#soooo this girl who hates me now used to be my neighbour before is here & she wants to meet my bestie problem is i am meeting her today too

[chappellrroan]

lord give me strength for whatever this evening is about to become

[sweetsubharry]

hey ! sorry to bother you but could you reccomend me some fics of footballer louis?? thank you !! love your acc

Hiya!!  💖you can never bother me!! ^-^ ohmgosh I’m so glad you like my blog! I love footballer louis djskasdhjag tysm(sorry it took soooo long!)

please make sure you read the tags and stay safe everyone!💖

Also these are not in any particular order, however I will say the first two are probably my favourites ;) I have to read them again right after this!

freeze this moment in a frame and stay like this by rosesau

Harry (not so) secretly crushes on the cute footie player and fills pages with sketches of him.

Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow by 1Diamondinthesun

Harry spends most of his time in an empty house or a lonely darkroom, dreaming of leaving his small town for art school. He's invisible to most people. And then Louis Tomlinson sees him. Life will never be the same.

Or, the American high school AU loosely inspired by She's All That.

Definition of Beauty by zanni_scaramouche

“Your book is upside down.” Harry nods at Louis’ book, his history text now that he sees it too.

“I’d rather study you.”

They both blink, startled by the slip.

“With you. Study with you,” Louis rushes to say. “Liam says I’m shite at history, can you help?”

Louis’ caught off guard by an omega he nearly takes out with an errant footie ball. It’s not that Louis’ never seen Harry before, it’s that he can’t stop looking, and he’s desperate to figure him out.

Coffee Cups and Football Boots by kimtaedumb

Harry’s stood behind the counter again, but this time he’s painting his nails. Louis strolls up to the counter and, thanks to his no brain-to-mouth filter, blurts out, “Isn’t that a little girlish, Haz?” leaning closer to inspect.

Harry lets out a little huff as his hand slips, “Oh, damn, now I’ve messed it up,” he pouts and turns to Louis, “Why should making myself feel pretty be girly?”

Louis holds up his hands in surrender, “’M not judging, jus’ curious is all.”

(The entirely cheesy and cliché Christmas AU, in which Harry doesn’t give a damn what people think about him – mostly – and Louis may be a little bit in love.

Alternatively, the one in which Harry owns a café that’s barely scraping by and Louis is a footballer and he takes Harry away for Christmas.

Featuring Zayn as a cocky little shit that most definitely needs to be put back in his place, Niall as the loveable Irish dude who drinks too much and flirts with Zayn more than the average girl, and Liam who loves everyone but hates them all at the same time.)

Way in the World by flowsque

When Louis Tomlinson enters the waiting room, Harry can distinctly feel his heart sinking to his stomach. The man's hair is ruffled and dishevelled and his red jersey, damp with sweat from training, clings to his perfect and chiseled body. He stands there, almost unreal, against the glass door, peering inside the office. Harry knew this would’ve happened, sooner or later. That he would have bumped into him. They play for the same club after all, even if they’re in different leagues. It’s not weird. It is not. Except it totally is. - Or, the one where Harry has a knee injury and an embarrassing crush on Manchester United's pretty number ten.

I Long For You by AnotherAnonymousWriter

Thirty minutes later, he's sat on a bench in Hyde Park with a book in his lap and a travel mug with hot tea in his hand. Not far from where he's sat, a group of boys are playing football and a bunch of children are chasing each other. Life is good.

Or at least, life is good until he hears a familiar “LOOK OUT!” and sees a football flying in the direction of his face.

And then everything is black.

(Harry gets hit in the head by various objects and falls for a boy with blue eyes.)

ease the quiet and talk me down by cabinbythesea

Harry's a model and Louis' a footie player.

(Louis teaches Harry some football and Harry is insanely good at giving a lapdance).

Baby, It's You by Bearandleonardwrite

"Oh, yeah. Um..” Harry lets his hands fall to his sides. His brows furrow, face full of concern, and he asks, “You’re not, like, stalking me, are you?”

Louis can’t help the loud cackle that escapes his lips and immediately slaps one of his hands over his mouth to muffle the sound. “Oh my god, Harry, no!” Louis tells him, a little breathlessly, giggles still bubbling out of his chest. “Lottie’s one of the makeup artists here today and she somehow got me to agree to come. I had no idea you modeled for, uh.. this brand until I saw you walk.”

“Oh,” Harry says dumbly, eyebrows still pinched. He lets what Louis just said sink in before a bright grin takes over his face and he goes back to doing up the buttons on his shirt. “Well, that’s alright, then. I’m glad you could make it.

(Basically, Louis' a footie player for Man U and Harry's a YSL model. They meet at a masquerade.)

Touch by kotabear24

Harry's shy and virginal with a past, new on the football team; Louis' the (experienced) popular star of the team and Harry's new mentor.

Come In and Change My Life by lightswoodmagic (sarah_writes)

He’d had the same neighbours since he’d moved into the building, a lovely, wealthy couple in their late sixties who had always invited him around for tea on Sundays. Martha had dropped off homemade biscuits the day he’d moved in, so Harry figured he may as well repeat the sentiment. He could hear someone getting closer to the door just as a flush ran through his body; oh fuck. His heat was close, too close to be knocking on a potentially unknown alpha’s door, but it was too late. The door swung open, and Harry’s mouth dropped. He’d never been overly interested in football, couldn’t find the fascination in watching men run around after a ball for hours aside from their uniforms, but he knew who this was. Louis Tomlinson, alpha, captain of Manchester United, star in a number of Harry’s heat addled fantasies, was his new next-door neighbour.

Or, Harry and Louis become friends when Harry looks after Louis' cat during away games, until one night at a party changes everything between them. It's just a shame Louis' going to be away for the FIFA World Cup for three months.

see the truth (it's me for you) by orphan_account

If you asked Louis the first day of his French Literature class what he’d be doing on the last, he’d probably never have guessed it would involve helping a poorly Harry Styles study for the final exam. Good thing he’s not a betting man.

(Or the one where Louis and Harry spend an entire semester ignoring each other after a one-night stand, only to come face to face when Harry manages to catch the stomach flu during finals week. Sometimes fate is funny like that.)

Use Your Words by zedi

based off this prompt: collage au where jock!harry always serenades flowercrown!louis with love songs in their music class. what nobody knows is that harry actually kinda means the words he sings.

But instead it's Louis as the jock and Harry as the flowerchild because I do what I want.

Stop The World (I Wanna Get Off With You) by ilikepianos

"You like this, don't you?", he asks breathlessly.

What? Sucking cock? Being dominated? Yes, all of that. A big fat yes.

Harry nods, lips still wrapped around Louis' throbbing dick.

Louis' lips curl into a smirk. "Keep going then. You're doing amazing, love."

OR: The uni-football AU where Harry may or may not have a minor crush on the captain of the team and suddenly discovers that the feeling is very much mutual.

Picture Perfect by LittleBubbleStyles

an AU where Louis Tomlinson is a misunderstood football player, and Harry Styles is a misunderstood photographer. Somehow, they're understood together.

I just think about my baby; I'm so full of love I could barely eat by mercutionotromeo

Harry and Louis are six hundred miles apart, but they have the same solutions to the same problem.

Or: a masturbation drabble featuring pillow humping, locker rooms, and copious amounts of dirty talk.

into another (another) serotonin overflow by mercutionotromeo

Harry wants this year to be different - wants it to be the year that he finally gets over this stupid crush. He’s going to uni, he needs to decide what he wants to do with his life.

Instead, he’s deciding what he wants to do to Louis Tomlinson.

Or: Sweet first time sex wherein Harry's adorably awkward, Louis is achingly cool, and Harry rides Louis wearing his jersey.

note: it says it in the tag but this is the edited version written in 2019, rather than the 2017 original- so there’s two put I put the link for the newest one :)

need a little sweetness in my life by mercutionotromeo

Harry's always liked feeling desperate and small when Louis touches him, but when he sucks Harry off...it’s fucking otherworldly. Desperate’s not really the word at that point - it’s helpless. Like… like the fucking world could stop spinning and Harry wouldn’t be able to do anything about it until Louis finished him off with his lips and his tongue.

Or, Harry and Louis go to university together. Harry really likes it when Louis sucks him off, and Louis really likes it when Harry calls him Daddy.

(Sequel to "into another serotonin overflow")

I made a map of your stars by brightbluelou

Harry does not have a crush on Louis Tomlinson. Yes, Louis is very pretty and funny, and Harry may have had more than a few inappropriate thoughts about him, but he certainly doesn’t like him. (Except for the fact that he totally does.) or, Harry is the shy boy in the back of the class that no one really notices. Louis is the loud, outgoing football player that everybody likes.

We Made These Memories for Ourselves by supernope

Breath held, Harry squints his eyes open and focuses on the first stick. A blue line. Harry breathes out an unsteady breath. He’s pretty sure he read that one blue line is a negative, but he fishes the box from the bottom of the pile just to make sure.

“Negative,” he confirms, voice echoing around the small room. “Next.”

Now that he’s feeling a little less shaky, he scans the rest of the tests at once, is met with a headache-inducing mixture of pink plus signs and blue double lines. His heart rate picks up until it’s pounding triple-time in the base of his throat and the pit of his stomach, thundering in his ears and throbbing in his temples. He flips over the rest of the boxes slowly, but he knows what they’re going to say before he even looks.

[or, Louis is a footballer, Harry owns a bakery, and they're having a baby.]

Kiss Me on the Mouth and Set Me Free by ls2k14   

Louis has his head thrown back in a laugh, his wet fringe hanging in front of his eyes, and a beautiful flush to his cheeks. From this angle, the sun hits his face just right to where the beams of light are shining in between the spaces of each individual clump of watered down eyelashes. His chest is showing through the soaked material of his white jersey and it seems that his biceps are attempting to break free from the sleeves that are clinging to his skin.

And Harry can do nothing except take it all in. He doesn’t even think he’s breathing at this point. He is literally stuck in place, admiring the true beauty of Louis Tomlinson, while being surrounded by fit footballers and generally attractive people. He doesn’t think he’s ever been in love before, but if Louis let him, he’s pretty damn sure he could change that in the matter of a few nanoseconds.

[itwillbeall-dwight]

trials in error

danny "jed olsen" johnson | the ghost face/felix richter; fluff and angst; canon-typical violence; enemies to fwb to lovers to enemies lmao; 5677 words

a/n: did i finish two fics in the same day? yes i did. i’ve had this done since one in the morning but didn’t want to post it them bc no one would see it by the time it was flushed out of the tag bc tumblr hates fic writers for real actually.

my friend booker is to blame for this. they mentioned this pair to me offhandedly but then i turned around and made this, and basically learned 2 things. 1) writing danny is fun, and 2) i have. a lot of feelings. about them.

while i have a couple of long pieces to finish, requests are still open, so if you liked this and would like smthn written, feel free to shoot me an ask!

likes < reblogs, any comments in the tags are appreciated

ao3 mirror in the reblogs!

Preview: “Tell you what.” He folded his arms over the top of the generator, looking the man in the face as he rested the side of his head against his forearm. “You’re still a noob, and I can’t be having anything fun with that. I’ll give you, hm… 10 seconds to run and hide, phone a friend, you know… not die, but after that, you’re all mine. Sound good?” The blonde remained silent, blinking at him in bewilderment. That was as good of an answer as any. “Alright. 10-” “Ah, wait, but what about-” “-9-” He didn’t say anything after that, dropping the wires in his hands and taking off into a sprint, stumbling as he stood to his full height - and oh boy, was he a tall guy - and turned a corner of old cars. Danny chuckled, standing up to rest his ass against the side of the gen, flipping his knife in his hand as he kept counting down. “8… 7… 6-5-4-3-2-1- ok, here we go.”

Another day, another trial. As the fog cleared from his vision, the Ghostface flipped his small knife in his hand, feeling the silent breeze whistle through the tendrils on his uniform. The Autohaven Wreckers was as sorry of a sight as it always was, but one that he’d grown quite accustomed to use as his playground. From the sight of the old garage, he could almost pick out memories of all the times he’d scared the pants off of the poor survivors, which he took more than enough pleasure in doing. Danny looked around, still absently flipping his knife in his hand as he formulated a plan, taking a brief moment to watch the ever-present moonlight glint off of the freshly cleaned blade before he looked up once more, a slow grin forming behind the mask as the game began.

 Poor Meg thought he was stupid, thinking she’d lost him at a simple enough loop around a pile of tires, all up until he pulled her off of her generator with a cackle (“screw you, creep” she said as she slammed her fists into the back of his shoulder - changed her tune real quick after he slid a hook into hers). Nea didn’t hesitate in giving him the runaround, powering a generator in his face and slamming a locker door into him for good measure. Danny knew the girl would throw a palette at him if she had the chance - she was the most fun to play with. But he soon lost her, so soon after catching her, but it was that detective asshole that ruined their fun, as he’d shone a damn flashlight in his eyes while he had Nea on his shoulder, finally, enough for her to wiggle free and run off again. And by the time his vision had cleared, the both of them had gone. Danny growled - as much as he enjoyed fun, it was only when he was winning was it any good.

 It was while he was stalking around the battered old killer shack looking for the bastard that he saw him for the first time. Blonde hair, broad shoulders, and a fancy suit that just screamed rich, with a touch of “please tear me off or splatter me in blood, both sound great”. A man he didn’t recognize, sat on a generator, eyes darting around as he worked the best he could with shaking hands, clearly on edge about being left on his own to work. Whatever annoyance he had in him melted like hot wax, as he approached, slowly, knowing this guy would be a wonderful victim to mess with. The killer’s fingers curled around the edge of the wall as he watched the man, the way he swallowed and sighed, muttering to himself in reassurance in a tongue that sounded familiar to him, too quiet to tell. The generator got louder and louder, its mechanisms and inner parts in tune as the man worked his magic, almost letting himself smile in triumph as he grabbed another wire.

“Hey there, handsome.”

A voice from behind his neck, raspy and deep, caused him to jump, a spark sending the generator into smoke as he turned, face going white as he pushed his back against the wall.

Oh, he was right. He was going to be fun, all right. Danny chuckled. “Oh, sorry. Did I scare you? Tend to do that. It’s in my… nature.”

The man swallowed, glancing around for any kind of help, seeming to find none as his attention turned back to the killed, speaking in a low, rich voice, though it shook from fear. “Don’t you have… things, to be stabbing?”

“Why, is that an invitation?” He laughed again, leaning up against the generator and crossing one leg over the other. “Nah, I’m just kiddin’. Ain’t it enough to get to know the new neighbours? Haven’t seen you around before, pretty boy. They smuggled you in, huh?”

“I… suppose.”

He hummed, tapping the blade of his knife against the metal of his knife, the clanging making the survivor jump. Oh, bless him - well and truly, it was a mistake for him to get caught up here… but a happy mistake, to be sure. “Got a name?”

“Huh?”

“Like I said, I like to know the neighbours, ya know… real close and personal. A preference. Bit of normalcy. Soooo…”

He remained silent. So he was a little bit smarter than what he’d look like, from the way he was shaking in his rich white boots. Impressive.

“Tell you what.” He folded his arms over the top of the generator, looking the man in the face as he rested the side of his head against his forearm. “You’re still a noob, and I can’t be having anything fun with that. I’ll give you, hm… 10 seconds to run and hide, phone a friend, you know… not die, but after that, you’re all mine. Sound good?”

The blonde remained silent, blinking at him in bewilderment. That was as good of an answer as any. 

“Alright. 10-”

“Ah, wait, but what about-”

“-9-”

He didn’t say anything after that, dropping the wires in his hands and taking off into a sprint, stumbling as he stood to his full height - and oh boy, was he a tall guy - and turned a corner of old cars.

Danny chuckled, standing up to rest his ass against the side of the gen, flipping his knife in his hand as he kept counting down. “8… 7… 6-5-4-3-2-1- ok, here we go.”

 Curious as it was, he lost the blonde beauty soon after he let him go, instead finding Meg oddly open about where she was, spriting right into his vision. Not that he was complaining; a game was a game, and if the runner decided that she wanted to play tag, then who was he to turn her down? Especially when she was so easy to catch… though as soon as she was hooked, flashlight clicking and Swedish profanities in his ear was enough to make him chase after Nea rather than go after his original chase once again… they were painting a target on their back, and for what? To save the new guy’s skin? He wasn’t an idiot. Just surprised that some of them had the compassion.

 Well, they managed to get another generator done, but the two girls were dead, and a soon injured Tapp was surely soon to follow them. A means to an end, it seemed, as his knife plunged into the detective’s side and sent him crashing into the dirt with a grunt of pain, rolling over onto his back with one eye open, the other wincing in pain, the shadow of the killer cast over him in the moonlight as he wiped his blade.

“OK, Detective, we’ll make this real nice and simple.” He crouched down next to the survivor, taking note of how the blood pooled around him as he laid on his back, staring up at him. “Tell me where your new friend is hiding, and I’ll let you live.”

Silence.

“C’mon, it’s not that hard of a choice to make. I’ve heard getting sacrificed is long and painful, like your insides are getting ripped at over and over again until, poof, you’re back again, at that cozy little campfire, only a little bit more traumatised to show for it. Now, you want that to happen to only one of you, or both of you, hm?”

Tapp looked away, seeming to ponder the possibility.

“Self-preservation instincts, Detective. I know you have them.” He tapped his knife into the dirt. Humans were fickle beings, easily swayed when their life was on the line.

The detective sighed, chest shaking from the strain. “Fine. I know where he’s hiding. But I can’t… breathe right, with a knife in my chest, so come a little closer.”

Danny blinked, but surely he didn’t have any more tricks up his sleeve, so he did as he was told, for once in his life, letting his mask get inches away. “Yes?”

A moment of silence, before there was a whisper in reply, backed by the assurance of an idiot who knew he was going to die regardless, as he spat blood pooling in his mouth onto the mask of the ghost almost pressed against his own. “Go fuck yourself.”

He was almost stunned at the bravado, leaning away with a chuckle, though he gritted his teeth through it. “Oh, you’re a funny man. Absolutely hilarious, you know that?” But still, that was as good of an affirmation of choice as he was going to get from someone so stubborn, so Danny grabbed him by the front of his vest and hoisted him up onto his shoulder.

 The screaming echoed as the heavens opened up, the Entity surely pleased with her feast for the evening, but he still wasn’t done… oh no, far from it. There was still one more handsome devil to track down. Danny rolled his neck, grinning at the gentle cracks from the strain, strolling more than hunting, at this point, for the well-kept survivor he didn’t know the name of, but was practically dying to know. He almost skipped up the crane, looking out of the window as Rapunzel did out of her tower window, before chuckling to himself and hoisting himself out. Danny tapped his blade against his hand, almost going to begin whistling if not for the angelic cries coming from the hill just close by. A grin overtook him, as he chased the calls of cherubs from the ground below.

 He slammed that hatch shut with a satisfied sigh, throwing his knife between his hands as he looked around and arched his neck for the doors. Normally the whelps would just give up at this point, but the guy was new, and probably didn’t know what was best for him. Still, the doors were easily within view, so if he made it out of this alive… well, he wouldn’t, so no promise needed to be made. The killer chuckled to himself, finally settling on wrapping his fingers around the handle of his blade, curling one by one, slowly and deliberately for no one in particular, before setting off to take part in the real game that had begun.

 He had no idea how he did it. Perhaps Danny had become too complacent in his work. But that handsome devil slipped past him more than once, enough for him to open up a gate and tiptoe his nice ass into certain safety. The survivor stared at him from inside the gate as he walked past in bewilderment, shaking like a dog in the rain that was just waiting to be gutted, battered old medkit in hand. And while he was stunned, the man swallowed, nodded, and left the trial head high, descending back into the fog as it began to consume the old gas station, leaving Danny to stare into darkness, barely blinking.

 Well, that was interesting, wasn’t it?

—

His name was Felix, he’d learned from the pig in the meat plant, having overheard it while she watched him blow the generator out by accident and got cursed out by the familiar bane-of-their-existence Swede. German, from the way he’d spoken to Danny by the generator in their first encounter, high up on the social ladder from the way he dressed (unless he’d gotten all dressed up just to see him? Funny, that would be, but very unlikely), shaken by the fog and with a disposition not unlike a lost dog. 

 And yet, despite his nerves and cluelessness to the fog, he always seemed to escape him. He didn’t know how he did it, but from finding hatch to evading the hooks, Felix somehow managed to keep him on his toes. Trials were somehow more exciting, knowing there was a challenge, and a chance to catch he who refused to be caught. Danny knew he was going to revel in the moment, when it eventually came - there was no way someone could be better than him, when he was so in his element.

So, after not seeing the man for the entire trial while hunting through the streets of Badham, catching him at the gate seemed like a dream come true. And he was none the wiser, as Danny quickly slammed his hand against the wall next to the lever, making him jump and freeze, pulling his hand away, two bright lights reflecting onto his face. “And so we meet again.”

“S-so we do.” He ran a hand through his hair before it found a place at the back of his neck, quietly taking a few steps back.

“Aht, aht. I wouldn’t run. I’ll just find you again anyways.”

He stopped. 

“...You know, I don’t quite know how you do it. It’s like you’re avoiding me on purpose.”

“That is… the point, is it not?”

“Oh, how rude- people come here to see me, surely. I’m a spectacle; call me a master at my craft.”

Felix chuckled - god, he chuckled, though it was riddled with nerves, but it most certainly happened, and sounded great - fiddling with the cufflinks on the sleeves of his suit jacket as his back straightened a little, as if flicking a switch to go from sorry sight to professional businessman. “Well, I… don’t suppose you’d be willing to show me why?”

He blinked. “Are you… flirting with me?”

“Am I?”

Danny wasn’t sure if the question was rhetorical or not, from the way he stood beside the lever at the gate, leaning a shoulder against the brick and folding his arms across his strong, broad chest (the way his shirt was unbuttoned just so was something Danny now noticed, and couldn’t stop noticing, barely tearing his eyes away to meet his gaze again) with an almost expectant look. “You’re... a weird one.”

“I… suppose so. Anyone normal would have ignored you and already run for their lives.”

The killer chuckled. “You’re not… entirely wrong. But I gotta say, I do like that. Among… other things.”

Though his eyes weren’t visible, it was as if the survivor knew exactly where he was looking, coughing and covering his mouth with the side of his fist. How cute was that?

He almost couldn’t contain himself. But he managed, somehow, not sure where this whole thing was going, but more than ready to go along for the ride. “Say… how far are you willing to ask that question, anyway? You really wanna know that bad, huh?”

Felix swallowed, closing his eyes for a moment before looking up again, with his piercing blue gaze, lips parting just so into a coy little smile. “Let’s find out, shall we?”

Danny had never thought a man of such sophistication was willing to whore himself out for freedom, but sure enough, he himself opened the gate to let the German go, almost sad to see him leave (though it wouldn’t be for long), but very much enjoying the view.

 He paused. He was supposed to catch him and kill him, wasn’t he? Danny frowned, somewhat troubled, but tried to justify it as returning to old habits in Roseville, as he left the gate, and waited for the fog to consume him again, taking a seat just outside the battered old preschool.

—

It was like the attraction of magnets with twice the force as soon as they saw each other, wasting no time as suddenly Felix’s back was slammed into a tree, a loose and cold gloved hand finding its way up his shirt, sending a shiver up his spine for another reason as he felt lips hit his, with a hunger and desperation he was not expecting but certainly didn’t mind reciprocating, as Danny soon found out. And he wasn’t complaining; he was damn good, for a man with the disposition of a 40-year-old virgin, moving his hands to Danny’s wrist and placing his hand on his waist, which again, he did not mind at all, while the other was still halfway up his shirt. Let the man take the lead, at least for now, because it’s the only chance he’ll get to.

 Danny chuckled as a hand moved to grab his ass - quite the eager beaver, wasn’t he? He was practically purring as he pulled away, the survivor trying to follow him before reeling back as he moved to kissing up the side of his neck, listening close to the adorable little whimpers that came out of him as he squirmed in his grip. The killer then went to move his hand out from under Felix’s shirt, finally, casually undoing the buttons of his waistcoat and shirt one by one, taking the time to walk down his chest with his fingers and feel the shaking breaths of anticipation under his fingertips. Oh, the things he wanted to do-

 Distant voices were enough to make the survivor crack open an eye, pausing before he began to push the killer’s head off of his neck.

“Hey, hey,” Danny didn’t appreciate the interruption, moving to look up as Felix looked around, like a startled animal, though he still purred in the crudest fashion. “C’mon, buddy, I was just getting started.”

“Quiet.” His voice was low and commanding, still shaking from adrenaline.

And for whatever reason, Danny complied.

He swallowed, listening to the silence of the wind in the barrens of the fog-covered forest and there was another distant call, which upon hearing he began trying to wiggle out of the killer’s grip. “Off.”

“Why?”

“They’re looking for me-”

“And you don’t wanna be seen with me?” He gave a mock gasp of offence, though the grin that was slowly growing larger still remained on his face.“Oh, honey-”

“That’s exactly it. Move, please.”

That was enough to make Danny chuckle, squeezing his hips that he still held, enough to make him yelp a little. “Still so polite. If you want me to do somethin’, hon, you gotta be a little more, ah... demanding, yeah?”

Felix glared. “Alright. Get off. Now.” His voice had an annoyed growl to it, though his voice still cracked a little out of embarrassment, as he pushed down on Danny’s arms to let himself go.

“There it is.” And so he moved, standing back and sliding his hands into the pockets of his cloak. He watched the architect fiddle with the buttons on his shirt to redo them again, rushing to do so and messing it up a few times, mumbling to himself. “Need help?”

He glared again. 

Danny laughed, observing how he looked like a kicked puppy as he went back to fiddling with his shirt, pulling down his own mask again to hide what little of his face he had revealed. “You know, I think you’d look much better with it off.”

“Shut up.”

“Oh, that’s not what you were saying with your eyes earlier-”

“You were a lot more tolerable when you were quiet.”

“‘Cos I never had a chance to speak, what, with you all over my mouth.” He shrugged as he spoke, as if it was a nonchalant fact, only smiling wider when he heard Felix try to stammer out a flustered reply, to no avail, choosing instead to simply huff and finish off the buttons on his shirt.

“Regardless, this affair is over.”

“Wait, hold on.”

“What?”

The killer moved his hands up to Felix’s neck, watching the man flinch and hold a breath with a soft chuckle, gently undoing a few of the top buttons that he’d redone. “You normally wear it like this.”

He gently touched at his collar, looking down at his fingers and then to the mask starring back at him. “And you’ve noticed?”

“Hard not to.” He shrugged, tugging at the shirt collar and going to fix up the waistcoat too before his hands were slapped away, which he held up in defence with a grin behind his mask. “So when are we doing this again, sunshine?”

The survivor moved away before he could’ve boxed in against the tree again, taking a few steps towards the direction of the campfire and the voices, though not too far as to disengage from the conversation, perhaps a little unsure how to. “You speak like this will be a regular affair.”

“Well, we had fun, ja?” 

“...Are you mocking me?”

“Not mocking, just… appreciating the culture.”

Felix started, smoothing down the arms of his suit jacket with a light scoff of disbelief. “Truly, you’re insufferable.”

“Can't say you didn’t enjoy yourself though, huh, mein Schatz?” He leaned his shoulder against the tree now, folding his arms across his chest, earning him a weak-hearted glare.

“Werde gefickt.”

“Gerne.”

Being outplayed in his own game of native tongues, somehow, Felix conceded, looking down at his cufflinks again. “You’re… not entirely wrong, so ...perhaps a name, so I can find you.”

“Oh, so now you want to know me? What happened to a one-time affair, sugar?” 

“When you’re so easy to please, I would be an idiot not to take advantage.”

Danny laughed, shrugging with no retort (though he was uncertain if hitting this pretty boy like a fish was just as good as getting in his pants… that much was yet to be determined). He soon trailed off, swallowing to himself, a lie escaping him as effortlessly as it had always done. “Jed Olsen.”

“Mr. Olsen…” Felix pondered for a moment. “...Ja, OK.”

—

So they’d been fooling around, yeah. Danny had always said he was willing to try it, should an idiot be brave enough, and if it was someone that wasn’t either Ace or David - he was a man with some standards, even with the blood on his hands - but never had he thought about it getting this far.

 The sun never rose or set, but people slept and woke as time passed, regardless of the light outside, and that was no exception here. If anything, it was the cold chill of Ormond that awoke him from sleep, though he’d grown complacent in it, realising the teens that called this shithole a home would probably evict him if he so much as dared to complain. Danny still grumbled, attempting to pull the scraps of the blanket over himself, but finding it unable to move. Turning over, he now heard the sound of gentle snoring, the body, next to him sometimes shuffling, but remained mostly motionless, aside from the movements of breathing from his chest. His latest fling, almost his newest obsession… god, he still looked perfect, even now, golden locks of hair falling out of form, the lighting of the shitty little cabin not enough to hide that perfect jawline tickled with stubble in all the right places, red marks down his neck and back from an encounter that had lead them right here, in the bed he was practically renting in the corner of the resort.

 They’d gotten a little adventurous, hadn't they? Banter in the trials was one thing, borderline voyeurism in the entity’s forest was another, but here? Letting himself be taken back to the realms to stay, where killers were not technically bound by rules of obedience, with Danny of all killers, a man who loved to bend the rules? Felix Richter was a smart man, that much he knew, but by god was he stupid. Maybe he thought there was a good man still in there, in the Ghostface. Well, that was his mistake; it was almost cute for him to still hold out hope though, regardless of how much disappointment was awaiting him down the road. Danny gently ran fingertips along the sleeping man’s arm, feeling the soft skin underneath his touch, smiling despite himself, only pausing at the gentle stirring he caused, practically freezing with his hand in the air as the architect moved, and slowly opened his eyes, sleepily smiling.

“Good morning.”

“...Hi,” he released a breath he didn’t know he was holding, letting his hand fall into the space between them. “Hardly mornin’, but sure.”

“Close enough.”

“Sure.”

There was a soft, amused hum from the other man, adjusting his position a little to better face him, hair falling out of place just so, like some disheveled Ken doll. “I would ask if you slept well, but-”

“Oh, very well, thanks to you. Really outdid yourself this time; I gotta say, that was almost the most fun I’ve had since I got here… or maybe even before-”

A light shove to his chest made him stop and laugh a little, feeling the slight coldness of metal from a family ring against one pec, and almost wanting the light touch of his hand to remain there, before it hit the mattress with a thump, dangerously close to Danny’s. “You’re a funny one, Mr. Olsen.”

He sat up, resting an elbow on the stained old pillow and holding his cheek with the corresponding hand, raising an eyebrow. “Thought you liked me better when I was quieter?”

Felix stared at him with those perfect eyes of his, and he laughed - like audible silk it was, smooth and defined, with a sleepy smile and everything - adjusting himself with a hand under his pillow. “Sometimes. Sometimes I like to hear you.”

“Glad to hear it. I’ve been told it’s my best quality.”

“Hmm. Is it how you make jokes to deflect, or how you talk out of your ass?”

“...Well, hey now, Princess, ouch-”

As he tried to defend himself, the survivor smirked, somehow braver here than anywhere else (and it wasn’t his persona), quipping back to match him, and as he was talking, Danny paused, watching the way his eyes diverted and how his mouth moved, how he talked with his body and the way he smiled and waiting for a small hum in response, and how Danny liked the way his name sounded coming from his mouth, even if it wasn’t entirely the true one. Almost made him wonder what the real thing would sound like… no, that was too much, right? Couldn’t get attached. He wasn’t attached, was he?

 Couldn’t hurt to wait a little more to think on that, before escorting this pretty little thing back to the campfire.

—

So he was thinking about Felix a lot more than was normal for an obsession of his. What started off as a vengeful curiosity had morphed into something else, something so ugly yet so beautiful, foreign to Danny in recent years, or perhaps his entire life. Was this how high school girls felt, chasing after the jocks for a chance to get them off, and maybe start a high school whirlwind romance? Well, he certainly wasn’t a prepubescent cheerleader, but the survivor that had caught his attention seemed just like the squeaky clean Prince Charming that girls drooled over.

 And he couldn’t have that. Not at all.

 The fog cleared out of his vision slowly, and he opened his eyes, almost rolling them as the field of corn came into view. Coldwind - the rotten fields, it looked like, from the wide expanse of produce hiding his vision. Despite the cards not being in his favour, a game could still be played here, if he played his hand, carefully. And he was planning to. He’d let himself get distracted. But not again.

 Getting back into the routine of the hunt was like sliding into a comfortable sweater, blood shedding with no tear from him. Laurie was always a thrilling chase, her determination being almost cute. Quentin was similar, though the boy with insomnia had a lot less appeal than the virgin final girl, to be sure. David, of course, was David - loud, frustrating to deal with, and incredibly annoying. And… Felix. He knew how he felt about Felix already.

 As well as he tried to play it, this time, the game was not in his favour, and quite quickly generators across the field were powered, with only a few hooks under his belt. Getting to a gate, it was already beginning to open, three of them already filing into the funnel of the exit. But Felix, he was lagging behind, and without thinking, Danny took a swipe...

 ...No one escaped death. Not even the man he may have fallen for.

 As he wiped the blood from his blade with a gloved hand closed around it, he watched the architect grasp at his side and stumble, leaning a shoulder up against a wooden wall for support.

“Go.” He called to the woman in the blue shirt, standing at the gate.

“Felix, we can’t-”

“I said go, Laurie!”

She gritted her teeth and went to ignore him, running back into the cornfield, but a grip and pull on her arm from David stopped her, as much as she tried to fight against it. Quentin was the last to leave, watching the two of them for a moment before he swallowed, and chased after them, a medkit in hand.

 “Alone time, eh? Hon, we’re on a time limit here-”

“Just get it done.”

Danny tried to laugh. But it didn’t… feel right, somehow, even if it was the same as it always had been. As Felix leaned against a wall to support himself and slid down, knees buckling underneath him, he crouched down to meet him. “I dunno… no fun when they don’t squirm, you know?”

“...Jed-”

“Danny.”

He paused. “What?”

“It’s Danny Johnson. My name, I mean. I lied, when we first met. ...Surprise!” Knife still gripped, he tried to do a small jazz hands movement, though it seemed a fall flat. Only hurt more with what came next.

“...I figured as much.”

“Oh yeah? And why’d you set yourself up for failure like that, sunshine?”

“Because… I don’t know. I thought you were like me.”

The killer deflated a little, tilting his head to one side.

“I… maybe, I thought you were playing something up. I always felt… something else, there. Maybe something even you didn’t know about. Under all that ego, Mr Ol- ...Mr. Johnson, there was a man who cared, once.”

He tapped the blade of his knife against the floor. “...Maybe. I dunno.”

“Do you think he’s still in there?”

Danny didn’t reply right away, dragging his blade through the dirt by his feet absentmindedly. He didn’t entirely know, at this point. Normally this would have been the end of their little game - it was over, he had caught him and won - but something was stopping him. The ground shook, reminding him of that first moment where this fascination had started to plague him. “...You’ve done something to me, Felix.”

He hummed, trying to shift where he sat, holding his side where the blood had stained his very nice suit. “Have I?”

“Must have done. Because this isn’t as fun as I thought it would be.”

“That’s the reality of most things, I’m afraid.”

“I hate it.”

The survivor almost laughed, though it was pained and strained, clearly struggling… but was the sliver of it that made it, that small smile on his stupid, perfect face - that was enough, it seemed, to make Danny smile too.

He pulled up his mask entirely, tugging down his hood and fixing his hair with a quick ruffle, feeling the cloth tendrils on his sleeves whip behind him from the movement. The killer took a second to stare at Felix in front of him, before he moved his hand up to his face, watching him flinch. “Hey- relax, baby, I’m not gonna hurt you yet.”

“Yet.”

Danny hummed, cupping his face and wiping away the blood starting to dribble out of his mouth with a finger. “There. You’re a messy little boy, aint’cha?”

A cough, more blood involuntarily spilling out from his mouth now, this time splashing onto his shirt and the front of Danny’s suit. “My apologies. I’ll make sure to bleed less next time you stab me.”

“‘Ppreciate it, babes.”

Though he thought the man would shove him away, he instead seemed to lean into the touch, moving a hand to hold onto Danny’s wrist. “You still smell like cheap cologne.”

“It’s the only thing they sent me here with. ‘Sides, your scent goes away after a while.”

“Gross.”

“The one and only.”

And despite his small smile, of both annoyance and amusement, the third overwhelming emotion behind his eyes was that of sadness. The ground shook around them, but they didn’t seem to care, not until Danny moved his hand away and stood to his feet again, grabbing his knife from the floor and wiping the dirt off of the blade on his thigh.

 “Is this it, then?”

“‘Fraid so.”

“...It was fun.”

“Oh yes, it was.” He looked down at his knife, pressing the tip of the blade against his finger and twisting it, the moonlight and bleeding of the ground catching the light of the metal. “...For what it’s worth? You were close.”

“Close to what?”

“Makin’ me a person. Ya know, not a prick, like… an actual loser, with empathy. Almost had me for a sec, hot stuff.”

“Is that why you’re stopping this? Are you scared?”

Danny swallowed down a reply. He took a moment to look down at Felix, who’s eyes had followed him the entire time, making a small ‘call me’ sign with his free hand and forcing a smirk. “If you ever decide you wanna make a mistake again, you’ll know where to find me.”

“...Goodbye, Danny.”

He walked off into the corn, not wanting to see the way those blue eyes stared at him anymore, only stopping at the pained screaming that followed. The shaking of the ground had stopped now. She had come to feast.

 As he stood in the middle of cornfield, he looked up at the sky of the farm, overcast and grey, tendrils of the Entity reaching down to claim her prize, and fog swirling around him to take him back, to lay in wait, until the next time.

 He was right. His name did sound nice coming out of Felix’s mouth. 

[thefinalcinderella]

Tsurune Book 2 Chapter 2-One over f (Part 2)

In this chapter: Regionals begin and end, Tsujimine is introduced, and Masaki and Shuu make a bet

Some parts of this chapter reminded me of Dive!!...I miss it so much

Glossary here

Full list of translations here

Translation Notes

1. Temari are handballs with colorful designs. They are highly treasured gifts. You can see some examples here

2. Fuwa says “heart of marble” in English here. Like, it’s literally written in English which is why it’s a bit weird to read

3. Sanbun no ni or “two-thirds” is a stage similar to the daisan of hikiwake (or an intermediate stage of hikiwake, it’s hard to tell) that only applies to shamen uchiokoshi. This is where the draw is momentarily halted two thirds of the way through, with the arrow stopping at the height of the eyebrows.

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The next morning was cloudy.

When Minato was packing for their departure, he heard a scream behind him.

"Wha, what's wrong, Ryouhei! What is it this time!?"

"There's a black thing on my baaaaaaaaag!"

"Could it be the rumored coc—"

"Don't say anymore than that!"

"I don't see anything. Oh, could it be this?"

His line of sight stopped at a small spider about a few millimeters big. Minato, partly fed up with it all, barehandedly caught the tiny intruder.

"Ugyaaaaaaah! Minato, you really are a hero!"

"A cute little guy like this is no big deal, isn't it?"

"Of course it's a big deal! Don't bring it over here! You used to catch cicadas barehanded, right? When you had one in both hands, I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest."

"If you're in a place where your hands can reach the cicadas, then you don't need nets."

"That's not what I meant!"

While the two were talking, the tiny spider swung from a thread of web and fled. Minato moved the spider hanging from his finger to the window, and it escaped outside.

Ryouhei watched the course of events while glued to Seiya's back. Not the slightest hint of a brave figure that felled a boar with one strike could be sensed from that figure.

Kaito tore Ryouhei off of Seiya.

"Don't always take advantage of others with your huge body. To begin with, I really don't understand the difference between the stuff you're scared of and the stuff you aren't scared of. You spoke with Fujiwara, our enemy, last night, and you even got him to promise to shoot together, didn't you?"

"Shuu-kun hating to lose is cute, but spiders aren't cute at all."

"That Fujiwara is cute——? Ryouhei, did you eat something wei…Oh, crap."

Kaito said hurriedly, then rushed to the bathroom while clutching his stomach.

Nanao lightly knocked on the door.

"Kacchaaaan, are you okaaay? Are you nervous before the competition?"

"Shut up, it's probably because you poured me so much milk at the breakfast buffet. I just wanted another cup, but there wasn't even a drop left afterwards!"

"Because, it was soooo tasty that I drank a lot of it. I just had to recommend it to you, Kacchan."

"I'm pretty sure you were drinking it because you wanted to grow taller rather than for the taste!"

"Ah, it's out."

Nanao made an embarrassed face.

Kaito, coming out of the bathroom with a dejected-looking face, was greeted by Seiya holding medicine.

"Ryouhei is a big man for calling a high-spec man who we are no match for, cute, and you are a small fry for weakening your stomach just from drinking too much milk, so from now on I will train you without holding anything back."

"…Seiya, you're scary when you go all out."

"Kaito, you're actually really soft on Nanao."

"Hah? Not a chance. Are you a moron?"

"Let's have a nice, long talk afterwards, Kacchan."

Kaito clutched his stomach again before a smiling Seiya.

When Minato and the others arrived at the venue, the sky turned clear.

The paddy fields reflected white clouds.

The roof tiles that diffusely reflected.

It was likely that it would get more and more from that afternoon onwards.

For the regional tournament, the team competition was on the first day, and the individual competition was on the second. Kazemai High School was only participating in the team competition, and Kirisaki High School had both Shuu and Motomura in the individual competition.

They spread a plastic sheet on the long-distance range, which was being used as a resting place for the competitors, and put their baggage on it. They used the changing rooms to change clothes, but there were students from other schools who changed on their plastic sheets. They were wearing their hakama on top of their gym shorts.

When he finished getting ready and took a break, Minato looked at the tournament brochure again. He was caught by the name of a certain person.

"Seiya, isn't there a person who has the exact same name as this?"

"Yes, it's probably our acquaintance. It seems that he had moved to the neighbouring prefecture."

"We didn't get to meet him at yesterday's official practice, but I think it's better that we go greet him first today."

"I think it'll be okay when we go see him."

"Yeah, I guess so."

Minato closed the brochure, still concerned.

The Kazemai High School cheering squad had also come running to the venue. The parents, Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo were part of it, as well as six elite members of the Nanao Fan Club.

"Nanao-kun, we made these for you! Please eat them!"

"Uwaah, thanks. Can I open it? Ooh, onigiri that looks like temari. (1) They're cute, just like all of you. I'll savour each one."

When Nanao winked, the girls squealed.

At the entrance to the stands, there was a line of people trying to secure their seats. When the entrance was opened, the Nanao Fan Club elites sat down with their frog fans in hand. Besides them, two young man sat just little further away.

They were Masa-san and Ren.

Ren changed the lens of his single-lens reflex camera and took a trial shot of his surroundings. Though he was only taking pictures, the virility and an adult man's bewitching allure drifted in the air. Even the cheering squads from other schools were taking glances at Ren and Masa-san.

Masa-san pulled his hat deeper over his head in order to avoid the sunlight.

"I didn't hear that you were coming, Ren. I was looking for a souvenir for you yesterday too."

"I thought that I would surprise Masaki."

"I'm thankful that you gave the girls a ride, but will you be okay with work? Aren't you neglecting your home in Tokyo these days?"

"I thought that I should move out of that apartment and return to my hometown. The bullet train to Tokyo is nearby if I have to go there, and Dad will be relieved that I'm helping with shrine work."

"Oh, really…"

Masa-san blinked slowly and observed him sideways.

They were often told that they were brothers with similar eyes, but Masa-san, who was four years younger, looked younger.

Ren placed his camera on his knee.

"Since rent is too wasteful, can I live with you in your apartment?"

"I have to wake up early in the morning for shrine work. Can I really live with someone like you, who's nocturnal?"

"My little brother is so heartless."

"You only act like an older brother at times like this. The nyujo will be starting soon. Don't keep chattering after it begins."

"This is the first time I'm seeing Minato-kun and the others shoot since the spring training camp. I wonder if I can have your students show me what they got, Masaki."

"I'll say this: they don't need surprises. Especially our oomae and ochi. They're pure-hearted and overly serious."

"I won't do it today."

Ren chuckled.

When the opening ceremony ended, the competitors began to move.

Ryouhei went back to the long-distance range to get his equipment, and then suddenly he was tapped on the shoulder from behind.

When he turned around, he saw a boy with an amiable smile standing there. He had an appearance where one could sense that he was well-bred, and his large black eyes conveyed his friendliness even towards people he had just met. Despite all that, the sharp lines of his chin added a gallant dignity to him.

"You dropped your underglove."

"Oh, I did, I never noticed. Thanks."

"No problem. It'll get hotter from now on today, so be cautious of getting heat stroke."

When he could no longer see Ryouhei, the boy pulled over his head the hood of his hoodie that he was wearing over his hakama.

Beneath the hood, a shadow was cast over his face.

His smile was already disappearing.

A little further away, there was another boy. He looked intimidating and had cold eyes. After brushing up the hair on his face, he stood next to the boy in the white hoodie.

"That's rare, Nikaidou, you being so nice to someone you don't know."

"Fuwa, were you there? We might meet somewhere else again, don't you think? If I do something for that kind of dim-witted guy to make them owe me, then they might be good for something."

"…Crafty bastard."

"Aren't you the same?"

Fuwa Koushirou did a small yawn. The early morning was cloudy and cool, but as the temperature rose, drowsiness also increased.

"Didn't get enough sleep?"

"I was bothered by the sound of the ventilator, so I woke up a lot during the night."

"You're surprisingly high-strung."

"Say delicate. I guess guys with ulterior motives like you can't understand it."

"Don't talk like I'm such a black-hearted person. Say that I'm like a marble of mixed black and white, at the very least."

"Marble can mean the rock or the toy, but heart of marble means a 'heart that is as cold as a lump of marble.'" (2)

"Heh, is that so, I didn't know that. You sure are wise, Fuwa."

"Don't diss me so casually."

"Well, since there's only good people here, they’ll even hand over the victory for today's competition to us. Our goal is Inter-High. Also, take a look at this?"

Nikaidou Eisuke looked at his phone screen and chuckled to himself.

"A boar infiltrated the hotel those guys were staying at, I heard. That's Minato-chan for you. He's liked by all kinds of things."

"Let's go, Nikaidou. Leave your phone and hoodie with someone."

"Even though I was expressly telling you something funny, you party pooper."

"I don't care about your acquaintances. I just want to get this over with quickly and sleep soon."

"Yeah, yeah."

Fuwa did not like getting friendly with others, and drew a line between himself and other people. Because of that, Nikaidou and Fuwa had a dry relationship even though they were in the same grade, and they both avoided intruding upon each other's privacy.

After Nikaidou got his equipment, he called out to a teammate in the shade of a tree.

"Kuro-chan, it's convocation time."

"One, two, three, four…"

"Ootagurooo, we'll be disqualified if we're late."

"Oh, sorry."

The boy who was doing push-ups vigorously got up slowly. His body was bigger than the average high school student's, and his thick chest, which could be seen even through his kyudogi and bulging arms, made him seem more like an American football or rugby player rather than an archer.

Ootaguro Kenyuu was a second-year student like Nikaidou and Fuwa.

There was a reason for his persistent muscle training mania and devotion for body building while reciting his extensive knowledge about it every day. Those who saw his bow for the first time unable to take their eyes from that rare item. That was because it was a yonsun-nobi bamboo bow with a draw weight of nearly thirty kilograms.

A large bow that made a two-hundred-and-twenty-one centimeters bow look like it was for children, its overwhelming length, width, and thickness had the effect of making people suspect that it was a decorative bow. Even the one-hundred-and-eighty centimeters tall Shuu only used a nineteen-kilogram bow, so extraordinary muscle strength was needed to handle this bow.

Marble Nikaidou.

Borderline Fuwa.

Macho Ootaguro.

Those three second-years occupied the positions from oomae to third archer. The ones who served as the last two, the fourth archer and ochi, were third-year students.

Nikaidou also called out to his two seniors, but he only got one leisurely response, "…'Kaaaay, got it!" back.

Higuchi Touma was a boy who was extremely slow in both moving and talking. With a small build, he and Ootaguro looked like parent and child when they were side-by-side. He always had bed hair, and he constantly pulled on the sleeves of his jersey, so they became saggy moe sleeves. It was rare for Fuwa to feel sleepy, but for Higuchi, it was an everyday occurrence.

On the other hand, Aragaki Reiji was an extremely silent boy who served as the president of the kyudo club. With his slender physique and the mask that he always wears, he looked like the bassist of a visual kei band. As he never took off his mask except for eating and shooting a bow, the kyudo club members were about the only ones who had properly seen his true face. On that day as well, Aragaki at last took off his mask when he entered the venue.

Even when he removed his mask, he almost never met his teammates' eyes, always looking to the distance—for the sake of showing everyone his profile. He was actually a narcissist who loved his own profile, but hated his front face. Him choosing the kyudo club was also because he thought that his profile when drawing a bow would surely be beautiful.

Slothful Higuchi.

Maskman Aragaki.

Since information notification did not always go as one wanted with those two, Nikaidou was the one who truly managed the club. Their advisor could not be relied upon, but as they could not be in tournaments without a manager, they were saved by that.

The five headed for the waiting area with Nikaidou in the lead. The eccentric group was the focus of stares pouring in from the competitors from other schools.

The words "Tsujimine High School" were printed on the cloth bibs pinned to their right hips.

The stands fell silent, and the chirping of small birds could be heard.

The team competition involved five-person teams shooting four arrows in zasha. The time limit was eight minutes. Boys and girls from each of the sixteen schools were participating.

For the preliminaries, each team shot twenty shots in two rounds, with a total of forty shots, and the top eight teams with the highest amount of hits would pass. The finals were in a tournament system with twenty shots to a team.

When they were about to head towards the waiting area, Tommy-sensei asked Minato something.

"Have you seen Takehaya-kun and Kisaragi-kun?"

"Seiya forgot his tsurumaki so he went back to get it. Nanao got captured by some girls from another school."

"Oh my, how unusual for both of them."

When all five gathered, Tommy-sensei loudly declared the start of the mission.

The first round of the preliminaries began.

At the back of the shajo, the third waiting area had two rows of five chairs. The competitors sat in those chairs and waited for their turns. They advanced to the second waiting area, entering it at a signal with Kaito leading them. Divided into the first and second shajo, two teams with a total of ten people lined up in front of the targets simultaneously.

After Minato sat down in the chair before the honza in the first waiting area, before his eyes the other schools' competitors faced the targets. Perhaps because his point of view was different, he could well understand the differences of each person's shooting form. They also had a variety of shooting quirks.

The person whose bow slanted forwards in the time between daisan and hikiwake.

The person whose right shoulder moved forward at kai.

The person who raised their chin and whose head fell backward.

There were surprisingly few who could do the gojuu juumonji perfectly. Even if one could do it yesterday, it was difficult to say if one could do it the same way today. It was said that it was more difficult for the brain to reproduce what one remembered than to memorized, and always drawing a bow in the same form was a high-level physical activity.

When the last team sounded their final tsurune, the five knelt at the shooting line all together.

With their left fists on their hips, they raised the upper tips of their bows (urahazu) to eye-level while turning their hips, then turned towards the wakishoumen. The ways in which they moved their bows occurred precisely at the same time.

The oomae, Kaito, was the first to shoot. After he stood up while holding his bow with both hands, he performed ashibumi. Even though he was starting to shoot, he might still be feeling the effects of his bad stomach. He had a disappointing start, with his arrow going beneath the target.

Next was the second archer, Ryouhei. Perhaps it was because of his earnest nature, he absorbed what he was told without doubt or hesitation. He landed a perfect hit.

The third archer, Seiya, was calm and never deviated at any moment. He ascertained his own weaknesses and had the strength to make up for them with intelligence. ——He hit.

When the fourth archer, Nanao, raised his bow, the girls eagerly leaned forward as usual. When the matooto sounded, they flapped their yellow-green frog-shaped fans all at once.

Minato was the fifth archer, the ochi. He gently lifted his bow up so as to not sense the pain in his left wrist. Because it especially hurt from uchiokoshi to daisan, he moved through those parts slightly earlier than usual, but his arrow landed to the right of the target.

For the second shooting round, all five members of the Kazemai team hit the target, and on the bulletin board, which displayed the scores in 〇's and x's, there was a row of "〇." There was applause for the five-person kaichuu.

Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo also clapped their hands vigorously, so that Minato and the others would hear them.

"The boys are doing really well."

"Yep, I have a good feeling about this."

However, for the third shooting round, Ryouhei, Seiya, and Nanao missed in succession, and lost the possibility for personal kaichuus.

For the fourth shooting round, everyone hit except for Ryouhei, and they ended up with scores of three, two, three, three, three—a total of fourteen hits.

When they left the shajo, Kaito struck a triumphant pose.

"Alright! Not bad at all. Let's keep going like this!"

"Yeah!"

The second round of the preliminaries began.

The temperature was rising little by little. Although it was a break in the rainy season, there were already hot summer day being recorded, and the people in the stands were covering their heads with sports towels in order to block out the sun.

Kaito grandly raised his bow.

A heat filled the depths of his body.

I dedicate this heat to you, kyudo.

His tanned skin shone, his flexible muscles stretched gracefully and he formed a cross. His scarlet eyes were fixed on only one point.

What I'm calling for is you.

Shoot through my heart.

A cheer sounded from the stands at the sharp flight of his arrow.

Ryouhei, Seiya, and Nanao also hit their targets, and there was a succession of cheers.

Minato protected his left wrist, putting strength into his right arm and raising his bow. He moved his arrow tip little by little, drawing his bow to the limits of his strength.

The beautiful kyudo that toyed with the archer.

Even though it was wearing a gentle smile, it became more distant when one extended one's hand to it.

Let me hear your voice at least.

When Minato shot the target, the bulletin board displayed a row of five circles, and applause burst out once more.

For both the second and third shooting rounds, there were three hits out of five shots.

Kaito got a kaichuu with his four arrows, and exited the shajo while receiving applause. Ryouhei, Seiya, and Nanao also hit, and the five would have had another team kaichuu if Minato had hit after that, but he regrettably missed and hit to the left of the target.

The results were four, three, three, two, and three—a total of fifteen hits.

With a total of twenty-nine hits out of forty shots in the preliminaries, Kazemai High School would be advancing to the finals tournament.

Kaito: ×〇〇〇　〇〇〇〇 7

Ryouhei: 〇〇××　〇〇×〇 5

Seiya: 〇〇×〇　〇×〇〇 6

Nanao: 〇〇×〇　〇××〇 5

Minato: ×〇〇〇　〇〇〇× 6

In preparation for the tournament battle, lunchtime also served as a break.

Minato and Seiya stood talking, away from everyone else. They suddenly felt eyes on them and when they looked, they saw a boy wearing a white hoodie.

"——Nikaidou-senpai."

"Hey, it's been a while. Fancy meeting Minato-chan and Seiya-chan here."

"It has been a while. We're sorry for not greeting you sooner. So, you moved."

"Both of you didn't advance to Kirisaki High School either. Same as me. Wow, what a coincidence. They only got rich people over there, so it's too high-class for us commoners to be in. Oh, wait. Seiya-chan is the son of doctors, so he can't be talked about like he's in the same category as me and Minato-chan."

Seiya also greeted him with a meek smile.

"No, fortunately I'm really pleased with Kazemai High School."

"Heh… Must be nice, that feeling of deeply trusting your comrades and hanging out even on your days off. Yep, we must follow your example as well."

Nikaidou went to middle school with them, so in other words, he was the former senpai of Minato, Seiya, and Shuu. He was also a senior who even Shuu had difficulty dealing with.

Nikaidou chuckled, perhaps sensing the uncomfortable atmosphere around the two of them.

"Minato-chan, how many boys and girls are in the Kazemai club?"

"Five boys and three girls."

"A total of eight people? I'm surprised, you only got a select few. Renting out a kyudojo to that number of people, you guys must be able to run yakazu practice too. You guys must have shot more than anyone else here, haven't you?"

"It's not like that."

"Don't be humble. It's a big deal to defeat that powerhouse Kirisaki and advance to the national tournament. In the end, didn't you win thanks to Shuu-kun losing? And on top of that, there was even a guy with hayake? They say fortune favors the brave, but I guess you guys' everyday behavior must be terrific."

"No, that's…"

"Even so, though Shuu was bestowed so many gifts from the heavens, the only thing he doesn't have is luck, huh. I think that since lacking something like that is also human-like, it's nice. Hah…, did you see his tall bow and long arrows? If it were me, I would be too awed and I wouldn't even be able to hold them. That he missed even while using such high-grade equipment, such a waste."

Minato, without immediately replying, looked straight into Nikaidou's eyes. Even though Seiya was standing still at that gaze, Minato was not taken in by it.

"Don't talk bad about Shuu when he isn't here. And Manji-kun is working hard to overcome his hayake."

"Oh wow, I'm so happy to hear my kouhai Minato-chan speaking to me so casually. I feel like the distance between us has shrunk. It's so tacky to make much of one's seniority nowadays, isn't it? Well then, I have a question for you, Minato-chan. For what reason are you shooting a bow?"

"What reason, you say, I shoot a bow because I love it…"

"Heh, so pure, like a little kid. I'm doing it to win. I love winning."

Nikaidou lifted a corner of his mouth, then he put on his hood.

"Later, Minato-chan and Seiya-chan."

Seiya's voice, admonishing him that he must not react to Nikaidou-senpai, passed through his ears.

Minato was thinking.

That that senpai was the only one who he definitely did not want to lose to.

Around the same time, Masa-san was with Shuu.

Shuu had stopped him, saying that he wanted to talk to him.

"What was that just now?"

"If Kirisaki High School wins this competition, I would like you to be my coach for a week."

Masa-san pressed his hand to his forehead.

"I'm sorry, but I have to refuse. I don't want to make wagers on archery. And in the first place, did the Kirisaki manager allow you to be taught by a coach from another school?"

"Our advisor does not balk at any means that would help us win, but if you are worried about it, I will keep it a secret."

"Well now, it'll be revealed eventually. With your skill, Fujiwara, you should have a more distinguished sensei teach you rather than a newbie coach like me. Why me?"

"Minato said that you are his goal. I was also shown videos of you shooting. I heard that you are the grandson of Yasaka-hanshi. I am very interested."

Before the indecisive Masa-san, someone suddenly showed up.

It was Tommy-sensei.

"Ho ho ho, what an interesting proposal. Let's go with this match. On the contrary, what will Kazemai get if we win, Fujiwara-kun?"

"That's right, shall I show you Saionji-sensei's words that I have accumulated? I've written down hidden techniques that weren't taught even to Minato."

"That's alright with me. I will go talk to Kirisaki about this."

"Yes, then, I look forward to working with you."

Shuu bowed, then left.

Masa-san grimaced.

"Tommy-sensei! Is this okay? Wouldn't you be fighting over this with the sensei at Kirisaki later?"

"It's fine, it's fine. I know the personality of the Kirisaki sensei, and the point is that Kazemai should win, right? Even by some chance we lose, I would be a lucky man if I could see Fujiwara-kun's shooting up close. Can't you believe in your students, Takigawa-san?"

"That's not what I meant, but…"

"Didn't the one called the Young Lord expressly tell you that he wants to be taught by you? The people who stand at the top are always lonely. It may be that he sympathizes with you, Takigawa-san, who had a wonderful teacher everyone envies, and experience with winning Inter-High. However, are you still keeping this quiet from everyone in the club?"

"Yes."

"Oh, so young. My blood is boiling up."

Tommy-sensei couldn't stop grinning. Getting a glimpse at his crafty side, Masa-san sighed.

The first round of the finals tournament began.

As a result of the lottery, Kazemai High School was suddenly facing off against Tsujimine High School. When the competitors entered the shajo, the venue immediately became noisy. That was because Tsujimine's Ootaguro was carrying a huge bow that was non-standard for a high school student. Many from the stands was whispering, "What is that? I never seen one like that before."

Tsujimine High School did shamen uchiokoshi, which was in the bushakei style.

The oomae, Nikaidou, moved his left foot a half step towards the target while watching it, then looked down and moved his right foot the same way in the opposite direction. He held his arrows while their arrowheads (itatsuki or yajiri).

After gripping his string, he fixed his tenouchi diagonally to the left, pushed his bow open, and did yugamae. From there, he raised his bow slanted to the left and did not stop midway, or maybe he did the "sanbun no ni" (3) in his own way and drew.

When he entered kai, his yugake made a grinding noise.

After he swung his arms and his bow fell forward at hanare, there was a pleasant matooto.

Then, it was the second archer, Fuwa. He looked towards the target with a gaze that was cold and indifferent to the enthusiasm enveloping the venue. There was an unseen boundary line between him and his surroundings. Within that barrier of ice, he got a hit.

Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo conversed in the stands.

"Shamen uchiokoshi is cool, you really feel like they are drawing a bow."

"Yeah. Now it's Macho-kun's turn."

The third archer, Ootaguro, raised his huge bow slanted. Those who laid their eyes on that conspicuously gigantic bow would have the delusion that their sense of perspective was paralyzed. The bamboo bow with an amber luster bent grandly, forming a cross on heaven and earth. The arrow went towards the target along with a furious, whooshing momentum, and an extra-large matooto sounded.

After him was the fourth archer, Higuchi. The exact opposite of Ootaguro, he was an archer with a frail impression. At intervals that made people want to tell him that he didn't have to draw that slowly, he gently drew his bow. And at kai as well, he did not readily release his arrow. His zanshin after he shot his arrow was bizarrely long. However, because he hit precisely, it was funny.

Last was the ochi, Aragaki the maskman. He was devoting all of his nerves on beautifully displaying his profile. With something mysterious, it prevented careless deviations and distortions of the body, and there was another hit. Applause swelled for the five-person kaichuu.

Shooting their arrows in that order, Tsujimine and Kazemai both went to their second shots without any misses.

And then it was the third shooting round.

The Kazemai cheering squad cheered with all they had for Kaito's hit. However, Ryouhei, Seiya, and Nanao missed in succession, and the situation for Kazemai turned risky. If they missed any more than that, their results would be settled before they shot their fourth arrows.

Minato couldn't withstand the pain in his wrist, decided that he could do kai early and went on to take a hit. Intent on not wanting to lose to Nikaidou at the very least, he released his arrow.

For the fourth shot, all five from Kazemai hit, and Minato fell back to honza amid applause.

The announcement of the results came on.

"We will now announce the results just now. First shajo, four, four, three, three, four—a total of eighteen hits. Second shajo, four, three, three, three, four—a total of seventeen hits…"

Hanazawa and Shiragiku covered their faces.

"…Kazemai lost?"

"No way!? Isn't it still the first round of the finals tournament?"

The Nanao Fan Club stood up early to go receive Nanao, but Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo did not move.

Of course, even the people concerned did not know what had happened.

Even Kirisaki High School, peeking at the situation, could not hide their surprise.

"Oi, is this really happening…?"

Senichi and Manji were whispering.

Shuu put his arms around their shoulders. Seeing that, Sase and Motomura joined in.

The five formed a huddle, and Sase raised his voice.

"Ki-ri-sa-ki, fight!"

"Yeah!"

Kirisaki High School gave off the air of champions from the moment they entered the shajo. A majestic, dignified walk. Their demeanor was obviously different from others.

Shuu and the others got kaichuu in succession, and there was loud applause every time. The twins sealed up their fast-shooting, and it was the oomae, Motomura's fractal-like shots that were handed down to those behind him instead. They were uniform, well-controlled, and beautiful shots.

After that, the tournament continued, with Kirisaki High School and Tsujimine High School facing off in the final match. Kirisaki won, with nineteen hits to eighteen hits.

With this, Kirisaki High School obtained the special ticket to take part in the national tournament.

Previous | Next

[dvrkhclme-blog]

✕ — wasn’t that raven darkholme wandering the streets of new york, 1973? civilians know them as mystique and see them as a villain. as far as i know, the one hundred and fifty+ year old stands with the x-men (sometimes), and are rumoured to be pretty deceptive & misanthropic. ( julianne moore / gender-fluid / typically she/her ) 

{ trigger warnings : mental illness, suicide, sexual abuse, drugs, terrorism, murder  }

hey everyone, i’m sophia!! i’m trash and neglected the intros for all my babies soooo i’m finally getting to them now!! anyways, i’m super excited to be here at 1973hq & i hope we can all be good friends!! <3 sooo. more about my first baby aka my murder!baby under the cut  

LEVEL 1: INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION ABOUT MY MYSTIQUE //

im not even gonna touch the mceu version of mystique ok thx therefore shes gonna be combination of comics mystique and a bunch of my own headcanons — soooo

LEVEL 2: SURFACE LEVEL MYSTIQUE — THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY // 

( skip this part if youre familiar with the mcu its basically a shortened version of her bio )

the binch is oLD ok??/ old af. probably several centuries old. i’d say 200 years old at minimum but its never really been disclosed

don’t even get me started on wtf i think happened to her to fight just to survive at age 12 when her mutation kicked in bcus,,, yike

her entire life has been characterized by betrayals. whether it be mystique betraying someone else (most likely) or her being betrayed by someone else (in the case of destiny)

her n destiny met in the early 20th century. destiny asked her to help decode her prophecies and to stop the terrifying ones from being fulfilled. they fell in Luv. they are partners. gay ass partners. (the original idea for mystique n destiny was for nightcrawler to be their canon kid. via mystique in a males body. but this was retconned bcus of homophobia thx but i’d personally love this hc if we get a kurt & it’s ok w/ them anyway )

anyway after ww2 she met sabertooth n had her first (canonically recorded) kid, graydon. who. lo n behold, she abandoned.

that’ll be a trend, fyi, better watch out for that

but graydon turned out to be a mutant hating human so thats fun

then mystique from our time went back in time in attempt to assassinate graydon (which doesnt, in the end, work),,,, also fun

then she gets married to a wealthy german count,,, uses her power to start seducing other people, when she meets azael who  manipulates and seduces her. has nightcrawler via azael ,, its cool

raven murdered her husband and was then regarded by her townsfolk n as a demon. she escaped but abandoned kurt,,, also cool

she adopts raven then. and actually genuinely loves her. (more on this in the next section)

she founds the 3rd version of the brotherhood n they do more terrorist shit good job mystique #magnetowasright

sike mystique betrayed  magneto and turned him into the government, turned the brotherhood into the freedom force, n started working for the gov. working for freedom force is when destiny died and that triggered one of mystiques many breakdowns (also more on this below)

she was v depressed at this time and taken advantage of by the shadow king. raven let herself be brainwashed by the government into thinking she was her own government handler to take down the shadow king. didnt work. he torments her the rest of her life. yike.  

she had nanotech put into her head so the government could force her to work for x-factor, while with them she finds out destiny during their partnership had other partners and kids she didnt know about and one was a mutant

graydon has this mutant savagely beaten. before mystique can kill graydon for this, hs followers kill him n turn him into a martyr. super fun. cue operation zero tolerance.

mystique went undercover as the senators wife for a while n used her connections to the fbi to do shadier shit

she then ran away and took some random chicks form and became a model and made a ton of cash — u go girl

except this kinda sucked for her because she moved into a penthouse suite which in the neighbouring building had skulls plotting to take down mankind. they framed her for a murder, her powers stopped working, n she was arrested

the government eased all her alternate identities and froze all her assets and access to the money she and destiny saved up for decades. cue another mental breakdown

then she finds out destiny was responsible for founding the anti-mutant conspiracy mystique spent her whole life trying to stop, and that destiny also didnt give medical attention to mutant kids who were deformed from their mutations

long story short she has an even worse breakdown n goes completely nihilistic, realizing she cant change the world for the better, she remakes the brotherhood and impersonates moira mctaggert to get her research on the legacy virus  

a bunch more shit happens with raven ending up in the care of homeland security. xavier makes a deal with her and breaks her out. everyont thought she tried to kill xavier,,, when she didnt actually,,, because xaviers a shady fuck,,, but oh well. rogue disowns her for it. leads to another mental breakdown.

because of this she decides fuq u xavier and creates a mutant kid identity for herself known as foxx and joins the xmen to stop rogue and remy’s relationship

she helped the x-men during this time n also helped save rogue’s life via the messiah baby. but once again her intentions are misconstrued

she snaps again and impersonates bobby drake’s girlfriend & gets the poor boy hospitalized

norman osborn then recruited her to the dark x-men, injected her with nanites, then helped logans soul to hell, but then changed her mind and helped get him back. when he got back tho he uh. well. killed her. her and sabretooth were both resurrected by the hand (more on this later)

mystique then rejoined the brotherhood, impersonated alison, and took her place as mutant liaison for shield, harvesting her DNA to make MGH (mutant growth hormone)

LEVEL 2.5: MYSTIQUE’S PLACE IN THIS VERSE

i imagine she went back in time to 1973 under the guise of helping people & being “reformed” but in reality she was also doing shady mystique shit on the side and probably trying to tie up some loose ends, whether it be with graydon, the shadow king, destiny, or someone else. or probably a combination

anyways now shes staying w/ the x-men part time and playing Good Girl for now. she wants to show everyone that shes reformed n better n just wants to do things for the betterment of mutant kind. wants 2 get their trust too

shes pretty. level headed right now i’d say. betsy braddock helped her during one of her mental breakdowns by telepathically realigning her fragmented psyche — she’s still mystique n still awful but not as chaotic anymore. and less prone to attack rogue or other people aimlessly. it’s much more goal oriented now.

LEVEL 3: MYSTIQUES PSYCHE //

ok so she identifies as gender fluid bcus she shape shifts forms but also because i imagine shes so sick of having sexualized herself all these decades to get what she wants that shes just fed up with gender norms and thinks theyre bullshit. she’s fine to go by she/her pronouns but she doesnt really identify as a specific gender in my head

she drinks but mostly absinthe and only w/ people she trusts. along those lines it’s similar for drugs but she loves a good high and a good hallucination

she has bouts of psychosis that her wiki defines as schizophrenia. it manifests in much more anger and aggression. hallucinations. delusions — especially presecutory and grandiose delusions — lack of pleasure (hence the nihilism), social withdrawal, and poverty of speech. her sense of identity becomes so fractured that she cant keep herself consistently in one body without it taking all of her concentration — and sometimes that isn’t even enough. she gets lots of mood and cognitive changes during these episodes — and completely loses her sense of self

despite her grandiose ego she’s actually very self conscious and refuses to look in a mirror. actually she’s scared of her appearance. she cant look at herself normally in fear of seeing a monster look back

this is also the reason she was so easily deceived by azael. he looked like a monster, too, and embraced her for how she is. he didnt make her change to fit another appearance that couldve been “more beautiful”

lastly, her motives for doing things??? are always for the betterment of mutantkind. over time this got very skewed and her belief became that the only way for mutants to actually live is for all humans to die. shes a terrorist through and through, but she loves mutants. she just has a personal vendetta against the x-men that’s grown over the years — her constantly being betrayed by people during her episodes of psychosis and the x-men never actually believing the real story (but also like. why would they??? shes often so awful too)

shes attempted suicide canonically in the past. she loses control of herself. it’s also heavily implied she’s been assaulted in the past. anyways shes a sad baby too

— so thats about it for my murder baby! yike this got a lot longer than i expected it to but anyways i cant wait to write her with all of you!! <3

[myanondiary]

To Michema.

There was no need to block my mother because from her end she thinks she did something when she didn’t. Expecting me to reach out to you after you disrespected is a far reach. I say this with no water in me mouth, you wouldn’t have heard from me again regarding this situation. We’ve known each other too long and we’ve grown far too much for the way you talked to me. I can’t see past it and for sure wouldn’t have hit you up about it especially since I asked if you needed a few days and you shut that down and cancelled this friendship before you slammed my door.

Though you sound sorrowful for disrespecting me, I don’t accept it for the same reasons above. Also, you can tell me things about people you’re close to that did shitty things to you and I’ve never fixed my mouth to disrespect them because at the end of the day, they are people you care about. So yes, I’m further hurt by  “in me hole” comment, telling me to tell him shub he apology up he ass, and the message you sent him (cause you did talk about me as well).

Correcting that you said “he did that cause he was in me hole” aint no better. We had sex two weeks after we shared feelings this month. Everything I told you he did for me happened before. I moved in Septemeber. 

The wine was from me, not him. He had nothing to do with the idea, he just gave me money for it. He wanted to ease my strain. Less about you and nothing to do with why y’all not talking anymore, more about me and the nice gesture I wnted to do for you. That doesn’t make it any less genuine. I didn’t even have to tell you he bought it but in my little way yes, I was softening you up to the idea of him. More on this down below.  I didn’t say it was a confession either, I said I have something nice to say about Domonic. 

Not sure why you’re asking yourself if I’m concerned with what he did like we didn’t talk about that situation umpteen of times.

Why wouldn’t me and Dominic be friends? He isn’t a stranger to me. Have we forgotten that we all chilled before? Reflect back to the first time I asked if you feel a way that he’s been helping me out alot. I recall me saying “I feel fraudy because he’s been such a good friend to me.” That’s when you said I shouldn’t feel away cause yes he’s a big help. 

Side note, I’ve attempted to tell you on two different occasions you was by me since that time how a good friend he was to me and you quite literally shut it down as “he still fake”. Tried to get you to see that he has changed alot (you recalled that time during the discussion I had with you and him) but that wasn’t enough for you to change his mind on him.

You’ve called me at times when I said he was by him. Oh let’s recall the moment I told you I was by him smoking and you came off the phone after saying you needed time from me.  I told you we did inktober together where I went by him every night to do some drawings. I told you he took out my smoke alarm, he put up my art boxes, he printed my shirt for the event and the obvious of me using his microwave to heat up food. I also told you he washed my clothes the second time I was cramping from period and just didn’t have it in me to go by Torian. I even told you about the time he was sad and I told you that I told him he can talk to me about it but he was still pretty vague in what troubled him.  Soooo nothing about this screams friends? I gone just use the man and keep it at bay?

I said he don’t come down here and at that time it was true. He came down just to help me and left right after. The first time Domonic spent more than 10 minutes down here was the day after I found Jazzi. First time. 

I refer to him as me neighbour to literally everybody else but you. Jacynthia and Chantal was here literally this week and they ask who playing music? Me: Me neighbour. When I couldn’t go by Torian to wash my clothes the second time I told her I’ll get it done by my neighbour. Yanny and Glassil were the ones who heard “my neighbour” the most cause they usually wanted to see me when I was by him doing art things. All when I asked Ajayi for advice he was still my neighbour. It was much easier saying that to them because they don’t know him and calling his name didn’t make any sense. Between me and you, he was Domonic, so I don’t know where you getting that “he was just me neighbour” from.

You’re asking me how you’re supposed to react to all that information dropping on you as if I withheld information that was severely damaging to your reputation. I came to you with good news about me. Somewhere between our discussion, you said “ofcourse I want you to be happy” but none of this screams that. 

I’m the friend you come to for voice of reason, for unbiased opinions, logical explanations. How in this very moment when it comes to me it’s “I’m not grasping it” but every other time I was on point with what I had to tell you regarding your situations? I’ve thought about it from a different angle - what if it was me. That was an easy thought because it did happen. You told me about Josh after you guys developed a friendship and became lovers that talked and video called every day. I remember asking you how this even happen? Where he even come from? I didn’t even know you guys were friends. As much as I was shocked at you (not hurt, just happily surprised) and him being a random as hell pairing and me hearing the time I did, I was HAPPY for you. The only thing different between that situation and this one is that you hated Domonic for what he did. Your opinion about him was already skewed so even if I had told you earlier, your “I don’t support it” comment would’ve come out just the same - and I knew this. And for that reason, I wanted to protect my feelings without any negative opinions. The descriptive word to use here is *selfish* not fake, not shady, but selfish, something I always preach you should be. I put my feelings first and wanted to keep it there. And mind you, it’s not like I didn’t want to tell you. From the moment we shared feelings that’s all I wanted to do. But every time I thought about it, I got anxious because I really didn’t see you giving me a good reaction from it. Forget the “you would’ve warmed up to it” I wanted your initial reaction to be a happy one and that wouldn’t have happened so I procrastinated it. That feeling was fed by every time I tried to tell you he’s changed, the time you needed a break from me right after I told you I was by him smoking (I know in your explanation you said it was because of me abusing weed but me and my overthinking suspected it was because I was close to him), to when you left my place 12 in the morning because I was up by him a little too long tending to Jazzi. I thought if I sat down and explain how great he has been to me, you wouldn’t have any choice but to be happy for me.

My mother’s first introduction to Domonic was when she came to drop me hospital and he was here. Many times my mom popped up and I’m by him and I didn’t tell her anything- just told her I was out. She quite literally didn’t hear about him besides being the person I wash my clothes by and heat up my food. When I got a little better from being sick, she started to ask questions as expected. I shut it down with “I’m not ready to talk about it” twice before I came out and said I like him. She’s been SOO happy for me since. I told her the same week I told you. Akaii is my closest friend and don’t even know a “neighbour” exists yet. I took a picture of braids to show Jacynthia, she noticed him in the back and started asking questions. Only told her he’s my neighbour but she said she can hear the sparkle in my voice. She said while smiling “let it marinate, tell me when you ready”. This was Monday. Ajayi only heard more about him because you asking him for advice led him to come by me to check on me. According to him, he’s living vicariously through me. He’s also happy for me cause he for one knows how long I’ve been looking for someone, so to hear I found someone who is just like me had him so googly eyed. (Side note, much of what I told him, he told me he told you the same - so.)

I say this to say that you’re not the only one “left in the dark”. This is the first time I wasn’t so quick to talk about what’s happening while it’s happening and it has been the best thing ever. My feelings were mine without outside influence, I enjoyed the moments for what they were without expecting to update anyone about it. I talked about my feelings to the person I had feelings for and no one else. It felt like the most adult thing I’ve ever done and I say this to say, I wouldn’t have done anything differently. If I had a chance to tell you earlier and the situation between you and him was still there, I wouldn’t have. If he was a stranger to both you and me when I moved in then for sure, you may have known much sooner. But for now, I feel like telling you earlier would’ve changed a whole lot with how things happened between him so I don’t regret doing that and I don’t apologize for it. What I’m sorry for is how hurt I made you feel about this situation because it’s never my intent to do so. You said somewhere in the voice note that you don’t know where this leaves us and girl - it’s up to you. I’ve been a damn good friend to you, never disrespected you, always gave you the best of me. If this one situation is enough for you to stain me as “fake” like I haven’t been there for you this whole friendship then so be it. I won’t be fighting for it. 

[marchedutemps]

 Ooooookaaaaayyyy, sooo here it goes, the full story. 

There’s a girl in my film workshop, she’s SUPER DUPER CUTE 😍. I noticed her right away the first day, sth about her caught my eye, but at the same time I was like “naaaah”, I didn’t want to like her, though that only made me keep looking at her. She goes to the same high school I went to, soooo there’s that. So yeah, I pretty much spent five classes looking at her for four hours!!!!! She had a friend and I thought of talking to them once, but se me abrió and I didn’t, he seemed really cool though. Anywaaaaay, last class he wasn’t there anymore so I sat next to her with the sole purpose of talking to her!!!!!!! I didn’t even think it would be hard, but when I sat next to her SE ME ABRIÓ OTRA VEZ (there was a guy next to us and everything was silent AND I HATE/FEAR PEOPLE HEARING MY CONVOS that’s like uuugh the worst, the thing I dread and despise the most). Four hours sitting next to her, not acknowledging her existence (not explicitly, at least. cause I was dying on the inside). I was waiting for her at the end, but this other girl chat me up and I lost her :( Then this class I schemed a plan to run into her lmao. I took the metro cause I know she takes it, tbh also cause I was late and I feared the bus would take forever. It was a little bit of both, actually. Anyway, I didn’t and even got there super early, earlier than her AND the logistics of the situation pointed to her sitting next to me, WHICH HAPPENED!!!!! <3 I was worried about how would that work out since last class I didn’t talk to her and sitting next to her would be sort of weird???? plus, she sits on the side and it’s impossible to look at the board from there, so for my neck’s well-being, I planned on sitting facing the board even if that meant not sitting by her since it doesn’t really matter cause I didn’t talk to her either way. Aaaaanywaaay, she sat next to me and we didn’t talk gg buuuuut I was less anxious than last time and could enjoy her loud breathing and her amazing chuckling <33333333 

Whaaateveeeer, the four hours went by, recess included AND I STILL COULDN’T FIND THE COURAGE TO TALK TO HER :’(((((((( aaaaaaahhhhhhhh. However, at the end, cause of logistics again, we were the first two out the door 🌚 aaaaand I knew I didn’t want to wait for the other two girls who talk to me. I wasn’t sure about talking to this girl either, but I kept walking. Even if I walked faast, I knew I couldn’t catch up. We were really close, though, it was slightly awkward. idk what was going through her mind, cause we both said “bye” to the guards, so she knew I was behind her…not far away at all (that or she heard my footsteps ohmygod). So at some point she turned around (bless her, she’s so cute and amazing !!!!!) and before her body was even done turning, she asked me if I was headed to the metro (lmaaaao I was too excited before but now I’m analysing and I’m not a fan), so I said yes and caught up so we started walking together. I told her I used to go to the same high school and she lost it lmao. She couldn’t believe it and thaaaat waaaas heeellaaa cuuuteee!!!! Idk, we kept  talking about stuff and pretty much everything I said made her lose it ?????? I think that’s just her, the kind of person who’s naturally always smiling and laughs at pretty much eveything. ANYWAY I’M HELLA CRUSHING SUPER HARD ON HER!!!!!!! Okok, so we got to the metro (I usually take the bus, but it takes forever to arrive and also I didn’t want to stop talking to her <3 so I walked in with her), turns out she lives really far (not in the city) so my fantasy of her being my neighbour did not come true (I fantasise daily with meeting someone who lives in my neighbourhood cause hanging out would be easier, but I haven’t yet. What are the odds of meeting a neighbour outside??? I think them and I don’t really run in the same circles…but it’s an eclectic neighbourhood, even if it doesn’t look like it, I’ve seen stuff). At the metro we ran into the girl whom I walked to the metro with the other day. It was kinda awkward lmao cause I was really hyped and bubbly and lively and I’m not like that around her, also I sort of ran away from her so yeaaaahhh. AAAAAAAAAAH I’M STILL OVER THE MOON IT WAS SO FUCKING AMAZIIINNNGGG!!!!!!! Her name’s अन्जी btw, she’s tall, fun, lives in the state, is super tall, goes to my high school, loves film, is into sociology, her voice is haaaawwwwttttt!!!!! And, um, yeah, your girl is still not over it and “falls in love” really easily.

I forgot some details—- but I’LL add them as they come to mind