#thank goodness he is getting his exercise by attacking me violently.

[toushindai]

(googles some things and performs some calculations) one Titan-sized liver is way more than an eagle needs to eat in a day and Aetos doesn't even have to expend energy looking for food. That bird is gonna get fat

(I'm not fat-shaming the bird I just think that is way more food than he needs)

[dragoneyes618]

It is early last November. I am about to enter the gate at the side of the East Denver Orthodox Synagogue on Friday evening before Shabbos. Out of nowhere, a person approaches me. He clearly wants to talk to me but seems unfamiliar with the surroundings.

He says, “I’m Catholic. I go to the big cathedral — you know, the big one?”

“Yes,” I say, “I know.” (It’s near our office.)

“I’m Catholic, and I want you to know that we stand by Israel. We pray for you. We are with you. I want you to know that.”

I thank him. I am moved. I proceed to the shul.

A couple of weeks later, shortly before the accusation of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice, I have finished shopping at King Soopers (a local supermarket chain). I am in the parking lot, loading my car. This particular King Soopers store is not in a Jewish neighborhood. A man approaches me. Like before, a total stranger.

He says, “I don’t understand why people don’t understand. Israel is right. Don’t get discouraged. What they’re saying about Israel is ridiculous.”

He repeats this a couple of times.

I wear a kippah. I have a beard. I am visibly Jewish.

An exercise acquaintance is a big man and uncharacteristically puts his arm on my shoulder. He is not the most articulate, but makes himself clear.

“You people’ve got friends. You’ve got friends. You’re not alone.” He speaks with sympathy.

Around that time was the event at Colorado Christian University. I knew it was supposed to be an evening of solidarity for Israel. Parenthetically, with no prompting whatever, the university hired the local Vaad Hakashrus to make the meal kosher, charged nothing, and held the event in a lecture hall. I knew there would be passionate speeches in support of Israel’s military response to Hamas, but a week or so before the event, I received a call from the lead organizer.

“We also want to raise some money for Israeli organizations. Suggest some.”

I responded, “Don’t do organizations. Pick one.” I figured, why should a few dollars be spread around and not do much good?

He said: “Okay, name one.”

Off the top of my head, I suggested Hatzalah and explained briefly what it is. He said, “Okay.”

That evening, after the speeches and the Hatzalah presentation, came the “ask” — trying to persuade people to respond generously. In my experience, the “ask” takes some time and usually entails some not-so-subtle pressure.

Here, the ask took ten minutes. That’s it.

The results were announced: “One million dollars!”

A different King Soopers. A different neighborhood. This time, not the parking lot, but one of the aisles. A stranger approaches me.

“I’m for Israel 100 percent. Whenever there’s a problem, they blame you people. I don’t know why.”

Anti-Semitism in the United States today cannot be denied. One simply cannot list all the instances, curses, attacks, lame justifications, and outrageous, ignorant claims about Israel (“genocide”).

But what about “philo-Semitism”? How extensive is it? How representative are the chance encounters I’ve had? I don’t know, but one thing is clear: The “antis” on college campuses and elsewhere are, by and large, loud, obnoxious, and attention-getting. They bring the power of the group, be it violent or peaceful. The pros, however extensive, are, by and large, quiet, individual, and, while unafraid to approach a single Jew, do not come together in groups.

Like a lot of people, I, rightly or wrongly, have been thinking about Germany in the 1930s. Am I paranoid? I hope so. But aside from the anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiments widely aired, what worries me the most is the salient contrast between the opponents of Israel in America and the sympathizers. On the one hand: Mob mentality. Chants. Masks. Slogans. Refusal to engage. Sometimes, outright violence. On the other hand: Quiet support. Very much appreciated every time I receive it, but how effective can it be?

It is not sufficient to have friends. It is not enough for people to express solidarity. We need better techniques at amplifying our voice and the voices of those who support us. Here I reach the ultimate fear: When hatred takes over, better “techniques” will not help. In the 1930s, countermeasures, such as a stronger boycott of German goods, would have been welcome; but would they have made any difference, given the mob mentality that rolled over Germany?

The history of the Holocaust is infinitely complicated, and I am not trying to draw a precise parallel. I am saying this: I have lived in Denver most of my life. It is a live-and-let-live city. With a minority Hispanic population, it elected a Hispanic mayor. He served two terms. With an even smaller minority black population, it elected two black mayors. They each served three terms.

If, even in a city like Denver, protesters can threaten university heads without consequence; can close down a Jewish center on the city’s largest campus; can witness a rude anti-Israel outburst on the floor of the Colorado State House of Representatives; can tolerate an openly pro-Hamas law student defending October 7 in a University of Denver classroom, I ask: Is this the new reality in America? Is America forever changed? If so, what are American Jewry’s best options? Answers cannot come until the real question is faced.

What is representative of America today — the hate spewing on campuses and elsewhere, or the unsolicited, heartfelt comments I receive?

[pahrak-the-sinnoh-slizer]

Right of Law, Section XXXIV

(Hewkii helps Neton with his recovery in Xia, and Ulwin offers his help to Carna in Ga-Koro.  With preparations finally complete, Zaekura marches on Atero, putting Miserix’s defenses to the ultimate test.)

Neton gripped the bars that stood next to him on both sides, bracing himself as he took a small step forward.  His new leg was almost indistinguishable from his old one: identical at a glance or a distance, but further inspection would reveal darkened metal standing in for biological components.  Hewkii was on one side, walking atop a stone platform he had made to put him at the same height as Neton’s shoulder, sticking close in case his friend needed help.  Neton took another step and sighed heavily.

“You’ve made incredible progress!” Hewkii said, adjusting the Kanohi Rau he wore.

Neton chuckled and hissed back.

“I’m sure your powers help, but they don’t entirely solve the problem, right?  I know prolonged adjustment of gravity is taxing in its own right.”

Neton shrugged and steeled himself for another step.  He asked a question, and Hewkii stiffened slightly.

“...No, still nothing.  But I’m sure he’ll pop up any day now.”

After catching his breath, Neton reassured him, and then heaved forward once more.

“Thank you.”  Hewkii paused.  “...Say, Neton.  Do you think…participating in the tournament was a bad idea?”

Neton glanced at him.

“Ah, sorry.”

The Rahkshi shook his head.

“...It’s just, I…I thought I understood the danger, and that I was willing to face it.  But now, because I went through with that plan, Dekar may be…”

After waiting a moment, Neton hissed.

“Of course I’d like to stay optimistic, but in this case I’m worried it might make it seem like I don’t care.”  He gave a short sigh.  “Well, I can’t really do anything about it right now.  Thanks for listening, Neton.”

Neton nodded.  Facing forward again, he resumed his slow trek forward.

Soon the door opened, and Ackar entered through it.  At first he spared them only a glance as he crossed the room, but then he took another long look at Neton’s prosthetic, and his steps slowed.

“Good morning, General,” Hewkii said.  “What brings you here?”

“Trying to find ways to stress-test this restraining band,” Ackar said, slightly waving with his mechanical arm.  “...One of Bitil’s, I take it?”

Neton nodded and hissed.  Hewkii said, “That’s right.  Neton is his name; Velika took his leg during that last attack, so I’m helping him get used to his new prosthetic.”

Neton said something else, and Hewkii chuckled.  Ackar said, “Hm.  Never seen a Rahkshi getting rehabilitated.  Any trouble with the linkup?”

As Neton replied, Hewkii translated, “The maker worried about that as well, but there haven’t been any problems yet.  Guess Rahkshi physiology isn’t that different after all.”

Ackar nodded silently.  Neton was just starting to take another step when he shook violently, saved from meeting the floor only by Hewkii’s intervention.  The Toa asked, “Neton?!  What’s wrong?!”

The tremor vanished as quickly as it had arrived; Neton pushed himself upright as he communicated this.  Hewkii shook his head.

“Still?  Did the doctor say when the phantom pains would stop?”

“It varies,” Ackar said.  “When I lost my arm, I had phantom pains for over a month.  All you can really do is endure it…but they will pass, eventually.”

Neton nodded wearily as he spoke.  Hewkii said, “He says ‘thank you’.”

Ackar didn’t reply, just watched as Neton resumed his exercise.  Eventually, he said, “Hey, Hewkii.”

“Yes sir?”

“You seem to really believe in Zaekura.  Why is that?”

Hewkii took some time to think.  “For the most part, I’ve just been acting on what my gut’s been telling me.  Zaekura, Neton, everyone…right away I felt like they weren’t bad people.  I saw how much they cared about the citizens, and keeping them safe, so when the others who came with Velika showed they didn’t care…I mean, I don’t know.  Joining the rebellion just made sense, I guess.”

Ackar crossed his arms and hummed.

“If I may, sir: I know you feel the same when it comes to the safety of the citizens, but I can also see that you’re still hesitant.”

“Hmph.  Regardless of details, Zaekura is the reason this whole war started.  And no matter how hard you work to protect the citizens during a war, there are always civilian casualties by the end.  Whether or not it’s intentional, whether or not her forces are the ones killing, every death that does occur is a direct result of her choice.  I won’t participate in absolving her of that.”

Neton hissed something.

“...Well?”

Averting his gaze, Hewkii said, “He, uh…disagrees, quite strongly.”

“Understood.”

Neton continued.  “You’re so intent on seeing blame placed on Zaekura that you have none left to place on anyone else.  Perhaps, instead of focusing on the one whose only means of self-defense was to fight back in full force, you could turn your ire upon those who are intentionally and actively killing civilians?  Which approach do you think will save more lives?”

Ackar locked eyes with the Rahkshi.  Neton did not relent.  The two of them ceased only when Zaekura and Charla entered the room.

“Oh, there you are,” Zaekura said.  “I…no, before that, I wanted to see how you were doing, Neton?”

Neton answered.  Hewkii said, “‘It’s progress,’ he says.  I think he’s being a bit modest.”

“Did you come to visit my brother as well, General?” Charla said as she inched closer.

“Just…bumped into each other,” Ackar said.  He unfolded his arms and took a step back.  “...I hear you’re about to march on Atero.”

“We are,” Zaekura said.  “I actually wanted to talk to you about that.  Well, not about marching, but…we want to be sure that Xia is safe while we’re gone.”

Ackar’s gaze drifted.

“Bitil’s staying behind to oversee the defenses, but we want him to have help in case in needs it.  We’ve gotten several volunteers already, and I wanted to—”

“I’ll do it.”

Zaekura blinked.  “...Huh?”

Ackar faced her.  “…I’ll…help keep the people safe while you’re gone.”

“Uh…thanks?  Thank you.  That was, uh…easier than I expected, frankly.”

“Don’t get the wrong idea: I still don’t like you.”

Zaekura deflated slightly.  “Right.”

As they began to discuss the specifics of the matter, Charla turned to look at Neton.  Her brother met her gaze, chuckled quietly, and then took another step forward.

***

The street ahead was lined with artists of all disciplines—sculptors, painters, musicians, playwrights, and more, all busy with their respective crafts and filling the air of Ga-Koro with a cacophonous symphony of creation.  Ulwin was overflowing with glee as he made his way through the performance, finding his soul both soothed and lit ablaze by the all-consuming racket.  It was the sort of thing the young Guurahk had always dreamed of: a meeting of like minds with lifetimes of experience he could learn from and, even better, work alongside as equals.

And we’ve only just begun.

Down at the edge of the water was a small hut with a “do not disturb” sign tacked to the door.  As he drew closer, he started to hear muffled music coming from within, and unconsciously slowed his steps to better absorb it.

“…and though we finally see the light

It’s way too soon to give up on this fight

We’re all still trapped in this nation—

This state of suffocation.”

Ulwin smiled.  He recognized the voice as—

“RAAAAGH!!”

He recoiled.  The shout was followed immediately by a loud crash.  In a panic, he threw open the door and said, “Are you alright?!”

The only person inside the hut, Carna, whirled to face him; she had her teeth bared in a furious snarl, and her bloodshot eyes seemed to shine with eerie light.  A music player, still serenading them undaunted, sat on a small table on one side of the hut, while at the other a heap of canvases sprawled out over the floor.  One of the sheets rested on a stand surrounded by cans of paint and a stool.  Next to the stool lay the remnants of a clay pot, scattered across a murky puddle along with a frayed paint brush.

An awkward tension pulled at Ulwin’s muscles.  “…I…heard something break, so I…”

Carna turned, put a hand over her face, and let out one very long sigh.  “…It’s fine.  Everything’s fine.”

She turned off the music and then began picking up the clay fragments.  Ulwin stooped down to help her, saying, “Um…pardon my intrusion, then.”

Carna picked up her brush and examined it.  “…I’m guessing Natan sent you?”

“Well, Basaik was the one I spoke with, but she, uh, did ask me to see how your progress was coming along.”

Carna clenched her fist around her brush.  “It isn’t.”

“Ah.”  Ulwin cleared his throat.  “Well, they haven’t finalized things on their end yet either—Basaik was just curious.”

With a hum, Carna resumed cleaning up.

“…If, ah…if you’re having some trouble, I’d be more than happy to help.”

She dumped the fragments onto the table and came back with a rag.  “Thanks, but no thanks.”

“Oh, um, alright.”  Ulwin picked up the final piece and went to add his collection to Carna’s.  “…Perhaps someone else from Nynrah would be of more assistance?  I could fetch them for you.”

Carna sighed again.

“Er, sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“Just…!”  Carna pinched her nose.  “…I’m sorry, I…I’m not exactly patient on a good day, and today is…not a good day.”

Ulwin shifted his weight, trying to construct a response.

“…I’ve got nothing.  I sure talked a big game, setting up this grand idea, telling the band I’d come up with the perfect cover art for their album…but I’ve got nothing.”

“Oh…I see.”  Ulwin’s gaze combed over the pile of canvases: some were still blank, but the majority had big splashes of paint blotting out unfinished images he struggled to make out.  The one currently on the stand depicted a half-complete grove of evergreen trees behind erratic crimson zig-zags.

“It’s like it’s just gone.”  Carna sat down on the floor, gazing wearily up at the still-wet paint.  “Like I lost my entire ability to create, somehow.  I keep digging deeper and deeper, but there’s just nothing there.”

The hut went silent for a few seconds.  Then, Ulwin sat down next to Carna, saying, “Miss Carna…you’ve been through enough events to fill a lifetime in only a matter of months.  It’s only natural such a thing would exact a toll on you.”

Carna hung her head.  “Isn’t trauma supposed to be great inspiration for art?  If anything I should be at the top of my game right now.”

Ulwin averted his gaze, tilting his head slightly.  “Art is…can be a very useful tool for dealing with trauma, certainly.  Personally, I don’t subscribe to the theory that it’s some natural, effortless reaction.  Trauma can damage any tool, art included, and when that happens, that tool must be repaired before it can be put back to use.”

Carna glanced at him.

“Well, not entirely repaired, of course, that’d be asking the impossible.  But the damage can only worsen if you keep trying to wield the tool without taking any steps to mend it.  Feeling a lack of creativity is excrutiatingly frustrating…especially if that creativity is part of how we’ve come to define ourselves, or if the project in front of us is one we care deeply about…or if we feel we’re letting others down by making them wait.  It’s very easy to blame oneself.”

She looked back down, strangling the rag in her hands.

“But that ease is not justification.  Our instinct may be to blame ourself, but none of that blame is truly ours.  No one should have to apologize for the wounds they bear, or the limits those wounds impose.  This is no different.  We all have the right to feel pain.”

Carna said nothing; she stared blankly at the floor and finally relaxed her grip on the rag, but she didn’t say a single word.

“…I’ll leave you be.  Please forgive me if I spoke out of turn.”

He got up to leave, careful to avoid tracking the murky puddle along with him.  As he grabbed the door, Carna quietly said, “Ulwin.”

He looked over his shoulder.

“…Thank you.”

Ulwin nodded.  “My pleasure.”

***

The protosteel walls of Atero loomed high over the desert sands.  At Zaekura’s command, the rebel army came to a halt at the edge of the rampart’s shadow, and the Glatorian waved her Peace banner back and forth in the sunlight.  When Miserix emerged with a banner of his own, she, the Sand Lord, and Pridak waded into the darkness to greet him.

“So…you’re Zaekura,” Miserix said, looking down his nose at her.  “That you’ve managed to come this far defies all logic.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Zaekura said.  “Thought we’d pay you a visit before you had the chance to launch another surprise attack.”

“Hah!  Am I expected to apologize for my tactics?  War is an underhanded business, young one.  One should always expect one’s foes to act as such.”

Zaekura ground her teeth.  “...Well, that’s not what we came to discuss.  Our goal today is to take control of Atero, and if at all possible, we’d rather do it peacefully.  Is there any way that can be arranged?”

Miserix crossed his arms, saying nothing.

“Your words are wasted on him, Lady Zaekura,” Pridak said, preparing to draw his sword.  “Allow me to attempt an alternative means of persuasion.”

Zaekura turned sharply.  “No!  These banners aren’t set-dressing!  I’ll talk as long as I have to, even if it doesn’t accomplish anything.”

Pridak shrugged and relaxed his sword arm.

She turned back to Miserix.  “Look.  If you’re still this loyal to the Great Beings then I have to assume either you don’t believe the things I’ve said about them, or it doesn’t make a difference to you.  But I’m taking Atero, ‘logic’ be damned; I’m just giving you the option to make it a smoother transition for the sake of your people.  Please, take it.”

Miserix squinted.  “A conqueror who pleads…you are a strange one, without a doubt.  Perhaps others thought you weak, and underestimated you, and that is the secret behind your success.  Let me assure you: you will receive no such quarter here.  No matter the cost, your rebellion dies at Atero’s gates.”

Bright light flashed from his eyes, blinding Zaekura.  Miserix swiped one hand, plasma trailing from his claws, and cut clean through both banners as he closed in on his target.  However, Pridak leapt forward and grabbed his arm with both hands, and, after taking the smallest moment to brace himself, twisted Miserix’s gravity askew and pulled, managing to flip the reptilian Makuta onto the ground.  He immediately sprang up, but Pridak had already flung his seaweed cloak to entangle the Guardian and obscure his vision.  Zaekura was too shocked to do much, so the Sand Lord used her power to pull them both back towards their (now advancing) army.  After suffering a few quick punches, Miserix ripped through the cloak to clamp his claws around Pridak’s neck, but his foe reacted quickly and grabbed him back, leaving them both locked in place struggling to overpower each other.

Soldiers stationed on Atero’s wall opened fire.  Blasts of every Element rained down on the rebel forces, supplemented by shots from catapults and mechanized turrets.  Some of the launched boulders hit the ground ahead of them, the erratic protodermis growths they spawned weaving together to form an extra barrier, but it was almost immediately torn down.  A great tsunami of sand rose up and crashed against Atero’s wall.  The soldiers were shaken, but only briefly.  When a second wave of sand arose, a focused deluge of rain appeared over it, compacting and drowning the sand before it could make its approach.

Up above, Antroz deflected as many attacks as she could—what got past her was easily dealt with by fighters on the ground, but she didn’t want them getting overwhelmed.  She dodged to the side as a procession of Cordak rockets flew at her.  As she turned to face some plasma shots, however, the rockets turned sharply to strike her in the back, the rapid series of impacts keeping her stunned for a good few seconds.  Antroz was shot out of the sky, but one of the larger Rahkshi caught her before she hit the ground; she thanked them before teleporting back into position.

“Homing Cordak rockets,” she mused, spotting another line of them moving in.  “That complicates things.”

She used her Magnetism powers to deal with the rockets, while below, Zaekura watched the firefight with a grim expression.  “Maybe we should use the anti-elemental weapons now?  It would let us rush the gate much more easily.”

“That’s true,” Charla said.  “But I think we should stick to the original plan.  If we start using them now, the Generals might have time to prepare before we can reach them.”

“Right, right.”  Zaekura tapped her foot.  “…Our momentum is starting to slow, though.  Think it’s time to send in Tanzag?”

“I shall contact her at once.”

For all their zeal, the Aterans had left themselves one crucial blindspot: the base of the wall.  That was where five Rahkshi materialized, two with powers of Teleportation to facilitate their appearance; the other three were there for only a moment, however, as light enveloped them and their bodies merged into one.  The resulting Kaita was a towering mantis with six wings on her back, and arms that ended in long, razor-sharp blades.  Her weapons gleamed as she made a series of lightning-fast swipes with them.  A moment later, searing-hot gashes appeared on the wall, cutting open a massive entrance she then dashed straight through.  The Aterans were already moving to cut off access to the breach, distracting them from the approach of another Rahkshi Kaita, this one like a wyvern with an elongated body.  They flew up to the wall’s edge and turned intangible, phasing straight through a long line of turrets and other artillery.  One by one, every device they passed through began to spark and smoke, rendering them all inoperable.

Seeing this, Miserix snarled.  He fired Laser Vision into Pridak’s mask, sending the other Makuta reeling, and used an overhead blow augmented with Sonics to smash him into the ground.  Miserix charged back towards Atero, taking shots at the rebels as he went, until Pridak teleported after him and grabbed him by the tail.  He reeled Miserix in, though Miserix was able to turn the momentum into a powerful kick.  Pridak took the hit and didn’t let go.  After swinging Miserix around, he slammed him into the ground so hard he bounced into the air—but Pridak was quick to seize him in a telekinetic grip and drop him back down.

“Leaving so soon?” Pridak asked.  “You wound me, Miserix.  Aren’t you as eager as I to see who comes out on top when we test our might?”

Blades of solid light rained down on him.  Exerting his own Light powers, he just barely diverted them all.  Miserix then materialized in front of him, one electrified fist drawn back, and said, “I am not.”

He punched Pridak into one of the blades and then called up vines to restrain him.  Pridak broke free easily, swiping and missing, and then let Miserix get in close before knocking his mask askew.  Miserix retreated and hurriedly righted his Kanohi.

“Pity,” Pridak said.  “Either way…we’re going to find out.”

Pridak ran forward, appearing to split into three as he closed the distance.  With a snort, Miserix swung one hand through the air, conjuring a wave of plasma to carve a trench where Pridak and his illusions stood.  He tilted his head to one side—Pridak thrust his sword out the moment he materialized behind Miserix, but the blade met empty space, until Miserix reached up and ripped it from his foe’s hands.

“You’ve always been far too pushy, Pridak,” Miserix said as he dodged an incoming storm of blows.  “Fine: see what happens once your sad excuse for an army trespasses into Atero.  Let’s fight.  Watch your ego die miserably before the rest of you is snuffed out.”

Miserix jabbed once.  Pridak dodged, then dodged again as his own sword swung towards him.  Miserix rushed him shoulder-first, and he braced himself to take the impact and counterattack.  He was caught off-guard as his foe’s free hand stretched out with the power of Elasticity, hitting him in the side just enough to disrupt his balance so Miserix could tackle him.  Pridak tried to grab Miserix before he could withdraw, but the other Makuta phased through his grasp, cut him with the stolen blade, and then dealt a heavy punch while using his Cyclone powers to fling Pridak away.  After landing hard, Pridak picked himself up—his sword came flying next, and he caught it by the hilt as he glared at Miserix.

“Hmph…enough of that,” he said.  He rent his weapon to shreds with the forces of Magnetism and Gravity.  “A weapon that betrays its owner is no good to me.”

Miserix teleported in front of him and slammed both fists down.  Pridak backed away from the swing and the burst of electricity that sprang up when it hit the ground.  He was quick to charge back in, managing to catch Miserix’s fist as he pursued, though Miserix also caught his fist when he punched with his free hand.  Miserix again attacked with Laser Vision, but this time Pridak turned invulnerable and attacked with his Slow powers, reducing Miserix’s reaction time enough that he was able to connect with a knee and then use his claws to tear a gash in in his armor.  Miserix retaliated with a wide blast of Light to force him back, and then kept his distance.

“Slippery as ever, I see,” Pridak said.

“I could say the same about you,” Miserix said.

“I feel I should inform you, however, that my ego remains in very good health.”

Miserix patched up his armor.  “Feh…I’ll admit to being a little rusty.  But based on everything I’ve seen, my forecast still holds.”

Pridak grinned.  “Heheh…sounds to me you’ve found your enthusiasm.”

Meanwhile, the Atero militia was fending off the rebels’ attempts to enter the breach, though each one of them harbored doubts as to how long their success would last.  If nothing else, this doubt lessened their shock when another Rahkshi Kaita rose above the crowd, this one a tall metal skeleton with long, writhing tendrils extending from the ends of its ribs.  Debris began to move through the air towards the fusion: fragments of Atero’s wall, the singed remains of their artillery, anything that was made of metal that did not already belong to someone.  The scraps all converged, warping and twisted around the Kaita’s bones and melting seamlessly into each other.  In time, the empty space between his bones was filled, with protosteel and exsidian taking the place of skin and muscle; this new body was just as tall as the wall of Atero, and the Kaita wasted no time in using it to furiously pound away at the barrier.  The soldiers at the breach tried to hold their position, but in their distraction they were powerless to stop the incoming Makuta Krika from sweeping them all aside.

“Pardon us!” he called.  Emsar and three Rahkshi were a step behind him, but in a moment they all were gone.

As her allies finally burst into the city, Antroz landed in the courtyard just inside the gate and took stock of the situation.  Many of the soldiers stationed on the wall were coming down to face the invaders, and from the other side, a small number of Velika’s drones came to greet them.  Wanting to stop them before they had a chance to combine, Antroz flew to the nearest drone and plunged her sword down through its body.  It continued to move, if much more slowly, so she used her Plasma powers to reduce it to a puddle of slag before searching for a new target.  Three of the machines were drawing near each other; Antroz prepared to dash at it, but yet another drone appeared and forced her back with a shot from its deadly weapon.  She spared another thought towards the trio to find Alize leaping at them.  The Rahkshi of Magnetism unleashed her unique ability, warding the drones’ metallic bodies from manipulation—they still attempted to combine, but after moving slightly their components locked, unable to contort as needed.  Antroz sighed.

I suppose Bitil was right, she thought.  That should give us the upper hand on these infernal constructs.

She took a moment to slice her attacker into fourths before advancing down Atero’s main road.  To her relief, it seemed the civilians had already evacuated, but at the same time, it struck her as odd that there were not more forces marching down the path.  Soon, however, she sensed one person coming down the road.  Only one.  And immediately she understood why.

No…if she reaches the gate, she’ll slaughter them without a second thought!

Telepathically warning Charla to keep everyone clear of the area, Antroz dropped down to the street and walked forward to meet her foe.  When mere yards separated them, they both stopped, and a long, silent moment passed.

“So you are here,” Gorast said, each word dripping with malicious delight.  “Finally…FINALLY, I get my chance to put you in your place!”

Antroz hesitated, wondering if she should even try.  “…Gorast.  More than anyone else, I understand how fervent you are in your devotion to the Great Beings.”

Gorast unlimbered her scythe.

“I know how difficult it is to have everything you have ever known called into question.”

She drew her axe.

“But please…do not let your loyalty blind you to the truth as I did!”

Her spear was third.

“Ask yourself—not the Great Beings—what you truly believe to be right!”

Finally unsheathing her sword, Gorast held her four arms wide and lowered her body.  “Are you done?”

“…Yes.”  Antroz raised her blade.  “I am.”

Another moment of stillness passed.  Then, each with a ferocious battle cry, the two Makuta lunged towards each other and swung to kill.

[sheetsonfire]

Soccer Practice

Summary: Jay picks up his sister after soccer practice, things don’t go as planned.

Fandom: Chicago PD/Chicago Med

Characters: Sibling!Reader x Jay Halstead x Will Halstead (ft. Connor Rhodes)

Warnings: Asthma attack, medical talk

Word Count: 2137

Notes: So this is the first time I’m posting anything I’ve ever written... please be gentle, hah! My medical knowledge is basic, I wrote with childhood asthma and a YouTube video as my guide on this one. Reader’s age is vague, but I imagine a youngest Halstead to be somewhere between 16-25. Happy reading!

_

You break out into a grin when you spot Jay in his truck, he had been waiting for your soccer practice to finish. It was with an under 25s community league that you had joined in the last few months, something to burn off steam in your off days from being a sous chef.  

He leans over to push open the passenger door as you drop your kit bag in the back. Hopping in next to him as he hands you an ice cool bottle of water. 

You give him a grateful “Thanks!” in-between an exhale. Taking a moment to sip and get your breath measured. 

Jay’s watching you with a small smile, but also with a waiting look, waiting for an affirmative from you. 

“You good?” His eyebrows raised in that inquisitive way he is prone to.

You think about your inhaler for a second, but rationalise it was natural to need to breathe a little more after vigorous exercise; besides you had made sure you kept on top of your preventative inhaler - no need to worry.

You smile again, things have been good lately. You’ve been able to see your brothers a lot more, work hadn’t produced a demonic customer in a few days, the adrenaline of playing with your teammates gave you the serotonin you craved.

You pull the door shut and turn to him, 

“I’m good, just a really intense session, ready to become a couch potato with you two knuckleheads. Thanks for the water, you’re a blessing.” 

Imitating a respectful bow, which earns a snort-laugh from Jay.

He gives you a nod that says, “I know, I'm a great big brother”, making you roll your eyes as he holds out a fist which you bump with yours. Giving an amused shake of the head, indulging his pretend ego was always funny.

You really loved your big brothers, both of them so supportive and interested in your life; it was something you desperately wanted and needed after the three of you had lost your mother. Pat, your dad, was just never the same afterwards - almost like looking at you was a grim and unwanted mirror image of his lost wife. 

And now he had gone too.

But your brothers had been there to ensure you were well encouraged and looked after, even through their respective stints in the army and med school.

“So, are you guys ready for a game soon?” Jay questioned, pulling the truck out of the parking lot and into the usual slow roll of evening traffic.

“Yeah actually, the coach reckons I’ll be first pick for goalkeeper next game, kinda really cool... Thanks for coming to get me.” You ruffled his hair, something you knew he didn’t like but tolerated from you all the same. On the other hand… Will got a different kind of reaction, more violent one might say.

He mimics pain, manoeuvring his head to shake off your sneak attack, going back to your answer. Still smiling. 

“That’s great, kiddo. Soccer will be your backup career then, huh?” He winks, focusing on traffic for a moment as the flow starts to pick up.

“Yeah, I’m definitely going pro, no doubt about it.” You jest, giggling with him at the thought of you being an international sports star…

“But think, who would cook for you and Will whilst I’m going to stadiums all over the country? And who would just generally stop you both from getting into trouble?” 

Jay feigns horror, he and Will could fend for themselves well enough but there was something heartfelt and endearing about the meals you’d all share together, whenever your schedules lined up right of course. And even though they were both in very serious careers, you still felt compelled to protect and look out for them in your own ways.

“You’re right, that would suck. Sorry, kid. I guess no soccer for you then. We’d never survive without you.” 

“Damn right you wouldn’t, heh.” You both continue joking and teasing each other as Jay gets you through the city towards his apartment. You and Will had been invited for a movie and Chinese takeout sleepover, a rare instance where none of you were overly busy and could spare the time.

...

It was the tail end of your journey when you felt a stirring in your chest, focusing on taking easy measured breaths, not wanting to worry Jay or bring attention to yourself. The background chatter of Bulls coverage on the radio covering up the sounds of your breathing. You could handle whatever this was… or at least that’s what you told yourself. You would later scold your genetic Halstead stubbornness for how you handled this situation, but in the last 20 minutes of your journey you had zoned out completely; Jay not realising that anything else was happening - as you had your eyes closed. You were desperately trying to keep airflow going, pushing down the quelling nausea, he ended up assuming you were just a little zonked from soccer.

Pulling to a stop in his designated space, Jay spotted Will sitting on a bench outside the apartment complex, looking up from his phone as headlights illuminated him. Will gave you both a wave, frowning slightly when he realised you weren’t even looking out the front window, head cast down. The engine cut and Jay hopped out, turning back to see you were yet to move - had you fallen that fast asleep? Will had a better direct sight of you and immediately got up from his spot on the bench, nodding towards your side of the truck to get Jay to look at you. 

Jay opened your door, making you groan as you slumped in his direction, wheezing breaths now very much audible. Will was behind him, immediately swinging the back door open to find your bag and your inhaler.

“Woah, woah… hey, Y/N, can you hear me?” Jay kept a firm grip on you as he tried to push you back into an upright position, attempting to climb in next to you. He adjusted himself so you could lean against him, rubbing your back and sternum, trying to keep you alert to take as deep a breath as you could manage… 

“J...ay… In...hale..” Your speech was mumbled, talking was already very difficult...

“Yeah, it’s alright, kiddo. Will’s getting it. Just try and take a breath for me, you’re gonna be alright, this’ll be fixed soon”

“Y/N... Jay… it’s not here, do you have it?” Will wouldn’t class his voice as panicked, but he was very much on edge as your sports bag revealed the sad reality that there was no inhaler in the car.

A pang of panic swept through your adrenaline-addled body, you suddenly got a flash of your past self picking up your bag to go and meet Jay, but someone’s towel had been next to your stuff… where your inhaler had very well sat underneath, making you forget it was no longer in your bag. 

“No… no… socc-... left there…” You were getting light headed, every breath was painstaking, you felt anxious and delirious, mad that you had not checked your inhaler was packed away before you left the other side of town.

Will and Jay didn’t think for a second longer, in unspoken synchronicity they managed to switch roles. Will snatched up his backpack and hopped in where Jay had been, Jay already backing up out of the space in a quick point turn. At any other time, being able to use the sirens and speed through traffic in Jay’s truck might have been an exhilarating experience for you and Will, but not now. Not when your lips were turning blue and your wheezes were far too spaced out for anybody’s comfort.

...

It felt like an eternity but a brief journey saw Jay coming to an abrupt halt outside Med’s ED entrance, your brothers shifting you out of the car together. It’s Will who hoists you into his arms, moving at speed and bypassing the receptionist straight into the main section of the ED, calling out to Maggie. 

The charge nurse wastes no time in directing you to Trauma 2, alerting for Connor.

“Dr Rhodes, we need you!” Connor spins round from a computer station, taking in the scene as he’s by Will and Jay’s side in a flash, taking you into the bay, already assessing. 

Jay stands back letting the professionals work, worry etched into his features, arms folded tightly as he watches your limp body settle on the bed, body straining to get air in, sweat pouring off you…

“She’s been like this for at least 25 minutes, no medication en route, she left her inhaler at soccer practice. She was responsive at first, but...” Will scratches at his neck, feeling helpless as he takes a step back too, resting a hand on Jay’s shoulder as he lets his friend work on you.

Two nurses and Connor flurry to get an oxygen mask on you, hooking you up to a monitor as the trauma surgeon takes in the true grimness of your SATs… 

“I can’t…breathe… I can’t….I’m…die…” Connor supports your back, reassuring you, Will and Jay get as close as they can, squeezing your legs gently…

“You’re not gonna die, honey, it’s okay, it’s going to pass…” Will knew that you couldn’t help the panic, the lack of oxygen affecting your ability to think.

“Connor’s got this, kiddo. We’re here, it’s alright. Hang in there.” Jay soothes softly, in your ocean of panic they still manage to calm you even the smallest bit.

“Let’s get an IV in, I don’t think any mask is gonna cover anything right now, nothing’s getting through.” 

Connor rubs your sternum as Jay had done, looking to get you responsive again, moving to hold your hand as the nurse sets you up to push the IV… 

“Y/N, it’s Connor Rhodes. I’m gonna take care of this, sweetheart, but I need to know that you’re still with me, can you squeeze my hand?” 

It feels like you’re in the depths of a cave, every sound and surrounding seems so far away in darkness, each breath drawn out, you catch a glimpse of beeping, bright lights, a voice dipping in and out of your consciousness… 

“Connor… Rhodes… sweetheart… squeeze my hand…” You realise that your brothers must have taken you to Med, and Connor was with you, asking for your help… squeeze his hand… squeeze…

You find the energy to squeeze ever so slightly, but Connor will take it. He squeezes your hand again, smiling with reassurance at Will and Jay who are extremely relieved to see you’re still alert.

“Good, that’s good. We’re getting some medication going right now, Y/N. It should help open those lungs right up again.” 

You suddenly feel a tingling, like flutters of butterflies all over, the immense weight starts to lift, like you’ve been allowed to resurface from your torturous submersion. Eyes finding the willpower to crack open, wincing at the brightness of your surroundings, but groaning softly at the sight of Connor, wanting to speak…

The doctor smiles at you, soothing your arm gently,

“Hey there… try not to move or speak, let the drugs do their work, you can rest…Will and Jay are right here.” You wiggle your fingers, still wanting to move and speak regardless of what Connor just said, making him shake his head amused. The Halstead resilience was strong within you too, but you just couldn’t stay awake. So tired from trying to stay alive.

He steps to the side to allow your brothers to approach closer, keeping an eye on the monitor from the sidelines. Once satisfied that the numbers are moving in the right direction Connor leaves your brothers to sit with you, offering to grab them some coffees and you some water.

Will and Jay are either side of the bed, both fussing over you with affection, so relieved to see the oxygen and IV working for you, letting you rest without effort. Your eyes blink slowly up at them, wanting so much to reassure them that you’re fine, to apologise for not being more careful, but they can sense all of those thoughts ruminating… hushing you softly,

Jay rubs his thumb on the back of your wrist, mindful of the equipment… 

“Hey, kiddo. Just take it easy, alright? You’re okay, we just got worried is all. Get some sleep, we won’t be going anywhere.”

Will leans down to kiss your forehead, 

“What he said, you’re okay, honey. We’ve got you. We’ll be here when you wake up.” 

You nod slowly, grateful for the presence of the two most important people in your life, your own deep breaths lulling you, eyes fluttering back shut as you fall into a more peaceful slumber.

---

Fin.

[allthingsarmin]

armin with a bimbo gf?

TW: NSFW! MINORS DO NOT INTERACT! 

REQUESTS ARE OPEN ~

Ft. Bimbofication, manipulation, sex, and other topics alike!

Fem!Reader, FemBodied!Reader

Thank you for your request, anon! I hope you like what I wrote, and please feel free to request more.

(I am HERE for this Armin brain-rot lmao! I love reading fanfictions/headcanons like these).

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

Armin with a bimbo gf:

ᵔᴥᵔ Armin is a very polite man: always making sure you go to bed on time, putting your dead phone on the charger when you fall asleep with it in your hands, reminding you to drink water throughout the day, always lets you spend his own money on something you want, and kissing and massaging your forehead when you have a headache. He is so genuine and wouldn’t do things like this for just anyone.

ᵔᴥᵔ However, there’s a dark side to him where he can’t possibly deny how much he enjoys his dumb, empty-headed bimbo girlfriend. The way your hair is always done-up and suffocating from hairspray, the way your lips are always glossy with your favorite red cherry lip gloss, the way your short skirts and low-cut shirts show off your perfect figure, the way your perfum smells like roses and cheap sex, your intense sweetness and life-or-death dependency towards Armin, your fake innocence when you look at him with tears and ruined mascara running down your face, they way you can’t hide your wetness when he forcibly touches you in public… it makes Armin’s body tingle and cock hard. It brings out a dominant side to him that is inescapable as he manipulates your mind and pussy with thoughts only of him and his cock.

ᵔᴥᵔ He loves how there are literally no useful or smart thoughts going through that little head of yours. He thinks it’s so cute how you play with your hair, chewing gum, breasts nearly spilling out of your shirt while you sit in his lap, head empty, trusting him when you’re completely vulnerable. He loves it because he can so easily take advantage of you.

ᵔᴥᵔ Armin is a master manipulator. So intensely and quickly does he break you down so that you’re only able to think about taking his large cock into your pathetically wet cunt and sweet mouth. This way, he can practically slide into you whenever and wherever he wants:

Laying on the bed and playing your game console? Armin wants you to keep playing the game and desperately try to win while he’s teasing your needy entrance with his fingers which were previously thrusted into your whiny mouth.

In the shower trying to get clean? He sneakily joins you, gently pushing your back against the cold shower walls and eagerly lifting up your chin so that you can look into his kind yet menacing blue eyes. “Let me help you,” he offers while reaching for the body wash and proceeding to tenderly massage it into your breasts, purposely flicking over your nipples. “Right now?” you whine already tired from the previous sex sessions earlier today, (but you can’t deny that you’re already excited because he’s literally the only thing your brain thinks about). With his free hand, he suddenly thrusts a finger into your soft cunt. “It’s lamentable how wet you already are for me,” he coos, excited to know that he really has done a good job manipulating that little brain of yours. You whine and grip onto Armin’s toned upper arms. He kisses your forehead, the water and sweat making his golden hair stick to him. The heat from the flowing water and from Armin’s body is making you go crazy as you prepare for your velvety walls to get pounded once more.

Trying to study for an upcoming test? Armin continuously distracts you: “Baby, you’re no use for stuff like this,” he says pointing to your textbook, “why don’t you focus on being pretty, yeah?” He rubs your thigh and crouches down next to you, politely opening your legs with an arrogant grin on his face, slightly taken aback by the fact that you weren’t wearing underwear under your short skirt but definitely not surprised considering what an air-headed whore you are. He dives in between your thighs, attacking your clit with his tongue, not letting you pull away and eagerly waiting to hear your pathetic moans.

ᵔᴥᵔ He thinks it’s so hilariously adorable when you walk into his office and offer to help him with his work.

“Hahaha,” he laughs, feeling pity for you. He pulls you into a warm hug and kisses your forehead. “My work is too difficult for someone like you, baby,” he says as he pats your empty head. “Why don’t you go to the bedroom and play your game? I’ll be there soon.” He smiles innocently, making his eyes wrinkle on the sides. ‘He is beautiful,’ you think. His soft blond hair and his kind, ocean blue eyes. You really are so stupid, being tricked by his angelic appearance. When he finally comes to the bedroom, his smile is somewhat sinister, and his eyes have gone dark.

ᵔᴥᵔ Lets you dress slutty in public for two reasons: He likes to see the jealous looks from other perverted men seeing that you are in fact Armin’s slut… and he can use the fact you dress slutty in public against you while he’s fucking you.

“You’re such a whore… trying to get other mens’ attention in public.” His right hand is clenching your frail neck, and he forces you to maintain eye contact with him as you tell him it's not true and that he's the only one you want.

ᵔᴥᵔ Likes it when you wear your hair in tight pigtails - that way he can hold onto them while he’s fucking you from behind ᵔᴥᵔ Really likes missionary position - he likes to grip your neck so that you can maintain eye contact with him as your dolled-up face pleasurably contorts, lips drooling with saliva, tears that eat away at your mascara as he’s cruelly pumping in and out of you. He likes to thrust unbearably slow when he wants to hear you whine and complain about needing more - then, he can degrade you and call you an ungrateful whore. Also likes to suddenly go fast to hear you loudly gasp and incoherently babble as you powerfully squirt on his cock. No matter how many orgasms, your mind and pussy only think of and need more of him. ᵔᴥᵔ Armin also really likes it when you ride his cock. This way he can watch your breasts violently bounce up and down as well as tease your nipples right when you’re on the edge. Loves to see how desperately you squirm when you’re sitting upright on his cock, begging for more stimulation. You like this position too. You can see how blushed Armin’s sweet face is, how his chest quickly rises and falls, and how the muscles in his arms are tensed up.

ᵔᴥᵔ Armin loves when you give him oral. He loves seeing your once beautifully done hair become a complete tangly mess as he grips onto it and forces his cock inside your mouth. Loves to hear that ‘pop’ sound when you finally pull your glossy, pink lips off of his thick, blushed cock. Is all about eye-contact when you give him oral. He likes to see your face become sprinkled with tears as he pushes his cock deep into the back of your throat - the desperation in your eyes during this moment while you look at him nearly makes him go feral.

ᵔᴥᵔ Armin also really loves to overstimulate you, especially because he can take advantage of you during these moments. By the time you’ve calmed from your orgasm, you are completely fucked dumb, head even emptier if at all possible, eyes rolled to the back of your head, whimpering at the slightest movement, only thinking about Armin, his angelic face, and his sweet, brutal cock. You’re already so tired from your last orgasm, but he takes this chance to start rubbing your clit again. As you jerk away from the painful sensation, he laughs, continuing his slow, unbearable rubbing. You beg him to stop, and Armin becomes angry. “Oh, you want me to stop? Am I not good enough for you? Not good enough at making a dumb whore like you feel good? I guess I’ll leave now.” He immediately pulls away, rudely turning his head away from you. His blond hair is nearly covering his deep blue eyes which are spilling with fake tears in hopes that he can manipulate you with fear and pity. As you apologize for your selfish behavior and beg him to stay, he darkly grins and harshly pats your sensitive pussy. “That’s what I thought,” he coos laughingly, going back to abuse your wet cunt.

ᵔᴥᵔ Armin also really likes to edge you, and he never lets you cum without his permission. He likes to sit you up on the bed, spread your legs, and tease your throbbing clit with his thumb. He can see sweat begin to coat your forehead, your cheeks dust with redness, and your glossy lips become lined with drool as your breasts are exposed and spilling out of your bralette. Still circling your clit with his thumb, he gets really close to your ear - his blond hair tickling you - and asks you if you want to cum. His beautiful blue eyes sparkle as he laughs when you only respond with whimpering and incoherent words. As you needily buck your hips against his thumb, he knows he has succeeded in manipulating you to become a useless, empty-headed slut with thoughts only of him.

ᵔᴥᵔ Though the relationship dynamic you have with Armin might seem intense, he’s an actual sweetheart. Aftercare with him is the best: you both take a warm bath together, he brushes your hair, massages your back, and kisses your forehead while thanking you for letting him enter your body. He always cuddles you before bed, holding you tightly and kissing your forehead. Not only that, but he honestly just really cares about you. He reminds you to drink water, tells you not to eat too many sweets, makes sure you exercise and that your period is regular, reads to you, and asks you to tell him about your day… and he never ever forgets to slip in a few “I love you��s while you two make love. Armin also loves to buy you things from flowers to hair ties or anything else you want. He just wants to make you smile because you make him smile. Overall, this man will never let his bimbo girlfriend down whether it’s sex or love.

[animeomegas]

So... another hc for little Sasuke (sorry this one became too specific, you can change it however you'd like to :)

After a rather harsh session (just cuz Itachi wanted to give that a try ) he kinda can't walk without his knees giving out the other day and while his alpha was making breakfast in bed for him and Sasuke wanted some help with his homework(or just wanted to spend time with his brother) while alpha was finally out of the room. And while Sasuke enters the room Itachi was trying to get out of the bed to check out where his alpha was, Sasuke just witnessing him collapsing and with that panic(thinking his alpha broke his big bro's legs) rushes to call mednins. And Sasuke known as a rather smart kid so mednins thinks the worst case scenarios and rushes to the house with him.

Just imagine the awkwardness when adult parties figure out what was the reason of all the panic.

(Ahh, this is the best thing ever, I love it so much, thanks for sending it in! I changed a few little bits, but I hope you still like it!)

Okay, so, Sasuke has been… annoyingly good at playing cockblock over the past month, and Itachi and his mate are a little…pent up.

But last night, Sasuke was with his team doing an overnight training exercise, and Itachi’s parents were attending a social dinner that ran late into the night.

And… well, Itachi and his mate certainly took advantage of the empty house. And all the pent up energy made both parties… kind of feral. It was a lot rougher than normal, let’s just say that.

In the morning, Itachi is predictably very sore, and his alpha offers to make breakfast in bed for them both so that Itachi can relax and recover at his own pace. Neither have anything to do today, so they could even spend the whole day in bed. (As long as Sasuke was too tired from his trip to protest violently, of course.)

So, Itachi’s alpha is downstairs whipping up some food, but Itachi’s glasses are all the way over on the dresser… And he can’t read the book he wants to read. Well, they’re only a few metres away, Itachi should be able to grab them just fine.

Itachi scoots to the edge of the bed and then pushes himself to his feet, just in time for Sasuke to come barrelling into the room with no warning.

…

“Ugh,” Itachi grunts, legs giving out as he collapses onto the ground.

Sasuke, having come in just fast enough to see it happen, gasps and runs forward towards Itachi as fast as possible. His brother is hurt! Wait… Where is his alpha? They…They hurt him, didn’t they?!?! Did they break his legs?!

“Brother! I told you this would happen!” Sasuke shouts, already on the verge of tears because he wasn’t there to protect his older brother. “Mother! Father! Come quick, Itachi’s hurt!!”

“Sasuke! Quiet!” Itachi hisses, very aware that he’s currently half collapsed on the floor, only wearing a long T-shirt. “I’m fine, get out of my room and don’t barge in without knocking!”

“But-But-“ Sasuke blubbers, stepping closer. “But they hurt you! You have bruises everywhere! How can you defend them like this! You’re not fine!”

Itachi blushes a bright, humiliated red as Sasuke points out all the ah… marks… on his skin. He starts trying to climb back onto the bed, holding down the shirt to preserve what’s left of his modesty.

And then things go from bad to worse.

His parents’ footsteps come racing down the hall. Sasuke must have woken them up with his screaming.

Itachi thinks that death might be the best option right now.

“Mother! Father! That evil person! I told you! They hurt Itachi!” Sasuke cries, latching himself onto his mother’s dressing gown. “He can’t walk and he’s covered in bruises.”

Itachi can do nothing but watch as both their gazes scan him from head to toe. The ‘bruises’, the fact he can’t walk, the state of undress, the fact that the house was empty last night… They’re not stupid. He can see that they’ve figured it out. Itachi can’t think of a more humiliating situation than this.

His mother looks torn between amused and horrified, and his father looks like he’s seen a ghost and is about to faint any moment. All Itachi can do is avoid their eyes and hold his T-shirt down as far as he can between his legs.

The awkward silence is broken by the arrival of his alpha.

“Hey, what’s going on up here?” their voice cuts through Itachi’s wishes for death and brings him back to the present. “Itachi?”

He watches them enter the room, breakfast tray in hand and survey the situation. They quickly slide the tray onto their side of the bed and hurry over to Itachi, slipping off their dressing gown as they go and draping it over him so cover him.

Itachi doesn’t think he’s ever been so happy to see a dressing gown, and he slips it on as fast as he can.

“Don’t touch him!” Sasuke’s voice interrupts them. “I’ll never let you touch my brother again!”

Sasuke immediately launches into an attack against Itachi’s alpha. Thankfully, there’s no way his alpha would lose to a newly minted genin, and they easily manage to defend themselves without hurting him.

“Sasuke! Stop it!” Itachi orders, finally finding his voice. “They didn’t do anything wrong, you’re being ridiculous!”

“No!” Sasuke argues, still kicking at Itachi’s alpha. “Iruka sensei said that, even if you’re in a relationship with someone, they aren’t allowed to hurt you because it’s still illegal!”

“I promise I didn’t hurt your brother, Sasuke, please calm down,” they try to diffuse the situation.

“No! I-“

“Enough!” Fugaku roars, clamping a hand down on Sasuke’s arm. Some colour had returned to his face by this point, but he still pointedly avoids looking in Itachi’s direction. “No fighting in the house. Go to your room and stop bothering your brother.”

“But-“

“No buts,” Fugaku pulls Sasuke out of the door despite his fighting. “And you two," he turns his attention on to Itachi and his alpha when Sasuke has been successfully removed from the room. “If he starts asking questions, you will be the one to explain it to him.”

He leaves, and Mikoto follows behind him, shutting the door, but not before shooting Itachi a wink.

This is the worst day of his life.

The door slams shut and there’s silence again.

Itachi’s alpha gingerly lifts Itachi off of the floor and back onto the bed now that the spectators had left.

“Do you think if you hit me very hard, I’ll forget this ever happened?” Itachi asks, burying his glowing red face in his hands.

“If I hit you that hard, Sasuke would have a point, and we can’t let that happen,” Itachi’s alpha replies mildly, slipping into bed beside their mate.

“I feel so humiliated,” Itachi whispers, moving his face from his hands and burying it in his alpha’s shoulder instead.

“I know,” his alpha whispers, face pulling into a small frown. “But it’s okay, we didn’t do anything wrong. Your father has been asking for grandchildren lately, so he has no room to complain, and your mother didn’t seem to mind.”

“That’s worse,” Itachi groans. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“Okay,” they agree, stroking his hair idly. “Have something to eat, you’ll feel better.”

[the-pale-goddess]

Six(ish) Sentence Sunday

Today I’m sharing a preview of a fic idea I’ve been vibing with recently. I’m slowly trying to come back to writing and that Book 2 pre-attack pining feels like a good exercise to help me defeat the block ✨

The red dress she’s wearing conveys the subliminal message, leaving no room for misinterpretation: Miss Addams means nothing but torture. And she inflicts it criminally well; Ethan’s stomach flutters at the sight, his eyes glue to her silhouette as if charmed, languidly roving up and down the skin-tight fabric until the disapproving voice of reason barks at him.

Don’t.

“Can I come in?” Her excitement manifests through an alluring smirk, a half-full bottle of Macallan in her hand supporting the pernicious question.

Deep frown tightens Ethan’s features as the violent thumping in his chest gets louder than his rational thoughts, poisoning them with all things forbidden.

“I don’t think that’s wise.”

His hesitation dims Tiffany’s enthusiasm for one split second. Her lip quivers slightly before the corners of her mouth quirk up, forming a smile so dizzying he has to fight the urge to kiss it off her face.

“Don’t worry, Doctor, I’ll be a good girl. I’m not here to seduce you.”

____

PS. I’m taking some time off work, so hopefully I’ll be able to catch up with my long overdue reblogs/replies and (ideally) finish at least one of my WIPs. Thank you all for your patience and support ❤️

[teklarn]

𝔂𝓸𝓾'𝓻𝓮 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓶𝔂 𝓫𝓸𝔂𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭 - 𝓴. 𝓫𝓪𝓴𝓾𝓰𝓸𝓾 (𝓹𝓽. 2)

 character(s): katsuki bakugou x gn!reader 

a/n: ok so i just started writing on tumblr and honestly in my opinion for my first time posting smth on this the first part did really well thank u for all the likes :) (told from second pov; e.g you, your) reblogs are greatly appreciated :))

summary: bakugou x gn!reader. they have feelings for one another but have no idea how to express them, however y/n has someone pining for their attention. 

genre: a lil bit angsty 

warnings: cursing, jealousy, mutual pining, slow burn romance, aged-up to third year, love triangle (square?), physical injuries, kirishima gets a little toxic, also shirtless bakugou (awooga), a crap ton of time skips bc i can’t write action scenes for shit, bakugou is a flirt (lowkey but yeah), mentions of blood 

word count: 2112

pt 1 , pt 3

- - - 

kirishima had broken the skin on his lower lip with how hard he was biting it. he stood in the bathroom, rinsing his mouth, ignoring the slight sting the water brought. 

y/n was currently being blasted by bakugou, and they were fighting back. 

jealousy panged in his chest. 

bakugou had never let him know about how he felt about you, however kirishima was sure he felt something for them. you and bakugou were both a jumble of prideful and longing stares towards each other from across every room. the tension was thick enough to slice through. and while kirishima would never make a move in fear of ruining the friendship between him and bakugou, as well as him and y/n, gosh it didn’t stop him from wanting to. 

he’d stood on the side, cheering you on to no end. the sports festival last year, the year before that, training exercises, he was always there. kirishima was always there. 

whenever you needed him, whenever you wanted his company. so what did bakugou have over him? sure, the blond was strong and had bigger goals than kirishima, but why should that matter? 

what did bakugou have? why would you want him more when he was never near you? never made an effort to see you to be there when you asked for help. 

it was popular belief that bakugou was a noisy idiot, but he was actually quite a quiet boy. he didn’t bother to raise his hand in class, however he always knew the answer. he spoke rarely and only made conversation with those he was close with if they were the ones to make the effort to converse with him first. 

jealousy, jealousy, jealousy. kirishima despised it. 

whenever did he begin wanting to beat bakugou at something? 

the cloud of guilt welling up in his chest was going to become unbearable, and soon everything he ever wanted to say was going to come up like word vomit at the worst possible time. 

- 

you swiped at your cheek, brushing off the crumbling dirt. your timing had been off, and their flip backwards had landed you in an awkward position. a vulnerable one. 

honestly, though, it wasn’t like it really mattered. bakugou was a bit transparent himself. he wore a smug look like a golden medal, and held back his power just enough to keep you on your feet. 

his cocky attitude was irritating and it drew you in like a moth drawn to a lamp. 

sweat was beading down your temple. the day was exceptionally hot, the sun beaming down on your back like a proud child. 

you and bakugou had been at it for a while. with anyone else, you would have quit by now. it’s not that you gave up easily. no, not ever. but fights could get boring, especially if you were just smashing away at them with your quirk and they were acting like they could take it. 

perhaps you were being cocky. 

this fight, though. this was interesting. not only because it was bakugou; also because you knew so little about him. 

it was likely he never shared anything important to anyone. he was quite introverted. 

it was interesting for another reason. 

it was hot, bakugou sweats a lot. gosh, he looked delicious without a shirt on. he had a built figure accompanied by strong arms and a broad chest. 

he’d filled out quite nicely the past few years. you hadn’t noticed until now how much he’d grown. 

“don’t get distracted.” 

your eyes snapped up from his chest to his eyes. bakugou became a blur, shooting himself off the ground and flipping once in the air before propelling himself back down. 

before you could do anything, bakugou had you pinned, one leg pinning yours, both his hands wrapped around your wrists. he’d ditched his gauntlets, leaving the metal assistants in the sweltering heat, claiming he wanted to give you an equal fight. 

he panted atop you, hands tightening. 

tokage didn’t bother to leave her dorm today, thank goodness. it had just been the three of you. you, bakugou, and kirishima. 

the red head had suspiciously vanished halfway through the fight, though.

bakugou’s crimson eyes bored into yours. neither of you blinked for a moment. perhaps just a small eternity each of you silently reveled in. 

his erratic breaths slowed, and so did yours, although you stayed the same. unmoving, faces neutral but eyes giving away long-held secrets. 

your ears flushed, and butterflies came rising up uncontrollably. you should have pushed him off. instead you gave him a wicked grin, which earned a look from him and you couldn’t tell if he was confused or annoyed. 

“your big ass forehead is blocking the bright-as-hell sun. stay like this,” you mocked, wrenching your wrists from his grasp and snaking your arms around his neck. 

his cheeks burned red. “w-what?” 

“you heard me.” 

he scoffed, tugging you off his neck and standing. “shut up, shitface. we aren’t even done yet.” he readied himself in a fighting stance once more. 

“i thought you said you wanted to stop when you won?” you brushed yourself off as you stood. 

“i know what i said. you probably weren’t even giving it your all.” 

“’course i was.” you cocked your head. “why wouldn’t i?” 

“you’re strong, damn idiot.” 

you feigned surprise, pressed a hand to your fluttering chest. “the bakugou, dynamight himself, complimenting a humble soul like me? oh, i really must be good, then.” 

“not as good as me.” his face dropped from a smile. bakugou never got enough training no matter how early or late he stayed up, or how many hours on the weekends were spent kicking a bag or sparring with friends. hard workers did all of the work there was a still wondered if they were doing enough. the number one spot wasn’t empty, but it was still reserved for dynamight. 

- 

y/n had collapsed on their bed. kirishima was itching to tell them how he felt, however he was stuck at the doorway. 

they weren’t even dressed for bed, nor were they showered. 

he settled with leaving his friend alone, and shut the door softly to find bakugou standing right behind him. 

kirishima jumped back, closing his eyes in relief. “bakugou. what the heck man?” 

“you’re creepy as shit.” 

“i- what? you were the one staring at me while i-” 

“while you peeped in on y/n?” 

“i wasn’t peeping. i walked them back after the fight and they just collapsed. you were off doing something else and you worked them too hard.” 

it wasn’t a shock that bakugou was still riled up from the duel. this boy had the energy of a mad man. 

when bakugou didn’t say anything, kirishima said once again, “you overworked them.” 

bakugou swat away the comment. “only because they’re not working hard enough.” 

kirishima raised an eyebrow. “they work hard. they’re perfectly fine.” 

“fine?” 

“they’re amazing.”

“i know that, shitty hair. you think i’m blind?” 

“everyone can make improvements at their own pace.” kirishima’s voice dropped. 

“you train with me.” 

“it’s an hour before curfew.” 

bakugou jut a thumb in the direction of the door. “so? maybe you need some more practice, too,” he joked. 

“you’re an ass, bakugou,” kirishima released a breathy chuckle. 

the two wandered off to one of the training grounds. it was open, a wide court where they’d both kicked someone else’s ass. 

the sun was just setting, a new cool breeze coming to fill the spot of the violent sun rays. 

it was routine to fight each other out of nowhere. kirishima was usually quite playful, spewing jokes once in a while and taunting his friend. 

this fight was different. his face was stone-cold. kirishima often took the defensive role, as his quirk didn’t allow him to project any direct attacks to bakugou.

it wasn’t like kirishima was angry at bakugou, but as soon as they started charging towards one another, he couldn’t hold back. his chest tightened, arms hardening and joints becoming strong and stiff. 

with one clean sweep of his arm, bakugou was backing away from kirishima, propelling himself to the edge of the arena with a small blast. he’d always been up for a challenge. kirishima was willing to give him one. 

his sudden competitive demeanor seemed to be egging on bakugou’s. the blond tongued the inside of his cheek, grunting as he shot forth, hair flying wildly. 

swiftly, kirishima dodged, just barely missing a blast. his torso wasn’t hardened, so if he’d dodged any later, his stomach would have been scorched. 

bakugou always took their fights seriously. he knew better than to underestimate the boy who had put together his very own rescue mission. 

kirishima’s opponent stumbled from the momentum. he took his chance and brought a hardened elbow down on bakugou’s back, hearing a satisfying crack. 

bakugou was crushed to the ground with the hit. his face smashed into the sandy ground. he coughed, turning over and spitting dirt to the side. 

it took a moment for him to register what he did, but kirishima was at bakugou’s side within seconds. the sun was nearly gone, a pale blue sky flickering with the first sights of stars. 

it was hard to make it out at first, but not impossible. kirishima saw the blood dripping and smeared just above bakugou’s lip. he groaned, cupping his face in both hands as he sat upright. 

“argh” bakugou gasped. “shit, kirishima. what the hell?” 

“i...i’m sorry dude, i didn’t mean to.” i wanted to, but i didn’t mean to. 

bakugou raised an eyebrow and let a smile seep through his pain. “you’re improving, though.” 

“are you alright?” kirishima traced the small cut on his lip from earlier with the tip of his tongue. 

“i’m fine, i’m fine.” bakugou swatted his hand away. he struggled to get up, refusing kirishima’s help. 

“we should head back before this gets any worse.” 

bakugou kept his large hands hovering under his chin to catch the dripping and occasional chunks of blood.  

although he wanted the duel to continue (it was finally interesting) bakugou wasn’t stubborn enough to keep going. so he nodded, once again denying kirishima’s efforts to help him out. 

- 

you were in the common area, fiddling with a rubik’s cube. it was just you, as everyone else was spending the night among each other. ashido had invited you to her dorm a while ago, but you’d denied, wanting to spend a few more giddy moments to yourself. 

the door rattled, and in came your two friends, one with furrowed brows and the other with blood drenching the front of his shirt. 

bakugou’s head was tilted up in an attempt to stop the blood from flowing down. his adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed the blood trailing down the back of his throat. 

“oh my gosh,” you gasped out, racing to the bathroom. you came back with sanitary wipes in one hand and tissue in the other. “what happened?” 

“we were training,” kirishima started, taking a few tissues from the box and handing them to his friend, “and i accidentally hit him too hard.” 

“you didn’t hit me that hard. you barely did any damage!” bakugou objected. you approached him, and through his fingers, bakugou peered down at you. 

you asked him with your eyes, and he gave you silent permission to pry his arms away from his face. “are you okay?” 

“i’m just dandy,” he scoffed. 

“dude, i’m really sorry—” 

“shut the hell up kirishima. i don’t want your pity. i swear this is the only time i’ll surrender to you, you asswipe.”

you didn’t laugh, not even a chuckle. “bakugou, you need to see recovery girl.” 

“what the hell? no way. all she’s gonna do is give me one of those shitty slobbery kisses and scold me for being careless.” 

“your nose is broken,” you said gently. 

“so? can’t you fix it?” 

you raised a questioning brow. “you want me to help you?” 

“can you or can you not?” 

“i can try to set it but you’re better off going to recovery girl instead of settling with―” 

“all i need is possible. i don’t want to deal with that old lady’s shit right now.” using the tissues kirishima had stuffed into his hand, he caught the remaining blood dripping down his nose. “let’s go.” 

you were more than unsure. he would end up with a crooked nose if you made any small mistake, but he didn’t think twice as he grabbed your shoulder and led you in the direction of your dorm. 

- 

kirishima wished he hadn’t broken bakugou’s nose. not because he felt bad, though. 

[kikyan]

You’re my favorite Human (Yandere Izaya x F! Reader x Yandere Shizuo)

Before ANY of yall say anything, I wrote this as a birthday special to an online friend I once had. If Izaya and literally anybody else sounds OOC, it’s because this was written back in 2018/2019 after I watched Durarara!! For a bit of background info, I first watched Durarara!! back in middle school when a friend admitted to liking the anime and well I decided to watch too. This show was too complex for my small ass mind so I dropped it. Then I met my online friend (we are no longer friends) who would always comment on Quotev where I was most active at the time. Well, I literally only picked up this anime again for said friend and the birthday request. I wrote this immediately right after the show so if it sucks ass, there is a reason for it. Anyway’s I promise to give them justice if I manage to write my spooky Slasher AU’s for them. Also if you somehow end up managing which ‘slasher’ Shizuo and Izaya fit I’ll write you a special one-shot within my guidelines for your birthday/Christmas depending on the time constraint. Here you go, for the curious peeps!  This story branches off to two endings, Izaya ending w/ Smut and a Shizuo ending because I became a hardcore simp over that man and will literally do anything he tells me to. Regardless, I will edit the links and such for their appropriate endings! This story is also unedited so. . .have fun IG 

ALSO THE READER IS A FEMALE BECAUSE THIS WAS A BIRTHDAY REQUEST THAT A CERTAIN SOMEONE DIDN’T LIKE SO YEAH FUCK THEM, BUT THEY WERE FEMALE AND WANTED THAT SO JUST REPLACE SHE/HER WITH THE PRONOUNS YOU FEEL MOST COMFORABLE WITH!!!!! I ALSO DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO WRITE BACK THEN SO YOU’RE A GENERIC MC WITH A STUTTER PROBABLY 

God I sucked at writing fics so much back then. . .

"IZAYA!!" 

The blonde man proceeded to pick up the red vending machine stationed outside a random building, preparing to lance it at the black-haired male he called Izaya. 

"S-Shizuo!! It's not worth it!! Calm down!! Um- I know! I'll make some tea for you to calm down just please drop the vending machine!!"

"NO, I CAN'T! AFTER SEEING THIS PIECE OF SHIT I'M ALREADY FUMING WITH RAGE!" 

"Shizuo!! Please!! Milk! Yep, milk will surely calm you down just please Shizuo!! You're attracting too much attention and you don't like violence right!!" 

“Throw it Shizu-Chan. Or are you too weak to hold it anymore.”

"IZAYA!!!" 

Shizuo turned away from the (h/c) individual as he began to grip a stop sign before removing it from the ground and began to run towards Izaya. 

" Shizuo stop!! Geez, Izaya please refrain from edging him on! Shizuo don't give in! You're better, in fact, you want to be better!! You want to be stronger to have more control right!! Well. . . Don't give in!!" 

At the sound of this Shizuo stopped before tossing the stop sign to the side and grabbing the (h/c) haired individual and dragging you off with him. 

Looking back, the person Shizuo was dragging turned around to look back at Izaya before stopping in their tracks and bowing apologetically. 

" I'm sorry Izaya for the commotion we caused, but I hope you understand that Shizuo is a bit difficult but I'm sure he can change! You too izaya, you seem to try to edge him on and that reflects poorly on you! So please Izaya, I hope you understand too!" 

" Oi (Y/N), what are you apologizing for?" 

Smiling softly at Izaya and giving him a shy wave (Y/N) turned to face Shizuo and continued to answer his question.

"Well, I mean I didn't stop him from edging you on!" 

" I swear you really are the most optimistic, apologetic, and kindest person on this planet. You are one of a kind." 

Laughing softly (Y/N)  turned to Shizuo as they began to reply, " Thank you! It means a lot to me Shizuo!" 

Walking alongside Shizuo, (Y/N) proceeded to make small talk unaware of the lingering dark eyes upon her figure.

~~ 

"(Y/N), I swear I can't figure you out. No matter what you do or what happens you always apologize to everyone. Even that damn Izaya!" 

"Well, Shizuo I like to be positive!! Besides, I'm sure second chances must be given!!" 

" Hmph. Even those who commit the worst of crimes?" 

"Well, I'm not the one entitled to forgive them for crimes committed against another, but I believe if someone truly wanted to, someone could change." 

"Oh?" 

" For example, you! I mean you've gotten several chances, haven't you? You have a stable job, although you can get quite violent, you have friends, and you are trying your hardest to change! So, I feel like anyone could change!!" 

"Hmph. You forgot something. . ." 

" I did?" 

" Yeah, I also have the best person next to my side, you, (Y/N) (L/N)." 

" I-I-I-I u-um S-sh!?" 

" Heh, you get flustered all of a sudden and it suits your personality. I wonder how I got stuck with someone like you (Y/N). . ."

~~

Bodies were lying around Shizuo in the school field as he huffed in rage and looked to the side to see a (h/c) haired female with (e/c) eyes looking wide at the scene that laid before them. 

" Hmph, what are you scared?" 

Shizuo asked as he looked at the female before looking a bit confused as he noticed the expression on the girl changed. She was smiling and shook her head before answering his question. 

" Nope! I mean what you did isn't good but I'm sure you have a reason! Besides, I feel like deep down you regret it. I mean, although you are pretty violent, you probably don't want to be right?" 

"I... .hmph. Stop being odd and spouting nonsense." 

As the female turned to the bodies she bowed apologetically and began to speak. 

"I'm sorry! I apologize for his behavior! He doesn't mean it! He regrets it! Besides, you guys should know that violence isn't acceptable so please apologize for your actions as well! Fighting isn't acceptable!!" 

"HUH? WHAT THE HELL? WHO THE HELL YOU APOLOGIZING TO?" 

" W-w-well I am apologizing to them and you!! I mean you didn't mean too!! Besides, fighting is wrong! Both parties were at fault so I must apologize for it!" 

" WHY THE HELL DO YOU WANT TO APOLOGIZE? YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"

"W-w-well!! They are knocked out and can't speak, plus you won't apologize, you want to but you can't bring yourself to!!"

" OKAY BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?" 

"I-I’M SORRY!! I DIDN'T MEAN TO BOTHER YOU BUT I THOUGHT THAT WELL I-?!" 

"NOW WHY ARE YOU APOLOGIZING?!" 

 "I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO-!?"

"STOP APOLOGIZING!" 

"I'M SORRY! AHHH I KEEP DOING IT!" 

"YEAH. NOW STOP!" 

"I'M SORRY I'LL TRY! WAIT-" 

"OH JUST SHUT UP!" 

"I'M SOR-!?" 

"STOP APOLOGIZING! GOD DAMN IT!" 

"I CAN'T IT'S A HABIT!" 

"Geez, troublesome woman." 

" Ahhh!! What time is it?!" 

"Why the hell are you asking me?" 

"Crap I think I missed my train! Now I have to walk home! Wait, that's fine! I missed gym class to help the teachers so this will count for my exercise! Of course, I shouldn't feel down!" 

" You're unusually optimistic. I'd be pissed as all hell if that happened." 

"Well I think everything happens for a reason and besides, you need to see the bright side of everything! Anyway, I need to go! I have to walk for about maybe 2 hours till I arrive home and I do have homework to complete! I'm sorry for being a bother but I hope to see you tomorrow at school!" 

"Wait." 

 "Yeah?" 

"Let me, let me walk you home alright." 

"B-b-but!?" 

"LISTEN IT'S MY FAULT YOU MISSED THE TRAIN SO LET ME WALK YOU HOME DAMN IT!" 

"Ahh okay okay! I'm sorry for bothering you but thank you!!" 

"Yeah, yeah just stop apologizing and don't start again." 

"Alright! By the way, what's your name?"

" Shizuo Heiwajima. Yours?" 

" (Y/N) (L/N)!" 

As they began to walk side by side (Y/N) began to laugh as she asked Shizuo questions upon question leading to Shizuo answering them and laughing as he realized, maybe having someone not fear him, was a good feeling. 

"Hey, Shizuo?" 

"Yeah? What is it?" 

" Wanna go for Russian sushi?" 

Looking down at the girl Shizuo gave his usual smirk before responding happily. 

" Sure, why not?" 

~~

"Hey, Shizuo?" 

" Yeah?" 

Turning around he met with the female who became his best friend and possibly his crush. Smiling softly he turned to give her all of his attention despite the number of bodies surrounding him in the field of his high school. 

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to um, well. . ." 

"SHIZUO! I have someone I would like to introduce you too!~" 

" Huh?" 

Shizuo replied in his usual tone as to be turned to meet the faces of the young boy with glasses, brown hair and grey eyes whom he quickly recognized as his friend Shinra Kishitani but the other boy, had dark hair and matching eyes he did not. 

"What do you want Shinra?" 

"Oh? Am I interrupting you and your girlfriend~" 

"Girlfriend?! I-I-I’m j-just a friend!?" 

Shizuo looked to the side but quickly locked eyes with the boy. Shinra looking at Shizuo quickly turned to introduce the other boy. 

"His name is Izaya Orihara! He is in the same year and class as us!" 

Upon looking at Izaya, Shizuo quickly launched an attack towards him before Izaya leaped out and grabbed his knife before slicing Shizuo across the abdomen. Shizuo looked down noticing the wound before looking back at Izaya. 

"S-s-shizuo?! Are you okay? Oh, I'm so sorry this happened!!" 

"(Y/N) it's fine and stop apologizing! You didn't do anything wrong! Besides, it was him, Izaya. . ." 

"Oh? Come on Shizu-chan I haven't even done anything. . ." 

"I'm sorry!! I apologize that Shizuo charged at you and hurt you! He tends to do that a lot, but I apologize on your behalf! Shizuo, I apologize that Izaya cut you! I'm sorry I couldn't stop him from cutting you and possibly distracted you. So please, violence is not the answer! Izaya and Shizuo I apologize and I hope you may make up and be best friends!!" 

"Eh?" 

"(Y/N) YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG! STOP APOLOGIZING FOR OUR MISTAKES!" 

"I'm sorry! Ah, wait u-u-um well I know you both didn't mean it!!" 

"Here we go again. . . (Y/N) STOP APOLOGIZING, ON TOP OF THAT TO THAT GUY!" 

Shizuo was pointing at Izaya with a hint of disgust written across his face as Izaya looked dumbfounded for a split moment before asking, "Wait? You serious?" 

"Huh?" 

"Did you just apologize for something you didn't do?" 

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to bother you!" 

"I-, well it seems this took an interesting turn of events. Well, goodbye Shizu-chan, (Y/N) right?" 

"Y-yeah. . ." 

Shizuo stood in front holding his arm protectively (Y/N)  as Izaya twirled the pocket knife in his arms in a strange direction before smiling and whispering a small, “Interesting. . .” 

As Izaya turned to leave, Shizuo muttered a small “ That bastard makes me so damn mad” before turning to (Y/N) realizing she had something to say before you were both rudely interrupted by Shinra. 

“ Hey (Y/N) what did you want? You had something to say before that damn bastard arrived.” 

“ O-Oh I-I did. . . um, Shizuo I wanted to ask if you wanted to miss the last train again and... .walk me home, and get Russian sushi with me. . .” 

“ Is that your way of asking me out on a date?” 

Teasing (Y/N) slightly she turned red upon hearing that before nodding her head softly. With a sigh, Shizuo smiled and dragged the smaller female by her arm before muttering a “ finally you asked” causing the female to turn even redder at the comment. (Y/N) ran a little ahead and turned back to smile at Shizuo before whispering “ I love you Shizuo. . .” 

~~ 

Walking to the shared home that Shizuo and (Y/N) have, (Y/N) grabbed a small jug of milk before handing it to Shizuo scolding him for getting violent, but congratulating him on holding back and not letting Izaya get to him. 

“ I don’t know what I would do without you (Y/N), I mean it . . .” 

“ I’m just lucky this happened when we were walking together and not when you were working. Izaya can be a bit extreme but I’m sure he means well!!” 

“Heh, you always look on the bright side, don’t you?” 

“ Exactly!! Looking on the bright side is exactly what brought us together!! I mean after you dropped me off at my house we got to be great friends, that's also when you confided in me your secrets and feelings. Then you began to realize that I didn’t fear you and truly cared for you. Then we went on a date, and became a couple! Dating for a good 5, 6 years?” 

“ Yep, luckily we still love each other.” 

“ I won’t ever stop loving you Shizuo, because you accepted me for who I am. Now it’s time to let me accept you for who you are. . . I mean I already did but you can’t get it through that thick skull of yours can you?” 

“ What do you mean, I understand.” 

“ Yet, every time you encounter Izaya and I’m not around you come home quite sad and always ask me if I would ever leave you. Shizuo, I would never leave you.” 

“ Well yeah but. . .”

“ But?” 

“ You’re right. I should head to work. See you later (Y/N). Take care and don’t do anything strange.” 

“ I wouldn’t do anything you wouldn’t do.” 

“ That worries me.” 

“ I’m just going to talk to Celty or just hang around the park! See you later Shizuo!” 

“ Hmph. Later and don’t forget that I love you.” 

“ I should be saying that but of course! Love you too and later!” 

Shizuo smiled at the girl before heading off to visit Tom his friend and employer. They had another client that refused to pay up and Shizuo was going to “pay” him a visit to ensure he did. (Y/N) locked the door before going on her phone and texting Celty. 

‘ You busy Cel?’ 

‘ No, not really. Why do you ask?’ 

`` I just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out and chat.’ 

‘ Sure. I’ll pick you up and we can head off to the park. That fine?’ 

``you read my mind Cel. Alright, I’ll get ready.’  

(Y/N) changed into a new set of clothing before waiting on the couch for Celty to pick her up and head to the park. Celty and (Y/N) got along well as well, (Y/N) always saw the bright side. When she and celty were close enough, originally being introduced by Shinra, Celty confided in her about not having a head and (Y/N) offered some light on the subject. 

“ Well, head or no head  I think you’re perfect just the way you are. For example, you can still do pretty much everything right? Aside from taste but still Celty! I think that is what makes you unique I mean, if you think about it, only those people who truly love and care for you will accept you no matter what. Take a look at Shizuo, he believed everyone feared him, but I didn’t. I love him! Just like I love you Celty! I accept you for who you are and you will always be celty with or without your head! So cheer up, I don’t like seeing my friends sad!” 

With that, a new friendship was born leading (Y/N) to be best friends with the fearsome headless rider. 

< - - - - - - - - - - - - > 

KANRA HAS JOINED THE CHAT

Kanra: Hey guys! I have a question about a specific person. 

Setton: A person? Who? 

TarouTanaka: Agreed. It’s quite rare to see you not having information on anyone. 

Kanra: Precisely, which is why I must know. Do any of you know a (Y/N) (l/n)? 

Setton: (Y/N)? Not personally but I’ve heard rumors. . . 

Setton: There’s not much I know about her, but I’ve heard rumors of her being in the Dollars.

Setton: Besides that, I’ve also heard she’s Shizuo Heiwajima’s girlfriend and possibly future wife.

TarouTanaka: Shizuo Heiwajima? As in THE Shizuo Heiwajima? Do you know the violent one? 

Kanra: That’s so scary!! Who would put up with him? 

Kanra: *Gasps* you don’t think. . .

TarouTanaka: Think what? 

Kanra: You don’t think she’s using him do you? I mean, having a strong boyfriend has its perks right? 

Setton: She’s not that type of person.

Setton: From what I’ve heard, at least.

Kanra: Oh? You seem to get a bit defensive. Are you sure you don’t know her? 

Kanra: I mean, think about it. What is so special about Shizuo that would lead someone like her to love him? 

Kanra: Honestly, I think she could be using him after all I’m sure there are more people that someone like her could pick from. 

Setton: Well everything is just based on rumors, but I doubt she’s a bad type of person.

Setton: Love has always been a confusing matter. All that matters is that they like each other for who they are.

Setton: It’s not our place to make assumptions.

Kanra: Love is indeed confusing. 

TarouTanaka: I agree with Setton, I am sure they love each other for who they are. Is everything alright Kanra? 

Kanra: Yes, but it still stumps me on how little information we have of his girlfriend. Not only that but we have little information on the relationship as well. Has anyone seen her? Know what she looks like? 

Setton: I’ve only heard a vague description of her: (e/c) and (h/c). I could pass her on the street and not even know.

Setton: But I’m sure she’s just a private person. We should respect that and try not to dig into her life.

Kanra: Oh fair maiden will I ever see you?

TarouTanaka: You sure you aren’t trying to steal his girlfriend? 

Kanra: ^ 0 ^ Never! 

Setton: This has been an interesting discussion and all, but I’m needed elsewhere.

Setton: Later.

< - - - - - - - - - - - - - > 

SETTON HAS LEFT THE CHAT

Kanra: Well I better head out too, later Tarou! 

TarouTanaka: Later! 

< - - - - - - - - - - - - - >

KANRA HAS LEFT THE CHAT.

TAROUTANAKA HAS LEFT THE CHAT. 

THERE IS NO ONE IN THE CHAT. 

A figure began to ponder and look outside with a pair of binoculars as a female with (e/c) and (h/c) walked by. 

‘ Oh? I think I should properly introduce myself to the fair maiden’ 

~~ 

The young girl walked out of her house ready to speak with the dullahan. Upon seeing the headless rider the young girl waved her hand signaling the rider. 

“ Celty! Over here!” 

The rider began to make its way to the female before hugging and typing away on its phone. 

“Oh good, I was worried I arrived too early.”

“ Nah! Even if you did, you would have more time to look around and notice life at it’s finest!” 

“Oh Y/N, still as cheerful as ever, huh?”

“ Oh, you know it! Now let's head to the park! I want to see Ikebukuro at its prime time at night!” 

“Of course, but as we’re walking let me ask: How’s it going between you and Shizuo?”

“ Well. . . I-I-I I think it’s going great! He isn’t getting as rowdy and violent so I think he is changing a little bit! He ended getting me a gift, a necklace to be exact for our 5th anniversary! It says his name! He also has one, one with my name!”  

“I’m glad to hear you guys are going great. I’m sure that nothing could ever break your relationship, right?” 

“ Exactly! He and I have never had a serious argument! Maybe a little scolding but it’s fine like this! I always end up congratulating him in the end! He is the sweetest! Every time he comes home he asks me if I love him which makes me sad because I hope he knows I do! However. . . he always ends up spoiling me in love! The real question. . . is how is it with Shinra?” 

“Oh. . . Well, you know how he is. We’re as close as we can ever be, especially now that I’m more accustomed to the whole headless thing. That doesn’t mean I’m not looking, though.”

“ You will find it Celty! I know for a fact you will find it! I’ll help you when I have time! Hey look it’s the park let’s find a bench!” 

[park bench scene]

“You know, Y/N, I heard that you and Shizuo were considering getting married. Is it true?”

“ Well, I-!?” 

“ Well, Celty! I didn’t know you were here? (Y/N) too! What a surprise too! Do you mind if I sit with you guys?” 

“ Well, not really! Feel free to sit Izaya!” 

“ Interesting, now continue what were we talking about?” 

“ Well, Celty asked about my marriage to Shizuo!” 

“ So it’s true. . .” 

“ Yeah! Celty we are! Sometime next week we were going to look for dresses!” 

“That’s wonderful Y/N! If you need anything, I’m always available to help.”

“ Of course!” 

“ Same here.  . . a wedding between Shizu-chan and (Y/N) seems interesting. . .” 

“ So (Y/N), why are you with Shizu-chan? What’s the catch?” 

“ Pardon Izaya?” 

“ I mean, why would someone like YOU be with someone like HIM? What are the perks of having Shizu-chan as your boyfriend?” 

“ Perks?!” 

“I know that you and Shizuo have an on-going rivalry, but should you be asking Y/N questions like that?” 

“ I was just curious Celty! Besides, do you have the answer?” 

“ Well, there are no perks.” 

“ Huh?” 

“ I love Shizuo, not for his strength or perks. I love him because he was kind to me. He accepts my optimistic side, even though it can be quite annoying and I accept his violent tendencies! He is doing so much to change and I will support him from now on! When we met, he kinda beat the entire team on the field and I apologized for the both of him! He got confused and I apologized for my behavior and we kinda got into a mini battle of him asking me to stop apologizing and well my apologizing even more! Nonetheless, I missed the train, but it gave me a chance to talk to him and as you can tell he walked me home! Since then, a steady relationship! So it’s not about the benefits, it’s what we feel for each other that motivates us!” 

“ Interesting. . . “  

“ I agree Y/N, it’s about love, not benefits. Might want to save a speech that profounds for your wedding though.

“ You’re right! Oh, I’m sorry Izaya for ruining the surprise!” 

‘ Interesting. . . she isn’t like every other human, she doesn’t seem to lie, hide things, and seems to be honest. She seems to be optimistic. Hmph, interesting that she isn’t like all the other humans I love, she’s different and I can’t wait to see her face, her entire being change as I pull the strings from behind! (Y/N), you are quite interesting, you are like my special, no my favorite human and I need to see your reactions to everything... .’ 

“ (Y/N)?” 

“ Ah, Shizuo! O-over here!” 

“ Celty’s here too and-?!” 

Shizuo stared at the black-haired male with such anger raging within them as he let out a growl before examining the area. 

“ IZAYA! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” 

“ It’s a park? Am I not allowed to visit one?” 

“ IT’S WHO YOU’RE WITH THAT MATTERS! (Y/N) DID HE TOUCH YOU OR HURT YOU IN ANY WAY?” 

“ N-no! Shizuo we were only just talking! Besides, Celty was here with us! It was all friendly talk!” 

“ Celty, take (Y/N) and go to Shinra’s place. I’ll meet you there once I finish killing this bastard!” 

Typing away Celty nodded showing her phone with the message being, ‘Of course. Be careful before doing anything crazy, but please hear Y/N out first. Learn a bit about the situation before jumping into anything dangerous.”

“ Oh my Shizu-chan!~ So you are dating her. Isn’t that interesting. . . I say though it’s shocking, to say the least, that someone like (Y/N) would fall in love with you. Someone as fragile, beautiful, delicate, and forgiving like (Y/N) with a violent man as yourself, well I’d be damned!” 

“ I’m sorry! Izaya, I apologize for Shizuo’s behavior as he ended up attacking you without hearing my part, which I still have yet to say! However, I apologize on your part as well Izaya as you didn’t mean anything by chatting with us, but you asked some not so nice things. On the bright side, you know the truth and know that Shizuo isn’t a bad person!” 

“ (Y/N) . . .?” 

“ Shizuo! Celty and I were chatting when Izaya approached us, we were just talking! He didn’t hurt me, besides Celty would have put him in his place before I would have! Please believe me, Celty tell him the truth as well!” 

“Of course, there was nothing suspicious going on. Just a regular conversation full of small talk. Nothing shady or malicious between us and Izaya.”

“ Tch. Fine, but still take her to Shinra. I don’t want this bastard to find out where we live. I still want to kill him. . .” 

“ S-Shizuo! It’s fine, we don’t need to go see Shinra!” 

“ Aww, Shizu-chan you’re scaring her!~ Besides, what if (Y/N) doesn’t want to leave? You’re her boyfriend but you aren’t her owner. Besides, why do you get to keep her all to yourself, as you know I love humans, I can’t get enough of them! But she, she is quite interesting, as all humans I love her as well but aren’t you pushing it Shizuo chan?” 

“ Keep that damn mouth of yours shut!” 

“ I wonder, how long will it take you to screw up your relationship with her like you always do. Have you even proposed to her yet? Being the violent person you are you probably used someone's body as a foot stand before asking her to be your wife!” 

“ NO! That’s wrong! He proposed at Russia Sushi! We went out to eat as it was also our first date! See, even Simon took the picture and hung it in the dining area! You can see Shizuo’s fist but that was because he was embarrassed Simon took a picture and well he snapped, see how red he is? I’m the one crying in the background while holding the ring! It’s even my lock and home screen!” 

“ YOU DON’T NEED TO GO THAT FAR! WAIT-HE HAS IT HANGED? I NEED TO KILL THIS MAN FIRST THAN YOU DAMN IZAYA!” 

“ NO NOT SIMON! WAIT SHIZUO!” 

Running after Shizuo, (Y/N)  turned around one last time before bowing apologetically and smiling at Izaya before running after her fiance. Celty typing away on her phone showing it to Izaya. 

“Be careful about what you say around Y/N. I know what you’re trying to do and I advise you against it. It won’t end well for either of you.”

“ Whatever do you mean Celty?” 

“I’ve seen the way you look at Y/N; the way you observe her with that calculated glee in your eye. Even if you do separate her from Shizuo, she wouldn’t be happy with someone considered a homewrecker. She’s too optimistic for her good, she’ll easily forgive you, but she would never be able to forgive herself for hurting Shizuo. If you truly value her like you say you do, don’t try to meddle in her personal affairs.” 

“ I want to see every possible reaction from her, so this is quite tempting. Besides, Celty why do you care much about her? I love humans and I’m not willing to share, (Y/N) is no exception.” 

“Y/N is the best person I know. She’s kind no matter what and brings hope and joy to all of those that she comes across. She deserves to live the best life she can, one filled with no despair or tragedy. You need to learn to respect that and move on.”

Celty, displaying her anger towards Izaya, revved her motorcycle upwards causing several people to look in worry and walk away to avoid getting hit. Izaya stood unamused with his smug grin as he watched Celty chase after the couple to take them to Shinra. 

“ Celty, it’s a shame. All humans will experience despair no matter what, even our darling (Y/N). It’s just how long will it take for her to fall into despair that’s the real game and who the one pulling the strings will be.” 

Izaya began to walk away only to stop at Russia sushi and was quite intrigued by the photo that was taken. As he began to examine the image he saw (Y/N) smiling with tears rolling down her eyes as she turned to the camera holding the ring Shizuo had given her. On top of that, he saw Shizuo, quite red ready to punch Simon for taking the picture. 

“ Well well, seems she was telling the truth. I guess he didn’t screw it up.” 

“ Izaya, I heard about what happened.” 

As Izaya turned he was met with Simon the dark-skinned Russian who began to speak in his native tongue signaling that this was a private conversation. 

“ Simon, how’s it been?” 

“ Don’t ruin it.” 

“ Ruin what Simon?” 

“ Shizuo and (Y/N) found happiness here so don’t ruin it.” 

“ Oh? What makes you say that?” 

“ (Y/N) is special, the unpredictable happens around her but that doesn’t mean you should ruin what they have for the sake of your entertainment.” 

“ Special huh?” 

“ You like her don’t you? Leave her with Shizuo, she is not meant for you.” 

“ You see Simon, you’re right she is special but she isn’t Shizuo’s. I believe her to be one of the few people who aren’t on this playing field. She, like all humans, belongs to me. I won’t let Shizu-chan, Celty, or even that damn Saika blade have her.” 

“ Izaya, I know you don’t like losing to Shizuo but that does not mean you have to ruin this relationship. For once, let it go.” 

“ It’s Shizuo who needs to let her go.” 

With that Izaya left the place before walking away thinking about the girl. Since he met her years ago he realized how forgiving and optimistic she truly was. It shocked him, every human he met would be the same and oh so predictable. Shizu-chan and Simon would be the unpredictable ones spicing up his entertainment but (Y/N)? She was the most unpredictable one of them all. She took both sides of an argument and attempted to find a solution and she would keep Shizuo in check something that no one could do. On top of that, (Y/N) forgave anyone and you could never guess what she would say next, but her actions were always surprising. As he entered his workplace he was met with Namie Yagiri who looked at him in disbelief. 

“ It’s late where have you been?” 

“ Ah, Namie I was out with Celty and (Y/N) (L/N).” 

“ (Y/N) (L/N)?” 

“ Shizuo Heiwajima’s girlfriend, well fiance but not for long.” 

“ What do you mean, not for long?” 

“ Well you see, I intend to steal her away.” 

“ You never seem to bother with people’s love lives anyways. Why now?” 

“ (Y/N) (L/N) is a fascinating human! Here on this board, Shizu-Chan is the king and (Y/N (L/N) would be his queen, but the queen is one of the few people with free-range movement, in other words, the most powerful piece, nonetheless all are useful but the queen is the one who defends her king. If the queen is removed you’re pretty much set to fail and the king is left weak and ready to be dethroned. So, Shizu-chan is only strong with his queen, but this fascinating human being should be next to me, her God!” 

“ So you want to use her-!?” 

“ No! You’re not getting the picture! I am going to take the queen and leave her next to her god’s side! ME! With Shizu-chan weak I’ll simply kill him and fully take (Y/N) (L/N) as mine!” 

“ I thought Shizuo provided you with the most entertainment. . .” 

“ (Y/N) makes up for both of them, I don’t need Shizuo when I have his queen. . .” 

~~ 

“ Shizuo! Wait!” 

Shizuo was walking faster while dragging (Y/N) behind him as they proceeded to go to their house after staying at Shinra’s. 

“ What for?” 

“ I’m sorry for embarrassing you in front of Izaya. . .” 

“ I’m fine, as long as it was you I didn’t mind.” 

“ You sure?” 

“ Of course, now let’s go home. I’m tired.” 

‘“O-Okay!” 

As they entered the home in which they both own Shizuo immediately grabbed (Y/N) as he held her close before asking her yet again, “ Do you love me?” 

“ Of course silly! I wouldn’t marry someone I don’t love! I love you to the moon and back Shizuo and I wouldn’t change that for the world! No one and nothing would ever split us apart Shizuo! You accepted me for who I am, now it’s time you realize that I accept you for you!” 

Cuddling closer with the (h/c) hair colored female he blurted out something that made her turn red upon hearing it. 

“ I want a baby.” 

“ A WHAT?!” 

“ A baby. I hope to be able to be a father once we wed.” 

“ W-w-w-w-what g-g-g-gave you that idea?!” 

“ We are both at a young age, once we marry I feel like we should have a child. I won’t rush or force you but I think we would be great parents.” 

“I...OKAY! Of course! After we marry, we can have as many children as we can!” 

“ W-Wait you serious?!” 

“ Of course Shizuo, because I love you to bits! Just like I will love this child, I'll make sure you both know how special you are to me!” 

“ I do wonder how I found someone like you (Y/N). . . I love you!” 

“ I love you too Shizuo!” 

As they both fell asleep in a lovers embrace Shizuo was reminded of how much (Y/N) loves him and was also reminded that she will never leave him. Izaya was wrong, (Y/N) loves him for himself and as Shizuo sighed in relief as he cuddled closer to the female, not being feared, but being loved was a great feeling, the best in the world. 

~~ 

“ Now. . . what should I make for dinner? I should make Shizuo’s favorite meal, but that means that I need to go shopping. Oh well.” 

(Y/N) pulled out her phone before sending Shizuo a quick text saying how she would be stepping out and would be home soon. After getting an, ‘alright. Be safe.’ text she immediately set out to the store. As (Y/N) was searching through the ingredients she came across a hand reaching for the same one, the last one. 

“ Oh, I’m sorry! You can take it!” 

“ No, no that fine! By all means, take it.” 

“ Izaya... .?’ 

“ Ah! (Y/N)! Isn’t that wonderful? I wanted to speak to you!” 

“ Same! Just let me finish shopping and I’ll go with you!” 

“ Here! I’ll help, by the way! Feel free to take it, I don’t need that ingredient as much as you do.” 

“ Thanks! Are you sure you don’t want it though, I’m making a meal for Shizuo but I can always go to other stores! If you want it you should take it! On the bright side, I can get my daily walk in by going to other stores and I might be able to browse through other items I may need!” 

“ Oh? A meal for Shizu-chan? Then, by all means, take it. I wouldn’t want to make him upset.” 

“ Thank you Izaya! You really care for him!” 

“ Well, I wouldn’t say that. .  . “

“ Well, we should get going! I think I got everything I needed!” 

Walking to the park in silence was a little awkward until (Y/N) lit up at the sight of ice cream. 

“ Hey Izaya, look it’s an ice cream truck! Do you want some? My treat!” 

“ Actually, it will be mine! Which one do you want (Y/N)?” 

“ (F/F) please!” 

“ Of course!” 

Upon getting the ice cream ( Y/N) desired and Izaya getting one for himself they decided to sit on a bench and she continued speaking with Izaya. 

“ Izaya, I have a question.” 

“What is it (Y/N)?” 

“ Well, why do you like edging Shizuo on? You know he is trying his hardest to change, wait, is it to push him? To see how much he needs to improve left?” 

“ You really are optimistic aren’t you? Not exactly, you see Shizuo tends to act differently from the rest. . . he truly is unpredictable so I just want to see every possible reaction from him. Just like you?” 

“ Me? I hardly think I'm unpredictable, I feel like you could read me easily.” 

“ You can’t and that’s the best part. I truly love all humans (Y/N), they are just so interesting! In the end, they all act the same yet it’s so exciting!” 

“ Interesting. You like the unpredictable more though right! I do too! It’s like a book, if you can predict the way it ends then it isn’t all the fun. However, if the book ends with a plot twist and catches you by surprise then it is fun! Every new day, every new day is something different for me! I feel like, when you look at a new angle you end up seeing things you’ve never seen. This could easily impact what you think or what you do! That’s what I try to do to make my day more interesting!” 

Izaya looking at her with insanity swirling his eyes grabbed her hands causing her ice cream to fall before laughing. 

“ You understand me! You see what I see! You truly do deserve to be next to your god's side! Tell me (Y/N), you’re very forgiving, aren’t you! Every god needs to judge and punish the sinners, BUT THEY ALSO NEED TO FORGIVE! THAT MY GODDESS IS WHERE YOU COME IN! WITH YOU BY MY SIDE, WE COULD TRULY RULE OVER THESE HUMANS! JUST AS I LOVE HUMANS, THEY SHOULD LOVE ME TOO! THAT INCLUDES YOU (Y/N), DO YOU LOVE ME?” 

“ I-?!” 

“ That’s enough!” 

Turning to Celty who began to write furiously fast on her phone shoved it in front of Izaya as he skimmed the words that were written. 

‘Shizuo is on his way, leave if you don’t want your ass kicked. I told you to leave (Y/N) alone! For once, listen to me!’ 

Celty grabbed (Y/N) and led her to the motorcycle before writing on it explaining that Shizuo was around the area and was planning on picking (Y/N) up from the store. Celty mentioned that she too was around the area and that she was asked by Shizuo to help him look for her as well. Nodding, (Y/N) turned around to meet Izaya smirking, despite all she smiled at him and bowed before apologizing. 

“ I’m sorry Izaya! I hope to talk to you soon and I apologize our time was cut short. I’m happy that you told me a little about yourself Izaya as I told you I like to see both perspectives before saying or doing anything. On the bright side, although our time was cut short I realized that you trust me a little and bothered to open up a bit! So I'm glad!” 

Indeed Izaya found his Goddess, she forgave all and will forgive all. Smiling a bit he turned and wished her good-bye before plotting a plan to take her from Shizuo forever and make sure his goddess was with him all the time. Besides, even if he committed a crime, his goddess, (Y/N) (L/N) would forgive him. 

(Y/N) was riding with Celty until they found Shizuo in which he expressed his concern for the female. He examined the ingredients and smiled realizing what she was planning on doing before ruffling her hair. 

 “ I still have a little bit of work left but I'll make it home in time for dinner.” 

“ Of course! I’ll get started on dinner right away!” 

“ Alright. See you then, oh (Y/N).” 

“ Yeah?” 

“ I love you.” 

“ I love you too!” 

~~ 

Getting out of the shower, (Y/N) proceeded to dry her hair with a small towel wearing (F/C) shorts and an extremely overgrown shirt, more importantly, it was Shizuo’s bartender shirt that he allowed her to wear. It fit more like a dress but no one was complaining. 

“ I better get started on dinner, Shizuo is going to arrive any minute!” 

Proceeding to get the ingredients (Y/N) was washing the vegetables when she heard a click signaling the door was open. 

“ Shizuo I’m not done with the meal-... Shizuo... .?” 

Examining the living room she noticed that the door was opened but no one was in the room with her, that was until she heard a familiar voice from her right ear. 

“ Good evening, My goddess. . .” 

“Iza-!?” 

With that Izaya knocked out (Y/N) cradling her in his arms before making his way to him home with the young girl, his Goddess.  

~ 

“ Wake up sleeping beauty~” 

Izaya was poking her cheek repeatedly hoping for the young girl to awaken sometime soon and luckily she did. 

“ Izaya, w-where a-am I?” 

“ Why you’re in our home my goddess~” 

“O-our? Goddess? Izaya what’s going on?” 

“ You will be living with me from now on~ You see I explained it to you, I love humans my dear (Y/N), you are no exception. However, unlike all the other humans you have an interesting personality and you are quite unpredictable making each new day exciting and something to look forward to! Someone like you should be by my side ruling alongside next to me! Just as I adore humans, they should adore us, as they should!” 

“ I-Izaya I’m sorry but it’s late and I need to get to Shizuo before it gets too late-!?” 

“ You aren’t getting it! You aren’t going back to Shizuo! You belong to me! Besides, Shizuo is weak right now! I could easily get rid of him!” 

“ He isn’t! Shizuo is quite strong! I know for a fact that he can overcome anything! Now, please let me go before I-!?” 

“ You aren’t seeing the big picture (Y/N) and it saddens me. You see the queen is the strongest piece in chess. Shizu-chan is the king and you by right, are his queen. If we take the queen away, the king is set up to fail. Haven’t you realized, everyday Shizu-chan asks you if you love him and to never leave him? Coincidence I know? I always make him doubt of this reality because without you Shizu-chan would be a violent monster! Think about it, you’re the only thing that can hold him back but you aren’t by his side! Shizu-chan does not want to be feared but he thinks it’s a fantasy, someone like you being in his life that he just needs to confirm if you love him too!” 

(Y/N) gasped when she came to notice her fiance's true feelings. Feeling down, (Y/N) looked to the side to examine the board Izaya kept close to see if she could find a pattern or attempt to figure Izaya out to create a plan.   

“ In fact! I think he is worried sick trying to find you, but he won’t! Even if he does, he doesn’t have the right to take my Goddess away!” 

In the meantime, Shizuo was frantically searching for where (Y/N) could be. When he arrived home he came to see the door open and no sign of (Y/N) causing his anxiety to spike up at the thought of losing you forever. Having enough he texted Celty and even the dollars home page alerting all members to keep an eye out on a female with (H/C) and (E/C) as she could be in danger. 

“ Celty! Have you found her yet?” 

“ No.... but I think I know where she is. I hope she isn’t though. . . “ 

“ Spit it out! WHERE THE HELL IS SHE?!” 

Shizuo was running out of breath as he looked at Celty with desperation as he saw her type away with incredible speed, but the answer both shook him and angered him to the point of no return. 

“ I think she is with Izaya. If so, we must hurry!” 

“ Of course! Leave this to me. . . I think it’s time that bastard met with his fate.” 

Shizuo walked away with anger as he began to prepare his fist to execute the man who stole his fiance.

IZAYA ENDING w/SMUT

SHIZUO ENDING

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

From Eden: Three

Warnings: noncon sexual acts, mentions of mental illness, grieving, trauma, panic attack; tags to be added throughout series

This is dark!Bucky. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: The mc suffers from agoraphobia. After a new neighbour moves in across the street, her home becomes even more of a prison.

Note: I know it’s been a while...

Thank you so much for your patience! And support!!

As always, if you are so inclined, please like, reblog, and comment. <3

Transcript:

Sunday

When Dr. Tisha and Lorena left last night, they were still angry with me. I didn’t care much as both of them lectured me again over that man. I told them the same things I had before. I don’t want to know him.

 They suggested at least that I save the money I made for a day out. Lorena said it would be good for me to try to go into town and do some shopping myself, for myself. The thought made me choke but I just smiled and said, “we’ll see.”

 Now I’m awake, early again. I keep hearing things in the yard. I tell myself it’s a raccoon or something else, maybe even a bat! One got in the house last year and I locked myself in the bathroom until I was brave enough to grab the broom and chase it out. Looking back, it’s sort of funny.

I looked out the window but I just saw shadows that made me nervous. The bird bath was eerie in the dark and the shed looked decrepit. I thought I saw something move along the wall but I’m sure it’s only me being tired.

 I did try to go back to sleep but then I started thinking about things I haven’t thought of in a long time. About the things I told Tisha I never want to think or talk about ever again. 

Then I thought about grandma and mama. Why did they have to leave me?

Later

I was in the garden when it started to rain. It started with a big crack of thunder and I almost screamed at how scary it was. It came so fast I barely got inside before I was soaked through. Then I giggled at myself as I stripped out of my muddy jeans and wet tee shirt.

When I was a kid, I used to love to dance out in the rain, or just stand and let it wash over me. When my mother died, it stormed and I sat in the downpour until I got sick. The drops hid my tears and numbed the pain of that lonely ten-year-old. I’m older now but sometimes I still feel like a kid.

 I watched the sky darken through the window and the smell of the rain in the dirt was comforting. I made tea and kept watching. The sky would flash, a cacophony of awe, and I felt as if I was living in an old Hitchcockian shot. I liked to think there was a camera there to catch the perfectly framed scene, the frightening and frantic swell of the storm that reflected the suspense of the human catastrophe about to take place.

 Then the horror was no longer just in my mind. I cleaned my cup and turned. As I passed through the dark hall I saw a shadow flash at the window of the door. I gasped and rushed forward to check the latch but the figure was gone. I peeked out and there was nothing.

 Now I’m still awake and I think I just got carried away with my imagination. I’m watching The Wizard of Oz but the colours aren’t as bright as they used to be. At least, they don’t seem like it.

🖊

Monday

I don’t remember falling asleep. It must’ve been late, or early depending how you look at it. I woke up to the blue screen as the VCR had stopped and rewound the tape. It was still dark, the sky hungover from the wild night.

 I made blueberry tea. It was too sweet after I let it steep for too long. I watched the morning birds bask in the full bird bath and slowly the sun began to shine down. It’s brighter now and I’m going to try to fix the shed window.

🖊

Tuesday

I couldn’t write anymore yesterday. Not after what happened.

I can’t.

🖊

Wednesday

I 

On Monday, I

He was here.

 I was hammering the board back into place and I hit my finger into the nail. The metal left a painful blister and my knuckle split and bled. I cried out and dropped the hammer as I held my hand and tried not to tear up.

“You alright?” he asked and I looked at him, afraid.

He was at the gate. Had he been there, watching me? I nodded and wrinkled my nose in pain. I couldn’t bend the top of my finger. I hid my hand and left the mess on the ground as I rushed to the front door to hide inside.

“Hey,” he called as I whimpered, dumbly trying to turn the handle with my hurt hand, “you’re hurt. I can help.”

 I shook my head as my finger throbbed. I looked at it and cringed. It was really bad.

“I just want to help.”

“Why are you here?” I watched the door creak open and didn’t look back at him, “why are you bugging me?”

“I was just walking by and I heard you,” he said, “I know how to set your finger… or I can take you to the hospital.”

I didn’t want to go to a hospital. The thought makes my stomach hurt. I hate hospitals.

“I can deal with it.”

“You’re bleeding a lot,” he insisted and I was getting really annoyed.

“What do you care?” I don’t understand him or why he kept bothering me and hanging around my gate!

“Well, I won’t lie to you, your friend, Tisha, she told me to keep an eye on you,” he said through the bars, “so yes, I was watching you.”

“She’s not… not my friend,” I was so angry. Why would she do that!? She doesn’t even know him, I don’t know him, “she’s my doctor.”

“Can I help you with your finger? I’ll stop watching but you need to get it set and soon.”

“I don’t care. I got nine others.” I was mean and didn't care.

“Then I can call your doctor? She gave me her number in case--”

“No, no,” he couldn’t call her. She’d be mad at you and she’d make you go to the hospital, “don’t call her, please. Just… stay here.”

 I went inside and with one hand, I searched under the counter for the dinged old white chest. I pulled it out by the thin metal handle and went back outside. The way he watched me made me nervous even though he was so calm.

“If I let you in, you have to leave right after,” I said as fearsomely as I could, “and this is the only time you’re ever coming in.”

“You’re shaking really bad, that must hurt,” he looked at my hand and ignored my warning.

“Do you get it!? You have to promise to leave after.”

“Sure, just let me help,” he nodded.

 unlocked the gate and slowly opened it for him. We sat at the patio table as he searched through the old box of first aid gear. He took out gauze and found two straight sticks from the garden. He tested their strength and sat back down.

“Give me your hand,” he said.

 I reluctantly put my hand on the table and hissed at the pain in my finger. He cleaned it carefully and I looked away as he went about his task. It hurt less not seeing it. When he finished wrapping it up, I pulled away and stood.

“Good, now go,” I pointed to the gate.

“That won’t be good for more than a day,” he stood, “I have some real splints at my house. I could come back-”

“I told you, no,” you jabbed your hand towards the gate, “out.”

He was quiet and he looked around. His jaw set as he considered the thick garden and his eyes narrowed.

“The flowers are doing good,” he said.

“Please, leave,” I begged, he was making me nervous. 

I was still shaking but not from the pain. I remembered that night, it wasn’t just one, it was several, and they laughed as they stood over me. They were smaller than him, just teenagers, like me, but they still hurt me.

“Go!” I shouted, “go! Go! Go!”

 He grabbed my shoulders as I began to hyperventilate. I hadn’t been so worked up in a long time and I could stop as the fit began. I chanted the word over and over as my body shook so violently and my voice became only deep and painful breaths. My chest burned so bad.

 I didn’t remember what happened after that. I only remember him in my house. I was on the couch and Dr. Tisha was there too. 

When I could speak again, I asked her to make him go. She ignored me and said that he helped me, that he had kept me safe by calling her. 

 But I saw his smile and how he looks at me. I saw the way he paced around the house and noted every inch of it. I watched him as Tisha fed me chamomile tea.

 She didn’t want to leave me alone, she said. She thought I should go to the hospital for my finger and for a mental evaluation. I sucked up the panic in my chest and told her I was okay, that I remembered the exercises and it wouldn’t happen again. I could tell she didn’t really believe me.

“I’ll stay with her,” Bucky offered and my eyes rounded.

“I’ll be fine,” I told Tisha before she could respond.

“You’re not fine,” she said, “in good conscience, if you won’t go to the hospital, I need someone here to monitor you.”

“Lorena--”

“She’s off-the-clock. I can’t expect her to come here right now, she has other clients.”

 I frowned and crossed my arms and crushed my injured finger, “why can’t you stay?”

“Well, I left a session for this and I have others waiting on me. I would stay if it was an option. Listen,” she sat and spoke to me like I was a child, “this man is a public servant. He is a good man, in fact, I think he’s a lot like you. Now it would be wrong of me to go into detail about his experiences but I have it on good authority that he knows better than even me what you’re going through.”

 I shook my head and pouted, “I won’t hurt myself. Not again.”

“I wish I could believe you,” she said, “but recently you’ve shown some serious regression. If you keep arguing with me, I will be obligated to have you escorted to the hospital and kept for seventy-two hours...

Or Bucky can stay until Lorena comes by tomorrow and I can return.”

“I didn’t do anything. I got nervous.”

“I won’t ask again.”

“Fine, fine, he can stay,” I gave up. The thought of another hold at the hospital was enough to make me give in. I couldn’t do that again.

So Bucky stayed and I didn’t sleep. Again.

And I didn’t write and I can’t anymore. I don’t feel good.

🖊

Thursday

There’s a lot to catch up on but I don’t want to write about it. I never want to think about it again.

Bucky’s gone, Lorena and Tisha made their visit on Tuesday, and I’m fine.

I’m fine.

🖊

Friday

 feel him still. He’s watching me. I know he is! 

 He was in my house, he slept on my couch, he walked through my halls. I smell him still and it makes me sick.

 I see him through the gate, he doesn’t try to hide anymore. I called Tisha for my daily check-ins. I’m back to those again. I told her he was watching and she told me he was only concerned. She said I was exaggerating. She thinks I’m crazy!

 The walls used to protect me. I used to hide behind them but now I just feel trapped.

 He’s watching again. I see him through the window. He’s at the gate, his metal hand on the bar as he searches for me. I’m going away before he sees me. I’m turning out all the lights and locking the doors.

🖊

Saturday

The gate is broken again. The face of the lock fell off and one of the bars is bent through several others.

 The lower hinge is busted and I found footprints in the dirt. There are tulips missing from the garden, the pink ones. I got those bulbs from grandma, her last gift to me. I’m sad.

 The doors are still locked and all the curtains are closed. I can’t even turn on the TV.

Later

He was in the house! I know he was! The window to my bedroom was open and the blankets on my bed were all messed up. I woke up on the couch as I usually do. I feel asleep reading a book with only a candle. The candle was out and the pages of the book were bent.

 I got up to go to the bathroom. I felt weird. My shorts were damp with sweat. The house is so hot with the windows shut. I stopped when I noticed my bedroom was open, I always closed the door.

 It’s really hard to write because I’m still shaking. It wasn’t just the window or the blankets. There were pink tulips on my pillow. 

I know it’s him. He’s playing a game with me, a game I don’t like.

 I’m scared and I hear someone in the garden. I can’t remember if I locked my bedroom window. I was so afraid, I can’t remember.

I can’t remember.

I can’t~~

[sittin-on-the-rooftop]

Would ya look at that! Iss a captain x reader fanfic!

Pairing: Captain X Reader

Genre: Angsty Fluff (Prepare to cry in a good way)

Fandom: Tankmen AN: ignore the misspells its 2am

TW: A lot of swearing. Yea.

Why tf am I doing this

Anyway just stargazing fluff w captain. I fucking hate my life. I didn’t wanna finish the end lol so suck my cliffhanger dick.

You always had a hard time sleeping since you joined the army. You always had so much to think about. Recent encounters with the enemy, philosophical paradoxes, and… the douche that was captain. You’d go to the gym to exercise your thoughts away, but you decided, fuck it. You went up to the roof of the building, gazing up at the sky. One of the only things that stayed the same throughout the chaos that is war. A clear night sky was quite rare! You looked up at the stars, trying to distract yourself. From everything. The pain of war, the meaning of life, and your past struggles with love. You had quite a few encounters with the latter emotion, and none served you well. But here you were again. You were just another run of the mill soldier. How could you even have a chance with goddamn CAPTAIN of all people. All the thoughts were just too much. So much shit was flooding your head at once, because all the thoughts you suppressed just came flooding back to you all at once. So like any normal person, you went as far away from the dorms as possible, and started fucking screaming. About everything. Venting to whatever god was up there, begging it to have mercy. As you took another little break to sob, you heard heavy footsteps up the metal stairs. Fuck. Who’d you piss off this time? You hid behind a duct opening and prayed to Christ that it was Steve. All the other soldiers would fuckin kill your ass, so would Ted, and well, the worst case scenario- you couldn’t even complete the thought as the aforementioned worst case scenario started talking. Whelp, I guess the duct wasn’t the best place to hide. There you were curled up in a ball, ready to get a right scolding for waking up captain himself. But what he said next was enough to reinduce the sorry state you were in before having to hide with bated breath. “Are you ok, kiddo?” Two years ago. The last time you were asked that question, just before you joined this fucking shithole of an army. And here you were. Crying like a baby, as captain tried desperately to check you for injuries. “I heard you screaming like a fucking sissy, you good man?” In a desperate attempt to get you to cheer up, he was just throwing insults in a panic. Steve once told him that ya probably shouldn’t insult an injured person, and told him to first ask this, if there was any distress. “Mental, or physical pain? Do I need to take you to the infirmary? Should I carry you?” Panic is an understatement. You were ofc having a mental breakdown on the floor screaming “I DONT EVEN KNOW ANYMORE!” He didn’t know what to do, so, he asked a simple question. One his mom asked him whenever he cried. “Do you want a hug?” As those words came out of his mouth, you tackled him in a hug, pushing both of you onto the ground. Still trying his best not to upset you more, he started to pat you on the head, trying to calm you down. Feeling completely and utterly useless and weak. Infront of your crush? What luck. You felt utter despair. He’d never like you in this state. At that moment you realized just how sus this was. Yikes. You. Were. Cuddling. With. CAPTAIN! As you continued to drift into despair, Captain, in the most awkward tone you have ever heard, said “uhhhh, y-ya like stargazin?” “Kinda, yea…” You try to look up at the stars, trying to gain control over all your thoughts. The moon. The stars. The Big Dipper. Orion’s Belt. Andromeda. You felt an invisible weight on your back lift gradually, as you mumble out a tired “Thank you so much, sir. For calming my stupid ass down.”

“Well, ya damn near woke everyone up so it was probably best that I calm you down.” “Yea. Sorry for the trouble sir.”

“Wanna talk about it? Or would you like to simply sit in silence.” He took your silence as an affirmation for the latter. Minutes later, you asked John, “how about you, ya like stargazing?-Ah shit crap sorry, shouldn’t be that informal, sir“ “You using me as a pillow is informal enough, but I guess I’ll let it slide since you literally just had a mental breakdown right infront of me. … about stargazing, I never really had time for it. Ya know, army business.” “Want me to show you some constellations?” As you pointed out the stars, all your worries melted away. Having laughs about the constellations he guessed wrong. Time passes fast when you have fun. You checked your watch. 3am. As you laid on his chest, you started feeling quite sleepy. As you fell asleep, you mumbled a near inaudible “I kinda… like you…” Little did you know, Captain was wide awake.

———————————————————

You woke up to someone shaking you violently. Gunshots can be heard in the distance. “HEY MAN, WAKE UP, WE’RE AT FUCKING WAR. FUCKING SURPRISE ATTACKS! THEY'VE SEIGED THE BASE, SOME GOT IN. HEY YOU WITH ME, KIDDO?” You vision starts blurring. You can feel Captain hoist you up onto his shoulder.

“INCASE I DIE, JUST KNOW THAT I FEEL THE SAME WAY. YOUR COURAGE AS A SOLDIER IS NEAR THE SAME SIZE AS MY MAGNUM DONG. IVE SEEN YOU OUT THERE, YA FEARLESS FUCKO! RUN OF THE MILL SOLDIER MY ASS. NOW LETS GO BEFORE WE GET FUCKING BLASTED!”

With each step he took the black spots in your vision spread, until…

[blushnik]

I love love your works and posts. Always looking forward to more content from you. Anyways my question is that in Punisher season 2 really trashed billy. What do you think about it. Personally I Hate Krista and Madani. Do you think billy and frank would have eventually started a relationship if billy hadn't been outed for betrayal.

*SOBBING HAPPY NOISES* Lemme just- uh, lemme calm down, this was so much praise I didn't expect to see when opening the inbox 😭🙏💙💙💙💙💙💙

Okay, now to your question *breathing exercises initiated*

First, I just wanna say that I kinda pushed the entire season 2 out of my mind, especially THAT part (y'all know what I'm talking about, I ain't gonna say it out loud) cause it just really hurts but xD I think I can handle it for this one occasion.

Season 2 really went ahead and said: Let's just punish Billy Russo for 13 episodes straight, yeah? Cause the show's name is PUNISHER. And he's PUNISHER's nemesis, right? So we PUNISH him, that makes sense, right? *clown mask here* And people will totally cheer when we finally get rid of him cause he's BAD and deserved to be PUNISHED, RIGHT? *clown levels intensify*

Lemme just point out that Billy Russo DID get his punishment when Frank introduced him, quite intimately, to a mirror. He suffered consequences of it during his coma in his dreams and after with memory loss and all conditions that came with it. And that'd be okay to have at the start but NOT FOR THIRTEEN FKING EPISODES.

You can't beat up a character that much, for that long, and then expect us to be cheering when he meets the shittiest end you could possibly think of. Not to even mention the monumental waste of potential in that story.

Remembering what he did and being told what he did are two VERY different things. If he doesn't remember shit then ofc it doesn't make sense to him how could he ever betray Frank like that. For all he knows, everyone just turned against HIM and made up this lie, his best friends and people he cared about going after him for – in Billy's eyes – no reason. Forget Maria and kids and Rawlins, just the fact my best friend, the only person I ever truly felt connected to and trusted and cared about ground my face against a broken mirror would be A LOT to process.

I seriously expected Billy to remember what he's done somewhere in the middle but somehow the writers thought new characters nobody cares about and an overly complex plot is a better way to go? That letting Billy be just a confused screaming crying mess for the entirety of season 2 while ten meaningless subplots get resolved so he can die right after will somehow work?

Look, I get he was supposed to lose everything he had in season 1, that being not only his wealth and company and good looks (he's still hot shut up and those feeble scars, bitch, what was that, Shadow and Bone did a better job at doing accurate scars) but also his self-control, his control over his emotions, composure, his ability to keep his cool, smooth-talking, etc.

But you can't let him be the victim and then expect the audience to not empathize with him or feel sorry for him and to NOT be okay when he dies right after it seems he finally found some peace, happiness, and love (I hate Krista too but shit, he was so happy with those stupid flowers, Ben sure knew what he was doing when he gave those blue flowers to Alina right before everything turned to shit).

Granted, he did shitty things in season 1 and season 2 too but the difference is this;

In season 1, those were his conscious choices. He never was a victim even in his own story. He knew he stepped on other people in order to get himself higher, he decided when it comes down to it, better someone else than him. He decided that after building himself up, no price was too great to pay just to make sure he was never hitting the bottom again and he had no problem with doing it because he's incapable of compassion and 'even though he loves Frank more than anything or anyone, Billy loves himself just a bit more' – Ben Barnes' words, not mine.

But in season 2, he doesn't know about any of that. He does feel like a victim because from his POV, everyone is simply attacking and somebody close to him hurt him for things he can't believe he did because at that point, he believed he would NEVER be capable of doing such things. And when he does something shitty – it's because he feels attacked, he feels like he needs to protect himself and that he's pushed towards it.

Pretty fking hard to see him as a villain, at least for me -.-

It's almost like the writers were too scared to explore that emotional turmoil and impact it would have on him and how it'd change his character if he remembered. Which is SUCH a shame it hurts. Ben Barnes has put so much nuance and depth into Billy's character, he had dimensions and so many layers so just imagine what it would be to have all of that go through some serious angst and explore his relationship with Frank further.

But no.

Instead, we get this imitation of angst where Billy Russo becomes a punching bag and we're supposed to go OOOH HE STILL EVIL BITCH when he darest to punch back.

And don't get me started on the worst character kill-off I've ever seen. Just no. I am not even sharing my opinions on this cause it's too much to think about.

So there you have it, season 2 is trash in my opinion, they really did Billy so dirty while throwing in subplots and characters that were absolutely unnecessary to have. It could totally be just about Frank and Billy trying to come to some closure (violent or not) and maybe Dinah sprinkled in cause she got a lot of beef with Billy too.

Now just to quickly answer the other question, would they have started the relationship eventually if Billy wasn't outed for betrayal?

Marvel and the Mouse are cowards so ofc not in the canon, but in my humble hcs opinion, ofc YES. Frank's the only one Billy feels a connection with and vice versa. And while it's easier for Frank to care for other people than it is for Billy (since, unlike Billy, Frank is capable of compassion), nobody gets him and accepts him the way Billy does. I like to think of that quote from the Darkling for this:

"I've seen what you truly are and I've never turned away."

That's Billy @ Frank. Together with the reasons, I listed in the previous ask where I pointed out how they complement each other ^^

PS: I just wanna say I actually love Dinah but it may be because of my hcs. She was really getting on my nerves at the beginning and then I just made up stuff in my head that made me really fond of her, like Dinah dating Karen Page and being the good bro for Frank and Billy.

Thank you for the reading if you made it this far, THANK YOU for the kind words and keep invading my inbox if you like 🥰💙💙

[nimsajlove]

Waiting

So I guess I wanted Ahsoka to struggle with recovery from the blue shadow virus. So here is that. 

This includes a panic attack and forced breathing with a tube (whats the word again?)

Brothers-AU      Ao3

.

.

.

„Droidbait, stop that.“, Echo grumbled and threw his brother a disapproving look over the table. Puffing, Droidbait put the fork, which he had been nervously twisting between two fingers, on the table with a little more force than necessary. Fives, who was sitting next to him with his arms crossed, gave him a annoyed look. But he couldn't stop looking nervously around himself. Cutup seemed to have given up in the meantime, he was sitting next to Echo and had his face flat on the table. Only Hevy had himself halfway under control, he at least tried to eat his rations normally. The other men in the canteen ignored their behavior. Everyone was nervous. The General had been off since returning from Naboo, General Kenobi had already moved on to his next mission and no one had seen the Commander in days. Except for the medics. The Captain had been back in the corridors for about the last 24 hours, but very few of them were really reassured. The 501st had just gotten used to her tiny Commander and had even grown fond of the girl. Kriff, she was part of the family! Everyone kept an eye on the young Jedi, especially Torrent.

Jesse and Hardcase sat down at the table, Droidbait nearly jumped. Cutup didn't even look up. „Did he eat anything at all?“, Jesse asked, gesturing with his fork at Cutup's ration. He mumbled something against the table top. Sounded suspiciously like an insult. Jesse took that as an answer, Hardcase smirked. „Heads up, she'll get back onto her feet.“, he muttered, Echo shrugging. His expression was cautiously neutral, Fives gave Hardcase a tired grimace. Hevy nodded, he actually looked confident. Cutup looked up, his chin still on the table. „But she's so small!“, he whined and Droidbait gave Hardcase and Jesse a concerned look. „And young and strong, you'll see. She'll be stealing your dessert again in no time.“, Jesse joked.

„Kriff Kix, your shift was over 2 hours ago!“, Coric growled and shook the shoulder of the other Medic. Kix shook it off indistinctly and lifted his datapad a little, Coric didn't recognize at first glance what was on it. No reports at least. „I'm not working.“, Kix mumbled and buried himself again in whatever he was reading. He had his legs stretched out, his crossed feet resting on the side of a bacta tank. The girl inside had been stable for almost two days, thank the kriffing maker. None of the medics had been sure how long her tiny body could have withstood the constant strain anymore. Coric was tired. Very, very tired. Torrent worked at least double shifts so that the Commander was never left without supervision for a second. Kix was one of those troopers who liked to take on triple shifts, and Coric had overlooked that for quite some time. But now they were all slowly getting to a point where even the Medics had to lie down for more than a couple of hours. Tano was stable, she would get back on her feet. „Go to sleep Kix, you've been here for over 24 hours.“, grumbled a Medic from Hail Company, Kix looked like he would like to throw something at his head. Sighing, Coric rubbed his face with one hand, then grabbed the younger Medic by the shoulder and pulled him to his feet. „You're going to sleep, now. You can come back when we get her out.“ Ah, his command tone seemed to reach him. Kix gave him a tired look and sighed, he switched off the datapad, with slumped shoulders he nodded. „Of course, Sergeant.“, he muttered and Coric watched with satisfaction as Kix finally left medical and disappeared.

*~*

Ahsoka was no stranger to the feeling of weightlessness! There had been exercises before she became a padawan, something that had only been introduced with the outbreak of war. But this wasn't just floating, her sense of balance assured her that there was still an up and down. So maybe more like swimming? It was only when muffled voices vibrated through her montrals that it occurred to her to open her eyes to get a real look at the situation. Kark, great. It didn't burn in her eyes, but it was like seeing through a veil. Okay where was she? The last memories she could get out were blurry, when exactly did she leave the bunker on Naboo? Despite her slightly blurred vision, she dared to say that the many bright and harsh colors did not belong to Naboo. Her cruiser maybe? She carefully felt the room with all her senses, some shapes moved. She could identify them quickly, she had seen Coric often enough to identify him safely in the Force. She also brushed her master briefly. So the medical station. Okay, great. Then this was probably her first visit to a bacta tank. Why? She wanted to take a deep, controlled breath, it was all almost creepy. Did not work. She could breathe, but not at her own discretion. Something was blocking her airway and throat, forcing her to take slow, regular breaths. What the? Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that a ventilator was nothing to fight against. Still, her hands shot up, a strange feeling in the thick bacta, and frantically tugged at the thing above her mouth. It had to get out, immediately!

*~*

To his shame, Coric had to admit that he almost dozed off if the door hadn't opened and revealed two figures. He looked up, recognized the General, and jumped to his feet. „Sir?“ Rex next to him didn't seem worried or hectic, just tired, so Coric relaxed again and came towards Skywalker. „She's coming back.“ A strange greeting, but the General sounded firmly convinced and Coric followed his gaze, the Commander was still floating peacefully in the bacta tank. Coric wasn't sure how General Skywalker could be so sure, but he didn't dare to argue. „We want to get her out shortly before the end of my shift, that would save her from waking up in the tank and-“ She blinked and Coric interrupted himself. Everyone paused and watched as the disoriented girl let her gaze wander. Then she lifted a hand a tiny bit higher and Skywalker grew half a head taller. He should straighten his back more often... „She has to get out of there.“, instructed the General and one of the medics went to the controls to prepare the tank for a slow emptying. „Now!“, exclaimed the General and when Coric looked from the Medic to the Commander, he realized why Skywalker was urging him to hurry. With both hands she tugged in panic at the mask that held the tube, that supplied her with air, in place. That was a panic attack! „Get her out, immediately!“, Coric barked himself and all the medics in the room raised their eyes. A hectic rush broke out.

Rex reflexively grabbed General Skywalker's upper arm as the Jedi tried to jump forward. Better not to get in the way of the medics. They both knew that, though Skywalker was fond of forgetting. It was only when two men set the soaking wet, whipping girl down on the cold durasteel floor that Rex allowed himself a moment to worry. If she continued like this, Ahsoka would hurt herself! Skywalker hurried forward and helped the medics to get her frantically clenched hands under control. „Ahsoka, hold still.“, he muttered and although she rolled her eyes to be able to look at her Master, her panic didn't seem to subside. It wouldn't work like that, Rex watched the whole thing for exactly two seconds. Skywalker himself was still tense and Rex didn't know much about the Force, but he understood that Ahsoka knew very well when Skywalker was angry or tense. She needed a calm thing to concentrate at, something other than the unfiltered concern of the other Jedi. Without thinking further, he put his helmet to one side and hurried over to the girl with a few steps. She had squeezed her eyes shut. Was she crying? Quickly, but without wanting to appear too hasty, Rex crouched down and thus at Ahsoka's eye level. „Calm down kid.“, he instructed her and she reacted immediately to his firm tone, her eyes snapped open and she stared at him with wet eyes. She was crying. „That's good, just look at me.“, praised Rex and lowered his voice a little, he had her attention. Until one of the medics moved frantically to get some towels. Ahsoka immediately tried to turn her head around and under the mask she had drawn back her lips and dug her teeth deep into the tube in her fear. Before she could look away completely, Rex grabbed her face with one hand by the chin and forced her head back. „Eyes on me.“, he growled and when she returned his gaze, her eyes no longer just looked panicked, she was hurting. The medics would have sedated any clone by now, but not even Coric dared to leave his place directly behind Rex. „You’re okay.", muttered Rex, gesturing with his free hand to Coric to open the mask. This time Ahsoka remained calm, she had fixed her eyes firmly on Rex and carefully he raised his second hand to her jaw as well. „Soon over.", he muttered and Ahsoka blinked a few times hastily before she simply closed her eyes again. As Rex forced her jaws open with both hands, he saw from the corner of his eye how Ahsoka's small hands clenched into fists. Then Coric leaned over next to him again and pulled the mask from her face with one fluid movement, the tube followed and when Ahsokas was hardly released, she gasped violently for air.

*~*

Kix was on his way to medical anyway, but the fact that General Skywalker had him called made him hurry. With quick steps he came through the door and stopped suddenly, the scene had changed tremendously in the last few hours. The bacta tank at the end of the room was empty, a droid busy cleaning it. The medics seemed to be putting together the things from Ahsokas treatment. Kix was glad that after the last few months with the 501st, he had gotten used to the mess. He was able to locate Skywalker quickly. He was sitting on one of the beds, Coric and Rex standing with him and a slim figure leaned against Skywalker's side. As he got closer, he realized that Ahsoka had wrapped herself in one of General Skywalker's robes. Her eyes were closed, but her shoulders pulled up a little as Kix got closer. General Skywalker looked up, the corners of his mouth curling up in a relieved smile. „Kix, I want you to keep an eye on Ahsoka. Can you do that?“, he asked in a unusual calm voice and Kix forced himself to look at Coric first, after all it was he who arranged the shifts and it was far from Kix to simply agree over his head. Coric met his gaze with furrowed eyebrows, but he nodded. „Of course Sir.“, Kix replied and Skywalker nodded satisfied, carefully patting Ahsoka's head with one hand and the girl opened her eyes. „I have to get back to work, Kix is staying with you. Okay?“ She nodded and when her Master got up Kix saw her swaying briefly, Rex's hand was immediately there to support her. Everyone waited until the General left the room. „What happened?“, Kix asked quietly, he had learned Ahsoka's treatment plan by heart quickly and this was not part of it! Coric made a tired face and took out a datapad. „A panic attack, we had to get her out. I don't think we'll get her into a tank again anytime soon.", he muttered to Kix and showed him a snapshot of her vital signs, huh. That was maybe even a new record. Okay... „I want you to take her to the quarters.“, Rex contributed and with one hand he helped Ahsoka to her feet. She was trembling all over, under the robe she wore the clones' blacks that were far too large for her. At least she wouldn't be cold. Carefully, Kix wrapped an arm around her and took her from Rex. „Copy that.“ The way to the quarters was long, although Kix had wrapped his arm around the Commander so tightly that he practically carried her, they made slow progress. She still looked disoriented and scared, so Kix decided to do the only thing he could think of now. Not as a medic, but as a brother. „Do you remember the nap with the others? When you where sitting with Commander Cody?“, he asked softly as they passed two men. The sleep cycle had already begun, and few eyes followed them, even as the news of her recovery would spread like wildfire across the ship. Ahsoka muttered an affirmative sound against Kix's side and he smiled. „That's exactly what we're going to do now.“

Jesse shot up as soon as the door opened and the bright light from the hallway poured into the quarters. He blinked a few times, then the door slid shut again and in the dim light of the night lights he recognized Kix and Ahsoka, who was pressed tightly to his side and clung to his armor with both hands. In one jump he was out of his bunk and with them. Jesse wrapped an arm around Ahsoka's other side. „Commander!“ Droidbait and Cutup almost fell out of their bunks in their rush and now the others were fully awake too. Kix headed for a wall with Ahsoka and Jesse and picked up his blanket with one hand on the way. „What's that supposed to be?“, Hardcase asked and got up, Jesse smirked when Kix grinned broadly, he loved it when his brothers was relaxed enough to lose up a bit. „A nap.“, Kix replied and immediately Hardcase was on his feet, grabbed his own blanket and threw himself on the floor in front of Kix. „I've heard that one before!“, the heavygunner grinned and took the girl from Kix and Jesse with surprisingly gentle hands. Jesse had always known that Hardcase was one of the girls favourites. But it was still incredibly cute to see Hardcase wrapping his long arms around her and Ahsoka curling up on him, sniffing softly. „A nap?“, Echo asked from behind them and Jesse shrugged before sitting down next to Hardcase and opening an arm, without hesitation Kix let himself be pulled into a hug. „Yep, a good old nap. You are welcome to join.“, smiled Hardcase and cautious movement came into the remaining clones. Cutup plopped quietly to the other side of Hardcase, one hand landing on Ahsoka's back. „You really gave us a hard time vod'ika.“, muttered Droidbait and stretched out in front of them all. Kix chuckled as the others settled on the floor for the rest of the sleep cycle. „If that was already a shock to you, talk to Coric tomorrow.“, he muttered and Fives grumbled as he placed his head on Echo's shoulder. „Better not, he slept even less than you.“, Hevy mumbled and after a last grin, they went silent. Their tiny and fragile Commander was okay and with them. It would be okay.

[owl-with-a-pen]

Prompt where brainy gets very angry over something and nia just wraps her arms around his waist to give him a big hug from behind. That “it’s okay, I’m here” trope. Specific but I’m curious to see how you would write it x

- Okay so this gave me a cute idea that I decided to run with. Hope you enjoy!

Nia knew it was bad the second she saw Alex walking quickly in the opposite direction from the Tower’s lab.

“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you,” Alex warned as she passed Nia by, offering her a strained smile. “He’s in a mood.”

Nia winced.

Right. One of Brainy’s classic moods. The Super Friends had learnt to make themselves scarce when one presented itself. And, oh boy, did they present themselves.

Although Brainy had had a tendency to get moody before removing his inhibitors, this was way different. Anger was still so new to him in this sort of a capacity, and when he needed to focus on something – really focus - distractions were something he just couldn’t stand. Outside stimulus became too difficult to manage when he was in that kind of headspace. It was times like those that he valued his privacy, and would readily snap at whoever didn’t grant it to him.

Nia leant hesitantly in the archway to the lab, digging her shoulder into the brickwork as she watched Brainy worriedly from behind. He was tinkering with something on his workbench; his back and shoulders were rigid, and although she couldn’t see his face, Nia was certain she could hear a distinct crack from how tightly he was clenching his jaw.

It wasn’t good for him to hold everything in like this, but the alternative wasn’t exactly pretty. When Brainy had told her about the broken keyboard, the broken tablet and the very nearly broken TV, it had become clear to her that he’d needed a healthier outlet.

Kelly had spoken to them both about ways to support each other when it came to nightmares or outside stressors, but Brainy was more of a complicated case than Nia, simply because he’d never experienced these emotions before. He had no frame of reference for even half of what he was feeling, and that terrified him.

And so, as much as she wanted to respect Brainy’s unspoken wish, Nia knew she couldn’t let him stay holed up alone in his lab like this. It'd only encourage his emotions to grow even further out of check.

Her concerns were verified when Brainy jerked his hand suddenly, throwing the device he had been working on clean from the table, sending it to the floor with a jarring clang.

“Sprock,” he muttered tightly. He made no move to retrieve it. Instead, he gripped tightly to the workbench’s edge, leaning his full weight into it. He ducked his head, chest heaving with the effort of holding back this newfound rage.

Nia knew the signs well enough by now. He was seconds from bursting wide open, his most unruly emotions reaching an intensity he wouldn’t be able to filter out on his own.

Nia hated seeing him like this, but what hurt her the most was knowing just how helpless all of this made Brainy feel. He didn’t like what these emotions did to him, and most certainly didn’t want to act on his most violent impulses. It was why Kelly had offered her help in the first place, even suggesting some breathing exercises for when things got too volcanic for him to handle. Right now, though? Brainy was barely able to work those exercises through his lungs.

It wasn’t working. This tightly wound, it would be impossible for Brainy to come down organically. Nia’s heart clenched, the urge to do something for him so profound that she could barely stay put in the doorway. But what could she do? It wasn’t exactly like she could rip this anger out of him. She couldn’t control a person’s emotions, her powers didn’t work that way.

If only they could. If only she could offer him something…

Unless…

Nia frowned suddenly, glancing down towards her hands, the energy filters she wore as bracelets around her wrists.

Surely, it couldn’t hurt to try… right?

Nia pushed herself from the wall, heading carefully across the room. She managed her footing well enough that Brainy didn’t hear her over the laboured pants of his own breathing. By the time she was in reaching distance, she could see the tremors running through his arms, the pinched corners of his lips as he swallowed down the urge to unleash his most tempestuous emotions.

Nia didn’t think. Instead, she took that final step forward, sliding her arms around Brainy’s back, clasping her hands firmly together against his front.

It was a bold move, all things considered. After all, Brainy wasn’t always welcoming to anyone’s touch, not even her own.

Expectedly, Brainy stiffened the second he felt her arms around him, although he didn’t try to move out of her hold. “Nia-?” he managed weakly. “What’re you-?”

“Just breathe, okay?” Nia said softly, tucking her face into the private warmth of his shoulder. She could feel his pulse quivering against her cheek, sidling close enough that she was able to mould herself against the gentle curve of his spine. “Tell me what you’re feeling.”

Her question was clearly enough to throw him off guard. Brainy glanced about himself restlessly before relenting, closing his eyes. “This rage,” he muttered. “It- it won’t stop. Every time I think I have a hold on myself, it comes bubbling back up.” He swallowed hard, baring his teeth. “I can’t stop it, Nia.”

“You got frustrated,” Nia said, holding her voice steady. “You just need to take a break. It’ll pass, I promise.”

Brainy choked out a strained laugh. “I- don’t know how it can. Not without…”

He didn’t finish. He didn’t need to; Nia knew exactly what he was implying. Previously, these attacks had only ended in one way: with him breaking a particularly complex piece of his own equipment, which only furthered his frustrations later on when he inevitably had to rebuild it from the ground up.

Lena had encouraged him to let his emotions out, and maybe at first that had been helpful – cathartic, even. But, Nia knew Brainy. When not directed at a bad guy, the act of violence only made him feel uneasy, reminding him none too gently of the cruelty his ancestral line was capable of. He may have only ever broken inanimate objects when releasing his pent-up rage, but it didn’t stop him from ending every outburst with a tearful comedown. It was usually only then that Brainy would normally let her in, which was why Nia knew exactly how exhausting this was for him.

Every episode was taxing on Brainy, both physically and emotionally, and yet they never got any easier for him to manage. He just couldn’t catch a break. No matter how hard he tried, his anger was always prickling just beneath his skin, ready to burst through at a moment’s notice.

This time, though?

“What if I helped?” Nia suggested, spreading her hands tactfully across his abdomen.

“What do you m-” but Brainy didn’t finish. Instead, he sucked in a sharp breath, arching his back instinctively as Nia closed her eyes, allowing her dream energy to wash across her palms, encouraging Brainy to absorb it in earnest.

Brainy sagged into the desk immediately, the metalwork denting like putty between his fingers. He groaned aloud, his voice distorted against the crackling static of his modulator. When she was certain it was working, Nia summoned more energy, not just to her hands, but to every part of her, willing it to swirl and crackle in the air around them, transferring to Brainy's body in a whirl of blue fog. Brainy laxed further into Nia’s touch as a result, lashes fluttering as he tried to hold himself steady against the workbench.

Nia smirked, running her hands tenderly across Brainy's ribs before slipping them both behind his back, working her fingers carefully into her boyfriend’s shoulders. Her energy looped around every digit like electric blue coils as she continued to massage it through his muscles. The tension inside of Brainy unravelled all at once, enough that his legs very nearly gave out, but not quite. After all, this wasn’t the knock-out potency of her energy that she’d been steadily perfecting against her enemies. Instead, this was something new, a far weaker version Nia hadn’t seen much use for in the field. If anything, it worked as her own brand of Nyquil, instilling a drowsiness that encouraged total relaxation of the host in question. It wasn’t exactly something that could do much on the offensive. But, for this? Nia couldn’t think of anything more perfect.

“How does this feel?” she asked after a long moment, pressing her thumb experimentally into the base of Brainy’s shoulder blade.

“Good,” Brainy murmured, a pleasant shudder rolling down his spine. His voice was still distorted by a mechanised echo, and he showed no signs of trying to correct it. “Really good.”

“Good.” Nia grinned, kissing his throat. She kept kneading circles across her boyfriend’s back, tracing her fingernails down both sides of his spine. When she reached just above Brainy’s tailbone, she bit her lip, slipping her hands quickly beneath his shirt, pressing them against his skin.

Brainy's body ran far warmer than Nia's, even with dream energy burning through her blood. Brainy inhaled sharply at the foreign sensation of Nia's cold fingers before his eyes rolled to a close. The sudden lack of tension in his jaw caused his lips to part, allowing his lungs to unlock. Already, Nia found the steady rise and fall of his chest much improved, allowing him to breathe unrestricted for the first time since this episode had started.

Nia tucked her face against Brainy’s neck, pressing another kiss just above the collar of his jacket. Even her lips were alive with static, potent enough to cause Brainy’s throat to spasm. If the droning hum of contentment issuing from his chest was anything to go by, she figured he was starting to really enjoy this.

She grinned, looping her arms back around his front. “Still angry?” she asked.

Brainy’s eyes were half lidded when he shook his head. “I—thank you.”

“Anytime,” Nia said.

Neither of them were willing to separate just yet, so Nia stayed exactly where she was, feeding gentle waves of energy against Brainy's back the whole while.

Kelly had told them that there was no overnight solution for this, warning that at times, it might feel like they were barely making any progress at all.

Today, though? Nia felt like she’d made enough to be proud of.

And hopefully, Brainy felt the same way, too.

[cheeriecherry]

Space Between [8/9] [Aizawa Shouta x Reader x Yamada Hizashi]

EraserMic x f!Reader

Part 8/9

Warnings: mentions of panic attacks, some fluff, no beta we die like men

It’s dark. So dark that you can’t see your hand in front of your face, or your breath in the air as it heaves from your lungs. The cold is all encompassing, and the damp chills your bones and makes them ache.

Where are you?

Water drips from a leaking pipe somewhere off to the side. You feel like you should know the place, but the name escapes you. A basement? A warehouse?

Where are you?

“Tell me who you work for boy, and who you brought with you.”

You whip towards the sound of the voice, a shiver crawling down your spine. You’d know that cruel, grating lilt anywhere...but if she was here, did that mean you were…? No, you couldn’t be back there. It was too dark, too silent, to empty…

“I’m not working for anyone! I’m loyal to-”

A slap cracks in the quiet, cutting sharp into your ears. You take a hesitant step towards the flurry of sound, then another, and soon you’re sprinting through the darkness.

A little piece of you knows you’re not getting anywhere.

“I’ll give you one more chance, hero scum. Give me the name of your partner, and I’ll let you live.”

Your foot catches on something unseen, and you topple forwards, colliding heavy with the wet ground. Your palms sting against the grainy floor, and your breathing is thick and laboured.

You look up to try and something, anything, in the pitch black.

“I...don’t...have one…”

You gasp and fling yourself away from the sudden and intrusive gurgling voice in your ear. So close, but so broken and distorted. You squeeze your eyes shut and fold your hands over your ears in preparation. You know what happens next. You know, and you don’t want to see, don’t want to hear it. Not again.

Just give her my name, you beg silently, wishing more than anything that the outcome of the situation would be different this time. Just give her my name!

A gun cocks, loud and violating, despite your covered ears.

A cold, violent laugh.

“Then you die alone.”

You gasp awake to the sound of a gunshot ringing in your mind. You’re covered in a cool sheen of sweat, trembling like an earthquake. You glance frantically around the room, looking for any signs of danger, and only when you find none does your heart begin to slow. You sit up.

Outside the window, the sky is lightening. The sun hasn’t risen yet, leaving the dawn greenish and undisturbed.

Shouta appears in the doorway, and you regard each other silently. He clearly hadn’t expected you to be awake at this hour, but everything in your panicked expression tells him why you are. He takes a seat on the edge of the bed, half-dressed.

“Nightmare?” he asks, though he already knows the answer. Still, you nod weakly.

“You were talking in your sleep,” he says quietly, as unthreatening as he can manage, “in English. Something about your name.”

That’s all it takes for you to burst out crying, tears exploding forth and pained wails breaking from your chest. Shouta moves towards you slowly and wraps his arms around you in a tight hug.

“My name,” you weep, leaning heavily against him, “why didn’t the stupid kid just give her my name?!”

Your boyfriend rubs soothing circles into your back, not truly knowing how to answer you.

“She made him give everything else! Why wouldn’t he give my name?! I was right there! I could have helped! I could have fought! He’d still be alive-”

You cry harder into his shirt, and remain tucked in Shouta’s embrace for several minutes. Your sobs eventually turn to snotty sniffles, though neither of you pay any mind to the mess you’re making on his shirt.

“He...he didn’t even give me the option to try and save him. If my cover had been blown, then I…”

“Would probably be dead, too.” Shouta’s voice is low and pained, as if merely speaking the words caused him distress.

You peek up at him through wet lashes. “You don’t know that.”

“I do,” he says, “Up until a few days ago, you were in no shape to fight Akuma and win. If you’d stood up back then, your partner would still be dead, and you’d be beside him, and every bastard you’ve put behind bars would still be out there.”

“But how do you know?” your voice crackles, fresh tears springing up. “How do you know I couldn’t have saved him?”

“How do you know you could have?”

You’re both quiet for several beats, before you sigh deeply and set your head back on his shoulder.

“I...don’t.”

You stay like that for another couple minutes, listening closely to the beat of his heart and the steady thrum of his breathing. And once your anxiety begins to settle, you start to squirm.

“You’re gonna be late for work, Sho.”

He pushes the hair off your face, and lays a tender kiss on your forehead. “The kids will understand.”

You grumble a little, and offer him a tired smile. “Thank you. But really, I think I’m okay now. It’s easier getting through this when you or Hizashi are around.”

Shouta looks like he doesn’t quite believe you, but he knows coddling you will only make you mad. You’ve come far enough, trusting him to see you during a vulnerable moment. He wasn’t going to push it further.

“Promise you’ll call me if you start feeling less okay.”

You roll your eyes lightheartedly. “Yes, dad.”

“I’m serious, Y/N. Me or Hizashi. We’ll talk with you through whatever’s causing you problems.”

You avert your gaze from his, inklings of guilt creeping into your heart. “You’re not my therapists,” you tell him softly, “You shouldn’t have to talk me through anything. It’s not your job to deal with all my fucked up shit.”

“But we do love you.” He reaches down and takes your face in his hands, thumbs gently stroking over your damp cheeks. “We’ll support you however you need, no matter what. We want to be there for you, okay?”

You lean into his touch for a couple seconds, letting your eyes fall shut.

“Alright,” you relent, “if something happens, I’ll call one of you.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

He leans forward and kisses you, then stands to continue dressing. You watch him as he moves around the room, collecting his various accessories and pouches, pointing things out to him whenever he can’t find it.

He’s out of the house a few minutes later, leaving you with a warm goodbye and a tight hug. Hizashi had gone even earlier, which now left you completely alone in the house.

It seemed more spacious than it usually did, now that you’re on your own. No background din of partners moving around, no sounds of quiet conversation, or television music. Your chest dully aches as you flop back onto the bed and pull the blankets over your body.

You didn’t particularly want to go back to sleep, but you could feel the tiredness still in your limbs, and the heaviness behind your eyes. On top of that, your therapist had suggested you try some breathing exercises when trying to fall asleep, and you’d yet to try them out. Even if you didn’t pass back out, it might still be enough to allow you to lay there with your eyes shut.

Lo and behold, not thirty seconds after you start measuring your breaths, you begin to drift off.

----

The next time you wake, it’s nearly one in the afternoon. You feel surprisingly rested with the extra couple of hours, but you’re even more amazed with the lack of recurring nightmares. Plain, decent rests were few and far between.

Feeling revived, you’re able to look at your earlier dream more logically. It’s obvious now that your past is still haunting you, and that you’re even further stressed about the events to come. Your confrontation with Akuma is less than a week away, and you can finally see how much it’s weighing on you.

You’ve been trying your best to remain optimistic, to prepare yourself mentally for the oncoming fight, but you’re just so...tired. All the time. Exhausted down to your very core. You know that therapy will help you in the long run, and that’s what you’re planning for, but you know it’ll be months until you start feeling the affects.

You might not even have months left to live.

You sigh deeply, wishing your negative thoughts would leave you alone. Your phone sits on the bedside table beside you, silently taunting you. You could call one of your boyfriends...but did this count as a stressful time; dealing with the very hard truth?

Probably not.

And you don’t want to feel like a burden, like you need help with every tiny thing.

You could get through this on your own, you decide. You had an appointment in three hours, so if you could make it that long, you’d be okay.

But...maybe you’d leave a little earlier than usual. Getting out of the house would probably be good for you, so maybe you’d stop to get a coffee before your session...

Your heart warms at the thought of a warm drink and a snack, so you roll out of bed and start going about your day. No more moping around, you tell yourself. You were going to hold your head high, and hope your mood gets the memo.

----

It’s a nice afternoon for a walk. Not too hot, not too cold, sunny with white fluffy clouds dotted around, and a light breeze. You sip at the drink in your hand, letting the sweet taste soothe you from the inside out. You weren’t entirely sure whereabouts you were, having been wandering the city aimlessly for the past half hour.

Oddly enough, it didn’t bother you. Most often, you liked to know your exact location, to know which way you could run if you needed to. But today, despite your earlier panic, you feel...good. Light. You can’t describe the sudden onslaught of positivity, but you know it’s there. Maybe because Shouta and Hizashi are just a phonecall away, maybe it’s because you’re taking the time to care for yourself, maybe it’s-

You nearly jump out of your skin when a car alarm starts blaring beside you. Anyone around you would probably chuckle at your actions, and you take a second to smile at yourself.

A shop owner must have seen your distress, because he nods apologetically at you as he rushes out of his store to turn the alarm off. He looks tired and spread thin, not unlike your own reflection, and you pause momentarily to watch him walk back into the shop.

You glance over the flyers pasted to the windows, and an odd tremor crawls up your spine.

You try for a moment to chalk it up to your regular anxiety returning, flaring up from your spook a few moments ago...but something in the back of your mind tells you otherwise, some intricately honed survival sense that you’d obtained from years of being under threat.

You look a little closer at the papers in the window.

Most of them are outdated; old advertisements for food deals and community events, images of a couple lost pets. But there’s one sheet at the very center of the mess that catches your eye.

The paper is so pink it’s nearly blinding in the sunlight, but you’re still able to read the details. A charity event at the shop where it’s posted, one day only, when proceeds from every order will be donated to local food banks.

Usually something like that would have you scribbling the date down to participate...but this one freezes your heart to ice and sends another peculiar tremble through your body.

It’s dated for next week. The very day Akuma is meant to attack.

You skitter back a few steps and look up at the store’s sign, fear beginning to roil around in your gut.

Chicken shop. Cartoon chicken mascot.

This is wrong, you think. She’s not meant to attack until next week.

You hurry along from the shop, nearly running as you try to get out of the immediate area. You cut and dive around various slower-paced people, paying them no mind as they scold you for your rudeness.

But no matter how quickly you run, you can’t shake the feeling of impending danger.

You duck into a small nook beside a larger building, a building you’re fairly certain is the radio station from Oracle’s vision, and pull out your phone.

You feel so stupid, while the phone rings and you wait for Shouta to pick up. Oracle has said they couldn’t confirm the date for sure, but you’d pitted everything on them being right. They’d even warned you to be careful about where you go, until the event happened, but you hadn’t listened.

“Shit,” your curse, when you get put through to your boyfriend’s voicemail, bouncing back and forth from one foot to the other.

“Shouta, listen to me,” you tell the recording, “We got the date wrong. I was stupid. I wasn’t careful enough, and I’m downtown. I don’t think this is my mind playing tricks on me, not this time. It feels different. I think Akuma-”

Your breath freezes in your lungs when something cold and pliable wraps around your throat, and a warm body presses against your back. You try to squirm away, but more icy tar wraps around your extremities, holding you in place.

“Hello, little mouse,” Akuma coos, sickly sweet in your ear, “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Your phone falls out of your hand, landing on the sidewalk with a wet splat. It feels disgusting as Akuma’s tendrils wire and snake around your body, soaking through your clothes and into your skin. Your vision is already beginning to fade, and your breath is laboured as the air is choked out of your lungs.

“Your little partner resisted his death, but I have a feeling you won’t make the same mistake.”

The final thought you have is one of Shouta and Hizashi, holding you close with warmth and affection.

Then the world goes black.

[ua-scarfboy]

Dumbass

Pair: Katsuki Bakugo x Gender Neutral!Reader

Synopsis: After defending him from some irritating third-year students, you notice that your friend, Bakugo, starts acting different for the rest of the day. When you try to figure out what’s wrong with him, sparks fly between the two of you. 

Rating: T

Words: 2773

Warning(s): Cursing and Kissing

“Thanks for the help with the homework last night.” You said to Bakugo as the two of you walked through the gates of UA. “I guess I have a hard time understanding the different methods of solving equations.”

Bakugo rolled his eyes. “You just have to pay more attention in class, maybe then you wouldn’t need my help so damn much.” He grumbled.

“Hey! I do pay attention in class. It’s just that the methods Mr. Aizawa teaches us sometimes are a little hard to understand.” You rubbed the back of your head.

“They’re easy if you just do it correctly.”

It was your turn to roll your eyes and shake your head. A sharp whistle could be heard to your left, causing you to glance over in that direction. A group of three boys, who you recognized as third-year students, made their way over to you and Bakugo. One had dark red hair, one had blonde, and the other was a brunette.  

"Hey, muzzle boy," Blondie smirked.

The name caused Bakugo and yourself to stop in your tracks. Bakugo snarled as he turned to glare at the group. You cast them a confused look, furrowing your brows.

“What did you just call me?” Bakugo asked.

"Muzzle boy," the red-head confirmed. "You know, after they decided to put that muzzle on you and tie you up like the bitch you acted like at the Sport's Festival."

“You damn-” Bakugo began.

“Excuse me!?” You shouted, pressing your hand against Bakugo’s chest to stop him before you stepped in front of him, blocking him from the group. “You three better keep your damn mouths shut.”

"This doesn't involve you." the brunette scoffed.

“When you fuck with him,” you gestured back at Bakugo, whose hands were smoking and shaking. “You fuck with me. Now, you better not say another thing about him or-”

“Or what?” The brunette stepped forward, arms crossed.

“Or what?” You raised your brows before you violently shoved him back, causing him to stumble. “You stepping forward at me like you’re trying to start a fight with me? Trying to act all tough? I don’t care if you’re a third-year. You’re the shittiest third-years that I know, treating a first-year like that. Go fuck yourselves.”

The third-year regained himself before he growled. "Why you little…" he trailed off and raised his fist as if to strike at you. However, one of the other guys grabbed his arm before he could take action.

"Hey," the red-head mumbled to him. "We can't start a fight, dude."

“Yeah,” blondie nodded. “Remember what teach said would happen if we got in trouble for that shit again?”

The brunette looked between his two friends and then back at you and Bakugo. Bakugo twitched as if he wanted to lunge at him, but you had placed your hand back over his chest to hold him back. Brunette then lowered his hand and, without another word, stomped off towards the building. Red-head and blondie followed.

As soon as they were out of sight, you turned back to Bakugo. When your hand left his chest, he let out a low growl and clenched his fists.

“What the hell was that?” Bakugo nearly shouted.

You were taken aback by his tone with you, raising your brows at him. You then cocked your head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“I could have handled that! I could have taken all three of those bastards at the same time. There was no reason for you to step in like that! What, you think I couldn’t have defended myself? Do you think I’m weak or something!?”

“Weak? Of course I don’t!” You exclaimed, your voice almost getting as loud as his. “I know that you could take all three of them, but that was something that you didn’t need to deal with. I handled it because I care about you and I have a right to defend you if I want to.”

Bakugo opened his mouth, but nothing was able to come out. His hands were clenched tightly and his lip curled into a snarl. His eyes were scanning every inch of your face, swallowing the lump that was silencing him.

“W-Whatever, dumbass,” he grumbled and turned his back to you, placing his hands into his pockets. “Let’s just get to class before we’re late.”

You watched with rumpled brows as he walked away from you. As the final warning bell rang, you began to make your way to class, trailing behind Bakugo.

Throughout your class, you noticed that Bakugo was acting different than his usual, boisterous self. You were pretty sure that everyone else noticed it as well. There were no smart remarks that came from him about people's wrong answers or about anything that Bakugo's friends said. It was bizarre, and you were quick to pick up on it.

You didn’t have time to talk to him about it, though, before Mr. Aizawa called for everyone to get their hero costumes on and meet outside for a training exercise with All Might. Class 1A walked to the locker-rooms and changed into their costumes before they congregated on the training field outside. All Might stood tall and proud, fists on his hips and that goofy smile he wore every day on his face.

"Good morning, young heroes!" All Might spoke in the enthusiastic tone that he always had. "Today, we are going to be testing the limits of your quirks. I have paired you up with someone who, I feel, would push your quirk to its limits and make you stronger. So, starting off, I have paired young Bakugo and young (L/N) together."

You glanced over at Bakugo, giving him a small smile. Bakugo glanced over at you before looking away.

“The battle will go on until one of you have captured the other or until I call it.” All Might announced. “Young Bakugo, young (L/N), take your positions.”

You and Bakugo walked to either side of the training field. Thinking about it, All Might paired you with a good opponent. Your quirk involved manipulation of metals, which meant that you had to think about what kinds of metals to use when you were attacking Bakugo. His explosion quirk brought on some real heat, which was able to destroy and melt some of the metals that you were able to control. Overall, it was a smart choice on All Might’s part.

You adjusted the metal braces that were on your arm - a part of your hero costume - before you balled your fists. Bakugo had his fists balled as well, but his stance was not as confident as it normally was. It was odd, but you brushed it off.

“Ready…” All Might paused. “Begin!”

Bakugo let out a battle cry as he charged towards you, fingers flexed and palms sparking. Reacting immediately, you rushed towards Bakugo, narrowing your eyes at him. You grabbed your braces and pulled them off, throwing them at Bakugo's feet. As Bakugo stepped on one, it shifted around his ankle, causing a curse to fall from his lips. He tried to kick off the brace but was unsuccessful.

With the distraction keeping Bakugo’s attention away from you for a moment, you were able to press your hand against the concrete ground. It shifted underneath Bakugo’s feet, causing him to fall to the ground on his back. In an instant, the concrete formed around his wrists and legs, holding him down against the ground. You panted and wiped your hands on your legs as you stood up. When you looked down at him, you couldn’t help but feel a sense of dissatisfaction. It didn’t seem as if Bakugo tried his best. He could have easily blasted off the braces that you threw at his feet - he had done it before during various training sessions. What you were wondering was why he didn’t seem like he was trying his best.

“Young (L/N) wins!” All Might said.

The students of Class 1A mumbled among one another. You bent down and pressed your hands against the binds. The concrete shifted back to its proper form, freeing Bakugo. He grumbled as he stood up and rubbed his arms. He glanced at you for a brief moment before he stormed back towards his classmates. You followed behind him, joining your fellow students.

The next duo was Iida and Tokoyami. As the two of them were battling, you couldn’t help but hear the mumbling of Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero. They were discussing something with Bakugo, who seemed to look more and more irritated the longer that the four of them were talking. Eventually, he shoved Kirishima away from him before he stormed off of the field towards the locker rooms.

Raising your brows, you watched as he walked away. With All Might being distracted by the battle between Iida and Tokoyami, he wasn’t able to see Bakugo leave. You walked over to the boys and pressed your hand against Kirishima’s shoulder.

“I’ll go after him,” you told him before you rushed after your friend.

As you entered the locker room, you heard Bakugo grumbling underneath his breath. He stood in front of his locker, taking off his costume. He was already down to his tank-top when you entered the room. You crossed your arms over your chest.

“What was that?” You asked, causing him to tense and growl. “Why did you push Kirishima like that?”

“It’s none of your damn business.” He snarled, throwing on his uniform top before slamming his locker shut.

“Is it because of the battle? What even happened during that battle? You never get taken down that easily. You were supposed to give it your all.”

“I did give it my all, dumbass. You’re just…too good.”

"Too good, my ass! You know that you could do better than that. You could have blasted my braces off your legs as you have before." You stepped closer and closer as you spoke until you stood right next to him.

Bakugo glanced at you before scoffing. “Just leave me alone!’ He shouted before he turned to walk off.

However, before he was able to get far, you grabbed his arm and pulled him back. He gazed at you.

“Look,” your voice was calmer than before. “Bakugo, I know something is wrong, so if you just tell me, then I can-”

Before you were able to finish, Bakugo turned around, grabbed your shoulders, and slammed you against the lockers. His lips crashed against yours. At first, you were shocked, your eyes wide and cheeks hot. As Bakugo kept kissing you, however, you relaxed into the kiss. Your hands moved to his arms, gently touching them as you kissed back.

Bakugo pulled away from you, eyeing your expression. Slowly opening your eyes, you glanced at him. You ran your tongue over your bottom lip and swallowed the lump that had formed in your throat.

“So…” you trailed. “Is…is that why you’ve been acting so weird today?”

"S-Shut up, dumbass," Bakugo growled before he kissed you again.

You hummed and immediately closed your eyes, kissing back. You wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled his body closer to yours. You tangled your fingers through his spiky hair, giving a small tug. He grunted and forced his tongue past your lips. You yelped before letting out a small whimper. Your tongues danced around one another. Bakugo's hands traveled up and down your sides, the feeling of him touching you sending shivers down your spine.

Much to your displeasure, Bakugo pulled his lips away from you. However, he immediately pressed a kiss to your cheek. His eyes were still closed as he began to trail kisses down your cheek to your jaw, then to your neck. With each kiss he placed on your neck, he sucked on the skin ever so slightly.

“B-Bakugo….” you breathed out, slowly opening your eyes.

What you didn’t expect, was to be met with Kaminari’s wide-eyed gaze as he stood at the door of the boy’s locker room. It took a second for your brain to register his presence before your eyes widened as well.

“Kaminari!” You felt your cheeks heat up and your heart race.

Bakugo rapidly lifted his head and turned to face your classmate. He snarled. "What the hell are you doing here?" He nearly shouted.

Kaminari blinked rapidly. "All Might wanted me to check up on you guys once he saw that you weren't with the group, but I didn't expect to walk in on the two of you sucking each other's faces." He laughed.

The way he described the scenario caused the nerves inside of you to worsen and Bakugo to let out an animal-like growl. “I’m going to kill you!”

Bakugo dashed towards Kaminari, whose smile faded and eyes went back to being wide. He rushed out of the door with Bakugo trailing behind. You ran after the two of them, shouting their names. When you caught up to them, Bakugo had Kaminari’s shirt clenched in one of his hands while the other one was sparking uncomfortably close to his face. You grabbed Bakugo’s hand and pulled him away from Kaminari, making sure to stand between them.

“Bakugo, calm down,” you said, raising your brows at him before turning to Kaminari. “Look, Kaminari, please don’t tell anyone. I promise that I will make sure Bakugo doesn’t do anything to you if you promise me that you will not say a single word about what you saw.”

Kaminari glanced at Bakugo and then you before pursing his lips. “I’ll consider…” he trailed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“How about I explode your damn face!?” Bakugo shouted, causing Kaminari to jump slightly.

“Ah! Okay, okay! I promise.”

“Good,” you ran your fingers through your hair. “Now, go and tell All Might that everything is fine and that we will be there in a moment.”

Kaminari nodded. "Sure! Yeah! I'll go do that right now. Go tell All Might that everything is okay. I didn't see anything! Just, telling him that both of you are-"

“Denki Kaminari!” You raised your voice.

“Right!” He nervously chuckled before he made a mad dash back towards the training field.

As soon as he disappeared, you let out a heavy sigh and turned back to look at Bakugo. He was still obviously pissed off, his shoulders shaking, fists clenched at his side, and small sparks appearing from his palms. You reached over, slowly, and placed a hand on his left shoulder.

“Hey, we should probably get back to class.” You suggested.

He grunted. “You know that little brain-dead Pikachu is gonna tell everyone!”

You slapped him on the shoulder. “Be nice!” You scolded before shaking your head. “You know what? Let’s just forget about Kaminari right now.”

“How-”

“Ah-ah,” you held a finger up to stop him from speaking. “We can talk more about it on the walk home, okay?” There was a moment of silence. “Okay?”

“Fine,” he mumbled.

“Great,” you smiled, reaching over and giving him a quick peck on the lips. “Now let’s get back to class.”

Bakugo looked taken aback, swallowing hard. “S-Sure thing…dumbass.”

Your smile only widened as you turned and made your way back to the field. Bakugo followed you, his cheeks as red as they could ever be.

Requests are OPEN

Request Rules: 

Desktop Version: HERE

Mobile Version: HERE