#please like this the picture took me waaaay to long

[drksanctuary]

As late as I am not straight, as in very. Here’s part 3 @titan-army-week

P ART 3: Princess Andromeda

Alabaster wants to be excited about the maiden voyage. It’s supposed to be an exciting prospect, a leg up, and unsupervised fun. Unless you count the supervision of their godly parents (Al doesn’t). And even if they have to share the decks with monsters whose appetites seem to make them forget their loyalties more often than he likes. He’s supposed to be as excited as Marina is. She is currently taking Tanushree by the shoulders and shaking her with how excited she is. Ok maybe he didn’t need to be that excited he thinks, but at least they’re getting along now even after what happened.

Alabaster’s other siblings are also in good spirits. Brandon is looking up at the ship with awe. Shreya, Celina and Eva are chatting amongst themselves before catching up with Marina who is now practically bouncing with joy.

Alabaster does the mental roll call, he almost, by habit, looks for her.

But she’s not there. He knows she’s not.

“Hey Al” Silena says. “Wheres Lou?”

Alabaster wants to scream.

He had to face the truth now, he could no longer avoid it, it was so pressing that he didn’t even think to ask what Silena the army spy was doing here.

“She’s….gone” he says, failing at the attempt to not sound dramatic

“What??? You mean?? Oh no what happened??” Silena asks eyes full of concern.

Al realizes his mistake.

“Oh…n-no she’s not dead she’s….”don’t say dead to me. Al thinks “defected” he says in the smallest whisper.

Silena does an equally small gasp.

“Oh no…what happened?” She asks again.

*******

Alabaster starts out that evening in higher spirits. He’s all set up in his cabin and is getting ready for “morale building” karaoke event on deck 5.

As Alabaster anticipated almost no-one has shown up.

Luke sits on one of the sparkly purple couches that surround the Karaoke machine.

Al shrugs at him.

“I told you to wait a day. Everyone is tired” Al says “also I don’t think the word spread enough”

Luke sighs.

Ethan arrives. “Where is everyone?” He asks

Alabasters stomach does a little flip. And he briefly runs through romantic songs he could serenade him with before he refocuses.

“Asleep I assume” Al says with a pointed look at Luke.

“We should’ve waited a day” Ethan says with a nod

“Ok! I got it thank you!” Luke says

“Karaoke ti-woah where is everyone?” Silena says

Luke Groans.

Ethan smiles, laughing softly.

Alabaster cackles, ignoring his heart flutters to make sure Luke feels sufficiently stupid.

“Alabaster!” Marina calls as she arrives dragging Tanushree along behind her. “Are you gonna sing???”

“I mean…if this ‘event’ is still going on, sure” Al says, really making sure that that thorn in Luke’s side is securely in there.

Luke crosses his arms. “Do whatever you want” he pouts

“Well maybe if we start, other people will join-“ Silena starts

“Wait!” Interrupts Chris as he enters. “We were allowed bring food?” He says, gesturing to Tanushree who takes a loud sip of her boba tea as if to answer “duh”.

“I’ll be right back!” Chris says and darts off

Silena rolls her eyes “as I was saying” she grabs the mikes “maybe if we start other people will join in?”

She attempts to hand the mike to Luke but he refuses just long enough for Al to snatch it out of his hand.

“Perfect!” Alabaster says “I know the perfect song!”

[pentacentric]

ruby in all her glory

(please please wait for the gif to load i promise it's worth it 🥺)

I know demons' true faces are supposed to be horrific. i think she's still gorgeous, though.

her horns are inspired by fiddlehead ferns, which are both lovely and somehow horrific, just like our girl (they are also delicious - real 'food of the elder gods' kind of thing imo). the pink extrusions could be brain matter, turned inside out and proudly displayed in the open

i started working on this a while back but didn't have time to get back to it till recently. i was originally just going to do a series of 3 pictures - human ruby, black eyes, and hellform. but i've been trying to learn after effects so decided to animate it and try some new techniques. and then it got way out of hand (as things tend to do for me). it also took me waaaay too long to make a usable gif from the animation. damn you, tumblr, and your 10MB (or 5? or 3??) convoluted and draconian gif size limits

[peachsayshi]

Hello my love and brain rot partner hehhe as requested here is my humble request

May i pretty please have some “The way you love me” Gojo jealous hcs? Hehehe I enjoyed that waaaay too much

NOTE: Thank you, lovely! ❤️ I am so sorry this took me so long but I didn’t want to give away any spoilers just in case! Hahaha Again, I have added the keep reading tab because this turned out longer than expected. This one is for all of you who read The Way You Love Me - some more of Gojo being jealous ;)

Jealous Gojo x Reader

minors and ageless blogs dni

Gojo who met Haru for the first time and didn’t realize just how uncomfortable it would be for him to watch you dote all over your boyfriend.

Gojo who clenches his jaw every time you tease Haru with soft kisses, and wondered to himself what it would feel like to have your pretty lips brush his skin instead.

Gojo who rolled his eyes every time you forgave Haru because he was busy astonishing you with his romantic grand gestures. He can’t help but scoff to himself, because don’t you realize that he would willingly spoil you out of affection, without having to bribe you for your forgiveness? The man would hand you the world on a gold platter if you merely asked him to.

Gojo who picks up on the fact that you’re the only one who keeps the conversation flowing while he and Haru exchange weary glances at each. Your friend doesn’t trust him one bit, and there was something about Haru that always rubbed him the wrong way.

Gojo who found satisfaction in the unspoken truth that Haru was intimidated by him. He’s thought about the many ways he could lure you from under this trance, but your eyes never radiated with such beauty when you looked at him.

Gojo who should be happy for you, but wonders if you can also feel the spark that ignites when you’re alone together. Do you ever think about the possibility of what it would be like to cross these boundaries?

Gojo who made it a habit to fuck strangers as a distraction in order to subdue the jealousy that was starting to drive him crazy.

Gojo who happily accepted the narrative of you thinking he was a playboy because he didn’t want to admit the truth. He let you make your comments, your assumptions, but you had no idea that the only he person he pictured when he came…was you.

Gojo who thought it would get easier after you broke up, but forgetting that his friend was an absolute knock out who always drew the eyes of many men.

Gojo who recognized that you never noticed their stares and would randomly place his arm around your shoulder, or brush his knuckles across your cheek in public to deter the others from admiring you with any suggestive thoughts.

Gojo who always had an excuse ready when you asked him what he was doing. “You’re the perfect arm rest…” / “Sorry, there was something on your face..” - but his subtle actions were enough to paint a more intimate picture between you both.

Gojo who would get frustrated when you sought him out for advice on dating but put aside his own annoyance because he just wanted to see you smile again after your break up.

Gojo who swallowed hard as you nervously checked yourself out in the most sinful dress he’s ever seen you wear, ignoring the way the blood rushed between his legs when you asked him for his opinion.

Gojo who stated: “You look hot, but I think the guy might get the wrong idea…”, and he watches your face fall as your brows scrunch with confusion. “What do you mean?”, you ask.

Gojo who bluntly replies with: “That’s a “fuck me” dress, right?” so casually that he almost relishes in the horrifying look on your face. He nonchalantly shrugs his shoulders, “I’m just being honest here…”

Gojo who exhales happily when you decide to change into a pair of jeans and a loose white blouse instead, but later that night jacks off to the idea of fucking you with the dress still on.

Gojo who spent years coming terms with his own jealousy but did everything in his power to ensure that it never trickled into your friendship.

You meant the world to him, and he wasn’t willing to lose you over his own vices.

[gabzlovesu]

ikkkk one time i had the nastiest cramps and i had to go cause there was no one to fill in for me + i’ve been having health problems so it was even worse. i took like three painkillers there and went home early. my job isn’t bad either but she has like three main people who are trained for everything, i’m one of them and the other two are sisters who went on vacation from april to july so i have to do a lot. she’s waaaay too dependent on me so i feel bad whenever i stay home but i deserve a break>:(

no cause i can’t do much than putting three pictures in my pinned post that match and then a header that matches too. it took me sooo long just figuring out how to do gradient text and i still don’t like how it turned out😭

they really need to normalize having mental health days or just days to rest and recuperate. i’m sorry that your job puts a lot of work onto you 🫶🏽

please that’s literally meeeee 😭 and I’ve been doing the gradient thingy for like a minute now but i’ll never be a pro that shit is so hard!!

[echo-hiraeth]

Envious Desire - Frankie Morales x F!Reader

Summary: Frankie and y/n are good friends and are both too shy to admit their feelings to one another, until she starts getting herself out there and Frankie can’t keep it together anymore.

Warnings: Angst, jealousy, swearing, fluff

Masterlist

Another request by the amazing @peterhollandkait​

A/n: this picture is totally Frankie sitting on his porch just having an existential crisis and overthinking every word he ever said to you.

The night Benny introduced you to the boys was the night your life turned around for the better. You’d been by yourself eating ice cream on the couch for the fifth night in a row after your best friend had moved out of the country. You seemed inconsolable now that your partner in crime had started a boring adult life full of responsibilities, the horror. Ah yes, your plans for that night were set in stone; cry, eat some more ice cream, drink the worries away, rinse and repeat. That was until your front door swung open wide, Benny and Will standing next to your couch.

“Go awaaaay”, you whined, pouting your lips.

Will grabbed the tub of ice cream from your frozen hands, your mouth agape in shock. Before you could scold him for it Benny ripped the blankets off of you, throwing you over his shoulder.

“Come on princess, we’re gonna paint the town”, he laughed, carrying you to his truck.

“Miller I’m in my fucking pyjamas”, you protested, fists banging on his back.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, we’ve got it all figured out. Besides, where we’re going you’re not expected to really dress to the nines”, Will teased, touching the tip of your nose.

And they were right, when you walked into the event dressed in one of Ben’s flannels and a pair of baggy jeans nobody so much as turned a head in your direction.

“Are you fighting tonight?”, you interrogated your childhood friend as he guided you backstage.

“You betcha, had to bring my homegirl out for the big one”, he joked as he slapped a poster with his name on it.

You rolled your eyes as he slipped into what you presumed was his dressing room, crossing your arms over your torso as you stood in the empty hallway.

“I’m telling you Benny’s gonna get knocked on his ass”, a tan man taunted, his arm around Will, another man trailing behind them.

Will smiled upon seeing you, running ahead of his friends to scoop you up in a bone-crushing hug. “You look so tiny in these”, he cooed as he eyed you up and down.

You punched him square in the bicep, laughing along with him. “At least introduce me to your victims for the night”, you said pointing to the two other men.

“Ah yes dearest y/n, let me introduce you to Santiago Garcia and Francisco Morales, your soon-to-be best friends. Lads, this is our little damsel failing to cope with emotional distress.” He announced as he ruffled through your hair, landing him another slap.

During the fight you’d gotten to talking with the two, soon learning that Frankie and Pope (which is what they liked to call Santiago) were friends from their days in the army. The three of you had gotten along great from the get go, to the Miller brothers’ delight.

From that night on you accompanied the boys to almost everything, spending your Fridays drinking at Santiago’s and most of your Sunday’s barbecuing in Frankie’s yard.

This Sunday was once again spent in that exact yard, where you’d made some of your greatest memories in the past months. You’d convinced Frankie into showing you how to operate a grill today, to his dismay.

“Please just put them on, just to be safe”, he begged, handing you a pair of ridiculous gloves.

You put them on with a sigh, trying to stop yourself from smiling as he grinned at the sight of your tiny hands disappearing into the material. “What now?”

“Stand right here and hold this in your right hand”, he instructed, guiding you into the right spot by putting his hands on your waist. He handed you the spatula, further instructing you how to flip the patty.

“Oh this is easy! I’m a fucking natural”, you beamed, flipping the patties with ease.

“Don’t get too cocky now, these are just the basics”, he warned.

You’d continued on doing this for another ten minutes, Frankie’s hands regularly resting on yours to guide you. “Okay, okay, I’m getting waaaay too hot here!”, you giggled shaking the gloves off of your hands. You wrapped Frankie in a hug from behind. “She’s all yours again Fish!”

With that you left to sit with the others, leaving him completely red and flustered, the hue of the fire masking the blush on his cheeks.

“Just ask her out already”, Will chattered, handing his friend another beer.

“Not a fucking chance”, Frankie replied, skillfully flipping the meat over.

William sighed, shaking his head in disapproval. “She’s gonna start tindering again. Come on man, you know you like her.”

“I wish her the best of luck. Let’s go, dinner’s done.”

The night was filled with great food and hilarious conversation. When Benny told you about how Santiago had ripped his pants and needed to run around with his bare bum on one of their missions, you choked on a piece of your steak. Cackling and coughing away as Frankie worriedly hit you on the back a couple of times before offering you his beer. You gratefully took a sip, quickly wiping your mouth before getting caught in another fit of laughter. Frankie smiled as he looked at you, hunched forward, clutching your stomach as some tears started to form in your eyes at the intensity of your giddiness. William offered him a knowing look, mouthing a ‘just do it’ before returning back to the conversation.  

An hour later the set of brothers left, needing to be in good shape for Benny’s training tomorrow. You were glued to your phone screen as the two men emptied the ashes from the grill, absolutely forbidding you to help. You had a sad smile on your face as you kept swiping, gauging Frankie’s interest.

“Hey, you okay?”, he asked softly, sitting down next to you on the back.

“Hmm? Oh yeah, my friend just sent me some pictures”, you breathed out, fingers shaking ever so slightly.

He moved a bit closer. “The one that moved away?”

You rubbed your hands up and down your bare arms. “Yeah, I’m really happy for her though. I’m just not as important anymore as I used to be, she has her husband for that kind of stuff now”, your voice was laden with emotions.

Frankie pulled you into his side, wrapping an arm around you. “That’s alright, you have us idiots to take care of now. And if you get Santiago and me drunk enough we’ll totally come to girls’ night.”

You let out a soft chuckle at that, nuzzling further into his side, feeling safe and confident in his warmth. “Would you let me paint your nails?”

“Okay, now you see, there are boundaries”, Santiago chimed in, taking a seat on the opposite side of you, cuddling into you.

“My boys”, you smiled, wrapping an arm around each of them. “I have work tomorrow, so I’ll see myself out now.”

After you and Pope had left, Frankie was left alone with his thoughts. He’d started picking up the empty bottles strewn across the lawn until he found the sweater you’d been wearing earlier. He picked it up as it laid there, forgotten. It smelled of your perfume and made his breath hitch as he caught a whiff of it. It was getting harder and harder for him not to fall for you. Every time the two of you would meet you’d spend increasingly more time with one another, sneaking off from the others under the disguise of a boring chore. During these little moments the two of you got to know each other more and more and he came to the realization that with everything he learned about you, he only fell harder. If it wasn’t for his crippling fear of rejection and commitment (thank you very much ex-wife), he’d have asked you out already.

 The thought of you kept following around everywhere he went and he decided it was time to speak up about it. So Friday night, while he pulled into Pope’s driveway he practised once more.

“Hey y/n. I know this is quite sudden but I think you’re really pretty and- no that’s stupid.” He sat up a bit straighter. “Y/n, I know we’ve been friends for a while now but I can’t stop thinking about you- no that’s creepy. Just fucking talk to her instead of your fucking self.”

With his heart beating in his throat he knocked at the door, smiling as his friend gave him a hug. Letting go he glanced around the room, seeing everyone else but you. He frowned, assuming you must be arriving later.

“Take a seat man, game’s only just started”, Benny yelled from the couch, patting the spot beside him.

Frankie grabbed a beer from the table before sitting down. “Where’s y/n, she okay?”

“Sorry man, your little girlfriend has a date with Bradley”, William teased.

He launched a pillow at his friends face, shaking his head. “She’s not my girlfriend, malo”.

“You sure would like for her to be though”, Santiago mocked as he wiggled his eyebrows at Fish.

“Can we just all shut up and watch the game?” Benny meddled. “Yeah? Great, next one to say something stupid can pay for pizza.”

The bunch was back to their usual antics when the doorbell rang a couple hours later. Since Frankie was the closest he’d gotten up to open the door. Laughing until he saw you standing there, in a beautiful dark green dress, hair and make-up perfectly done.

“H-hi”, he croaked out.

“Caaan I come in?”, you questioned, darkened lips quirking up into a smile.

“Yeah, yeah of course”, he chuckled, mentally beating himself up for staring at you as long as he did.

“Bradley wasn’t the one?”, Santiago asked from the kitchen, already getting her a beer.

“I have never in my life met someone so daft. Seriously it was like his head was empty, ridden of anything except the ability to stare at my boobs.”

The guys laughed, Frankie laughed along, a wave of relief washing over him. You went to sit next to him, slipping off your coat to reveal your almost bare back, making his eyes go wide with surprise. He couldn’t ask you now, it would be wrong to put that on you after your.. eventful night. Yeah, it wouldn’t be right, Sunday during the barbecue, that would be perfect.

Except you didn’t show on Sunday or at Benny’s fight or the next four gatherings. Until one Sunday you did, all dolled up once again. While it looked really nice on you, Frankie preferred you the way he was used to you, a simple shirt and jeans, occasionally a skirt. This just wasn’t you.

“Well hello there boys, I hope you don’t mind me bringing a plus one”, you declared, a slick-looking guy standing behind you. “This is Mark, the guy I’ve been seeing.”

Well fuck. Frankie took a big gulp from his beer, disappearing into the house while muttering something about getting more drinks. He grabbed a pack of beers from the fridge, slamming the door shut, groaning in frustration.

“I know Fish, we didn’t know she would bring him either”, Will spoke, taking the beers from his friend’s shaky hands. “It’s not like they’re that serious anyway, c’mon let’s get grilling.”

That night you didn’t share the bench with Frankie, you shared a fucking chair with Mark. Sitting on his lap with your arms hanging around his neck. He felt sick to his stomach watching you with him, laughing and having fun. It should’ve been him holding you, it should be him kissing your cheek. You should be with him.

When he went inside to put the plates away, you quietly walked behind him. He nearly threw them when you spoke up, startling him. There it was again, that blinding smile.

“Sorry Fish, didn’t mean to scare you”, you giggled, engulfing him in a tight hug.

He hesitantly put his arms around you, trying to bite back the jealousy that had settled into his skin. “So Mark huh?”

“Yeah, it’s our fourth date, figured I’d see how y’all got along first”, you explained while grabbing the dish soap.

“He’s really not your type. So vain and work-obsessed”, he scoffed, turning the faucet on.

“Hey! He’s a nice guy, very smart too”, you bit back.

“I’m aware, he told me about his degrees six times already. Real fucking catch. Did he buy you that ‘dress’ too or was his dick good enough to reel you in?”, he spat out.

“What the fuck Francisco. Listen to yourself! Is there a problem?”, you panted, shocked and hurt by his words.

“Oh no, not at fucking all. Just keep whoring yourself out for him, showing up in skimpy dresses and bimbo make-up!”, his voice was laced with anger, but not towards you. He was furious with himself.

You broke out in sobs as you left his kitchen, not bothering to talk to anyone as your ran past all of them. Frankie was letting out a string of curses as he ran after you, but was stopped by Benny before he could reach you.

“What the fuck did you do?”, he warned as he looked Frankie directly in the eyes.

“Get. Him. Out.” He ordered, pointing a finger in Mark’s as he tightened his jaw and closed his eyes.

The measly man scurried away, not wanting to get involved in whatever this was. Frankie had to count to ten, twenty even before opening up his mouth again. “I fucked up.”

“You don’t fucking say”, Santiago growled grabbing his jacket and turning to leave.

“Fix this. If anything happens to her, I’ll have your fucking head”, Benny threatened, grabbing his friend by the collar. “She’s like a sister to me.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll find her, I promise”, Frankie vowed, his eyes and stance softening.

As soon as the guys left he was calling you, over and over again, leaving voicemail after voicemail, pleading, begging for you to let him know you were okay. He only got more worried when he looked through the window, seeing a flash of lightning before feeling the familiar rumble of thunder. It was pouring rain outside and pitch black, making it almost impossible to see anything. He sat on his front porch, squeezing the phone in his hand at an attempt to keep him somewhat grounded. Only when it started buzzing violently did he look up.

“Y/n! Are you okay?”, he asked frantically, already running over to his pick-up truck.

“I-I don’t know”, you replied, voice barely above a whisper.

He started the engine as he pressed the phone to his ear. “Are you hurt? Send me your location so I can pick you up.”

“I don’t know where I am”, you huffed.

“That’s fine, just text me your coordinates, I’ll come get you”, he instructed, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.

There was some white noise coming from the other side of the line and soon Frankie got your exact location.

“Okay, got it. I’ll be there soon okay, try to get out of the rain. Please querida, stay right where you are”, he begged.

You didn’t reply before hanging up, your mind spinning and the tears streaming down your face. You sure looked a mess, black streaks of mascara running down your face, soaked dress glued to your body. Time didn’t even seem real anymore as you sat on a fallen tree trunk, staring intently at the rain splashing down on the road in front of you. When a car pulled up and you heard a door slam, you were pulled from your own head.

“Hey, hey. It’s me, everything okay?” He lifted up your face, locking eyes with you, heart pulling at the sight of the black streaks on your face. “Come on, let’s get you out of the rain”, he urged, already drenched to the bone himself.

“Frankie, I don’t want to hide anymore. I just need to do this and if you never want to talk to me again then I understand.. but I just need to know”, you voiced, hands shaking with nerves.

“W-what are you talking about, come on hermosa, you’re shivering.”

“Francisco.” He looked at you, intrigued by the use of his full name.

You grabbed his face, pulling him towards you to smash your lips against his. He didn’t know what to do, just utterly shocked by your sudden action. As you pulled away, he put his hand on the back of you neck, bringing your mouth back to his. You both smiled, your shed tears mixing in with the rain.

“Let’s go home, please, you’re shivering.”

He took your hand in his as he lead you back to the car, opening the door for you and quickly running over to his side before getting in. The two of you stared at each other for a second before leaning over the console to meet in another heated kiss. He pulled back, gently placing his hands on your shoulders. “Let me take you to my place, please.”

After you’d agreed he’d started the car, turning up the heating all the way as your lips turned a dark shade of blueish purple. He’d held your hand the entire car ride, scared to let go, fearing you might just disappear if he did. Once you arrived home he provided you with a pair of joggers and a shirt of his, leaving you alone to take a warm shower. He himself had changed in the comfort of his room, quickly drying his hair with a random shirt from the laundry basket.

He smiled when you walked out, hair damp and face bare. You looked adorable in his shirt and absolutely stunning overall. “What about Mark?”, he jested.

“I totally ruined his dress”, you joked.

Frankie walked over to you, resting his hands on the small of your waist. “I’m sorry hermosa.. When I saw him holding you like that I just freaked out. What I said back there- I – it wasn’t me, it wasn’t Frankie. I was jealous.”

You gently laid your head on his chest, burying your nose in his shirt. “I know, that’s why I brought him. I just needed to know if you felt the same way.”

“You’re an evil woman y/n”, he chuckled, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. “I should let Ben know that you’re okay, if I don’t he’ll come over here himself to kill me.”

He picked up his phone from the dresser, but you took it from his hand. “It can wait, I want to catch up on some lost time with my boyfriend”, you mused.

“Now that does have a good ring to it”, he smiled, lips brushing past yours. “Buuuut you won’t have a boyfriend if I don’t call him.”

“Don’t tell him about this just yet.. I want to see the look on Pope’s face when I kiss you.”

He shook his head at you, smiling in adoration as he pressed the phone to his ear.

 That Friday you were jittery as hell, your nerves getting the best of you. You’d managed to keep you and Frankie’s relationship a secret, waiting for the perfect moment. When the two of you arrived together none of the guys thought anything of it.

It wasn’t until Frankie handed you a beer and you’d kissed him, muttering a ‘thank you babe’ against his lips that the guys noticed. Their faces scrunching together with shock and confusion.

“Dude… no way”, Pope began, breaking the tense silence.

You pressed another kiss to Frankie’s lips, eyes watching Benny as he shook his head. “I swear if any babies come from this, I’m going to absolutely lose my shit.”

[hajimes-erect-ahoge]

Saioumota oneshot #1

Kokichi and Kaito notice something new about Shuichi's appearance.

ao3

Saihara took a sip of his coffee, setting the mug down on the coffee table and turning the page of his novel. He was about as content as he could be without his boyfriends with him, though he still hoped they would return soon.

Ouma and Momota had gone out to run some errands, Saihara himself staying behind and sleeping in since he had been up late last night doing work. He felt a bit guilty being left behind, but he knew that his boyfriends wanted him to stay home and take care of his health.

Saihara couldn’t help but feel relieved when he heard the familiar click of the lock as the door opened, Ouma and Momota entering the apartment.

“Waaaah! Momota-chan is so mean!” Ouma cried. Though he wasn’t visible to him, Saihara could picture the crocodile tears streaming down his face.

“Be quiet! Shuichi might still be sleeping!” Momota replied in a hushed voice.

“Fiiiiine...” Ouma pouted momentarily, but immediately perked up once he saw the outline of Saihara’s figure on the couch. “Hey, look! Saihara-chan is awake!”

“Hm?” Momota peered over the large stack of groceries he had just set down on the kitchen table, “Oh, hey Shuichi! Good morning!”

“Good morning, you two.” Saihara placed a bookmark in his novel, setting it aside. He took one last sip of coffee before getting up to greet his boyfriends. “How did it go?”

“Horrible! Momota-chan wouldn’t stop complaining about-”

Ouma cut himself short, staring in silence at Saihara, who was now standing by the couch facing the other two. Saihara stared back, clearly confused.

“Complaining about…?” Saihara asked.

No response. Ouma just continued to stare, causing Saihara to grow self-conscious.

“Hey! It’s not my fault you’re so lazy! You could’ve at least helped me carry some of the bags in!” Momota retorted.

While exiting the kitchen and re-entering the living room he noticed Ouma’s blank stare and followed it, leading him to none other than Saihara.

“...Woah.” Momota’s mouth hung agape, as he too stared at Saihara.

Saihara adjusted his glasses and looked away, finding himself rather flustered with all of the sudden attention.

Momota filled the silence that descended upon them, “Since when have you…?”

“Wow! I didn’t know you had glasses, Saihara-chan!” Ouma interrupted, skipping over to Saihara.

“Y-Yes…?” Saihara stuttered, trying his best to ignore Ouma’s intense stare that was now even closer to him, only inches away from his face. “I’ve always had them, I just never really wear them unless my contacts are bothering me, so, um… I can take them off if you’d like...”

“Take them off?” Momota echoed Saihara’s words, “Are you kidding me? You look great, Shuichi!”

He came closer to Saihara, getting a better look at his glasses. Finding both of his boyfriends much closer to him than usual, Saihara instinctively backed up until he hit the back of the couch. Saihara resigned himself to his fate, realizing he had no other option but to squirm in place as the other two invaded his personal space.

Saihara froze when he felt Momota place a hand underneath his chin, tilting it upwards in order to get a better look at the other’s face. If Saihara wasn’t blushing before, he definitely was now.

“P-Please…” Saihara placed a hand on each of the other two, gently pushing them away. “You guys are way too close…”

“Aw, Saihara-chan is blushing! How cute!” Ouma cooed, causing Saihara’s blush to darken.

Using this as an opportunity to strike, Ouma removed the glasses from Saihara’s face, putting them on his own face instead.

“O-Ouma-kun!” Saihara stuttered, trying but failing to grab his glasses. He looked to Momota for assistance, but he only chuckled in response to Ouma’s antics.

“How do I look?” Ouma posed, wearing Saihara’s glasses. “Cute, right? But not as cute as Saihara-chan, I bet!”

Saihara covered his face with one hand, attempting to hide the heat on his face.

“Lemme try!” Momota snatched the glasses from Ouma and slid them onto his own face.

“So? How do I look?” Momota asked, grinning ear to ear.

“Hideous! Saihara-chan looks waaaay better in them!” Ouma teased.

“You little-!” Momota, still wearing Saihara’s glasses, chased after Ouma, who snickered and fled into the depths of their, albeit small, apartment.

Momota eventually cornered Ouma in their bedroom, both of them panting and sweaty. Saihara peered into the room to see them both sprawled out on the bed, with Momota still wearing his glasses.

“Um, Momota-kun…” Saihara gestured to his eyes, signaling that he needed his glasses back.

“Er, sorry about that, Shuichi!” Momota handed the glasses back to Saihara, “Sorry if they’re a bit sweaty…”

“It’s fine.” Saihara wiped down his glasses with the end of his shirt, cleaning the lenses as well.

“You know, you should wear your glasses more often! They’re a good look for you!” Momota smiled brightly, Ouma nodding in agreement.

“Ah, I don’t know about that…” Saihara fiddled with his fingers nervously.

Momota stood up from the bed, placing a strong arm around Saihara’s shoulders.

“As long as my sidekick knows he’s beautiful!” He placed a quick kiss on Saihara's cheek.

Ouma stood up, walking over to sling his arms around Saihara’s waist.

He looked up at Saihara, smiling. “Yep, yep! Saihara-chan sure is beautiful!” Ouma giggled.

“You two…” Saihara gave a faint smile, looking at both of his boyfriends. “Thank you.”

The other two chuckled, while they all embraced one another. It was a warm and sweet embrace, with none of them letting go anytime soon.

[mytrashs-blog]

Movie Star- part 2!

Pairing: BFF! Tom Holland x Reader

Warnings: She’s a fluffy one... but also not straight away

Summary: You’re trying to save your friendship but the plan changes

Word Count: 3,071 words so buckle up

A/N: This is the last part I will be writing on this and that’s final, cause I had THE hardest time trying to write fluff... I’m an angst author, what can I say? I did love the final result of this, so I hope you enjoy! (Please if you do like it, reblog it so it can be read by more and more people).

Part one is here!!!, and here is my masterlist in case you want to read something else

(Gif isn’t mine, credits go to the owner!)

You’re sitting on the couch, two popcorn bowls sitting on the coffee table, because you like spicy sauce on yours and he finds soggy popcorn disgusting, there’s also two bottles one coke and one water, because you can’t stand fizzy drinks, but it’s his cheat day so he’ll take advantage. You’re both on the same couch, but you’re in your side, he’s in his, there’s two blankets and there’s no touching, not even accidentally, not even casually, none at all.

Frankly you’re even surprised you agreed to see him again after that one time you went out for coffee with him to come up with a peace treaty. It’s not that you don’t want things to go back to normal, it’s just that you don’t know what “normal” is for both of you anymore, you’re very sure there is no such thing after all the drama you went through a year ago. But you’re willing to try.

The movie has been going on for a while and you haven’t exchanged a word for the whole time, you intentionally decided to play a good movie so that you wouldn’t get the chance to start talking, so Pulp Fiction is playing, funny enough it’s your first time watching it and you’ve never been a big fan of Tarantino’s films, but you haven’t let Tom (your former best friend) see you yawning under your blanket. Thank Lord your thoughts drift away unitl the movie ends, but then you start getting anxious, you’ve been dreading this moment because you just know he’s gonna tell you something. And he does.

“What’s wrong? You didn’t say a word in like two hours and that’s not very you from you” he offers in an insecure manner, and that’s not very Tom from Tom.

“There’s… nothing wrong, Tom… I just don’t know what to say to you anymore. I don’t know who you are, we’ve been out of each other’s lives for a year. Last time we actually spent time together we destroyed our friendship. And then we attacked each other for the months that followed. We haven’t had a proper conversation in more than a year, A YEAR. And I’m not saying I don’t want us to be friends anymore, I just don’t know how to start.”

He stares at you for a few seconds, you can see he’s calculating his next dialogue, he really doesn’t want to fuck up the babies steps you’ve taken to fix things, and you don’t either so you wait for him.

“We…” he starts but soon stops again, thinking once more of an apropriate way to say things “We can’t really go back to the way things were before, because we were doing a lot of things wrong to begin with. I don’t want to have what we had before… I want to start fresh. You don’t know the new me and I don’t know the new you. So let’s get to know each other.”

That was the corniest speech you’ve ever heard. If you weren’t so moved by it, you’d be laughing at his face, but instead of doing that, you tried to follow along with the corny theme, so you reached your hand out for him to strech it and said “Hi, my name’s (Y/N), nice to meet you”.

He did chuckle at that but he took your hand regardless, offering one of those relaxed smiles you haven’t seen in over a year “I’m Tom, nice to meet you too”.

You kept hanging out a lot more often since that day, things were picking up a nice pace and you were getting more and more comfortable around him everyday. Sure, things changed, but they changed for the better. He made sure to take you to a lot of the fun things he did sometimes and you even invited him to the recital of the dance academy where you teach, which was a mistake because he had to smile and take pictures all afternoon with little girls and a bunch of moms… and the ocassional dad who actually cared about his role on spider-man and not only his beautiful biceps. Not that you were paying attention to the fact that he was getting buff again to reprise his role, no, he’s your friend, you don’t look at those things. You noticed because the moms noticed.

It was nice to fall back into your habit of late night phone calls to tell each other the latest gossip around your lives, you also missed sending him the most random, wackyest gifs at the most inconvenient of times and you missed him offering to drive you to places, maybe even go buy your groceries together.

Soon enough the press found out you were hanging out again and you were not safe from paparazzi for a solid amount of two weeks until it stopped being interesting, but of course half of the stories were written along the lines of “From bff to enemies to lovers? Is Tom Holland dating long time bestie (Y/N)?” and just like you did all those years ago when he was just becoming Hollywood’s newest hearthrobe you got together to laugh about what the tabloids were writing.

There was only one problem. You kinda were catching feelings.

It’s just that he had changed so much. He wasn’t mean aymore, to anyone and it’s not even that he went back to being the nice guy he was before the fame, he was even better, because he had matured so much and he knew just how much he meant to the people around him, so he made sure to let them know how grateful he was of having them around and it was so nice to see him become such a well rounded man. Regardless of all that, you know that it is a very stupid idea to come up like “Yo, I have a big fat crush on you” right now, because… you just got back to being friends! so you resolve to keep your mouth shut and your feelings at bay.

This one day Tom texted you asking if you wanna grab a bite, he’s at a table reading nearby so you accept and you get sushi because you’re basic like that, but he’s acting all weird today. He’s been staring at you for a little too long now and his gaze has been falling to your lips a few times now, which would be less weird if you weren’t currently stuffing your face with a salmon sushi roll.

You’ve been trying to get him to be less weird, asking about the script, his cast mates and all, but he’s just not cooperating and just keeps doing this thing that he does when he’s nervous where he justs sits there all stiff and plays with whatever he has in his hands, which right now it’s chopsticks and that makes it way too annoying, because it makes a lot of noise, so you decide enough is enough and just go straight against him. “Thomas “some middle name that you hate me calling you” Holland, what on earth is going on with you today?”

He abruptly stops with the chopsticks and you’re so grateful for a second, but then his attention shifts to his watch and it’s pressing your buttons pretty terribly, but then he decides he can actually talk. “Sorry uh… I’ve just been thinking… about… life?”

“What the hell do you mean? And don’t give me any bullshit answer cause you know I’ll know.”

You see him get visibly flustered, but he takes a deep breath to talk, “I’m just… I have been thinking…”

“Oh really? first time I take it” you laugh to lighten the mood that suddenly got terribly heavy.

“Oh, shut up… No, but really. It’s just that we’ve come such a long way, not only recently but overall in the course of the, what? 17 years? that we’ve known each other, you know? and I have been thinking that these past months our relationship has changed so much…”

Is he…?

“And I just think that we’re at a place where we could just try…”

Shit, he is.

“To go somewhere new, you know?”

Holy fuck… he most definetely is!

He falls silent and is looking at you waiting for your reaction, but you’re so shocked that you just haven’t even thought about what you’re going to say to him!

“When you say ‘somewhere new’ what does that mean?” you go for a question, just to get things clear as water before totally reacting.

“I just mean that.. I’ve realized just how much I like you, for real. No safety net here. I want to be with you and I can’t go for another 17 years pretending that I don’t”

For all you know you might just have choked on your sushi, but you haven’t so you decide to swallow whatever is still in your mouth and it’s hard, but mainly because air has just left your lungs. “I… don’t know, I mean… I can’t deny that I have felt that way, but I’m scared. Like what if it doesn’t work out? It’s been hard enough to go back to being friends after a ‘friend break up’ imagine if it was a real, real break up? Would we be able to recover?”

“I know. I’m aware that this is not a simple thing to do, I don’t expect you to just say yes and jump right into my arms. That’s just not your style. Do you want to maybe sleep on it?”

And you do. It’s the worst night of your life though. You’re restless all night, just can’t get your brain to shut up. How are you supposed to “sleep on it” if there is no sleep involved? You roll on you side for what feels like the millionth time and you see the time… it’s almost three in the morning and you haven’t been able to even blink. It’s just… You want to be with Tom so bad, you do! But you also know that you’ve never been good at relationships, they just never last, and then there’s the fact that you have extreme trust issues because almost every guy you’ve ever been with has cheated on you, and you don’t want be paranoid and crazy around Tom, but you just know at some point you won’t be able to hold it in. And for fucks sake! He’s an actor! He will have to kiss other girls for work and… you just don’t want to even think about it… but also, those girls are waaaay prettier than you are.

But on the good side, no one knows Tom like you do, he has never cheated on any girl ever, he’s a real gentleman, and you already have your fingerprint stored in his phone and you do know all his social media passwords which he doesn’t even know how to use so there’s no way he notices the thousands of girls sliding into his dm’s, you also have already met all his friends and family so you can skip all that awkward part of new relationships. How weird would it be to kiss Tom?

He does have very nice lips and he’s constantly using chapstick so they must be very soft, and you’ve seen him kissing actresses before and they’ve never complained about him being a bad kisser, and it’s not like you never thought about that. To be completely honest you’ve imagined how it would be to do way more than just kissing your best friend, which is normal… right? everyone fantazises about their best friend at least once in their life. Difference being that you spent about seven years doing so, if not more.

So if you’ve been in love with him for so long now, and you were able to forgive him for being an asshole and then he changed for the better after thinking he’d lose you then why not give it a shot? It can’t go wrong. You’ve already proved you’d rather die than not have each other in your lives, so even if it’s doesn’t work as a romantic thing you may still be able to save your friendship, right?

You were finally able to fall asleep at 4 a.m. and unsurprisingly, you did dream about you and Tom during your normal movie night, only you’re all curled up on each other, one of his hands is soothingly running through your hair and the other one is on your waist but slipping dangerously low, he ocassionally places a kiss on top of your head and you just feel extremely relaxed, it’s such a bliss of a dream, but then you wake up.

You want to text him the second you wake up, but you still want to keep thinking about it, just because you don’t want to say yes based on a really nice and domestic dream you had, so you make yourself a really nice breakfast and head to work which involves chill dancing around all day, and dance was always a nice way to analize things, at least to you. Also, not thinking is the perfect way of deciding wether you want something or not. By the time you’re done for the day, you’re ready to text Tom.

You ask him to meet you at yours as soon as he has some free time, and around an hour later, the doorbell rings and it’s him. God, you haven’t been this nervous over a guy since middle school, it is borderline ridiculous, but you gotta keep it together. It’s just Tom. Tommy, the guy that wears Hello Kitty pajamas and ties his hair in tiny pony tails when it starts getting too long, he’s the same guy that will regularly asks you how to spell “though” correctly. Just Tom.

You open the door and he looks just as nervous as you are, but you let him in and, as if he’s never been here before, he just stands there by the front door until you ask him to go to the living room. He plays with his hands and tries to clean off the sweat that he probably has all over his hands in his trousers, and you do the same. Just to be safe.

You’re sitting on oposite ends of the room, both of you visibly giddy and jumpy, but you’re so silent that a needle falling would be audible in the whole room. So you try to speak.

“H-how was your day, Tom? Everything okay?”

“Yeah… all normal, pretty chill. You?”

“Normal, just the regular.”

And you fell back into silence for a bit over a minute that felt like years. Unitl you decided you needed to speak again.

“So.. about the thing you told me yesterday…”

“Yes, tell me. Did you think about it?”

“Yeah, I did. You know, we’ve been through a lot together and you know that. I am extremely afraid of losing you forever and I need to tell you that being in good terms with you is my number one priority.”

Tom’s face stays serious as he listens to you, his hands are clasped together to avoid fidgeting, but he hasn’t noticed that his leg is rapidly bouncing up and down to compensate  on that field.

“But even with all that I just keep thinking that it just makes sense, you know? You and me together.”

He looks up at you and his eyes are glowing with hope.

“I… have been in love with you for such a long time and I feel like the longer that time goes by, the harder it is to bear it. So I want to jump in full force. Who cares if it doesn’t work?”

He smiles bright now, he even tries to bite his lip to contain it from looking so absurdly stupid, but he doesn’t. He looks just as excited and ready to do this as you do.

“We’ve already been through the worst case scenario and we managed to salvage and make it even better, so I think that even if this doesn’t end up being a bad idea… we’ll be able to stay together anyway.”

And the room falls back into silence, but this one it not overwhelming, the atmosphere feels a lot more hopeful and excited. Tom is just looking at you with a smile on his face and you are looking straight back, feeling anxious about the uncertainty of what is supossed to happen now.

At that moment, Tom stands up and walks towards you, never breaking the eye contact. He extends his hand for you to take it and stand up, so now you’re facing each other, mere inches away, you’re so close you can see the little freckles that decorate the bridge of his nose, and looking in his eyes you can see that he has tiny speckles of darker brown around in his irises.

“I’m gonna kiss you now, is that okay?” he tells you, voice barely audible, you doubt anyone else would’ve been able to hear it, but that makes it so indulgently intimate, so insead of nodding, you decide to say yes in an equally low volume even though you’re the only two people in the house, you want this moment to be yours and for it to stay only in your own tiny bubble.

He smiles before slowly leaning in, time goes painfully slow, but you’re almost unbothered about that, you want to cherish the moment as much as you can. He stops when his lips are barely brushing yours, so you take that last step and lean to seal the remaining space between you two.

You had been holding hands until now that his hands want to move to your waist, but you need something to keep you leveled, cause everything is spining so you place yours on his forearms. Kissing Tom made you feel so stupid. Why did it take you so long to do this? This is clearly where you had to be all this time. His lips feel like coming back home after a long and miserable day, he feels like home. This moment feels like putting in the finishing piece in the puzzle and feeling like all that you went through was worth it, because it gave you this. and that is all that matters.

...

Tagging some people to avoid the flop: @caeruleum-in-caritate-lupus, @softstarkk, @peterparkerbabyy, @dottirose, @legit-fandom-trash, @carostar2020, @appreciating-chase-brody, @mvmakki @madmadmilk @hollandrecs @starksparker @sunshinehollandd, @thatswhaticallfanfiction​, @rachaeldonnaspiteri1​, @writing-appreciation​, @allieandcoffee​, @ladythena​, 

[scribeofmorpheus]

Covet of the Wolf  [2]

Pairing: Derek Hale x Reader (Lastname: Markolf)

Warnings: language, references of blood and injury.

A/N: I do love using Peter as a shenanigan plot driver, he’s so dramatic I couldn’t resist. Some characters from the previous series will begin to take backseat because i’m juggling waaaay to may characters. lmfaooo.

Leave a like or reblog if you enjoyed this chapter! It helps ☺

<< Previous Series | Series Masterlist >>

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~

“Peter,” Derek all but growled. You could picture his snarl without having to look at his face.

The dark silhouette stepped out of the shadow, “Hello, lovers.”

It was indeed Peter. Older, silver streaks growing in places that weren’t there the last time you saw him. His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep and wide—unsettlingly so. He cocked his head to the side, that shit-eating grin of his lining the skin around his lips. He seemed smaller somehow. Thinner.

You swallowed. The anger you felt towards Derek and your little—or perhaps big—argument was shelved to the back of your mind.

Derek marched down towards Peter so they stood on the same even ground. This wasn’t at all how you’d pictured their reunion. A hug may have been too much of a fantastical notion, but a handshake at the least seemed appropriate. They did neither, simply staring each other in the eye as if speaking through the flinches and blinks.

“What are you doing here?” Derek asked.

“What?” Peter held up his hands to show he bore no ill will. Then he reached into his back pocket and waved a card with delicate calligraphy letters on it. “I was invited.”

Derek snatched the card, “This is my invitation card. Did you break into my loft?”

“Can’t break in if you know where the key is,” Peter walked around Derek and headed for the homestead. “Best go greet the stunning brides to be. Y/N.” He tilted his head at you.

“Peter,” you half-smiled. It was a relief to see he was alright. The current situation, however, not ideal. You didn't know how to react, so you let the Hale's do all the reacting.

Derek grabbed Peter’s elbow, “What are you really doing here, Peter.”

Peter shrugged then winked, “It’s like I said. I’m just here for a wedding.”

 The tub was warm, reminding you of warm summers swimming in the lake as a kid. Your skin had started to prune, but you also knew that once you got out the tub, that meant facing Derek. Facing the tension.

An unexpected knock at the door made you gasp. Derek’s voice had that mix of concern and soft-spoken weariness: “You alright in there?” He wanted to make up. “I got towels.”

You glanced at the stack of towels on the shelf by the soap and smiled, “Come in.”

He opened the door slowly and walked with a low hanging head. He sat on the edge of the tub, not making eye contact.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” he ran his hand through his hand, the curling ends were still a foreign sight to see. They did shape around his face beautifully though. “I guess being here, with all the… I just forgot what it was like.”

“What what was like?”

“Being around family…feeling like a part of one.”

You took his hand and kissed between the dips on his knuckles, “Just so we’re clear, I’m not saying no. I just don’t think we should be thinking about marriage when we still don’t know the full effect of the mark.”

You kissed the bandage hiding his mark. He recoiled subtly, pretending to shift to a more comfortable sitting position on the floor.

“You can’t tell me it doesn’t bother you—”

Derek grumbled, head leaning back onto the tubs walls, “Of course it bothers me. It itches a little.” He smiled warmly.

You rolled your eyes, “That’s not what I meant. If the mark didn’t bother you, why do you get all prickly around Peter? And don’t tell me it’s always been that way…You avoided talking about him the last couple of months and now that he’s here you practically looked like you were ready to tear his throat out. Why?”

Derek shrugged, “It’s Peter.”

“Derek,” you sighed.

“Okay, I just…He never shows up out of the blue for no reason.”

“Maybe he missed you.”

Derek huffed, “I’m sure he did.”

You snaked your wet arms around his neck and whispered low, “I know if I didn’t get to see your handsome face for a long time, I’d be really, really lonely.”

Derek craned his neck so his lips were close enough to feel the heat of his cheeks and lips. You indulged in his open invitation and kissed him, deeply. Derek found your hand and laced your fingers in his.

 Maggie and Caleb were arguing about something in her room, you had been busy checking boxes, making sure everyone was dressed and all the flowers were in the right places. Derek and Peter hadn’t been seen all morning. You imagined they were out in the hills arguing or something.

Jonah needed not one but two shirt changes because he kept getting them stained.  The first stain was jam and the second was a coffee stain. Jonah didn’t drink coffee, but he did like peddling it out as a bribe for something. Esme had taken over Markus’s room for the day and Markus had returned from the airport with Stiles.

“Stiles,” you hugged him warmly, a frown pulling on your face. “I thought you were bringing Lydia?”

Stiles winked and pulled out a tablet, “I am, she’s just going to be a couple thousand miles away.”

You shook your head, “And they say romance is dead.”

“I’ll just go set this up in the barn quickly,” he smiled like a goof from ear to ear.

Maggie looked gorgeous in her dress, you had to run up to her room to drag Caleb by the collar away because they kept fighting over the pettiest squabbles. Derek and Peter reappeared just in time for the start of the ceremony. Neither looked too pleased. Derek made every effort to seem okay. You could tell he wasn’t. Even Stiles was behaving suspiciously around him, whispering with a frown of his own when they were together. Derek’s habit of secret-keeping was getting under your skin.

If you had had time to think, you would have found everything a little strange, but there was barely enough time left to get dressed before the ceremony started.

You couldn’t reach the zipper at the back of your bridesmaid dress. It was green, not a lime green that was too bright or a forest green that was too velvety and dark; the dress was almost deep emerald, not silky in material and tight. Maggie was never one for body-hugging dresses, she enjoyed wide felt skirts, and her preferences showed obviously in her choice of bridesmaid dress.

Out of nowhere, Derek’s warm hands met yours and he whispered something as he helped zip you up: “Green is definitely your colour.”

You blushed, the reflection in the mirror was breath-taking. Derek in a dark suit with no tie and an unbuttoned collar. You in the dress that complemented his human eyes. His large hands on your waist. The flush of your cheeks matching the shade of lipstick.

“I never thought I’d see the day,” you turned around and tugged his suit jacket. “We should take a picture. Commemorate the moment. Something tells me it will be a long time before I see you in a suit again.”

“Hmmm,” he leaned in and kissed you. “You’re hard to forget. Especially today.”

The first bell tolled.

You pulled Derek with you as you left the room, “Come, we should get to our places.”

 The ceremony was small, simple in a delicate and intentional way that could be described as classy. As Deaton officiated, everyone was thrown off when Esme had been the first to shed a tear during the vow exchange. The red ribbon that bound Maggie and Esme’s right hands was the only vibrantly rich colour that stood out. Caleb explained it was a homage to hand-fasting.

Stiles sat next to an empty chair occupied by his tablet, Lydia, who dressed for the occasion despite being miles away, watched through a laggy video chat connection.

The reception was quieter. A few people exchanged jokes and Caleb got hilariously drunk on white wine. You were a little tipsy yourself, snuggled next to Derek who smelled of a rather expensive cologne you weren’t used to.

Peter looked bored, so you ventured over to pick his brain a little.

“Peter,” you announced yourself as you sat down on the empty chair beside him.

“Don’t you look radiant today,” he sipped whiskey.

“Where’d you get that?”

“You’re family has quite the collection of alcohol in that alcohol cabinet of yours.”

You leaned close to whisper, “We aren’t supposed to steal from Dad’s cabinet.”

“Well,” Peter sipped his whiskey slower, savouring the taste. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

You noticed he wasn’t wearing a bandage to hide his mark.

“You want to see it?” Peter raised a brow.

“What?”

“The mark.”

You looked over at Derek, he was in the middle of having a one-sided conversation with Jonah. You felt guilty but you didn’t know why.

“Yes,” you nodded.

Peter rolled up his sleeve. The mark was still—no longer moving under the skin. A raw colour, pinkish-red like a rash. The symbol was familiar to you. You’d seen it somewhere, or at least an iteration of it.

The crows from Deaton’s photograph, you realised. A double spiral.

You were drawn to the symbol, wanting to touch it, hoping it would hold all the answers if you just reached out…

Without warning, everyone’s heads pulled up, nostrils growing larger and then smaller. A werewolf tick. It was only the non-supernaturals that didn’t react; you, Stiles, Deaton, Maggie and Caleb. Them and Peter.

“Right on cue,” Peter took his final drink of whiskey.

Derek stood from his chair, an accusatory stare burning imaginary holes in Peter’s skull.

Peter reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a stake. He tossed it at Derek, “You’re gonna need that.”

“What did you do?” Derek’s eyes glowed blue, the stake shaking in his fist. The commotion drawing everyone’s attention. Your stomach churned and you felt nauseous.

“I may have run into some trouble,” Peter shrugged. “You weren’t answering my calls. I needed a little help.”

“So you led them here?” Derek moved quick, suddenly Peter’s shirt was bunched up in Derek’s fists. You sat back down. Vertigo getting the better of you.

“Can someone explain what’s happening?” Stiles asked the room.

Derek hissed, letting go of Peter’s shirt to grab his arm.

“It’s the order…” you whispered in realisation.

Stiles threw his hands up in the air, his next words coming out loud and exasperated: “I thought they weren’t a problem anymore.”

Peter frowned as if innocent, “See, I thought so too. But apparently, something crawled out of a very old box when we killed the old man walking around in my little nephew’s brain. And Astrid tells me it’s a sign of the end of days. Blah, blah, blah. So naturally, some wanted revenge. I—I may have overestimated my…ability to handle things and…well now I’m here.”

Maggie stood up from her chair, anger turning her skin a terrifying shade of red, “So you used my wedding as bait?”

Esme grabbed Maggie’s hand as if to hold her back.

“Safety in numbers,” Peter winked.

The barn doors flew off their hinges. Everything happened so fast. Snarls, slashing claws, a few curse words exchanged like it was Secret Santa. At one point, one of the last remnants of the order got close enough to Caleb to slash at his belly while he shielded Maggie. Out of the blue, two other people arrived, both men and both friendlies from what you could tell. One had a greying beard and short sandy brown hair. He was holding a shotgun because it would seem the Hale's didn't have any friends who baked or had a more domestic hobby than werewolf hunting. The other younger of the two was handsome, with sad eyes that drooped like a puppy's. They were a werewolf yellow, a colour you’d only ever seen on Jonah. His were more intense. Brighter. At one point, you thought you heard Stiles mutter the name, “Isaac.”

You didn’t care, there was no time to care about anything other than Caleb. You rushed over to Caleb’s side to tend to his wound. It was then, as you held his stomach and had trouble breathing that you realised just how beautiful he looked in his blue velvet suit.

 The ringing in Derek’s ears was superficial. The sharp stabbing pain it brought to his ears meant nothing next to the chaos unfolding in the room.

The white cloth on the joined dining tables was soaked on one end, a deep red, almost black under the candle light in the barn.

Derek’s heart beat rapidly. He hadn’t felt like this in a long, long time. Was it hopelessness? Fear? Dread? All of them at once?

Instinctively, his hand sought after yours. He could feel you, smell the faint scent of your perfume, behind him. But you didn’t take his hand.

Derek glanced behind him and saw you there, applying pressure to Caleb’s gut wound. Shock in your eyes. A look he swore to himself you’d never wear again. Not while he was by your side. But there it was, wide eyes and quivering lips failing to stay shut behind a clenched jaw. And this, all this destruction. The blood. The weeping brides—one out of anger, the other out of desperation. The blood soaked table cloth. And a severed head held in Peter’s hand. All this happened because of him.

Derek looked down at the mark that could pass for a rash on his arm. His claws extended and he tried to cut it out. But it simply healed back to normal.

This was all because of him. Him and that damned mark.

Standing beside him, unseen by all except Peter, was Alyster.

Dead Alyster living in Derek’s mind. Incorporeal, but all the same there, knocking about in his grey matter.

“Today was meant to be a happy day,” Alyster spoke with a faint shiver of regret. His voice contained to Derek’s consciousness. To the supernatural mark. Alyster’s face held a sadness permanently plastered to his drooping, lined eyes. “It would have been. If you had listened.”

Blood meandered from Derek’s nose to his chin. That smell. He knew that smell. It was pungent, earthy. The smell of decay. And it was coming from the severed head in Peter’s hand.

Suddenly the head began to mummify, skin turning leathery, cheeks sunken to the teeth.

Someone screamed, maybe it was Jonah maybe it wasn’t. A retch or two, some disgusted sounds. But Derek couldn’t focus on anything. His senses were running rampant.

Peter dropped the head. It didn’t land with a squelching sound. It didn’t land at all. Before it reached the ground, it turned to dust. Millions upon millions of finite skin particles reduced to a puff of dusty brown.

“You’re an asshole, Peter,” Derek was panting, his words wheezy.

“You should have answered my calls,” Peter’s face was glistening with sweat. “Jerk.”

Peter’s nose bled too. He didn’t seem to fight the pain. But Derek did. He held out, for as long as he could. Then, like lead balloons, both Peter and he fell. The mark burning like hellfire.

A connection severing from the collective. One of many considering the other dust piles on the floor.

Members of the Order of Sagittarius had just been killed.

And it was by their hand. Again.

[assembledherethevolunteers]

College Friends

A/N: Hi everybody! And SURPRISE  @rhapsodyrecs  ! I’m your secret author for @yourlocalmusicalprostitute Possessed By Love Event! I hope you (and everybody else) enjoys it!

 Pairing: Joe Mazzello x fem!reader

Warnings: Implied smut (nothing explicit, but just in case), references to drinking, cursing? (I honestly don’t remember if I put any in there or not,but better safe than sorry), bed-sharing 

You threw a bag of chips into the cart and then looked around for more snacks.

“I think we’re good on snacks,” Kodi chuckled.

“Not if Marcus is coming,” you replied, another bag of chips making its way into the cart.

“Alright, good point, but we can make a trip to the store once we get there.”

You and a group of friends from college were going on an extended weekend trip to the beach, staying at an AirBnB. You were leaving in the morning and you were so excited. You needed time away from work.

“Alright, when we get back to my place, we’ll pack it the van,” Kodi told you after you got everything in your car from the store. You’d rented a van so you could all fit in one car.

“Sounds good to me. What time are we going to leave in the morning?”

“I think around 8, but I told Sahara 9 so that she might actually be on time.”

You laughed.  

The two of you talked about how much fun the five you would be having at the beach.

“I’m ready to just goooo,” Kodi whined as you puled into the parking lot of her building. “Work has been so shitty lately.”

“I know,” you told her as you parked next to the van. “You deserved that promotion.”

“Tell me about it. Whatever. I just want to go to the beach and get drunk.”

“Two things I can help with, don’t you worry.”

“And maybe get laid.”

“Well, let’s see how drunk we get.”

You and Kodi laughed as you got out of the car. The two of you transferred your groceries from your car to the van when somebody came up and grabbed your hips.

You jumped and spun around with a scream, ready to attack the person.

“Hey! Hey, calm down!” The voice was laughing as you swung your arms, making minimal contact.

You met eyes with your ‘attacker’ and gasped for a moment at that familiar hazel. “Joe?”

He held his arms out for a hug, but you didn’t go into them. Kodi did though, hugging him tight.

“Joe! What are you doing back in town?!”

“I just wrapped on a movie and thought I’d come see you guys!” Joe pulled away from Kodi and looked at you with a big grin.

“So Mister Hollywood is gracing us with his presence once again, huh?” You replied with an eye roll.

“Ah, Y/N, great to see you, too.”

Joe Mazzello. The unaccounted for sixth member of your college friend group.

The six of you had met and made a study group for your Psych 101 class freshmen year. After that, you were inseparable. The six of you had stayed friends since you all had left school, which was actually a surprise to all of you, but somehow it had worked.

“How long are you in town?” Kodi asked.

“Just this week, so I wanted to see if you guys were doing anything this weekend and…”

“Aw shucks, Joey, we’re actually going to be out of town this weekend,” you clicked your tongue. Joe’s face fell and Kodi elbowed you in the side.

“Oh, well, that’s okay, maybe I can hang out with Marcus and…” Joe stopped talking at the look on Kodi’s face.

“We’re actually going with them too, we sort of threw this together last minute long weekend to the beach,” Kodi gave Joe a half smile. “We didn’t know you’d be home otherwise we would’ve asked you!” Kodi started spewing out excuses but Joe held his hand up.

“Kodi, it’s alright I can…”

“Well,” Kodi looked at you and then back to Joe. “Give us one sec,” she grabbed your arm and then pulled you out of ear shot of Joe.

“No,”you told her, already knowing where the conversation was going.

“Come ON, Y/N. Joe’s one of our friends too.”

You scoffed, not looking at her.

“There’s room for Joe at the Air BnB and he’ll make it fun! You guys used to be so close. What happened?”

You sighed.

Yes, you and Joe had been close. Until he slept with your roommate at the end of freshman year even though the two of you had spent the entire semester flirting and you had thought you’d made it clear that you liked him. You hadn’t wanted to mess up the group dynamic so you’d never said anything, but you had stopped hanging with Joe just the two of you.

“I just want to have fun, alright? And if Joe comes people will probably stop us and want pictures and…”

“Stop. When was the last time any of that happened?”

You paused to honestly try and think of a time, but couldn’t think of one.

"Come on, we haven’t seen him in like a year. Please?”

You thought about it and looked back at Joe, who had started grabbing bags of groceries out the car. For the most part, yes, he was a good guy. Maybe you’d been too hard on him.

“Fine, let’s invite him.”

“Yes!” Kodi hugged you and gave you a kiss on the cheek. She turned back to Joe and almost ran to him. You followed slowly behind her.

“So, Joe, if you’re not doing anything this weekend, would you want to come with us?”

Joe’s face lit up. “Really?” He looked to you.

You nodded reluctantly.

“Yeah! I’d uh…I would love to come. Only if everybody’s okay with it,” he replied, still looking at you.

“Yeah, I’m fine. We should probably get this stuff inside.” You grabbed the 24 pack of water and headed inside.

You went home and ran over your packing list one more time. You were pretty sure you had everything. You opened your suitcase and saw your old swim suit that you had grabbed. You took it out and grabbed your favorite two piece instead. If Joe was coming, you were going to let him know what he was missing out on.

“I’m here!” Sahara came running into the kitchen the next morning. “I’m sorry I’m late but I have a good reason!” She practically skidded to a stop. She was the last to arrive, so everybody was sitting at the kitchen table or leaning against the counter.

“You’re not actually,” Kodi smiled at you, knowing she’d done the right thing by telling Sahara an hour earlier than you should have.

“What do you…?” Sahara looked around when she noticed Joe leaning against the counter drinking coffee. Sahara squealed and threw herself in Joe’s arms.

“Oof!” Joe laughed as he hugged her back. “Well hi.”

“When did you get here?! How was filming? Are you coming with us? Is…?”

“Sa, sh…it’s waaaay too early for that,” Marcus grumbled.

“I don’t even care! I’m so excited that you’re here!”

Everybody (except you) laughed and Joe let her go.

“We should get everybody’s bags in the car,” Dylan clapped his hands together. Everybody grabbed their bags and headed out to the van. Except you and Joe because your bags were already in the car.

You could feel the tension in the kitchen grow once you realized that the two of you were alone.

Joe cleared his throat. “Y/N, I um…thanks for inviting me.”

“Well, it was Kodi’s idea,” you told him as you set your coffee cup in the sink.

“Yeah, but you also agreed to it. I know we’ve had…” Joe gestured as if he were going to catch what he was trying to say. “A falling out. And I’m not sure what exactly happened but, I’m hoping that maybe we can…mend things?”

You stared at him, trying to come up with a response. What the hell did he mean he didn’t know what he did?

“How can you…?”

“Hey! Are you two ready?!” Kodi yelled in to the two of you.

“Let’s get going,” you blew past Joe to join your friends. This was going to be a long weekend.

The trip to the Air BnB was about a four hour drive. Kodi drove the whole way and you were in the passenger seat. Everybody else was piled into the back of the van.

The ride wasn’t horrible. Actually, it was pretty fun. Joe always had a way of making everybody laugh, even when you tried not to.

Once you got there, you all split up and took rooms. The only problem was there were only 5 beds.

“Where’s Joe going to sleep?” Kodi asked as she and Sahara sat on your bed, watching you unpack some things after.

“Not here,” you told her.

“I know that, but Dylan and Marcus’ room only have single beds.”

“Then he can sleep on the floor.”

“Oh stop it. We’ll figure it out. So, Y/N,” Sahara exchanged a look with Kodi before looking at you. “Are you ever going to tell us what happened to you and Joe?”

You grabbed your swimsuit out of your suitcase. “Nothing, we just don’t click anymore. Now, can we go the beach and get drunk?”

The three men had already gone out and they were in the water when you and the other women came out with your beach towels and your tumblers full of drinks.

As you started laying your towel down, you noticed Joe was staring at you.

“Can I help you, Mazzello?” You called out to him.

The rest of the day was relaxing, but that night, you were all going to go out to dinner. You put on the dress that you had packed. It was tight and hugged your curves the way that you loved. You smiled to yourself as you finished your makeup in the mirror.

“Y/N,” there was a knock at the door and then it opened to reveal Joe, in a button down and khaki shorts. “Whoa.”

“What?” You looked down at yourself to make sure that your dress hadn’t bunched up or anything.

“Nothing, you just,” Joe cleared his throat. “You just look nice is all.”

You narrowed your eyes, thinking that maybe he was messing with you. “As opposed to how I normally look?”

Joe’s eyes widened comically before he back tracked. “No! No that’s not what I meant. You always…I…” Joe breathed deeply through his nose.

“Whatever, let’s just go, alright?” You pushed past him and into the living room where the rest of your friends were waiting.

Dinner was fine, nothing extreme happened, but you kept catching Joe’s eye. He would give you shy little smile and then you’d look away. But that damn little smile gave you little butterflies in your stomach. You were a little annoyed with yourself. Yes, your crush on him never actually went away. And sure he was cute. And when you forgot about him messing with you all of freshman year, you could admire how funny and nice and sweet he was. He…

“Y/N?” Kodi waved a hand in front of your face.

“Hm?” You blinked at her.

“I asked if you were ready to go.”

“Oh! Yeah, sure.”

The six of you walked back to house.

“So, where is Joe going to sleep?” Dylan asked after another hour or so of everybody drinking in the living room.

“I mean, Y/N is kinda the only one that has room,” Sahara said sheepishly.

You frowned. “I am?”

“Yeah, Marcus and Dylan only have 2 single beds, me and Sahara are sharing the other double.”

“It’s fine, you guys, I can sleep on the couch,” Joe offered.

Everybody looked at you, silently asking if you were actually going to make him sleep on the couch. You hated yourself for what you were about to offer.

“No, Joe, you…shouldn’t have to sleep on the couch,” you grumbled. “We can share the bed.”

“Y/N, you don’t have have to do that. Seriously, I’m fine with…”

“No, it’s fine just…give me a minute to get ready for bed,” you stood up and walked up the stairs to get ready to sleep. That’s all that was going to happen. Sleep.

You were in bed, scrolling through your phone fifteen minutes later when Joe walked in with his bag. He was wearing a plain blue t-shirt and a pair of boxers. You swallowed. It all seemed so…domestic. And you hated that you still wanted that with him.

“Hey, I uh…just wanted to thank you, again.”

“Not a big deal.”

Joe yawned. He then got into bed on the other side of the bed than you. “We can make a wall of pillows or something.”

“It’s fine, let’s just get some sleep,” you told him as you watched him plug his phone in. Then you turned the light off, ready to pretend that you weren’t (still) attracted to the guy you were in bed with.

“Good night, Y/N.”

“Night, Joe.”

You listened as Joe’s breathing evened out and it didn’t take long for you to fall asleep after that.

The next morning, your alarm went off. You turned it off and you woke up warm and happy. You hummed and moved closer to the source of warmth. You felt the arms around your waist tighten.

“Good morning to to you too, sweetheart,” you heard in you ear. His voice was husky with sleep.

You giggled. And then you realized who that was. You rolled over and looked at Joe. His eyes were still closed and the sun was peeking through a small gap in the window curtains, hitting his hair so it was a copper color. It was beautiful. God, why did have to sleep with Shari? You could’ve been waking up to this for years. Who knows if you’d still be together or not, but damn your time together probably would’ve been great.

“Are you staring at me?”

“I usually don’t wake up with movie stars in my bed, so I’m enjoying it while I can.”

Joe laughed and opened his eyes. You watched him blink a couple time before his eyes adjusted. Once they did, he lifted on corner of his mouth. “Morning.”

“Morning. Want to tell me why you’ve got your arms around me?”

“Want to tell me why you haven’t moved from out of my arms since you’ve been awake for like ten minutes?”

You tired to come up with a response, but nothing came. “Touche,” you said, but still made no effort to move.

“So, are you going to tell me why you stopped liking me the summer after freshman year or am I supposed to guess?”

“I didn’t stop liking you. You just…hurt me.” You decided to be honest since Joe was asking you point blank. You figured it was time for the two of you to talk about it since it was just the two of you.

“I did?” The look on Joe’s face was hurt, like he really didn’t know what you meant. “What did I do?”

“You slept with Shari.”

Joe’s brow furrowed. “Who?”

You rolled your eyes. He didn’t even remember sleeping with her? “Shari? My roommate freshman year?”

Joe frowned and shook his head, still not understanding what you were saying.

“Come on, Joe. Shari? She looked like she got choked out the morning after you slept with her.”

“Whoa! I never slept with your roommate.”

“Yes you did. We were all at Peter’s party and you left to get us refills and…”

“I came back and you were gone.”

“I went to the bathroom! I tried to find you for like twenty minutes. Then I saw Kodi, and she was drunk, so I took her back to her room.”

“I went back to my room after I couldn’t find you, I swear.”

You shook your head with a bitter chuckle. Why was he lying about it?

“Joe, it’s fine, I mean, I thought that we’d kinda had something over the semester but shit happens and…”

“Y/N,” Joe squeezed your hip. “I thought that we had something, too. And then, by the time I got the courage to ask you out, you…started acting weird. Like you didn’t want to be around me anymore. I thought that I had done something.”

“You did! You slept with Shari!”

“But I didn’t!”

“Yes you did! I spent the night with Kodi and when I went back to my room the next morning, Shari had hickies ALL over her neck and when I asked her she said it was ‘Joe from her film class’,” you used air quotes. “You guys had ‘American History in Film’ together.”

Joe stared at you for a long moment, his face screwed up in confusion. “I honestly don’t…” then you could see the realization hit Joe like a truck.

But it wasn’t the realization that you thought.

“There were two Joes in that film class.”

You blinked at him a couple times. “What?”

“There were two Joes! There was me and there was another guy named Joe that eyed Shari all the time!”

“I…you…what?” You repeated.

Joe watched you and then started laughing. Full on laughing. “So this whole time you’ve been mad at me because another guy got laid?”

Now you felt like an idiot. You’d been holding onto this stupid grudge for years and it was for nothing?!

“Well, I…I thought that…” you mumbled, trailing off because you couldn’t really think of what to say. You felt Joe was still laughing at you, but you rested your forehead on his chest so that you didn’t have to look at him.

“I’m so sorry,” you told him. “I can’t believe I was so bitter about something that didn’t even happen. And I didn’t even ask you! God, I’m sorry!”

Joe was still chuckling to himself and he slid one hand up and rubbed your back.

“So, if I’d asked you back then on a date, would you have said yes?”

You bit the inside of your cheek to keep from beaming. Then you looked up at him.

“Yeah, I would have.”

Joe’s face lit up and you decided that you really like that look on him. “What if I asked you for a kiss?”

“Now or then?”

Joe glanced down to your lips and then back up to your eyes. “Now.”

“I’d say yes,” you breathed out. You responded without even thinking about it.

Joe put his hand on your cheek and rubbed under your eye for a moment before he leaned in and your lips met.

You closed your eyes as a heat spread through you that you hadn’t felt for a while. Joe’s lips slid against yours and you wrapped your fingers in his hair, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss.

Joe groaned and then licked his way into your mouth. The two of you moving against each other made the bed squeak a couple times.  

You pulled a way for a moment to catch your breath. You kept your eyes closed, but still smiled.

“We should’ve done that a long time ago.”

“I think we’ve got some lost time to make up for,” Joe lifted your chin and you opened your eyes to look at him. “But only if you’re up for it.”

“THESE WALLS ARE REALLY THIN YOU GUYS!” Sahara’s voice came through the wall.

You looked at each other with wide eyes before Joe snorted and the two of you started giggling to each other.

“Maybe once we get home, before Mr. Hollywood needs to get back to work.”

“I’m going to hold you to that,” Joe pecked your lips one more time. “But until then, can I see you that two piece again?” He waggled his eyes brows.

You scoffed and pushed his chest. “Don’t press your luck, Mazzello.”

Joe grabbed your hand and brought it up to his lips. “I wouldn’t dream of it. Now that I’ve got you, I won’t be letting go anytime soon.”

You liked the sound of that.

[saikostories]

Nanbaka - The Peculiar Guard pt1

Nanba Prison…

Ever heard of it?

It’s one of the most classified, if not the only, secretive prison in the world. It is the hardest prison that anybody in the world could break out of. It is built on an isolated island, floating on sea.

No one can get in or out of it.

Equipped with the latest technology and guards recruited around the world give it Japan’s largest, and the world’s highest-level, security network. Even the famous Alcatraz Island is full of holes and opportunities to escape when compared to this place.

The full truth of this place will never be revealed to the world. That is because this is Nanba Prison. No one has ever escaped successfully from this prison.

Except one…

The Warden of Nanba Prison is known as Momoko Hyakushiki. She is in charge of it all. The main tower, you could say. And, being a Warden of Nanba Prison, she usually handles large piles of paperwork daily. Those papers vary from inmates, to paychecks, to ministrations in the prison, and guards. At this moment, she was going through papers of guard requests.

There is technically an academy for training to get into the Nanba Prison as a guard, but sometimes the warden herself will gain administrations or requests from people. Going through each paper, one caught her eye.

“Hm…” She picked it up and eyed the paper. ‘I recognize this name…’

Name: Theodora Nicci

Sex: Female

Age: 20

Ethnicity: Italian

Nationality: American

Height: 177 cm (5'10")

Weight: 65 kg (156 lbs)

Blood Type: AB negative

Background:

Has a family of both parents and three younger siblings. Lives in America. Has a criminal record of multiple misdemeanors; vandalism, resisting arrest, petty theft, and Grievous Bodily Harm. She began at age 10, admitting to knowing what she was doing and “simply not caring for the consequences.” She has done her multiple years in different prisons, but has escaped a few because she couldn’t stand their health treatments, or because she got “bad vibes” from them. She was sent to Nanba Prison at age 12, but has been passed through multiple buildings and wardens from her supposed wide “variety” of talents.

Health History:

Has been diagnosed with Hereditary Sensory and Autonomic Neuropathy (HSAN). States that she cannot feel or sense things like the normal human can. She has the inability to sense pain unless it’s severe, like slicing her hand open, all the way through the muscle. Even with this handicap, she she has strong senses of sight, taste, and hearing. She tends to be unaware of injuries on herself, but is usually sharp at catching them.

Request:

“I wish to be apart of the jail guards in Nanba Prison. Finding jobs are hard and sustaining a house, much less an apartment, is practically impossible. From being in Nanba, I have found a way to clean up my act, and have sworn to myself and others to make a new beginning for myself. I know that I can be of service to this prison. If I am given the chance, that is. All I ask for is to be a guard. I am willing to go through the academy if I must. All that I ask for is a chance to prove my worth. ~ T.N

The blue haired warden gazed through the paper again. Placing it down, the woman stood from her desk and began opening files until she found the one she wanted. Once found, she went back to her desk to sit down while reading the inside of the envelope. She compared both files before placing them down. She put her finger against her lip as she thought about this file.

"How strange…” Muttered the Warden.

Knock knock. A knock could be heard from the door. Snapped out of thought, the woman raised her head up and gazed at the door.

“Come in.” She instructed.

Opening the door and peeking their head in was none other than Building 5’s Supervisor, Samon Gokuu. He stepped into the room and greeted the Warden with respect. The last thing he wished to do was anger her, especially so early in the morning…

“Hello, ma'am. I came back here with those papers of the new inmates you wanted.” Said Samon.

“Bring them here, then.” Momoko said with her hand raised out for the papers.

Samon quickly walked to her desk and handed her the papers. She took them carefully and gazed through a few while Samon talked.

“Each new inmate in alphabetical order, just like you asked for, ma'am.” He said. “I made sure that each one was accounted for as well.”

“Good.” Momoko looked away from the papers and to Samon. “May I ask you a question, Samon?”

“O-of course, ma'am!” Samon nervously replied, trying to act calm.

“Tell me what you recall from this past inmate.” Said Momoko as she twisted the file on her desk so it faced Samon. “Inmate No. 7, Theodora Nicci.”

“Ooh, her. I had almost forgotten about her…” Muttered Samon as he glared at the file. “Everyone, including her past prisons, thought she was really a he. She was taller than the average woman and stronger than most men. She got away with being a male for a long time. That is, until she came to Nanba.”

“She became our very first female inmate, correct?” Asked the warden.

“Yes, but nobody but us knew of her true gender.” Samon said before gazing back to the Warden. “She… wasn’t always the calmest person at times… Got into fights pretty easily and lost her temper a lot… but nonetheless, she did a damn good job at keeping who she was hidden. She continuously hopped from building to building until she was finally placed into Building 5. Her ability to watch someone and copy them is unique in itself, but she couldn’t master it completely. If anything she just found her own in making it look professional when in reality she was pulling at straws. But her acting saved herself plenty of times. Trained with me pretty much all the time since it took her mind of things and she thought it was fun. Like to think it was a successful rehabilitation.”

"Is there anything else about her?” Asked the warden. “Did she have any grudges with any of the inmates?”

“Actually, no. Though I can’t say she liked everyone. There were some that annoyed the crap out of her.” Samon answered as he thought carefully. “She actually got along with many people. Once placed in 5, she kept to herself and fights stopped. She respected us guards and in turn earned respect from her fellow inmates. It was pretty weird, how she could make almost anybody her ally by just talking to them.”

"I see…” Muttered the warden as she gazed at the picture in the file.

“If I can ask, why did you ask me about her?” Samon questioned his superior. “She’s been gone for at least 2 or 3 years by now. Don’t tell me she’s being brought back here…”

The warden’s mouth twitched upwards at Samon’s concern. She gazed up at him as a smirk graced her lips.

“Not quite the way you would imagine it…” She replied. She then closed the request paper and handed it to Samon. “Please give this to the Supervisor of Building 4, Kenshirou. Tell him that I ask for this request to be given, and to bring the person here to my office immediately.”

“Uh, alright.” Samon took the file from her hands. “I’ll head over there right away.”

“Thank you. That will be all.” Replied the Warden before turning around in her chair.

Samon eyed her for a moment, wondering if she would ask him anything else. When a response wasn’t given, he turned and walked out of her office. Once he was out, he was very curious about why the sudden mention of one of his past inmates. When the door closed behind him, he took a peek at the request file. As soon as he saw the picture he couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.

“NO WAAAAY!”

***

Theodora Nicci.

The female warden gazed at her desk in deep thought. Ever since the request paper she was given, she couldn’t help but think about the person. Momoko remembered this prisoner well because of the strange occurrences that happened with her.

’…Why would a request come from you of all people…?’

Knock knock.

“Come in.” Instructed the warden as she lifted her head up.

The doors opened to reveal the intruders. The Supervisor of Building 4, Kenshirou Yozukura, was standing there with his hand firmly placed on the person in front of him.

“Excuse the intrusion, ma'am. I retrieved the person you asked for.” Kenshirou said.

Momoko gazed at the person standing in front of Kenshirou. They looked very uncomfortable and never took their eyes off of his hand.

“…Could you… ease up on the grip…?” They asked softly.

“No.” Instantly stated Kenshirou as he gazed down at them harshly.

“Good to know you’re the same as always…” Mumbled the civilian.

The Warden couldn’t help but examine the person she asked be brought in. Standing under Kenshirou’s firm grip on their shoulder was a female. She wasn’t that short compared to him. I’m fact she was almost just as tall. Her skin seemed pale. She wore a white shirt that had the sleeves hang just past her wrists. She wore black skinny jeans that were tucked in to what seemed like black riding boots.

Compared to how she used to look, she seemed a lot more different. If she had to pick her in a crowd, then she would hardly recognise her. Her cheekbones stood out more, as if she had lost weight on her face. Her silver hair was definitely shorter than last time, and more boy-ish too as it stopped just after her ears. Her ocean blue eyes were looking as calm as they always do. She was a lot thinner than before too… yet the way she stood, anybody could tell she was strong. But Momoko frowned when she noticed that her hands were cuffed in front of her, making her look like an inmate. But, with a record like hers, it was to be expected.

“She isn’t an inmate anymore, Kenshirou. The least you can do is release her shoulder.” Momoko said, sharply eyeing the man.

Without argument, he took his hand off of the woman’s shoulder. She seemed to relax as her eyes now gazed at the Warden. Momoko gestured for her to come forwards.

“Please come closer.” Momoko asked her.

With her head slightly down, the woman walked over so she stood in front of Momoko’s desk. Kenshirou, who kept his eye sharp on the woman’s back, eyed her carefully in case she tries something. Momoko held a slight smirk as she recalled the woman’s familiar face.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve seen your face.” Spoke the warden. “You haven’t been causing any problems, have you?”

“I can’t necessarily answer that…” Mumbled the woman.

The warden chuckled slightly, knowing quite well of what the answer is. Her eyes examined her again and stopped at her hands. The skin looked rough and had her white sleeves had traces of dirt. “…Where did all that dirt get on you?”

“Oh, that…” The woman gazed down on the ground, wondering if she was leaving a mess. “I’ve been working on a local farm. Helping with all the heavy duty appliances and all. If it pays, it pays, I guess…”

“I see…” The warden’s eyes stuck to her hands. “Did you get those scars from the farm as well?”

The woman looked down and rolled her sleeves up slowly. Scars littered her skin. She frowned slightly and gazed intently at her hands and arms.

“…Maybe.” She replied with a shrug. “Some of them came from fights, others from mishaps. I probably caused a few of them by accident…”

“I see…” Muttered the warden before looking towards her face. “It’s been awhile since you’ve seen Nanba Prison, correct?”

“Not really…” Replied the woman as she gazed around the office. “I mean, from when I was around, things have definitely changed. I’ve noticed you created a few new centers as well…”

“Nanba Prison is always improving, after all.” Replied the warden.

“When isn’t it?” Said the woman as her eyes came back to the warden.

Momoko’s lip twitched in amusement. “I see your emotionless sarcasm still remains.”

“I…” The woman flinched, probably not expecting to hear that. “…didn’t mean anything behind it, ma'am…”

“I know you didn’t.” Momoko said. She put her arms on her desk before placing her lips against her entwined fingers. “Now, let’s get down to business… You sent in a job request to work here in Nanba Prison. Specifically, to be a guard… Why’s that?”

“Nanba Prison is honestly a lot nicer than the outside.” Replied the woman without hesitation. “The food is nice, making friends isn’t that hard, the place is super clean compared to other prisons, and comparing my pay to here, this place is like a sanctuary. With the jobs I have now, I’m barely making enough to sustain a roof over my head, much less covering for my health insurance and having left over money for food. Nobody in a business industry wants some woman with a criminal record, especially when she has a genetic disorder…”

“Then why do you believe that we would take you in?” Sharply spoke Kenshirou. “You were our prisoner, after all. Why come back?”

“Because…” She turned and looked him in the eye. “This place is full of a variety of strange and unique individuals. Why pass down an opportunity of working in a place full of misfits when you’re a misfit yourself…?”

“Why you…” Kenshirou growled at her before Momoko gave him a sharp glare.

“She means no harm, Kenshirou. There’s no need to be on the offensive.” Said Momoko.

“…Yes, ma'am.” He muttered and stepped back, showing he was backing down.

“Now, why specifically a guard?” Asked Momoko as she looked back to the woman. “Why would you want that instead of an easier and safer job? Like working at the mall or even the theater?”

“Because… I know I can be of use as a guard.” Replied the woman. “As a guard, I can gain the trust of the inmates easier. By doing that, I can gain information other guards usually can’t. Plus, when it comes to stopping fights and taking down runners, I’m one of your best options. Even as an inmate here, I still did all those necessities for you guys, so…”

“You believe you can do it again…?” Finished Momoko.

The woman gave a curt now. Momoko held her gaze for a while, seeing a determined expression in her eyes. It was clear that this woman wants nothing more than to help. Momoko couldn’t help but smirk at her.

“You honestly haven’t changed a bit, huh?” Asked the warden.

The woman gazed to the side, almost in an embarrassed manner. “I… wouldn’t exactly say that.”

“Let me ask you this, Theodora.” Momoko spoke sternly, grabbing the woman’s attention. “From your time here in Nanba Prison we had to specifically be careful of your identity of being a woman. Even though no one but us faculty found out about your gender, I can’t accept you. You are a female after all, and with a criminal record. Yes, you have helped in multiple cases with befriending the inmates and handing us the intel, and you have stopped multiple fights, but I still can’t accept you…”

The woman tilted her head down, gazing at the ground. A mix of emotions flooded her eyes as her face still remained calm.

“But…”

Hearing Momoko drag out the word, the woman picked her head up and gazed at the warden in curiousity.

“…The only thing stopping you is your gender.” Said the guard as her lip twitched upwards. “But, you know how to manage with that well.”

“So, does that mean…?” The woman’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You can’t be serious…?!” Exclaimed Kenshirou.

“You can be a guard of Nanba Prison, as long as you remain male.” Stated Momoko as she smirked. “…Of course, with you being a former inmate, you have your own restrictions as well. You aren’t an inmate here, but you aren’t exactly a free citizen guarding the place. Do you understand where I’m getting at…?”

“Yes, ma'am…!” Nodded Theodora.

Momoko kept her smirk as her eyes narrowed at her. “Welcome back to Nanba Prison, No. 7. I hope you get along with everyone…”

***

“To think you of all people would come back…”

“And as a guard, too…”

“You look so different!”

“I hardly recognised you…”

“This is gonna be good!”

The Supervisors of all buildings were talking with each other in the meeting room, gazing at the person before them. They couldn’t help but feel uneasy with the Warden’s sudden decision. But nobody would question her decision, especially when she was sitting right before them.

Standing before multiple supervisors was Theodora. She had cleaned herself up and put on the given uniform of the Nanba Guards. She didn’t have to do much. Since working on the farm, she had built up enough muscle, yet she was as skinny as a rake. Her robust chest from three years ago had gone and instead had just a much smaller chest. Once every button was in place, she then placed the black officer hat over her hair, securing it carefully on her head. Since her hair was so short, she didn’t need to hide it. Gazing in the mirror, she looked anything but female.

She looked like an ordinary, American man.

“Whoa, she changed so quickly too, I’m impressed.”

“Wait, that’s a 'she’?!”

“Weren’t you listening?”

“My, my~” Sang the Supervisor of Building 3, Kiji Mitsuba. “I’m impressed. She didn’t even have to use cosmetics to look manly. But, she still has that girlish look to her. But, she does make for a handsome fellow!”

“Hi, Kiji.” Greeted the girl in a casual but monotone manner.

“That’s Mitsuba to you.” He quickly said, his eye twitching slightly.

“Oh, right…” She mumbled to herself in thought. “A lot of you guys are Japanese, and this prison is Japanese themed, so I have to use everyone’s last name from now on… Very different from America…”

“Ah, who cares about that.” Samon spoke up, waving his hand as if to shoo the thought away. “He knows all the guard routines anyways, so he’s not exactly a newbie at this.”

“But, isn’t polite to respect someone’s wishes?” Theodora turned to him and asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Eh… I forgot about that polite side of you…” Samon muttered, recalling his past encounters with her. “Just, don’t do everything someone asks you to do, alright? You’re not an inmate anymore, you’re a guard. Remember that.”

“Okay…” She nodded to him in understanding.

“You’re never going to fool anyone if you keep talking like that.” Kenshirou intervene, grabbing their attention. “If you speak so softly and in that high of a pitch then you might as well be saying goodbye to your job.”

“Always so strict…” Murmured Theodora as she deepened her voice slightly. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t underestimate my acting abilities, Kenshirou. I was able to fool your eyes and ears, or have you forgotten…?”

“That’s Yozakura to you,” growled the man.

“Sorry…” She instantly mumbled, dropping her act and apologizing.

“Don’t apologize!” Samon exclaimed at her. “You don’t always have to apologize for something you did, Nicci! Don’t let everyone step on you so much!”

“Okay…” She mumbled and nodded to him.

Samon could only sigh and put his hand on his forehead. 'She really hasn’t changed…’

“That’s right,” Mumbled Kiji as he looked at Samon. “After her multiple Cell Hopping from building to building, she was originally placed under your building, correct? So you know her better than any of us here.”

“Yeah, so where are you getting at here?” Samon asked.

“She, or shall I say 'he’, is a new guards after all.” Kiji smiled at him. “He should be placed under your care, shouldn’t he?”

“No.” Quickly spoke the Warden.

Everyone stiffened and looked towards her. She was so quiet the entire time they accidentally forgotten she was still in the room. Silenced, Momoko spoke up again.

“These are the guidelines you will be instructed under, Theodora.” Momoko said sternly. “Because of your past record, you will not be authorized into certain places. You will stay in one building unless given permission from your building Supervisor, understood?”

Theodora nodded.

“This is the male ward, so you have to be careful.” Momoko instructed her. “I could send you to the Nanba Female Prison, but from your past complaints, you just wouldn’t 'fit in’, correct?”

Theodora nodded again.

“We can’t have you get caught…” Muttered Momoko. “If somehow an inmate does find out, then we might just have to let you go. You know very well of how dangerous this prison is. Once a month, you will report to my office and give me a report on how you’re doing. And don’t make up any lies. I’ll be talking with your Supervisor as well for a behavior check. Step out of line in any way and I won’t hesitate taking your job away and kicking you right back into those cells. Your pay will be just like anybody else’s, but I will be giving it to you by hand.”

“My, my! That’s a lot of guidelines for a newbie!” Exclaimed the prison’s broadcaster, Mitsuru Hitokoe. He frantically patted her shoulder. “Shouldn’t you be a little bit easier on 'im? He just got here, after all! Plus, look at this face!” He grabbed Theodora’s head and began smushing her cheeks. “Ain’t she adorable, whether it be boy or girl!?”

“Hey, stop messing with that handsome face of his!” Kiji yelled and kicked Mitsuru away from the girl, only to hug her in a protective manner. “You might just ruin his adorable face with your disgusting hands!”

Theodora whined softly, not enjoying the tight space in Kiji’s arms. She may not feel many things, but she definitely didn’t enjoy the sensation of being restricted. Momoko slammed her hand on the table, silencing everyone quickly. She eyed Kiji, signalling him to step away from Theodora. Frightened, he complied and stepped a good few feet away from her.

“She isn’t someone we can just shrug and take for granted.” Momoko said sternly. “There’s a reason for why she was directly placed into Building 5, or have you all forgotten that? She may have stopped her criminal doings, but she still has that record. She is to be watched, not adored like a doll. Theodora will work as a guard, but only with this restraint on…”

Momoko lifted something from under the table. She firmly placed the box on top of it, looking straight at Theodora. She then pushed the box, causing it to slide across the table top, right towards the girl. She grabbed it as soon as it came to her, not wanting for it to fall off. She opened the box and picked the item up, trying to understand what it was.

“Is that one of those weird ninja movie masks…?” Samon questioned.

“It’s a human muzzle.” Momoko answered, surprising the group. “This mask is a sort of… restriction. It will hide your lower face well, concealing you feminine features. Not only that, but it will react if you try to yank it off. The parts that wrap around your ears will dig themselves through your ears if you try pulling it off. If you try punching, scratching, or ripping of the mask without properly taking it off, it will cause you harm.”

“Isn’t that a bit brutal?!” Asked Mitsuru.

“She can handle it.” Momoko said. “If not, then she can just give up her job…”

“You purposely planned this, huh…?” Theodora questioned her, gazing up from the mask. “You want to make sure I’ll be taking my job seriously, right? So you loaded a bunch of guidelines and gave me multiple restrictions to see if I can really handle this job…”

“Perceptive as always…” Momoko smirked.

“But wouldn’t that be dangerous?” Questioned Kiji. “What if a prisoner were to act out and punch her mask? It would cause her double the pain. Is it truly necessary?”

“I-I’ve got to agree on this!” Samon spoke up himself. “I understand where you’re coming from, ma'am, but isn’t that a bit too cruel for him?”

“It’s alright…” Muttered Theodora. She placed the mask on and wrapped the hooks around her ears, hearing a clicking sound to signal it’s in place. She lifted her head up towards the Warden.

Being muffled, she still spoke clearly through the mask.“…What else is there?”

Everyone couldn’t help but stare at her. She was very much serious about this job. Samon couldn’t help but sigh again and rub his head. Just her being there was giving him a headache…

“Is there anything we should know about that isn’t on your record?” Asked the Warden.

“…I don’t believe so.” Theodora answered, putting to where her lips are and tilted her head. “Besides the HSAN, I’m just a normal human being…”

“Bullcrap!” Samon instantly shouted, clearly surprising Theodora as her eyes widen. “Don’t tell me you lost that ability because I know you didn’t! You’re still freakishly strong, aren’t you?! No wonder you worked the heavy lifting on that farm you were working at before!”

“Oh, yeah… that…” Muttered Theodora as she had a deadpan expression. “I thought that would be in the files, though…”

“Do you know how hard it is to write down your freakish strength on paper?!” Samon stomped his foot on the ground. “Don’t even get me started on how you almost destroyed one of your buildings because of two inmates fighting!”

“I thought we agreed to never mention that again.” Theodora said quickly, sweat beginning to form on her neck.

“Like hell I wouldn’t!” Samon said, pointing his finger at her. “I know you better than anybody here, so if I get any complaints from the Supervisors then I’m going to have to punish you myself, got it?!”

She gave him a harsh look, annoyed that he was now pressuring her as well. Samon wasn’t affected by it since he knew she was just annoyed. The warden gave out a sigh, causing everyone to look at her.

“You can’t go by your full name.” Momoko stated, getting everyone back on track. “For now on, you’re Theo Nicci. You will remain under this Supervisor unless I say so. Please get along with them him…”

The room became silent. Everyone kept shifting glances, wondering who will get the extra work of a new guard. Theodora just remained stoic, wondering who she will be put with. 'I hope it’s Samon… Over half of them hate me, and the others just want me for looks and what I’m capable of… Only Samon really knows me…’

“Your Supervisor is… Hajime Sugoroku.”

“Huh…?”

Everyone’s head turned towards the man named Hajime Sugoroku. Theodora knew who he was since Samon always ranted and raved about him before. She recalled seeing him in action before. It actually made her nervous. She tried to conceal her shock as she gazed at the older man. He looked at the Warden in surprise.

“Wait, why me?” He asked her.

“Because, Theo has a thing for troublemakers…” Replied the Warden. “I’m sure he’ll be of great use for you. It’s only been two years. I have faith that you can handle him on your own.”

Hajime could only shift his attention onto Theodora as she stood there. She held his gaze, neither backing down for a solid minute. Theodora backed down, gazing at the table, and shifting the hat’s visor to hopefully hide her eyes. Hajime could only sigh.

This was going to be rather troubling…

***

How annoying…’

Hajime Sugoroku, Superviser of Building 13, could only sigh in annoyance. He glanced at the woman, now man, standing beside him. They were on the Nanba Loop Line, trying to get back to building 13. After being dismissed by the Warden, Theodora, or Theo, had been following him like a shadow. It honestly creeped him out from how silent he was. He really was a shadow…

'The guy doesn’t talk at all… You would think she would at least say something, or ask a question…’

It took an hour before getting off of the transportation. The walked through the building, passing a few cells, and traveling through the long hallways. Theodora kept gazing around, amazed with how much the place had actually changed.

“…Got any questions?” Hajime asked her.

“…Not really.” She said. “But… Do you know anything else about this muzzle? The Warden said no harm will come to me if this thing isn’t harmed…”

“Well, you won’t be able to take it off yourself.” Hajime said. “The thing’s thumb printed, so only your Superiors can take them off. That would be me…”

“Wow, I’m impressed.” She said and gently touched the mask. “This place is always advancing… It’s actually startling…”

“I know I’m not supposed to, but…” Hajime looked over his shoulder and at her. “When night time comes, and when you leave the island, I’ll take that mask off of you. It’s bad enough they’re pressuring you because of your past record, but that mask? I can’t have my newbie unable to fight simply because of pain.”

Theodora smiled at him, not like he could see, but she was pleased. “Thank you. But, don’t worry. Pain will be the last thing to stop me from fighting…”

“Uh, right, that HS… whatever you have.” Muttered Hajime. “What exactly does that do? Do you need prescriptions and stuff?”

“No, not really.” She replied. “HSAN prevents me from feeling things. I can’t tell the difference from hot or cold unless it’s extreme. Pain is a thing I can hardly feel. In order for me to actually feel pain, I would would either have to be punched so hard my organs are crushed, or I would have to be stabbed.”

“That bad, eh?…” Hajime looked at her in surprise.

“Yeah, but, it’s not totally bad.” She shrugged casually. “If I could feel pain, I wouldn’t quite be able to have the abilities I have now… My hearing’s sharp, as well as my eyes, and I can taste poison if somebody tries anything. It’s neat…”

“What about smell?” Hajime asked.

“Actually, my sense of smell is quite terrible…” Theodora admitted. “I believe it’s because of my condition…”

“But yet you can taste and hear?” Hajime raised a brow at her.

“Well… My sense of taste is good, but not extremely great.” The woman tried explaining. “I’ve trained myself to recognize poison when I eat it. But, it’s still tough compared to other people. My hearing… It’s very possible that I may lose my hearing because of HSAN. So, I’ve trained myself so it’s sharp, so that hopefully it won’t completely disappear on me… That’s just how it works…”

“That is pretty bad.” Hajime nodded to her in sympathy. “…Will it affect your ability to run and fight if you must?”

“Not at all.” She said, her voice becoming light as if enjoyed. “Fighting is all that I’m good for. I remember being in one of these cells… Some guys tried escaping but I broke my door down and stopped them. I remembered you got angry with me and hit me, heh. You guys didn’t know about my identity then.”

“Yeah, I remember that…” Hajime sighed deeply. “You gave me a heart attack…”

“Sorry.” She said, her eyes showing amusement.

They kept advancing through the building. Once they got to the headquarters, or faculty office, Hajime opened the door and entered. Alloisia followed him, gazing around the room carefully. But her eyes stopped and landed on a blue haired boy that was sitting at a desk. He turned and greeted them with a smile.

“Oh, hello Supervisor! Was the meeting well?” He asked in a childish way.

“I guess you could say that…” Grumbled Hajime. He then jutted his finger at Theodora. “This is a new guard that’ll be working with us in the building. But they’re on heavy restrictions, so don’t allow them to access high status papers and files.”

“Oh, okay…” Muttered the boy as his smile fell. He stood up and put he hand out to her. “I’m Seitarou Tanabata. Nice to meet you.”

“Uh, you too.” Theodora said, her voice sounding very boyish, and shook his hand carefully. “Theo Nicci.

"Just let me know if you have any questions.” Seitarou said and smiled again. “I hope we get along.”

“…Yeah.” Theo nodded to him since she couldn’t show a smile.

They released hands and Seitarou turned to get back to work. Hajime had already taken a seat at his desk and began to light himself a cigarette. He puffed out a bit of smoke before pointing to a very unoccupied desk.

“This’ll be your desk.” He told her. “Take a seat and begin going through those stacks of paper. Divide them into three piles. One for guards, another for inmates, and the last one for garbage. You can do that much, right?”

“Understood.” Theo nodded his head.

He walked over and took a seat. He grabbed a packet of clipped paper, his eyes skimming and scanning the pages. As he did that, Seitarou couldn’t help but eye him. There was just something… unsettling about the newbie. He figured it was the mask, but it didn’t help him calm down. Seitarou went over to Hajime and decided to ask a few questions about the new guy.

“Excuse me, sir, but…” Seitarou grabbed his attention, trying not to grab the guy’s attention. “What’s with that mask on Theo’s face? It’s kind of… scary looking.”

“What? It’s just a black mask.” Hajime said, looking at Theo.

“Yeah, but… isn’t it a bit strange?” Seitarou asked.

“It was given to him by the warden.” Hajime stated. “That mask restricts him from doing things he’s not supposed to. He has a criminal record, but was allowed to become a guard anyways. He can’t take that mask off. If he even tries, the mask will activate and harm him. Only the Supervisors of Nanba can take it off.”

“S-seriously?!” Exclaimed Seitarou. “I-is he s-safe…?!”

“Of course he is.” Hajime said calmly. “He willingly asked for the job and proved himself to the Warden. He’s got a lot of pressure on him because of his criminal record, but he can be relied on.”

“O-oh… I see…” Seitarou relaxed.

Suddenly, a small beeping could be heard. Theo turned around, confused to what the noise was. Seitarou walked to his desk and picked up his phone and stopped the beeping.

“Sorry about that,” he apologized to them. “Looks like I have to do my rounds.”

“Actually…” Hajime placed his pencil down. “Seitarou, wait. Take Theo with you. Show him around the place and warn him about a few of the inmates. He needs to see the rest of the building, after all.”

“A-are you sure, sir?” Seitarou asked, nervous about being alone with a criminal.

“Yes I’m sure.” Hajime stated bluntly before looking at Theo, who was staring at him. “Theo, follow Seitarou around. You need to be shown around the place.”

“Alright…” Mumbled Theo as he stood from his seat.

“J-j-j-just f-f-follow me…!” Stuttered Seitarou as he stiffly walked out of the office.

'Is he okay…?’ Wondered Theodora.

Either way, he followed behind Seitarou. As he followed him through the building, he noticed how nervous and jumpy Seitarou was. He was literally shaking as he walked. Theo wondered if her was okay, concerned if he should call for Hajime. He easily caught up with Seitarou and placed his hand on his shoulder. Seitarou yelped and jumped away from him, clearly startles, as he was still shaking in his place. Theo was surprised by this and was confused for his fearful expression. Isn’t he a police officer?…

“U-uh, you okay, Seitarou…?” Theo asked him.

“U-u-um, y-y-yeah, I-I-I’m f-f-fine…!” Seitarou stuttered.

'He’s anything from fine.’ Theo deducted. He sighed softly at him. “Calm down. I don’t know why you’re so jumpy, but you should take a breather. None of the inmates are going to respect you if you show them fear. You should calm down before we continue on.’”

“N-no, that’s okay…” Seitarou said as he appeared to relax.

“Do some of the inmates make you nervous?” Theo asked.

“W-well, sorta, but that’s normal for me…” Seitarou admitted, not gazing at his eyes.

“Then why are you so nervous?” Theo asked with a raised brow.

“I-it’s just…” Seitarou fidgeting with his hands, not locking eyes with the new guard. “Y-you make me nervous… having a criminal record and all…”

Theo sighed softly. 'I knew it…’ Pushing away the sad little feeling in his chest, he lifted his hand up and gently patted Seitarous shoulder in a slow manner. Seitarou hesitantly looked up at him in confusion of the gesture.

“Don’t worry, I’m on your side.” Theo said softly as his eyes seemed to smile. “I’ve done my time and I’ve corrected the error of my ways. You might not trust me, and I understand why, but… please trust me enough to have your back. My goal is to be a guard, not an enemy. Please believe that…”

Seitarou stared at him for a moment. He smiled again and nodded. “Alright. I apologize if I caused any offense to you.”

“Not at all.” Theo lifted his hand and waved, as if to shoo the thought away. “I understand where you’re coming from…”

“Now, let’s go back to looking around the prison.” Seitarou said. “There’s still a lot for you to learn here. Just ask me if you have any questions, okay?”

Theo nodded to him.

Seitarou continued to lead the way around. Theo stayed behind him, just like he did with Hajime, and basically followed him like a shadow. His eyes kept looking at the cells, sometimes seeing the inmates. It made him recall his time here in Building 13 when he was a prisoner. 'It’s changed, but at the same time it hasn't…’

A loud sound of banged metal snapped Theo out of his thoughts. He also heard Seitarou yelp right after. Theo looked at him, startled from his scream, confused to why he screamed. He looked to his right to see four inmates at the bars, making scary faces, hissing and glaring at him. Already understanding the situation, Theo narrowed his eyes at the group.

“P-please… stay back…!” Seitarou said, his voice soft and full of fear.

The four inmates dropped their scary expressions and began snickering like a bunch of school girls. Theo crossed his arms, wondering why they had bones to pick with Seitarou.

“ 'Please… stay back!’ Haha!” Mocked one of the inmates.

“Five bucks he peed his pants!” Betted another.

“Layoff, would ya?” Theo spoke up, glaring at the bunch.

“Y-yeah!” Seitarou said as he tried to collect his confidence. “I don’t have to take this!”

In a blink of an eye, the tallest inmate hit the bars and began yelling at Seitarou in an attempt to scare him. Needless to say, the poor guard fell backwards in fear. Theo could only sigh, wondering how on earth he became a guard.

“Knock it off!” Theo turned his head and yelled at the four, his voice being loud and deep, despite his mask.

“Who the hell’re you?” Asked on of them, specifically the one with blond and pink hair.

“I’m on of the new guards here. Mind giving me your names?” Theo asked, eyeing each of them carefully.

“A newbie, eh?” Said the same inmate while smirking. “How about we play a round of poker and we can tell ya all you wanna kn—”

“No thanks.” Theo instantly shot down without hesitation.

“You didn’t even let me finish my sentence!” Yelled the inmate.

“I’ll just ask Hajime for you files when I get back to the room.” Theo said and gazed up at the plate above the cell door. “Cell 13, eh? I’ll make sure that it’s memorized…”

“What’re you even doing following that wimp?” Asked an inmate with black hair, pointing at Seitarou.

“You insult him one more time and I won’t hesitate to shut your mouth.” Theo threatened, not at all liking their attitudes.

“I-it’s fine, really!” Seitarou jumped his his feet and began to frantically wave his arms in front of Theo to distract him. “L-look, let’s just ignore them and continue on, okay? There’s still a lot for you to see…”

Theogazed over his head and locked eyes with each inmate. He gave them one last glare before asking Seitarou to lead the way. The blue haired male turned and briskly began walking in a very stiff manner. Theo, dropping his glare and watching Seitarou, could only sigh at his figure. He could only stuff his hands into his pockets and begin following him while in thought. 'He’s a complete scaredy cat… I wonder how long he’ll last in this Prison…’

“You need some confidence.” Theo stated as they were in a different hall than before.

“I know…” Seitarou muttered. “I can’t help it, though. Those four are the most troublesome inmates we have here in the building…”

“Why’s that…?” Theo asked, raising a brow at him.

“They try escaping whenever they can.” Explained the guard. “The big guy is No. 69, the short one is No. 25, the guy with the hat is No. 11, and then there’s No. 15. Each of those guys are known for escaping their cells and past prisons. It’s the very reason for why each of them are here. They’re nothing but trouble…”

“Each of them are known for escaping, huh…?” Mumbled Theo before speaking towards Seitarou. “So, have they tried escaping from their cells?”

“Plenty of times.” Admitted Seitarou. “They escape and try escaping the building constantly. But they’ve never been able to get past Supervisor Sugoroku. We never tell the Warden, though. If we did it would be our paychecks on the line if we did that. So, it’s best if you don’t either. Our Supervisor might punish you for it.”

'Sounds like Hajime…’ Sighed Theo. 'This might be bad… The warden threatened to strip me of my job if I lied to her. But, since Hajime will be asked the same, he would be lying as well. But still…’

“I’m sure you’ll do fine here.” Seitarou said, catching Theo off guard. “You seem to know what you’re doing. Sugoroku has a lot of confidence in you, so I believe I should as well. You faced against those four when they were mocking me, so I know you will do fine. Like you said, you just need confidence…”

Theo felt his eyes soften, feeling rather sympathetic towards Seitarou. He reached his hand out and gently wrapped his arm around his shoulders to hopefully cheer him up.

“Yeah, well…” Muttered Theo. “You’re still pretty cool, Seitarou. You’re technically my superior, and you’ve been around longer than me. Yet, even though you’re scared, you still stay and do your job. That’s an impressive right in itself. Don’t let those guys get to your head, alright? They’ve got nothing that you have. Just believe in yourself sometimes, alright…?”

“…Yeah, thanks.” Seitarou smiled up at him.

Theo smiled, not like he could see, but laughed lightly to hopefully cheer Seitarou up. They continued down the hall as the mood seemed to lift. 'All you need is to believe…’ Theo thought to himself while frowning. His fist tightened without Seitarou knowing. 'Believe… Yeah, right…’

***

Poke. Poke.

Poke. Poke. Poke.

'Huh…?’

Theo, who has been peacefully asleep, woke up to his forehead being poked. He opened his eyes to see Seitarou squatting down before him since Theo was sleeping on the couch. Theo grunted softly and sat up, now realizing that he passed out without taking any of his clothes off.

He placed his hands on his face to rub his eyes. But he noticed the absence of a certain object. He touched his lower face, only to realize the mask was gone. He doesn’t remember taking it off, so he wondered if Hajime did it when he was asleep?

“Hey, did you stay here all night?” Seitarou asked.

“I… guess I did. Sorry.” Apologized Theo. He glanced around the room. “Where’s uh… Hajime?”

“He called in sick.” Seitarou said.

“Sick?” Theo questioned in surprise. 'I hope he doesn’t have the mask… The Warden might screw me over if I’m seen without it…’

Looking back and forth, he spotted it right on the table in front of him. He grabbed the mask as Seitarou walked away and towards his desk. Carefully placing the strange yet cool material against his mouth, he carefully wrapped the hooks behind his ears, stopping when he heard the loud click. He sighed softly before look to Seitarou.

“So, if Hajime isn’t here, who’s taking his place?” Theo asked.

“Oh, that would be Yamato.” Answered Seitarou. “Do you know him?”

“Yamato…?” Theo questioned as he thought. “That… sorta sounds familiar…”

Suddenly the door was kicked open, startling both men. They looked towards the door to see a very tall man in it’s place. He stepped right into the room and began laughing. Both younger men sweatdropped at the very sight of the guard.

“Ha ha ha ha! My apologizes!” Bellowed the man in a friendly tone. “I tend to forget how strong I am once in awhile!”

“W-who…?” Theo could only stare at the man in shock.

“Yamato, this is our newest recruit, Theo.” Seitarou said and then looked at him. “Theo, this is Yamato. He’s our superior, and is temporarily replacing Hajime for today.”

“Greetings! It is a pleasure to meet you!” Exclaimed Yamoto and jutted his hand out to him, grinning widely.

“U-uh, yeah, you too…” Mumbled Theo.

He grabbed his hand, a bit overwhelmed by his enthusiastic energy so early in the morning. Yamoto roughly shook his hand up and down, causing Seitarou to fear he might rip Theo’s arm off.

“I’m glad we have a new pair of hands on deck!” Yamato exclaimed before finally releasing his hand. “Could you do me a favor?”

“U-uh, sure…” Theo muttered, staring at his hand. 'My hand feels weird…’

“Could you go around the first section of cells and wake everyone up, please? It is almost time for breakfast!” Yamoto exclaimed.

“…Okay.” Theo nodded.

“Here!” Yamoto grabbed a clipboard and jutted it out to him. “These are the names and cell numbers of each inmate! Please make sure they’re all accounted for!”

Theo nodded again, carefully taking the clipboard. 'I guess I have no choice now…’

Just as he heard Yamoto say something else towards Seitarou, Theo quickly escaped the office and stepped outside. He looked at the clipboard and sighed, feeling his breath bounce back at him thanks to the close contact of the mask.

Doing as Yamoto asked, Theo walked to each cell and made rollcall to each inmate. He made sure each one was accountable for before moving to the next cell. Most of the inmates didn’t seem to care about him, but a few cursed at him. Theo wondered if they were doing it because they knew Hajime wasn’t here. Not being affected by their crude language, he continued on. When he soon got to Cell 13, he couldn’t help but eye it carefully.

'These are the jerks who mocked Seitarou…’ He recalled as his eyes narrowed. 'I’m sure they won’t hesitate to try and irritate me. I have to remain calm, no matter what…’

Taking in a deep breath, he stepped towards the cell. Using his outer fist, he banged against the door to grab the inmate’s attention and, hopefully, wake a few stragglers.

“Rise and shine, boys.” Theo called through the bars. “Roll call time!”

He heard a few groans, but continued on.

“No. 69!” He called.

“Here…” Groaned the big guy with the mohawk.

“No. 25!”

“Hehehe…” Giggled the smallest one, who still appeared to be sleeping.

“Please wake him up. It is close to breakfast after all. No. 11!”

“I’m here!” Yawned the guy with a gigantic braid. “No need for shouting…!”

“No. 15!”

No response came. Theo raised his brow in alarm.

“No. 15!” He called again, this time using more aggression.

A soft groan came from inside as his head popped up into Theo’s sights. “Too loud… What’s your deal Haji—”

The inmate’s eyes shot open when he realized what guard was waking them up. The others, seeming to now realize this themselves, all gazed at her wearing the same expression of shock. Only No.15 snapped out of it quickly.

“Well well, looks like the newbie’s back.” He said and crossed his arms. “Is Hajime sending you out to do his dirty work?”

“First off, as a 'newbie’, it is required of me to do morning roll call every now and then.” Theo stated and he switched the papers. “Second off, Hajime is absent today. He’s sick.”

“Seriously…?” No.15 groaned and flopped back into bed.

“Aw, man. It’s no fun when Hajime’s not around…” Muttered No.11.

“Oh, don’t worry.” Theo said as he turned to the next cell. “We got a guy filling in for Hajime who’d be happy to pummel you guys if you do anything naughty.”

“And who might that be?” Asked No.69 who seemed to almost sneer at him.

“His name is Yamoto, or something…” Muttered Theo while simultaneously reading the paper in his hand. “He’s basically my higher up, but is ranked under Hajime. He’s in charge for today.”

“Oh god, not him!” Groaned No.11. “I swear if he makes us do morning training again I swear I will beat him myself! My arms can’t take his hardcore training!”

“…Training…?” Theo questioned, gazing at No.11.

“Yeah, he’s really serious when it comes to training.” Spoke No.25, who now looked awake.

“He makes us do one thousand push ups, then one thousand sit ups, and then he makes us run around the track until we hit one thousand km…” Grumbled No.69

Theo stiffened in shock as chills went up his spine. 'I recall him now… No wonder he was so familiar…’

“It’s terrible, am I right?!” Exclaimed No.11 who noticed Theo’s expression.

“Yeah… It sounds it…” Theo agreed, secretly knowing first hand of his harsh training. 'That man made me do fifty times the amount that he regularly does because he figured out my ability… Needless to say, he made me experience a new type of pain…’

“So, you gonna tell us your name or what?” Suddenly asked No.15.

“Huh…?” Theo looked at him in confusion since he snapped him out of thought.

“You said you were going to go into our files and figure out our names, right?” No.15 spoke again, looking almost annoyed. “You figure out our names. Mind giving us yours?”

Theo’s lips pressed together in a flatline. As he thought about answering, he sighed softly and got himself to relax.

“Theodore Nicci. But, you can call me Theo if you want…” Theo said, holding their gaze.

“Knee-sea?” No.15 tried pronouncing his lastname. “The hell is that from?”

“It’s Italian…” Theo stated.

“Sounds like a type of bread…” Muttered No.69.

“…Heh.” Theo smiled lightly in amusement. “Yeah. I actually get that a lot…”

“Wait, you’re Italian?” Exclaimed No.25 as he came up to the bars, grinning. “That’s pretty cool! I didn’t know the name Theo was Italian!”

“It’s not, actually.” Theo corrected him in clear amusement. “Theo is more or less an early British or Celtic name. But, Nicci is totally Italian. I’m actually American like my father while my mother is Italian.”

“Now that’s a pair of genetics!” Exclaimed No.11.

“Tell me about it,” Theo said and laughed lightly. “I basically know every Italian curse word thanks to them. Holidays are great. A gigantic Italian dinner while we drink until we’ve emptied the bars. But, that is until you start a bar fight. So many angry Irish guys, ugh…”

“That sounds awesome!” Exclaimed No.69.

“Sometimes it is…” Theo shrugged. “It humorous, actually. My dad gets drunk every holiday, and he’s gotten drunk so much, that all of the local police stations know his name to heart. Not the greatest way to get the Police to know your family, but it’s pretty hilarious sometimes.”

“So your dad’s a bit of a criminal while his son’s a cop?” No.11 questioned before letting out a laugh. “Now that’s hilarious!”

Theo nodded his head as he thought about it. “Not only that, but he was a cop himself, so it’s double the hilarity.”

“Seriously?” Asked No.15. “That's… pretty ironic.”

“Yeah, my siblings get a good kick out of it.” Theo smiled as he thought about his family. “We’re not the greatest family in the world, and we’re pretty big nutjobs, but we make it through just fine…” Theo then put on a poker face and hit his clipboard lightly. “Now, that’s enough talk about myself. I need to finish up rollcall. You four wait here and we’ll get out when breakfast is ready.”

“Okay!” Happily exclaimed No.25.

Theo turned and went to the next cells. He smirked to himself as he walked. 'Even though they aren’t exactly fond of me, I at least got them to enjoy a bit of my story. Slowly I’ll gain every ounce of their trust. Until then… I have to do my job.’

***

“Wow, he’s really making them go at it.”

“Yeah, he is…”

Theo shivered at the sight of Yamoto forcing the inmates to do an extraneous amount of exercising that’s practically inhuman. Seitarou and Theo was outside in the training area with them since they had to keep an eye on the other inmates. From what Theo understood, the four from cell 13 tried to escape but Yamoto caught them since he was literally in front of the door.

'At least it explains the bumps on their heads…’ Theo though as he watched them.

“Hey, Theo, are you okay?” Seitarou asked him. “Your face looks pretty pale, are you alright?”

“U-uh, yeah…” Theo nodded before glancing back at Yamoto. “Yamoto’s training looks pretty terrible… I wouldn’t want to be victim to that…”

“Yeah, I can agree with you there…” Seitarou nodded as he looked at the inmates. “But, those four deserve it for being naughty like usual. They should just stay in their cells…”

“Hm…” Theo was now staring at Seitarou. “Have you guys figured out how those guys continuously keep escaping?”

“Well, we know who, but we’re not quite sure how.” Admitted Seitarou. “No.15 has the ability to unlock any sort of lock possible. Shackles, chains—he can unlock them all. It’s impressive if he only used it other than breaking out…”

“Really…?” Asked Theo in surprised. “That’s impressive… I want to see hat for myself, but maybe another time. I’ve read his file and all, but I had no idea that could be a talent of all things…”

“Yeah, it really surprised us the day he first tried to escape.” Seitarou said. “Ever since then we’ve never really had a break with their jail escapes…”

“Have they ever tried releasing other inmates?” Theo asked him.

“No, never.” Seitarou shook his head. “But, they do sometimes escape into other cells to play with them or just be social. Supervisor Sugoroku always gets angry whenever they get out of their cells without permission…”

'Yeah, I figured as much…’ Thought Theo. “…Guess we should be more alert for today with them. But, with Yamoto’s exercises, I doubt they’ll have enough energy left to even try and run…”

“True.” Seitarou nodded in agreement.

'Those guys are real troublemakers, huh? What else is there to expect when it comes to Building 13…’

***

“Ow ow ow ow ow…!”

“My everything hurts…”

“Yamoto’s so cruel…!”

'I can literally empathize with them even with my HSAN…’

As soon as lunch came around Yamoto ended their exercising. Now it was Theo’s job to get these four to the cafeteria without any trouble. And through the entire time, they did nothing but complain. But Theo wasn’t annoyed, though. He honestly knew where they were coming from, and even he complained when he spent his time here.

“Yo, Theo,” called the familiar voice of No.11.

“Huh…?” He looked over his shoulder to him.

“Have you ever done training that extraneous before…?” The long haired male asked.

“Oh yeah, totally…” Theo nodded and paled, sweat dropping as he recalled the memory. “Yamoto is a very brutal, brutal man…”

“Wait, how would you know that?” Asked No.15. “You’ve only been here for a day, right? You make it sound like you been through it before.”

“That’s because I have.” Theo stated bluntly. 'The Warden said that they couldn’t know I was a woman. Never said anything about being a criminal…’

“Really? When did you do that?” Asked No.25.

“Well…” Theo looked over his shoulder as his eyes shined in mischief. “Let’s just say I’m not your average jail guard…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” No.15 asked, looking unimpressed by him.

“It means…” Theo looked in front of him. “I was a prisoner of Nanba Prison myself.”

“SAY WHAT?!” All of them exclaimed.

“Ha ha, funny joke, dude.” No.15 said, clearly doubting Theo’s claim.

“Yeah, that’s hilarious!” No.11 began laughing a fake laugh. “I mean, having their own prisoner become a guard? Isn’t that illegal, hehe…?”

“Why do you think this thing’s on me?” Theo turned his head towards them, gesturing to his mask. “This isn’t a regular mask. It’s 'special’…! Punishes me if I break any of the harsh guidelines given to me.”

“What you’d do to get placed in Nanba?” Asked No.69.

“Plenty of shit, to be honest.” Theo stated and shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ve stolen stuff, vandalized some stuff, fought the officers when being arrested, Seriously harmed a few people—there’s plenty of stuff I’ve done. But the main reason I got kicked into Nanba was that I broke out of jail…”

“How’d ya do it?” No.25 asked. “Did you pick the locks?”

“No…” Theo replied as he thought back to it. “After a day of being there, when the clock hit lunch, I knocked the guards out and stole their keys… But, I had to break the doors down because the surveillance cameras caught me, putting the security bars down to prevent my escape. I eventually made it out and ended up on the run…”

“But you got caught.” No.15 stated bluntly, causing Theo to nod.

“Yeah. Damn hounds got me, heh.” Theo let out an amused huff. “I was… In a really dark place back then. I was twelve then. Once I was recaptured, they put harsh restrains on me and sent me to Nanba. But… I was more trouble than I was worth…”

“What happened?” No.11 asked.

“Sorry, that’s for another time!” Theo turned to them, appearing to smile, as his emotionless tone became light hearted. “I can’t let the readers learn about me on the fifth chapter only! That’s poor writing. Gotta keep them wanting more, after all!”

“C'mon, man!” Whined No.11. “It was just getting gooood!”

“Yeah, well, we’re already at the cafeteria.” Theo stated as he went back to his usual monotone self. “You guys are still on a bit of a timer, right? Back when I was here they only allowed us an hour to eat before kicking us out.”

“Only an hour?!” Exclaimed No.69 in shock. “That’s horrible! It takes that long to just get our food!”

“Wait, they extended the times…?” Theo asked, looking surprised. “Wow, this place changed a lot…”

“I’ll say!” No.69 said and held his fingers up. “We’re only allowed a maximum of three hours if we wanted. But there’s so many inmates here that it’s more like one and a half.”

“Are you serious?” Theo’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wow… That’s a lot more than my time here. Wonder if the chief’s turned soft…”

“You’re a guard here yet you don’t know that much?” No.11 said, causing Theo to frown at him.

“I’m a guard with high restrictions. Plus, Seitarou trusts me a little bit, but he’s still pretty fearful of me.” Theo explained. “I would ask Hajime, but he’s sick still. And Yamoto's… eh… Yamoto. He’s not a bad guy, but he’s got way too much energy for me to handle…”

“My condolences.” No.11 put his hand on Theo’s shoulder as if he understood.

“Anyways,” No.15 walked by them, hands behind his head, as he looked bored still. “We only have so much time in the cafeteria. Let’s eat something, I’m starving…”

“Oh yeah, I think we’re having ramen today!” Excitedly exclaimed No.69 and quickly followed him in.

“Yay! Japanese ramen!” Cheered No.25 as he skipped on in.

“Hey, Rock, if I can beat you in a round of poker I get your bowl of ramen.” No.11 called and followed them in.

“Like hell I’d agree to that!” Yelled inmate No.69. “I’ll never bet my food on ramen day!”

’…What a strange bunch…’ Theo thought and watched them walk in.

Theo stepped into the cafeteria and stayed against the wall, watching the inmates carefully. The staff of officers was very minimum, which was very surprising. Before there used to be guards all over the walls, sometimes even walking in between the aisles to make sure no funny business was going on. Now there was only a maximum of four, and that included himself.

'What’s with this prison…?’ Theo asked himself. 'Giving more lunch hours, having fewer guards around—seriously, what the hell. Is Nanba becoming soft…?’

A loud bang caught his attention.

His head whirled around, startled out of his thoughts from the sound. Standing at one of the tables was a very, very, large man. He had slammed something down on the table before looking down at the inmates and nodded to them.

The man walked away, revealing he had placed a large bowl of icecream in front of one of the inmates. Even the inmate’s eyes were wide in shock. He then called out to the guy, who apparently looked like a chief, and thanked him for the desert.

'So that would explain why…’ Theo realized until he caught sight of the guy’s face. 'Hold up. Is that…?’

A smile took place on his face in realization. He quickly left his post and rushed towards the man who was multiple times his height and size. He stopped once he got into his view, standing in the man’s way. He gazed down at him, his looming form rather intimidating, as he looked almost pissed off. Theo took his hat off, revealing his short silver hair, and greeted the man.

“Sorry for stopping you when you probably have plenty of work on your hands.” Theo said to the man. “But I just had to see that familiar face of yours. Would the lastname Nicci ring any bells, Shiro…?”

The large man’s eyes widened, breaking his normal stoic expression. He lifted his hand up and patted Theo’s head, causing the guard to laugh.

“I look completely different to before don’t I?Man, I forgot how huge your hands are!” Theo exclaimed when he drew away. “Never thought I’d see you back here. Let me guess, you came here because of Old Man Chief, right?”

Shiro nodded his head, huffing in contentment.

“That’s awesome, man!” Theo said, sounding like an excited little kid. “I never thought a fellow prisoner would come back here. Guess I was wrong. If it isn’t obvious, I’m here for being a guard, too. Give the Old Man my regards, 'kay? I bet with your help around here the foods been turned up a notch, eh?”

Shiro nodded to him again. Theo stepped out of the way, allowing the older man to get back to his job. He watched him walked back into the kitchen and quietly snickered to himself.

'I’m glad he got the job! Good for him!’ Theo thought before calmly placing his hat back on his head.

Turning around, he began walking back to his post, unaware of all the burning gazes of the inmates. They all seemed a bit surprised and curious by that 'friendly chat’ the new guard had with Shiro. But the inmates of cell 13 couldn’t help but stare at him in shock.

“Did… Did Shiro just show that guy affections…?” Questioned No.15, who’s known as Jyugo.

“Y-yeah, he did!” Softly exclaimed No.11, also known as Uno.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Shiro look so surprised before!” Said No.15, or Nico.

“He sure seemed happy about that guy.” No.69 added with a grin. He was called Rock. “Shiro never really touches anybody. It’s rare to see him touch anybody else they’re causing trouble. He must really like that guy.”

“If Shiro knows him, then I guess he wasn’t lying about being an inmate here…” Murmured Jyugo, looking over his shoulder at Alan. “What’s up with that guy? I guess I can understand Shiro’s reason, but what’s his?”

“I’m wondering that myself.” Uno said before grinning. “Guess we just have to find out. That guy’s pretty talkative for being so soft spoken. Shouldn’t he be more defensive about giving his personal life to the inmates?”

“Yeah, that is kinda weird.” Rock agreed. “Think he’s up to somethin’?”

“I like him!” Nico said with his usual grin. “He’s a lot nicer than Hajime, and he isn’t easy to scare like Seitarou. Plus, from what he told us he sounds kinda like us, don’t you think?”

“What? As if.” Jyugo said before giving the group a mischief smirk. “Say… He’s new, right? So he shouldn’t have a well enough knowledge of the place. Why don’t we have another breakout and see what this guy can do.”

“But Hajime isn’t back.” Uno stated. “It’s not fun without him around, though. Plus, thanks to Yamoto’s training I can barely feel my legs…”

“Yeah, my arms are still throbbing.” Nico added, looking at his arms.

“Aw, come on!” Groaned Jyugo as he place his head on the table.

“How 'bout tomorrow?” Rock suggested. “Hajime will be back and we won’t be so sore by then. I hope this new guy knows how to take a punch.”

“Let’s see if he can get past my gambles,” smirked Uno.

“He read our files, but I bet he doesn’t know enough about my diseases!” Nico added, grinning with everyone else.

“Let’s see what this newbie can do…” Jyugo lifted his head, his smirk now on his face, as he gazed back at the unsuspecting man.

’…Hey, I still have that new chief’s clever!’ Theo thought to himself silently. 'I can give it to Shiro as a present! Man, this day just keeps getting better and better…!’

***

“Oh, good morning Hajime. How’re you feeling?…”

“Better than yesterday, I’ll say that…”

“That’s good…”

The Supervisor of Building 13 of Nanba Prison had finally returned from his day away because of a cold. Seitarou already greeted him, and Theo just spoke up. Yamoto, well… He has yet to be seen, but Hajime could honestly care less. When he put his bag down he looked back at Theo, seeing the mask still tightly on his face.

“Did you just put that on?” Hajime asked.

“No. I placed it back on yesterday as soon as I woke up.” Theo answered before turning in his chair to look up at Hajime. “I apologize for falling asleep here then. I should’ve just went home but I didn’t because of my first day…”

“It hasn’t been hurting you, has it?” Hajime asked.

“Not in the slightest.” Theo shook his head. “I kinda forget it’s there…”

Hajime hummed and nodded. But his eyes didn’t leave the mask. Sighing to himself he walked over to Theo. He just gazed at him, wondering what he’s doing. Hajime bent down, being as tall as he was, and put his hands carefully on the mask.

How the mask was is that it is made from a special type of metal that was flexible, but was hard to pierce. It resembled a type of 'ninja mask’ as Samon had questioned at the meeting. But, at the very end of the sides of the mask was a circular contraption that was located just before the tragus of the ear. The circular contraption was technically the main core of the machinery and had an electronic blue outline that glowed a bit. From the circular piece had the hook attached to it. When taken off, the hook curls into the thick circular piece.

Hajime pressed his hands against the circular piece, waiting until he heard a loud clicking sound. He watched as the hooks lifted off of the back of Theo’s earlobes. He took the mask off of Theo and saw his surprised expression.

“You had this thing on all day and night, yeah?” Hajime placed the mask down on his desk. “Figured you could take a break. Put it back on when you have to leave the office, alright? Both of us will get in trouble if it’s seen off of you.”

“Right… Thank you…” He thanked Hajime and nodded his head in gratitude.

Hajime sat back down at his desk without another word to him. He gazed at a few of the papers, wondering how much he had missed. He looked up at Seitarou, who was basically right across from him, and spoke up to him.

“Did anything happen while I was gone?” Hajime asked.

“Well, not anything bad.” Seitarou answered. “The inmates from Cell 13 tried to escape, but Yamoto caught them and punished them like you do. They trained for five hours before Theo took them to lunch. After that he brought them back and they stayed in their cells. Other than that, they behaved well for once.”

“At least they didn’t escaped any farther than their cells…” Hajime sighed deeply. “Even when I’m away they cause nothin’ but trouble…”

“I can at least say I think they kinda have a liking to me.” Theo spoke up as he walked by Hajime with a bunch of papers in his hands. “They definitely don’t trust me yet, but I’m slowly gaining their trust…”

“I’m unsure if that’s a good or bad thing…” Hajime muttered.

“When have I ever betrayed you, Hajime?” Theo asked in a joking manner, but it sounded like he was serious.

“Ever since you broke a door down in rage and tried to hit me with it.” Hajime stated with an agitated undertone.

Theo flinched at his statement, recalling the memory. He felt embarrassed at the thought of it. He looked back at Hajime, pouting slightly, as he looked rather guilty.

“T-that was a dark time for me back then, alright…?” Theo softly mumbled.

“Yeah, yeah, I know your story.” Hajime waved at him to signal to leave it alone. “You forget that I was the one to actually figure your background out back when you were in my cells.”

Theo was silent after that. Hajime did have a point. But he wasn’t too fond of the memories. He placed the papers down before grabbing a new stack and returning to his desk. Once he sat back down he wiped his lower face with the upper sleeve of his jacket. Have that mask on for more than 24 hours left his face with sweaty residue from breathing, talking, and almost caused him to drool a few times. It was like having foggy water goggles on for too long. To be honest, it was pretty gross.

Taking in a deep breath, finally being able to breathe properly, he began his new stack of paperwork. He was like that for a while until he heard the sound of the door opening and closing. Gazing over his shoulder he could see it was Yamoto who entered, not wearing his usual uniform, and looking very sweaty.

“Good morning, sir!” Greeted Yamoto to Hajime. “Good to see you back to your usual healthy self!”

“Same to you, Yamoto…” Murmured Hajime as he lit up a cigarette.

“I just finished my morning exercises, so I will take a quick shower and get back to work!” Promised Yamoto as he marked merrily towards his lock.

Once he gathered his needed items, he marched out of the room. When he opened the door he stopped and greeted someone at the door.

“Oh! Why hello there, No.15! If you will excuse me, I must take a shower!” Yamoto said.

“Yeah, okay.” Replied a familiar bored tone.

Instantly the other three guards became alarmed by what Yamoto said. Theo whirled around in his seat, quickly becoming on guard. As Yamoto walked out, walking into the office was inmate No.15. He had his signature hands behind his head, looking bored as ever, before turning to a shocked Hajime.

“Good to see you back, Hajime. It’s boring without you around.” Spoke the inmate.

“WHAT’RE YOU DOING OUT OF YOUR CELL?!” Screeched Hajime in anger.

“I wanted to see if you were here today, you should be grateful.” No.15, or Jyugo, answered with a smirk. “Escaping with you gone is useless, so I had to make sure you were here for today.”

In a flash Hajime shot up from his desk, dashed towards the inmate, and punched him right in the head. Jyugo groaned loudly, now lying on the ground in pain, as a clear bump quickly formed on his head. Theo was startled by the action, forgetting about Hajime’s infamous hair trigger temper.

“I DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT WHAT’S BORING! YOU’RE SUPPOSE TO BE IN YOUR CELL AND STAY THERE, YOU DAMN BRAT!” Bellowed the Supervisor. “IT HASN’T EVEN BEEN AN HOUR OF ME BEING HERE AND YOU’RE ALREADY CAUSING TROUBLE! AT LEAST WAIT UNTIL THE AFTERNOON, IT’S TOO EARLY FOR YOUR TROUBLE MAKING ANTICS!”

“Yeah… Good to have you back…” Groaned Jyugo as he got back onto his feet. “I definitely didn’t miss that inhuman strength of yours, though…”

“You annoying little…!” Hajimed growled and got the inmate into a headlock. He turned to his other guards as both of them had sweatdrops on their heads. “You two stay here. Check the surveillance and see if the others are gone. I’ll be taking this little shit back to his cell…!”

“Y-yes, sir!” Replied Seitarou.

Without another word, Hajime stomped out of the room with a struggling Jyugo. Theo slowly turned back to his work, still semi in his frozen state, as he tried processing what happened. ’…Maybe I should’ve stayed on the farm…’

It was quiet in the guard’s office.

Too quiet…

Hajime was suspicious of the quietness of the place, but he tried to shrug it off and label him being paranoid. But still… It was just strangely quiet. Periodically he would get up from his desk and walk the halls, specifically keeping an ear out for Cell 13. But whenever he walked by he usually heard their usual obnoxious banter. He would keep in the cell every now and then, seeing that each inmate was accountable for. He would then proceed with his parole, only to find himself seated back at his desk while the suspicion was eating him away.

Eventually he sighed again and tried to coax himself to relax. He just got back from being sick, he told himself repeatedly. He was probably just feeling uneasy because the remanence of the bug is still there in his stomach. He just had to breath and calm down. There’s nothing to worry about…

“Greetings, everyone!” Exclaimed none other than Yamoto as he came back into the room. “I have taken care of the much needed attention to the problem with the Cell door 17! On my way back I greeted the boys from Cell 13! Ha ha! Such young men. I think I’m finally turning them into gentlemen!”

“Really? What makes you say that?” Softly asked Seitarou.

“Because the boys informed me that they were going on a wonderful walk to stretch their legs!” Informed Yamoto. “I believe my training has finally gotten ahold of them, haha!”

“WHAT!?” Shouted Hajime as the other guards stiffened at the news.

“They were out of their cell?” Theo asked as he was clearly alarmed.

“Why, yes, yes they were.” Answered Yamoto. After a moment his smile fell as if realization finally hit him. “Wait… Those boys aren’t authorized to leave their cells, are they?”

“NO!” All three of them shouted at Yamoto.

“I knew the calmness was too good to be true!” Hajime exclaimed as he began typing away at the computer. “Seitarou, get to the surveillance cameras and figure out where they are!”

“Yes sir!” Exclaimed the officer as he disappeared from the room.

“Yamoto, it’s your fault those brats escaped.” Hajime growled at him. “Go apprehend them at once!”

“Of course, sir!” Saluted Yamoto before rushing out of the room.

“Theo, get to your feet!” Hajime ordered as Theo already was standing. “Looks like you’re going to be seeing some action for today. We can’t allow those four to get outside, especially since the sun is still out! Follow me.”

“Yes, sir.” Theo nodded.

Hajime marched to the camera room where Seitarou was while Theo followed closely behind. They entered the dark room while Seitarou just finished giving instructions to the officers of Building 13. Theo’s eyes gazed at the multiple cameras as he wondered where those four were.

“Where are they?” Hajime growled.

“They’re past Block 11. I’ve already closed Block 12 and trying to get them towards Block 17 instead.” Informed Seitarou.

“They’re fast…” Theo commented as his eyes kept darting towards different screens.

“Yeah, well, we’re faster…” Hajime muttered at him as he glared at the screen. “There they are…”

They all looked towards one of the center screens. The four inmates were running through the hall, only for No.11 to stop the group. He took out a type of card and flung it, revealing the hidden electric floor. No.15 walked over to the wall, tracing his hand around it. Suddenly a control panel revealed itself and his hands flew across the keys. He looked at his accomplices and smirked, giving them a thumbs up. All four of them advanced, getting past the security.

“A-are you kidding me…?” Theo gaped in shock, stepping forwards as they appeared on another camera. “How the hell did he figure that out so quickly?”

“Beats me.” Seitarou said and he began to flip switches. “They’re entering into an open area around Block 18. Thankfully a lot of the guards are there so they should be stumbling upon them at any moment.”

“That’s your queue.” Hajime ordered and placed a hand on Theo’s shoulder. “Get in there and stop them. Knock 'em out if you have to. We can’t allow them to advance any further. Just try not to bring the building down with you…”

“Got it.” Theo nodded curtly and turned towards the door. “Leave it to me…”

As soon as he was out of the office he began running down the hallways very quickly. He was sprinting through the place, trying to get to Block 18, and hopefully in time before those four get through. Seitarou kept his eyes on the monitors, but was surprised with how fast Theo was hopping from monitor to monitor.

“W-whoa, he’s fast…!” He said in surprised.

“There’s a reason for why the Warden trusted him enough to become a guard.” Hajime said and smirked. “Looks like he hasn’t changed a bit from his time in Nanba…”

It took a while, but Theo found his way in Block 18. He entered into the room, just in time to see the last guard get knocked down by No.69 aka Rock. Theo growled softly under his breath, annoyed that they got through the guards. He walked into the room, his echoing footsteps grabbing their attention, as he began adjusting his gloves.

“Well, well, looks like they sent the newbie.” No.11, Uno, spoke up with a sly grin on his face. “Are they even trying anymore?”

“I was hoping we’d bump into him soon.” Said No.15, or Jyugo as he’s called. “It wouldn’t be as fun if they didn’t send him…”

“Looks like you wanna brawl too, eh?” Challenged Rock as he held his fists up.

“Hi Theo!” Greeted No.25, known as Nico, as he waved at him. “Could you let us go by?”

“You four have caused quite a stir tonight, don’t you think?” Theo spoke in a deadly calm voice as he advanced slowly towards them. “It’s the middle of the sun setting, you know. Don’t you think it would’ve been smarter if you waited until midnight…?”

“We got impatient.” Replied Jyugo as he shrugged. “You’re a pretty strange guy, you know. You made us so interested in you that we just had to come and see you for ourselves.”

“Yeah. It’s pretty interesting for a former criminal to become a guard, you know.” Uno said and made a face at him. “If you couldn’t stay away then why couldn’t you do more crimes, eh? Where’s that mask of yours anyways? Don’t tell me you’re 'getting serious’.”

“You boys don’t know anything, do you…” Theo scoffed at them as he began pulling his gloves off. “How sad. If you did I bet you would’ve thought twice before acting like you did.”

“You act like such a big shot after just being here for only three days.” Jyugo rolled his eyes at him. “You might’ve read our files, but that doesn’t mean you know the whole show.”

“I think I know plenty enough.” Theo stopped walking and dropped his gloves on the ground. He rotated his neck, hearing the satisfying cracks. “You’re morons for believing you can escape Nanba Prison so easily.” He lifted his hand and pointed at them. “I’m giving you one last chance. Now be good boys and go back to your cell…”

“No thank you!” Rock yelled and ran at him.

Theo put his hand down and allowed Rock to come at him. Having his arm recoiled back, Rock swung his fist at full force, his knuckle slamming right into his jaw. Theo head twisted around, the force being enough to knock Theo off of his feet. He flew back and hit the ground without a moment later. The group could only stare in slight shock.

“Oh, come on!” Rock whined. “That wasn’t even a fight!”

“All talk and no bite, eh? That’s sad.” Jyugo commented.

“Hahaha! K.O.!” Uno exclaimed while laughing. “That was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen!”

“Looks like Rock was a bit too hard on him.” Commented Nico.

After a few comments here and there, they didn’t realize Theo’s twitching body. He curled his arms up, placing his hands on either side of his head. With his feet pressed together tightly, he picked himself onto his hands and pushed against his arms, pushing himself into the air. He got his feet under him quickly and was now standing back on his feet.

Hearing the echo of his feet hitting the ground, their comments stopped as they stared at him. Theo’s visor was concealing his eyes while he rotated his shoulders around, the loud cracking echoing in the room. Just him standing there quietly, allowing his shoulders to crack, was rather unsettling.

“I guess you’re tougher than you look.” Jyugo smirk returned. “I was hoping you could give us more of a show.”

“Hey, you cracked your shoulders enough. You might just break them if you keep that up.” Uno said as he was becoming uncomfortable with the noise.

“Ready for a rematch?” Rock asked in a taunting manner.

“Oh, the match never ended…” Said Theo in a deadly calm voice.

The group stopped, their smirking features falling. Something just wasn’t right with how Theo sounded. Usually his tone revealed no emotions. But now… He sounded utterly serious with a hint of something else—that something else was smugness.

Theo adjusted his hat to reveal his eyes. His irises were now smaller than normal while his eyes were wide open. But the thing that gave them chills was the sudden, large, toothy grin that was on his face. His teeth looked sharp and pointed while his eyes were trained on them. The group shivered as they felt the sudden murderous intent that could rival that of Hajime’s.

“Idiots…” Theo hissed at them as his shoulders bounced up and down like he was giggling. “Did you really believe that one puny punch could knock me out? It was like a fly landed on my cheek.”

“Puny…?” Rock growled as he was clearly insulted.

“I’ll show you why you shouldn’t mess around…” Theo brought his fist up, his smirk never faltering. “Come on, Rocky! Do you even call that a punch?”

“You asked for it, Bastard!” Rock shouted and ran at him again.

Once again, Theo allowed Rock to come to him. The inmate swung at Theo again, just like he had before. Except this time, Theo stopped his fist. The sounds of his knuckle slapping against his palm echoed, shocking the entire group. Rock could only stare at Theo in wide eyes, confused to why his fist was stopped so easily. Theo’s giggle filled the air as he glared sharply at Rock, causing the younger male to begin to sweat nervously.

“Pa-the-tic~!” Sang Theo. His voice suddenly got deeper when he spoke his next sentence. “I’ll show you a real punch.”

Without even a moment’s hesitation, Theo punched Rock in the chest with his free hand. Rock was shot off of his feet, fly back until his back hit the wall. His friends could only gaze at Rock in shock. They watched as their friend bounced off of the wall and onto his knees, only to fall onto the ground as he became unconscious. The group turned their heads to see Theo walking towards them.

“Wow, he didn’t last very long.” Theo laughed. “You boys could escape all those traps, knock all of these guards out, but you’re not strong enough to at least slow me down? That’s pretty pathetic… Oh, come on. Where’s all that big talk you were all saying before? Cat got your tongue~”

“You bastard…!” Uno growled at him.

“H-how did you…?” Jyugo could only mumble in shock.

“G-g-guys…!” Squeaked Nico. “W-w-w-what should we d-d-do…?!”

“I have an idea!” Theo quickly stood before Nico, towering over him with ease, as his smile never left his face. “…How about you go to sleep~”

Nico squeaked again before fainting on the ground from fear. Theo looked at the other boys. Clearly enraged Uno ran at him with a war cry, his fists in the air, prepared to punch Theo’s face in.

As he got close and swung, Theo dodged his attack and moved behind his back in a flash, karate chopping the back of his neck. Uno released a choke sound before passing out on the ground. Theo looked at the last one standing, seeing Jyugo’s shaken form. He walked towards him in a rather taunting manner.

With each step taken, Jyugo stepped back. Step by step, Theo backed Jyugo into a wall. The inmate because to break out in a cold sweat, trying to think of a way to either attack or run. But he was unable to come up with anything as Theo stood right in front of him, inches away from his body. Jyugo could only stare up at him as his hands were secretly shaking.

“You’re pretty impressive, you know…” Theo spoke softly, his voice not sounding demonic anymore. “Unlocking all those traps… Leading the way for your friends. It’s remarkable, actually. But…” Theo’s smirk grew, as if that was possible, and glared down at his shaking form. “…I’d like to see you get out of this trap…”

Not even allowing Jyugo to open his mouth, Theo brought his head down and slammed his head against Jyugo’s forehead. Jyugo cried out in pain, only to fall to the side. Before he could hit the ground, Theo caught him with one arm. Theo giggled softly at his unconscious form.

“I win~” He sang.

Of course, no one could respond.

As the room got quiet, Theo’s smile fell and the deadly look in his eyes fled. His face was emotionless, stoic as ever, as if a switch had been flipped off. He carefully put Jyugo on his shoulder and went over to Nico. One by one, he picked up each fallen inmate. Step by step, he back making his way back to Cell 13. Nico and Jyugo were on his right shoulder while Uno was under Theo’s left arm while his left hand was latched onto the back of Rock’s jumpsuit as he dragged him.

The camera room was quiet. Seitarou was shaking in his seat, horrified by the scene he just saw. Tears pricked the corner of his eyes as he couldn’t believe what he just witness. He looked up at Hajime to see the man smirking calmly.

“He really hasn’t changed, eh?” Hajime turned and began to exit the room. “I’m surprised he held back.”

With that said, he exited the room, closing the door on his way out. Seitarou released a shaky breath as he looked back to the monitors in horror.

“…H-held b-b-back…?”

***

“Seitarou, how’re the inmates in cell 13?”

“Well, they’re behaving, sir…”

Three days has passed since the recapture of cell 13. They have been rather quiet, staying in their cells, and they haven’t tried escaping once. Theo hadn’t visited them since Hajime gave him a rather unhealthy pile of paperwork to keep him away from the inmates. After seeing Seitarou’s terrified expression of being around Theo from that day he decided that he might’ve gone a little too far.

Theo began the paperwork and was just one paper away from finishing it. As soon as he had finished that one page his head hit his desk in exhaustion. He hadn’t moved from his desk since then and was powering through it. Seitarou had been startled by the loud noise and asked Hajime what was wrong with him.

“Oh, him?” Hajime looked at Theo before sighing. “He probably went down from exhaustion. I haven’t seen him move from that spot since I’ve given him those papers, so he probably stayed there and powered through the work. The idiot probably ran out of batteries…”

“W-what do you mean by that…?” Seitarou asked softly.

“Theo isn’t 'normal,’” replied Hajime. “He’s got this type of handicap that doesn’t allow him to feel things. Whether he touches ice from antarctica or places his hand in a roaring fire—he can’t feel it. It’s like his nerves aren’t there. It’s the reason for why he can jumped back onto his feet so quickly in a fight. He can’t feel any pain. But because he can hardly feel anything he tends to forget to eat, gets himself injured a lot, sometimes forgets his own strength, and is his own natural problem.”

“W-will he be okay?” Seitarou asked in concern.

“Yeah, he’ll be fine.” Hajime said calmly. “Let 'im rest and give him breakfast or something. He was like that when he was an inmate. He’ll be fine.”

“Sir…” Seitarou spoke quietly, looking rather nervous. “Just… why was he sent to Nanba prison?”

“Why? There’s plenty of reasons why.” Hajime popped a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. “He’s the most human and inhuman being you’ll ever meet.”

Seitarou didn’t feel comforted by that response.

The guards left Theo alone until he woke up on his own. Two hours passed with him sleeping and he woke up to find his mask gone. Hajime felt it was best to take it off of him since he didn’t want him to stupidly hurt himself by accident. Being slightly groggy he got to his feet, went to his locker, and went for a shower.

Of course he was as fast as he could. He is not legitimately a 'he’ after all. Once he cleaned himself he got all his layers back on and went to the cafeteria. He hadn’t had a bite to eat for over three days, after all. After his stomach was filled he went back to the office.

Through the day he kept rubbing the back of his neck, his hands going up and down and left and right. It was a nervous habit he did when he had something eating away at him. And it didn’t go unnoticed.

“Is… Is everything okay, Theo?” Seitarou had asked him. “You keep rubbing your neck like you’re in pain…”

“Oh, that…” Theo muttered and retracted his hand. “It’s just a habit of mine… It’s nothing, I promise. I’m completely fine…”

“O-okay…” Seitarou nodded and went back to work.

After another hour of work, Hajime said he had to go and meet with the Warden. After he left, Yamoto hadn’t came back from yesterday. Theo kept doing his work with his mask off and stayed cooped up into the office. Eventually Seitarou got up and grabbed his attention.

“Hey, Theo.”

“Hm…?”

“I’m going to go get lunch.” Seitarou informed him. “I’ll be as fast as I can and I’ll get back here. Do you think you can hold the office being alone?”

“Yeah, of course…” Theo nodded to him. “I’ll stay in the office until you return.”

“Alright.” Seitarou nodded and stopped at the door. “I suggest you keep an eye on the surveillance cameras just in case. Oh, and if any of the inmates escape, contact the Supervisor on the radio. But, with your ability, I bet you can catch them without help…”

Theo’s lips pressed hard together, sensing Seitarou’s nervousness. Theo scared him. That he knew well enough. Not pointing it out, Theo just nodded softly before gazing back at his desk. With nothing else said, Seitarou left the room.

Once the door was firmly closed, Theo could only sigh and hang his head. His hands found their way onto the back of his neck as he began to rub all around the area. The feeling he felt was something he was used to feeling. Guilt. Shame. If anything it was probably the only emotions he could 'feel’. With a history like his, it was understandable why that is.

“Huh, so I guess you weren’t lying about being an inmate.” A sudden voice spoke behind Theo.

Instantly becoming alarmed, Theo shot to his feet and whirled around. Standing in the room was Jyugo, who had backed up quickly before Theo could hit him or something. The officer semi relaxed, but his guard never went down.

“What’re you doing here…?” Theo asked him.

“Being locked up in that cell for three days without escaping was becoming a bore.” Jyugo said and shrugged in an innocent manner. “I figured I might as well visit the guy who basically gave us all concussions…”

“You’re not supposed to be here.” Theo stated sternly.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Jyugo rolled his eyes. “I’ve heard it all from Hajime before. But you wanna know what isn’t a bore?” He smirked and pointed right at Theo. “That number on your neck.”

Theo eyes narrowed at the inmate while his hand grabbed the back of his own neck.

“So you’re No.7, eh?” Jyugo asked looking rather smug. “That’s pretty interesting. Which building were you sent to?”

“…I’ve been thrown in every building in Nanba.” Theo stated coldly. “I gave them hell trying to figure out which building I should go to. Each Supervisor got pretty fed up with my shenanigans, and eventually threw me into Building 5… The first building I got sent to was Building 3…”

“You’ve been thrown into every building?” Jyugo repeated as he looked surprised. “The hell did they do that?”

“Acting…” Theo replied. “By acting and causing a lot of mayhem, I was basically thrown around like hopscotch. But, after an accident, I was eventually thrown into Building 5.”

“Does that mean you have different numbers all over you?” Jyugo asked.

“No, actually…” Theo shook his head. “The only number I have is on my neck… The Supervisors all knew me as 'Trouble Theo’ since I was nothing but a nuisance to them. It was fun… Pissing each of them off, causing over half of them to hate me… Got a real good kick out of it…”

“It’s funny to hear that come from a freak who can’t feel.“ Jyugo said.

Theo frowned at his statement. Jyugo’s face held nothing but smugness. Looks like he was the one having a real good kick out of this conversation.

”…How long have you been hiding in here?“ Theo demanded.

"Who’s to say? All I know is that it’s been a good amount of time…” Jyugo shrugged and sat in Hajime’s seat. “I bet the others have figured out I escaped by now…”

“You didn’t release your friends?…” Theo asked, raising a brow at him.

“Nah, they didn’t want to leave.” Jyguo replied as he begun to spin in the chair like a child. “Nico’s to terrified, Uno doesn’t want to even think about you, and Rock is still sore from you punching him. Hell, there’s still a bump on my forehead from you headbutting me.”

“Hm…” Theo’s eyes hit the ground, feeling a bit guilty to hear that.

“You’re more of a freak than us, huh?” Jyugo said and laughed. “You were an inmate, but now you’re a guard! You can’t feel anything and you’re an utter freak thanks to your strength! I guess you do belong here in Nanba, hahaha!”

Theo flinched at the words thrown at him. A pinching sensation was in his chest as he listened to Jyugo’s laughing. 'I haven’t been called that for a long time…’

“Are you done?” Theo asked him, cutting off Jyugo’s laughter. “If you want to talk we can do it in your cell. Don’t make me drag you by force…”

“Well now, did I hit a nerve?” Jyugo taunted him. Theo only now just noticed how he seemed angry at him. “So what, you’re freakishly strong. I rather not have my skull beaten in, thank you very much. Plus, that’s Hajime’s job.”

“…You just looove talking.” Theo mumbled and crossed his arms. “I still don’t understand why you’re over here. Are you pissed because I harmed you and your friends? Is there something you’re after?…”

Jyugo’s expression became rather stoic very quickly. Something flashed in his eyes, but Theo didn’t know what. Not even a moment later, Jyugo’s smirked twitched up as his eyes held a hint of anger.

“It’s nothing… I just enjoy escaping. It’s fun…” Jyugo stated. “Getting past traps and puzzles are a hobby of mine. You could say that I’m the key to the world~”

“How egotistic of you…” Replied Theo as he began walking towards him. “Enough of your joking. Get back to your cell now, otherwise I will throw you in myself and tell Hajime what you did. He’ll be the one to punish you once he gets back.”

“Oh, sounds like fun.” Jyugo said, grinning up at Alan as he towered over him. “I rather stay here for a while. Those cells are pretty boring.”

'He’s like a leach…’ Theo immediately thought. 'Or maybe he’s more of a mosquito… Either way, he’s annoying as hell. I don’t want to knock him out again, who knows if Hajime will punish me for it. The infirmary will surely whack me a good amount of times if I harm him. I wonder…’

Theo huffed out through his nose. Jyugo just kept gazing up at him, looking rather smug, as if he was daring Theo to harm him. The guard began to bent down towards Jyugo since he was sitting down. Jyugo’s smirk fell instantly as Theo got really close to his face. Without even able to act, Theo placed his lips against Jyugo’s. The inmate sat there, his head trying to process what the hell was happening. He suddenly felt Theo’s tongue lick his lips.

Only then did reality hit Jyugo like a train as his entire body shivered. Jyugo fell out of the spinny chair, scrambling to his feet, and went to the farthest wall in the room to get away from Theo. Jyugo’s face was pale as he looked utterly horrified, his hand over his mouth, as he began screaming at Theo. Theo just stood there, his face blank, as if nothing ever happened as his eyes stayed on the inmate.

“WHAT THE HELL!” He had screamed. “WHO THE FUCK DOES THAT! YOU FUCKING CREEP!”

Theo said nothing. Theo only maneuvered around Hajime’s desk and stepped towards Jyugo. The inmate yelped in horror.

“S-STAY OVER THERE! DON’T COME ANY CLOSER!” Jyugo yelled.

“…Get back to your cell.” Theo ordered, taking another step towards him.

Jyugo yelped and bolted out of the room. He screamed while running down the hallway. Theo looked out of the room to see Jyugo open the door to his cell and run right it, slamming it shut behind him. Theo just watched before turning back around into the room.

“That worked a lot more effectively than I thought…” Theo said and closed the door softly.

***

When Hajime came back he did not expect to hear inmates yelling at each other.

He instantly recognized the voices of those from cell 13. Hajime’s eye began to twitch in annoyance. He only just got back from meeting the warden and he hadn’t even had the time to sit down. With a deep sigh he decided to see why they were causing such a ruckus. As soon as he was in front of the door he slammed his fist against it to grab the inmate’s attention.

“Shut up! You’re all noisier than usual!” Hajime yelled at them. “What the hell’s the problem?”

“YOUR GUARD IS THE PROBLEM!” Jyugo shouted at him instantly, looking almost flustered.

“What’re you goin’ on about?” Hajime grumbled, raising a brow at is strange behavior.

“Jyugo says that your newest guard kissed him.” Uno stated bluntly. “He’s been like this for hours.”

Once Hajime heard that he sighed deeply. Hajime pinched the bridge of his nose, trying hard not to allow his annoyance to high any higher.

“I can’t believe that brat did it again…” Hajime grumbled.

“What?” Uno said, catching what Hajime said. “He’s done this before?!”

“Look, if you knew his circumstance you would understand.” Hajime stated as he thought about Theo. “Yeah, it’s not necessarily right for him to do that shit, but stop freaking out about it. Theo’s a good kid but he's… 'special’. You wouldn’t understand even if I explained it to you.”

“THAT STILL DOESN’T ALLOW HIM THE RIGHT TO DO THAT SHIT!” Jyugo shouted.

“Calm down and get over it.” Hajime growled at him. “You’re causing more of a ruckus with all that shouting and it’s giving me a headache. Shut up, do as you’re told, and let me handle this. Theo has no intentions of harming anybody.”

“Yeah, right. My stomach still hurts from being punched from that guy…” Groaned Rock.

“H-h-h-he’s s-s-scary…!” Nico added, looking ready to cry.

“'No intentions’ my ass!” Uno said, clearly pissed. “He hurt all of us more than you’ve ever done. That guy’s psychotic! He shouldn’t even be a guard!”

“Especially when he freaking sexually assaults us!” Jyugo shouted.

“Enough!” Bellowed Hajime as he punched the door again, silencing the inmates. “That’s enough out of you. You four know nothing about that kid. Yeah, I get that he freaks you out, but it’s not like he asked for it. I’m not tellin’ you to like him, but I’m telling you to not hate him. If anything he actually cares about you little shits more than anybody here.”

“Then why the hell did he do all that shit to us?” Asked Uno through grinding teeth.

“Because I told him to.” Hajime stated. “I ordered him to go and capture you all, explicitly stating for him to knock you guys out. The kissing thing was something he did even as an inmate because of his genetic disorder. He calls it a 'habit,’ or an 'instinct’. Plus, he doesn’t just do it to anybody. He almost always has some sort of intention behind his actions. Now if it’ll shut you up, I’ll punish him since he knows that he shouldn’t do that shit. Is there anything else you’d like to complain to me about before I beat your heads in?”

“…No.” Uno muttered, speaking on the behalf of the group.

“Good.” Hajime growled and stepped back. “Now stop causing a ruckus and behave. Today’s a busy day, you know.”

With that said, Hajime turned and walked off. He went back into the guard’s office and spotted Seitarou, Yamoto, and Theo inside. Seitarou was at his desk while Theo and Yamoto was playing some type of chest game on the table. They all looked towards Hajime since they heard the door open.

“Hello there, sir. How was the meeting?” Seitarou asked cheerfully.

“Fine.” Hajime answered and walked towards Theo.

“…Checkmate.” Theo stated and knocked down Yamoto’s king.

“Beaten again! My, you have quite an eye there, Al! Ha ha ha ha!” Laughed Yamoto.

Hajime’s shadow casted over Theo, causing the guard to gaze up at him. Without a moment’s hesitation Hajime punched Theo’s head, knocking the boy off of the couch and onto the ground. Seitarou yelped while Yamoto was surprised to witness the action himself.

“Uunn… That made me dizzy…” Mumbled Theo as he sat up and rubbed his head.

“That’s for being stupid.” Hajime growled at him. “What the hell did you do to No.15 today, huh? Did you really think it was such a bright idea to freaking liplock with him?”

“…Oh. That.” Theo mumbled and got back onto his feet. “No.15 apparent escaped his cell earlier this afternoon without any of us realizing it. I checked the monitors a little later and figured out he’s been hiding in the night room here the entire time. Once you were with the Warden and Seitarou went to lunch he revealed himself to me and we talked… He refused to go back to his cell and I knew that I shouldn’t knock him out. I didn’t want to harm him since he was taunting me. I didn’t want him to think I acted out because of that…”

“So you kissed the brat to make him leave?!” Hajime questioned, shocked by his explanation.

“…Yeah, basically.” Theo confirmed. “He screamed and ran back to his cell… Worked better than I thought… I guess that he’s traumatized and yelled to you about it?”

“Yes.” Hajime said and hit Theo in the head again. “You dumbass. Was that really necessary? You know better than to do that, especially with all the trouble it got you in from the past! Think before you act!”

“I couldn’t help it…” Mumbled Theo as he held his head, his eyes looking dull. “It was just… instinct…”

“Urgh…” Hajime groaned and rubbed his head. “You’re just as troublesome as those four… Put that damn mask on and keep it on. I bet that was probably the reason for why the Warden even gave it to you.”

“…Yes, sir…” Whispered Theo as he went to his desk.

“Wait, why did he… kiss an inmate…?!” Seitarou asked, looking very bewildered.

“Remember when I told you about that freakish genetics he’s got?” Hajime spoke to him. “The only nerves he’s got are the ones in his tongue. Back in his days as an inmate he had kissed one of his fellow inmates. That got him kicked out of the cell, and restrained for sexual harassment. His excuse back then was it allowed him to 'connect’ with people. But, we later figured out he meant nothing behind it, and it was just a habit of him growing up.”

“From growing up…?” Seitarou questioned.

“Tasting was the only way I could feel things…” Theo spoke up after placing his mask on. “My mom thought it was just from how she taught me growing up, trying to teach me and all. I was diagnosed with HSAN as a kid… My dad knew what to do since he had other relatives who had the disease. So whenever I kissed them or even licked stuff he knew I meant nothing behind it… It was the only way I could feel. But of course, society didn’t see it that way…”

“W-well, kissing people isn’t quite a normal thing…” Muttered Seitarou.

“I know…” Theo replied while staring at the ground. His hands tightly clenched into fists at his sides. “I just… Didn’t mean to hurt anybody…”

The room got quiet real fast. Hajime, sensing the dense atmosphere, sighed deeply and walked towards Theo. He awkwardly patted his shoulder roughly, trying to show some sort of comfort. Theo just nodded his head in response and turned back to his desk. Today was already turning into a long day…

***

“I hate that guy so fucking much…!”

“You’re still going on about that? It’s been three days, Jyugo.”

“You’d be just as traumatized if it happened to you!”

The inmates of cell 13 have had a gloomy/annoyed atmosphere around the cell ever since Theo came to the Nanba Prison. They finally healed of their physical wounds, but have yet to really heal of the mental and emotional ones. It’s not like the events were super traumatizing that it caused the group to not want to talk about it. It just made them cautious of Theo.

Nico wasn’t shivering in place at his name anymore, but a fearful expression did take place every time. Rock more or less was probably the calmest about it. Yeah, the guy hurt him, but when Rock thought about the guy impressed him. Shiro from the cafeteria seemed to enjoy him, and he proved to be a tough opponent like he hoped. Jyugo was clearly angry and flustered since he couldn’t get over the kiss incident. Then there’s Uno, who was more or less annoyed only because Jyugo kept bringing it up and wouldn’t let it go.

“Look, we haven’t seen that guy for six days, alright?” Uno spoke up again, trying to calm Jyugo down, as he himself was just down right annoyed. “The only times we have seen him was when he’s been doing patrol through the halls. But even then he doesn’t stop by our cells or anything. I’m still mad that he knocked us out too, but like Hajime said, he only did as he was ordered. It’s their job.”

“It still doesn’t clear up the excuse for him to kiss me, damnit!” Jyugo exclaimed, waving his fist around. “I don’t give a damn if he can’t feel a thing, it’s not a fucking excuse! Even then it doesn’t make any sort of sense!”

“Wait, what did you say?” Rock spoke up, finding interest in one of the things he said. “He can’t feel anything…?”

“Yeah, something like that…” Jyugo grumbled as he was still angry. “I overheard Hajime talk about it. It’s some genetic thing he has or whatever. Apparently he can’t feel anything.”

“How can someone not be able to feel anything?” Rock questioned in disbelief.

“I think I might’ve heard of something like that.” Uno spoke up as he tried to remember. “It’s a disease I think. Something about not letting your nerves work or whatever…”

“S-so, he can’t feel anything…?” Softly asked Nico.

“Yeah, something like that…” Jyugo muttered and scratched his head. “From how Hajime talked about it he said that he was troublesome because of it…”

“Hey, I just got an idea!” Uno exclaimed and hit his fist into the palm of his hand. “Let’s play a game, yeah?”

“A game? What type of game?” Nico immediately asked, turning back to his bubbly self.

“That Theo guy can’t feel a thing, right?” Uno grinned mischievously. “Let’s see with how much stuff we can get without him realizing it.”

“What do you mean…?” Jyugo asked, eyeing him carefully.

“Just hear me out.” Uno wrapped his arm around Jyugo’s neck. “Let’s mess with this guy, yeah? Poke him, throw stuff at him, stick things to him—anything that might get his attention. If he can’t feel anything then he shouldn’t be able to feel us putting stuff on him.”

“So, we’re basically messin’ with the guy.” Rock summed up.

“Yeah, but it’ll be fun.” Uno said. “We’ve messed with everybody else. Why not try this guy, yeah? I have a hunch that we’ll get away with a lot of stuff.”

“I wanna try!” Nico exclaimed, having his hand raised in the air.

“But what happens if he does feel it and question us?” Jyugo questioned, looking unamused by the idea. “This guy was able to knock us all unconscious. He could seriously pound us if we’re not careful.”

“Then why the hell did you escape the cell three days ago saying 'I’m gonna mess with him!’ only to come back by getting kissed.” Uno stated bluntly.

“S-SHUT UP!” Jyugo yelled at him, starting to fume again.

“Come on, it’ll be fun!” Uno said and punched his shoulder lightly. “He’s going to be making his patrol in fifteen minutes. Sooo…”

Uno turned and grabbed one of Nico’s crayons and a piece of paper. Uno drew on it and the guys all surrounded him, wondering what he was doing. Uno held up the paper and chuckled.

“This’ll do…” He said and gazed around the place.

“Isn’t that kinda immature?” Jyugo said unimpressed.

“Oh, I get it now.” Rock said as he began grinning.

“Haha! I get it! Just like those drama animes I’ve seen!” Nico laughed while clapping.

“Now, all I need is tape.” Uno muttered and began looking around the room.

“Found some!” Nico said and handed it to Uno.

“Perfect.” Uno grinned. “Now we wait…”

Uno stood by the door, eyeing the hall for Theo to walk through. And, just like he stated, Theo came just on time. Just as he passed cell 13 without even glancing at it, Uno called for him. Theo immediately stopped and looked at him, looking slightly curious. Uno had to tell by his eyes since his black mask was on this time.

“Yo, Theo!” Uno has called. “Mind comin’ here for a moment?”

“Huh…?” Theo blinked owlishly, clearly surprised.

But, Theo complied either way. He stepped forwards and stood in front of the door, wondering what Uno wanted.

“Is… something wrong?” Theo asked softly.

“I just wanted to talk to ya.” Uno said in an innocent manner. “I may be a criminal but I ain’t all that cold hearted. I just wanted to talk is all.”

Theo’s eyes narrowed at him. “…Talk about what?”

“Let’s talk about your job.” Uno said smirking. “You said you were a criminal, right? Well, why would you want to come back to the place you were imprisoned? I just don’t get it.”

“Well…” Theo mumbled and looked almost thoughtful. “When you have any sort of criminal record, especially mine, then finding a job in society is hard. Yeah, there’ll be people who will take you in, but the pay is low compared to others… I eventually began working on a local farm because the guy knew my family well and took pity on me…”

“So you became a guard?” Uno questioned with a raised brow.

“Yeah.” Theo nodded. “I sent a request to the Warden. She then brought me in, gave me a uniform and mask, and gave me the job. I know how the officers work and I get the jist of their protocol. The pay is a lot higher and allows me to keep a roof over my head…”

“Sounds tough.” Uno commented. “But why Nanba…? Couldn’t you gone to other police stations?”

“You do realize what you’re asking, right?” Theo gave him a flat look. “My criminal record has vandalism, theft, has a violent history, fought against officer arrest, and even broke out of prison every now and then. Who the hell in their right minds would give someone like that a job, especially at a police station.”

“True, true.” Uno nodded. “But that still doesn’t answer why Nanba allowed you here.”

Theo sighed softly and gazed away from him. “After a year of being in Nanba Prison I stopped being a troublemaker. That was when I was officially put into Building 5. At the time there was rumors that people had been handing out drugs through the inmates because they stole them from the infirmary. A lot of inmates knew who I was because I ended up becoming close to them… The officers knew that… So, I ended up becoming their information dealer, you could say…”

“Seriously? Why’d you rat them out?” Uno asked.

“Because those drugs were dangerous.” Theo stated, now looking very serious. “They were hardcore drugs that the inmates stole and mixed them together carefully. Inmates were actually dying because of it. They’re brains were being fried and they weren’t acting like yourselves. Plus, the bastard had been injecting the drugs into unsuspecting prisoners, testing his work out. Twenty-Two people died.”

“Holy shit…” Uno whispered as his eyes were wide.

“That many people?” Rock ask, now standing behind Uno.

“That’s fucked up…” Muttered Jyugo.

“Who would do that? Messing with other people’s medicine and handing it to others isn’t right!” Nico exclaimed, looking slightly fired up. “Some people really need those drugs to survive.”

“That’s why they came to me.” Theo said calmly and crossed his arms as he recalled the memories. “I began investigating before they even asked me to. After narrowing the search and speaking to the right guys, I ended up finding the bastard. Once I found his little drug exhibit I pounded his face in… He killed a lot of good people… I wasn’t going to forgive him, and I still won't… Nobody deserves to die…”

“What else happened?” Rock asked.

“…After I found him I dragged him off to the police.” Theo continued. “The guards took him to the deeper parts of the prison, away from everybody else, and extended his sentence. Not even a week being in there, the guy went mental… He ended up killing himself by choking on his own chains… According to a few guards, it was a pretty fucked up scene. I could only imagine how bad it was…”

“Whoa…” Rock muttered in shock.

“That was wild from start to finish!” Uno exclaimed.

“You asked.” Theo said. “…But, I still feel bad… Those guys passed without even realizing what happened. I knew them all. One of the guy’s had a kid and wife waiting for him back home… He ended up dying because of a psychotic druggy…”

“That’s so sad…” Muttered Nico.

“…It was my first participation with the guards.” Theo added as he placed his back against their cell door. “From then on, I made a promise to those men. I would help the guards prevent an incident like that ever happening again. That’s when I officially became the guard’s information broker on inmates whenever something got fishy…”

“What a noble guy you are.” Uno commented with a light smirk. “I bet a lot of inmates didn’t trust you from then on out.”

“You’d be surprised, heh…” Theo smirked, not like they could see, but he did catch them off guard. “Thanks to my outgoing nature, almost everybody trusted me. They talked to me because I was the only one who would listen. I listened because I knew it would help. Didn’t even realize doing something as simple as that would lead towards everyone liking me… Because of my vital intel I collected, I ended up becoming a type of bigshot in Nanba. I guess that’s why the Warden took a risk in me and gave me the job…”

“Are you okay with that, though?” Jyugo asked in a slightly harsh tone. “Being used only for intel like that? Is it even worth it?”

“Kinda, yeah.” Theo nodded before pushing himself off of the door to face them. “As long as I can be of worth of some kind, it’s worth it…”

“…You’re weird.” Jyugo said before turning around and went deeper into the cell.

“Fair enough.” Theo shrugged, finding what he said amusing. “But I enjoy my job. It’s worth it…”

“I don’t think I could ever change my ways like that and become a guard in the prison I was held in.” Rock muttered and scratched his head.

“Fair enough.” Theo said as his eyes seemed to smile. “Is that all you wanted to ask?”

“U-uh, yeah.“ Uno said and rubbed the back of his neck. ”…Now that I think about it, you really are easy to talk to. That’s freaking creepy, man.“

Theo released a short laugh, which sounded a lot like huffs, as he found what Uno said amusing. He was surprised that their hate towards him from a few days ago had apparently subsided.

"I get that a lot…” Theo said softly. “If that’s all, I need to get back to my job.” He turned towards the hall, but gave the three by the door a pointed look. “You better not escape again otherwise I’m gonna have to chase you guys again. I honestly don’t enjoy beating you guys to death, so please don’t make me.”

“Fine, fine.” Uno waved at him. “But we make no promises for tomorrow!”

Theo sighed softly and shook his head. “I’ll act like I heard nothing…”

WIth that said, he began walking down the hall. Uno, Nico, and Rock watched from the barred window until he was out of sight. Once he was gone, Rock looked to Uno.

“After hearing that story, you still put that paper on his back.” Rock muttered.

“What? I had to do something!” Uno said and began to laugh. “Still, I placed that thing right on his neck! He really didn’t notice, ahaha!”

“Theo’s not that bad of a guy, huh?” Nico said and looked at the others. “Hajime was right when he said we had to know him better.”

“But we never did figure out his full story…” Muttered Rock.

“Who cares?” Grumbled Jyugo as he was laying on the ground. “He could have the most saddest backstory in the world and I still wouldn’t care.”

“Are you still holding a grudge because of some dumb kiss?” Uno asked him.

“Of course I am!” Jyugo yelled at him, now sitting up and shaking a fist. “I don’t care who he is! There’s no excuse for him to kiss someone, especially an inmate he’s in charge of!”

“Yeah, Jyugo does have a fair point in that.” Nico said before looking at Rock and Uno. “Do you think Theo likes boys instead?”

“Don’t ask me, I don’t know the guy!” Uno exclaimed and walked away from the door.

“If he’s as open as he says he is, then maybe you can ask him next time…” Rock suggested, honestly just wanting to change the conversation.

“Okay!” Nico said innocently and went towards the TV.

***

“Oi, Theo. There’s something on your neck.”

“Huh? Really…? I didn’t even know it was there.”

LOSER! ;P HAHA!

'I recognize that penmanship anywhere! Those bastards from cell 13 are screwin’ with him! And he can’t suspect a thing because he can’t feel the goddamn paper! Those little shits…!’

[popwasabi]

Lockdown Lookback: Catching up on the past months’ Pop Culture

Aaaaannnd we’re back!

It’s amazing what a little pandemic can do to shake you out of your creative cobwebs but if we’re all going to die, I want to make sure all my pop cultural hot takes are up to date at least.

Many of us are already on lockdown and many major movies including “007,” “Black Widow” and ummm I guess “Mulan” are all getting pushed to the backburner as no one is leaving their God damn homes unless they’re told to!

(Didn’t realize the thing I wish I had more of in the apocalypse would be sweatpants...)

But there’s still plenty to talk about from the previous months and other hot topics I have been meaning to write about but just hadn’t found the time or energy for. Life has been hard I think for just about all of us these days thanks in no small part to this pandemic. For me personally, I’ve had two different vacations canceled because of the virus and currently working understaffed at my job which is considered essential. Not to mention my therapist is on call only at this time and both my martial arts schools have been suspended, so I can neither talk nor punch my feelings out of my system.

So, I might be just a LITTLE on edge at the moment.

(My internal monologue for most of these past few weeks, more broadly years...)

Anyways, I digress, you come here because you like to read my highly unprofessional takes on pop culture and genuinely to those who have cheered me on from the beginning thanks, you guys are my prime motivators. But anyways let’s talk about all the shit I was supposed to write about these last two and a half months.

 “Birds of Prey” was a hot, but needed, mess

Earlier last month I got to see the sort of sequel to the much-maligned “Suicide Squad” in “Birds of Prey and the…waaaay too long of a title for me write here.” I had cautious optimism for it because it looked strange and off the beaten path of most comic book movies and seemed to promise at the very least a fun time at the theater but it’s still also a DCEU movie so the floor was pretty low on its possible quality as well.

In the end, the movie is kind of bit of everything; the best and worst parts of the DCEU. 

In terms of the good, it’s definitely outside the box, a sort of fem Deadpool first person story as told frenetically by Harley herself. Margot Robbie is, of course, still quite great at this role and you can tell she’s having a blast as this character. The humor is mostly good and visually the bright colors and cinematography pops on each screen and on that front there isn’t much to complain about.

But as a DCEU movie it does suffer from some narrative imbalance partially due to it’s psycho storyteller but mostly, and more than likely, due to corporate editing that probably axed an entire dance number that I was honestly looking forward to from the trailers.

(Seriously, I actually wanted to see the full unedited version of whatever hell this ended up being.)

It’s definitely in the “could’ve been better” camp of comic book movies but you know what? I’m still glad it exists. You know why? Because comic book movies dominate our blockbuster culture right now and if the genre wants to survive, at least artistically, it needs some outside the box films like this. I HATED “Joker” but I appreciate that it opened the door for stranger, more unique takes on a genre that is getting increasingly more stale. This movie falls into that unique category too.

(Also, to all the faux-intellectuals and alt-right nerds making a culture war out of “Sonic” vs “Birds of Prey” *kindly* reevaluate your lives please...)

We’re at the point now where comic book movies should be getting weirder, not more formulaic, and that means swinging for the fences even if a couple don’t quite make it out of the ballpark. If it takes a few not so stellar takes on the genre for Hollywood to greenlight a truly fantastic one I’m all for it.

In any case “Birds of Prey” doesn’t quite end nor continue the DCEU’s recent hot streak but it is enjoyable enough to where I would be more than open to a sequel. It’s worth a watch.

 The Mandalorian and The Witcher: Two shows about violent mercenaries and fatherhood

Both these shows are old news at this point, but I did want to talk a little about both for a bit if you would have me.

First, “The Mandalorian” which was Disney+’s flagship production to begin its streaming chapter late last year is definitely a more than welcome addition to the galaxy far, far away. It’s pretty easy to feel fairly jaded about Star Wars these days given how flat the new trilogy ended but for what it’s worth “The Mandalorian” was a good mix of nostalgia bait and something new and interesting for fans to chew on. Its production value is obviously top-notch, no doubt because of all the Disney money pumped into it, it’s well-acted and thrilling and fun from start to finish. It plays heavily on the genres that influenced the series, primarily westerns and old samurai flicks, and fans of those will certainly enjoy the homages to them all.

The series was something of a coming out party for Deborah Chow who directed two of the season 1’s best episodes. Her steady hand, eye for details and tributes to Asian cinema throughout really gave the series an extra kick at times and showed how Star Wars can evolve still. Chow is set to helm the upcoming “Kenobi” series and one can only hope that she *really* leans into the samurai genre for that show.

(Hopefully, there are some “Yojimbo” vibes in there somewhere...)

The Mandalorian’s best and worst parts though are its semi episodic nature making each episode easy to digest as a one-off but also lacking some narrative tension between each. It plays kind of like a Saturday Morning cartoon to both its benefit and detriment with bite-size easy to digest plots and dialogue for the viewers but not offering a ton of depth beyond that.

The Mandalorian himself is also kind of a Gary Stu. His armor is basically impenetrable and far and away the best killer onscreen typically, making more than a few action scenes lack real stakes and tension. Baby Yoda certainly helps at times to make him more vulnerable and puts him in precarious positions plenty of times but outside a few moments (mainly episode 2 and to a lesser extend the final episode) he’s just a little too overpowered to be a more interesting character.

But this show and frankly the Star Wars series as a whole is meant for kids, no matter what the neckbeards try to tell you (violence =/= adult), and that’s not necessarily a bad thing either. Plenty of kids productions can be both great and even sophisticated and while I wouldn’t say “The Mandalorian” is either of those it’s a good and fun kids show for the fans.

(And yes I’m aware that the books, some comics, and games have touched on more adult stuff, you weirdos. But how would you describe the overall tone and presumptive audience of the movies and TV series as a whole, guys??)

As far as “The Witcher” goes it also has a bit of an episodic style to it as well with an overarching, albeit, convoluted story that runs parallel to it. The first 3-4ish episodes can be classified as a quasi “Game of Thrones” clone leaning perhaps a little too heavily into the tropes of that series. Once the series finally starts leaning into its real identity, a dry-witted hack and slash fantasy, the series is much more consistent both tonally and narratively.

Henry Cavil is solid as Geralt of Rivia and the supporting cast of Joey Batey as Jaskier, Freya Allen as Ciri and even more so Anya Chalotra as Yennefer are all great in their respective roles delivering some great moments throughout the season.

(And lest you forget this earworm...)

“The Witcher’s” early season struggles keep it from being as tonally or narratively consistent as “The Mandalorian” but where the monster slayer beats the bounty hunter is that it has overall more compelling drama and has more to say, leaning much more heavily into the thematic greys of the plot. There are tons of problems with “The Witcher” on a story-telling level but you can definitely say it cares more about adding some depth in between the more pulpy aspects of the story which is something you can’t say as much for in “The Mandalorian.”

Of course, I’m partially overselling “The Witcher” a bit here, it’s not anywhere near “Game of Thrones” best (yet at least), and on the flipside one could argue that “The Mandalorian’s” more subtle sense of story-telling does its themes better. But when it comes down to these two shows you get somewhat similar story-telling ideas, mostly involving both characters and their smaller counterparts, in two very different genres with equally diverging conclusions to their respective seasons. 

(🎵 Toss an “Oof” to your Witcher...🎵)

All in all, they’re both good and worth a watch and I think they deserve a chance to evolve and hopefully showcase more of what they have to offer moving forward.

“Parasite” wins Best Picture! Many people have some hot takes, including the president...

Last month one of my favorite films of 2019 “Parasite” won Best Picture at the Oscars. It’s a movie that is becoming increasingly relevant as elites and celebrities alike are getting front of the line testing despite being asymptomatic in the middle of pandemic and think they can assuage our concerns and dread by poorly singing “Imagine” together within the comfort of their McMansions.

It’s about as a good time as any to revisit this movie, I mean where else are you going to go during this timeline, and at a later date I’ll write something more extensive about it eventually (hopefully) but first here’s a helpful video on one particular thing that came out after director Bong Joon Ho took home the night’s top honors:

 “Cats” is still a fever dream of madness

Back in late December, I watched “Cats” for science, as I had AMC A-List and a friend crazy enough to join me. I figured it would be bonkers and unlike anything I had seen before in the worst way but even then, I don’t think I was truly prepared for what I ended up seeing that fateful night.

I remember quite vividly going to the bar inside the theater and ordering a stiff drink beforehand to numb the pain and the bartender asking “So what are y’all watching tonight?” and beginning to laugh manically like an insane asylum patient at the innocuousness of the question. Walking into the theater was like that feeling you get before getting on a particularly scary-looking rollercoaster at Six Flags but instead of the pre-ride jitters eventually subsiding to the eventual fun and joy of the ride, only a deep sense of existential dread built up and sustained itself through what felt like six hours of the most baffling thing put to screen in front of my eyes ever.

(The music that played in my head as I exited the theater...)

Have any of you watched the Stanley Kubrick movie “Eyes Wide Shut” before? You know the scene when Tom Cruise is walking around in his mask observing the strange occult sex orgy going on around him at the mansion? That’s kind of what “Cats” felt like except way more terrifying, somehow MORE sexual, and definitely crazier.

(Is...this some type of...intepretative dance to summon an eldritch horror??)

There’s a voyeuristic terror that comes from sitting in that theater room as you watch bipedal humanoid looking felines dance to confusing songs about “Jelicle” cats (whatever the fuck that means) and all other manner of things that should NOT take human form throughout it’s near-endless runtime. A lot was made about Rebel Wilson and the disgusting roach people she consumes but NO ONE warned me about the frankly HORRIFYING mice children in the same scene!

(I am not perusing the internet to find that image again for y’all. I have enough nightmares each night...)

The saddest thing about the whole movie is everyone, save for Ian Mckellen who seemed to be acting as if a gun was pointing at him offscreen and Judi Dench who looked 100 percent like a geriatric in her digi fur, was giving the movie their fullest effort in what can only be described as a Titanic-sized level of hubris by all parties involved. This movie really needed a “Chaostician” involved in evaluating the production for studio heads and shareholders because there were definitely NOT enough people on this project wondering whether or not this film SHOULD exist...

(Dr. Ian Malcolm coming to Universal Pictures to access the film.)

What has “Cats” wrought upon this world? The universe has been clearly out of balance since this movie came out and while I’m not saying it’s director Tom Hooper’s fault, I’m not saying it isn’t either.

“Cats” is one of those things, much like The Matrix that cannot be simply described but must be seen to believe. It’s one of the worst things I have ever seen onscreen but with the right group of people and a few stiff drinks it’s certainly an experience you won’t forget. Consider it for your next Google Hangout during this apocalypse.

  Anyways, that about wraps up my thoughts on the last few months. Going to try to be more consistent going forward especially given how much more time I have now to write, for better and worse. But more importantly, just want to say stay safe y’all. It’s going to be a process to get through this and while things are more likely to get worse before they get better there will be a day when this all ends and some normalcy may yet return to our life but in order for us to get there we need to remain vigilant. 

So stay at home, wash your hands, and if you want to watch movies just order it online for now and we’ll just wait until aaaallll this blows over…hopefully.

Don’t panic...

[magnolia-penn]

Aizawa.Exe

Just a drabble that ended up being waaaay too long.

Warnings: Swearing, Mentions of sex, Shitty writing

Under the cut cuz it’s long af

Life has never quite gone your way. There would be high moments that came with teaching high schoolers that strove to become heroes but the loneliness was unbearable. Living in Japan away from your family and friends left a hole in your heart that only got deeper after every failed date or hookup.

You had often joked about your high standards with your colleagues at UA, even to the point of openly wishing for a Build Your Own Boyfriend website. Everyone had laughed but continued to reprimand you for having your standards too high.

It was on your walk home that the ad had first caught your attention.

“Are your standards too high?” The smooth female advert cut through your epic jam session. “Well, do we have a solution for you.”

The advertisement had listed off a website that would allow you to custom order an intelligent robot that would learn and grow to your needs.

You blew it off as clickbait and skipped the ad as soon as you could. You finished your walk home and promptly took a shower. A certain ash blond in your heroics class had chased another student into the forest and you had to chase the both of them down.

As you settled into your nightly routine, you found it hard to keep your mind from wandering back to the ad, imagining the sort of man you’d order.

‘He’d have to be at least six feet tall and handsome as the devil. Hmm, punctual and unafraid to sleep until noon with a sense of humor.’

You continued to play with that idea through the evening and into your slumber, dreaming of what he might look like and how he would feel.

The next morning, you were awoken by a very flustered and excited Nemuri, who let herself in again.

“Y/N! Y/N! Y/N! HAVE YOU SEEN THIS!” The R rated hero shoved her phone into your face before you had even opened your eyes to process what was going on.

Her web browser was open to the website you heard about yesterday.

“YOU CAN CUSTOM ORDER A ROBOT BISHIE BOYFRIEND! THEY EVEN HAVE A COLONEL SANDERS!”

“Nem, you’re an absolute horndog and you don’t need a bishie boyfriend Colonel Sanders. What time is it?” You pulled some hair that had stuck you face via drool from your mouth and stretched.

“ITS 5:45 AM!”

“NEMURI WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!”

You wrestled her into your guest bedroom and pushed an old wardrobe infront of the door to keep her in while you finished getting your beauty sleep.

When 7:00 rolled around, you released your friend and listened to her rant about the website over breakfast.

“Just look at it, Y/N. Please~” You swiped her phone from her hand and scrolles through the other tabs that held customization screens.

“Oh lord.” They had an entire tab for just his manhood.

“Pretty great, huh?”

The idea of customizing a boyfriend almost seemed taboo to you.

“It sounds like it could be clickbait or a way to steal your credit card information.” You returned her phone and turned to the stove to flip the egg you were cooking.

“Uh huh. And what if I told its not?” Nemuri pushes her chest against your back.

“Get off me, and how?” You gently pushed her away from you.

“I ordered one. He came last week.” The smirk she gave proved she was not kidding. “He’s absolutely perfect. After classes today, you can come and see him.”

She really did it? Strangely enough, you’re not surprised she did that.

“Wait, what about Snipe?” You thought everything was going smooth between them.

“Well, our relationship just was kind of a blur between dating and friends with benefits. Our sex was more chill and relaxed then it ever was actually passionate.” Nemuri reached into a cabinet and grabbed a plate.

You nodded in understanding. The majority of your dates ended up in friendships then actual relationships.

“And when I heard the ad for the boyfriend builder, he told me to get one. He said, and I quote, ‘You should get him. He’d make a better relationship. But if y'all ever need a real fuck, you know where to find me,’. AND I DID!”

Nemuri danced around with her egg on a plate before she sat down.

“Have you done anything with it yet?” You sat across from her and tilted your head in curiosity.

“Oh yes. We’ve been on dates and Hizashi is the absolute sweetest. I can’t wait to ravage him.”

“Hizashi?” It had a name?

She nodded. “The website has a name generator that you can use. They base their names off of the set personality. It chose Hizashi Yamada.”

“He sounds sweet.”

“Yep! He’s really loud though. They grow with you, so it’s understandable.”

You almost choked on your egg hearing that. “They’re practically sentient?!”

Nemuri nodded and quickly finished her egg. She washed her plate and announced that she had to go get ready for school. You followed her words and proceeded to get dressed. You lay everything out in the evening, so it didn’t take long to get ready. 

As you ran a comb through your hair, you opened the website on your phone. Deciding that there isn’t much to lose, you began to fill the order form out.

Six feet tall, Long Dark Hair, Just Enough Stubble To Be Sexy. The list went on. You managed to fill it out just in time to leave.

The daily trek to UA was as boring as ever, until you heard an strange noise. An animal in distress. Choosing that you’d rather be late to work then leave an animal hurt in the streets, you followed the noise. It lead to deep in an alley not far off your route.

You sifted through some garbage bags until you found the source of the noise. It was a mother cat with two little kittens. They were sickly thin and clearly struggling to survive. 

Evaluating your options, you came to the conclusion that instead of wasting more time to bring them to the vet all the way across town, you used your quirk to convince the mama cat to let you pick her and her babies up and quickly called up Recovery Girl to cash in a favor she owed you.

She agreed to help the cats and keep them in her office until the end of the day so you could take them home. Rushing to her office and then to your class left you breathless and dead on the floor in front of your students.

“Um, Miss. L/n? Are you alright?” Your problem student, Izuku Midoriya, asked.

“DANDY! JUST DANDY!” You yelled through the muffle of your hair and the floor. “I saved three cats from right outside my house, which is a half an hour walk from here, ran here, ran to Recovery Girl’s office, then up two flights of stairs to get here. I’m pooped.”

You got up and brushed yourself off. After apologizing to your class, you read off the daily announcements. You handed out graded papers and assisted students where they needed it until it was time for their first class of the day.

Using your free time, you stopped in to actually chat with Recovery Girl and check on the cats.

“They were malnourished and most likely wouldn’t of survived another day out there. Both kittens are sick but should recover swiftly, and the mom is already up and walking.” She explained.

“Have you figured out their genders?” You planned on keeping them and wished to find names for them as soon as possible.

“Ones a girl and the other is a boy. Are you going to keep them?”

You shook your head yes and squatted down to pet the mama who came up for some love. “I like the name Kayuma for the mother, but I still need some time for the babies. Maybe I’ll ask my class.”

Recovery Girl agreed and wrote some notes on the cats. You picked Kayuma up and pulled your phone from your pocket. You wanted to get a picture with your new cat, but your attention was pulled to a notification that went unnoticed.

Your order has been shipped! The package should arrive by 4pm!

“It’s already been shipped?” You wondered out loud.

“What’s been shipped?” You jumped at the new voice. Toshinori Yagi.

“Ah, some pet supplies for the cats. I ordered some after reading the announcements.” Technically not a lie because you really did.

“Oh! Already thinking about the newest additions to your family, how lovely.” Toshinori put a hand on your shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze. “If you ever need any help or a cat-sitter, you can always ask me. My master loved cats so I know a thing or two.”

“Thanks for the offer, Tosh. You’ll be the first I call.”

The bell rung signaling the start of lunch and had the three of you scrambling to prepare for the second half of the day.

A few brief meetings and some class prep later, the day had finally ended. You sent out a quick email to your students asking about names for the cats and packed up your stuff, ready to go home and meet your new boyfriend.

“Hey! Y/n! Wait up!” Nemuri bounced up to you and clung to your arm. “Are you going to come over tonight?”

“Um…. No. I have the cats and I have to get everything ready for them.” You rubbed the back of your neck sheepishly, hoping she wouldn’t catch on.

“Uh huh. How about Hizashi and I come by to meet your new boy?” Nemuri placed her hand on her hip knowing full well that you weren’t paying attention to what she said.

“Oh yes, that would be lovely.” It took a bit before you processed what she said. “NEMURI, WAIT! THE CATS! I THOUGHT YOU MEANT THE CATS!”

“NOPE! WE’RE COMING OVER!” Nemuri skipped away before you could get a word in otherwise, leaving you alone and quite exasperated.

You picked up the cats and trekked home, a feat easier said than done with three now energetic cats in your arms. You pushed the door of your house open with your foot. 

Sighing, you let the cats roam for a bit as you set up the litter box and feeders from previous pets. It was almost four and the nerves were getting to you. Watching the new kittens romp around the living room while Kayuma lied on a pillow by the heating vent.

‘I hope my bot likes cats. I want so many.’ You didn’t get much time to think about your new boyfriend due to Nemuri and Hizashi bursting in at exactly four.

“WHERE IS HEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!” Nemuri squealed as soon as she entered the living room.

“Hey! He hasn’t arrived yet. Do you see a large crate?” Hizashi placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her from pouncing on you. “I apologize for her, she’s terribly excited.”

“Oh yeah, I know. She’s literally vibrating with excitement. I don’t think she’s calmed down since high school.” You stood from the couch where you had placed yourself in preparation for her outburst. “My name is Y/n Y/L. Nem sings praises of your name.”

“I’m Hizashi Yamada. She speaks about you quite often.” He extended his hand and you took it.

Your eyes widened at the warmth of his hand. You weren’t expecting him to feel so…

“Real? Is that what you were thinking?” Hizashi’s words startled you from your thoughts. “It’s always that look when people know I’m a robot.”

“I hope I didn’t offend you! I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“Nah, it’s fine. Better to get the shock over with me then with him.” Hizashi pointed to the door a second before a knock resonated through off of the front door. 

You walked to the door and opened it up. A beautiful woman was standing next to a six-foot large wooden crate. She resembled Nemuri.

“Hello! My name is Kiara! Thank you for ordering a Boyfriend! May we come in?” You nodded and open the door wider.

She picked up the crate with a trolley and rolled it into the house. She wheeled it into the living room and stopped in surprise when she saw Nemuri and Hizashi.

“Well, hello! How have you two been faring?” She set the crate down and stepped up to Hizashi. “You’re looking good.”

“We’ve been fine. How about you?” Hizashi responded.

“Oh, you know, delivering joy and boyfriends. My life and passion.” Kiara patted his shoulder and turned back to you. “Hizashi is probably one of my best. I’m so proud he got placed with my amazing cousin.”

Nemuri blushed and buried her face in Hizashi’s neck.

“Do you… Do you make them all?” You looked to the crate and to Hizashi.

“Yep! I hand make all of them! My quirk makes it super easy to finish quickly!” She clapped her hands together and her expression turned serious. “But enough about me. It’s now about you and your future!”

She quickly walked over to the crate and pulled the front off, revealing your new bot.

No, Boyfriend.

He was everything you imagined him to be. He was just right. He was perfect. He was…

NAKED

You quickly moved to throw a blanket over him while Nemuri cackled like a witch.

“Hah! You should’ve seen the look on your face! Oh, I should’ve gotten a picture!”

“YOU NEVER METIONED THAT THEY COME NAKED!”

“i DIDN’T FEEL THE NEED TOO!”

With that exchange, the two pro heroes pounced on each other in fight of friendly anger. With the attention on them, no one noticed the man in the crate open his eyes to the harsh light of the world. 

He looked down and noticed the blanket draped haphazardly across his body before readjusting it around his waist and stepping out of his container. 

A brief glance around with apathetic eyes shown that the room he was in was loud and obnoxious. Two people stood idly by as another two women fought on the floor. He padded up to the group undetected and observed the others in the room. With every attempt to tear his attention away from your form, the pull to you was overpowering.

Everything about you was mesmerizing. From your H/c hair to the gentle pull of your clothing around your curves. He was enthralled, absolutely enchanted.

“What the fuck is going on here. You two are squealing like pigs in the slaughter.” His mouth moved on its own, bringing the attention to him.

The look in our eyes is something that he’ll treasure forever. It was sweet and full of excitement and love. How he knew this, the answer never came to him, but he knew it was love and all he wanted was to see that look on your face forever.

“Oh! He’s awake! How are you feeling?” The woman in the business suit asked.

“Tired.” As much as he tried, he could not pry his eyes away from you. “Yet, I feel so full of energy.”

The only other male nodded. “Yep. When I first woke up, I felt like that.”

He cast his gaze to the male for as long as he could before his eyes trailed back to you. He smirked and took a step closer to you.

“Are you like us?”

You shook your head ‘no’, “Sadly, I am not. But I promise to love you like we are the same.”

“What’s his name?” The bluette asked suddenly. “Didja get one picked out from the site or did you have one in mind?”

With their eyes on you, it hit you like a truck when you realized that not only did you not have a name picked out for him, you forgot to click the enabler for the name generator.

“Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit,”  you dragged out. “I was so busy with classes and the cats that I forgot. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh. I’m a shitty girlfriend.”

“Cats?” He asked.

“Yeah. Three cats. They’re around here somewhere.” You flopped dramatically onto your couch and buried your face in your arms.

“Well, we could help. I made him and I know Hizashi’s creative. Not too sure about Midnight though.” Kiara suggested.

“Thanks Kiara. Nem, don’t take any offense to that. She doesn’t know you the way I do.” You peeked at your friends through your hair and noticed that your boyfriend has disappeared. Probably to find the cats.

“She’s right though.” Hizashi snickered.

Nemuri tackled him to the ground and all you could do was watch while they wrestled on the ground.

Suddenly, a knock at the door made you all jump.

“Shit, who is that?” You cursed before standing to get to the door when you heard it open.

A faint, “Um, hello sir. Is Y/n home?” was heard and then some shuffling. Toshinori.

“You’re fucked.” Nemuri said from the floor.

“Yeah, no shit.”

Not a second later, Toshinori followed him into the room where you all were. Thankfully he had found some clothes.

“Hey, Tosh~” You tried to say as casual as you could. “What brings you to this part of town?”

“Y/n, I live down the street from you and you left your papers back at U.A.” Toshinori held up the stack of paper you were certain you grabbed. “And I think you might have mine.”

“Oh yep! Probably. I was so frazzled and excited about the cats I must’ve grabbed the wrong stack. Here, come with me. They’re still in my bag.” You lead Toshinori into the hall where your bag was.

“The cats or him?” He asked and you choked on air. 

“W-wait. You’ve got the wrong idea.”

“Uh huh. And what of that giant crate in your living room? It looks suspiciously like the one Nemuri threw out when she met her boyfriend.” He cocked an eyebrow at you. 

“Ugh. You’re a dumbass but you’re too smart.” You looked around despite the fact everyone in the house already knew. “He’s a bot I ordered.”

“Do you like him?” He asked.

“Huh? I’m not sure.” You pulled your bag off of the hook and started rifling through it. “I’m definitely attracted to him, but feelings will take time.” 

“Yet I can see the empathy in your eyes. There is some infatuation there.” 

“LEAVE ME ALONE! STOP BEING SMART!” You found the papers and checked to see if they were his. “Here. Do you want to meet him? I was going to have everyone stay for dinner to get to know each other.”

Toshinori nodded and quickly tucked his papers in his bag.

You walked back into the living room and the sight made your heart swell. All three of the cats had curled up on his lap while he sat on the couch between Kiara and Hizashi as Nemuri brushed his hair. They were quietly chatting about the cats that paused when we came in.

“Didja get it all figured out?” Nemuri asked.

“Yep. And you’re all staying for dinner. No questions.” You crossed your arms. “And we have a big problem. His name.”

“Oh. We handled that already.” Hizashi said. “Nem emailed your class asking about real names for the cats and then we gathered the responses and let him choose.”

“And?”

“Shota Aizawa.”

That name sent fuzzy feelings through you. It sounded perfect to you.

“Shota Aizawa.” You repeated. It rolled off the tongue beautifully.

“That’s my name. Don’t wear it out. I just got it.” Shota quipped.

Nemuri coughed to hide a laugh and spit out her two-cents, “She’ll definitely be wearing it out tonight.”

You chucked a decorative pillow at her and went for the tackle.

As the two of you wrestled on the floor and the other three attempted to pry you two apart, Shota couldn’t help but to smile at the new family he was gifted.

[bpdanakins]

I was tagged by @apple-grass-and-smiles to do an otp tag thing and I’m already having a crisis bc I don’t generally have one single true pairing? The struggles of being a multishipper. Here goes.

Rules: Pick 10 of your OTPs from different fandoms without reading the questions and then answer them. Then tag 10 other people to do the same.

Shepard/Liara T’soni (Mass Effect)

Lavellan/Solas (Dragon Age: Inquisition)

Morgana Pendragon/Guinevere (BBC’s Merlin)

Clarke Griffin/Lexa (The 100, and yes don’t @/me I know)

Max Caulfield/Chloe Price (Life is Strange)

Kassandra/Roxana (Assassin’s Creed Odyssey)

Corvo Attano/Jessamine Kaldwin (Dishonored)

Nathan Drake/Elena Fisher (Uncharted)

Dragonborn/Serana/Aela (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, because I can)

Senua/Happiness

(this took waaaay too long)

Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6?

Right away? I kinda had Kassandra sleeping her way across Ancient Greece with almost all the ladies (caught on to Diona right away though and I’m forever glad about that), so it was always going to happen. But as for why I see them as more of a relationship... idk. They’re just really sweet, and I enjoyed Roxana’s quests.

Have you ever read a fic about 2?

Yes. A lot of it. Oops.

Has a picture of 4 ever been your screensaver/profile pic/Tumblr?

Nope. I did, however, get an art print as gift once from a friend, with Clarke and a bi flag and Lexa with a rainbow flag. It’s this piece to be exact, though they don’t seem to sell it anymore? The artist does have a ton of other lgbtq+ ship art on their redbubble page (including other Clexa pieces, and they also did some of my fave Finnpoe pieces which I did not know was by the same artist, so there you go) if you’re interested.

If 7 were to suddenly break up today, what would your reaction be?

I mean.... Corvo is technically a widower.... so we’ve already had the tragedy start within the first ten minutes of the first game.

Why is 1 so important?

Because it was my first Mass Effect ship, because Liara is so cute and bad ass and just!!! The journey they go on? My heart. I love them so much. Also a Shiara fic was the first ship I read on ao3 a long time ago so that’s also a bonus.

Which one has the strongest bond?

Pricefield. While they all have amazing bonds in their own ways, Max literally bent time and space to keep Chloe safe on multiple occasions. She didn’t even recognize Chloe right away, but her first use of her powers was to save her best friend. Chloe would also literally throw down for Max at any point, and she talks about how having Max back in her life for a single week made her feel the happiest she’d been in a long time, and that’s despite all of the shit they went through together. Like!!!!!! Please 

How many times have you read/watched 10′s fandom?

I literally still watch the trailers/documentary for Hellblade on a frequent basis. You can guess from there.

Which ship has lasted the longest?

Hmmm. Jess and Corvo were together for about 14 years, and Nate and Elena were together for.... also a long time. idk at what point UC4′s epilogue takes place so I’m just gonna assume they’ve also been together for a long time by then too lmao. idk man

How many times, if ever, has 6 broken up?

I mean.... whether or not you romance Roxana is up to you, and then there’s that uncomfy mess pulled in the DLCs that I’m not going into bc Kassandra is a lesbian bye. 

Point being, idk?

If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive: 2 or 8?

TOUGH QUESTION. Solas has godlike powers so that would give them an obviously undeniable edge, but Nate and Elena have literally already fought zombies, soooo... both.

Did 7 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason?

Yep!! Jessamine was an Empress and Corvo her royal bodyguard. Shouldn’t have entirely bothered hiding it tho considering Emily apparently has 0 issue announcing to the world she’s Corvo’s daughter by the first scene of DH2 lmaaoo.

Is 4 still together?

We don’t talk about this. It’s too depressing.

Is 10 canon?

Relatively. By the end of the game, she has come into acceptance of her pain & grief, but like.... she’s not insta cured or something. And then in Hellblade 2 it seems like she’s ready to fuck everyone up so.... no, it’s not canon enough :(

If all 10 ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win?

I’ll have to agree that it’d depend. If things like magic, biotics, the Thu’um or Max’s powers, etc, are included uhhh... well, that makes it super tough. Again, Solas has godlike magic at his hands and can turn everyone to stone without trying now apparently, but Max can literally rewind time, the DB has their own form of godlike powers (Tiber legit remade the geography of an entire province, and that’s just his accomplishments), Kassandra is a demigod, Morgana one of the most powerful sorceresses ever, Serana’s a powerful vampire, Aela a dang werewolf, and Liara one of the strongest biotics. Senua also has Gramr.

Take all of that away though and... still kinda tough. Kass, Roxana, Lexa, and Senua are all really strong warriors. Corvo’s an elite assassin, Aela is a good hunter, Shepard a soldier who passed some of the hardest levels of training.... dude, this is too hard. Who tf knows.

Has anyone ever tried to sabotage 5?

Several by killing one or both off, and time itself tried as well.

Do you spend hours a day going through 3′s tumblr tag?

No. I don’t often venture into tags tbh.

If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break forever or else she’d break them all up, which ship would you SINK?

Morgana and Gwen since they’re not even canon and also the show went icky on Morgana in the end anyways.

--

This was too hard. It was hard to think of/choose 10 ships, it was hard to look up a bunch of info, etc. It also took me too long lmaaoo.

I tag uhhh @mariaromanovs, @twilightofthe, @purplehawke, @serkonans, honestly anyone who wants to? If you want to do it, I tag you!! If you don’t want to and I @’d you, feel free to ignore and forgive me <3

[ahiddenpath]

My Favorite Writing Stuff

One of the best things about writing is that all you need is a pen and paper!  But we all have our favorite tools and luxuries, and I thought it might be fun to talk about mine below the cut.  Lotsa pics, long post.

Word Processors

Scrivener

The single writing item I use most is my word processor, Scrivener, by Literature and Latte.  At some point waaaaaay back in 2012, I found myself writing Growing Up with You in Microsoft Word...  And having to wait ten seconds for the screen to adjust and load new text as I scrolled.  It was just too danged long for the program to handle.  Just reading my manuscript was a nightmare, let alone copying and pasting to move text, shuffle paragraphs, etc.  Making a new doc for each chapter quickly became a clunky chore.

THEN I FOUND SCRIVENER, AND IT’S THE BEST.

Scrivener is... not very user friendly; there’s definitely a learning curve.  But it was immediately so much better for writing long fiction than Word that I bought a book on the program and read it from cover to cover, which...  I don’t think I’ve ever done before.  That’s how much of a game changer this was.

The feature I rely on most is the binder.

This is the binder for Four Years, which currently has...  Forty-eight chapters.  I corralled the chapters into two folders, one for the first year of college (1), and one for the second (2).  

If I click folder 1, all of the chapters appear, each snug in their own folder.  Once the Scrivener file loads, there is no further loading time.  Each folder can be moved by clicking and dragging, as can each text file inside each folder.  FREEDOM!

This feature alone was worth the price of the program.  They offer a free trial, so please check it out if you’re interested!

Portable Word Processors

I’ve mentioned these before, but I have two portable gadgets that allow me to write on the go, distraction free.

Alpha Smart Neo 2

This might look like the baby of a toddler’s toy computer and a keyboard, but it’s actually my baby.

Just kidding!  Sort of!  The Alpha Smart Neo 2 is a portable word processor that boots up in a second, is powered by three AA batteries for eons, and weighs about 2 pounds.  They are no longer in production (which is a crime), but there are oodles available on Ebay for about $20-30.  

(I used to own and talk about my Alpha Smart 3000.  The Alpha Smart Neo 2 is the latest model before the company shut down, and the keyboard is nicer; it’s quieter and easier on the fingers).

I honestly can’t say enough about this device.  I rarely draft on a computer anymore; it’s just too easy to find yourself surfing the web, falling down a research vortex, or even reading your manuscript instead of writing.  Alpha Smarts can remember what you wrote until you delete it.  That’s it.  That’s all they do.  It’s beautiful.

I write about 800 words/hr on a computer.  I write about 1,500 words/hr on an Alpha Smart.  Distractions are so, so real.

When you’re ready to port your writing from your Alpha Smart to your word processor, all you have to do is connect a printer cable to your Alpha Smart, then plug the usb end into your computer.  Open your word processor, turn on your Alpha Smart, select the file you want to transfer, and hit send.  If you forget any of this, it’s written on the back of the Alpha Smart.

I know that no one should blame their success or failure on their tools, but...  I wouldn’t be able to write nearly as much without my Alpha Smart.  And if you ever do writing meet ups, you’ll be the only person who isn’t fighting for a power outlet!  It also fits easily into a tote bag or backpack.

Oh, Alpha Smart Neo 2.  My partner and friend!

Freewrite

The Freewrite by Astrohaus is... um.  Well, it’s a lot like the Alpha Smart Neo 2, except that it’s waaaay more expensive, much harder to use, and has terrible firmware.

There are cool things about it, for sure!  For one, it has this weird...  Pseudo typewriter feel.  It’s much larger and heavier than an Alpha Smart, and I’m not sure that I actually consider it portable...  But the thick, angled base practically functions as a lap desk.  It’s comfortable to use and has a nice mechanical keyboard.

It has wifi capability, so you can send drafts directly to your dropbox/cloud/email, no cords or transfers needed.  The screen is an e-ink scree, like a Kindle Paperwhite, easy on the eyes and readable in the sun.  It’s also backlit, which is the one major win over the Alpha Smart.

I bought mine used off ebay for a fraction of the list price (this thing is NOT worth $600 on any planet, goodness gracious mercy dang!  I paid about $180), and, um...  I still don’t know if it was worth it, not when I can buy an Alpha Smart Neo 2 for $30 tops.  I mean, I like the e-ink and the backlit screen, but...  There’s a lag between typing and the words populating on the screen.  There are no arrows to fix a typo.  I had to send 10 emails back and forth to tech support to get it updated and working.  It was not broken, and I understood all the directions...  It’s just god awful firmware.  I also lost a draft because it wipes your device if you open their Sprinter program while using your Freewrite.  

I still use it, though!  The tactile sensation is really nice, the keys make a satisfying clickety clackety, the E-ink screen is lovely, I adore the option to write in a not-that-well-lit room, and the wifi transfer is faster than my Alpha Smart’s wired method.  But I still can’t recommend it as long as Alpha Smart Neo 2s are available, not unless you’re some combination of the following: a writing nut who writes so gosh dang much that these toys are worth it, someone who is big on tactile sensation, someone who likes hipster stuff, or someone who would love an Alpha Smart but can’t read the electronic screen well.  If this is you, make sure you also have a strong grasp on how to talk to and understand tech support, because you will need them.

Just never ever EVER open Sprinter...

Notebooks

Leuchtturm1917, hard cover, A5, dotted

MAY I INTRODUCE YOU TO MY LOVE, THE LEUCHTTURM NOTEBOOK.

WHERE DO I EVEN START.

The Leuchtturm is...  Just the best.  The hard cover takes abuse well, stickers hold onto it nicely, it has two ribbon bookmarks and an elastic closure, there’s a folder attached to the back inside cover...  The dot version is unobtrusive and encourages smaller writing, which helps the notebook last.  And it is available in a rainbow of colors!

The paper is lovely, the pages are numbered, and IT HAS AN INDEX.

I’m a scientist, and working in a Leuchtturm is just like working in a fancy, expensive lab notebook.  The set up is done already, man.  You just gotta jot down what pages contain what.  IT’S SO ORGANIZED, with almost zero effort!  Mi amor.

Sure, I could make an index page and number all of my pages manually...  But I’ve met myself.  I won’t do it.  When you combine all of these lovely features, you have one unbeatable notebook.

Plus, they’re easy to obtain in the states!  I order them off Amazon or buy them at my local Barnes & Nobles.

Midori MD Notebook, A5, grid

The Midori has even nicer quality paper than the Leuchtturm, but the cover can’t take abuse, and it lacks the nice features.  I truly appreciate the paper quality, but the other features bring me back to my Leuchtturms every time.

It’s a Japanese item and is more difficult to import to the states.  You can get them off Amazon, though!

Pens

I use Uni-ball Signo 207 gel pens.  They write comfortably, and using them feels satisfying.  They should be available in most Walmart/Target type stores, at least in the states!  

It should be noted that I’m just not a pen buff.  I tried fountain pens, and it was more trouble than it was worth for me.

Folios/Traveler’s Notebooks

Okay, so you found the perfect notebook!  Wanna make it SUPER DUPER FANCY PANTS?!  Well, you could try a traveler’s notebook.  

I only learned what a traveler’s notebook is about a year ago, so if you’re also in the dark...  It’s a leather cover that holds notebooks inside with elastic.  I own these chic sparrows, one for my Midori notebook (or whatever notebook I’m using at the time), and one for my journal.

My full name is etched into them, so please pardon my censorship XD

The chic sparrow traveler’s notebooks are so elegant and decadent and...  I won’t lie, I literally move one or both around the house with me, just so I can look at them.  

The one on the left is a Mr. Darcy deluxe, size A5, in the Wickham color.  The one on the right is an Enchanted Woods deluxe, size A5, in the Elderwood color.

They have lots of pockets on the inside, a pen loop, and elastics to hold multiple notebooks.  This one is strung with a Midori notebook.  I also have a smaller B6 one that I use as a wallet!  It holds a small notebook, so I can write down those ideas that always happen when I’m out and don’t have paper.  The pockets hold IDs, credit cards, and cash.

It’s just this... magical, opulent item.  While it’s likely the least practical thing on this list, it’s very special to me.

Lap Desks

I HAVE A HARRY POTTER RAVENCLAW STORAGE DESK FROM POTTERY BARN AND I FEEL LIKE A WITCH WHEN I USE IT.

Oh dear, I took a terrible picture, it looks so lovely in person.  

The top can slide in both directions, revealing enough storage for several A5 notebooks, pens, and more.  It’s a great way to cart your stuff into your favorite cozy nook for a writing session.  Plus, you’ll feel like a Hogwarts student!  It’s available in all four house designs, plus a Hogwarts crest version.

Pottery Barn puts these on sale occasionally.  I’d aim for 25% off before buying.

My Writing Bag

I decked out a tote bag in writing pins to carry my Alpha Smart, thesaurus, a notebook, and pens.  You can use any bag, as long as it accommodates what you need!  Here are my fave sources for writing-related pins:

Literary Emporium, who makes my favorite pin, “Still I Rise,” a Maya Angelou quote.  They have the most gorgeous pins.

When life gives you lemons, read them, advice for the ages

And fandom:

Digivice pin

My beloved Sailor Moon pin, the loveliest pin I’ve ever seen (not shown because it lives on my Sailor Moon jacket!).  All of the inner senshi are available!

THAT’S ALL, THAT WAS SO MUCH.  Please let me know if you try any of these out!

[bentaylorrogerhardy]

Road Trippin’

Joe Mazzello! x Reader!

Summary: What better way to celebrate you and Joe’s one year anniversary than with a cross-country road trip? From California to Maine, you wouldn’t want to commemorate one year of love any other way than carpool karaoke, snacks, little towns in the middle of nowhere, and the love of your life.

Word count: 5,456 (it’s a long one, so get comfy)

Warnings: fluff so sweet you’ll get a cavity; implied sex

A/N: I’ve been in my Joe feelings lately and this is what came out of that. I also don’t know exactly how major league baseball games go, so I tried my best. Enjoy!! (gif credit: @samanthabarks)

*Sunday morning, 7AM*

“Is this the last bag?” You asked, tossing it into the trunk of the car, 

“Believe so,” Joe said, standing there with his hands on his hips. It was you and Joe’s one year anniversary, and to celebrate you two decided to go on a cross-country road trip. No specific destination in mind, just wherever the open roads took you. Joe shut the trunk of the car and wrapped an arm around your waist,

“I love you,” he said, placing a kiss to the top of your head,

“I love you, too. Now,” you said, getting loose from his grip, “let’s go! I’m excited.”

“Happy one year,” Joe smiled, kissing you and then opening the passenger door for you and shutting it behind you, then walking over to the drivers side, “let’s have some fun.”

*Two Hours In, 9AM*

“I think I grabbed enough snacks,” Joe said, standing by the candy aisle of a small gas station the two of you had stopped at, arms full of bottled soda, chips, popcorn, candy; any snack that the gas station had, he was holding in his arm load.

“Ya think?” You laughed, shaking your head as you stirred some sugar into your coffee, “we’re gonna make other stops, Joe.”

“I know, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared,” he said, watching as you stirred in some sugar to the cup of coffee you had made him. The two of you headed up to the register to pay, then headed back out to the car, onto your next destination.

*Point Reyes Station, California; 3PM*

Obviously, the two of you couldn’t start a cross-country road trip without starting off in your home state. About six hours north of Los Angeles was Point Reyes Station, a small seaside town. You both figured the little detour couldn’t hurt, there was no rush for you to finish your escapade.

“This is so cute!” You marveled at the site of a small white lighthouse on the top of a cliff by the shore, the waves crashing against the side. It was a beautiful day, the sun shining, wind lightly blowing so it wasn’t too hot, either; and you had the love of your life by your side. You and Joe walked hand in hand down the steps closer to the lighthouse. Not many people were there, so it was almost like it was just the two of you. When you reached the end of the stairs, you walked over to the side of the lighthouse where there was a fence. Joe leaned against it, wrapping an arm around you as the two of you looked out at the sea,

“It’s beautiful,” you sighed in amazement, leaning into him, your head falling onto his shoulder,

“Not as beautiful as you,” he said, making you blush. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone, “let’s take a picture.”

He opened the camera app and turned the two of you around, so the sea and lighthouse were in the background. You flashed a broad smile, your hand resting on Joe’s chest as he showed off his cheesy little smile that you love so much, taking the picture.

“We’re so cute,” you awed at the photo, causing Joe to let out a small chuckle.

“I think so,” he said, then giving you a quick peck on the lips, “now, onto our next stop?”

“Absolutely.”

*Salt Lake City, Utah; Monday morning, 2AM*

About eleven hours after leaving California, Joe decided now was a good time to stop and get something to eat.

“Joseph, it’s two in the morning. Everywhere is probably closed,” you yawned, rubbing your eyes. You had tried to get a little bit of sleep, but sleeping in the car was never your forte.

“I’m sure somewhere is open,” he said, getting off of the interstate and onto the main road, “if you see anything of interest, let me know.”

“Mhmm,” you groaned, laying your head against the window, pulling the blanket you had up in by your face. As he drove down the empty road, you noticed a bright, neon sign glowing in the distance.

DINER/OPEN 24 HOURS

“There!” you nearly shouted, jerking your head up and pointed in the direction,

“What did I tell you?” he chuckled, turning into the parking lot, “knew there was something open.”

“Right as always,” you said, yawning again and stepping out of the car. Joe walked around to your side of the car, taking your hand and leading you up to the door. Stepping inside, it was like you were immediately taken back to the 1950’s; Elvis was playing from the jukebox in the corner, black and white checkered tiles, old 45 records and pictures of old cars decorated the walls, and shiny, red booths lined the whole diner. It was ‘seat yourself’, so you two picked a booth in the back corner for some ‘privacy’, even though you were the only people there besides one waitress and the cooks,

“What can I get for you?” the waitress asked, notepad in hand,

“Umm...can we get some coffee, two orders of pancakes, two orders of bacon, two orders of hashbrowns, and two orders of scrambled eggs?” Joe asked, not even opening the menu, the waitress quickly jotted everything down and took it to the kitchen,

“Babe, we should share a milkshake,” you said, leaning back in the booth and stretching, “snap a cute photo.”

“Are you even gonna want a milkshake after we eat all that food?” He chuckled, reaching across the table and grabbing your hand,

“Absolutely,” you laughed, giving his hand a gentle squeeze, “I can always go for a milkshake.” About 20 minutes later, your waitress came back and dropped off all the food, and before you could even get a word out, Joe was scarfing it down like he hadn’t eaten in years.

“Oh my god, babe, slow down,” you laughed, cutting up your pancake,

“I’m starving!” He mumbled with a mouthful of food, making you laugh again,

“You’re ravenous,” you said, shaking your head as you watched lovely boyfriend gobbled up all of his food, then leaned back in defeat a few minutes after.

“Shouldn’t have eaten so fast, lovey,” you said, taking your last bite of egg and setting the plate aside.

“How was everything?” Your waitress asked, picking up the empty plates,

“Delicious,” Joe sighed, rubbing his full stomach,

“Can we get a milkshake, please? Chocolate?” You asked,

“Sure thing,” the waitress said, jotting it down then walking away. Joe let out a big yawn, then stretched, leaning back into the booth.

“So,” he started, leaning forward and resting his head in his hands, “how’s it been dealing with me for a whole year?”

“I love every second of it,” you smiled, “wouldn’t want to deal with anyone else.”

“Me, either,” he said, flashing that award-winning smile that you loved so much. The waitress brought the milkshake over to the table, dropping off two straws along with it.

“Did you bring your medicine?” you whispered, opening one of the straws and sticking it in the milkshake.

“Yes, love,” he chuckled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a Lactaid pill, downing it with the remainder of his coffee. He unwrapped and dropped the straw into the milkshake, as well, and both of you took a sip, giggling away like two little kids who had massive crushes on each other,

“Look at us, being all cliche; sharing a milkshake in a diner,” you laughed. It was cliche, but that’s what you and Joe loved. Matching tee shirts, eating spaghetti Lady and the Tramp style, and now sharing a milkshake; everything. After the two of you downed the rest of the milkshake, Joe paid the bill, leaving tip money on the table, and then you were off for your next destination.

*Interstate 15, Utah; Monday morning, 6AM*

“I’m not saying that I don’t like them,” you stated, “I just think NSYNC is better.”

“Take it back,” Joe said. After leaving the diner, Joe insisted that the two of you listen to Backstreet Boys until you reached whatever destination you chose.

“I will not take it back!” you laughed, playfully slapping his arm, “you REALLY think Backstreet is better?”

“I don’t think so, (Y/N). I know so,” he said, “there’s a whole debate about it in the movie I wrote and directed.”

“Really? Never seen it,” you smirked. Of course, you had seen it. It was one of the first things the two of you watched when you first started dating.

“Some girlfriend I have,” he chuckled, shaking his head. You laughed and reached over, resting your hand on his thigh,

“You know I love ya,” you said, flipping through your phone to pick a song to put on.

“Baaaabe, change it!” Joe whined as Tearin’ Up My Heart by NSYNC started playing.

“IT’S TEARIN’ UP MY HEART WHEN I’M WITH YOU,” you belted out the lyrics, laughing at Joe’s horrified expression, “BUT WHEN WE ARE APART, I FEEL IT, TOO.” The song continued to play, and you continued belting out every word. When it ended, Joe let out a sigh of relief.

“Now, can you PLEASE put on Backstreet Boys?” he begged, and you happily obliged. I Want It That Way started playing through the car, and Joe’s whole face lit up,

“You are,” he sang, caressing your cheek with his free hand, “my fire. The one desire. Believe, when I say…”

“I want it that waaaay!” you sang back. For the next three and a half minutes, the two of you sang along to the song, the happiest of smiles on both of your faces.

“What song next?” you asked, scrolling through your list of music.

“Put some old school Britney on,” Joe said, nodding.

“Oooh, good idea,” you said, immediately finding ...Baby One More Time and pressing play. As the music started, Joe started dancing to the beat, from the driver’s seat.

“My loneliness, is killing me,” you sang, bobbing your head side to side, “and I, I must confess, I still believe.”

“STILL BELIEVE!” Joe sang, trying to hit the high note, causing you to burst into laughter, “when I’m not with you, I lose my mind. Gimme a sign…”

“HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME!” You both practically yelled at the top of your lungs, bursting into fits of laughter. Joe looked over at you and smiled. He always wanted someone who he could belt out ‘90’s classics with, and now he finally had that.

*Springdale, Utah. Monday, 9AM*

After a few hours, the two of you decided it would be in your best interest to stop in a city for the whole day and night, to take a break from driving, take a shower, and explore. Springdale, Utah seemed like the perfect place. A small town right outside of Zion National Park, there was plenty to do to help unwind. You found a little Holiday Inn hotel, right by the mountains. Joe went in and got a room while you sat in the car and waited. A few minutes had gone by, and he was finally making his way back to the car to help you carry the bags to your room. You finally reached the room, and gaped at the amazing view of the mountains you had. It was a clear morning, the sun shining right over them; a beautiful sight to behold.

“Joe, this is beautiful,” you sighed in amazement, standing by the window. He came up behind you, placing his hands on your shoulder, and kissed you on the top of your head,

“Only the best for you,” he said, making you smile. How did you get so lucky?

“Let’s go see what there is to do,” you said, turning around to face him, wrapping your arms around his waist,

“I’ve got a thing or two in mind,” he smirked, pressing your body closer to his,

“Oh, yeah?” You smiled, biting your lip and raising an eyebrow, “show me.” Before you knew it, Joe’s lips came crashing into yours as he picked you up, walking over to the bed and laying you down. His hand explored your waist and stomach, lifting your shirt up and taking it off. Needless to say, you were occupied for the next few hours.

---

By the time you two had finished and cleaned yourselves up, it was drawing nearer to the evening. You got dressed, putting on a pair of jeans and a tee shirt and some flip flops. Joe was wearing a tee shirt, shorts, and a pair of tennis shoes. You had heard from the concierge earlier that Zion National Park was a great place to get a look at the Milky Way, so you and Joe decided to go get something to eat, then head out to find a good spot. The hotel had a little restaurant, so that was where you decided to eat. As you took a bite of your club sandwich, you looked up and noticed Joe watching you, smiling,

“What?” you asked with a mouthful, covering your mouth with your hand,

“I just don’t know how I got so lucky,” he said, “you’re perfect.”

“I’m literally stuffing my face, and now’s the time you choose to be all sweet?” You laughed, wiping your mouth with a napkin, “I’m the lucky one.”

*Zion National Park; Monday, 6PM*

When dinner was over, you and Joe headed out to the park. It was a little crowded, everyone else standing around as the sunset over the canyon and rock formations. The orange reflecting onto the rocks; you had never seen something so beautiful by nature. Joe, on the other hand, was paying no mind. He was too focused on how beautiful you looked during the golden hour. The sunlight the perfect shade, illuminating your face, as you had a look of childlike wonder in your eyes. He quickly snapped a photo of the moment, not wanting to forget a single thing.

“Babe, this is amazing,” you sighed, laying your head against his chest as the two of you watched the last bit of sunlight dip behind the canyons. Some people started to disperse, others stayed to watch and stargaze. Joe had brought a blanket out from the hotel, so he laid it down on an open space and the two of you sat down on it. About an hour later, the sky had become dark and the stars were starting to come out.

“Look,” Joe said, pointing to where the Milky Way was, “there it is.”

“Oh my god,” you gasped, “that’s so cool. It’s so beautiful.” The two of you sat there for what seemed like ages, pointing out constellations, watching the stars twinkle in the night sky. Before you knew it, everyone had left and it was just the two of you.

“Well, we should probably head back to our room,” you said, getting up off of the blanket, “busy day tomorrow.”

“Another day of driving and carpool karaoke,” he chuckled, getting up and folding the blanket back up.

“Wouldn’t want it any other way,” you smiled. You both made it back to the room, falling onto the bed and immediately drifting off to sleep, not even bothering to change into pajamas.

*Tuesday Morning, 5AM*

You woke up bright and early, packing everything back into the suitcases. Joe yawned, getting up out of the bed to help you and slipping on shoes so he could go start loading the car up. As he loaded the car up, you were handling the check out at the front desk. Handing in the room key, you bid farewell and headed out to the car.

*Coolidge, Kansas; Tuesday, 2PM*

While Joe filled the car up with gas, you ran inside the small gas station to grab the essentials; coffee, snacks, soda, you name it. When you headed back out to the car, Joe was almost done filling the car up,

“Here you go,” you smiled, handing him his coffee as he got in the car,

“Just what I need,” he laughed, taking a big gulp of it, “ooh, that’s good.”

“I love you,” you said, leaning over the center console and pecking his cheek,

“I love you, more,” he smiled, pressing his forehead to yours and giving you a quick peck, making you giggle. He started up the car, then headed back on the road.

Kaiser, Missouri; Tuesday, 11PM*

As the night drew to a close, and Joe and yourself grew tired, he decided now was a good time to stop somewhere and get some rest. 

“The Ozark State Park is right up here,” he said, pointing to a sign, “we have that tent in the trunk. We can just put it up for the night and camp out.”

“Sounds good to me,” you yawned. He got off of the exit, heading towards the state park, following the signs. After parking the car, you helped him get the tent out of the car and set it up. Grabbing blankets and pillows from the car, you tossed them in the tent and set up a makeshift bed for the two of you. Before bed, you took a look at the view. The campsite was right on the lake, and it was perfect. The moonlight shining down on the water, and the quiet noises of the nighttime. You got back in the tent with Joe, who was already snuggled under the blanket. You moved yourself closer to him, wrapping an arm around his torso,

“Another night under the stars,” he said, drawing little circles on your shoulder with his finger,

“I love it so much,” you answered quietly, drawing sleepier and sleepier as the seconds went by, “goodnight, Joe Joe.”

“Goodnight, my love.”

*Wednesday Morning, 4AM*

Sleeping in a tent, you found, was very difficult. Majority of the night, you tossed and turned, trying desperately to get the slightest bit comfortable. Which, in turn, kept Joe up. By 4AM, you sat up and sighed,

“You wanna just head out?” You asked Joe, who was laying there, rubbing his eyes,

“Yeah, sure,” he replied groggily, then sat up as well. You helped him load everything in the car and take down the tent. You got in the car, cuddled up with a blanket as Joe shut the trunk, then got in the driver's seat. He reached over and took your hand, and the two of you were off once again.

*Wednesday, 12 noon*

“Okay, I spy with my little eye…” Joe started, looking around at the green scenery of the interstate, “something green.”

“Trees,” you said, “already did that one.”

“Well, there’s nothing else around!” He chuckled, “okay, I’ll go again. I spy with my little eye…someone beautiful.”

“Jooooe,” you blushed, hiding your face in the blanket, “stooop it. I am not.”

“Oh, but you are,” he said, pulling the blanket back down into your lap. You looked over at him, beaming at the sight of you. He literally was the love of your life, and there was nothing in this world that would change that.

*Ocean City, Maryland; Wednesday, 8PM*

What better place to stay and rest for the night and the next day than Ocean City. A beautiful town on the east coast, given it’s name. Packed with fun seaside activities to do, almost everything was located on the boardwalk. You had found a hotel right on the beach, with a perfect view of everything.

“Let’s go check out what there is to eat,” Joe suggested, changing into some clean clothes. You agreed and the two of you walked down to the crowded boardwalk, holding onto Joe’s hand tightly as to not get lost. There was a little French fry stand named Thrasher’s, where they fried them to order and packaged them into a big paper cup. You got in line and ordered two smalls, then went and sat on a bench by the end of the boardwalk facing the ocean, where some people were still playing on the beach in the sand.

“These are so good,” you said, stuffing more fries into your mouth.

“Mhmm,” Joe nodded in agreement, mouth already full of food. Both of you finished your fries, tossing the empty containers into a nearby trash can. After walking up and down the boardwalk for a few minutes, you came across an arcade and decided to let out your inner child and go play a few games.

“Oooh, skee ball!” You said, pointing to it, dragging Joe to the skee ball machines. He popped two tokens into the machine for you, then two more for him in the machine next to you. You both could get very competitive, so it was a race to see who could get the highest score.

“HA!” You shouted, throwing your arms up in victory, “I beat you!” You had managed to beat Joe’s score by a measly 100 points, but a win was a win.

“Only because I let you,” he chuckled. He loved how excited you would get every time you beat him at something, whether it was an arcade game or board game. The smile of pure joy that ran across your face was all worth losing.

“Suuuure, Mazzello,” you said, taking the tickets that had popped out. You played a few more games; Joe winning a few, and you winning a few. When it was time to go and you had run out of tokens, you went up to the prize counter and combined the number of tickets you had.

“Whatcha want?” Joe asked, wrapping an arm around you. You looked at all the corny little prizes they had on display, mostly stuffed animals.

“Awww, the little dinosaur!” You awed, pointing to a medium sized green dinosaur plush. The worker unhooked it off of the display and handed it to you,

“You would pick that,” Joe laughed,

“Of course!” you smiled, clutching it to your chest. After leaving the arcade, you headed back to the hotel to get some sleep.

*Thursday, 1PM*

Your last day in Ocean City, it was only fitting that you spent all of your time at the beach, soaking in the sun, sand, and salt water. Applying the last of your sunscreen, you slipped into a pink bikini, throwing your hair up in a bun. Joe put on a pair of swim trunks and you helped him apply his sunscreen. When everything was ready, you headed down to the beach.

When you arrived at the beach, you put down your towel and laid down on top of it. Joe made his way into the water.

“Babe! Come in the water,” he yelled to you, waving you over,

“In a minute,” you said, soaking up the sun,

“C’mon, (Y/N)!” he groaned, “pleeeeease.”

“I will in a minute, Joe. Have patience,” you laughed, shaking your head.

A few minutes went by and you were having a nice time, relaxing in the beautiful sunshine. All of a sudden, you felt Joe’s arms pick you up, walking towards the water,

“Joseph! What are you doing?!” you yelled, holding onto him tightly,

“You said in a minute, it’s been well over a minute,” he chuckled, walking into the water and setting you down. The cold water sent shivers up your spine,

“It’s cooooold,” you shivered. Joe laughed and pulled you into him, placing a kiss onto your sunkissed shoulder, and wrapping his arms around you,

“Warming up?” he asked, nuzzling his face into the crook of your neck,

“Uh huh,” you responded, wrapping your arms around his neck. The next couple of hours were spent splashing each other in the water, Joe carrying you farther out from the shore, kissing each others sunkissed skin, and just loving life. This was turning into the best week of your life, and you never wanted it to end.

*New York, New York; Friday, 4pm*

It was no secret that Joe was a HUGE baseball fan, nor was it a secret that he was a fan of the Yankees. So, when he found out Ocean City was only four hours away from New York, he insisted that was where the two of you would spend the night. He managed to find a last minute hotel, right in the center of Times Square.

“They’re playing tonight! We HAVE to go!” he exclaimed, “I can’t be this close and just not go.”

“We can go,” you laughed, laying on the bed and scrolling through your phone, looking for tickets, “here, they have two tickets right by first base.”

“Well, get them!” he said, pulling out his credit card and handing it to you. You put his card information in, purchasing the tickets.

“Okay, we’re on for seven o’clock tonight,” you said, smiling and handing his card back to him.

“Yesss!” he cheered, throwing his arms up in victory, causing you to laugh. It was the cutest thing whenever he got excited; like a little kid in a candy store.

*Yankee Stadium, 7PM*

Dressed in matching Derek Jeter jerseys and Yankee hats, you walked hand in hand to your seats. The Yankees were playing the Astros and Joe could not be more excited.

“My two favorite things; baseball and my girl,” he said, putting an arm around the back of your seat.

“I’m glad we got tickets,” you said, looking around at the crowded stadium. A few minutes later, the game finally started.

*8:30PM*

It was halfway through the game, and it was getting tense. You watched as Joe would jump out of his seat, yelling at the top of his lungs, along with all the other Yankee fans, as they would score a home run, or the umpire would make a bad call.

“It’s okay, at least they’re winning,” you said, playing with the hair on the nape of his neck. You watched the jumbotron as the umpire called for a break, and it was time for the kiss cam. The camera would pan to a couple, oblivious to what was going on, and then they would kiss. It made you and Joe laughed, as some people didn’t want to do it, or got a little too into it. That was until you were watching it, and low and behold, you and Joe appeared on the screen,

“Oh my god,” you laughed, turning to him, “guess it’s our turn.”

“Let’s give them something worth watching, then,” he smirked, placing a hand on your cheek and crashing his lips into yours. Your hands made their way up to his hair, gently tugging on it, as the stadium erupted in cheers. After a few seconds, the two of you finally pulled away, breathless,

“Now, how was that for a kiss cam?”

*10PM*

“WE WON!” Joe exclaimed as the two of you exited the stadium, beaming ear to ear,

“I know, I was there,” you laughed, shaking your head, “that was so fun.”

“I love you so much,” he said, wrapping an arm around you as the two of you headed back to the hotel, “this has been the trip of a lifetime.”

“I love you, too,” you smiled, leaning into him, “definitely a trip for the books.”

*Bar Harbor, Maine; Saturday, 3PM*

After eight hours of driving, you and Joe found yourselves in Bar Harbor; a town off the coast of Maine. You found a little hotel along the water, the Bar Harbor Inn and Spa, and decided that was a good place to crash for the night. Getting to the room, you grabbed a pamphlet that listed what all the hotel provided.

“Babe, let’s go get facials,” you gasped, pointing to the list of what all the spa offered,

“Umm, thanks but no thanks,” Joe laughed, setting his bag on the floor,

“Pleaaaase, babe? It would be so much fun!” you said,

“No, (Y/N),” he chuckled, shaking his head.

*5PM*

“I can’t believe you talked me into this,” Joe sighed, leaning back in the massage chair, sporting a white robe, green face mask, and two fresh slices of cucumber over his eyes.

“Oh, you love it,” you laughed, taking one of your cucumber slices off and peaking over at him. You pulled your phone out and snapped a picture, “Ben’s gonna have a field day with this.”

“Do not,” Joe said, taking his cucumber slices off, “send that to him.”

“Too late,” you smiled innocently, pressing the send button. Joe chuckled and shook his head,

“What am I gonna do with ya?”

*Sunday, 1PM*

Joe had planned on stopping in Bar Harbor, even though you thought it was just spontaneous. The man had done his research, and planned on surprising you with whale watching tickets. A private whale watching tour, just the two of you and the tour guide. He reached into his bag and pulled out a small box, small enough where he could fit it in his pocket, and you wouldn’t even notice it was there. He opened the box, revealing a single diamond ring; he had bought it about a month ago. Some would say a year of dating is too soon to propose, but he knew for sure that no matter what happened with his career, good or bad, he wanted you by his side, no matter what.

“Babe, you ready?” You called to him from the other room. He quickly shut the box and shoved it in his pocket,

“Yeah, I’m ready,” he smiled, walking over to you,

“Good! I’m ready to see some whales,” you said, kissing his cheek. You were wearing a tank top, jean shorts, and a pair of flip flops.

“Have I told you how beautiful you are?” he smiled, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear,

“Every day,” you smiled up at him.

*2PM*

You and Joe stepped onto the boat and were greeted by the tour guide.

“It’s just us?” You asked, looking around at the empty boat,

“Surprise,” he smiled, placing a hand on your hip,

“You didn’t have to do that!” you said, jaw dropped, “Joseph Francis! That is too much.”

“Nah,” he said, kissing the top of your head, “nothing is too much for you.” The two of you went and stood against the railing by the front of the boat as the tour started. About 30 minutes in, you finally saw it,

“Oh my god, look!” you shouted, pointing at a whale whose tail was coming up, then crashed back into the water. You saw about two to three others do the same thing, watching in amazement. Joe looked over at you, it was like the night in Zion National Park, the look of childlike wonder in your eyes that he loved so much. He could care less about the whales right now, he was too enticed by you.

“This has been the best week of my life,” you sighed in awe, leaning against his arm, watching the whales swim by, waving hello with their tails.

“It’s about to get even better,” he mumbled, taking a deep, nervous sigh,

“What do you mean?” you asked, looking up at him. He sighed nervously again, then took a step back, holding your hands in his,

“(Y/N), you know I love you with all my heart,” he started, “this past year has been the best year of my entire life.” “I love you, too, Joe,” you smiled, rubbing the back of his hand with your thumb,

“And this week, has been so much fun. I never want it to end. I want you as my cross-country road trip partner forever. So…” he said, pulling the box out of his pocket as he slowly got down onto one knee,

“Oh my god,” you gasped, clasping a hand over your mouth as tears began to flood your eyes,

“(Y/N) (L/N), will you do me the absolute honor of being my wife?” he finally asked, tears filling his eyes. You couldn’t hold yours back anymore, letting out the happiest of sobs, nodding profusely.

“Yes!” you managed to get out through stifled sobs, “a thousand times, yes!” The biggest smile appeared across Joe’s face as the tears began to fall, sliding the ring onto your finger. He got up and cupped your tear-stained face in his hands, kissing you with the heat of a thousand fires.

“I love you,” you sobbed. It was a perfect ending to a perfect week. When the whale watching tour finally ended, the two of you headed back to the hotel and packed all of your belongings into the car. Then, it was back home to LA. You finally had found your soulmate, your confidant, the love of your life, and now the two of you could start your forever.

[thots4daze]

My Boy - Oikawa Tooru x Reader

Hey hey heyyyyyy y’all~! guess what i started and finished tonight?! that’s right, a one shot

BOOM go me~! i did have inspiration and help from @summon-the-stars and @supern-a-vengers

aside from language - cause i use the word FUCK a lot, this is your only warning for that . . . also also i listened to billie eilish “my boy” on repeat for the ENTIRETY of writing this . . . which was like, a total of 2+ hours eeeep

soooo, enjoy y’all!

MY BOY - OIKAWA TOORU x fem!READER 

its almost gender neutral, but i think i fucked up and wrote “she/her” in some places sooooo, imma be safe and say fem! reader 

It was no secret that Oikawa Tooru, THE Oikawa Tooru, the King of the court and volleyball all-star, Oikawa Tooru, who was the bane of every guy’s existence and every girl’s wet dream; was a serial dater. If that was even a thing.

He probably went through girls faster than he does hair product. Though that didn’t seem to stop girls from throwing themselves at his feet, wishing, hoping, wanting . . . begging, to be his next victim. You were the exception. If exceptions still craved for attention from said serial dater. The only difference was, you knew better! Or at least you liked to think so.

Other members of the same sex, hell, even those of the opposite, would shoot you nasty glances anytime the king would waltz through the halls, or classes, or the court. And while everyone else around you were hurling their bodies down before him, you stood erect and just . . . watched on. With what you hoped was an indifferent stare. 

No matter what was going on, Oikawa Tooru attempted to gain your attention, if even for a short while. To have everyone else around him be so smitten and caught up in his presence definitely did a number to his ego. Iwaizumi has always made sure he was aware. And he was. He was no idiot. Not by a long shot. Though the majority of the time he couldn’t stand all the attention on him for his looks alone, he still craved to have it. And from everyone. And that meant you too. And since he wasn’t gaining it, it really burst his bubble.

So, when the Seijoh Squad was having a small gathering, there at their usual lunch table, and Makki and Mattsun brought up the ideas of completing dares for the month, Oikawa snapped his head up from his hands and looked at the meme duo with intrigue.

My boy's being sus

“Go on~” he practically purred. The others just glanced at one another before smirks of their own crawled onto their faces. And if he wasn’t so interested, he might have been a little apprehensive of the whole situation.

“We have to ask out someone, of the other’s choosing of course. And date until the end of the month. The one who can last the longest wins.”

“What do I win?”

“Who says you’re gonna win?” Makki quested pointedly at his captain.

“Psht, please. Have you seen me?” Iwaizumi just shoved his hand in his best friends face and pushed, “You can’t keep a relationship together for longer than a week, let alone a month.”

“Wahhh, Iwa-chan, so brutish. You’ll never keep a girl like that~”

“Having a relationship doesn’t sound all that difficult,” Mattsun voiced out loud, ignoring the other two completely. The others thought about it and agreed.

“Obviously, we’d have to make it public - dates, with pictures. And the occasional hand holding and kissing - that would have to be a must . . .” Makki continued to ramble on under his breath, but just loud enough for the others to hear and agree.

Oikawa was busy staring at you from across the lunch hall, chatting it up with your friends. You were quite popular among the students of Aoba Johsai. Straight marks on everything, leading position in your club. You were cute to boot. Even Oikawa could admit to that. So, when he let out a sigh, his next words trailed after without a second thought, “What about a trophy.” It was more a statement than a question.

The boys around him raised their brows in silent questioning. Snapping out of his daze, but only a fraction, Oiukawa continued, “Ya know, a trophy. Of a conquest.” When the others still didn’t speak up he rolled his eyes, “Undergarments?”

“Ohhhh.” It hit them like a truck. A deep blush crossing each of their features. And then it was settled. Of course, the “trophies” idea was thrown out immediately by Iwa, who announced that if it were to become a thing, he was going to personally kill each and every one of them. No more talk of “trophies” was ever spoken again.

The boys knew of your denial of Oikawa in the past and felt that you were the perfect target for this lil dare. One, you wouldn’t easily fall for his shit and two, that because of that he would be out first. It was a win-win in their eyes. So, at the end of the day, when Oikawa walked into your club room; sauntering the way he does, you didn’t think twice.

“Here for another victim, Oikawa?” You mused, looking up at him through long lashes. Cheeks a little flushed, hair disheveled, and your uniform top rumpled up. There was a heat wave passing through this season and it was killer - especially in the afternoons when you had club meetings in the older buildings on the outskirts of the campus where the AC was constantly on the fritz.

His tongue darted out to lick the seam of his velvet lips. The heat slowly getting to him as he took in your features. You were so much prettier in close proximity. However, your little jab at him brought him back down to earth and with a well placed smile, that everyone took for genuine, he replied, “Why, Y/N, you wound me~ I was just swinging by to see if you would like to walk home after clubs over?”

You were at a loss for words and only managed to glare at him slightly, still being wary of his intentions. But nodded anyways. You weren’t going to flat out deny a chance to spend time with the handsome captain. Are you crazy?

“Great!” He beamed, “Just swing by the gym when you’re done here and we can head out. Later, Y/N-chan~” with a blown kiss, he was out the door and around the corner outta view. The rest of the club that was there were just staring between the door way and you standing there like an idiot. Some of the members even went to work texting out to everyone the situation that just took place. Oikawa Tooru was showing interest in you. And you didn’t shoot him down. The world was coming to an end.

He walked you home, like he promised, stopping at the corner store on the way and purchasing some cold drinks for you to enjoy in the simmering heat. Granted, the sun had set by now, but the heat lingered and it was sticky. Conversations ebbed and flowed easily enough and you soon find yourself melting into his charm and charisma. He was cute and funny and smart. Who would have known? The evening ended with him walking you all the way to your door, before planting a sweet, chaste kiss to your lips and then waving goodnight with that same smile from earlier. And from that moment, you knew you were gone.

--- X ---

Over the past month, your relationship with Tooru grew. Yes, relationship. Yes, Tooru. It was strange, you couldn't get over the thought that this was happening. You were happy, he was happy and you enjoyed every minute of it.

 He was shady enough

At the beginning you were skeptical, especially when he asked you out, in front of everyone. You tentatively accepted but at the back of your mind you knew that it was only going to be for a day or two - so you didn’t do anything different than your normal routine. And so when Tooru would come around to try to be a loving boyfriend, it threw you for a loop. Once one day turned to one week and then to two - you had found yourself sliding into the relationship easier than you would have thought. 

You enjoyed it. You enjoyed him. Cute lil cafe dates - which weren’t really your scene before - somehow became something you looked forward to with him. Pictures taken together were always a must. And of course he always wanted to make sure that you both looked the most perfect you could. When you went to post the picture, he stopped you with a firm grip to your wrist, “Tooru?” You looked at him with a questioning expression.

But now he's just a shadow

“Oh, sorry, Y/N-chan~ I just don’t want my fan club to see and then flock here. Then our lovely date would have to be rushed and over waaaay too quickly.” He let go of your wrist once his plight was heard. Slowly you nodded, that made sense. So, you complied and continued on with your date. A nagging feeling presenting itself in the back of your mind.

My boy loves his friends like I love my split ends

Since the start of the relationship, you noticed that him and his friends didn’t spend too much time together - outside of practise, that is. Which struck you as odd. Thinking back on it, and looking around the lunch hall, you spotted the boys with their new relationships. It was uncanny for all of them to be in relationships at the same time. Normally it was just Oikawa, and then the occasional thought that would float around that Makki and Mattsun were a thing - but obviously not, with the way Mattsun has his tongue down some girl’s throat.

And by that I mean

But since this whole . . . thing started, he hasn’t spent any time away from you. Other than when it’s called for [i.e. home, bathroom breaks, classes etc.] and while you’re appreciative of all the attention you’re receiving from your boyfriend, something seems off.

He cuts em off

The nagging thoughts that he was just going to go through you like all the others before you flashed through your mind and didn’t seem to want to leave as you sat there on your bed. Homework was strewn across the comforter of your bed. Trying to focus on anything other than the negative thoughts of Oikawa Tooru was futile at this point. Music flowed softly from your laptop speakers on your desk to the left of you, but you were too caught up in the confusion to pay any mind to the song, let alone the lyrics. Just that it was smooth.

My boy, my boy, my boy Don't love me like he promised My boy, my boy, my boy He ain't a man and sure as hell ain't honest

Eventually, you push the thoughts to the back of your mind to deal with another time. Final exams were coming up and it wouldn’t do you any good to worry about something that’s obviously not an issue. So, after gathering up all your materials and placing them on your desk, you turn to the laptop making sure to close the music player, noticing the song as you do so. “Hmm, ‘my boy’.”

Sooner rather than later, having slipped into the sheets, sleep takes you and you dream of Tooru. The serial dater.

My boy's being sus and he don't know how to cuss

The next morning, he wasn’t there to walk you to school like he had for the past couple of weeks. You thought it was odd, but didn’t dwell too long. Spring prelims were upon you and you must have not heard him when he said extra practices. Right? Yeah, that must be it.

Making your way to school, you were early enough to stop by the corner store and grab some milk bread for Tooru. He’d be so excited that you got it for him and for breakfast no less. You couldn’t help but let the giggle that was bubbling inside out. You could just picture it now. And it was cute.

It didn’t take much longer after purchasing the food that you were on school grounds and letting your feet take you directly to the gym where you could hear the echoing of volleyballs and the screeching of sneakers on freshly polished wood planks as the team was running drills. It warmed your heart to know that your team was kicking ass and taking names - working their asses off to compete and be at the top.

“Maybe I should make some snacks next time and bring ‘em for the whole team?” Your musings were for nobody but yourself as you walked through the open gym doors. Everyone was busy and so no one took any notice of you entering. Which was fine by you. No need to interrupt their practice just to give Tooru some food.

Looking around you noticed that the other third year’s significant others were nowhere to be found and something in you vibrated. Like the kind of unsettling vibrations where when your standing on a ladder and someone comes around and shakes the base.

Scanning the gym your eyes lock onto their target of fluffy chestnut hair. Regardless of the sweat he’s probably covered in, his hair manages to stay put. For the most part at least. He’s standing off to the side with other third years, rubbing their faces with towels and taking swigs from their water bottles - just taking a small break.

The feeling in the pit of your stomach eases a tad bit as you begin making your way to him. ‘Maybe just to say hey, good morning and a kiss? Yeah, that wouldn’t be too distracting.’ With a steely resolve you continued on your way, making a beeline to get to him and the others. His back was to you and the others didn’t seem to notice your presence at first, so when you heard them talking, you decided to listen in. Curiosity and all.

He just sounds like he's tryna be his father (who are you?)

“Alright boys~” Oikawa cooed like the cat that got the cream. They all groaned in unison as if this wasn’t going to happen. “Fess up, I won.” He stood their victoriously, hands on his hips, a towel draped over his left shoulder. 

Iwa rubbed his hands over his warmed and tinted face, practice had already been brutal for the wing spiker and it was only going to get worse knowing that he, they, were going to have to admit that their captain was a winner. And he, and the others, were not thrilled with this.

So, he opted for what he normally does in these annoying Oikawa situations. He brought his fist down on the top of his head, “Shut it, Trashykawa!” Makki and Mattsun couldn’t stifle their grins, let alone their laughs.

My boy's an ugly crier 

“WAAHHHHH~! Iwa-chan! You’re so meeeeeeeean! That’s why you lost the dare! Your little cutie of an arm piece couldn’t stand your brutish ways!” Which earned him another fist to the head, and more tears to flow from his beautiful eyes. Eyes that you were now privileged to see since arriving that morning.

“Dare?”

“Uh, oh. . .” the meme duo, did everything in unison and at this moment, that didn’t change.

“Arm piece?” Every word outta your mouth just brought more and more confusion to your already fried brain. You couldn’t think properly.

But that all changed as soon as Oikawa made a move to get to you. As soon as he reached out to grab your arm, to try and touch you, to make you understand, to listen to him, it all clicked. All of it. Every little moment with you was a farce. A joke. You were a joke to him and his friends.

“Y/N, please listen.” No -chan. There wasn’t a shred of adoration nor affection in his voice like there had been just 12 hours prior to this conversation. Well, less of a conversation and more of him trying to talk to someone who has astral projected themselves outta this situation.

but he's such a pretty liar

“It’s not what you think.”

Liar.

“It wasn’t a dare, not at all . . .” he was struggling to find the right words to bring this conversation to a close as quickly and painlessly as possible. At least on his part. Liar.

“Yeah, it was more of a bet,” Makki interjected. Even though you were hurting, he was going to get his kicks in at his captain. It just happened to be at your expense.

“Makki!” Iwaizumi jumped at his friend, trying to get him to read the fucking room. 

“A bet? A fucking bet?” At the sound of your low tone rising, Oikawa had to flinch at the noise. This was not going to be pleasant.

“What? You bet that you could woo me and get in my pants? Or, or maybe that you could wrap me around your finger and then humiliate me in front of the school when you broke it off? Get me to make a scene and have me kicked from my position in club?”

“No, nothing like that. . . not exactly.”

“Then what?! What was the fucking purpose!” You were livid. Causing the very scene you accused him of making you commit and if you weren’t so pissed, you would have berated yourself for playing right into it.

At this point the other teammates had halted their practice. Coach had gone off to his office, you supposed, since he wasn’t shouting at everyone to continue and you to leave. But you honestly couldn't be bothered. There wasn't anything he could do or say - that anyone could - that would get you to calm down and leave without getting answers.

“I thought you broke it off with her yesterday?” Mattsun mused from behind them all. His towering frame above the lot of you. His eyes betraying nothing. He wasn’t asking or musing out loud to be rude, it was just who he was. But it still pissed you off.

Oikawa turned slightly away from you to be in view of everyone, “Well, I just never got around to it you know?” He finished with a small, small chuckle. Fixing you with a look that spoke to a different side of Oikawa Tooru.

“Ever the fucking showman.” With that you turned on your heel and walked out of the gym, shoulders back and squared, head high and a trembling lip.

And by that I mean he said he'd "change"

You kept going, only stopping when you got to the club room, no one there that early to bother you. Sinking to the floor, back pressed to the closed door, memories swim through your head as you thought back on the past month. All you time spent with him. How he promised, at the beginning, this was going to be different than his other relationships. You had to laugh out loud at that statement now. He wasn’t wrong.

A few stray tears left your eyes as you sniffed, rubbing them dry and pushing up off the ground. Today was going to be a shitty day.

And as if you were blessed with the clairvoyant gift of foresight, you called it. The whole rest of the day was nothing but whispers among your classmates about how Oikawa had dumped you at practice this morning. And those that didn't know about the breakup - how could you not? - put two and two together when they saw Oikawa flirting it up with the second year cheer captain.

The face you wore betrayed nothing to the masses. They speculated all they wanted, however, it was so far from the truth that you didn’t feel the need to correct them.

My boy, my boy, my boy Don't love me like he promised My boy, my boy, my boy He ain't a man and sure as hell ain't honest

So, the rest of the year came and went without a hitch. With it the changing seasons and graduation ceremonies were taking place across the Sendai region. Once that paper was placed in your well manicured hands you were elated.

--- X ---

University started and orientation came and went in the blink of an eye. You adjusted to the life easily. There were hardly any familiar faces from high school there with you. You were able to start anew - without the curse of Oikawa following you.

Well, you had hoped.

Oikawa Tooru stood there in the doorway of your first class of the day, of the year. He looked around the room, “Probably scoping out his next prey,” you muttered to the girl next to you, a friend that lived in the same dorm as you, a door down. She giggled and stared at the volleyball player. Cause that had to be how he got here. Scholarship.

You shake your head no, you knew that wasn’t true. Tooru was a smart guy. Shifty and shady as fuck, but smart. His eyes land on your friend, who blushes like mad. You don’t blame her, you were once in her position. But you had warned her before hand, regaling in tales of old. Though, those seem to have fallen on deaf ears as you look between her and your, ahem, “ex”. Could you even call him that if he didn’t consider it a real relationship?

Internally shrugging you notice that he’s standing directly to your right, you curse yourself for choosing the aisle seat. He’s ignoring you completely; either out of habit or because he truly doesn’t recognize you, you don’t know and you don’t give a flying fuck either.

“Hello, hello, megane-chan~ mind if I sit next to you lovely ladies -” his litany voice caught in his throat as his sight snapped to your bored face. He may have only been catching your side profile, damn you for looking up at the front of the room, but he was 100000% sure that it was you.

“Y/N, I didn't know you were attending studies here~” he tried to throw on that charm. It might have worked, once upon a time. Not anymore. ‘Sorry, Tooru,’ you thought making it a point to continue your watchful bored gaze to the front, waiting on the professor to begin.

“Y/N?” He whined in that oh so Tooru fashion that just rubbed you in all the ways that matter. Wrong.

You want me to be yours well then you gotta be mine

Sighing you turn your gaze to him and his breath catches. You had only grown more beautiful since that last encounter. Minimal makeup, hair thrown into a messy bun, loose shirt with workout leggings? You were just trying to do things to him. Whether you knew it or not, you were.

He had to internally bite his lip to keep from blurting out something so embarrassing and uncool.

“What is it, Shittykawa?” Like a knife through his heart. He rebounds quickly, “Iwa-chan was such a terrible influence on you,” he makes a motion for you to scoot over so he can join you in the bench like stadium seating, but you make no such move. Just continuing to stare at him, waiting for him to get to his purpose.

When he continued to just stand there, expectant, you sighed loudly again. Blowing a strand of loose hair from your face, you gathered your belongings and stood in one fluid motion. It took Oikawa by surprise with the amount of grace you held in your movements. He wondered if you were as swift in other areas.

Shaking his head, physically, he snapped himself to be present to watch your movements. You stood there before him, books in hand, back slung over your shoulder - now exposed via over-sized shirt - and he audibly gulped. And you definitely caught it.

And if you want a good girl, then goodbye

Eyes narrowing at your ex, they didn’t hold any malicious intent. Not in the way he would have thought, at least. Shifting your weight to one foot, while hoisting your materials in your single grip, you made a move to squeeze past the petrified male.

His caramel eyes watched your every move, trying to figure out your next play. Always trying to stay ahead of everyone, by at least one move. And you were no exception. And when you invaded his personal space he was attentive. Hawk like. What were you up to?

You want me to be yours well then you gotta be mine and

It was almost too easy. You could read him like a children’s book. With pictures and everything. Having grown up with him these last 4 years has made you incredibly aware of him and his ticks. His mannerisms. How he thinks. Or, so you like to think. Based off the entire incident that sent you two into this . . . turmoil, some would think otherwise.

Regardless, shaking off those negative thoughts, you go back to the original plan. Move your seat away from him, but stay in his line of sight. Make him regret treating you like a game. Like a joke. 

But when you saw his gaze on you, trying to burn holes into your skin, you felt a heat dance across your skin that you weren’t too upset over. You couldn’t break! Not now! And not to . . him.

Steeling your nerves, and slinking past your ex, you lean into him. Ghosting your lips over his own. Those velvety lips you used to bite and kiss and lick, just months ago. His breathing hitched, you heard and the smirk that threatened to spill past you was too great. So, moving your lips to the outer shell of his ear, covered slightly by his slightly longer locks, you licked your lips ever so slightly.

Warm breath hitting your neck as he released what he was holding. His hands reaching out, trembling, to get a chance to touch you. To remember what you felt like under his fingers. To feel that bare skin that was taunting him. It looked so soft, so supple.

However, before he could come in contact with you, he froze in his spot for two reasons, the voice with which you spoke was one of soft, teasing tenancies and the motion of you brushing and cupping his growing bulge - only somewhat obscured by the long hoodie he was wearing.

And then of course the words you spoke, in that breathy, soft, teasing tone of yours that was new to him, but he was damn sure he was going to get to know, 

“if you want a good girl, then goodbye . . .”