your giggly state and reached behind to pinch behind your thighs. You couldn’t hold back as you let out a scream of surprise and kick your legs out, immediately covering your mouth after. “Alright, alright I’ll stop.” He laughed. Thankfully no one had payed attention to your scream.

Bucky helped you sit up after you had caught your breath and you playfully hit him in the chest. “Bucky, you idiot! You could have gotten us in trouble!” You scolded him.

Bucky only laughed and pulled you to his side. “Relax, pretty girl. I told you, as long as you stick with me, you ain’t gettin caught. I promised you that didn’t I? Now. How bout we go hang for a bit at the stairwell next to Mrs. Benning’s classroom, then we can get a head start at the line for lunch, eh?” You smiled, blushing a bit before nodding and following Bucky out the gym.

⭐️should I do more of these tickle related AUs?⭐️

[yumeiii]

Chapter 1

Love can be great. It makes you feel warm inside, be so invested in a person that you don’t know what to do with your feelings, be loved and give love. But the majority of the time, love is ruthless. It can be unrequited, it sometimes doesn’t work out and it can make you feel so miserable you don’t have any strength left in you. Being young and having to deal with school, social life and love isn’t as easy as it seems and it’s been quite the ride for a certain group of students in Seoul.

Seo Seyoung, a junior in highschool with light brown hair and brown eyes, stopped by her family’s cafe before going to school, getting her daily bagel before heading out. The cafe was a side business so her parents entrusted the cafe to her older brother, Johnny.

Johnny Seo was tall, athletic, smart, funny and attractive with his brown hair, deep brown eyes and impeccable fashion. He also took good care of Seyoung and she knew she was basically privileged to have the most perfect brother. They were one year apart but she wondered why they were so different.

Seyoung arrived at school to see her best friend, Nanase Ayumi, sitting at her desk, probably doing the homework she forgot to do the day before. Ayumi was average in height but a bit taller than Seyoung, with black hair and light brown eyes, she was energetic, friendly and an amazing person to confide in.

— “Hey Yumi-ya” Seyoung greeted.

— “Oh, Seyoung-ah! Goodmorning!” Ayumi exclaimed energetically. “Did Jinyoung text you yet?”

— “Not yet...” Seyoung replied.

Jinyoung was Seyoung’s boyfriend. Tall, smart, popular and handsome but these days, Seyoung noticed that he was acting differently. He wasn’t replying to her texts, he had been a bit cold with her and not to mention that he was always busy for whatever reason.

— “See? I told you that bastard wouldn’t be good for you! He’s been paying you pure dust lately!” Ayumi complained.

— “Ayu, it’s not that big of a deal… he’s just busy,” Seyoung said.

— “But you do realise that you’re his girlfriend, right? There’s literally no reason why he should be ignoring you like this. What if he ends up ghosting you?!” Ayumi replied.

— “You worry too much! He’s not the type to do that” Seyoung exclaimed

— “Okay, then but if he does anything to you, I’m murdering him, understood?” Ayumi asked with a frown on her face.

— “Yeah, fine,” Seyoung laughed.

The homeroom teacher entered the classroom, marking the start of the first lecture of the day. Seyoung didn’t dare to think that Jinyoung would ghost her or that he was ignoring him on purpose but she still couldn’t get the thought out of her mind. She had better get rid of those feelings before her brother found out and started asking her about it, knowing how protective he is.

The bell rang, signaling the start of lunchtime as two boys came to Seyoung and Ayumi’s shared desk. They were Seyoung’s childhood besties, Donghyuck and Mark.

— “Hey can we go buy some banana milk? I have a strong craving today” Mark asked.

Mark Lee (or Korean name Lee Minhyung), was born in Jeju before moving to canada when he was 7 and coming back to korea when he was 13. He was the average height with black hair and bright eyes. He was adorable, a dork and a bit clumsy sometimes but he was the best friend anyone could have.

— “You have a craving for banana milk everyday, Mark Lee,” Hyuck complained.

Lee Donghyuck, nicknamed Hyuck, was the self-appointed #1 Seo Seyoung and Mark Lee bully. He was about the same height as Mark, with tanned skin, light brown hair and a bright smile. He’s known for being pretty mischievous and a bit over-the-top when teasing his friends but he will fight anyone who dares disrespect anyone he loves.

— “Damn Hyuck, give the man a break” Ayumi laughs as she rolls her eyes.

— “Not my fault that banana milk is the only thing he drinks,” Hyuck responded as he defended himself.

— “Well, there’s no use fighting about it so let’s go get Minhyung his milk” Seyoung smiled.

The group of friends were on one of the hallways as they made their way to the canteen just to be stopped by Johnny, who went up to his sister and his childhood friends.

— “Hey Elena!” Johnny exclaimed cheerfully. Elena was Seyoung’s english name but she didn’t really like using it but since Johnny and Seyoung communicate in english, Johnny saw it as the perfect opportunity to tease her about it.

— “Bro seriously, when will you stop using that name on me?” Seyoung sighed, annoyed.

— ”Never. So hey, I just wanted to ask you if you were short on money” Johnny said.

— “I’m fine but why?” Seyoung asked curiously.

— “I mean, I really wouldn’t want you to not have money because I don’t want you skipping any meals” as Johnny lectured his younger sister, another tall figure approached them.

— “Johnny, Xiao’s looking for you,” The tall young man said.

— “Oh Yuta, wait a sec,” Johnny responded.

— “Sunbae, hello” the younger group of friends greeted as they bowed.

— “Guys, you don’t need to bow! All of you know how close we are” Yuta smiled.

Nakamoto Yuta was a guy from japanese descent studying in korea, while also being the soccer team’s captain. He was tall, handsome, with dark brown hair reaching the middle of his neck and bright brown eyes. He was also one of Johnny’s best friends so he got to know Seyoung and the others very well.

— “So, sunbae! How’s the soccer team doing?” Mark asked politely.

— “Well, we’re getting in a little bit of extra training because inter-highs are in 2 months. We’ve also got some pretty good new additions to the team” Yuta responded.

— “It’s gotta be hard being the captain,” Ayumi commented.

— “I love doing it so I personally think it’s not that hard,” Yuta laughed as he was interrupted by a voice calling his name.

— “Sunbae! The coach is calling you!” Seyoung recognized the owner of the voice as Na Jaemin, one of the most popular guys in the whole school. He had everything: tall, smart, good at sports, kind and funny. It was no surprise that he had a girlfriend.

— “Oh, I gotta go. It was nice seeing you guys!” Yuta said before running off.

— “Wow… Yuta sunbae is so cool...” Mark said surprised.

— “I have to agree,” Hyuck nodded.

— “Well brother, we gotta go. We need to get Mark his daily dose of banana milk” Ayumi stated.

— “Right. I’ll see you later!” Johnny answered as he smiled and left to look for his friend.

After the quartet went to the canteen and got Mark his much desired banana milk, they went outside and sat down at their usual hideout: an old clubroom in the third building of the school. It was a bit dirty when they first found it but after Ayumi forced everyone to clean it up with her, it became a quiet space for the group to have fun since not many people knew of it and they were the only ones to have the key to the room itself after they begged faculty for it. They were currently sitting down on the table and chairs they had brought into the clubroom talking about whatever they wanted as they enjoyed their breaktime.

— “He hasn’t talked to you yet?!” Donghyuck asked, surprised.

— “Yeah but maybe he’s just busy...” Seyoung answered quietly.

— “But even if he was busy, he can actually put aside like two seconds of his time and text you? It’s not that hard” Mark said as he sipped a bit of his banana milk.

— “That’s what I told her! They’re dating and it doesn’t make any sense that Jinyoung is ignoring her like this” Ayumi agreed.

— “Seyoung, bro, he’s literally ghosting you at this point” Donghyuck commented as Seyoung tensed up.

— “Hyuck, don’t say that!” Mark exclaimed as he rubbed Seyoung’s shoulder in empathy.

— “He’s right, though. Seyoung-ah, if you want this relationship to last, you need to confront him about it! It’s really not fair for you” Ayumi said.

— “I want to but I really can’t do it!” Seyoung whined as Ayumi took some time to think of an alternative.

— “Oh, I know! Let’s make a deal” Ayumi smiled. “If you promise to confront Jinyoung, I’ll confess to Jungwoo”

Mark and Donghyucks’ jaws dropped to the floor as Seyoung went deep into thought. Jungwoo Kim was Ayumi’s one year crush. They were casual friends and they got along well and she fell for his kindness, calming presence, as well as his humour which never failed to brighten up her day. She could never find the right time to confess to him but she would do it if it could help her best friend.

— “... tempting,” Seyoung said after a long silence.

— “Tempting?! This is more than tempting! Just do it!!” Donghyuck exclaimed.

— “I don’t want to force you into anything but you should really do it” Mark agreed.

— “So, what do you say?” Ayumi asked as she put her hand out for a handshake.

— “Call” Seyoung answered as she took Ayumi’s hand and shook it. “We both need to do it before classes end today or else we’re getting a punishment chosen by Lee Donghyuck himself”

— “Oooh this is gonna be good” Donghyuck smiled evilly as a thousand ideas went through his mind on how to embarrass them in the most cruel way possible.

— “Call” Ayumi agreed as both friends sealed their promise.

Some time later, Seyoung mustered up the courage to look for Jinyoung and tell him how she felt. Her heartbeat sped up like crazy as she walked down the halls of the school in search of her boyfriend. She got to his classroom as she was met with a surprise: Jinyoung kissing another girl. Seyoung felt her blood boiling and all of her feelings of timidness faded away as they were replaced by pure anger.

— “Choi Jinyoung!” Seyoung exclaimed in anger.

— “Seyoung-ah?!” Jinyoung said surprised as the girl at his side was equally confused

— “You ghosted me and to make it worse you’re also cheating on me?!” Seyoung asked

— “Cheated on you?! Jinyoung-ah, what’s the meaning of this?” the other girl inquired.

— “Wait! Seyoung-ah, Minju-ya, I can explain!” Jinyoung said hastedly

— “There’s nothing to explain. We’re over” Seyoung said as a tear ran down her face and ran out of the classroom.

MASTERLIST

[yzkhr]

There are times when he just wanted to stop.

Stop with the pretentions, the deceits, the lies, the trying, and just... give up.

Because frankly speaking, it was easier to just be a three foot tall little boy who solves crimes than a highschool student(who still solves crimes). It was nicer to just find people who had the same interests as him even if they were just a bunch of elementary students. It was more relaxing to just let his guard down once in a while. It was pleasant knowing he didn't have to show masculinity nor protect his pride from even the littlest of things.

Besides, it's not like Kudo Shinichi had something Edogawa Conan couldn't have as he grows older. He'll still have the same looks, the same intellect, the same experiences, and the same memories.

He can still go and defeat the Black Organization, even without his seventeen year old body. In fact, being a child was an enormous advantage. Not only for defeating the B.O, but just for being a detective in general.

As a child, suspects tend to let their guard down and show their true colors, but as a teenager, they have their guard up almost all the time. As a child, you can fit through small cracks and vents that a teenage body can never dream of. As a child, you'll be able to notice even the most unnecessary things that can be useful in a case that as a teenager would be too tedious to care.

Kudo Shinichi didn't have the worst childhood but Edogawa Conan sure is having a better one—with the exception of more dead bodies and constant chasing of the organization— than he could ever have had. As Edogawa Conan, he had more knowledge about necessary things. As Edogawa Conan, he didn't have to fail to learn, because he already did as Kudo Shinichi. As Edogawa Conan, he can gain more experiences than he ever did as Kudo Shinichi. As Edogawa Conan, he's just far better as a person compared to Kudo Shinichi.

Not only that, but he met people that became an integral part of his life. He met the detective boys, he was introduced with Miyano Shiho, he got a best friend in a form of an Osakan detective and bonus with his childhood bestfriend Tooyama Kazuha, he became associated with the police even more, specially the people from the first division, and he even got to interact with the FBI and go as far as to work with them.

If it was Kudo Shinichi they met, everything would be different. The detective boys wouldn't feel as close as they are to him as Conan, he would have never met Shiho, his friendship with Hattori wouldn't be this meaningful alongside his relationship with Kazuha, the first division would see him more as an obnoxious guy playing adult than a genius kid, and he would never even have talked with the FBI, much less cooperate with them.

Aside from that, there are also people that are already part of his life as Kudo Shinichi that have gotten a lot more closer as a false elementary student. He got to feel his parents care and love for him again, maybe even more compared back then. He got to be closer with professor Agasa, with his new inventions and test runs. Heck, he's even managed to make his relationship with Sonoko more tolerable(he hates to admit but he is fond of the Suzuki Heiress, just in a weird way).

Only one push of a button and he's done. Only one call to his parents and he can leave. Just one announcement of Kudo Shinichi's 'death', then Edogawa Conan will finally be free.

Free from the burden of lying. Free of pretention. Free to start anew. After all, he was given a second life—ironically ruining his first one—, so why not take the opportunity to start over? To make the wrong things right? To experience new and exciting stuff?

Everyday he thought of that. Everyday he'll have his phone in one hand pressed near his ear, preparing what he'd say. But at the end of each day, he wouldn't go through with it. He'll locked himself up inside the quarters of a small room and cursed audibly, frustated.

Because at the end of every day, he'll see her.

She'd always act cheerful around him, like there's nothing wrong at all. Her expression would be a mixture of bliss and light-heartedness. Her posture energetic, like she could run all day without even feeling tired once.

They'd talk about each other's day on the dinner table, discussing the most random things just to let time pass. For a moment, he'd forget about all the things he's done to her and her father. That he really was just a freeloader than a teenager capable of taking care of himself.

Ran was the last straw that made the idea of staying as Conan so desirable. If he was still Shinichi, he would never let himself be this close to her. Sitting on her lap, letting her freely touch him anywhere, holding his hand wherever they go, and even bathing together (the last part is not supposed to be a good thing but he's a seventeen year old man so deal with it).

Whether he denied it or not, this incident made them closer, both literally and figuratively. He got to see more sides he was limited to as Shinichi, even though they've practically been together more than half of their lives. He got to see things he never would have seen, understand stuff about her he would have never been able to, and fell even deeper in love, if that was even possible at his state.

More than that, Ran even told him things that Kudo Shinichi will never have access to, but Edogawa Conan can easily cross. Particularly, her feelings for him. Honestly, it caught him off guard. He was confident—no he wasn't—that Ran liked him, or was at least interested, but he never would have guessed she feels this much—almost as much as he feels for her.

Just like always, she'd become a huge point for thinking that living as Edogawa Conan wasn't so bad.

But, she was also the one reason Kudo Shinichi can't die.

As they tuck themselves to bed, there will be nights he'll check on her, needing to calm the unsettling feelings in the pit of his stomach. Luckily, when she's not asleep, she'd leave her door ajar, large enough to do what he came for.

There, his eyes would widen at the image of his childhood best friend, sitting at the edge of the bed, gazing at the only source of light inside the dimly lit room, the moon. Her side profile was the only part he could make out of, but it doesn't take a genius to know that the liquid gathered around her usual cheery eyes were tears. The upward curve of her lips during dinner was now turned upside down, quivering ever so slightly.

He always wanted to look away, knowing it was his fault she was like that. He knew that Ran misses him, but just doesn't show to them or anyone else. She's strong that way. Selflessly getting herself hurt without ever bothering someone else, what a very 'Ran' thing to do.

The longer he stared at her lonely figure, he realized more and more things. Edogawa Conan didn't—and could never— have everything that Kudo Shinichi had. As a seven year old, Ran was only an older sister figure—who he have a crush on—, but as the teenage detective, she was his childhood friend and the only girl he'd ever consider to be with.

As Conan, he can comfort her and be there for her, making her happy temporarily. As Conan, he can use physical contact as means of communication, without worrying about her noticing how bad he has it towards her. As Conan, he didn't have to hide anything from her, showing her just how much she meant and just how much he was willing to give. But, as Conan, nothing he can and would do will ever be enough.

Because Conan wasn't, isn't, and will never be Shinichi.

It was funny, that Edogawa Conan almost has it all, except the one thing that mattered the most.

Having enough of seeing her so miserable, he'd enter the room in a quiet fashion, that her mind that was so far away wouldn't notice him creeping up behind her.

To catch her attention, he would encircle his small arms around her nape, fingers interlocking in her neck, tiptoing slightly, smelling the sweet shampoo she put that night and let her flinch at his touch.

After recognition, she would wipe her tears away, setting a perfect facade she always have when conversing with others. Most nights, he'd let her, understanding the feeling of not wanting others to see your own weakness and vulnerability. But Ran wasn't him, so she didn't have to put on some silly mask to cover her true feelings because he'll accept them, no matter what.

"Conan-kun?"

Her voice were low and hoarse from not being used for the last few minutes. She tried to turn around but his grip around tightens, not so much so he wouldn't hurt her, but enough to for her to stay still.

"I'm sorry."

That was all he could say. All he could offer right now. It wasn't something that would make her feel better, but it was a start.

She would chuckle lightly, but the sadness still lingers.

"What are you apologizing for? You did nothing wrong, Conan-kun. Nothing wrong at all."

The way she spoke to him was gentle and coaxing, like he was the one being comforted. But instead of being consoled, he felt worse. Because he did do something wrong. Something so wrong that it may never be forgiven.

Lying to her about the organization, living at the same house as her and her father, deceiving her everytime she gets closer to the truth, and many more mistakes were done, that not even an infinite amount of apologies can fix it.

But that was love, wasn't it? Wanting that person to live, whether you can be a part of it or not.

Unable to stop himself, he went from the crook of her neck going north, and planted his lips on the crown of her head. He felt her froze at his uncharacteristic action but instead of backing out, he continued on.

"I'm sure that Shinichi-niichan will be back soon. So please," From his childlike grim voice, he dropped his voice as low as he could manage, just to utter his last words, closest to his real voice. The one she wanted—needed—to hear. "Wait for him."

'Let me replace him for a while.'

He wanted to add but went against it. Ran was already so caring and kind towards Conan—a complete stranger—, anything more would be asking for too much.

Her breath hitched, his words leaving her in a mess. He let her organized her own thoughts first, not wanting to cause her trouble when his purpose was to cajole her.

Seconds passed and he found her soft hand holding his intertwined fingers, still coiled around her. She sighed and leaned on him, but not so much so he can still support his own weight.

Even without seeing her completely, he managed to catch a glimpse of a small smile, gracing her beautiful face.

"I know he will, Conan-kun. So I'll wait, no matter how long it takes."

Everyone knew him as Edogawa Conan. Even he treats himself more as the bespectacled genius little boy than the famed highschool detective. But for Mouri Ran, his childhood friend, and always for her, he was, is, and always will be Kudo Shinichi.

[pickalilywrites]

hi everyone!!! here’s the eretra au that a few of you might remember from my wip posts a few months (?) ago! i’m really excited about it, so i hope you guys like it. it’s very loosely based off a kdrama called big, although there aren’t very many similarities. i hope you guys enjoy it :) 

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My First Love Come Back to Me

Eretra. Big AU. 

I’ll Love You in the Rain or Shine Series: Chapter 1

12788 words. 

Read on Ao3!

Eren stands in the deli section of the grocery store staring down at the premade sandwiches that have, judging by the wilting lettuce and stiff-looking squares of cheese stuffed between dry bread buns, been sitting there all day after being passed over by other customers for more enticing premade meals like the colorful, little sushis in their plastic containers or the burritos so stuffed with filling that beans are practically spilling out of the tortilla wraps meant to contain them. He looks at one particularly sad-looking sandwich. Turkey chunks and droopy lettuce leaves are shoved inside a stale bread loaf. Tomato juice from the poor fruit that was cut to make this depressing sub bleeds out from the bun, dripping onto the plastic wrap that can hardly hold the thing together. A strange assortment of veggies also poke out from the bread - bright yellow bell peppers, chunky strips of carrots, and slices of onions - but they look as though someone has carelessly dropped them into the sandwich because they’re not even evenly dispersed through the sub. It is, Eren thinks, the most wretched sandwich he’d ever laid eyes on. 

It’s a little sad, the fact that Eren is spending so much time picking out something to bring to a family dinner that he would claim, if anyone bothered to ask, to not give a single shit about. And, really, he doesn’t, but it makes him feel slightly better about going to those miserable gatherings if he’s able to bring something he knows his stepmom will hate. Except she’s not really his stepmom. To be more precise, the woman is his father’s first and only wife - the bastard having never married Eren’s mother - and his half-brother’s mother. In all honesty, Eren can completely understand why the woman hates him. He is, after all, a constant reminder of his father’s infidelity. It’s not like Eren likes her either and, with all of the snide comments about his upbringing and disappointing career path (although Eren has no idea why that is any of her business), she hasn’t given Eren any reason to. 

Eren looks down at the sandwich again, leaning towards not getting it. As much as he would love to purchase it and slap it down on the dinner table with a cheerful smile, there are only so many times he can buy disgusting sandwiches for his family dinners. He really outdid himself last time with a self-made sandwich with all sorts of odd ingredients (blue cheese, coriander, tuna, onions, cherry tomatoes, the works) that had no business being slapped between the same two buns. He even remembered not to toast the bread buns. Apparently, the only thing his father’s wife hates more than sandwiches are untoasted sandwiches, but not everyone can afford a $300 panini press like she can. Apparently, any panini press with a smaller price tag can’t be called a real panini press. Eren only half-regretted his decision to bring the disgusting thing to his father’s house an hour later when he sprinted out of the house and biked half a block away to empty the contents of his stomach on the edge of a poor neighbor's sidewalk. No, a normal deli sandwich would be a step down from his previous contribution to family dinner, Eren decides. 

He walks up and down the aisle of the grocery store, taking his time even though he’s already a half-hour late for dinner. (He’s doing them a favor. Nobody in their right mind should be having dinner at five when the sun is still high in the sky.) His green eyes glaze over tubs of soup and plastic bins filled with salad. For a moment, he wonders if he should walk through the shelves of chips on the other side or maybe into the frozen food section so he can haul a tub of melting ice cream to his father’s house, but he wonders if that’s too petty. It’s probably best not to, Eren thinks with a grimace. He doesn’t want to ruin junk food for himself forever. 

In the end, Eren purchases a little tub of potato salad, hoping that it’ll be enough to piss off his Disney-esque sort-of stepmother. It’s not perfect, but he supposes it will do. It’s probably not as grotesque as the stuff he’s brought before, but he likes how simple it is. That woman’s definitely going to be miffed that Eren bought potato salad as if he cared so little that he couldn’t be bothered to spend a few minutes in the kitchen to make the same dish. He’s really going to enjoy seeing the vein on her forehead pulse when she sees him standing at the door with the potato salad. 

Eren thanks the cashier for ringing up his purchase, sliding two dollars into the charity box next to the register, and walks away with his tub of potato salad, whistling as he practically skips out of the grocery store. He hadn’t taken as long as he would have liked; there are still fifteen minutes before six and he had hoped he would burn enough time to arrive at six-thirty, but maybe he can take a roundabout way to his dad’s house, Eren thinks as he drops the tub carelessly into the front basket of his bicycle. He unlocks his bike with a click and pulls it off the bike rack before mounting it and pedaling away. 

Taking the direct route would be too quick. Eren quickly pedals across the road as soon as the road is clear and finds his way to the creek that cuts across the suburbs. It’s the same creek Eren used to play beside when he was a child. He fell in there once trying to catch a frog and his mom scolded him for being so reckless. It’s also the same creek that he frequented during the spring of his sophomore year of highschool when he was assigned to do a bug project, which Eren hated especially when the same project was no longer mandatory after his school cut the science department’s funding the year after. Eren doesn’t think he’s visited the creek ever since he graduated from high school. He blames it on college and summer internships taking up all his time and never really allowing him to return to his youth, but the truth is that Eren wouldn’t have sought out his childhood even if he had the time. 

It’s not that Eren had a terrible childhood. In fact, Eren would say that he had a fairly happy childhood. True, he grew up in a (mostly) single-parent household, but his mother was always patient and attentive to him even though he was a pain the ass about 75 percent of the time. Nothing incredibly significant happened. He didn’t win any awards and he never made the honor roll, but his mother was fine with it as long as he did his best. It was strange, but he got a lot more shit about his grades from his sort-of stepmom than he did from his own mother. He’s not particularly sure what his father thought about it. Eren’s father never said much of anything to defend him, but his father hardly said anything to him at all. It was kind of like not having a father at all, so it wasn’t really that surprising when Eren found a way to avoid his old neighborhood completely after his mother passed away after his senior year of high school. 

Eren hadn’t planned on returning so soon. Actually, he hadn’t planned on returning at all after he had left for college. He only came back the summer after freshman year, but he bummed it at his best friend Armin’s house and only ventured as far as Armin’s front lawn. The following summers he crashed at his ex-boyfriend’s house - an art student-turned-tattoo artist who somehow ended up setting up a shop in the city Eren and Armin grew up in - or Armin’s dorm when they were both working at their internships. Somehow, they ended up landing jobs back in their hometown because evidently the big city did not want them and they were too young and broke to go up against the universe. Maybe another day. 

It’s not that bad. Despite renting an apartment near his neighborhood, Eren hasn’t run into any childhood friends that might still remember all the embarrassing things he did as a teenager. He’s bumped into a few parents at the grocery store that would smile up at him and talk about how nicely he’s grown while reaching up to ruffle his hair. Other than a few childhood friends and the “family” he feels obligated to meet due to the biological bond he unwillingly shares with his father, Eren has successfully avoided most of his past. 

He pedals past his old middle school, zooming past the gates and grimacing as he remembers the less pleasant parts of his past - struggling with algebra, running a mile at seven AM, and the terrible school uniforms they forced on everyone in a strange attempt to boost standardized test scores. He’s happier when he crosses the street and is greeted with the lit-up shops - the convenience store where he’d happily slurp down slushies with Armin after school, the Chinese restaurant that his class would frequent every year for Lunar New Year’s, and the bakery store that always smelled of freshly baked tarts and pies. Eren’s pedaling slows as he approaches the bakery and he inhales deeply, his lungs filling with the scent of buttery baguettes and chocolate tarts. The aroma is so distractingly sweet. His mouth begins to water at just the thought of them, and Eren wonders why he hadn’t bothered stepping foot in the bakery since coming back. He’s about to stop his bike and pop in for a brownie or a lemon bar only to realize that he’s biking far too fast and about to crash into someone. 

“Shit!” Eren’s bike screeches as he swerves out of the way and he crashes into a pole so hard that he can feel his teeth rattle. He topples to the ground with a hard thud, groaning as he rolls over onto his side that didn’t get smashed violently against a pole. When he opens his eyes, he sees stars as well as the face of an old man that he had last seen a decade ago. Eren tries to sit up, but his side is throbbing and he can only clutch at his side, trying his best to suppress a groan so as to not startle the man he had nearly collided with. He gives the man a weak smile. “Hey, Mr. Ral. I haven’t seen you in a while.” 

The old man’s mouth, which was already open to begin with after seeing Eren’s embarrassing bicycle collision, falls open a bit wider. “A-are you … okay?” he asks after a while, squinting a bit as he looks at Eren’s face and tries to place a name to it. Eren doesn’t really blame him for not remembering who he is. It’s been quite a while since they’ve seen each other and Eren has grown up a lot since then.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little bump,” Eren says, laughing it off. He manages to sit up and pushes himself off the ground, standing up and brushing off the little pebbles that have managed to stick to his face and clothing. He picks up his bike, leaning it against the pole before turning to the man again. “It’s Eren, by the way.” He pauses, observing Mr. Ral’s expression. When he sees that the man doesn’t recognize him, Eren politely adds, “Eren Kruger. I’m Zeke Jaeger’s younger brother.” 

A spark of recognition finally lights up in the old man’s eyes at the mention of Zeke’s name. Eren’s not going to lie, but it kind of hurts. “Ah, Zeke,” Mr. Ral says fondly. Eren shifts from feeling hurt to feeling slightly jealous. “How could I ever forget him? And you, of course. You two used to play with my dear Petra back in the day.” 

Petra, a name that Eren hasn’t heard in years, and yet hearing it still makes him blush like a young schoolboy. He ducks his head, his hand rubbing at the back of his neck, and he prays that Mr. Ral doesn’t notice the sudden flush of his cheeks. “Yeah, it’s been a while. How is, ah, Petra doing?” he asks. He had meant to ask the question casually, but he stumbles over the words a little too quickly. 

“Petra? She’s well,” Mr. Ral answers with a smile. The corners of his eyes crinkle and his laughter lines deepen. He doesn’t seem to notice how flustered Eren is. “She just started teaching at the same university that Zeke is teaching at.” 

That’s certainly news to Eren. Zeke hadn’t mentioned that at any of the family dinners Eren had attended recently. It could just be because Zeke hadn’t run into her yet or it had simply slipped his mind, but Eren kind of doubts it. If Petra’s father knew, then it’s highly unlikely that Zeke didn’t know. As much as Eren wants to frown, he fights the urge to turn the edges of his mouth downward and gives Mr. Ral a thin but polite smile. “That’s great to hear. What does she teach?” 

“English,” Mr. Ral replies, his chest puffed out proudly. It’s endearing how much he adores his daughter. “She teaches some upper-division classes on creative writing and a few classes for freshmen on critical reading and writing.” 

Eren’s smile is more genuine now, more fond as he listens to Mr. Ral speak about his daughter. “Yeah, that sounds like her. She was always really good with words.” He remembers lazy summer afternoons lying underneath the shade of a tree and pretending he was sleeping so that he could listen to Petra talk to Zeke on the front porch. It wasn’t even that he wanted to eavesdrop. He just liked the sound of her voice. Eren wonders if it’s still as wonderfully soothing and soft as he remembers. 

“And what about you?” Mr. Ral asks, snapping Eren out of his reverie. The old man seems to ask out of polite obligation. It figures that he isn’t really interested in Eren’s life. After all, he hadn’t remembered that Eren existed until five minutes ago. 

“I just graduated a few months ago. I majored in child education,” Eren replies. He looks down feeling slightly embarrassed although he’s not sure why. It feels like a step down from Petra’s accomplishments. His sort-of stepmom would certainly agree. She enjoys rubbing Zeke’s doctorate in Eren’s face whenever she gets the chance. Eren clears his throat and adds, “I’ve been working at Liberio Daycare. It’s near Shiganshina Elementary.” 

It’s unclear whether or not Mr. Ral recognizes the name but he nods and reaches over to give Eren a pat on the arm, a grin on his face as if the old man is actually proud of him. “That’s good! Your parents must be proud.” He doesn’t notice the way Eren flinches and carries on. “It’s good to hear that you’ve been well.” 

“Likewise,” Eren says. His eyes wander towards the bakery. It hadn’t occurred to him to look for Petra before, but now that he knows she’s back in town he can’t imagine doing anything else. He half hopes that she’ll be inside, maybe clearing the display for the night or wiping down the countertops, but all he sees is a girl his age at the register munching on some lavender bars that hadn’t sold. Before he can stop himself, Eren finds himself asking, “Is Petra in?” 

“Petra?” Mr. Ral asks with his eyebrows raised. Maybe it does seem out of the blue that Eren’s asking. Petra was always more Zeke’s friend than Eren’s. Mr. Ral gives Eren an apologetic smile and a shake of his head. “I’m afraid not. She told me she was eating dinner at a friend’s house. I’ll let her know you stopped by. Maybe you two can catch up sometime.” 

Eren shouldn’t feel so disappointed, but he can feel himself deflating at Mr. Ral’s words. He really doubts Petra would want to meet up with him. It’s not as if they were incredibly close before. Still, he gives Mr. Ral a gracious smile and says, “That would be great! I should probably get going. I have to, ah, eat dinner…” His voice trails off and he looks to bike only to find the front basket empty. Eyes straying further, he finds that his tub of potato salad had rolled out of his bike basket and onto the ground where it lay pitifully. Thankfully, the tub hasn’t broken and the potato salad hasn’t spilled out, but somehow the salad looks even more pathetic than it did when Eren purchased it. It’s something Eren would have been happy about fifteen minutes ago, but it’s embarrassing now. Quickly, he goes to pick it up and drop it into his bike basket with the slim hope that Mr. Ral wouldn’t think much about it, but Eren has never been that lucky. 

Mr. Ral must find him pitiful because he asks, “Why don’t you take some dessert home?” He’s already heading back into the bakery, gesturing for Eren to follow him despite Eren’s protests. “If you don’t, they’ll just go to waste. Or into my employee’s stomach, and goodness knows that she’s already eaten enough desserts today already.” 

“Thank you so much, sir,” Eren says, humbly bowing his head. 

“Sasha,” Mr. Ral calls the girl at the register. “Could you ring up a few things for Eren?” 

The girl’s head snaps up at the call of her name, her cheeks filled with pastry and crumbs all over her mouth. “Sure thing,” Sasha says, gulping down the last of her lavender bar and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She walks over to the side, Eren following her on the other side of the counter, and washes her hands hastily. As she wipes her hands dry with the hand towel, she looks at Eren brightly and asks in a chipper voice, “Do you have anything you want in particular?” 

Eren’s eyes scan over the display, but he doesn’t really look at anything in particular. He just wants to get out of this situation as quickly as possible. He’s embarrassed himself quite enough for today. “Just … whatever you’d recommend,” 

“Alright-y,” the girl hums, taking a bag and stuffing it full with little tarts and tea cakes and croissants. Eren looks at her briefly, realizing that he doesn’t recognize her. She must have moved here sometime during the past six years when he wasn’t around. 

As Sasha finishes preparing the bag, Eren walks over to the register and gets ready to pull his wallet out but Mr. Ral walks over, shaking his head. “No need to pay for it,” Mr. Ral says. He reaches over the counter and takes the bag from Sasha, presenting it to Eren with a smile. “Consider it a treat. Really, you’d be doing me a favor just taking it. They would have gone to waste otherwise.” 

“Ah, thank you,” Eren says, his face flushing once more. He takes the bag from Mr. Ral with a small bow of his head. “It was great seeing you again, Mr. Ral.” 

“Likewise,” Mr. Ral says with that same crinkly smile. He walks Eren to the door, watching as Eren packs the desserts alongside his potato salad. “Take good care of yourself, Eren, and tell your brother I said hi.” He waves as Eren assures him he’ll do just that, returning to the shop only once Eren has biked away. 

This is not how the night was supposed to go. Eren was supposed to be wandering around the neighborhood with his potato salad before waltzing into his father’s house an hour late, his sort-of stepmother silently fuming at the dinner table while the family sat and waited for him. He hadn’t planned on bumping into his childhood crush’s father, and he certainly hadn’t planned on looking so incredibly pathetic in front of Mr. Ral. He can only imagine what Mr. Ral will tell Petra when she sees her dad tonight. Maybe something about how he grew up to be such a loser even though his half-brother managed to graduate with a Ph.D. and is now a successful anthropology professor at the local university. It’s not something that usually gets Eren down, but thinking about it now is making him feel especially miserable. 

Eren’s not sure why the thought of Petra knowing how his life is so embarrassing. He hasn’t spoken to her in years, so her opinion of him shouldn’t matter. And even if she did have an opinion of him, he’s sure it wouldn’t be unkind. Petra had always been nice to him even when he was a kid and just being an annoying third wheel to her and Zeke. When his childish admiration of her turned into puppy love and eventually evolved into a full-fledged crush, she never brushed him off or thought him annoying, although there was a chance that she just never noticed. He couldn’t blame her for that when Zeke, honor roll student and valedictorian Zeke, was always standing right in front of her. He wasn’t even surprised when they started dating. It was inevitable. And when they eventually broke up for some reason that Eren still isn’t quite sure about, Eren knew he’d never be able to compare so he never tried to pursue her. It’s not surprising that he and Petra ended up losing touch. 

As much as he would love to blame Zeke for it (and it would be incredibly easy for him to blame Zeke), he can’t. Maybe it’s strange that he doesn’t harbor a deep hatred for his half-brother. Their relationship has all the makings of a classic sibling rivalry - a complicated family history, stark differences in accomplishments, and affections for the same girl - but Eren could never bring himself to hate Zeke. Even if Zeke’s mother liked to hold all of her son’s accomplishments over Eren’s head, Zeke himself never bragged about them. In fact, he was quite humble and would even offer to help his younger half-brother if he was struggling with something in school. Oftentimes he would invite Eren to hang out with his friends even though their age gap made it a little awkward. He even remembered Eren’s favorite snacks and would make sure they were in supply whenever Eren came over to visit. If Zeke’s mother was an evil Disney stepmother come to life, Zeke was that one fairytale sibling that was kind to the tragic main character, so Eren had no choice but to like Zeke. Even when Zeke broke up with Petra and Eren couldn’t understand why, when Zeke told Eren that it “just happened,” Eren kind of left it at that and accepted that because he couldn’t imagine Zeke doing anything wrong. 

Could Eren be classified with an inferiority complex with regards to his brother? Probably, but most siblings can. Eren would have to challenge whether or not someone with inferiority complexes would admire their brother as much as he does, but they might in a weird way. Eren’s sure that he and Zeke’s relationship would still be complicated even if they didn’t have all the weird history with Eren and Zeke’s parents. 

Eren sighs as he flies down a dip in the road, letting gravity carry him down instead of pedaling. He really doesn’t feel like he’s in the right headspace for this family dinner. Usually, he lets all of that woman’s snide comments ricochet, but his armor has grown weak and he can just imagine her landing the right thinly-veiled insult, her words burying into his skin and hitting right where it hurts. For a moment, Eren considers calling the dinner off with an excuse that will be sure to piss his stepmother off — probably something about how he has to restructure his lesson plan for the upcoming week — but he glances down at the potato salad and bag of baked goods in his bike basket and realizes that he really doesn’t want to eat them all by himself. If he’s going to suffer, he might as well make the rest of his family suffer alongside him. And besides, he’s pretty much already at their house anyway. 

His bike slows as he approaches the white-picket fenced house. He takes the potato salad tub and the bag of baked goods before leaving his bike on the driveway, not bothering to chain it to the fence because nobody would want to steal the old thing he bought from a garage sale anyway. The sight of it lying in front of the house instead of properly locked up will be sure to piss off that woman too, which is just an added bonus. With a sigh, Eren marches up the front steps, shifting the food all on one arm so he can ring the doorbell. The familiar chime rings out, muted from behind the wooden door. A muffled voice mumbles something Eren can’t hear, but he already knows that the speaker has nothing good to say about him. 

The door is thrown open and Eren looks down to see his stepmother glowering up at him, blue eyes a raging storm. “You’re late,” she hisses. She doesn’t even give him a greeting; she just stands there in front of him silently fuming. Behind her stands Eren’s father. As expected, he says nothing to defend his son’s tardiness. The man just stands there, uncomfortable as he quietly observes. 

“Sorry, Dina,” Eren says, squeezing past his stepmother who makes an indignant noise. He dangles the food he brought in front of her face, rolling his eyes when she snatches the bag from him only to wrinkle her nose in disgust when she sees the potato salad. “I brought dessert, too. Do you want me to put it somewhere …?” 

Dina snatches the bag of desserts from him too, still huffing. “We have a guest tonight too. Do you know how rude you’re being?” she says, continuing to nag at him even though Eren has stopped listening to her years ago. 

Eren’s father gently grabs Eren by the elbow, subtly ushering him inside to avoid any more conflict but Eren yanks his arm away. 

“Well, maybe if you told me we were having a guest beforehand I would have showed up on time,” Eren snaps. He sounds angry as he says it, but he really does mean it. It’s one thing to be rude to his stepmother, but it’s another thing entirely to be rude to a guest he doesn’t know. He’d at least wait for introductions before deciding whether or not to show any manners. 

Before his stepmother can say anything more, Eren stomps off into the dining room where Zeke and the guest are waiting. He keeps his head down, cheeks burning, as he pulls out his chair - the one furthest from everyone - and slumps down into it. “Sorry, I’m late,” Eren mumbles, still looking down. 

“Eren,” says a deep voice that Eren recognizes as Zeke’s. Hearing the voice of someone other than his stepmother’s makes Eren relax a bit and he rests with his back against his chair, a little more at ease now. He can hear Zeke’s small smile as his half-brother asks, “Aren’t you going to say hi to our guest?” 

“Uh, yeah. Hi,” Eren says. His eyes flicker upward, first at Zeke who sits across from him, and then at the guest. He looks so quickly at first that he doesn’t register exactly who he’s seeing until he does a double-take, his green eyes widening as they take in the woman sitting there. It’s someone he hadn’t expected to see ever again, much less sitting at his family’s dining table, and he’s so surprised that he almost chokes. For a moment, he thinks it might just be a doppelganger, but there’s no mistaking the soft dimples that appear in her cheeks as her lips curl in a smile. “...Petra?” 

“Hi, Eren.” Petra’s voice is still as gentle and soothing as Eren remembers, the sound of it so honey-sweet that he feels his cheeks bloom a soft pink. There’s so much about her that’s different, but there’s so much more that’s the same. Her hair is shorter now, no longer falling right at her shoulder, but curling right under her chin in a short bob. It’s the same shade of ginger it was when he was a kid. If it’s under the right light, it would probably burn a fiery gold. Her doe eyes are the same pretty amber, sweet and dangerously entrancing at the same time. She’s even dressed differently, her button-up blouse and slick gray trousers such a departure from the casual jeans and t-shirts she wore ten years ago when Eren was still in high school. Eren feels horribly underdressed - his ratty university sweatshirt over a thin cotton tee and his ripped jeans are so shabby in comparison - but a glimmer of silver on Petra’s wrist attracts Eren’s attention to the charm bracelet she wears, jangling with charms that Eren remembers her collecting in her high school days, and he feels a little less like he’s meeting a stranger and more like he’s reuniting with an old friend. 

“How are you?” Eren asks shyly, his smile bashful. 

“I’m well,” she answers, and Eren feels himself melting into her voice the same way he did when he was thirteen. When she smiles, her head tilts ever so slightly to the right just the way it did when he first met her and her dimples deepen into her cheeks. “How are you?” 

“Good,” Eren answers because he doesn’t trust himself to string together more than a word or two at a time. He wonders if she realizes how he’s unraveling at the sound of her voice or if she’s as oblivious as she was the last time. 

“I’m glad,” Petra says, and the warm look Petra gives Eren reignites a flame in the pit of his belly that he had thought he extinguished long ago. Her head tilts a little bit more to the side, her eyes twinkling. “I missed you,” Petra tells him, and Eren finds himself in love once more. 

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

There are rules to dealing with your ex-boyfriend after you’ve broken up, Petra knows, but it’s been ten years and she figures that these rules can be bent. So what if the last time she saw Zeke she was broken-hearted, crying in the rain as he turned his back on her? She was younger then, her feelings out of control for someone who didn’t care for her nearly as much as she cared for him. And, sure, maybe it’s terrible that she never received the closure that she deserves, but she can’t hold a grudge against him forever. They work in the same university and cowering behind the nearest trashcan every time they meet doesn’t seem to be a viable option. Petra’s older now and so is Zeke. They’re mature. They can be friends like adults are after they’ve broken up, so the universe should be able to understand her accepting Zeke’s dinner request that evening even if her friends couldn’t. 

She only started to regret her decision when Zeke offered to drive her there after his classes ended - saving gas and the planet, he explained - and she agreed. Although Petra repeatedly told herself that it was a simple family dinner and that such an invitation was extended to Zeke’s other friends on occasion, she found herself sitting impatiently in her office, biting her nails down so close to the quick that her fingers started to bleed. Having to bandage her fingers as she waited did absolutely nothing to soothe her nerves. 

“I don’t see why you’re so nervous,” Levi tells her over the phone. He taught in the mathematics department, but they had met after Petra had nervously stumbled into the wrong building and into his office on her first day at the university. The man has a perpetual scowl on his face, and that very same expression had nearly sent Petra running until she weakly explained that she must have gotten lost and he kindly redirected her to the building her office was located in. She thought that was going to be the end of their interaction until he emailed her shortly after asking if she had gotten to her office alright. Finding him a kindred spirit, he had become her first (and sadly only) companion at the university aside from Zeke. “If you’re friends with him, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal.” 

“Well, it’s just that I haven’t really seen him since we, you know, broke up,” Petra explains, but she doubts that Levi understands. She had told him her history with Zeke a few weeks ago after he asked her why she was so jittery at the faculty luncheon, but he didn’t have much of a reaction. It was sort of nice having someone to talk to that wasn’t as hyperbolically reactive as the rest of her friends, but it was also painfully difficult when Levi didn’t show her any sympathy. 

“You saw him last week when you were at the library to look for reference books,” he reminds her as if it were the same thing. “I don’t know why this dinner has you in a panic. You left me nearly a hundred messages while I was teaching class.” He hadn’t even replied to her texts, the bastard. He had simply left her on read until midnight before sending her a thumbs-up emoji to let her know that he had read her messages, which was not exactly the response Petra was waiting for. 

“This is different!” Petra insists, but she knows Levi will never see it that way. 

“You’re making this a much bigger deal than it needs to be,” Levi says. She can hear him scribbling something on the other end, probably correcting exams for his differential equations classes and marking a poor student’s paper in an abundance of red. “Either cancel or just go to dinner with him. You’ve had family dinners with him even before you guys got together right?” 

“Yeah, but that was back when we were kids,” Petra mumbles, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. 

“Then you’ll be fine,” he tells her. 

“You’re horribly unsympathetic sometimes,” she sighs. 

“If you wanted sympathy, you shouldn’t have called me,” Levi says with a cluck of his tongue, but he chuckles when he hears her groan on the other end. “Really, it’ll be fine. You’re just overthinking it. I’m sure it’ll be fine. And you said the kid will be there, right? His brother, so it’s not as if you’ll be alone with Zeke and his parents.” 

Petra lays with her head on her desk, her phone pressed against her cheek. “Yeah, you’re right,” she mumbles, but her lower lip still sticks out in a pout. The thought of Eren being there, sweet little Eren with his eager puppy eyes and wide smile, does make her feel better if only a little. She probably hasn’t seen him since she broke up with Zeke. She wonders if he’s changed very much. He’d be in college now? Or maybe he graduated. “I haven’t seen him in awhile though. What if he hates me now?” 

“You’re overthinking again,” Levi says. He sighs on the other end. If Petra didn’t know him very well, she would think she was bothering him, but he’s always like this. “Are you going to be okay?” 

“Yes. No. Maybe,” Petra sniffs. She looks sadly at her bandaged fingers and picks at the ends of one of them. “Should I just cancel? Maybe I can tell him I fell down the stairs and had to go to the hospital or something -” Someone knocks at the door and Petra lets out a startled yelp, nearly falling out of her chair because she’s so surprised. When she looks at the door, she sees Zeke’s silhouette against the frosted glass pane. The sight of it makes her want to hide behind her desk. “God, he’s here already!” 

“Too late for you to run then,” Levi says, not even bothering to hide his snickering. He’s such a sadist that Petra doesn’t even know why she’s friends with him sometimes. “Have fun at your absolutely normal dinner with your friend and his family.” Click!

“Asshole,” Petra mutters under her breath before shoving her phone in her bag. There’s another knock at the door — the same long, slow knocks that are a signature of Zeke’s —  and she hastily shouts, “I’ll be right there!” before shoving her papers in her bag and stumbling out of the door, nearly tripping over her own feet in the process. She must look like a mess because Zeke raises an eyebrow at her when she emerges from her office. Petra catches a glimpse of her reflection in the window and winces at her frumpled shirt and the hair falling out of her bun. She mumbles an apology as she pulls the hair ties out of her bun, her hair falling in loose curls around her face. 

“Did I catch you at a bad time?” Zeke asks. 

“No! God, no,” Petra says, inwardly cringing at every word that comes out of her mouth. Even she can tell how awkward her responses sound, a little too quick and desperate. What is she being so anxious for? It’s just dinner with a friend —  an ex-boyfriend, but a friend nonetheless. Petra clears her throat and asks as casually as she can manage, “How are your parents?” 

“Hmm? They’re well, I suppose,” he answers. Everything about him is familiar. He’s grown just a bit taller since Petra last saw him, his shoulders a bit broader and his jawline a bit sharper, but he still wears the same double-bridge glasses and the right corner of his mouth still quirks upward just the slightest bit when he speaks. He even walks the same way, his strides a little too long and quick, and Petra finds that she still has to struggle a bit to keep up. If Zeke notices the same thing about her - how she still wears the same shade of lipstick, how she still has that habit of wrapping her hair around her finger when she’s nervous like she’s doing now, how she bites her lip when she’s not sure what to say next - he doesn’t mention it. “My father’s still working at the hospital with my grandfather. He’s been promoted to director of the orthopedics department.” 

“Oh, congrats!” 

“And you know my mother has been at the hospital now that she doesn’t have to worry about me anymore,” Zeke says. It’s strange how casually he says this, as if he doesn’t remember that the last time he spoke about his mother to Petra was when they were still together. “She really missed being in the OR. Says she’d rather be doing surgeries all day than taking care of me.” 

“It’s nice that she can go back to it.” She nearly stumbles over a step but catches the railing before she can. When she looks up again, Zeke is already on the sidewalk and she hurries after him, a little breathless. “And Eren?” 

“Eren?” Zeke seems a little surprised by the question although Petra doesn’t know why. He leads her to a car - a slick Mercedes with a shining blue exterior and tinted windows that don’t quite match Zeke’s academic profession —  and opens the car doors with a click. 

“Your brother,” she clarifies as Zeke walks over to the driver’s side and slips into the car. She opens the passenger car and slides into the seat beside Zeke, setting her bag down next to her feet. The door swings shut behind her. “He’s coming to the dinner too, right?” 

Zeke turns on the engine and the car comes to life with a pleasant hum. “Most likely,” Zeke says as he checks the side and rearview mirrors before pulling out of the parking space. He even drives the same way, his arm resting on the side with his hand tapping against the door while one hand is on the wheel. Just watching him makes Petra’s chest feel tight. 

“Ah, that’s good. I haven’t seen him in so long,” Petra says. For some reason, knowing that Eren will also be there makes her feel a little more relaxed about the dinner. “Is he still in college? I think he should have graduated by now.” 

“He graduated a little while ago. He’s teaching now. Still on probation, but he says his colleagues like him so he’s not too worried about getting tenure after the probationary period is over.” He slows the car to a stop at an intersection and leans over, fiddling with the radio dial. He sets it to the jazz station and the sound of smooth brass and relaxed percussion fills the car. 

Somehow, driving down the streets with Zeke is far more nostalgic than it ever was when Petra drove on her own. Some nights Petra drove home by herself, and all it ever felt was lonely. Maybe it’s the familiarity of having Zeke beside her like when they were teenagers, driving back home after watching a movie downtown or returning from a basketball game at their high school. 

Petra doesn’t ask any more questions about Zeke’s family. She figures she can catch up with the rest of the Jaegers when she sees them at dinner. Instead, she asks Zeke about his classes and finds that conversation with him comes more easily after she stops stumbling over her words. He tells her a little bit about teaching anthropology (“Far less painful than you think it would be, at least when the kids aren’t just taking it to fulfill their core classes,” he says), his plans for the upcoming week (“It’s midterms, but the students should be fine if they actually look at the study guide.”), and the butterfly exhibit opening up at the museum downtown (“I’m thinking of putting it up as extra credit. Who knows, they might actually look at the other exhibits while they’re wandering around.”). Petra also fills him in on her own life, mumbling about how she still has to make the answer key to her own midterm and expressing interest in the butterfly exhibit Zeke mentions. 

They pull up next to Zeke’s house, the very same one he grew up with. Not much has changed from the outside. The white picket fence is a little worn and the rose bushes have been replaced with peonies. The house is still the same shade of cream, but Petra is sure that the Jaegers had it repainted over the summer like they usually do. She looks up at the second-story window where Zeke’s room should be and vaguely wonders if it’s still his room or if he’s moved out and hasn’t mentioned it yet. 

Walking up the brick steps to the door is a bit surreal. Petra doesn’t realize just how silent she’s been until the chime of the doorbell startles her and Mrs. Jaeger opens the door. As with most of Zeke’s family members, Petra hasn’t seen Mrs. Jaeger since she broke up with Zeke, but she had an amicable relationship with her. She can’t recall Mrs. Jaeger ever being angry, so she’s surprised when Zeke’s mother opens the door with a terrible scowl on her face. 

“Mom, you remember Petra,” Zeke says, moving aside so that Petra can enter first. 

The scowl quickly slips from Mrs. Jaeger’s face, replaced with a smile that Petra is more familiar with. “Petra, of course! I haven’t seen you in ages,” Mrs. Jaeger says, her voice strained. She waves Petra and Zeke in, shutting the door gently behind them. “It’s nice to see you again.” 

“Likewise,” Petra mumbles. She looks at the kitchen doorway where Zeke’s father leans and gives him an awkward wave. The man, just as silent as he was when Petra was young, gives her a polite smile and a nod in acknowledgment. 

“Sorry, we’re a bit late,” Zeke apologizes as he shrugs off his coat. He walks over to the dining room, Petra and his mother trailing behind him. “A student wanted to talk to me and it took a bit longer than I thought it would.” 

“No need to apologize! Eren hasn’t arrived yet anyway. He’ll probably be late. Again.” There’s a harsh tone in Mrs. Jaeger’s voice that Petra hasn't heard before. When she looks up, she sees Zeke’s mother hovering around the table and arranging dishes, the same polite smile on her face as she does so. “Your brother, of course, didn’t bother to send a text to notify us that he’d be late.” 

Petra wonders if Mrs. Jaeger usually speaks about Eren with such disappointment in her voice. Maybe she had always spoken about Eren like this and Petra had never been around to witness it or maybe it’s something that developed while Petra was away. Whatever it is, Zeke and his father seem used to it. Zeke merely shrugs, pulling out his phone to flip through his phone while his mother continues to mutter about how disrespectful her stepson is. Mr. Jaeger continues to stand at the doorway, not bothering to join them at the dining table, his eyes fixed on the carpet. He doesn’t bother to defend his son. 

“Maybe he’s busy,” Petra says, interrupting Mrs. Jaeger mid-rant. She feels rude for speaking while Mrs. Jaeger is talking, but sitting in silence while Zeke’s mother speaks ill of Eren doesn’t feel right either. All eyes are on her now - Mrs. Jaeger a little surprised, Zeke with an eyebrow quirked upward as if in amusement, and his father with a look that’s almost relieved. Petra clears her throat and continues. “He’s a teacher, right? It must be difficult teaching so many children every day — making the lesson plan and everything. Maybe texting slipped his mind. He’ll probably be here soon.” 

God, she hopes Eren will be here soon. Her cheeks are starting to burn bright red and she’s thinking that perhaps speaking up might not have been the best decision. 

“Ah, you’re probably right.” Mrs. Jaeger seems a little more composed now, perhaps remembering that they have company over. She settles down in the chair across from Zeke and flashes a pleasant smile at Petra. “He can be quite forgetful of these things. Of course, you’d never worry your father like this. You’ve always been so responsible.” 

Has talking with Zeke’s mother always been this difficult? Petra’s head is starting to spin, unsure of what response would be appropriate. She feels as if she should defend Eren, but she doesn’t want to make things awkward either. In the end, she smiles awkwardly at Mrs. Jaeger as if accepting the woman’s compliment and reaches out for the glass of water in front of her, raising it to her lips before she can say anything else that she might regret. 

“Dear, come sit next to me,” Mrs. Jaeger calls. She gestures for her husband to join them at the table and Mr. Jaeger stiffly walks over from the doorway before taking a seat at the head of the table. Mrs. Jaeger folds her hands on the table, her gaze still on Petra. “How have you been, Petra? We haven’t heard from you in a while. How long have you been back?” 

The series of questions leave Petra tongue-tied and unsure of how to answer. It’s so strange how casual the Jaegers can be about asking after her, like she hadn’t been such a large part of their lives — or at least Zeke’s life — ten years ago before disappearing completely. As if they didn’t know the real reason she hadn’t kept in touch. She’s not sure if she’ll ever be able to act as oblivious as them. 

“Er, I’ve been back for a while now,” she replies. She bites her lip when she sees the look of surprise on Mrs. Jaeger’s face. When she glances over at Zeke, he doesn’t look back at her. He’s returned his gaze to his phone screen, ignoring her. Nervously, she laughs. “I guess Zeke didn’t tell you, but I’m teaching at the same university he is. A few undergraduate English classes and then a graduate course on nature and romantic poetry.” Petra doesn’t know why she feels a lump at the back of her throat or the sting of tears at the corner of her eyes. She nibbles at her lip again, looking down at her lap so that she doesn’t have to look at Zeke or his family. She doesn’t have a reason to feel hurt or upset. Maybe Zeke was busy and didn’t have the chance to mention it to his parents or maybe it just slipped his mind. It isn’t a big deal. 

“Oh, that must be nice!  Who knew you two would be working together after all these years?” Mrs. Jaeger says. She subtly pushes the cheese plate on the table towards Petra, gesturing for her to take one. 

“Mmm,” Petra says, nodding as if she agrees with Mrs. Jaeger. It’s not as if she’s wrong. Petra certainly didn’t know any of this would happen. She knew some of it would — getting her degree, teaching at a university, eating dinner with Zeke’s parents — she just hadn’t predicted other things like Zeke breaking up with her, not speaking with him for ten years after knowing him her entire life, or having to pretend that she’s okay. 

Petra reaches for a cracker and a spread of raspberry goat cheese and shoves the entire thing in her mouth, hoping that she won’t have to answer any more questions. 

“The university is nice,” Zeke’s father murmurs. It’s the first time he’s spoken all night. The sound of his voice startles Petra, but the other Jaegers don’t seem too surprised. “It’s near the museum too. Very convenient.” 

“Ah, the museum!” Mrs. Jaeger clasps her hands together and looks at Petra expectantly. Petra nearly chokes on her cracker out of nervousness. “Have you been there yet?” 

“Er, not yet,” Petra says hastily, wincing at the pain in her throat. She takes a quick sip of her water to relieve it. “I haven’t really found the time, I guess.” 

“Oh, you should absolutely go!” says Mrs. Jaeger brightly. Petra had never thought Mrs. Jaeger was one to love museums, but there’s probably a lot about the woman that Petra doesn’t know now. All Petra really remembers about the woman is that she stayed at home during the daytime and worked at the hospital at night. She’s bound to have found other ways to occupy her time now that she doesn’t have to worry about Zeke anymore. 

“You sound as if you really enjoy it.” Petra nibbles at another cracker. She feels as if she should smile right now, but she’s not sure if she’s able to. “Are there any exhibits you would recommend?” 

“Oh, they’re all good! The staff especially …,” Mrs. Jaeger gushes, but her voice begins to trail off. Her eyes flicker over to Zeke as if waiting for a sign to proceed, but her son pays no attention to her. He simply reaches over for an almond on the cheese plate and pops it into his mouth. His mother’s smile tightens and she continues, “The butterfly exhibit that’s opening soon should be exquisite!” 

Petra looks from Zeke to Mrs. Jaeger. Aside from Mrs. Jaeger’s forced smile, Petra really can’t tell what’s wrong, so she puts on a false smile of her own and nods. “I know. Zeke was telling me about it on the ride here.” 

There’s a long and awkward silence. Zeke puts no effort in speaking and neither does his father, who still sits and stares at his lap. Only Mrs. Jaeger and Petra seem to be putting in any effort to pick up the conversation, both trying to appear calm as they search for some common ground to work with. Instead, the doorbell rings and Petra swears she hears a sigh of relief escape Mrs. Jaeger’s lips. 

“It seems Eren has finally arrived,” Mrs. Jaeger says, her chair scraping across the floor as she gets up from the table. As she turns to leave, she flashes Petra an apologetic smile. “I’m so sorry you had to wait so long.” Petra is about to tell her that it wasn’t a problem, that she didn’t mind waiting (even if it was a lie), but Zeke’s mother has already disappeared into the next room with Zeke’s father following silently behind her. 

For a moment, Petra wonders if she should try to talk to Zeke so more. It’s not that the quiet bothers her, but she’s never felt comfortable sitting silently next to others unless she was completely comfortable with them. Ten years ago this would have been fine, but now sitting with Zeke beside her without saying a word is making her skin crawl and her throat dry. She glances at him from the corner of her eye, trying to gauge his interest. 

Zeke doesn’t seem to be bothered by the silence at all. He’s still scrolling through his phone, occasionally reaching out to pluck a cracker or another almond from the cheese plate. If he’s fine without any conversation, Petra figures she shouldn’t bother him. She settles down with her back against her chair rather unhappily and tries to occupy herself another way. 

Petra tries not to eavesdrop on the conversation going on in the other room. First, she stares down at the lace tablecloth, gazing at the delicate pattern until the floral designs are burned into her corneas. Mrs. Jaeger’s voice begins to drift into the dining room, her tone just as cold and harsh as it was when she spoke about Eren earlier this evening. Another voice floats into the room as well, a voice like Eren’s but a bit deeper and rougher than Petra remembers. As the two continue to talk, Petra finds herself straining to listen to the conversation, but she can’t quite make out the words. The words exchanged don’t sound incredibly pleasant though. 

“...if you told me we were having a guest beforehand I would have shown up on time,” Eren hisses as he walks into the room. He’s taller than he was when Petra had seen him last — probably as tall as his brother if not taller — but he walks with his head down and doesn’t seem to notice Petra seated at the table even as he pulls out a chair to sit down. Without looking up, Eren mumbles, “Sorry, I’m late.” 

Zeke looks up, his expression amused. “Eren,” he says, setting down his phone for once. He rests his chin in his hand, mouth quirked upward in a smile. “Aren’t you going to say hi to our guest?” 

“Uh, yeah. Hi,” Eren says, mumbling into his lap. His eyes flicker upward, first at Zeke and then Petra, but he doesn’t really register who Petra is until he takes another glance. His eyes are huge like a doe’s. He’s always had big eyes even when he was a child, large and green like gemstones. He’s grown into them more since the last time Petra has seen him, but they’re still enormous, growing wider as he recognizes her. His mouth falls open in surprise. “... Petra?” 

She can feel her lips curling in a smile. “Hi, Eren.” 

Eren smiles back at her, a little nervous but a lot more relaxed than he was when he first arrived. He’s still shy when he smiles, looking up at her before glancing down at his lap again. “How are you?” He sits up straighter in his seat, no longer slouching. 

“I’m well. How are you?” 

“Good,” Eren answers.

“I’m glad. I missed you,” Petra tells him, and she means it. 

His smile is a little wider now and Petra feels the most relaxed than she’s been the entire night. It’s nice to know that, despite everything, at least Eren hasn’t changed and she feels less awkward being at a Jaeger family dinner after ten years of estrangement. 

Mrs. Jaeger puts down a tub of what looks like a potato salad on the table, opening the container with a frown. “At least you didn’t come empty-handed,” she comments wryly. 

Eren winces but doesn’t say anything. 

Petra sits up. “It looks, um, delicious.” It doesn’t. It looks like a pile of mush and not at all like anything edible, but Petra begins to spoon some on her plate anyway out of politeness despite the look of alarm on Eren’s face. “Eren, your brother told me you started teaching recently. Where do you teach?” 

“Just, um, down the street. Not really elementary … it’s a daycare,” he says distractedly as he watches her help herself to his potato salad. Eren hesitates for a moment before taking the spoon from Petra and switching their plates. He does it absentmindedly, almost as if he doesn’t realize what he’s doing until he notices everyone looking at him peculiarly. Flustered, he explains, “It’s not, ah, I don’t think it’s very good. So.” As if to prove his point, he puts a heaping spoonful of it into his mouth, gagging on it as he swallows it down, and scrunches his face up in disgust. 

Mrs. Jaeger looks rather smug as Eren chokes. “I’ll just put this away then,” she says, removing the tub of potato salad from the table. She gestures for Petra to help herself to the other food on the table. “Help yourself to everything else, Petra.” 

“Er, thank you,” Petra says. She does feel bad about not eating the potato salad, but Eren looks pretty relieved. Because she’s talked Zeke’s ear off in the car and doesn’t know how to carry on a conversation with the Jaeger parents, she decides to continue her conversation with Eren. “Daycare seems like it would suit you. I bet you’re great with kids.” 

“I’m alright,” Eren mumbles as he pushes the potatoes back and forth on his plate, but he’s hiding a smile on his face, secretly pleased. He’s never been that good at hiding his emotions, which Petra thinks is an endearing trait. “Teaching at a university is probably harder.” He freezes for a moment and then hurriedly adds, “Your dad told me you work as a professor now. I ran into him before coming here. He mentioned that you taught English …?” 

She doesn’t say anything for a moment, casting a side glance at Zeke. She thought Zeke would have mentioned that they were working at the same university, but maybe it never came up in conversation between the brothers or they just weren’t as close as they were before. Forcing a smile on her face, she nods, “Yeah, I teach English, but I wouldn’t say teaching university is more or less difficult than handling a daycare. They have their own challenges, right?” 

“Yeah,” Eren replies, voice soft. His smile grows wider and, after Petra asks him about what it’s like teaching at the daycare, starts animatedly talking about his students. He seems very endeared towards a young girl named Gabi, a very mischievous but sweet troublemaker, and her companion Falco, a young boy that often has no choice but to be dragged into all of Gabi’s shenanigans. 

Talking to Eren makes the rest of the dinner go by easily. He’s always been easy to talk to even when they were teenagers and she was dating Zeke. Sometimes she would wait at the Jaeger house and talk with Eren while they waited for Zeke to come back from baseball practice. Eren was always so animated when he talked, using his hands and sometimes bouncing up and down his seat when he got excited. He still does that now as he talks about his work at the daycare, listening intently whenever Petra or even Zeke exchange their own stories about teaching. It makes her feel as if the past ten years hadn’t really happened, like Zeke and Eren had been a part of her life the entire time. 

“Oh, I brought dessert,” Eren says brightly. Before Mrs. Jaeger can say anything, he gets up to collect the paper bag on the kitchen counter and plops it on the dining table. He pushes it closer to Petra. “Your dad gave me some while he was closing up his shop.” 

She laughs. “I eat too many of these as it is,” Petra says, but she plucks an almond cookie from the bag. Her teeth sink into the cookie, savoring its subtle nutty flavor on her tongue, and sighs. “Don’t tell my dad. He won’t let me eat anymore when I get home.” 

“Your secret’s safe with me,” Eren grins. 

Petra peers into the bag. “Did he give you any chocolate croissants?” She looks over at Eren. “Those are still your favorites, right?” 

Eren looks surprised. “Ah, yeah,” he replies, blinking. “You remember?” 

“Of course, I remember,” she snorts. She manages to find a pain au chocolat and places it delicately on Eren’s plate. It’s a little smooshed from the ride here, chocolate spilling out of its side, but Eren still looks at it hungrily. “Why wouldn’t I?” 

Zeke leans forward. “I like the lemon bars. Let me know if there are any in there.” 

She laughs and actually does manage to find one, but it’s a lemon-lavender bar. Zeke assures her it’s fine, picking off the little bits of lavender that are on the top of the bar. They eat like that for a moment and Petra feels an overwhelming wave of nostalgia. It’s probably unhealthy to yearn for the past, but Petra wouldn’t mind if things somehow ended up the way they were before. 

When their dishes are scraped clean and the conversations begin to fade away, Zeke pats down the corner of his mouth with a napkin before announcing that they should stop for the night. He has papers to grade tonight, he explains to his parents who nod understandingly. The wooden legs of his chair scrape against the carpet as he gets up from the table and Petra slides out of her own seat, ready to follow him. 

“Ah, Petra,” Zeke says, pausing like he’s just remembered. He looks at her, head tilting slightly. He’s stopped by the door to the living room, his hand resting on the doorframe. “Do you mind calling an Uber to pick you up? I’d drive you home myself but …” 

“I …” Petra blinks, feeling like a deer in headlights. If she looked around, she would see that the rest of the Jaeger family has a similar expression. She’s not sure why she feels so surprised. Maybe it’s because she had expected him to drive her home, but maybe that was too much to ask of him after he had taken the trouble to drive her here in the first place. It’s not even that far of a drive to her house, but it’s probably too cumbersome for Zeke, who’s busy with grading papers and preparing for tomorrow’s lectures. There’s an awful lump in her throat like she had swallowed an egg whole, but Petra forces a smile on her face as she begins, “Sure, let me just call my dad -” 

“I’ll take you home,” a voice says suddenly. Everyone turns to see Eren standing up from his chair. At first glance he looks angry, but Petra blinks again and there’s only concern on his face as he collects his jacket and walks over to Petra. He shrugs it on and smiles down at her, his expression a little apologetic. “Er, you don’t mind riding on a bike, do you?” 

Petra has to lift her head to look at Eren and she wonders when he had gotten so tall. It must have been after she left for college. “No, that’s fine,” she replies numbly, too shocked to really think about it. She shuffles silently after Eren, mumbling a brief “thank you” when he helps her into her coat. 

“It was lovely having you over again, dear,” Mrs. Jaeger says to Petra, a smile pasted on the woman’s face as she saw the two out. She doesn’t say anything about Zeke not offering Petra a ride back. “Do come again sometime.” 

“Of course,” Petra says, although the promise feels empty. She’s not sure if Mrs. Jaeger notices or even cares because the woman shuts the door in her face before Eren and Petra are even out in the driveway. It’s not a cold gesture, but it’s a change from the days when Mrs. Jaeger would wait until Petra was almost out of sight before shutting the door and disappearing into the house. 

Petra shoves her hands into the pockets of her coat and follows Eren down the driveway, watching as he runs to the bike he had carelessly discarded on the ground before entering the house earlier. Embarrassed, Eren hastily picks up the bike, brushing it off and mumbling something about how he had been in too much of a hurry earlier to properly lock up his bike. Petra assures him it’s fine. She’s only half-listening anyway. 

“You can just sit here,” Eren says, patting a padded seat on the back of his bike. He throws a leg over his bike easily and looks at Petra, waiting expectantly. 

She hadn’t objected to the ride home before, but now she looks at Eren’s vehicle of choice skeptically. “Are you sure you’ll be able to pedal with me on it? I’m a whole other person.” Petra hovers beside the bike, but she doesn’t get on. 

“Yeah, it’s fine. It was fine when my boyfriends were riding in the back, and they’re a lot heavier than you,” Eren replies. It takes him a moment to register what he just said and then his face begins to color, cheeks glowing pink even in the dim moonlight. “I mean my ex-boyfriends. I rode around with my ex-girlfriend too, but she was really tiny too. She was …” He probably would have babbled on and on if Petra hadn’t sat down. 

“Your exes?” Petra asks, eyebrow raised. She hadn’t really thought about Eren dating, but it’s funny to think about now. She doesn’t remember if he ever dated anyone when he was in high school. She probably shouldn’t tease, but she can’t resist grinning at the boy and saying, “It looks like you were busy in college.” 

“Not that busy. Just … probably as busy as your average college student,” Eren mumbles under his breath, face still flushed. He gestures at Petra’s hands and then makes a motion around his waist. “You can … around me if, you know, you’re comfortable with it.” 

“Oh, right.” She leans forward and wraps her arms around Eren’s waist and wonders briefly how someone so tall can have such a thin waist. “Do you remember the way to my house?” she asks. 

“Of course,” Eren says. “It’s not that far from here.” 

For some reason, the way Eren answers makes Petra feel warm. Maybe it’s just the heat transfer from resting her cheek on his back. She closes her eyes, feeling the wind rush around her as Eren bikes her back home. 

It feels so comfortable, clinging onto someone so familiar and breathing in Eren’s scent, something like pinewood and a little bit of peppermint. He feels strong too, sturdy like a redwood tree. Petra doesn’t know why she doubted his ability to bike with her additional weight. He’d probably be fine having someone twice her weight in tow. She experimentally gives Eren’s waist a little squeeze. It must have been too sudden of a squeeze because they come to a screeching stop, Petra’s face slamming against Eren’s back and the two of them nearly go flying. 

“Oh, ouch,” Petra says. One arm is still wrapped around Eren’s lithe waist, but she raises a hand to rub her stinging face. “That hurts.” 

“S-sorry!” Eren stammers. He twists around to get a good look at Petra, forehead wrinkling. “I didn’t mean to stop so suddenly I was just … surprised.” He brings his hand down to where Petra’s arm is hooked around his waist, but he snatches his hand away as soon as their skin brushes as if he’s been burned. “Sorry!”

“It’s fine,” Petra assures him. Her nose is throbbing dully, but it’s not bleeding. “It’s my fault anyway. I was just surprised. You’re a lot bigger than you were the last time I saw you.” 

“I’m alright,” Eren says with a shy laugh. He pushes off on the bike and starts for home again, pedaling easily despite Petra’s weight. He doesn’t startle when Petra leans against him again, her cheek rubbing against the cotton of his hoodie. His breath hitches a little when Petra wraps her arms a little tighter around his waist, but it goes unnoticed by her. 

“Were they nice?” she asks. Eren makes a confused noise, and she can’t help but smile. Clarifying, she says, “Your exes. Were they nice?” 

Eren pedals in silence for a while before responding. “Yeah. They were nice.” 

“That’s good.” Petra sighs against his back, not noticing the way he shivers as if he can feel her breath on his skin. “You deserve to date nice people.” 

Petra might have imagined it, but she thinks she hears Eren say something in reply. He says it quietly, though, and the wind carries it away too quickly for her to hear. She straightens her back, lifting her head from where it rests against Eren’s back, but he doesn’t repeat himself and she doesn’t ask. Maybe it’s just one of those things that are meant to be spoken aloud but not heard by anyone. 

They don’t speak much the rest of the way home. Petra figures Eren is having enough trouble biking with two people and holding a conversation would only tire him out more. She just lets herself rest against him, watching as they pass streetlight after streetlight. It probably would have been more convenient to call a Lyft or an Uber, but Petra thinks accepting Eren’s bike ride isn’t bad either. It saved her from having to wait awkwardly for her driver to find the house while Zeke’s parents waited for her to leave. 

She wonders if she should have gone to dinner in the first place. Maybe Zeke had only invited her out of politeness, but she had taken it to mean more than it did. She’s stupid to think that arriving at the Jaeger house meant that things could go back to the way things were. It was noticeably tense in the house. At first, Petra thought it was because of the strained relationship between Mrs. Jaeger and Eren, but now she’s not so sure. It’s not as if Mr. and Mrs. Jaeger had met her with open arms. They hadn’t been hostile, but they were polite in the way that people were polite to house guests and not in the way they would be to a childhood friend of their son. God, she’s so stupid. She should have just declined Zeke’s offer politely and never spoken to him again since he was obviously content with not speaking with her for ten years. 

Burying her face in Eren’s hoodie, Petra gives him another squeeze. Eren doesn’t brake this time. He just lets out a surprised “oh!” and falters for a bit, bike slowing, before picking his pace back up and continuing on their way. 

“We’re almost there,” Eren tells her. As he approaches Petra’s house, the bike begins to slow before stopping completely in front of the driveway. When Petra lifts her head, Eren is looking at her, smiling. “Are you alright?” 

“Yeah,” Petra nods. She gets off the bike and pats down her windswept hair, brushing some stray locks out of her face. She manages to smile back at Eren. “Thanks for the ride back. I hope it wasn’t too out of your way.” 

“It’s fine.” Eren sits at his bike, his smile a little lopsided. He looks as if he’s about to say something, but nothing comes. It’s only when Petra turns around towards her house that he opens his mouth. “Hey, Petra?” 

Petra’s hand rests on the gate of her wooden fence, just about to open it. She looks at Eren, watching as he fidgets with the handle of his bike. “Yeah?” 

“Did Zeke …?” His voice trails off and Eren’s looking everywhere except at her face. He nibbles on his bottom lip and Petra wonders what he’s so nervous about. His expression looks pained as if he’s scared whatever he has to say will hurt her, but Petra’s not sure why it would. After a moment, Eren swallows and forces a smile on his face. “Did Zeke tell you that … I work near your university?” 

“You do?” 

Eren nods. He looks a lot less nervous now, his shoulders relaxed. “Well, it’s not that far by bike.” 

“Really?” Petra hums. “I should come visit you some time then.” 

“Oh, you don’t have to -” 

“Or you could visit me?” she suggests. 

He blinks. “I can?” Eren asks. “Is that really okay?” 

Petra almost laughs. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be? You should just let me know beforehand if you’re coming,” she tells him. She walks over, pulling her phone out of her purse and handing it to him so he can add his number. “Text me or call me. I might not respond right away because I might have a faculty meeting or a lecture, but I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.” 

“Oh, alright then,” Eren says. He types away on her phone, handing it back to her as soon as he’s finished. He watches with wide green eyes as Petra sends him an emoji — a simple “Hi, Eren! It’s Petra 😊” — and looks back at her with a grin. “I’ll come visit sometime.” 

“That’d be great,” Petra says, and she really means it. “Thanks again for the ride, Eren. I really appreciate it.” 

“It was no problem,” Eren tells her. He waves as walks through the gate and up the steps of her porch. He’s still waving when she opens the door and turns around, his smile a little goofy but cute at the same time. “Have a good night!” 

“You too,” Petra says before shutting the door gently behind her. She takes a peek out the window and sees Eren still on the sidewalk with the bike. He stands there with a pensive look on his face before pushing off his bike and riding off into the night. Petra watches until he’s a tiny speck down the road. When she blinks, he’s gone. 

Petra finds her dad waiting for her in the living room, sleeping because he can’t stay awake for very long after dinner. In his lap sits a half-finished crossword puzzle. Petra smiles affectionately at her father before pressing a soft kiss on the old man’s brow. 

“I’m home,” she whispers as her father begins to stir. 

“Ah, Petra,” says her father. He looks at her, eyes still bleary with sleep, and gives her a drowsy smile. With a hand, he pushes up the glasses that were slipping off his nose during sleep. “Did Zeke drive you home?” 

Her lips press into a thin line. “No. He was busy,” Petra replies, trying to keep her voice as even as possible. “Eren took me home instead.” 

“Eren?” her father repeats, not seeming to remember the name. 

“Zeke’s younger brother,” Petra reminds him. She leans against the back of her father’s armchair as she tries to describe the half-brother. “He was a few years younger than me. Brown hair, big green eyes, kind of gangly.” 

“Oh, Eren,” her father says, nodding. Petra’s not sure if he actually remembers or if he’s just being polite, but then he suddenly says, “I saw him earlier this evening before I was closing up shop. He’s very polite. He’s a nice boy.” 

Petra leans over to rest her head on her father’s shoulder while her arms lay folded on the back of the armchair. She thinks about her ride home, how it could have been cold and miserable and lonely. And maybe her thoughts were all of those things, but the ride wasn’t. She can still feel the warmth Eren emanated from underneath his hoodie, how comforting it was to have someone to hold.

“Yeah. He’s a nice guy,” Petra says softly. 

[mythrilhusk]

Korosensei Never Dies - Chapter 5

Words: 1689 Ao3 Version Chapter 4 (Last)

Chapter 6 (Next)

AN: This is NOT RPF, this story is based solely on the characters of Dream SMP, not the people playing them.

====

It's a hobby some would call obsessive or even creepy. Wilbur Soot doesn't care what anyone thinks, it's his world and everyone else is just living in it. His pencil scrawls on the page, scratching black onto white.

--Tommy needs encouragement. He's latched onto Philza as a fath- role model worryingly fast. Have I not been enough for him? He told me he wants to kill Technoblade, but I could see the lie in his eyes. He's too kind, and now he's being torn in two directions. Should I ease the strain? Or should I see how long it takes for him to break?--

Wilbur doesn't care what others think of him. His sly gaze flickers from person to person, lingering on the bright ray of sunshine that is Tommy. 

--Tubbo worries me. He's been mostly silent ever since Technoblade showed up. Is he planning something?-- 

--Eret wants to kill Technoblade purely for the money. I saw the way their eyes lit up at the bounty. Which brings to mind another question. Why hasn't anyone outside of this class actually tried to kill Technoblade?--

--Ranboo never lets go of that notebook. I could swear it had a different cover. He's creepy. Avoid him.--

--Quackity has an intense grudge against Technoblade. But he's always with his gang, so I haven't been able to talk to him.--

--Hannah Rose started sparring with Foolish and Charlie last week. She's good. Too good. I don't trust her.--

--I can't get a read on Sapnap. He's always with Quackity, so I never have a chance to have a nice little chat, a good old tete-a-tete.--

--Connor wants to kill Technoblade. Boring.--

--Charlie hasn't shown any bent towards one side or another. He goes around with his saccharine "humour" and fails all his quizzes like he doesn't want Philza to train us. Maybe I should get him expelled.--

--Foolish says strange things. I don't like him.--

Wilbur pauses when he's finished silently dissing all his fellow students. The teachers are next. 

--Ponk just sort of showed up one day and then stayed as the math teacher. His quizzes are so goddamn annoying. He hasn't shown any signs of wanting to kill Technoblade, though.--

--Punz was here for like a day, and then was sent to the hospital as the result of Techno's completely just and righteous defense of Philza. Unknown if he will find the guts to return or not.--

--Philza. Ah, Philza. Mere words can not convey the sheer respect I have for that man's dedication to chaos. Why, just the other day, I saw him feeding birds as they perched on him. He then used them for target practice. Magnificent. If we all endeavor to succeed in our classes, he will teach us how to kill his friend.--

--Technoblade is an enigma. Seriously. Does this mutant man ever sleep? By all accounts, he should be a terrible teacher, yet somehow he finds the time and tenacious willpower to teach all the subjects in a concise and understandable way. Not to mention his casual sprinkling of anarchy propaganda. I wish to know his secrets. I will drag them out of him if need be.--

"Whatcha writing?" Tommy inquires. 

"Nothing!" Grinning innocently, Wilbur snaps his notebook closed. 

"Is it about me? Are you writing how good I am at luv?" 

"No, Tommy." Wilbur ruffles his friend's fluffy hair, ignoring Tommy's complaints. "I'm writing a diary. You can't read it." 

"Fuck off, I'll write my own diary!" 

Wilbur smiles and sits back, listening to Tommy rant. It would be interesting, wouldn't it, to see how he deals with the conundrum of looking up to Philza while being pressured to kill Technoblade. Wilbur can't wait to see him break. 

++++

Badboyhalo paces in the Duckling's treehouse, wincing with every step. Antfrost binds George's wounds. "This has gone too far, Bad!" George complains. 

"Shut up! I know we can think of something!" 

"Our reputation is on the line! If anybody looks even slightly deeper into our pasts, we're all screwed." 

"Shut up!" Bad screeches. "We are Professional Assassins, that's all we ever have been, and nobody is going to question it unless you two screw up again!" 

Antfrost glowers, tightening a bandage on George's arm. "You screwed up, too." 

"How was I supposed to know?? He's a highschool student, a teenager, he shouldn't be good at fighting!!" 

"He's better than us. You think Dream taught him?" George tries to scratch at his bandages, but Antfrost smacks his hand away. 

"I don't know, you muffinheads, but we need to figure something out. Maybe take some martial arts classes." 

"You want us to go back to school??" 

"No! Yes?? Maybe? I don't know." Bad replies miserably. "We've gotta get outta here before Quackity and his gang show up." 

"Too fucking late." Quackity snarls behind Bad, dropping through the window. "Why the fuck didn't your motherfucking special weapons do a single goddamned thing??" 

"Language," Bad mutters half-heartedly. 

"Why the fuck are you buffoons planning to take classes for fighting?? You said you were professionals!!" 

"That is true, we are professionals. But we may have been a teensy bit misleading about our line of work." 

Quackity's scowl darkens and he draws his revolver. "I want blood, Bad. I want your blood so motherfucking badly right now. Fucking tell me the truth." 

Bad raises his hands, heart in his throat. "Wait, wait! I- we're not actually assassins, okay? We're just, uhh, our business is in, uhh-" 

Quackity cocks the gun. His eyes show no hint of mercy. 

"Wait-wait-wait-" Bad cries, trembling. "We're just con-men! It's our business! We go around, telling people we can take care of whatever their problem is, then we take the money and dip! Haha!" 

"We bit off a bit more than we could chew when President Skeppy paid us to help you kill Technoblade." George sighs. "Go ahead and shoot Bad, he's our leader. It was all his idea." 

"N-no!!" Bad screeches, glaring at George. "Don't shoot!! Please!" 

"Fuck you." Quackity flicks open the casing and empties the bullets onto the table. "Fuck you and your motherfucking lies. You don't even have a supplier, do you?" 

"No, we stole the prototype weapons from HBomb's lab!" 

"I'll forgive you on one condition." Quackity gives them a small, hard smile. "Break into the lab and get us actual weapons that'll actually fucking work on Techno. Nothing explosive, just knives and guns."  

"Deal." Antfrost says. "Do we still get a cut?" 

"Ten percent, but that's only if you don't fuck up again." 

"Ten??" Bad cries, forgetting his former fear. "That's only one billion!!" 

"That's about a billion times more than you fucking deserve, so don't test me, assholes."

Bad clenches his fists. Quackity is just a kid. He's just one kid. Bad, Antfrost, and George could easily win. 

But that's what they thought about Ranboo. Bad huffs. "Deal." 

++++

Creeping around in the forest is not exactly what Awesamdude expected his career to lead to. But here he is, laying down a perimeter, alone. 

Not quite alone, however. The two kids stalking him could do with some more practice staying silent. He's already learned their names from their hissing whispers. 

"Niki, Jack, you shouldn't be here." He straightens after planting another post in the ground. 

A girl with violently pink hair drops down from a tree. A boy with clashing heterochromatic sunglasses hops up from behind a stump, brushing the leaves off himself. "How'd you know we were there?" Jack whines. 

"You were hardly quiet." 

"What're you doing?" Niki crosses her arms, scowling. 

"Do you want to die?" Sam asks darkly. He's bluffing, of course. He wouldn't kill innocents. 

"Can you kill people?" Jack asks, excited. 

"I could, if I wanted to." 

"Can you kill Technoblade??" 

"No." 

"Why isn't anyone else trying?" 

"His location was a secret." Sam sighs. "It's not anymore, but I'm going to ensure nobody else interferes." 

"How are kids expected to kill an immortal??" Niki cries. "Why is the bounty so high?? Why is he teaching school instead of rotting in a prison??" 

"Curious, aren't you." Sam scratches his head. "Well, I suppose I can answer the first two. You're not expected to kill him, you're being used to keep him in line. And the bounty is so high because he wanted it that high." 

Niki glares at Sam. Jack's expression is unreadable behind his sunglasses. "Why-"

"Shoo." Sam waves a hand at them. "Go home before I lose my patience." 

The two converse for a moment in hushed whispers. Then, simultaneously, they cry, "Teach us to kill Technoblade!" 

Sam represses a smile. "No." 

"Why not??" 

"Because I have a job to do, and that involves not interfering." 

"Is President Skeppy stalling??" Niki snaps.

"I can't answer that." Sam raises his crossbow upon hearing cautious footsteps sneaking past in the shadows of the trees. Niki and Jack both leap back into cover, but Sam ignores them. "Show yourself, or I put an arrow through your ribs." 

"Please don't." Another teen steps out, raising his hands. The hidden weapons on his person wouldn't be obvious to someone less experienced, but are painfully visible to Sam. 

"What are you doing out here?" 

"I don't know?" The teen replies plaintively. "I was just taking a walk." 

"Hm." Sam lowers the crossbow slightly. He activates the sensors in his false eye with a blink, scanning the teen. The scan glitches and sends a flash of pain through his skull. "Agh!" 

"Are you okay, sir?" The teen steps forward. Warning bells chime in the back of Sam's mind, danger, danger, but Sam ignores them. This is just a kid. He's harmless. 

"I'm fine. You should go home." 

"Oh." The boy lowers his hands and opens the book he was holding. For a moment, Sam's eye glitches again, and the boy's form distorts; scales crawl across the boy's arms, twelve wings fold like fractals- Sam winces at the twinge of pain and the hallucinations fade. "I have a home, now." The boy mutters, and then wanders off. 

Sam sighs and continues his job of setting up a fence around the school building for class 3-E. Niki and Jack have scampered off already. He's alone again.

Chapter 6 (Next)

[ehud1564]

The Dragon's early awakening

Introduction, part 1

Summary: Kagami joins Fransua Dupont Highschool. Meaning for Marinette that a new girl is in Adrien’s general field of view, and in front of Marinette. How will she react to it? Will she and Kagami be friends? Will she learn a lesson?

Also posted on fanfiction.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13926798/1/The-Dragon-s-early-awakening

And here's the google doc I'm working on so you can see how I'm progressing: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18T5_-_GYRtF940AJAzyJpT-t6uVQUQyCyyu3EcFeExc/edit?usp=sharing

Kagami woke up at 6:30 AM. She immediately got up from her bed, heading to the shower. Her mind was racing with meaningless thoughts, as it always was in the morning. She was awake enough to shower but not much else. She had a quick shower and quickly got dressed. After this preparation Kagami sat down on her bed and started mentally preparing for the day ahead of her.

Today is her first day in a new school. After she managed to join Mr. Darjencourt’s fencing group, her mother signed her up to a school and bought them a house. It seems they will be moving to Paris permanently.

Her mother was rich enough that they could spontaneously move to Paris, and still keep their house in Japan. Kagami didn’t know how her mother was so rich. She knew her family was always known as rich and famous. But she wasn’t sure how they got there or what they did except fencing.

She knew that while her mother could own multiple houses, most people could not. Some people couldn’t even have one house. She made sure to donate all the money she can get hold off. But it wasn’t much. She was very limited in what she could get. She tried to sell one of the house decorations once, thinking her mother wouldn’t notice because of her blindness. She got beaten and heavily scolded. Since then she never tried selling anything her mother owned. She tried selling her fencing equipment and got a similar result.

Her alarm clock signaled it’s time for breakfast. The personal chef made her a simple meal of Eggs on whole wheat toast, and gave her some yogurt and a few fruits. Kagami made sure to thank him, but mostly focused on her thoughts.

There is one person she knows in Fransua Dupont. And that is Adrien Agreste. The fencer she had to defeat in order to join the group. She hopes she’ll be able to make more friends. But she could only hope.

After eating her breakfast, She put on a coat and took out her bag to go for a morning jog, packing extra clothes in her bag to change. She went through the jog and kept trying to mentally prepare herself.

She ran through different scenarios through what could be when she gets to school. She knew the classes in Fransua Dupont were small. Small enough for her to be very noticeable, but big enough to be very draining to Kagami.

Kagami was never good at interacting with other people. She found interacting with a few people at once hard and draining.

After 15 minutes of running, she reached the school and went to her class. She sat down at a table, and started reviewing her schedule. She was completely alone in the class, having reached the school so early, 45 minutes before the first period started.

She checked her schedule again and reviewed the lesson she had for today. Even though her mother is pretty strict, she doesn't care about Kagami’s grades much. She only sees school as a waste of time for Kagami. Because of that Kagami doesn't work too hard in school, and it doesn't cause her stress.

Kagami is mostly a source of rest and fun for Kagami. Even if she isn’t good at the subject, she can take her time. And it gives her time without her mother. She likes being without her mother. No expectation, she doesn't have to be perfect.

It’s not that she didn’t like her mother. But being next to her makes her miserable. It was why she woke up at 6:30, to get out of the house before her mother woke up.

A student has arrived to the class. He wore a green shirt and glasses. “Oh, hello.”. Kagami replied “Hi” with an awkward smile.”Are you searching for a place to be alone? If so, I’ll recommend you use the library. I have a lesson here soon.” The student asked. “No, this is my homeroom class. Though I appreciate the suggestion. I’m new here so...”

“A new student! Nice to meet you! My name is Max Kante!” He put his hand forward. “Kagami Tsurugi. I apologize but I do not shake hands.” She said. “That’s OK. So what school are you from?”

“I’ve been homeschooled for a while, and I’ve been through plenty of schools.” Kagami replied, fishing in her mind to see if she remembers the last school she was in. “Well that’s interesting! Why were you moving?” Max tried to pull a conversation. “Me and my mother are looking for a fencing school for me. We’ve been through plenty of schools, but we haven’t found one that proved a challenge. That’s why we came here. I now learn Fencing in Mr. Darjencourt’s group, which runs in the Gym of this school, led by Mr. D'argencourt.”

“Ooh nice! Why here specifically?” Max questioned, proud for developing a conversation. “Well we were told this place was the best. And it held out better than the others.” Kagami responded. “Not by much though”.

A new student entered the class room, he wore a red Jacket and a few Sweatbands. “Hi Max! Hi… I don’t think we’ve met!” Kim called excitedly.

“This is Kagami Tsurugi! She’s a new student in our classroom!” Max filled him in.

“Hi.” she called.

“I’m Kim!, very nice to meet you!!” He gives her his hand, which she refuses. “You too Kim”.

“So you fence! That’s a sport right?” Kim asked excitedly. “Yes.” Kagami replied. “Awesome! Another Athlete!! Woo!!! That’s so cool!!” Kim cheered.

“Yeah,” She said awkwardly. She doesn't know how to handle someone as excited and friendly as Kim. No mental preparation prepared her for that. She should have got there later. Maybe she would have been more prepared if she didn’t get before everyone.

Max and Kim started conversing between themselves thankfully. Max was talking about a video game with Kim. Kagami opened her phone to the Making friend apps, trying to figure out what she is going to do.

A new student entered the class, a red head who wore an orange shirt, holding a sketchbook. She prayed he would leave her alone and he did. Instead he began sketching. How much time was left before class? She checked her phone and it was much more than she expected. She didn’t properly appreciate how bad it will be to get to class so early.

If only she could distract herself. But she can’t and she feels very awkward. She wonders what the boy is drawing. She loves to draw, but asking him seems very risky. She thought she might draw, but the room dosen’t feel private enough for that.

Another student entered the room. A girl with purple highlights in her hair. She sat down behind Max, making no comments of her.

Soon later a group of 4 people entered the room. A boy who wore a black shirt with a skull on it, a girl with a green sweater with pins on it,A girl with pink hair and a green pattern throughout her sleeves, and a blonde girl wearing a pink dress. “Oh hello! Nice to meet you!! I’m rose!!” The blonde girl cheered enthusiastically.

“You’re kind of in my seat” Said the boy wearing a skull sign.

“Yeah sure sorry I’ll go.” Kagami got up and sat one chair ahead of the chair she was in.

“So what’s your name?” Asked the girl with the pins. “I am Mylene”

“Ivan” the boy added.

“I’m Alix” Said the girl with pink hair.

“Hello. My name is Kagami.”

“Nice to meet you Kagami!” Rose cheered before going to sit next to the girl with highlights in her hair.

“A little warning, this seat also belongs to someone. The only available places are next to Nathaniel, and next to me.” Said Ivan, pointing to the sketching boy.

“Hmm?” Nathaniel hums as the sound of his name.

“Do not sit next to nathaniel. Nathaniel is terrible!” Alix said loudly.

“I’m right here. I can hear you.” Nathaniel said despretly.

“Yeah that’s part of the point!” Alix shouted at him.

“What did he do?” Kagami asked, somewhat curious. What could have caused such a reaction.

“He made a comic of him saving one of our classmates from Akumas, and then of that classmate falling in love with him in that comic. The classmate knew none of it and didn’t give him any permission.” Ivan explained.

"Then he made a comic of Ladybug falling in love with an Akumatized version of him!" Kim added.

“That’s bad.” Kagami replied. “What’s an Akuma? And who's Ladybug?” She asked.

“You’re new in town?” questioned Millene.

“Somewhat, yes.” Kagami Answered.

“Wait just one minute!” Max said and opened his phone. After a few seconds of messing with it, he said "Come here!”. Kagami went to stand next to him and he gave him her phone.

“She explains it better than any of us can! I’d say she’s somewhat the expert." Alix added seeing the video. Mylene and Alix went to talk in their seet, and Ivan opened his own phone in his seat.

Kagami pressed play, and the video started. There was a short musical intro, and then a girl appeared on screen. She wore glasses and had red hair. “What’s up, Peeps! It’s Alya Cesire, bringing you the one and only Ladyblog! If you're planning to move to Paris, this video is a must watch!” The girl in the Video, Alya, said with excitement.

I already moved. Maybe I should have done my homework. Kagami thought to herself. to be fair, I didn't think we'd actually move here.

“If you ever visit Paris, most likely you’ll come across an Akumatized supervillain.” Alya said as she lost her enthusiasm.3 pictures of people appeared on screen. One girl with dark Red hair and the Wireless symbol on a black shirt labeled “Lady Wifi”. Another, a muscled man wearing a black shirt and golden jewelry Labeled “The Pharaoh”. The last one, A woman with green skin and red hair Labeled “Befana”.

“Akumatized villains, often shortened to just Akumas, are created when someone feels an extreme negative emotion. When you experience an extreme negative emotion in Paris, A supervillain named Hawk Moth can send an Akuma-” A picture of a black butterfly appeared on screen ”'-a corrupted butterfly, to you. The butterfly can enter an Object of yours, and will allow Hawkmoth to speak to you and corrupt you. He will give you superpowers, and his corruption will make you want to hurt others.”

“But, when Hawkmoth first Attacked, two heroes came to save us!” Alya said, regaining her excitement. And a picture of two people appeared on screen. One was wearing A red bodysuit with Polka dots, and was Labeled “Ladybug”. The other wore a black suit and had a bell on his neck, and was labeled “Chat Noir”.

Kagami remembers Ladybug. She met her in the Louvre after… Something... happened. Probably something that has something to do with an Akumatized Villain then. That explains it somewhat.

“Ladybug and Chat Noir rose to fight Hawkmoth, they can save the Akumatized people, release the butterflies from Hawkmoth’s control, and undo the Damage the Akuma did to Paris.” A clip of Ladybug throwing a parachute with the same pattern as her suit plays. It turns into a swirl of Ladybugs all over the place, who started fixing things.

Neet

“Since then, Hawkmoth is trying to get the Heroes’ Jewelry. That became the main target of most of his Akumatized villains. We’re not sure what he can do with them, though I have several theories on my Ladyblog!” Alya explained.

"If you decide to move to Paris anyway, or if you’re interested in Any more detailed explanation, consider giving my Ladyblog a visit! It has everything you need to know, and so much more! For example, the ladyblog has: Akuma Alerts, a Chat to talk to people close to the fight, clips from past fights, clips from current fights if I happen to be there, Personal theories and so much more! Support me on Patreon! Hope I’ll see you on the Ladyblog! Ladyblogger out!” Three links appeared on the videos, one to her Patreon, one to the Ladyblog, and another to the introduction page.

“So, any Questions?” Max asked Kagami.

“I’m not sure yet.” Kagami answered hesitantly, and gave him his phone back..

‘Well I’ll send a link to the Ladyblog, so you can learn more on your own. I’m sure you can also Ask Alya yourself, if you have any questions!” Max said.

ha? she thought.

“Ask me what?” The girl from the Video, Alya, was standing in the door, with a boy wearing a blue shirt with an eye on it, and had earphones hanging on his neck.

oh. She also goes here.

“Hi Alya! We have a new student coming from out of town! So we showed her your video to show her what are Akumas!!” Kim said, as Alya walked towards her.

“Neet!” Alya said, and turned to Kagami. “Hi. I’m Alya. So where are you from?”

“I'm from Japan."

"Oh nice!! Why did you move?"

"For Darjencourt's fencing team."

"Ooh you're a fencer?! That's so cool!! You're probably very serious if you moved just for a fencing group. So are you happy with the group?" Alya asked with excitement.

As Alya and Kagami started their conversation, Max called to The boy “Hey Nino! I'm working on something new, do you wanna check it out?”.

“Hell yeah dude!! Coming right up!” Nino replied enthusiastically, and made his way to stand next to Max.

"It's OK. Better than most groups I've been too, but not great. I might have found someone that is equal to me." Kagami replied to Alya.

“What dose that mean? And who is that?” Alya asked.

Kagami started elaboratinh “This boy was the only one who had ever came close to defeating me. I have been through countless fencing schools, and no one has ever came as close as him. His name is Adrien Agreste, He told-"

“Why are you talking about my Adrikins?” A blonde girl wearing a yellow Jacket yelled at Kagami. Next to her stood a redhead girl wearing glasses and a sweater with purple green and black.

"Fuck off Chloe!!" Alya yelled at the blonde girl. The sudden swear took Kagami by complete surprise.

Her name is Chloe. It's starting to become harder to remember all of their names.

"The audacity! How dare you speak to me in such foul language!! Ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous!!" Chloe yelled at Alya.

"Anyway, you loser need to stay away from MY Adrikins" Chloe shouted at Kagami and placed her finger on Kagami's chest.

That girl knows Adrien

Kagami wanted to knock Chloe at a table. She doesn't handle being touched well. But she doesn't want to get in trouble. The last time a similar event happened, Kagami couldn't be at school for two full weeks. She had to spend them all with her mother, who put her under very intense training. She tried her best to ignore her.

"Oh shut up. You're the only loser here Adrien isn't yours and you're harassing the new student. Go away or I'll make you!" Alya stepped in.

The door opened and in came Adrien? So they are in the same class. Now she knows that everyone are friendly enough and she won't need him. But they're too friendly, and Kagami has somewhat of a problem dealing with their energy. She supposed she'll adjust eventually. If she can stay here long enough.

"Adrikins! This new loser was talking about you!! Put her in her place." Chloe told Adrien in her sweet voice.

"Oh, Hi Kagami. Didn't know you were moving to the same class as I am."

"Hi." She said unenthusiastically.

"Oh, your name is Kagami! I admit I forgot to ask! Sorry!" Alya apologized to Kagami. "That's a really nice name! What are you named after?"

"Hello everyone! How are you this day?" A red haired lady with a cyan coloured jacket. Said standing next to the teacher's table.

"Talk to you later Kagami!" Alya said sitting in the seat ahead of Ivand.

"I'm here! I'm here!" A girl with blue hair and a gray jacket ran through the door. Kagami recognised that girl as Adrien's friend, who also tried out to the fencing group, and greatly misjudged her.

She shouldn't have been given responsibility as a referee. She did what she could with what she knew. In retrospect, it wasn’t her fault.

"Hello Marinette you're right on time! I was just about to introduce the new student!" Mrs Bustier said to the girl as she went to sit. Alya went to sit next to her, and Nino went to the seat ahead of Alya. Adrien sat next to him.

"Please be a dear and come here Kagami" Kagami obliged to The teacher's request. “This is our new student, Kagami Tsurugi! She came to us from Japan, for a fencing group! I hope we all give her a nice welcome! I am Caline Bustier, and you can call me Mrs. Bustier.”

Mrs. Bustier. That’s her name.

“Sit next to Ivan please! Ivan, please raise your hand so Kagami will know who you are.” Ivan raised his hand. Kagami already knew who he was. She went to the seet to his right. She would have much preferred to sit closer to the forng. She sat down next to him and took out her glasses.

A literature lesson has started. They started studying a new piece, so Kagami could follow the less. Kagami was not good at reading between the lines, and understanding Metaphors. She wrote everything down on her tablet.

The lesson felt longer than she expected it to feel. But eventually it ended. They had a short breakfast break. "Catch you later Marinette!" Alya told and got up from her seat. Kagami took out an apple from her bag and ate it slowly.

"Hey Kagami, want to go with me to the Cafeteria?" Alya asked. "I still have a lot to talk to you about! And alot to ask you!"

Kagami stood up and said "Lead the way please Alya." Knowing where the Cafeteria is might come handy. Kagami isn't planning to buy food from the Cafeteria,she preferred to bring food from home. That way, she'll be able to donate more of her allowance. She started following Alya, as she led her to the Cafeteria.

"Give me your phone number so I can add you to the class group chat." Kagami gave Alya her number, and she saved her number. She fiddled with her phone a little, and Kagami got a notification.

"Well, where were we before the lesson? Oh yes! You said you tried a lot of fencing terms, but they disappointed you? Which ones did you try into?” Alya initiated a conversation.

“A few. We’ve tried pretty much every famously good fencing school there was. It's wierd that the one we settled on was running on a school's gym." Kagami responded and took another bite off her apple.

"Here we are, the Cafeteria! Do you want to buy something?" Alys asked Kagami as she stood in line.

"No thank you. I ate breakfast and I brought food from home." She responded. She took another bite and she was getting close to finish the apple. She stood next to Alya in line.

"You can go sit at a table if you want! You don't have to stay waiting with me!" She didn't know where or why to sit.

"Kagami! Hi!" Adrien called out to her. "I have something to talk to you about. Can we go to the library for a few minutes?"

The library. Max said it's a good place to be alone, and seeing places of the school is good.

But what did Adrien want to talk to her about? That sounds weird.

"OK. Lead the way." Adrien grabbed her hand, and started leading her. She didn't feel great with that. But she didn't know how to politely ask him to let go.

Marinette watched the scene taking place in front of her from her table. Adrien came up to Kagami and started dragging her somewhere. She slowly stood out and followed them, doing her best to stay hidden. She had to hear what they were talking about. She couldn’t let Adrien be alone with Kagami. She followed them to the library, and hid behind a bookshelf.

"Since your new here at school, I thought we'd review the material you missed!" Adrien said to Kagami. His father told him he intends to do business with Kagami's mother, and so he has to be Kagami's friend.

"Alright. So what should we review than?" Kagami responded. She wasn't sure they had time for that, the first break wasn't that long.

"Since the next lesson is Math, we should review it first. There'll be an Algebra test next lesson, but I don't know if you will take it. Since you're a new student and all. But let's start with Algebra incase you do!" Adrien responded and took out his Algebra book. "Take out your Algebra book and let's begin!" They started reviewing the material.

Kagami was quite good at Algebra, and she was aware of that. Adrien was impressed with her but she thought the way he was impressed was weird. He was impressed with everything and made her break down the exercises to too many small steps. As if she can't make larger steps. Like she's a child who's expected to know absolutely nothing about Algebra. She knew Algebra damn it! She didn't like it very much. Maybe she'd find someone else to review the material with her.

Adrien was surprised with Kagami's skill, but was unimpressed. He pretended to be though, pretended to be proud of her so she would like him. He was honestly bored out of his mind.

Marinette was in terror watching the study session. Kagami turned out to be great at Algebra and it seemed Adrien was very impressed! Almost as if he's… flirting? This can't be happening!!!!! She started spiralising.

She had to do something about her. Something to keep her away from her Adrien. Something. But what?

If she could get her away from the school, than she'll leave Adrien alone. Or at least she won't be in front of her. She can try and get her in trouble with the school.

For that she'll need to impersonate her, and the best way to do that. Was to get her phone.

Marinette used the same trick as she did with Lila. She used a bookcart to get close enough to them slowly, and than threw a few books at a shelf to distract them. She had enough time for her to get Kagami's phone, hide it in her perse, and stand us from under the table. She exchanged greetings with Adrien and went away.

She hid behind another shelf of books. Tikki came out from her perse close to her ear and asked whispering "Marinette, why did you take her phone?"

"I need to use it to get her away from Adrien!" Marinette exclaimed.

"But why? What's wrong with her being next to Adrien?" Tikki continued to question. She did somewhat know why. But if Marinette will confess it, maybe she'll see reason. Or hear how she sounds like.

"Look at her! She's so smart and pretty, and she's a good fencer! If I don't do anything about it, Adrien will fall in love with her for sure! I have to do something about it!!" Marinette said anxiously.

Tikki facepalmed and shook her head. The bell rang, and Tikki flew into Marinette's bag.

She's supposed to have an Algebra test now.

That's it! The test! She could convince the Teacher Kagami cheated on the test!! Than Kagami will be off the school for sure, and Adrien will not fall for her!

Marinette went to the classroom And sat down in her seet. Adrien and Kagami already arrived before her. The teacher walked in after Marinette. She was a tall white skinned girl with black hair. She wore a black jacket on a white shirt, and a pair of blue Jeans, black glasses, and black shoes.

“Good morning! are you all Ready for the test?” The teacher asked.

“Not at all Mrs. Shamai.” Nino replied. Nino Lahife was a fairly average student. He was OK at Math, his grades were never good, but never raised concerns. He was pretty much OK in all fields equally.

"Don't worry Nino! I'm sure you'll do great!" Alya cheered him on. Alya Cesire was not a good student, but Mrs. Shamai really appreciated her, mainly because of the Ladyblog. If Alya spent half as much on school as she does on the Ladyblog, she'd probably be the best student in class, Maybe even the school. But than, Paris wouldn't have the Ladyblog. And that'd be a catastrophe for everyone.

So she sometimes cheats the system a little in Alya's favour. She lets her get away with not doing homework, she judges her tests softer. Alya is doing so much for Paris, so she does that for her.

"Hey Mrs." A student called. She doesn't recognize her. Oh! She's probably the new student.

"Hello there! Are you new? My name is Michal Shamai! And what's yours?" Well what is she going to do with her now. Obviously she can't take the test. She'll have to speak to her after class to see how much she knows and schedule private lessons to cover what she doesn't.

"My name is Kagami Tsurugi." Kagami replied trying to stand out.

"Well it's lovely to meat you Kagami! We have a test today, but you'll take it another time. Take one test so you can see what we learned so far and you can go on break. I'll need to talk you after the test, OK?" Michal told Kagami, doing her best to be bright and accepting.

"OK." Kagami took a copy of the test, and left.

Marinette found that pleasing. Kagami now has the means to cheat. If only she could get out, she could send the answers to the test from Kagami's phone, and make everyone think it's Kagami.

"Everyone turn of your phones. If you need to have it on, put it on my desk." Adrien and Max stood up and put their phone on her desk.

Adrien always needed to have his phone on and ready to take calls. She knows he has a busy life and was expected to disappear any minute.

As a student, he was a good student. She didn't like him, cause he was a rich boy. But she couldn't deny that his grades were always good. From what she seems of him, it's not like he has a knack for it. It seems he just has good teachers and high expectations.

Max used to give his phones to her on tests, to avoid distractions as he once told her. It was always off. He was a good student, he had quite a skill for Algebra. She liked him too, he was very nice.

They both sat down and Michal gave out the tests one by one. By her orders everyone turned over the test and started.

Marinette started the test, and started doing it as fast she could. Skipping questions, not really doing everything. After ten minutes, she stood up and gave Mrs. Shamai the test.

"Are you sure Marinette?" Mrs. Shamai asked her. Marinette was very bad at Algebra, and got easily confused. Her grades were very low. Watching her give the test so early means she probably gave up. That felt wrong with her.

"Positive!" Marinette said.

"Please try more." Mrs. Shamai requested. She saw the test and it was almost empty. "If you really can't, we can schedule a private lesson and go over it. Ok?"

Marinette knew she couldn't escape that. Maybe if she'll take it, she'll have an opportunity to raise her grade. "OK" she answered and got out of the classroom.

It was time for her to execute her plan. She started first by going to the Teacher's Lounge, and secretly looking in Mrs. Shamai's locker. She found another copy of the test and started searching for Kagami. Fortunately she found her in the same table she had the study session with Adrien.

She used one of the free algebra apps and inputted the questions from the test. She opened Kagami's phone. Who'd she send the answers to? Everyone. The more the better, the more chance of Mrs. Shamai finding it.

She copied the first answer into the message and sent. She patiently waited, checking every chat window if the message was read. Most of them haven't received the message, but Adrien received it, so she stuck to him. She sent the second message to everyone again, and waited patiently again.

She did it again. Now the message was shown as read. She had to act quickly. She opened YouTube through the browser on Kagami's phone, played Wind Up God from Pandora Voxx on full volume, and made her escape. She knew the song only started five seconds in the video, so she could have time to escape.

Kagami suddenly heard a very loud noise. She went to check it and found a phone playing a song. Her phone. She turned it off. How did get there? How did she not notice it was lost? She didn't think she took it out from her bag. Why was it playing that song? Was it stolen?

Mrs. Shamai was watching the class, when Adrien’s phone got a notification. She saw how everyone got distracted. Adrien can only check his phone privately if he gets a phone call. Meaning it’s very urgent. If that happens, he will leave for the day and will do the test another time.

Adrien got another notification. And another notification. “Adrien make the notifications stop. If you have to check it, show it to me so I know you don’t cheat.”

Adrien stood up and opened the phone so both he and Mrs. Shamai could see it. He got a message from Kagami? He opened the message and saw it’s conents. Mrs. Shamai gasped, and Adrien tried explaining he didn't try to cheat.

“I didn’t try to cheat! I promise! It’s not my fault! Please don’t fail me.” He begged Mrs. Shamai.

“Leave it for the principal.” Mrs. Shamai said. She called the principal and told him what happened.

Kagami heard a voice calling “Kagami Tsurugi to the principal's office”. That sounds very bad. She started spiralizing. That was very very bad.

In a different place, Hawkmoth was rejoicing. "I can feel it. The anxiety and distress of a girl who might lose everything." A butterfly landed in his hand, and he corrupted it. "Fly away my little Akuma! Wait for her anxiety to blow up, and evilise her!!"

Marinette had done it! She managed to execute her plan, and run away undetected! Now Kagami will stay away from Adrien for sure! In the corner of her eye, she saw a black butterfly. “An Akuma? Who might it be for?” She asked out loud.

“You know exactly who it’s for Marinette!!” Tikki said with anger. Obviously, she was referring to Kagami.

“Oh Please come on. There’s a Math test today. Basically everyone is upset. It can be for anyone.” Marinette said annoyed, not fully grasping the effect she had on Kagami. “We better transform.” Marinette ran to the bathroom which were luckily empty. “Tikki Spots on!”

Kagami didn’t know where the principal office was, so she had to ask many people for directions. But eventually she found it and entered to find Adrien, Mrs. Shamai, and someone else. Probably the principal.

“Young Mrs. you’re in great trouble!” He yelled at her. Adrien looked at her in a way she couldn't decipher. Mrs. Shamai was glaring. What did she do to deserve this? Why were they so angry at her? She looked down in shame.

The Akuma following Kagami had settled hiding behind her, waiting for a command from Hawkmoth.

"What happened?" Kagami asked trying to hold back tears.

"You know exactly what you've done young lady! You thought we wouldn't catch you? But we did! Mrs. Shamai saw what you sent to Adrien." The principal replied mockingly. What messages? She didn't even have his number! Was her phone stolen? Oh no! She'll get in so much trouble!

"I never sent Adrien anything!" Kagami said, panicking.

"That won't work on us now. We have evidence. Helping someone cheat? On your first day?How dare you! We are going to call your mother!" The principal told her.

Hawkmoth felt a very sudden increase in Kagami's negative feelings. "Catch her my Akuma!". The Akuma obeyed and entered Kagami's phone, clutched in her hand. Kagami's sadness and fear started to transform into burning wrath.

Adrien made a quick escape, and ran away to the Bathroom.

"Come on, can't we sit this one out? You have a Math test! And I have some perfect cheese to indulge in!" Plagg started complaining.

"No time for Cheese! Plagg, Claws Out!"

"Elemental, I am Hawkmoth! This thief thinks he can destroy your world? Well I'm giving you the power to break their world! And everyone's world! All I ask in return is Ladybug's and Cat Noir's Miraculous! Will you help me?" Hawkmoth said in his usual dramatic fashion.

"Yes, Hawkmoth." With that, Kagami became wrapped in purple, and the Principal and the teacher scrambled to escape.

[i-write-sometimes-blog]

Detention (Dark Rey x Reader High School AU)

Summary: A new girl arrives to make Reader's time in Highschool way more difficult.

Words: 2,693 (think this is the longest so far)

A/N: Alright some notes, this is based on my High School AU with Rey and things are pretty much the same except for Rey, we have a rather bad woman instead but Reader it's still a Solo. I wanted to write this for a while and well I finally finished it. Hope you like it, let me know what you think!

You were late for class. Again. Didn't hear the irritating beeping alarm and its constant try to tear your from your sleep. And your older brother wasn't kind enough to wake you up.

Running through the maze of halls you hoped to make it on time to the class before the teacher, you knew she wouldn't be happy to see you arriving late to her class once again.

Just when you reached the last turn to the classroom you collided with a body you weren't expecting that almost sent you directly to the floor.

"Shit, sorry." you said.

"Look where you're going, idiot!" a very angry voice said and you observed hypnotized the girl yelling at you.

Dark wavy hair falling over her delicate skin and hazel eyes gazing threatening at you while she kept telling you not to cross her way again. A mischievous grin curving her lips and the leather jacket only made her seem way more mysterious. You felt terribly attracted to this mean girl and yet you hated how rude she was over this little accident.

And as fast as you encountered her she was gone letting you alone in the desert hall.

Who was that girl?

The bell ringing reminded you how late for the morning lesson you were so you rushed the final steps to the classroom.

"Late again, Solo" were the teacher's first words when she saw you silently reaching your place, trying your best not to be noticed.

"Sorry, Miss Holdo" you said. Your friends, Poe and Finn laughed in silence and you glared at them for a moment.

“If you keep arriving this late I’m afraid I’d have to send you to detention” She said.

“Won’t happen again.” you assured her. With a smile she went back to her lesson, she knew you since you were a kid, she was a family friend and you assumed that was why she hadn’t send you to detention already.

“Where’s Rose?” you murmured looking at the empty spot next to you.

“Paige said she’s sick” Finn mumbled. 

“Finn, quiet” Miss Holdo said making your friend flinch for a moment. You smiled before really paying attention to today’s lesson.

Lost taking notes and scribbling stars in the little notebook you almost didn’t hear the knock in the door, ignored the sudden murmur between your classmates but you heard her.

"I was told this is was history class." you knew that voice and recognized her jaw, her slim figure.

Not you, you thought

"It is.” the teacher told her with a sympathetic smile “Principal mentioned a new student, what's your name?"

"Rey" she said. Oh, she even had a nice name, great.

"Welcome, Rey. Please, take a seat.”

She eyed the class carefully as if she was examining her new empire about to rise, then her golden eyes found yours and that malicious grin she had when you met her on the hall was back on her face.

Rey walked across the room with everybody watching her every move but she kept staring at you.

“Is this seat taken?” she said pointing at the chair where Rose usually sat, now only occupied by your bag.

“Well... yes“ you barely said when she pushed your things out of the chair.

“Not anymore” she said without giving an actual damn about the angry way you stared at her.

First the hallway, now this, oh this girl was really rude and you felt like you were really starting to hate her. Huffing you picked up your fallen bag, you were grateful most of the things stayed inside but there was a few things that landed very away from you to reach, nor Finn or Poe could, only her.

While the class kept its regular course you watched at the little notebook on the floor hoping to get it back as soon as the class was over but you weren’t the only one watching it, Rey followed your constant gazes and soon the little journal was on her power.

“What do we have here?” she said playing with it in her hands. “Seems like the little nerd has a journal.”

“Give it to me.” you murmured.

She gave you a short daring glance before she opened it and proceeded to pass some of the pages.

"Stop. Give it back!" You told her.

"Whatever" she said tossing it at you "nothing interesting anyways."

Just in that moment the bell rumbled through the air marking the end of the class.

"See you later, nerd" she said already on her way out of the place leaving you all pissed and unable to say a word.

"What was all that with the evil witch?" Poe asked in the hall, the small group walking to the next lesson.

"I don't know" you said still a bit confused "but I have a really bad feeling about her."

And you were right. Not only she proclaimed herself as the new baddie of the school that nobody would dare to even look at her the wrong way, she was even feared by you own brother who used to be the big bad guy always intimidating people. But she dedicated her time to make your life impossible, making jokes about you, pushing you in the corridor.

Often you found yourself cornered by her in the main hallways when nobody else was there to help you giving her whatever she would want, sometimes it was money and some days she had taken your homework to deliver (? It as hers. And as much as you wanted you couldn't do anything but stare at her, which only made the wicked smirk on her lips grow wider.

And the constant question in your head was why? What did you do to this girl to treat you this bad? But the months passed and the question was still unanswered.

Certain day you were just picking a few things from your locker while happily chatting with Rose, it was one of that lucky days the girl who was always pushing you around like if you were kindergartens was nowhere to be seen, you felt somehow relax when she was not near. But oh no, there she was, dressed in dark clothes as always, ready to make someone’s life miserable.

You caught her figure walking confident through the place and you prayed she would not noticed you and at first you thought so when she passed by your side as if you were no there.

Then Rose hitted the floor.

All the students in the corridor saw how Rey pushed your good friend making her stumble backwards, but nobody said a thing, nobody even dared to look at the scene for too long they all were used to that, all of them were afraid of Rey.

The evil lady kept walking as if nothing had happened but looking over her shoulder to dedicate you a satisfied grin.

“Rose, are you okay?” you offered a helping hand to your friend who took it glad you were there.

“Yeah, I’m fine” she murmured when she was back on her feet.

It had to stop. Rey made your days in school miserable but you never said nothing about it. She could insult you as much as she wanted, after all this time there were no more words she could use to make you feel bad, she could push you all she wanted but you wouldn’t allowed her to touch your friends.

“Hey!” you yelled and surprisingly she stopped, as well as all the people in the hall, curious to hear what you had to said to the one and only evil queen. “You owe her an apology.” you stared at her.

“Oh, I don’t think so, darling.” Rey said “The one that should be apologizing is her, for getting in my way.”

“Bullshit, Rey!” you scoffed “We all saw what happened.”

“Oh, somebody’s cranky.” she mocked as she walked in your direction, her steps echoing as she got closer, arms crossed.

“Somebody needs to shut up.” you raged which actually made her flinch for a matter of second and you saw the students around you trying hide the smiles forming on their faces.

“Y/N, forget it” Rose said grabbing your arm “It’s not worthy your time”

“It is, Rose” you assured her. Leaving her side you approached Rey more than you would usually do, you wanted to make sure she hear what you had to say. “I’ve had enough of your stupidity walking around the school as if you own it” you hissed “You can do whatever you want to me but I’m warning you, do not mess with my friends.” There was a strange mix of emotions on her face, not the confident smile on her lips, she looked rather confused, surprised.  “Now, Rey. Apologize”

“No.” she said. “Why you even defend her, Y/N. Is she your little girlfriend?”

“No, but what if she was?” you told her now getting closer to her. “What if, huh? would you have a problem with that too?” she gave no answer “Well at least I’d have a fantastic girl but you? No, you are going to end alone, because nobody wants an asshole like you and I assure you I wouldn’t date you even if you were the last person in the world. You don't deserve to be loved, Rey"

Rey's fist collided with the side of your face making you dizzy for a moment. There was a collective gasps.

"You really shouldn't have done that" you murmured before sending a punch to her face and it didn't take long for her to respond with a new punch.

Both blinded by the fury and lost in the fight didn't hear the people cheering around you.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" The crowd screamed but you ignored them, the only thing you care about was dodge Rey's merciless hits. 

A pair of arms wrapped around you and pulled you from Rey's grasp, you heard Ben’s voice telling you to stop, only then you realized not only that at least half of the school was there watching the scene but you found Miss Holdo's disappointed face.

*****

"This behavior is absolutely unacceptable" Miss Holdo said way angrier than you had ever seen her. "Be thankful you're just getting a few days of detention. Do you realized you could have been expelled?"

Holdo's gaze travel from Rey to you and stayed gazing at you for a few seconds. 

"I have to talk with your parents. I want you two to think of your actions while I'm gone" the teacher said "Try not to kill each other while I'm not around." She added and before taking a last look at you she left you alone with Rey.

The first minutes you stayed in an awkward silence, watching at the clock hanging on the wall as it marked the slow pass of the time at the rhythm of the tick tock. It was going to be a really long detention.

The girl sitting a few feet away from you didn't make it any easier, the constant tapping of her pencil against the wood surface of the table was really stressing you out.

"Can you stop?" You finally broke the silence.

"Am I bothering the little princess?" She mocked.

"You're stressing the hell out of me" you told her.

"And what are you going to do? Punch me? Look where that took us." she said.

"You started it, Rey" giving her a cold stare you told her. Then both went silent again but the tapping didn't stop.

Unable to ignore the way she was drumming with the small pencil you stood up your seat.

"I said stop" you said taking away the pencil from her hand. Next moment Rey was also in her feet dangerously close to you as she used to do to intimidate you, but that power was not hers anymore.

"Careful, Solo" she murmured "You may have found some guts to speak up in front of people but right now it's just you and me alone and you don't know what I'm capable of" she glanced at you with fury on her hazel eyes. "So don't dare me."

She backed away and turned to her seat. She was right, there were just she and you in the detention room, no one else. It was time to get answers.

"Rey, why you treat me like this?" You asked.

"Because I hate you" she said carefree.

"But why? Since the first day we met you've been nothing but mean to me" you said "You didn't even know me and still you decided you hate me?"

"I hate losers and your the biggest one around here" Rey added.

"That doesn't makes sense" you took a step closer to her "I'm tired of just bear you pushing me and treating me like garbage"

"You are garbage, Y/N"

"See? this is what I mean" you said "You attack me again and again but why? Why me? What did I do to you to deserve being treated like this?"

"You wanna know? Fine" she said "but don't go crying with your brother after this."

"Go ahead" you murmured serious.

"You’re scum, Y/N.” she started “I know who you are, playing dumb all the time, being ‘dad and mommy’s perfect daughter’ but I think you’re quite the opposite, surrounded by a bunch of losers.”

“So you’re problem is that I have good friends? a family that cares for me?” you chuckled “I guess you don’t have that yourself and you’re just jealous that I have people who care for me.”

She stared at you with a killer gaze, that certainly made her angry and sure it was why she preferred to attack you when you were alone, so you would feel as alone and helpless as hers. But there was something else that she was still holding.

“What else, Rey?” you added “There’s something you’re not telling me, I know you just enough to know that.” 

You saw the big bad empress of the school doubting for a moment, almost fearing the words that were about to come out of her mouth.

"I hate the way you look at the other girls because I know you will never look at me the same way, the only times I get to be close to you you look at me with so much hate" Rey said a little too fast and too angry, frustration lying over her face while she was slowly getting closer to you "And I hate it that you're right, I don't deserve to be loved, but I hate it more that I fell for you anyways perfectly knowing I didn't have a chance to be with you"

There was a moment when the only thing you did was stare at each other, both of your not exactly knowing what to say, what to do.

Rey rushed in your direction “She’s gonna kick me again” you thought, bu she did something very different that you expected.

Carefully, Rey pulled you closer, crushing her lips against yours to lead a rough, desperate kiss. Her lips were surprisingly softer than you had expected, unexpectedly sweeter compared with the bittersweet words that often came from her mouth. You found yourself not pulling away immediately but rather intrigued by the way she kissed you, even enjoying it for a brief moment, forgetting whose lips were softly caressing yours. Until she pulled away.

Breathless, flushed and inches away from your face Rey examined your astonished features, her eyes scanning so desperately your face, wanting for a reaction maybe, waiting for a new fight maybe, but she only found you in conflict. 

“Fuck, I hate you!” she hissed. Rey rushed to grab her things and let the room as fast as she could, the slight pink adorning her face and you could swear you noticed a crystal tear running down her face though she was already far gone.

You sighed taking your place back on the seat, processing just how much of a crazy day it had been.

This was going to be one hell of a month.

Tagging: @1-800-depressedlesbian , @xgaygremlinx

(In case you want to be tagged for specific things or everything I write, just let me know)

[noncommited-writer]

Highschool au! peter is a shy, Star wars and decathlon nerd who gets A+ and had few friends and tony stark captain of the football team, popular and also smart. they are dating and the school loves them. tony sees flash bullying peter.

Oh jesus I'm sorry this took so long! I have no excuse, I just had writer's block and wasn't sure on how to write this thing down. But here you go!! I hope you haven't forgotten you sent in the ask😅

-

“Parker!” Peter jumps in his place in front of his locker, a smile curling his lips as he covers his face with the locker door. “Don’t stand there and pretend that you’re not hiding from your boyfriend.”

Peter peeks out from behind the metal, watching Tony lean against the locker next to his, blushing when he throws a wink his way. A gentle hand covers his and even when the team captain leans in to place a soft kiss on his lips, his smile doesn’t go away.

“You had a good time last night?” Tony mumbles against his lips, pushing back Peter slightly so their intimate moment is covered by the open locker. Peter nods, teeth biting down on his lip to stop the adorable giggle—god, does Tony love that giggle—from escaping, and Tony steps closer in his space to press their foreheads together, a moment of serenity and tenderness as they stare deep into each other’s eyes.

Some bitter teachers in their school may call it high school puppy love, but students know better. No one in their school has ever seen a couple so in love with each other, yet also act like an old married couple who have the other’s back. They’re a match made in heaven, ready to pull through for the other at a moment’s notice. People see them share affection in the school hallways—yet, somehow it isn’t as gross but more sweet—spend free periods in the library, and they always see one of them cheering on the other at their competitions. Tony is the loudest to cheer when Peter wins the decathlon competitions, and Peter makes the most obnoxious poster boards for everyone to see at Tony’s football matches. They even see Tony joining in on the conventions Peter and his friends go to. The last year’s school year book named them ‘Couple Most Likely To Get Married’.

“Yeah, your mom was really happy to see me, huh?” Peter says. Tony laughs softly against his lips, “She’s always happy to see you. She asked if you liked the lasagne she made.”

“I haven’t gotten to that yet. It was heavenly. Can I ask for the recipe? Aunt May could learn a thing or two from her,” Peter says. Tony purses his lips, “Well, May isn’t that bad at cooking—”

“Oh shut up. You spat out her date loaf the first time you came over.” Peter smiles, and Tony melts. God, what he wouldn’t do for him.

“Also, did you finish up the part I told you to?” Peter asks. Tony waves a hand, “Yeah, the last five pages of the thesis. I read the first part of it. It was absolutely brilliant, babe. I’m sure Mr. Johnson will give your part an A.”

Peter flushes under the praise but he shakes his head, “But your research on the nanotechnology was even better. I’m pretty sure I was breathing heavily at the end of reading it. All the science gets me hot and bothered.”

Tony laughs, brushing their noses together, “Is that so?” A hand sneaks behind Peter and slides up his shirt, thumb brushing the skin with feather-light brushes. Peter’s throat closes up, his eyes going glossy, and a smirk forms on Tony’s handsome face; an aching urge for Peter rising within him. “We make a great team, don’t we?”

Peter snorts, “If you count making out every twenty minutes during our work productive, then yeah, we make the best team.”

“You and Ned still having that Star Wars marathon tonight?” Peter hums. “Wanna join?”

“Nah, I’d be taking away your friend bonding time. Besides I still have to fix Butterfingers’ UI. He ran into a pillar in my lab. And damaged his CPU.”

“Okay, but meet me after school for lunch, alright?” Tony nods and places a quick peck to Peter’s flushed cheek, just in time for the school bell to ring. They pull away, dopey grins on both their faces.

Peter shuts his locker door, walking in the opposite way down the hall to get to their respective classes.

--

Peter is walking down the school halls, earbuds—that Tony manufactured for Peter himself—plugged into his ears. School was over but apparently Tony got into trouble for exploding something in the chemistry lab, which—Peter wonders how is that even possible, they were doing a simple gas test—led to Tony getting sent to the Principal’s office. So, he’s waiting for his boyfriend to come back from his lecture on ‘endangering the students’.

Peter snorts at the thought; everything that Tony does is a calculated risk (he’s a genius like that), he wouldn’t have played with explosions if he knew it’d hurt a classmate.

Although—Peter frowns—Tony doesn’t have that same caution when it comes to himself. Peter will have to ask if he sustained any injury from the explosion, because Tony isn’t the type to disclose his own pains and struggles.

He takes out his phone, ready to shoot a text out to his boyfriend.

“Penis!”

Peter freezes for a moment, inwardly groaning. Flash. For the life of him, Peter can’t really think of a reason to why Flash keeps taunting and teasing him. They have been in the same school, class, and even co-curricular activities for about half of Peter’s life. He doesn’t get why Flash always has it out for him; Tony says it’s a defense mechanism for his insecurities. Peter see reason; there’s no absolute reason for Flash to be insecure because of him.

“What do you want, Flash?” He slowly turns around, a resigned look on his face. The teenager in his polo—with that collar always turned up in a douchebaggy way—and the sweater tied around his neck, saunters up to Peter, that same sneer on his face.

“I was in that lab with your boyfriend and wow, you know to pick ‘em. Guy was being reckless.”

“Nuh uh, I’m not doing this today, Flash. This is a good day for me, don’t ruin it.” Peter rolls his eyes.

“Look, your dickwad of a boyfriend could’ve gotten me killed!” Flash says, a somewhat worried glint in his eye.

“Tony wouldn’t have done it if he knew someone would get hurt.”

“Well, he did it anyways! And he nearly burned my face off!”

“What, did he hurt you? Or anyone in the lab?” Peter asked, ready to walk away from this and just move on. It’s a waste of both their time.

“That’s not the point. It’s that your boyfriend is stupid and reckless enough that he even tried it in the first place!”

A warm flush goes up his neck, his Spider-sense going off, “Don’t you dare say that about Tony.”

Flash scoffs, his eyes rolling, “Oh come on. Your boyfriend is so entitled that he thinks he can pull that off because what, his dad a billionaire? And can easily get him off?”

Peter’s fingers twitches, an itch to wrap it into a fist quickly overwhelming him. Tony rarely talks about his dad but when he does, it’s usually during three a.m. conversations over the phone when Tony is crying or boiling in anger. Peter knows they don’t have the best relationship—borderline abusive, Peter would say—so it irks him when Flash brings him up as if he has a right.

“You don’t know anything, Flash. Mind your own business.”

“Stark is an entitled dick who thinks he owns the school.”

“You’re describing yourself at this point!”

“He’s selfish and doesn’t even care if he endangers students which you—” Flash points a finger in his face, “—should be ashamed of.”

Flash stares at him, doing a once over on Peter. “As if you’re any better. I bet your boy toy got you that dumb Stark Internship only because you sleep with him.”

Peter feels a flash of hot anger—only a split second but it’s enough—and he steps into Flash’s space, hands coming up to shove him, not holding back. Flash stumbles, eyes wide, not expecting that strength from the lanky teenager.

“Shut up,” Peter hisses, eyes a flurry of emotion.

“What is going on here?”

They both turn to see Tony in the middle of the hallway, eyes flying between the two of them. Both of them close their mouths with a click. He takes a moment to let his gaze stay on Flash, something flickering between those depths of brown. His face is impossible to read when he walks over to them, each movement graceful and assured; confident. Peter and Flash are transfixed, quiet and staring.

Their reactions are no surprise. Tony Stark has the power to bring a room to complete silence just with his presence. He can even shut Flash up, which is usually no easy feat.

Once he’s within touching distance, Tony takes Peter in—wide eyes, furrowed brows, mouth clamped in a thin line, and shoulders set straight with tension. Not sparing a glance to the other person in the conversation, he mumbles, “Can you repeat what you said, Flash?”

The teenager breaks out of his stupor. He keeps quiet, all bravado now dust, uncertainty clouding his eyes. At his silence, Tony snaps his head towards him, face blank but eyes piercing, “Tell me. What. You. Said.”

“I don’t think we really need to—”

There's movement in the air, within a second, Tony is in Flash’s space, hands hoisting him up to his face by his polo collar, breathing heavily and eyes wild. His knuckles are white, barely containing the anger bubbling inside him. “And I think, that you have no fucking right to dig yourself into others’ business.”

Flash squeaks, face fearful. He’s like a mouse, his arrogance gone and in its place is cowardice, shivering under Tony Stark’s hateful, burning gaze. Peter is just standing there, unsure of what to do. A part of him revels in how protective Tony is, another whispers to him he should stop Tony.

“If you think you can get away from saying my boyfriend sleeps with me for a fucking internship, I’ll make your life fucking miserable, do you understand?”

Both Peter’s and Flash’s eyes go wide.

“I’ll make sure you’ll never get an internship in any company, make sure you’ll never walk the school’s halls without anyone talking shit about you behind your back. I can make your life a living hell.”

Flash swallows hard, sweat forming on his forehead and nose. He’s shaking, Peter notices. When Flash looks over to him for help, the fear in his eyes is what startles Peter.

“Tony, stop.” His boyfriend doesn’t say anything, still holding onto Flash. Peter takes a step forward, hand reaching out to press into Tony’s lower back, reaching under his denim jacket and shirt to caress his skin. It’s warm, like the anger is coursing throughout his whole body. He leans into him and mumbles, “Stop.”

Tony takes one last look at Flash, one last furious and scornful glance, and drops him like a sack of potatoes, “I’ll find out if you say shit like that to Peter. So I suggest you stop that bullshit right now.”

Flash takes a few steps back, keen on getting out of there as fast as he can. But he stops, and takes a moment to gape at the picture before him. It’s the image of both of them, Tony standing there in all his power and rage—like the ruthless businessman he’ll be in the future—then there’s Peter, who’s whispering sweet nothings into his ear and caressing him softly to calm him down.

For a split second, Flash feels both utterly terrified and in awe of them. Because what he sees are two people who can rule the world some day, who fit perfectly and work together like a well-oiled machine. He won’t be surprised if they turn out to be the world’s power couple. With Tony who’s willing to do anything for Peter, and Peter who’s willing to stand up for his Tony even at the cost of himself.

For a split second, they look like the most powerful king and queen to exist.

But Flash quickly shakes that thought out of his mind, and respectfully nods, getting Tony’s message. He quickly gets out of there, walking away to lick his ego’s wounds.

Tony turns around to face Peter, worry etched into his features. “Are you okay?” he asks, his hands coming up to cradle Peter’s cheeks. The teenager nods, melting in his hold, his own hands wrapping themselves around Tony’s waist. “I’m fine.”

Tony places a sweet kiss on his forehead, taking in the scent of his hair and warmth. “I’m pretty sure you made Flash shit his pants.”

Tony is silent for a moment before he chuckles, nodding. “Yeah, won’t be surprised.”

Peter smiles, feeling the calloused and protective hands on his face, and mumbles, “Let’s go for lunch. I’m hungry.”

“Okay, baby. Sub Haven or Delmar’s?”

“Let’s go Delmar’s, don’t feel like shoving too much bread in my mouth.”

“You’d usually take a lot in your mouth, though.”

Peter sighs dramatically, faking exasperation.

“I won’t if you keep up with those sex jokes.”

Tony laughs, carefree and loose.

“Alright, alright.”

-

[misha-moose-dean-burger-lover]

Strawberry Icecream.

Dean misses Cas.

Well, sue him for having feelings about his very awesome boyfriend, who is currently living out his highschool dream in Washington, interning at the frigging White House. 'They're very lucky to have you', Dean had said, sincerely, to a very white-faced Castiel, in a student blazer. 'I just hope they let you come back home, when you're done'. And the latter had smiled, in spite of himself, and planted a chaste kiss on Dean's lips.

That was the last time he'd been kissed in the past six weeks. Not the longest span of all time, but it sure feels like an eternity.

It's not just the feeling of lips on his; that shared softness, the sweet ecstasy of such intimacy. The shuffling closer and the teasing apart, the hums of pleasure and all the infinite sparks everywhere. It's not just Cas's kisses he misses. It's Cas.

It's all of him. It's the morning snark, and the having someone to surprise with coffee in bed. It's the checking-in at lunch - they obviously still do that, but those bastards give him only enough of a break to text, and the going shopping for groceries, almost daily, (Cas would have said, it's because they're both really bad at shopping, and also have a tendency to speed-eat through everything, if they've got the stuff at home.) It's the dinners - it's not nearly the same thing, when you're the only one snickering at the sitcoms, through a mouthful of pizza. And it's the going to sleep, together, and wrapped around in all the most perfect ways.

Fuck, Dean misses Cas so much, it hurts.

He hates that he wasn't able to join him in the capital - since bunking twelve weeks off a year, is the kind of dumb thing Dean would've done for someone like Cas, but wasn't allowed to, because that's who Cas is. The sonuvabitch had rolled his eyes in a partial reprimand, when Dean had hinted at it. 'Oh, Dean'. He'd said, in that beautiful fucking voice of his. 'I'm going to be back so soon to ruin that bachelor's life you'll get used to again; you have no idea'.

Well, to hell with that. Dean had learned to dig the committed scene now, okay? He didn't like living alone in their apartment, any more than he liked sleeping all up on Cas's side - trying to bury himself and fit in the impressions on the mattress.

It was a weird life he lived.

He didn't even have any pending deadlines, for a huge fucking change, because most months of college when Cas is around is spent regretting all of his life choices - times when Cas is right there, so warm and delicious and amazing, and Dean has a stupid essay due Monday so he can't join him in bed.

Without too many things to do, but drag himself to every class he's taking, literally everyday - he's this sort of unbelievably punctual these days, which makes no dense - he has way too much time to long.

Dean curses silently at himself at his own trail of thought - a rather sad, long monologue, indeed - and especially his choice of words. Makes him sound like a war widow for Christ's sake, and his man is just a few states over. Kicking ass, for the US government - among other, more boring stuff he has to do.

And that's usually where he stops thinking. It's where he picks himself up from the couch, and sits at his desk with a Mechanics textbook instead - or somedays, it's where he goes over to his neighbor's, to simply hang. Charlie Bradbury recently moved in across the hallway. A complete dork, of the kind to battle his stupid brother - but incredible at taking his mind off of other things. (It was impossible to be discussing Star Wars ships with her while missing Cas.)

But today, he does something different. Instead of shoving his loneliness away, and adding it to the pile of feelings he has built his throne on - read, is sitting on presently - he picks up his phone. Unlocks the screen to Baby staring back at him with blaring, truly picturesque headlights that is Dean's wallpaper - and clicks around till he has opened his chat with Cas.

The last thing they'd been talking about was how Cas's deskmate listens to a lot of Korean music, and he's kind of falling for BTS himself - Dean had asked him, perfectly serious, if he needed to show up at his workplace, to serenade him with Led Zepp as drastic times call for drastic measures, and Cas had sent a laughing-with-tears emoji and added, that he was sure Dean would enjoy them too, and that he'd definitely make Dean listen to it when he got back. The only unread message he had, was a song rec, which Dean rolled his eyes at. The only way he was going to "fall" for a modern-day boyband ever, is if Cas was right by his side, telling him to do it.

Dean's thumbs click-clacked on his phone keyboard until he'd typed it out.

I miss you.

But who was he kidding? He wasn't going to send that. Or say that. At least, that wasn't what he was going to lead with. The reluctance was half-ways Dean's internal hesitation, for unexplainable reasons, and also knowledge of the fact that such a blatant confession would tell Cas just how devastated Dean was, on this end, and he'd probably fly back the next day to check on him. The thought brought a random pricking sensation in his eyes, but he ignored it.

He erased that.

>>> hey, what are you up to?

He hadn't expected an instant response, so he immediately leaped when he got one. A smile, brighter than any that'd made it to his face today, showed up at the pleasant surprise, that Cas was around his phone and probably available to text.

<<< nothing much. got home ten minutes ago.

To read 'home' in any context, than to talk about their apartment with him in it, here at Stanford university - was all sorts of revolting, but he swallowed his first reaction.

>>> half day? did you have food??

<<< yes, to both.

Dean thought of what to say next, miserable because he was bad at this - dammit, conversations always flowed when Cas was in front of him, but he'd never been good at texting - but thankfully, Cas went on.

Dean sighed, softly. Imagining that gave him another smile.

<<< hey, guess what I'm up to?

>>> nothing much.

He pinched his brows together, as he squinted. Would Cas be able to hear him tease, from his words alone? He must, right? Unlike him, Cas was always a good texter. 'Emoticons', he'd just vaguely justify it.

<<< what I'm up to NOW, is smiling

<<< but I'm also getting something to eat. What do you think I'm having?

Dean bit his lip, thinking about it. It's probably like four, in the afternoon, because he's only been wallowing in his misery for an hour before he's texting Cas. That's like a couple hours after lunch for Cas, which means this is probably a late dessert.

That makes sense.

>>> pie?

But then, he thinks about it, and how Cas loves potatoes enough to have them for most meals these days. And he used to frown over Dean and burgers, while gorging on his new love, the world's unhealthiest vegetable, first thing since he got out of sight.

>>> does it involve potatoes?

He sends in, last minute. But perhaps Cas was already typing out his answer, because his message hasn't even been read when he receives another message.

<<< STRAWBERRY ICE-CREAM WITH CHOCOLATE SAUCE BECAUSE I AM A CRIMINAL OF MANKIND

Dean takes one look at that, and is suddenly collapsing on the couch in a fit of laughs. He melts spontaneously, and his phone falls on the carpet, as he bends over, laughing. He can't help it, the image is just too perfect.

Cas yelling those words, at the top of his lungs - that's what all-caps mean, right? - in his deep, gorgeous baritone - looking all rebellious about the last part, just like he can be some days. That ridiculously adorable scrunched-up nose, and that stubbornly jutted-out chin with a defensive glare, which is also meant to stand it's ground in a fight, and just -

It's too perfect.

He imagines Cas in front of him, and he imagines that everything is perfect again - he's right there, and he's pouring his stupid chocolate syrup over a bowl of pink ice creams plentifully, all the while being smug because he's basically breaking societal norms, and just being so fucking proud of himself with that tiny smirk and the pout he'd have, and his -

Fuck, it's hard to even think about it, without getting a goddamn attack about how much he misses Cas.

<<< Dean??

<<< This is the part where you tell me that if that's a crime, you wanna share that cell with me ;)

Dean is pretty sure that in that moment, he dies. He can almost feel the moment his spirit leaves his body, because he's frozen for a full minute - stunned by the amount of love he has in him. His heart is brimming over with emotions, and every string in there is screaming for Cas, in the name of love.

He's known he loves Cas for months now, but he's never fallen so hard for someone.

Yet it only makes sense, in fucking leaps and bounds, that it's Cas. Who breaks all those limits. Who turns Dean into mush, who breaks all his limits, who owns every square inch of Dean and his heart, and who just makes him melt.

It's not even an incredibly romantic dialogue. It's childish, and hilarious, and just so Cas, that all of Dean aches at once.

>>> you're sorta wrong

It's a wonder that Dean can even keep holding onto his phone at this point. He's basically a puddle of emotions, a mess of feelings, letting every current of love wash over him and deride his boundaries, just a little bit more. He's suddenly euphoric; it's like he's seeing his situation from an elevation now, and he doesn't care about anything else - the whiney voice in his head reminding him it's gonna be another six weeks can go screw itself, because Dean loves Cas so much, nothing else can possibly matter.

>>> this is the part where I say I love you

It will always work out. Distances will go away, and Cas will return, and Dean will get to hold him again, and he'll get to kiss him again, and call him an idiot, and then bring him coffee again.

And what else could Dean Winchester ever really need?

***

Notes: Oh, Sammeh. I wrote after a couple millenia. And there's so many people who've all been heartwarmingly nice about my *block* and I've been getting pretty much a lot of inspiration lately, though I haven't been writing it - but today was different. Today, I was m o v e d, and I told life to shove it's shit someplace else and cleared my brain and fucking wrote this weird-ass tiny piece of feelings.

I dedicate this to @screamatthescreen. She's my texting soulmate (in the sense, that we were made to text each other) and says the most amazing things and I love her and well, she inspired me so hard that I threw away redox and equivalents and began to type. And this came out. Thank you, Zina!!!

Since I'm back on my BS, here's a word out to the tribe: @ctrl-alt-destiel @emmii4 @awkward-penguin-in-a-trenchcoat @styggtroll @adventurous-blob @petrichoravellichor @all-or-nothing-baby @moderatelypanickedbiromantic @elvenlicht @legendary-destiel @noemithenephilim @galaxy-charm @trenchcoatsandfreckles @naitia @ladywaywarddsc @zoerayne2426 @thekidsmaybealright @hellfire37 @3dg310rdsupreme @impulsivedandelion @iamcharliebradburylevelperfect I have a feeling I'm forgetting people. I should've updated my list, dammit. So sorry if I am, please just drop me a line. Taglist open, Please ask if you wish to be removed/added.