#samanthaa-leanne

[samanthaa-leanne]

From the moment you laid eyes on Gray Fullbuster you knew it was game over. All the nights you spent reading romance novels and seeing how all it took was one look before most of the heroines fell in love with a man. You thought it was bogus. There was no way you could fall in love with a man with just one look. That was until you saw him. 

Gray Fullbuster was a well-known wizard throughout Fiore. You had heard about him well before you joined the Fairy Tail guild. You just didn’t expect him to look like that. When your friend and roommate Lucy introduced you to her group, the group she also wanted you to join. She introduced you to Erza first and you couldn’t help but think she was the sweetest person you had ever met. You didn’t know why Lucy was so afraid of her. That was until Natsu knocked over her strawberry shortcake and all hell broke loose. 

Natsu was something else. He tried being intimidating but quickly changed his attitude once he learned you could fight. Then all he wanted to do was challenge you. Lucy tried to scold him, but you agreed, and soon kicked his ass. Everyone in the guild was impressed with your skills. Even Natsu when he regained consciousness.  

“Wow Natsu, I can’t believe you got your ass kicked by a girl.” A voice said from behind you. 

You turned around to defend yourself when suddenly the most handsome man you had ever seen was standing in front of you. Your heart did a flip and you lost all sense of what you were going to say. 

“Gray I was wondering where you were.” Lucy said, trying to change the subject before another fight broke out. “This is my friend YN. She just joined the guild.” 

All of a sudden his eyes were on yours as he looked you up and down. Your cheeks turned a bright red as his eyes finally met yours. 

“Nice to meet you YN. You seem like a real badass from the ass whooping you gave dragon breath over there.” He said, motioning to a fired up Natsu who was about to hop the table to get his hands on Gray. 

“It’s nice to meet you too.” You said as calmly as you could. Your heart was still racing from his mere presence. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few months had passed since you first met and joined Team Natsu. The missions you went on grew even more dangerous and there were some you didn’t know if you would complete in one piece, but without fail your team beat the odds. 

Your trust in one another grew everyday and soon you guys could predict each other's moves. Sometimes you even knew what the other would do before they did it. You gave a new definition to the word close. 

Your bond with your teammates was something you never wanted to lose. However your feelings for a particular teammate grew even more as each day passed. There were times you thought he felt the same, but then he would treat you like he did with all your other teammates. 

It seemed like everyone knew about your feelings for Gray besides him. He was oblivious. Not even Natsu and Happy’s not so subtle jokes clicked in that handsome head of his. You were okay with it though. You figured he was just pretending not to know about your feelings for him so it didn’t ruin your friendship. Which you didn’t want to ruin anyways so you shoved your feelings down and focused on your friendship instead. 

What you didn’t expect was to overhear a private conversation between Natsu and Gray about a month later at the guild hall. 

“So what do you think about YN?” Natsu asked as nonchalantly as he could. 

“She’s a pretty awesome fighter and a great friend.” Gray responded quickly, giving Natsu a weird look. 

“Just a friend huh?” Natsu asked, trying to hint at something he shouldn’t. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” Gray shot back. 

“Are you sure you aren’t an idiot?” Natsu asked, his voice calm for once. 

“What are you going on about this time?” Gray replied with confusion written all over his face. 

“You really don’t know that…” he was cut off by Erza showing up and punching him in the stomach as Happy flew him a few feet away. 

“Ignore him.” Erza said as she joined the table they were at. You quickly walked away before anyone noticed you.

Gray nodded and went back to what he was doing. The questions Natsu asked had him thinking if he really did just see you as a friend. 

He couldn’t lie to himself and say he didn’t find you attractive, because he did. From the moment he first saw you he thought you were the most beautiful girl he’d ever laid eyes on. And then you beat the crap out of Natsu which just impressed him even more. But Gray didn’t believe in love at first sight. He believed in getting to know someone through and through and falling in love with the person they were. 

And that’s when it clicked. It was slow and he didn’t realize it until he really sat down and thought about it, but he was in love with you. He had been for a while now. He loved everything about you. The way you smiled when you saw something that made you happy. The way you always had your friend’s back no matter what the situation was. The way you tucked your hair behind your ear when you were nervous. You were everything he never knew he needed and at that moment all he wanted to do was find you and tell you he loved you. So that’s exactly what he did. 

You were on your way back to your apartment when you heard someone shouting your name. You turn around to find Gray running after you at full speed. 

“Gray? What’s wrong? Is everything…” You were cut off as his arms wrapped around you and he pulled you into him, hugging you tightly.

“I love you.” He said softly as he rubbed his arms up and down your back. 

“Wait what?” You asked, pulling back a little from his embrace. The look he was giving you was something you had always wanted to see. 

“I love you.” He repeated as if he couldn’t say the words enough. 

“Is this some kind of joke? Did Natsu put you up to this?” You asked as you scanned the surrounding area trying to catch the pink haired menace. 

“What?! No! Of course not.” Gray answered, baffled that this was your reaction. His mind was racing. Did he not think this through? Did you not feel the same way? 

“Natsu and I were talking and he asked me what I thought about you and at first I said you were just a great friend but then I got to thinking and I realized I’m in love with you.” He started, stopping to look into your eyes as he said, “I love everything about you. Your smile, your laugh, your ability to put everyone in the guild in their place. I just realized that you are everything I never knew I wanted or needed and I just had to come tell you.”

You didn’t realize you were crying until his fingers were wiping away the tears. You never thought he would reciprocate the feeling you had. 

“Aww don’t cry, pretty girl. I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He said softly, pulling you back into his chest. 

“I love you too.” You whispered. “Ever since I first laid eyes on you. I never believed in love at first sight until I saw you.” You said truthfully, your tears calming down. 

He stepped back and lifted your chin so your eyes met. The smile he was giving you was so infectious you couldn’t help but smile back up at him. 

“Say it again.” He whispered, closing his eyes. 

“I love you, Gray Fullbuster.” You said, your smile growing with each word. 

He opened his eyes, leaned down, and pressed a soft kiss to your lips. “I love you too baby girl.”

[teamatsumu]

where we left off. (hinata shoyo x reader)

summary: “you confess because you think you will never see him again, so it doesn’t matter ” - for my valentine’s day event - theme: confessions

word count: 1981

tags: @nishayuro @kitas-tapioca @kakashineedstotouchgrass s @amisuh @avis-writeshq @samanthaa-leanne @akaashi-todorki @sp1ng @kur0obaby @bleach-your-panties

event masterlist

There is a light in Shoyo that just won’t dim. Not that you want it to. It’s your favorite thing about him.

There are ten million reasons to like Shoyo (though Tsukishima would disagree and say he can barely find one. He’s lying. No one can dislike Shoyo. It’s not possible). But you like him for the simple reason that he is the best person you have ever met. He is dedicated and kind, loyal and friendly. You have known him since your first year in high school, and you have seen him face every adversity that comes his way with full confidence and optimism.

It’s no wonder you’re hopelessly in love with him. How could you not be? Shoyo entered your life and made everything ten times brighter and easier to deal with. From day one, he was your confidant and your cheerleader. In all those three years, Shoyo stood by you like you stood by him. You had grown by leaps and bounds with him as your friend.

Friend.

The sun was low in the sky, spreading a warm orange light over the clouds as it set. The color reminds you of Shoyo’s hair, and you have to curse yourself. It seems you can never stop thinking about him, and the world is adamant on making sure you didn’t even try to. You sigh and lean back on the bench you were seated on, closing your eyes and mentally preparing yourself for what was coming.

High school graduation had come and gone. Tomorrow, Shoyo will leave for Brazil. For two years minimum. And who knows? He says he will return, but there is a very real chance he won’t. An up-and-coming volleyball player like him, he could be snatched up by a local club. Or he could fall in love with beach volleyball and continue living there so he could keep playing it.

Two years is a long time for a person to change. You can change. He can change. You can’t trust yourself to leave this until then. Now, before Shoyo leaves, you will confess to him all of your closely guarded feelings. Before he potentially leaves your life for good, he has to know that he is the reason you are where you have gotten.

Heavy footsteps slowly fade in, making you turn your head to follow the sound. You spot Shoyo barreling down the sidewalk towards you, skidding to an abrupt halt when he reaches your bench. He takes a few deep breaths before grinning wide, and just the sight of his million watt smile has your own lips tugging up to return the gesture.

“Ready for dinner?”

Homey, comforting ramen is Shoyo’s choice of last meal in Japan. You both trudge into his usual ramen place, one that he loved to frequent often after practice. He talks your ear off all the way there, telling you about his day. He had been getting his affairs in order, saying goodbye to all the important people and packing up some last minute stuff. You let him catch you up to every tiny detail, (He is like that. He doesn’t like leaving anything out) and you hum along to his stories.

When steaming bowls of ramen are set down before you is when Shoyo finally shuts up, instead choosing to immediately wolf it down. You watch him with blatant adoration in your eyes. You know you do, and you don’t bother to hide it. Sharing this one last moment with him, you don’t want to hold back. This might be the last time you can look at him in leisure. So you drink him in the best you can, trying to seal this moment in your memory forever.

“Are you excited for beach volleyball?”

He nods around a mouthful of noodles. “I have just two years to learn it, so I’m a bit nervous. But I can’t wait to start!”

You smile at his usual unending enthusiasm. “You’ll be great, Shoyo. I have never met someone as hardworking as you.”

And there is that smile again, so bright you almost have to squint to withstand it. He was so different from how he was in first year. He had come such a long way in just three years. Imagine how much he would change after two years in a completely foreign country, on the other side of the world.

You can feel your shoulders drop.

After dinner, Shoyo insists on dessert and you both end up getting ice pops. He finishes his before you can even take one bite of your own, and then ends up finishing half of yours as well when you tell him you are full and he can have it. No wonder he has unending stamina. He eats the food of three people. You smile at the thought.

As per routine, Shoyo walks you home afterward. The sun has fully set by this time, and the streetlights periodically illuminate the two of you as you walk along the sidewalk. Your figures cast long, moving shadows on the concrete, and you keep your eyes on them as you walk. Shoyo is humming something under his breath, occasionally breaking the silence to comment on something. You bask in the moment.

When you slow to a stop at your front door, you realise it is finally time to do what you had been psyching yourself up for all this time.

“I have something to say.” You comment. Shoyo blinks and nods, encouraging you to continue. You take a deep breath.

“For the last three years, you’ve been the best person in my life. By a long shot. I can’t believe I met someone like you. You’re always so supportive, Shoyo, and you’ve really helped me be the best version of myself.”

You cringe at your corny statements, but Shoyo’s face has softened. He stays silent. You muscle on.

“I like you. A lot. A lot. And before you leave, I just wanted you to know this.”

Because I may never see you again. You let the last sentence die in your throat.

Shoyo looks down at the ground, fiddling with his hands a bit. You realize you have made him nervous. And no wonder. You just dumped a huge revelation on him the day before he leaves the country.

“You don’t have to say anything!” You add on, as soon as Shoyo opens his mouth to speak, trying to soothe his nerves. “I don’t want you to reciprocate. I just wanted to tell you all this before you left.”

You step forward to wrap him into a hug, feeling him freeze at the gesture. You don’t let yourself linger, pulling away mere seconds later. Shoyo opens and closes his mouth like a fish. You giggle.

“Do your best in Brazil, Shoyo. I’m counting on you.”

And then you pull open the door, shutting it behind yourself with one last smile at his surprised face.

……………………

Tokyo is a big city, and you lose yourself in the hustle and bustle of it.

Miyagi was quiet, peaceful, and you knew more or less everyone there. In contrast, Tokyo is continuously moving, and you have to run to keep up with it. It’s a big change, going from Tokyo to Miyagi, but it is a welcome one. You can feel how you change and blossom along with the city.

Your apartment is small. One bedroom, open kitchen, tiny bathroom. It’s a starter apartment and you are still a student, so it doesn’t matter. Every night, you cook yourself a modest meal and plop yourself down in front of the television, continuing some show you have been watching for the last few days. Afterwards, you have a warm cup of tea and then begin your nightly routine, ready for classes the next day.

Today that routine is disrupted by loud knocking on the door.

You pause your chewing, reaching for the remote to mute the TV. You don’t hear any sound, not even shuffling, but ten seconds later you hear another, longer knock. Sighing, you set your bowl down on the coffee table and throw your blanket off, trudging to the door. When you look through the peephole, all you see is one shoulder. You roll your eyes at the person who chose to not stand in your view.

You undo the lock and pull the door open, immediately freezing on the spot.

He has grown so much taller, and broader. His skin holds a wonderful bronze tan, and his hair is shorter than the last time you saw him. But his smile is the same. Bright and blinding, endlessly welcoming. Your heart skips.

“Hi.” He breathes. His voice is deeper too. A little scratchier. You continue to stare, mouth agape. You cannot believe it, and your brain cannot process it.

“Shoyo��” Your grip on the doorframe tightens. A small silence extends between you two. Shoto shifts a bit.

“Can I come in?” He asks sheepishly.

You abruptly jerk back, nodding vigorously. “Of course! Sorry, sorry. Come in.”

You allow Shoyo to pass through the threshold, toeing his shoes off and stacking them next to your own before looking back at you expectantly. You lead him into the living room, mind racing with a thousand thoughts.

He was back. From Brazil. Taller and tanned and just as bright. And he’s back. You reel with the revelation.

“How have you been?” He asks, seating himself on the couch and looking up at you with a small smile. He seems…. calmer somehow. More present instead of how flighty he used to be. More grounded. You nod a bit.

“I’m- I’ve been good. You?”

“Me too.”

“Okay good.”

Awkward silence stretches between you two. You feel your face heat up.

“I’m going to make tea!” You announce, bustling towards the kitchen before Shoyo can protest, trying not to think about the last conversation you had with him right before he left, over two years ago.

Once you settle before him with two steaming hot cups, the awkward air disperses a bit. You aren’t surprised. It always did with Shoyo. He had a talent like this. You ask him about Brazil and he goes on a whole storytime for it, telling you about the vast beaches and the burning sun. How much he learned and how much he changed.

That part is true, you can tell. Shoyo has changed. But despite all that, you can feel the way your heart skips, the way your palms get clammy. All those old feelings are coming back, and you cannot stop them. As you watch the way Shoyo laughs and reminisces with you, you’re not sure you want to.

A lull hits after Shoyo stops talking, and you watch as he fiddles with his hands a bit before speaking again, his voice lower this time, more serious.

“Can we….. pick up where we left off?” He doesn’t glance up at you, playing with his hands.

You blink at his words, trying to process them. He gives you a crooked smile that lights your nerves on fire.

“You never let me reply that day. And…. I didn’t think I should either, because I was leaving. But now…”

He trails off, you feel your breath catch. Is he implying what you think he is? You try not to get your hopes up, but Shoyo’s next words seal the deal.

“I like you tons.”

You can’t help your breathless laugh at his choice of words. Your skin buzzes. Shoyo scoots closer to you. You let him. His leg brushes against yours and you can feel the way electricity zips through you at the feeling.

“I like you tons too.”

Ten minutes later, when Shoyo drags huge suitcases into your lobby from outside your front door, you realize he came here straight from the airport. And it only makes you love him more.

[kxtsukixoxo]

˚.🎀༘⋆ and i’ll step on yours. ft ; bakusquad

previous part here

d. kaminari

s. hanta

k. bakugou

e. kirishima

TAGLIST -

@ita606  @joshhutchersonisdaddy @jaebumblebee  @exselily  @kunikuzushisbeloved  @harv3yy @samanthaa-leanne  @barrythestrawberry041 

[deaddrgnhrte]

“Αγάπη” (Agapé) 1st Petal

Summary: Pallas is a life coach and matchmaker who spends her days helping other people find their happiness in life, having forgotten to search for her own. Her business running smoothly and with little to no hiccups until one phone call upsets her whole world. Bakugou Katsuki, a handsome and famous confirmed bachelor, has found himself longing for something unusual, a relationship with substance. Swallowing his pride he calls Pallas initiating an interaction that will change their lives for the foreseeable future. Will the matchmaker make a match or get matched?

Chapter Length: 10k words

Beta-readers: @samanthaa-leanne​, @honeytama​, Thank you @pixxiesdust​ for beta reading before it was considered nsfw​, @natsuosfairy​

Tags: @bnhabookclub​

Bakugou’s P.O.V.

I put in the combination to my lock, deftly maneuvering the dial in a series of fluid motions, easily popping it open after years of repetition. My body moves of its own accord, the process of getting suited up being muscle memory at this point.

Some other hero in the locker room clears his throat before saying, “Hey Bakugou, it’s been a hot minute since we last saw each other huh?”

I merely grunt in response, placing my civilian clothes on the shelf after folding them, and continue suiting up for my shift.

“As talkative as ever I see. Anyways, you seem a bit down. I know I’m not Kirishima, and we’re not as close, but I thought I’d give you a quick piece of advice. Getting out of a relationship sucks, but you can’t let it get you down for too long.”

He pauses and waits for a response from me. When there is none he continues, but not before I hear a small comment to himself, “It’s like talking to a wall.”

My left eye twitches at the remark. I don’t even spare him a glance as I finish up with the final pieces of my hero costume. I shut my locker door with more force than necessary then lock it, swiftly turning around and leaving the locker room to head out for my shift. I glance at the clock briefly, making a mental note of the time as I stamp my time card. ‘The reason why you felt like you were talking to a wall is because you couldn’t take the hint that I don’t want any interaction, despite that hint being practically written in bold red letters across my forehead.’

“I’m fucking Katsuki Bakugou, Pro Hero, top in the nation. I don’t need nor do I want your opinion. Tch.” I say to myself, the words ringing through my head as I push open the heavy door and step out of the building to start my patrol.

⇜↭⇝

I lean back in my desk chair, and stretch. The reports for the day are all filled out and ready to be handed in. I take my phone off my desk and check the time. ‘2:58 am, I should put these papers on the admin. assistant’s desk, after I log off, then I’ll go punch out.’ I log off my computer before picking up the stack of reports and head over to the assistant’s desk, and placing it on the only free and available space. I pick up a sticky note from off her desk and write today’s date, then grab a rubber band from the jar on her desk and secure it around the stack of papers. ‘I swear I don’t know how she’s managed up until now, her desk is never organized. It’s a miracle we’re not backed up at the moment with the state her desk is in being in constant disarray.’ Turning away from her desk I walk towards the locker room to change and clock out. ‘Damn, I did not distract myself nearly as much as I would have liked to today. I think I know what...’ Pulling out my phone I tap on the messaging app and open up the chat between myself and my best friend since high school. ‘A sparring session with a long-time friend might just do the trick.’

Bakugou: Spar tomorrow morning?

Kirishima: Sure, np!

I finish taking the rest of my suit off and get lost in the motions of putting my civilian clothes back on, my mind returning to my recent break up. ‘I knew that woman was dating me partly based on me being a hero, but damn, to have her shove it in my face that it was the only reason she was dating me to begin with, packs a bigger punch than I thought possible.’ I stuff my hands into my jacket pockets while reflecting on the events of my most recent shift, and then heave out a sigh, “Could just go out for one or two beers,” I mumble to myself, taking a quick glimpse behind my shoulder.

⇜↭⇝

*Phone ringing*

The sound coming from my phone sets off a piercing wave of pain through my brain. ‘God damn, who the fuck is calling me this early in the morning?’ I swipe my finger across the screen stalling for a moment to allow the phone to recognize my fingerprint, and then press my phone against my ear. I throw my arm across my face to block the stinging sliver of light from shining into my eyes through the slit in the curtains.

“What’s up?” my voice comes out, raspy and barely above a whisper, but it still sounds like it’s echoing through my head.

“Hey, Bakubro, why aren’t you here yet?” I let out a low growl at the cheery tone on the other end, and wince at the old nickname, a teasing endearment made years ago, that just kind of stuck.

“What do you mean?”

“Dude it’s 9:45 right now, you’re late.”

I jolt up, and throw my covers off of myself and recoil slightly from the blinding pain the light brings on, before haphazardly scooping up my open gym bag. I rush toward the door, staggering a bit as I stuff my feet into my shoes. Nearly toppling over as I miss the wall I intended to use for support.

I do a quick pat down of myself, “Phone, wallet...” I look around frantically, the knowledge that Kirishima will not let go of something like this for the next week, no at least a month or so, is like being doused with a bucket of ice cold water. I can hear his smug tone already, putting a hand against my head and reeling out the door. ‘The gym is roughly a five minute run away. I’m not running that feeling like this, I’ll just walk it instead.’ I head for the stairs and open the door, someone has just slammed the door closed on a different floor, which has me seeing stars from the echoing in the stairwell. ‘No way in hell, am I going to suffer through shaking my brain around as I speed run down the stairs. Fuck that.’ I turn on my heel and head for the elevator, letting out a sigh of relief at the quick service and the gentle music, the lights, however, feel like they’re piercing straight through my skull and out the other side. The small jostling motion from arriving at the base floor sends a wave of nausea through me, one I haven’t felt in years, not since I was younger and less experienced with my tolerance levels for alcohol.

“Shit,” the familiar swear coming easily to me as I all but throw myself out of the elevator, muttering, “For fucks sake, pull yourself together.” as I leave the apartment complex.

⇜↭⇝

As I walk up to the gym, Kirishima spots me from his place leaning against the wall outside.

“Look who finally decided to show up!” Kirishima says joyfully, clapping as if congratulating me on my appearance. I respond by flipping him the bird.

As we enter the locker room, I open the side pocket of my gym bag and grab a bottle full of pain killers, pop two in my mouth and swallow them dry.

“Kirishima, could you keep it down I’ve got a splitting headache.”

“Oh, did someone have a bit of fun last night?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean if you’re into that kind of thing, I won’t judge. You know I’ll support you now matter what, right? It’s what friends are for!”

“What are you going on about?” I ask while leaning my head against the cool locker, the chill giving a small reprieve from the now constant pulsing throughout my skull.

“Dude.”

I look at Kirishima, my aggravation settling into my features as I turn to address him directly. Kirishima points down at the floor directing my attention to a certain article of clothing, my eyes widen in shock. The garment in question is sitting on the floor betraying my activities from the night before.The bra itself is pretty bold, it’s bright red and lacy with highlighter orange accents.

“What the fuck?”

“It dropped out of YOUR gym bag.” Kirishima’s face lights up in delight.

I let out a small, “Tsk.” and snatch up the garment, shoving it into my gym bag. I take out the lock from my bag and toss the bag into the locker, closing and locking it afterwards. I glance over at Kirishima, whose face is bright red from attempting to suppress his laughter, finally he breaks down in a fit of giggles.

The absurd situation brings a reluctant smile to my face, and a small chuckle escapes my lips. I shake my head and nudge Kirishima with my elbow. He is currently buckled over, barely maintaining an upright position holds up his pointer finger, signalling for me to wait.

“Give...me... a minute.” Kirishima manages to breathe out in between fits of laughter.

I roll my eyes in annoyance at Kirishima’s discomposure, ‘It’s not like it was even that funny...’

“You know, I’m gonna pay you back for laughing at me right?”

Kirishima manages to nod his head yes as he takes in some deep breaths of air, to calm himself down. We head out of the locker room together and make a beeline for the open mat area.

“It’ll be worth the pain, because the look on your face was priceless bro.”

I pound my fists together in imitation of Kirishima’s signature move, signalling to him that I’m ready.

“Hey man, don’t you want to get warmed up or something before heading straight into it?”

I shake my head, “Nah. No need.”

Kirishima shrugs and settles into a starting position. We lock eyes and we both nod, we circle around each other for a few moments, an air of seriousness about us. Then, I lunge at Kirishima, my right arm outstretched, he quickly dodges my maneuver. He steps towards me and sweeps his foot under my leg, I drop to the floor immediately and he follows my descent. Quickly wrapping his arms around me, hooking his feet around my legs and letting his weight pin me to the floor.

He chuckles darkly in my ear, “Hehe, that was an unusually easy take down. Guess I’m getting stronger than you.”

I frown and put my hands down on the floor underneath me and push upwards. I pause after reaching full extension for just an instant, and then I suddenly drop down slamming our bodies down onto Kirishima’s hands and crushing them under our weight before Kirishima has the chance to activate his quirk.

Kirishima hisses out in pain, “Ow, you fucker...”

I push off the ground with one arm, shifting my weight and his by twisting my body quickly, so that I am facing him. I push my hands to the front of my chest and push upwards so that my hands are together and my elbows are pressing against his inner elbows. I then use my quirk setting off a small explosion, adding a boost to my arms pushing out straight. This breaks his strong lock-like hold and allows me to reach up and grab Kirishima by the ears. I pull myself up and pull his head down, bashing my head into his. Kirishima, however, activates his hardening quirk, so the action sends a new shock wave of pain through my brain stunning me and leaving me laying flat on the mat. The once dull pulsing has now been brought to the forefront of my attention. Kirishima hops up to his feet smirking down at me as I lay face up beneath him. I offer my hand and he takes it, pulling me to my feet. We go for a few more rounds, only using our quirks once in a while. The point of this sparring session is for me to get out as much energy and aggression with as little damage to the surrounding area as possible. I’m now drenched in sweat, the bleary-eyed mess from this morning is long gone. I bring my shirt up to my forehead to wipe away the sweat that’s accumulated there.

“Where’d you get those bruises from?”

“Huh?”

“Right there, did you get cupping done. Y’know, muscle therapy?” Kirishima motions towards a particularly nasty looking mark on my side.

I walk up to the wall length mirror of the gym to examine it at a better angle. Upon closer inspection, I notice what are clearly tooth impressions?

“Are you fucking kidding me...” I grumble under my breath, “the bitch marked me!”

I pinch the bridge of my nose trying to stave off the inevitable headache leering its ugly head up, caused by yet another poor life decision. ‘My usual no marking policy when dealing with temporary guests either went completely ignored or I was so far gone last night that I completely forgot.’ I hastily drop my shirt back down hoping that no one saw the wince-inducing bruises scattered along my side. If the press gets a hold of a picture of me like that they’ll have a field day. The fling will turn into a week to month long ordeal to have to deal with. I shake my head attempting to clear my thoughts and turn back to Kirishima, who is staring at me with a look of concern.

“Hey I think I’m good for the day, what about you?” Kirishima just silently accepts that if I wanted to talk about it I would. Which is one of the main reasons why we’ve remained friends since high school. He is one of the few people who I can count on to leave me alone and give me my space while also calling me out on my bullshit when the situation calls for it. I simply nod my head in response, and we head back into the locker rooms to gather our things and leave.

⇜↭⇝

I grab my keys out of my jacket pocket and turn the key in the lock, only to notice the absence of the sound of the pins catching on the key as I turn it. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, someone is inside my apartment. Raising up my hand, a few pops resound from my sweaty palms as I ready myself for whatever lay in wait beyond the door to my apartment. I turn the handle and kick the door open, both hands raised in defense of myself, the sound of a few explosions reverberating throughout the almost empty living space. I am greeted by the sight of some woman sitting on my couch in my living room. She doesn’t even look up from her bowl of cereal and the current show streaming on the television.

“What the actual fuck?” I exclaim.

The woman continues ignoring me as I take a few more steps into the apartment, her face bringing back blurry memories of the previous night. I am filled with disgust at the fact that I stooped so low as to pick up some floozy of a woman in my time of distress. ‘Why the fuck hasn’t she gone home yet?’ the question blinking back at me in neon lights. I approach the armrest of the couch that she’s currently sitting on and tap her on the shoulder.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing her?” I ask, I can feel my emotions bubbling to the surface on the verge of boiling over.

She takes a quick look in my direction and says, “Hey, good thing you’re here, I thought you should know you’re out of milk.”

A few moments of absolute silence pass by as I am completely dumbfounded by her nonchalant attitude. Narrowing my eyes I stare at the side of her head hoping for at least some respect, given the very prominent issue at hand. My brows knit tightly together, ‘Is she dumb? Is she for real?’ instead of speaking my thoughts aloud I say, “Thanks for the heads up, now leave.”

She puts the bowl she has down on the coffee table and stands up huffing as she does so, “But I didn’t even finish my show or my cereal.”

I sneer, “That’s MY cereal you’re eating.”

She crosses her arms and stamps her feet at me like an insolent child throwing a tempter tantrum, “No. I am going to finish eating, and then YOU owe ME a ride home.”

Pulling out my phone I swipe through my contacts until I get to the J section, calling up a friend of mine from the force. While the phone is dialing out the woman sits back down and picks up “her” bowl of cereal and continues eating.

“Hey Bakugou, what can I do for you?”

“Hey Joe, I’ve got a situation. I had someone over last night and she’s now refusing to leave.”

“Okay, I’ll send my people right over.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

“No problem man.”

⇜↭⇝

There’s a knocking at the door, and I walk over and open it, two officers are standing in the doorway awaiting entry, I sidestep out of the way and motion for them to come in.

“Hello officers-”

“Are you fucking kidding me!”

The woman who had been peacefully sitting on the couch watching whatever garbage was now on the television shoots to her feet.

“This is fucking ridiculous, I’m sitting here calmly minding my own business and you call the cops on me!?”

She storms off in the direction of my bedroom stomping her feet along the way. The officers move forward to prevent her from going further into the apartment, but I hold my hand up for them to remain where they are. Her voice carries through the apartment, mouthing off about the unfairness of the whole situation and the audacity I have for kicking her out, her complaints strewn with curses. Completely ignoring the fact that she is currently in MY apartment. Her voice stopping only to take a quick breath of air in and then continuing her ranting. ‘Of all the people...’ I sigh to myself as she comes hauling herself and her belongings through the hallway towards us. Reaching into my bag I procure the garment that had mislaid itself, holding it out to her with my fingers. The strap of the bra balancing precariously as she huffs by. She flounces a bit as she approaches the door, turning her head to address me to land one last remark, when she notices her bra.

I walk towards her and say, “I believe this is yours.”

Her face erupts into a brilliant shade of red, she squeals in outrage snatching the garment up and slamming the door behind her.

“Damn...”

“You sure know how to pick ‘em Bakugou.”

I glare in their direction and walk up to the door and open it, “Thank you officers, I appreciate you coming down here. Have a great day.”

Pallas’ P.O.V.

I walk into the coffee shop, the familiar tinkling of bells on the door and the smell of freshly-ground coffee beans bring a feeling of warm comfort. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever get over the initial nervousness I get when I do an intake for a client.’ I mull this over while listening to the soft, mellow music playing from the various speakers strewn about the shop. While waiting in line, I pass the time by scrolling through my social media feed. The fake smiles and duck-faced selfies never-ending. It’s not long before it’s my turn to order, when I look up and approach the counter I’m greeted by an unfamiliar face ‘Oh, he must be new.’ the thought whisks through my mind as I take in the man standing in front of me. He’s got a soft attractiveness about him, and is obviously nervous give his frantic glancing around. His ocean blue eyes finally settling on me and he’s practically sweating bullets. I pick up on the tremor of his lip when he forces a smile waiting patiently for my order. ‘Given the fact that it’s about mid-day and I’ll be meeting with a new client I think I’m going to opt for my go-to comfort beverage.’

“Good morn- Er. Afternoon, what can I get for you today?” The barista asks, his face flushing in embarrassment at his small slip-up.

‘I’m sure he’s had plenty of those minor mistakes today, the first day jitters are definitely getting the better of him. I can imagine it’s probably been non-stop for him, one order after the next in quick succession. Forcing him into this wreck of nerves at the fast-paced environment.’

Standing there for a moment more, I try to show a bit of compassion, my eyes flick down to the name pin fastened to his black apron then back up to his face and say, “Hello Reggie, I think I’ll have a medium hot chocolate, with some extra whipped cream please!”

I flash him what I hope comes across as an encouraging smile, and opt to keep words of encouragement to myself, ‘He’s high-strung as is, there’s no need to make him feel worse by having a random stranger notice how much he’s floundering around and comment on it.’ Instead I reach into my wallet and grab some extra cash in addition to the money I owe for the hot chocolate. I hand the money for the drink to Reggie and drop the extra cash into the tip jar on the counter.

“Thank you, and here’s your change. Your order will be right up.”

I cup my hand so the barista can simply drop the small coins into my outstretched hand instead of having an awkward exchange of trying to pry them out of his palm.

“Have a great day.” We happen to say at the same time to each other.

Stepping to the side I look over and survey the seating area. There are booths and tables with single chairs available, which I would usually have no problem taking, however, I am meeting with a client so I need something more. My eyes land on my usual spot for when I meet clients and I am pleasantly surprised to find it empty. It’s the perfect placement, not too close to the door, where people coming in might interrupt and not tucked away in the corner where nobody will notice me. ‘The client should be able to notice me immediately after receiving her order.’ After setting my bag down I bring out my tablet and unlock it, and start going through the various documentation required if the client does decide to book more sessions. I’m interrupted from my review by the sound of my order being called out, I look up and see one of the baristas I am familiar with holding my hot chocolate, we lock eyes for the briefest of moments before they place it down on the counter. I stand up and walk over to the counter and gingerly pick up my order, and head straight for the little island in the middle of the shop with the extra creamer and sugar packets on it. After picking up one of the paper coffee sleeves and carefully sliding it onto my drink, twisting it around to get the proper snug fit. I walk back to the booth, slide onto the seat, and resume reviewing the prepared documents on my tablet.

I let myself relax, the lull of conversation around me creating a calm atmosphere. There’s some chatter behind me, some girls are discussing a recent rumor going around about the Pro-Hero, Ground Zero. I dismiss their chatter immediately, ‘It’s just gossip, so who cares.’ Despite the lack of basis for the rumor to stand on, the women behind me continue speculating. I finish reviewing my documents then pull out my phone to check the time. ‘My client should be here any minute now.’ Scrolling through my social media feed once more I notice the rumor the women behind me were discussing has spread like wildfire. I try to ignore it to the best of my ability, ‘It’s not my business to judge other people’s life choices.’ I pause for a moment, ‘Well, it is my business as long as they are a client that is...’ I’m broken out of my train of thought by a commotion coming from the pick-up counter. Some woman is yelling at poor Reggie, something about how he got the order wrong, insisting that she talk to the manager. I turn my head and see the back of hers, Reggie is visibly shaken by the confrontation.

The woman turns around and my eyes widen momentarily in shock, ‘That’s my new client.’ I groan internally then put on my brightest smile, and stand up.

I hold my right hand out in greeting, “Hello Sandra is it, I’m Pallas we spoke on the phone a couple days ago.”

It’s like a switch flipped within the other woman’s face. Her lips that were just pursed in a thin disgruntled line, spread into a wide smile.

“Hi, hello. Sorry about the delay, the employee got my order wrong.”

“Oh, sorry to hear that, why don’t we get right into things? Is there anything in particular you are looking to get out of my services?”

“Well, everything in my life seems to be a hot mess, I just want to get back on track.”

“That seems reasonable enough. How about we take a seat and go over your intake paperwork?”

We then spent the next hour talking about the various terms and conditions that come along with the contract. Sandra keeps complaining about every other word claiming that the contract is “too opaque and vague.”

“Why can’t you just fix my problems now, why do we even need a contract?” Sandra asks, her tone changing from calm to aggravated rapidly.

“The contract is here to protect both of our interests. Without it, I will be severely restricted in the extent to which I can help you.” I try my best to explain this to her as calmly as possible.

Sandra pushes several more times to do away with the contract, at this point I am considering excusing myself for the bathroom to scream out in frustration at least three times. Each time the urge comes over me, I simply look down at the small watch on my wrist instead, remembering the seemingly everlasting patience of my late grandmother. When we finish reviewing the documents I stand up, pick up my tablet and grab my bag in preparation to leave.

I say, “After speaking with you, I’m sorry to inform you that I don’t think that I will be able to provide you with the services you are looking for.”

“What?!” Sandra exclaims, shooting up from her seated position, her sweet demeanor gone in an instant and is replaced by a look of outrage, “You had me fill out all that ridiculous paperwork, forced me to pay you for this meeting, and you’re not even competent enough to take me on as a client!”

By now the entire coffee shop has gone silent at her outburst, in this moment I can’t manage to think of anything to de-escalate the situation, all I can think about is maintaining my composure and professionalism in the face of Sandra’s harsh comments.

I muster up enough restraint and force a smile, “I’m sorry for any inconvenience I have caused you.” I bow my head in apology.

“Oh, I’ll show you inconvenience!” Sandra shouts and then knocks my tablet out of my hands. I’m frozen in shock at her actions, my face stricken with horror as the tablet appear to drop in slow motion. It clangs against the corner of the table before hitting the ground. A crunch resounds through the deathly quiet coffee shop, my stomach clenches in reaction.

A softly whispered, “Oh shit” comes from the booth with the gossiping women. I look up to see the manager approaching us, sympathy for me written all over her face, but a quiet anger-filled aura surrounds her.

She clasps her hands together and addresses Sandra, “Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. You’ve disrupted my place of business not once, but twice now. You have also managed to assault one of my customers as well. I suggest you leave now, I have already called the authorities.”

“I can’t believe you called the cops on me! I’d like to speak to your manager. This is horrible customer service!”

“Ma’am I am the manager. Now would you please come with me.” The manager wraps her arm around Sandra’s shoulder and escorts her out, the jingle of the bells signalling that they have exited the building.

I take a deep breath in and bend down, picking up my tablet to assess the damage. Pressing the power button does absolutely nothing the first time, the lock screen doesn’t come into view or anything, so I hold the power button down and the start up sound comes from the tablet but the visual that accompanies it is absent. I try turning it off and on again one more time, after a drop like that even with the case on, there’s no way I’d expect it to still be functioning.

Unfortunately, my expectations are fulfilled, my tablet is officially out of commission. I drop it into my bag and lean against the table, waiting for the cops to show up. After a few minutes I think to myself, ‘I hope people just leave me alone right now, I am so not in the mood for some stranger to have pity on me at the moment.’ I clench and unclench my jaw a few times to try and relieve some of the tension in my body, and the I feel a gentle, hesitant tap on my shoulder. Turning my head slightly to see the new barista, Reggie looking at me apprehensively, he opens his mouth and closes it several times before I see his lips move, but I can’t find it in me to focus on what he’s saying. All I can hear is a rushing sound filling my ears... Reggie moves forward and grabs my shoulders, shaking me lightly, “-you okay?”

I nod my head and croak out, “Yes.”

“Are you sure? You’ve got quite the grip on that table there.”

Looking down I notice exactly what he’s talking about. My knuckles appear to be bleached white, my hands are holding the table in a death grip. I manage to pull my hands away then open and close them to work the blood flow back into them. I turn around and lean against the table and let out a nervous laugh.

My heart is hammering against my chest, the roaring sound in my ears has died down enough to the point where I can hear myself say, “I’m a bit taken aback is all. I mean I was expecting some reaction from her, but not that one...” I trail off and glance behind me briefly and catch a glimpse of Sandra talking to an officer, it’s then that I hear the bells chime and the other officer walks in. He strides over to where Reggie and I are standing after scanning the room of patrons for a moment.

“Hello ma’am my name is Officer Schmoe. I need to ask you some questions. May I see your ID so I can get your name down correctly?”

“No problem, here you go.” I say after reaching into my bag and retrieving my ID out of my wallet, and handing it to him.

“Here you go.” he says after jotting down my name then handing it back to me. I quickly put it back in its designated slot in my wallet and then turn back to the officer.

Officer Schmoe takes out a notepad from his shoulder pocket then asks, “What happened?”

“Well, Ms. Sandra Bonde and I were having a meeting here and after reviewing some documents and speaking with Ms. Bonde I informed her that I would not be able to provide my services to her.”

“What is it that you were not going to do for Ms. Bonde?”

“I am a life coach, and after speaking with her I determined that the problem was beyond my ability to assist her.”

“Okay, then what happened?”

“Well, I was standing up getting ready to leave when I told Ms. Bonde this, she stood up and said something of how it was unfair that I forced her to pay for an initial intake when I now plan on not taking her on as a client. I responded by saying I was sorry for any inconvenience I had caused her. She then said something along the lines of I’ll show you inconvenience, and smacked the tablet that I have for business out of my hand and it dropped to the floor after hitting the corner of the table. The manager came over and asked her to leave, I tried turning the tablet on afterwards and it is no longer functional. I will either have to get it fixed or replace it.”

“Can I see the tablet in question?”

“Sure.” I grab the tablet and hand it over to him.

He looks at it and turns it over in his hands, examining it from different angles, “Would you like to file charges against Ms. Bonde?”

I freeze at the question, ‘I mean I could, and I would most likely win, and that would all be fine and dandy. However, I would probably be forced to interact with that woman a dozen or so more times before the case was over. I do not feel like putting myself through that kind of torture.’

“No, I would not.”

He tries the power button the same as I did and gets the same results, absolutely nothing, “Okay, ma’am, here you go.” He hands the busted tablet back to me and I take it from him, then place it behind me on the table.

“Could I have your contact information in case we need to ask some follow up questions later on?”

“Will a business card be okay?”

“Yes ma’am.”

I root around in my bag for a moment until I find my cards, they’re still in the envelope they came in when I first ordered them. “Here.”

Officer Schmoe takes the card and places it in his shoulder pocket along with his notepad, “Thank you for your time ma’am and have a good rest of your day.”

I nod at the officer and smile as he turns on his heel and leaves the store, I pull out my phone and check the time, this whole encounter has put me at least two hours behind schedule, ‘I’ll just have to work a bit later in the office ton-’

There’s a resounding CRACK from outside, it’s sudden and pulls my attention immediately to look out the window. My eyes meet Officer Schmoe’s as his head is whipped sideways, I look past him to see his partner putting cuffs on a struggling Sandra. His partner looks pissed, ‘I would be pissed too if I had her screeching at me for the past half hour or so, and to top it all off, her smacking your partner in the face.Oof.’ I turn back around and put my belongings back into my bag. The bells jingle and the manager walks over to me with the sweetest smile, her demeanor putting me at ease. “I’m sorry you had to got through all that. Pick something to drink, my treat.”

“I’d like a hot chocolate please.”

The manager turns to Reggie and says, “Think you can manage a hot chocolate on your own?”

He nods and scurries around behind the counter to make the drink.

⇜↭⇝

Fidgeting with my keys, trying to get the key to my office open with my mostly empty drink in one hand and my bag in the other is probably entertaining to any onlookers, amused by my struggle and lack of forethought. I finally manage to find the right key and slide it home into the lock, I turn it and push to let myself in. Flicking the lights on as I enter, closing the door behind me before walking over to the thermostat, unfortunately I ended up staying out longer than expected so it will have a small effect on my bills. Yet another thing to add onto the growing list of unfortunate events for today. The chill of December has settled in my bones and I need to change that, fast. The free hot chocolate definitely helped me stave off the cold while I was on the bus, but the walk to the office didn’t help me feel any warmer that’s for sure.

I walk through the office space all but dragging my feet before I plop down into the chair at my desk and turn on my laptop. ‘I’m going to waste so much paper. There’s a reason why I switched things over to digital...’ The login screen comes up and I type in my password, the work that I had open from before is still open, ‘Good, that makes things a little easier.’ I pull up my email and write up a quick memo to the clients I’m supposed to see over the next week informing them of the slight adjustment given an unfortunate occurrence. Clicking off my email I review the file for the client I am meeting with tomorrow, and make sure I have everything I need compiled and print off some notes that I made on potential goals they need to set. I get a few emails back, responding quickly with their understanding. Some other people are slow to respond. I even have one person say that they aren’t going to pay me more just because I broke something. I immediately saved that to respond to at a different time, being in no state of mind to do so now and think to myself, ‘I know I said I was going to work late tonight to make up for lost time, but it just isn’t happening. I am officially done for the day.’

I put alligator clips on the notes separating each client. After putting all the notes in my bag next to the tablet, I grab a pen from off my desk as well as a sticky-note. Writing out a reminder to call up tech support and find out a quote, I take the sticky-note off of the stack and place it on the brim of the laptop and shut everything down. Returning to the office entrance I slide the deadbolt into place, and give the doorknob a quick tug making sure my office is secure. I turn around and grab my phone and keys from out of my bag and head to the stairs leading up to my apartment. Rustling the keys around until I find the right one, and then unlocking the door, “Hey, sorry I’m late, I’ll throw something together real quick!”

I turn around and lock the door behind me then place my keys on the hook beside the door. Walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge I think about what I can make for dinner. After staring blankly at the contents with nothing coming to mind I come to a decision. “You know what, how’s frozen pizza sound to you?”

I crane my neck to the side listening in for a response and I hear an affirmative noise over the sound of the television playing in the living room. I close the fridge, open up the freezer and take out the frozen pizza, wiggling the box a bit to try and slide it out from under the other frozen goods without taking everything out. ‘Success!’ I think to myself once I’ve pried it out of its spot without the entire freezer falling out onto my feet. Quickly setting the oven to the right temperature and then I rip the box open and put the pizza on a pan to cook on. While I wait for the oven to heat up I start talking to Neville in the other room, “So remember how I was saying just yesterday that work has been pretty slow lately. Well, remind me to watch what I ask for next time because I had quite the interesting client today.”

I hear an inquisitive noise from the other room, “Yes, I am aware you can’t hear me very well, I’ll be there in just a minute, give me a moment to put in the pizza.”

The oven beeps signalling that it has finished the heating process. I slide the pan into the oven, set the timer on the stove and walk into the living room joining Neville on the couch. He slides over and rests his head on my lap, he looks up at me expectantly and I chuckle a bit. I reach down and massage his head, his hair soft and velvety to the touch, the repetitive motion eliciting a content sigh from him and I continue telling him the events of my day. From the initial conversation between me and Sandra to her outburst, and finally the image of seeing Officer Schmoe reeling back from Sandra’s assault, her being put in handcuffs and hauled away. Throughout my retelling, Neville sat patiently listening to everything I had to say, making small noises here and there indicating how he felt exactly in regards to what was being said. It’s moments like these that I appreciate him the most. He’s not very vocal, but he is an extremely good listener and just that alone helps ease my stress on a hectic day like today. The timer on the stove beeps and Neville moves, letting me get up and go back into the kitchen. I put on an oven mitt from inside the drawer beside the oven and I hear Neville pad into the kitchen. After taking the pizza out of the oven, and placing it on the stove top I look over at Neville  who is licking his lips in anticipation.

“No, absolutely not. You know what dairy does to you. I am not dealing with your flatulence and explosive diarrhea for the next three days.”

He huffs at me and saunters over to his food bowl full of dry food, and eats a few bites before deciding he’s over it and leaving the kitchen. A definitive meow can be heard from the other room, and I sigh after grabbing myself a plate and putting a slice onto the plate.

Bakugou’s P.O.V.

“In local news this evening, a woman was arrested just this afternoon at a local coffee shop for assaulting an officer. The alleged assailant, a 31-year-old female, supposedly assaulted an officer after being informed that she would be taken down to the station for disturbing the peace among various other charges. We spoke with the manager of the coffee shop where the incident occurred and she claimed that the woman not only assaulted an officer but also assaulted a frequent patron of hers prior to the police becoming involved. We have not received any further information regarding the other party, and the manager has chosen to remain silent as to their identity.”

I watch the clip of the woman slapping the officer in question and recognize Joe clicking my tongue and turn off the television shaking my head. ‘Poor Joe, and I had just spoken to him earlier this morning. I guess I’m not the only one who’s had a shitty day then huh?’ I quickly grab a plain, black, hooded sweatshirt from the drawer in my room and pull it over my head. Looking around the room I am a bit surprised that the incident from earlier this morning did not leave my room in disarray. ‘Calling him was definitely for the best. If  her reaction was anything to go off of, without the cops she would’ve definitely trashed the place.’ I close and lock the door to my apartment. The stairs no longer a problem because the hangover from earlier is a distant memory. The familiar stairway down to the parking garage calmed me, the echoing and clanging of my feet against the stairs blocking out my thoughts. I push open the door and take in a sharp breath of air, the sharp chill invading my lungs. Even though I was expecting the chill given the time of year, it still caught me a bit off guard with exactly how cold it has gotten as the sun goes down.

Walking over to my assigned space and unlocking my car takes a matter of moments. The leather seats make my butt clench as it makes contact with the chilly surface. I turn the keys in the ignition and it starts up with a roar. Pulling out of the parking space is a quick maneuver of the steering wheel and then I’m on my way. Weaving in and out of traffic on my way to work, my head nodding to the music, I come to a stop at a red light and tap my thumbs against the wheel in time to the beat. It’s only a matter of minutes before I pull into the parking garage of the hero agency, stopping briefly to scan my ID card in front of the sensor. The machine beeps at me and then the automated gate bar lifts up and grants me access to the garage. I turn my head and wave at the guard sitting in the booth before driving to the second level and pulling into my space. I turn the car off and grab my ID and close the door, locking the car as I head into the stairwell.

When I step out onto my floor, the admin. assistant rushes over to me, she seems a bit frazzled, but not more so than usual and she says, “Bakugou, the boss would like to see you now. Before you get changed or anything.”

She scuttles off, probably to carry out some other task assigned to her by the boss. ‘What could he want, it’s not like I’ve gotten into any real trouble recently...’ The speculations are endless as I approach his office, the door slightly ajar. I knock on the side of the door frame anyway to announce my presence.

A booming voice urges me in, “Come in Bakugou, have a seat.”

I open the door and close it gently behind me, and then take a seat in one of the red cushioned arm chairs in front of his large desk. The boss’ presence is a bit intimidating as he looks up from a folder on his desk. He nods to acknowledge my presence, and then peruses the paperwork in front of him for another moment before closing the cover and meeting my eyes.

He stares at me for a moment before speaking, “I got a call this afternoon, there was an issue of sorts at your apartment this morning and the police had to get involved. When Kirishima came in for his shift earlier today I called him into the office and he was a bit concerned. I asked him what was going on with you and he mentioned that you haven’t been acting like your usual self. Now, you may not like it, but it is my job to pry. If you are not in the right mental state to do this job I need to bench you, even if it’s just temporarily.”

He stops speaking but continues to look into my eyes gauging my reaction, I don’t say anything in response to his words. I try and maintain a neutral expression, but the boss seems to see through it and says, “See that expression tells me that benching you might be the right call.”

The sides of my mouth turn downward into a frown, the thought of being assigned to desk work for an undefined amount of time does not appeal to me in the slightest.

“I am mandating you see the department therapist.”

I shoot up out of the chair, clenching my fists at my sides. A familiar scowl on my face as I exclaim, “I’m not crazy, why do I need to see a shrink?!”

The boss furrows his brows and says, “I know you’re not crazy, there are other reasons for needing to see a therapist through. If you want to stay an active Pro Hero you WILL see a shrink as you called it.”

“This is bullshit! Sorry. This is bullshit sir!”

The boss chuckles at that, then says, “I understand you’re upset but this is non-negotiable.”

“I go out for one night on the town-”

“It’s no about that. It’s not about the woman you brought home. It’s not about the police getting called. It’s a combination of all these things and I can tell from the way you’re responding right now it’s the right call.”

“But-”

“This conversation is over.”

I simply bow my head and say, “Yes sir.” and head back to my desk. I sit there for a few moments and contemplate a week or more of tedium chained to a desk and unable to do my actual job just stuck doing paperwork and watching the walls. ‘The boss never said that I wasn’t allowed to go on patrol today explicitly.’ I hop out of my chair and head over to the locker room, I get no more than two steps in that direction when I hear the admin. assistant day to me, “You know if you do that, the boss will know before you even finish getting changed.”

I huff in exasperation and annoyance then sit back down at my desk. I put my head in my hands with my elbows propped up on my desk, ‘I said it before and I’ll say it again. This is utter bullshit.’

⇜↭⇝

The bright fluorescent lights of the office have burned a circle in my retina, ‘I’ve been spinning around in this chair for about thirty minutes, if I don’t do something I’m going to lose my damn mind.’ I look over at the admin. assistant. She’s busy at work at least that’s what I think is happening, all I can see is the top tuft of hair peeking over the monitor to her computer, as she is otherwise surrounded by paperwork. Bringing forth the silent question as to how in the hell she saw me despite being barricaded behind stacks of papers. I stand up and walk over to her, tapping on the desk to catch her attention.

“Hey, I’m not going on patrol, but I am going to head over to the police department to see if they need anything.”

The clacking of her nails against the keys doesn’t stop even after I say something to her, but her tuft of hair bobs so I just leave, taking my badge from off my desk and my phone heading out the door of the main entrance. The cold filling my lungs with crisp air, it’s refreshing after being in the stuffy office for a few hours. The walk to the police station is short but the entire time there is a constant stream of thoughts going through my mind. ‘The past few weeks haven’t seemed especially different from any other. It’s been nothing but routine for me in terms of getting through work and getting over my ex. I didn’t think that my behavior had been too out of the ordinary.’ The sidewalks are still pretty busy at this time of night and I have plenty of company on my stroll to the police station. ‘Even so, I still don’t want to go to a therapist.’ The thought crosses my mind as I walk up the steps into the police station. The air in the police station is just as stuffy if not stuffier than that of the agency. Looking around I see the usual crowd, some new faces here and there but most of the personnel are the same. Then the person I least expected to still be at work comes sidling up beside me patting my shoulder, “Hey there Bakugou, it’s not your first day here so why’re you gawking around like you don’t know what to do with yourself?”

“Hey Joe, why’re you still here? Your shift was over hours ago right?”

“Well, yeah, but they forced me to get checked out by the doc just in case before I headed home.” he says pointing at the lurid bruise covering most of his left cheek, continuing “I was just picking up my stuff, on my way out the door.”

“From that woman earlier right? I saw that on the news right before I came in today.”

“Yep, and boy was she a piece of work, that one. Anyway, what brings you here?”

“Boss told me I was on desk duty, I figured I’d pop by and see if you guys needed anything. I am glad I ran into you though.”

“Is that so?” He looks at me with a questioning look on his face.

“Yes, maybe you can answer a question I have. Other than a therapist, who would someone go to for help, asking for a friend you understand.”

“Well, if it isn’t an actual mental health issue but more needing assistance with getting their life on track they could try a life coach.”

“Uh, huh.” I nod my head slowly at his statement.

“Not to say that a life coach and therapist are on the same level of course. However, the thing that they do have in common is that they help people who may be a bit lost in the weeds and not able to see a way forward.” Someone approaches the doorway and we move off to the side to avoid being in anyone’s way.

“I actually have a business card right here.”

Joe pulls the card out of his shoulder pocket and hands it to me, I take it and put it in my jacket for later. We talk for a few more minutes, Joe complaining mainly about how much paperwork he’s going to have to deal with now that the woman who I have learned is Ms. Sandra Bonde is in custody. We laugh a bit at the comment, knowing full well the only reason we do any paperwork is because of our jobs. Paperwork takes up so much of my time, I’d rather be out on patrol than sitting down at my desk doing mindless busy work, filling out forms and whatnot. The idle thought causes my eye to twitch in annoyance, reminding myself of my mandatory desk duty, I don’t know how I’ll survive.

We part ways as he heads to the direction of the subway and I stay put. After conversing with the officer at the front desk I wait a few minutes for some files on small time villains they were going to send over later, and with those in hand I walk back. Even though the whole point of me going to the police station was just a ploy to get out of the office I feel glad that I could accomplish something even if it is as mundane as carrying files back and forth. I pause for a moment, I did accomplish something else as well, I have the business card of the life coach that Joe gave me.

I am greeted by the stale hot air of the office and the sound of keys tapping away at the keyboard, coming from the admin. assistant’s desk who is as always surrounded by mountains of paperwork. I almost feel bad as I walk up to her and say, “Here’s what they had for us at the station.”

She simply looks up at me and says, “Just add it to a stack and I’ll get to it.”

After placing the papers onto one of the smaller stacks I head back to my desk. Dropping down into my chair and looking at the bare desk in front of my. I lean back in my chair and look up at the tiled ceiling pockmarked with holes. The standard soundboard material is a soulless institutional white-grey and lacking anything better to do, I start counting the holes, ‘This’ll be better than staring at the lights. At least I won’t blind myself out of boredom.’

⇜↭⇝

“4,262... 4,263-”

“Hey Bakugou, I’m heading out,” says the admin. assistant, “Thank you for picking up the paperwork this evening. It did make things a bit easier. Oh, and the therapist should be calling you sometime tomorrow to schedule an appointment.”

She gives me a small wave and then walks away, a minute later I hear the door close and am alone in the empty office, all the other heroes for this shift are out on patrol. ‘Lucky bastards.’ I lean back in my chair once more and try to find the spot where I had left off but I had lost track. I click my tongue, although the task was pointless, at least it gave me something to do. I stand up and head over to the vending machines, a quick snack doesn’t sound too bad.

The selection is limited and most of the bags are probably filled with stale chips anyways. After a few moments I reach into my back pocket to grab my wallet after deciding on a bag of pretzels. My wallet is not there, I furrow my brows in confusion, maybe I left it at my desk? No, when I get back there it’s empty. I pat myself down, and the only things on me are my phone, hero ID, and keys. Wait, maybe I left it in the car? A sinking feeling in my stomach tells me otherwise, but I figure it’s worth a quick peek anyways.

Ten minutes later it is clear that it’s not here. I’ve checked under the seats, in between the console and the seats, and in the glove box. I even checked in between the seats and the side panel of the car by where the seat adjuster are, nothing. I huff out in annoyance at my fruitless search and resist the urge to slam the door to my car, closing it behind me and lock it before heading back inside ‘Great if it isn’t at the house I will have to call around and cancel all my cards, just what I need.’

⇜↭⇝

I have managed to accomplish nothing in the four hours after getting back from the police department other than count the divots in the ceiling and down eight cups of coffee, I have never had that much coffee in one shift before. I spent hours literally staring at the ceiling, hopefully this desk duty nonsense will be over soon. I can’t sit at a desk all day, my brain will atrophy. Maybe I won’t even need to talk to the shrink more than once, I’ll contact the life coach, set up an appointment and then I’ll be out on patrol in no time. The boss is just giving me a nudge, he’s not holding my hand on the issue.

I drive back to my apartment a bit slower than usual, lost in thought. Considering what I should say to the therapist and life coach that will finish up this whole scenario as quickly as possible. My train of thought lasts until I get to the parking garage of my apartment complex. The dim lights of the garage a bilious yellow hue against the stark night.

I unlock the door to my apartment, take off my shoes and walk inside, “Okay, now where the hell is my wallet?” I say to myself as I lock the door behind me.

I spend the next few minutes walking around the house wandering about, and have made a full circle in my search for my wallet. I sigh and take off my jacket, walking over to the coat hanger shelf by the door, I notice my wallet placed on the shelf. I take in a deep steadying breath, ‘It’s been here the whole time. At least I don’t have to cancel all my cards now.’  I rest my keys on the shelf next to it and take out the business card from Joe out of my jacket.

Padding into my room, the floor is chilly despite the socks on my feet. My thumb runs over the surface of the card. It’s smooth and warm to the touch after being in my jacket pocket for so long. I set it down on my bedside table and quickly undress, putting on my pajamas, readying myself for bed. After pulling my shirt over my head I pick up the card and walk over to my desk, sitting down in the chair and opening the laptop. While waiting for the login screen I look down at the card in my hands. It has a matte finish, and is heather gray in color, the black lettering standing out from the soft tone of the card stock. I flip the card over in my hand and see that it’s one sided. The small chime of the laptop lets me know that the startup screen is on display and I can log in. My fingers tap lightly at the keys, pausing every so often to glance at the card for reference. After typing the website into the url bar at the top of the browser the page loads up instantly. The platform is simple and easy to navigate, I find the application for the intake immediately. Looking over the requested information I scroll to the bottom of the page and come to a decision. ‘There’s no way I’m filling all of this out. I’ll just call them when I wake up.’

[giyuulatte]

cute! ty for the tag!!

no pressure tags: @bryverros @urgirlhannibal @cxtegyu @samanthaa-leanne and anyone else who wanna do it

Me 🤝 @mrabubu, bugs

Uquiz and picrew, inviting anyone who wants to participate!

[handsoffmyfriends]

bees with noya pls 🥰

LOVE LETTERS

— youve been dating nishinoya yuu for a year today but your hope for a romantic evening was dashed when your boss held you back for overtime.

PAIRING: Nishinoya Yuu x F!Reader WORD COUNT: 1,091 WARNINGS: tooth rotting fluff?

A/N: so this absolutely is not the first thought i had for this prompt. not a single aspect of this turned out originally how i had planned but i think its infinitely better this way i hope you like it sam! lets say this is my apology for making you do puffer jackets with noya

i put my trust into god and tried to post this mobile but tumblr ate like 3/4 of it so when i tried to repost as a draft it decided it was hungry anD ATE IT ALL SO MMM this is Take Two

Bees with Nishinoya - Cutest thing they've done for their S/O

You were approaching your one year anniversary with Nishinoya. You weren't expecting anything for the day, since you were tied up with work and you'd already discussed it with Yuu and agreed to have a belated celebration on the weekend.

What you had hoped to do was finish work on time and spend the evening doing what you normally would do with Yuu, but your boss had other ideas and you ended up working overtime. By the time you had finally made it home, you were hungry, tired and in such a bad mood you barely noticed the note on the kitchen bench.

You didn't live with your boyfriend, but he visited your apartment enough times that he had a key. And he had definitely been here, since the note was in his very distinctive scrawl.

Hey babygirl ♡

I wanted to be here to surprise you, but I guess you got held back at work again?

I left you a little something in the fridge :)

I love you!

You smiled at his barely legible note, your heart warmed at the thought of him being here, waiting for you to knock off. Your phone was dead, so you couldn't even message him yet. You put it on charge before doing as instructed, checking the fridge for the little something.

It was your favourite winter dish, sitting nice and inviting in a container with a folded piece of paper perched on the lid. You quickly popped it into the microwave, suddenly much hungrier than before. and read the new note as you waited.

My babygirl ♡

First off, I didn't cook this, so you don't have to worry about food poisoning. Momma Suga helped me out!

It's probably really late now, but you should go and have a nice, hot bath after you eat this. Trust me ;)

You giggled at the thought of Suga trying to teach Yuu how to cook. It wasn't that he was inherently bad at it, Yuu was just really impatient and lacked the focus most meals required. The man could barely stand still for five seconds, so it was a longshot for him to stand around in the kitchen for half an hour.

You briefly wondered if he meant Suga had also visited and just cooked the whole meal himself, or if Yuu had called him and had Suga try and instruct him on what to do. Either way, you really owed it to your best friend for humouring Yuu.

The meal really hit the spot; it warmed your belly and you were already feeling much more relaxed as opposed to when you first came home. Yuu's cute little notes had definitely helped with that, too.

As per Yuu's instruction, your next task was to take a bath. Sitting in the middle of the tub was another note, accompanied by a new bottle of bath soak. It was your favourite scent and upon closer inspection, it was the exact soak you had raved to Yuu about several weeks ago, but lamented at the price of it. It wasn't that you couldn't afford it, but you could be frugal when it came to luxury items, and a bath soak definitely fell under something you couldn't quite justify spending more than you needed to on.

Babygirl ♡

I bet you had one hell of a day. Enjoy your new soak! It smells amazing ;)

After this, you should probably call it a night. I don't know what time it is, but you've had a big day and there's nothing like going to bed just after a relaxing bath

I'll see you later ♡

You couldn't stop yourself from shedding a few tears at the thoughtful and romantic gesture. Yuu usually fell short when it came to genuine romance because he was a silly goofball (not that it ever bothered you), but seeing all the sweet things he had just done for you filled you with overwhelming love. You would have to spoil him rotten on the weekend for this.

The soak was just what you needed. You nearly fell asleep in the tub a few times. When you dozed off and slipped below the water line, shocking yourself into sitting up coughing and spluttering, you decided that was enough bath time.

You were thoroughly relaxed despite the near death experience and it was definitely time to call it a night. You sleepily toweled yourself dry, shucking on a loose shirt that had once belonged to Yuu. You don't remember when you had claimed it, but it was yours and there was nothing he could do to reclaim it now.

When you entered your bedroom, you damn near burst into tears.

There were candles lit everywhere, some cherry blossom petals littered around, but the most shocking thing was Yuu, sitting cross legged on your bed with a lavender rose between his teeth.

Your tears spurred him to his feet, rushing over to you with concern. "Y/N, what's wrong?"

Your tears turned to laughter. You pulled him into a tight embrace, holding him close for several moments before pulling away only to kiss him silly. You kissed his nose, his cheeks, his mouth, his lips, not an inch of his face was safe from your onslaught of kisses.

"You've been here this whole time?" you accused, though the smile in your voice was impossible to mask. "Why didn't you just come out and see me?"

He blushed furiously. "Well, I wanted it all to be a surprise, and what better surprise at the end than me?"

You laughed, pulling him in for another kiss. "We weren't supposed to do anything today!"

He shrugged with indifference, pulling you towards the bed. "We didn't," he emphasised. "I did. I wanted to treat you like royalty, because that's what you are to me."

He didn't give you a chance to respond. He sat you on the edge of your bed as he fell down to one knee. Your heart either spiked or stopped, you couldn't tell because all your attention was on Yuu and the little box he pulled out. "Y/N, I know it's only been a year, but I can't imagine my life without you. Will you—"

"Yes!" you blurted before he could even finish, falling down on him and crashing the both of you onto the floor.

"You didn't let me finish!" he protested through laughter.

"Answer is still yes," you countered, showering him with even more kisses than before.

[gallickingun]

hi i love you. that’s all. 🥰

hey sam, ily too! 💕

[secondhand-trash]

What’s the name/link to the discord chat your in? You guys are amazing writers and Id love to join the chat and be your friend!

The link is up on @lady-bakuhoe ‘s bio^^!

[anotherhydrangea]

yes bb i am doing requests! it’s just taking me a little longer to get them out, but i love yours and will work on it soon. 💖💖

It's okay hon, no need to pressure you. Thanks for considering my request 🤗💙

[samanthaa-leanne]

Eight: Punishment #1

| Prev | Next | Masterlist |

Summary: YN Hinata is the twin sister of Shoyo Hinata. Where Shoyo is all rainbows and sunshine YN is thorns and storm clouds. YN picks on Hinata any chance she gets. Why? Because of how easy it is & that’s the only way she knows how to show her love. She’d never allow anyone else to treat Shoyo the way she does though. That is until the tall and handsome Tsukishima Kei enters her life and makes it a point to go against her wishes. Why does it always have to be the hot ones?

Pairings: Tsukishima x Reader  

Status: Ongoing

Warnings: Language, angst, & 17+ memes

Updates: When I Can

Taglist: Open {20/50} please send an ask to be added to the taglist

@iamapotat @chewbrry  @kuroaka  @fantasycantasy @passionateuchiha @awkwardspontaneity @alpha-mommy69 @xoxopam4 @universal-s1ut @ks-tsukki @yuminako @thechaosoflonging @krak-jj @whoami-72 @a-little-pebbl @shadysuittrash @lovingnightmarewriter @pleaseitsjustrae0nly @noodleswastaken @wannabeisekai

[teamatsumu]

it was you all along. (bokuto koutaro x reader)

summary: you confess to him, and he’s confused because he thinks you’re already dating. for my valentine’s day event - theme: confessions.

word count: 1285

tags: @keiva1000 @kindnessspreads @msbyomimi @sleepyxxhead @priv-rose @nishayuro @kitas-tapioca @kakashineedstotouchgrass s @amisuh @avis-writeshq @samanthaa-leanne @akaashi-todorki @sp1ng @kur0obaby @bleach-your-panties @pinkiipeachiikeen @whippedbel

event masterlist

Careful hands tried to handle the cupcake as delicately as possible. You held your breath, lowering it into the box. When its base hit the cardboard, you finally sighed out in relief. You pulled back to admire your creation, feeling a smile creep up on your face at the sight of the four cupcakes, all decorated to the nines.

No doubt in your head that Bokuto would love this. After all, you knew his every like and dislike very well. You had known him forever.

Bokuto Kotarou had taken you under his ‘wing’ when you were in elementary school. Tiny-you had no confidence and zero capability to make friends, while Bokuto was your exact opposite. He had taken a liking to you and had bravely proclaimed that he would ‘protect’ you, puffing out his tiny chest and grinning wide. Over the years, Bokuto had not let you down even once.

It was no wonder that you slowly fell in love with him. How could you not? You spent every day joined at the hip. The only time you were apart was when he was on the court, and even then you were on the sidelines, clipboard in hand, managing the team while admiring how talented your friend was. So really, how could you not fall in love?

In your defense, Bokuto doted on you like crazy. He knew very little physical boundaries when it came to you, hugging and squeezing the life out of you, laying sloppy kisses on your cheeks, sharing food and stories and…. basically each other’s entire lives.

But today. Today was the day. Today you would tell him that you no longer wanted to be friends. That you wanted more. Your heartbeat sped up at the thought of how he might react. You weren’t an arrogant person by any means but you couldn’t imagine him reacting negatively. There’s no way Bokuto could be as affectionate as he was if he didn’t feel something for you. Hell, how many times had he told you he loved you? Every day. You had lost count.

You were careful with the box as you walked to school. Your very limbs were vibrating, and you were breathing deeply in and out to make sure you remained calm. You were optimistic in taking this step. In fact, all your mutual friends, including the team, had only encouraged you. They were all dead sure he would accept your confession and return your feelings just as enthusiastically. You were more excited than you were nervous. You couldn’t wait to see him.

You found Bokuto with his head buried in his locker, and you had to hold back a snort. He was muttering something under his breath, and you were sure he had lost something else now. His locker was a mess, and you had repeatedly scolded him to clean it up or else he would lose things. Once again, you were right.

You tapped his shoulder, biting back a laugh when he jolted and banged his head against the roof. Curses flew from his mouth before he ducked and pulled his head out, turning to look at you with a glare. You watched fondly when his scowl was replaced by the widest, brightest smile you had ever seen. Bokuto’s smile could give the Sun a run for its money.

He exclaimed your name loudly, opening his arms wide to pull you into a bear hug. You immediately held a hand out to push his chest back.

“Hold it!” You lifted up the box. “I’m holding something delicate.”

Bokuto’s interest was immediately piqued, and you giggled at his childish curiosity, grabbing his wrist and tugging him with you. He hastily slammed his locker shut and let you drag him down the crowded halls and outside, finding an empty bench overlooking the school track.

“What’s going on?” He finally asked, wide golden eyes peering into your own. You sat down and patted the seat beside you for Bokuto to do the same. He obliged, waiting for you to speak. Instead, you handed him the box.

Bokuto opened it up and gasped at the selection of four intricately decorated cupcakes, admiring each one separately. You felt your heart swell at his reactions.

“Holy shit,” he whispered. “This one looks like a volleyball. And this one has my jersey number!”

Bokuto looked back up at you with stars in his eyes. “I can’t believe it. This is so awesome!”

You grinned wide, fiddling with your hands a bit. “I made them for a special occasion.”

Bokuto perked up again. “What special occasion?”

You took a deep breath. Finally, the time was here. “I love you, Kou.”

Bokuto blinked before a wide smile overtook his face. “I love ya too, babe.”

You stared at him for a bit. “No. I mean, I love you. I’m in love with you.”

Now, a small, confused frown formed between the boy’s eyebrows. “I heard you. I love you, too. What’s going on? You’re bein’ weird.”

You gaped at Bokuto, unable to even fathom what he was getting from this. Were you not being clear enough? Was he not understanding what you meant?

“Kotarou, I don’t want to be just friends. This isn’t a ‘friends’ kind of love. I wanna date you. I wanna be your girlfriend.”

Now Bokuto looked flabbergasted, slowly closing the box and placing it to the side. “What are you talking about? You are my girlfriend!”

Silence. “What?”

Bokuto nodded, though he still looked at you like you had grown two heads. “Y-yeah?”

“Kou-” You held up a hand as if calling a timeout, trying, but failing, to understand what he meant. You had anticipated requited feelings. Some part of you had even considered the possibility of rejection. But this? How was this even possible?

Bokuto looked like he was processing things too. He quirked his head to the side, staring quizzically at you. One of his hands ran through his hair, almost in thought. You felt a horrific laugh bubble up inside you at how ridiculous the situation was. This…. this was so on brand for Bokuto. Your confession going awry because this idiot thought you were already dating.

“But what about all the time we’re together? I always hug you and kiss you. We have sleepovers all the time. I sleep in your damn bed!”

“Well yes, but-” You shifted. “We did that as friends!”

Bokuto gave you a look. “You think I act that way with my other friends?”

“I thought I was special.” You mumbled, suddenly rethinking almost every interaction you had with Bokuto.

“You are.” His voice softened. “Because you’re my girlfriend.”

You felt your face burn hot. “But you never-”

He waited for you to continue. You fidgeted.

“We never kissed.”

Now, a shiteating grin was slowly spreading across Bokuto’s face. He wiggled his crazy eyebrows at you. “You wanna?”

You smacked his bicep hard, making him yelp and rub the sore spot with a little pout. Inside your chest, your heart was doing endless flip flops. You still couldn’t believe that all this time, Bokuto had assumed you were dating and not just friends. The very thought of it was both completely expected and also insanely shocking at the same time.

Bokuto was watching you closely, having calmed down a bit. He gave you a little smile.

“Since ya didn’t consider any of our dates as…. dates, can I take you out on a proper one now?”

A smile spread across your face at his words. You nodded jerkily, staring down at your hands. Bokuto clapped his hands in finality.

“Great! Now, I need to eat these cupcakes and talk about how great they are.”

You laughed.

[voyousfleur]

@kenmasgameboy @problemsolving-101 @shegrewupwithoutafather @kara-grayson04 @akaashious @bluespiderliliesx @voids-universe @cafekev @rienin @stardustanni @bitchofthecourt @yuhsta @kkoalaworld @kageyamasbabygorl @msjdott @febvrury @verymuchbabey @cecedrake2217 @ikemenweebo @tiooo @kozutenshi @hqreisin @reogou @inosukeke @differentballooncollection @unstableye @montys-chaos @ihateccmber @les-i-m-miserable @ntimacy @shmxp @memorableminds @killlerqween @aruhappy @sleep3deprived @aintyourholy @hvneymun @shrimpypenis @bbkiyoomi @bloody-bella @mygscafe @samanthaa-leanne

if fate permits

⤷  chapter thirty three: the beginning of the end, ii.

prev  <  masterlist  >  next

marga's notes. hehe (: 

The snow has begun to descend all over Japan and almost all the things your eyes stop on are colored in white, from the roads, the barks of the trees, to the roofs of your homes. The view was accompanied by the feeling of coldness that hugs you every time you leave the comforts of your warm house and step out of the door. It was pleasant, regardless of the sore joints you get every winter. The sound of snow crunching for every footstep makes up for it, which you enjoy even better when your companion joins you in trying to skip over the uneven ground.

“Come on, Hajime, you slowpoke! We’re going to be late,” you giggle as you pick up a bit of snow and chuck it towards his direction. The past week hasn't been that eventful for the two of you, but there was still progress anyway. You two went out and traveled to various areas in hopes of obtaining more inspiration for your writing, which almost felt like a couple’s date, at least that’s what it was for him. The blurry images and incomplete voices are etched in your mind though and you find yourself lost in your train of thoughts from time to time, at least until Iwaizumi snaps you out of it and brings you back to the present.

“If you trip, I swear I’ll only laugh at you,” he jokingly warns, laughing handsomely when you stick your tongue out to him as a response.When you arrive in the middle of the campus field, you slow down and stop, catching the attention of the boy with you.

“You okay?” 

You hum and take in the view as much as your vision lets you. Your eyes twinkle with childlike wonder and you exhale, releasing a fog-like breath which makes you giggle once more, “I like winter.”

“Yeah?” 

You nod and feel your heart beat with excitement, “yeah, it’s really fun. I hope it’s always like this.”

He grabs your glove-covered hand with his and smile, “me too. I hope so too.”

Contrary to your words, an oddly familiar warmth that nestles its way to your heart when your eyes settle on a familiar figure idly standing from afar and you start to think that maybe… just maybe, you might actually like the warm summer better than a cold winter. As if there’s a force pulling you, your feet start to walk towards their direction, the previous stable beating of your heart becomes erratic the more you come near.

“Hey, the party’s in that direction, where are we–” Hajime starts to ask, before he stops when he feels your hand letting go of him and sees who you’re approaching. His heart drops because there goes his peace once again, replaced by the agonizing torture of watching you naturally gravitate towards your fated one. He doesn’t think you realize this and somehow, that knowledge makes it more excruciating. 

He stays behind you when you stand giddily in front of the blonde boy who has not yet took notice of your presence, too busy enjoying how he was playing and kicking the snow with his feet, eyes also filled with childlike wonder. And Hajime wants to lurch because Atsumu’s scarily just like you. You two were just made for each other and it gases up Hajime’s insides with bitterness. 

Because, why do I have to go against the universe for this, he asks no one in particular.

He watches when Atsumu mindlessly kicks and the snow hits your direction, making you squeal-giggle due to the cold sensation. Hajime thinks your happiness was mostly due to the delight of seeing the blonde. And he wants to just disappear because, how can Atsumu make you laugh like that without even trying? And fate was just so, so cruel and unfair he can barely be graced with your smile. 

As you stand in front of him, it dawns upon you that looking at him magnifies the warmth you feel amidst the coldness of your surroundings. You watch the surprise that forms on Atsumu’s face when he realizes it was you who he kicked the snow to before he dumbfoundedly asks, “YN, y-you’re here?”

You gently nod and make up the excuse that you got a bit lost on your way to the direction of the café where the christmas party was supposed to be. Perhaps, for now, you’d keep to yourself the fact that you went over to him on your own accord. It would be a bit difficult (and weird) to tell him that your feet just pulled you to him, after all. 

“We’re not close enough for me to say this but I think you’re too stressed to not even see me in front of you, Atsumu-san. Are you okay?” You ask with genuine concern as you take in what seems like fatigue and melancholy plastered all over his face. 

“Oh… not close, huh? Well.. yeah, training for the V-League has just been hard,” he meekly replies while rubbing his nape sheepishly, “I thought ya wouldn’t be able to come, so I’m honestly surprised right now. Ya said you were going to prepare stuff for the launching of your book, right?”

As you open your mouth to respond, you hear Iwaizumi call your name. You swiftly look back and smile before returning your gaze on Atsumu, “Well, I was planning to go back to Cali for a bit but figured I wanted to launch it here, in my hometown. Besides, this boy right here was persistent on convincing his…” you halt, feeling nauseous as you pick your words.Oddly enough, you think you want to puke out the brunch you had with Iwaizumi a while ago. Traitor, traitor! The voice at the back of your mind screams at you but you try to ignore it and force a smile as you gestured to the boy beside you, “soulmate to stay home.”

The black haired lad’s arm wraps itself around your waist and nods at the blonde in greeting, “it’s nice to see you again, Atsumu-san.”

Atsumu forces a tight-lipped smile and replies with a heavy accent (and a heavy heart), “nice to see ya too, Iwaizumi-kun.”

There’s an aggressive tension between them that you try not to acknowledge, but it fills the air among you three with awkwardness. You feel a sense of tightness within you the longer Iwaizumi holds you so you step out of his hold, not noticing the hurt that passes so quickly in his eyes before he looks at the blonde whose eyes were already on him. 

You think you’re threading into something that may blow out to become an ugly fight, so you fake out a cough, “ehem, so I assume we’re all heading towards the same place? So let’s all go together?”

Atsumu nods and joins you as you walk towards the campus, steps becoming more light and alive as compared to how he was walking a while ago. Hajime closely follows behind you, slowly drowning in the bitterness.

The sourness of it all engulfs him whole but as you continue to talk with Atsumu while walking, he sees that your smile was too beautiful to ruin the moment. So he only gulps it all up and walks near the two of you as you converse with each other. He ignores the pricks and needles of anguish, praying it doesn’t eat his soul, doesn’t consume his heart. Your smile was too beautiful, happiness looks good on you and he’d be damned if he’s the cause of its downfall.

You relish in the familiar faces that fill in your vision as the Christmas party and mini-reunion goes on. They talk about how they can recall the incidents that happened before and during the Cinderella play you did, how magnificent you and your co-stars were, and so many more. You try to go along the flow of conversations, but there’s an itchy and uncomfortable thought that tickles your mind as you try to recall the play. Who was your partner in the play again? 

Unfortunately, whenever you try to ask, they only laugh and think you were joking. Only statements of ‘Silly YN, that’s a nice joke!’ but no names are dropped. Somehow, it feels like your heart is screaming that it was the blonde standing just on the other side of the room, laughing and interacting with the other partygoers as well. His eyes travel around the room before they meet yours and light up, he waves while you blush like a high schooler. You bashfully wave back before you drop your arms when he approaches. 

“Told you it would be fun,” Atsumu exclaims as he leans near your ear for you to hear over the loud music playing all over the gymnasium. 

You laugh and nod, “Fine, you win! Can’t imagine if I didn’t come and stay bored at home.”

“You’d probably be missing me,” he jokes, but the way he looks at you makes you think it’s far from being a joke. 

Your heart skips and you gulp, “Probably.”

He blushes and smiles widely at your reply before he lightly takes your hand and pulls you near the center of the gym, “let’s dance!”

You shake your head ‘no’ rapidly and stop him, “Nope, not a chance. I’d rather die, Tsum!”

Despite your attempts at rejections, he succeeds as you two stand facing each other. You hear awws from your acquaintances when the music suddenly changes from a lively song to a slow romantic one. He bows like a prince before offering you his hand, “may I have this dance?”

You stare at him and he stares back as he awaits your response.

Miya Atsumu was a wonder to your eyes, enchanting you with magic you would’ve never imagined you’d feel as he holds his gaze on you, as if to say: “I’m casting a spell on you. You won’t be able to get rid of me now.” And suddenly, he’s holding your heart in his palms, taking it, keeping it. And you’re letting him. Because if he cherishes it, you’d be thanking the heavens above. And if he breaks it–

“It would be my pleasure,” you tell him as you put your hand in his. And then, your heart warms, dances with him in this beautiful, cold night. It goes on for what feels like eternity before the song finally comes to an end. You two stay still in the middle of the floor, almost as if no one was there with you. He opens his mouth and closes it, no words coming out despite the abundance of it within him. You encourage him silently, smiling fondly as if you were saying “I’m waiting, just take your time.” And he feels so bad, to have always been the one to make you wait so he speaks.

His voice, full of emotion, wavers and cracks when he speaks, “I’m sorry… for everything.”

Your face morphs into one of confusion, not knowing why was suddenly apologizing, “why are you apologizing? You didn’t do anything, Tsum.”

“You’d hate me if you knew,” he whispers and then, you hear the lively music come back as the crowd returns to the dance floor. He releases you from his hold and sadly smiles at you, “and I’d rather die than see you hate me, YN.”

And as he disappears into the crowd, he takes your heart with this and leaves you in a void.

“That was a heartwarming dance,” a girl’s voice from behind you comments. You turn to look back and see a very familiar face.

“Yui!” you exclaim while she raises an eyebrow at your enthusiasm .

“That’s a rather happy way of greeting me. Aren’t you supposed to hate me?” She furrows her brows this time when she sees confusion on your face, “huh, that’s interesting. I guess you don’t know anything yet?” 

She looks around and back at you, rolling her eyes at your very much lost self, before pulling you towards the girls’ bathroom, “wipe that dumb look on your pretty face and come with me.”

Feeling overwhelmed by the suddenness of Atsumu’s emotions and Yui’s confusing words, you follow her like a lost child. She lets the bathroom door close automatically and you two stand by the sink. She places her bag on the dry part of it and brings out her make-up purse, handing a pressed powder to you before turning to the mirror and taking out her gloss to retouch her lips.

“Freshen up yourself, Cinderella Number 2,” she says oh-so-casually. You snap out of your confusing thoughts and look at her through the mirror.

“What do you mean by that… why am I supposed to hate you?” you ask her as you try to open the container of the pressed powder.

“Because… I ruined everything for you,” she sighs and helps you open it before going back to doing her thing.

“Huh?” she rolls her eyes at your response.

“You’re not stupid, YN… you know he isn’t your soulmate, right?” she tells you, looking directly into your eyes through the mirror, “you know Hajime isn’t your soulmate.”

She stops for a while as she observes how you’re taking in the information she’s saying before continuing, “it’s anticlimactic, I know. You’re supposed to get this thrilling or surprising revelation for your soulmate searching agenda, but you already know who it is deep down, don’t you? So, it doesn’t really matter if I spoil it for you.”

You meekly nod and whimper a quiet ‘yeah’ as you feel your chest throb, in relief or in pain? You have no idea. The emotions you feel are threatening to oversurge form your heart as you feel your eyes well up with tears.

“You don’t need me for this but I guess I wanted to feel like a good person somehow. So, I’m telling you.. what… or rather, who you feel, who you’re thinking of… you’re right, it’s him.”

She says it with so much finality and for some odd reasons, you feel like a pain wretched deep in your heart was loosened and freed.

“So my memories are not all fucked up? I was right, wasn’t I? You were Hajime’s soulmate,” you ask her, making her laugh.

“Of course, your memory’s not fucked up, sweets. It’s him who’s fucked up, but I guess he just loves you that much, even way beyond his feelings for me as his soulmate,” she sadly smiles, “though that doesn’t mean it was alright for him to lie about that.”

“But… why are you telling me all this? Aren’t you supposed to hate me too?” 

She shrugs, “I don’t know… I guess I just don’t want to feel shitty anymore. Guilt’s a very heavy thing to carry. I think that goes the same for Atsumu.”

She checks her face in the mirror and smiles in satisfaction when her lips are glossy again. She looks at you through the mirror once more, “anyway, soulmate or not, your heart is yours to decide with, YN. Just remember that.”

You go to the bathroom, feeling lightheaded and overwhelmed from all the events that just transpired. You clumsily walk back to the gymnasium, everything just feels too fast, too sudden, too relieving, too maddening all at the same time. You lean against the walls of the hallway and take a deep breath to calm yourself down, but tears start to escape from your eyes.

Atsumu.

You stand up once again and continue to walk, going inside the gymnasium. 

Tsum.

Your eyes scan the crowd but you find it difficult to see the blonde, not when the only light source you have is the mirrorball hanging in the middle of the gym. 

Where is he?

“YN, I’ve been looking for you! Where have you been?” Hajime asks, deep relief in his voice. You freeze and feel the anger bubbling within you. You glare at him, much to his surprise before you hastily walk away from him.

“Hey, YN. Wait up!” You don’t but unfortunately for you, Hajime’s strides could easily catch up to you and so, he grabs you by the arm, to which you harshly pull away from.

“Don’t touch me, don’t even think about coming near me, you… you liar! How dare you?” you ask him vexingly. Some of your companions in the party turned to look at the commotion as soon as the music toned down to a slow song once again. 

“What’s wrong? What happened? Are you okay? Calm down, love,” he tries to talk you through it but to no avail, your anger has gotten the best of you. You hold a finger up and point it at his chest.

“Don’t–! Don’t call me that,” you whisper with all the loath you feel, voice coarse and broken, “you.. you don’t fucking love me. You just like the idea that I was like you, unloved and pushed aside by my soulmate. You… you traitor..!”

He tries to act all confused, despite the erratic beating of his heart. He can't lose you, not now. You were both doing fine, what happened? Did you know? Did you get your memories back? No, you're not supposed to. His frantic eyes and pale face betrays him as you humorlessly laugh, "I fucking know everything, Iwaizumi."

[tododorks]

💕Freeze! You’re under arrest for being so lovely. Copy this message to 10 other blogs that you think are beautiful and deserve it. Keep the game going and make others feel beautiful!!! 💕 you're adorable !!!

:o smiejakej

awww,, thank you ᐠ( ᐛ )ᐟ

[handsoffmyfriends]

i already know your gonna do some fluffy noya stuff, SO, how about some soft boy tsukishima?! (because i’m about to write some heartbreaking shit and i need some fluff to read after.)🥺💖 so how about him catching you cry or knows your having a bad day so he like gives you a piggy back ride or something.

BAD ENDING

— you’ve been acting strange lately. you’ve been trying to keep it together so as not to bother your boyfriend, tsukishima kei, but it all comes to a head during one volleyball practice.

PAIRING: Tsukishima Kei x F!Reader

WORD COUNT: 1,045

WARNINGS: tsuki being tsundere, fluff stuff

A/N: SAAAAM YOU BROKE ME WITH YOUR FIC so here please take this confused but loving tsundere boy and his yn that iS ALIVE !!!!!

Tsukishima was worried about you. You hadn’t been yourself the past few days and he was starting to get concerned. It wasn’t like you were shutting him out or not watching him practice like usual, you were still doing all the normal things you did. There was just something... off about you, something he couldn’t place.

Something was clearly bothering you, but every time he asked how you were, you shot him with that gorgeous smile that he fell in love with. You would say everything was fine with him around, then try and give him a kiss on the cheek, but you were way too short to manage it on your own. It never failed to make him blush with embarrassment at how cheesy you were, but he secretly loved it. He would just never admit to it, but you knew. 

It came to a peak one day during volleyball practice. You weren’t in a club of your own so you often came by the gym to watch the team practice. You’d usually help out however you could, whether it was running around to collect all the lost volleyballs or helping Kiyoko out as an extra set of hands. 

Today, you didn’t help out. Which was fine, it wasn’t like you were actually part of the volleyball club, so you weren’t obligated to actually help out. Usually it was because you had extra study material to go over. You would be spread out on the second level, far away from stray volleyballs, nose deep in papers and knowledge. The way you could block out all the noise going on around you honestly impressed him. 

Except, you weren’t studying. You had your nose buried deep in your phone and you looked absolutely miserable. It broke Tsuki’s heart, but he couldn’t just stop training to talk to you. Coach Ukai had made it very clear that your presence was more than welcome if you didn’t disturb practice. 

It was a painfully long practice session, even if it didn’t run any longer than usual. Just knowing you were so close, looking so upset, made it that much harder for Tsuki to focus. No one else seemed to notice your despair. He couldn’t decide if he was relieved or pissed off about that. 

By the time Coach called an end to practice, you had already scaled the ladder back down to the ground level. Tsuki was on you in an instant, not caring that his teammates were still around and probably watching your entire interaction. His hands were holding your face so tenderly, his expression so full of concern as he asked you what was wrong.

You didn’t give him the usual bright smile, nor did you say everything was fine. The tears that glazed your eyes finally spilled out, falling sluggishly down your pretty face. He rubbed them away with careful sweeps of his thumb as his heart broke even more at the sight of you so utterly distraught. 

“I—” you started with a thick voice, cracking through the single sound, “I got... I got the bad ending, Tsuki.” 

He frowned in confusion. “Bad ending?” 

You sniffed and nodded your head weakly, fluttering your eyes and coating your lashes in your tears. Even while crying, you were so beautiful to him. “Yeah. Mystic Messenger, the otome game I’ve been playing for the past month? I ended up getting the worst of Seven’s bad endings.” 

It was like a glass had dropped, shattering the very air around him. Was this seriously what had been bothering you? He couldn’t believe it.

“Let me get this straight,” he leveled you with an icy gaze, pulling his hands away. “You’ve been acting strangely and you’re now crying... over a mobile game?” 

You nodded emphatically, not finding an issue with your behaviour. You had been invested in Seven’s route and you wanted nothing more than to win the best ending for the hacker. You’d let him down and it tore you apart.  “Yeah. Can you hold me? I really need a hug.” 

He regarded you for several long seconds, still reeling at the reasoning behind your distress. He couldn’t understand it at all. You didn’t wait for him to respond, instead quickly wrapping your arms around his waist and burying your face into his chest. 

You clung like a koala, not letting go even when some of the team came to investigate. Hinata, unable to mind his own business as per usual, was the first to ask the question, “what’s wrong with Y/N?” 

“She’s upset about her otome game,” Tsuki answered in a tone that indicated how stupid he thought it was and was confident that his team would back him. “She got the bad end on Seven?” 

Instead, it was as if the world had gone insane because Hinata actually understood. “Wait, Mystic Messenger?” 

Tsuki shrugged with an incredulous expression. Just what the hell was going on? 

“Kenma told me about it!” Hinata explained, as if it justified anything. “He was super bummed about Seven’s bad ending, too!” 

“You’re all idiots,” Tsuki rolled his eyes. “Come on, Y/N, I’ll walk you home.” 

You merely gripped at him tighter. “I’m too sad to walk!” you sobbed. Hinata nodded in understanding. 

Tsuki sighed in defeat. With a little maneuvering, he pulled you away enough for him to kneel down to your level, meeting you eye to eye. “You know how you always want a piggyback ride because I’m so much taller than you?” 

That did the trick. It snapped you out of your deep rooted sadness over an otome mobile game. With a squeal of delight, you wasted no time in scrambling around Tsuki’s beanpole frame and securing yourself firmly to his back. 

Tsuki kept a stoic face as he stood up to his full height, with you clinging on for dear life. Tsuki glared at every one of his teammates that dared look his way, challenging them to say something. Without another word, he strode out of the gym, away from their invasive ears. 

With your arms around his neck and your face tucked down next to his, you gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. “The world is so high up here. How do you not get vertigo?”

[samanthaa-leanne]

The Enemy of My Brother Is My... Boyfriend? Tsukishima x Reader

Masterlist

Summary: YN Hinata is the twin sister of Shoyo Hinata. Where Shoyo is all rainbows and sunshine YN is thorns and storm clouds. YN picks on Hinata any chance she gets. Why? Because of how easy it is & that’s the only way she knows how to show her love. She’d never allow anyone else to treat Shoyo the way she does though. That is until the tall and handsome Tsukishima Kei enters her life and makes it a point to go against her wishes. Why does it always have to be the hot ones?

Pairings: Tsukishima x Reader  

Status: Ongoing

Warnings: Language, angst, & 17+ memes

Updates: When I Can

Preview

Introductions

One: Idiot Twin

Two: RIP Tsukishima

Three: The Confrontation

Four: The Bet

Five: You Messed With The Wrong Girl

Six: The Result Are In

Seven: Chaos Is Coming

Taglist: Open {25/50} please send an ask to be added to the taglist

[teamatsumu]

the best bad decision. (iwaizumi hajime x reader)

summary: “wrote a confession for character A, accidentally gave it to character B instead” - for my valentine’s day event - theme: confessions

word count: 2.3k

warnings: fem!reader, swearing, oikawa is insensitive sometimes, fluff

tags: @nishayuro @kitas-tapioca @kakashineedstotouchgrass @amisuh @avis-writeshq @samanthaa-leanne @akaashi-todorki @keiva1000 @kindnessspreads @msbyomimi

event masterlist

You liked to think you weren’t one to fall into stereotypes. But every once in a while you did something that reminded you that you weren’t different from everyone around you. Like right now, standing hidden behind the corner of this building, clutching an obvious red envelope in your hands, waiting for the volleyball team to shuffle out of their club room so you could sneak in and slip the envelope into a certain boy’s locker.

So you had a tiny little crush on everyone’s favorite boy, Oikawa Tooru. Sue you.

Your ears were on high alert, staying as still as possible so you could focus on the voices drifting out of the room. You were a bit farther away, since you wanted to be hidden, but if you strained yourself enough, you could make out the sounds. You tried not to make yourself tense, afraid you would wrinkle the envelope. You had been so careful with it. Making sure you didn’t smudge any words as you wrote, perfuming the paper afterward. You even used that expensive wax and seal that you bought only for journaling purposes. You wanted it to be known that you made an effort.

All for him.

It was hard not to fall for someone as charming as Oikawa. He was tall and handsome, he was always so nice, always welcoming to anyone who wanted to speak to him. He was beyond talented. You could watch him play for hours. You did watch him play for hours. At the end of the day, you were just like all the other giggling, blushing girls who admired him.

The only difference is that you had never gone farther than admiration until now. You had never spoken to him, never greeted him in the hallways, never made him anything to eat like girls often did. You had watched from afar and basked in the warm, bubbly feeling that comes with having crushes.

But now here you were, slipping him a letter with all your feelings written on it. You were going into this not expecting him to accept the confession. You hadn’t even put your name on it. It was anonymous. God knows how many of these he got on a daily basis. And with Valentine’s Day approaching, you were sure his locker was overflowing. What was one more, right? You were doing this for yourself more than anything else. You needed to get these feelings out because they were overflowing in your head.

You were shaken from your thoughts when you realized the locker room was completely silent by now. You listened closely, giving it another few minutes. No shuffling, no humming, not even a peep. The coast was clear.

You could feel your entire body shake as you turned the corner and stealthily hurried to the club room door. You couldn’t let anyone see you going inside, so you quickly opened the door, slipping in and sliding the door shut behind you. You let out a sigh of relief.

Then you turned around, and your eyes met wide chestnut ones.

Oikawa was standing next to an open locker, a half folded shirt in his hand. He had probably been mid fold when you had barged in, staring at you with those big browns, mouth slightly open. Thick silence stretched over you both as you stood frozen, not even blinking.

Oikawa’s eyes drifted down to your hand, the very obvious, deep red envelope. His lips twitched before a smile took over them.

“Hello there.” His voice was lively. “Is that for me?”

You tensed at the sound of his voice, your panic finally catching up to your brain as you gulped around the knot in your throat. “No!”

He raised an eyebrow at that, tilting his head a bit. A lock of his hair fell over his forehead. “No?”

“No.”

Another silence, awkward as anything. You couldn’t move at all. You felt like you were frozen in place. Every muscle in your body was pulled tight. You had never anticipated that of all the people who could catch you in the locker room, it would be Oikawa himself.

“So who’s it for?” He then asked, eyes darting between your face and the envelope. You felt your face burn, heating up so much it made you dizzy.

“It’s-” Your mouth was so dry. You had no saliva. None. Not a drop. It felt like you were incomprehensible. Could you even speak? Or was it all gibberish? Were you spiraling now?

Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god-

“It’s for Iwaizumi-san.”

Oikawa blinked at that, and you realized you had caught him off guard. Well, he wasn’t the only one. You had caught yourself off guard too. It seemed that, in the midst of your panic and staring at Oikawa, the only other person you could name was Iwaizumi.

Iwaizumi Hajime. Oikawa’s best friend. Seijoh’s ace. Someone you saw just as much as Oikawa considering they were attached at the hip. No wonder when you had to think of someone, you thought of him.

“Well now I’m truly shocked!” Oikawa sounded jovial, placing a hand on his hip, his half folded shirt crumpled in his other hand. “A confession for Iwa-chan? I never thought this day would come!”

Your mind raced and you tried to scramble your thoughts together into somewhat understandable sentences. But you had just dug this fresh hole for yourself and you didn’t know what to do to get out of it. In fact, at this moment, there was no getting out of it. You had to go along.

“Y-yes.” You managed to blurt out, not knowing what else to say, looking anywhere but at him, who was steadily growing more and more amused by the second.

“You have to give it to him!”

Your head snapped up, and that’s when you realised what true panic was. What you had felt so far was nothing compared to the shitstorm your brain was experiencing after what he had just said.

“Come on.” Oikawa threw the shirt carelessly into his locker, slamming it shut and fast walking to you. With one grip on your forearm, he tugged open the club room door and proceeded to speed out of it, dragging you with him.

“W-wait!” Your voice trembled, and you doubt he even heard you. You felt like your whole mouth was stuffed with cotton. You tried to lock your legs into place and break Oikawa’s momentum. It was not happening. He was way stronger than you. You tried to pry his hand off your arm, but his grip was vice-like.

“Oikawa-san!” You basically shrieked like a hyena, finally breaking through right outside the Seijoh gym. You snatched your hand away.

“I can’t!”

Oikawa stared down at you, blinking owlishly. You bit your lip.

“Oh.” He breathed, and you saw realization wash over his face. You froze. Had he figured it out?

“I get it.” Did he?

Then he promptly turned around and cupped his mouth with his hands, leaning in through the open gym doors.

“Iwa-chan!” He shouted.

You gaped at him, struggling to even comprehend what was going on in his head. But that was the least of your worries, because trudging footsteps sounded and then the boy in question was standing in the gym entrance, scowling down at his friend.

Oh no. Oh, this is bad. This is so bad, I’m so screwed-

“Look!” Oikawa pointed at you, or more accurately, he pointed at the envelope in your hand. Iwaizumi followed his gaze, and you saw his scowl drop as shock colored his features.

“It’s for you! Can you believe it?” Oikawa let out a cackle, leaning an arm against the gym door. You wanted nothing more than for the ground to open up and swallow you whole.

Iwaizumi looked genuinely incredulous, like this was something he hadn’t dreamt of in his wildest dreams. Later when you looked back on what happened, you would be surprised that despite being friends with the most popular guy on campus, Iwaizumi did not get much attention. He lived in Oikawa’s shadow, and he liked it that way.

Right now, his feelings were the least of your concerns though.

Finally free from Oikawa’s grasp, you lunged forward, slamming the envelope against his chest before turning on your heel and absolutely booking it. There was no other option. You couldn’t give that shit to Iwaizumi. You also couldn’t give it to Oikawa and say you had lied. It couldn’t get any more humiliating than it already was, so you might as well run away.

Very active fight or flight response, one might say.

Oikawa watched your back as you ran full speed, one hand holding the envelope he was so unceremoniously handed. He turned his attention down to it when the flowery scent hit his nose, and he couldn’t help but smile.

“Aw, she perfumed it too! How romantic.”

He grinned up at Iwaizumi, whose ears had turned red. Iwaizumi’s scowl deepened as he stared at the shiteating grin on Oikawa’s face. But he didn’t stop himself from taking the envelope Oikawa handed to him, his heart doing jumping jacks in his chest.

………………..

When you tried to convince your mom that you didn’t really need high school when homeschooling was a perfectly viable option, she told you to suck it up and there was no way you were dropping out. You didn’t know how to tell her that your life in high school was pretty much over. How could you show your face in any place where you might run into Oikawa or Iwaizumi?

But alas, you could only take one sick day before throwing yourself back to the wolves.

You were jumpy the whole day, paranoid that somehow everyone knew what had happened two days ago. But your day went by as normal, unaffected by the storm in your head. You should’ve known your peace wouldn’t last. At lunchtime, the one person you had been dreading the most was standing before your desk, looking down at you expectantly.

“I was hoping we could talk.”

Well. This was it. The one thing you were hoping and praying you could somehow avoid.

Iwaizumi led you outside for some privacy, finding an empty bench overlooking the school’s running track. You sat stiffly by his side, waiting for him to speak.

“I read the letter.”

You closed your eyes and nodded, coaxing him to continue. You knew the contents of the letter. You had mulled them over in your head ten thousand times yesterday. You had not written Oikawa’s name. You had talked only about how you felt about him and the thoughts plaguing your head. You knew how easily Iwaizumi could have thought it was about him and not Oikawa.

“I’m sorry.” You blurted out.

“For the confession?”

You hesitated. “For how it all played out.”

That was vague enough.

Iwaizumi let out a breathy chuckle, and you looked up at him. “I think I should apologize instead. Oikawa can be a bit of an insensitive jerk.”

You felt your lips twitch into a smile, shrugging. “He kinda steamrolled all over me.”

Iwaizumi groaned, running a hand through his spiky hair. You followed the movement with your eyes, gaze pausing on how his bicep flexed. Something in your heart stuttered.

Up close, he was extremely attractive. His skin was smooth and clean, and his hair looked soft despite being so short. His jaw was defined and his eyes were striking. When he looked at you for longer than a beat, it made your insides squirm.

“I’m sorry about him. He told me he found you in the club room. I’m sure you wanted to do it anonymously. He shouldn’t have dragged you here. That wasn’t cool.”

You smiled at how considerate he was being. “It- It’s okay.”

“And I’ll make him apologize to you too. Promise.”

His lip ticked up in a crooked smile. You couldn’t help but stare. You watched him grow a bit nervous, rubbing the back of his neck. A little habit?

“I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me sometime?”

The question caught you off guard. You knew how Iwaizumi perceived you after the contents of that confession. You had just not anticipated that he would want anything to do with you. In your slurry of thoughts, you realized you had still not told him that the confession wasn’t for him. You stared at him, wide-eyed.

The sun beat down on your heads, casting harsh shadows on his face. High cheekbones. Strong jaw. And those same captivating eyes. You couldn’t remember ever appreciating him the way you were right now. Oikawa’s light was so bright it made Iwaizumi almost invisible. But here and now, it was just him. No distractions, no takeaways. Just Iwaizumi in all his glory. And it was making your heart skip.

“Okay.” You breathed.

Iwaizumi positively lit up at your words, straightening his back. His features smoothed, his eyes widened and a smile took over his face.

“Cool!” He blurted out, before clearing his throat. “That’s uh, I mean. Great. That’s great.”

You giggled as he stumbled over his words, endeared by his reaction. Your heart and mind both told you this was the right decision. With Oikawa, it was a puppy crush. With Iwaizumi, something told you it could be so much more.

Years later, when you told Iwaizumi about the exact intentions of that letter, and how you were beyond grateful you hadn’t given it to Oikawa, all he did was cackle while the Argentinian setter whined about how he had missed his chance.

He was joking, of course. He was the proudest best man ever at your wedding. He wouldn’t have it any other way.