#there is a moment，one that lasted from hours to maybe only a few minutes，where ‘Sora’ did not exist.

[blue-eli]

Ink October day nineteen: Reliquiae

Remains of the dead; relics.

[moonydustx]

So I have this thing...

I need more Law x Reader fics pleeeaassee (；ＴДＴ)

Anyway...

May I ask a reader (up to you what gender) reacting to law proposing to her? Which I doubt canon law would even do but I guess since it's fanfiction, who cares if it's Canon, right???

OMG, this is incredible, hold my hand and I'm with you on this, thank you so much for the request. In my HCs on the Law (I will still post them) I think if it was important for him to do it without even blinking. Surely it would be something more discreet, a small ceremony between just two? I don't know, I might be rambling too much.

Apologies because I didn't have much time to review and maybe I got carried away writing it. I hope you enjoy!

Important: italics are for flashbacks and character readings aloud.

The proposal - favorite moment (part 01)

Part 02 - Part 03

Law counted the minutes until night arrived, it was one of his favorite moments. That was when you would sneak around the submarine and end up knocking on the door on it. In most of these situations, you didn't get out anytime soon. He's not much of a follower on the calendar, celebrating each month together - and come to think of it, everything happened so naturally that it was decided on which day it started to be difficult for you to be a boyfriend.

Like so many other nights, you found yourself doing what was one of the only things Law could name as a hobby. You were nestled between his legs, your body resting on his chest as you attentively read another book. He found himself leaning against the wall, one of his hands resting on his body while with the other he tried to leaf through one of the new editions of Sora comics that he had picked up on the last island he visited.

He had already lost count of how many times the two of you had wasted hours tangled up in his bed reading and something else he was used to hearing you sniffle at something, like you were doing this time. His eyes looked away from the painting and went straight to where you were reading, just out of curiosity. The other times you were sniffling, he had found you reading about some character who died, some reunion, some couple who got together. This time, from what he could see, it was a marriage proposal.

He already knew it was an important topic for you. He also knew that if he had to choose to spend his entire life with someone, it would be you. Law had thought about the hypothesis a few times and when reading the small excerpt from the book, he let himself think about the idea.

"Wow." your feet were planted in front of an immense showcase. Dresses were stacked side by side in various sizes and textures, some with huge trains and others full of silk.

"Don't tell me you're one of those marriage freaks." Ikkaku planted himself next to you, next to Bepo.

"They are beautiful." the bear confirmed, touching the glass.

"Not freak…" you tried to find the words, you really didn't want to sound like a crazy person. "I mean, marriages are two people coming out in love to the world, to the government, to whatever god they may believe in or to no god at all, as if nothing could intervene or separate them."

"Okay, insane then." Shachi appeared behind you, mumbling.

"Actually, that's a nice way of thinking." Ikkaku replied to him, watching you just shrug. "And I won't deny it, they are beautiful dresses."

"Time to go." The captain's voice echoed closer than you imagined, as if he had been there the whole time listening.

Seeing the crew members move forward, agreeing to the captain's request, Law took a few seconds to evaluate the display that had distracted everyone. He could just be daydreaming, but one day you would look incredible wearing a dress like that along with the new name you would carry. Ms. Trafalgar.

From that day on, the idea of ​​proposing to you never left his mind, Law just needed to find the perfect opportunity and it appeared before his eyes.

"Okay…" your choked voice took him out of his reverie. "That's enough tears for today and I'm getting sleepy." you closed the book, turning towards him and snuggling even closer against Law's body.

"Do you mind if I keep reading some more?" he asked and you just mumbled no. His hand got tangled in your strands of hair and it didn't take long for unconsciousness to take you away.

Law gave himself a week to put the plan into practice. The small room at Polar Tang was tidier than usual however you could notice Law more tense than usual behind his back.

"Everything is fine?" you asked, quickly turning to face him. Law seemed distracted from the book in his hands.

"Everything amazing." his lips quickly touched the top of your head. It was now. All the other battles he had faced had not even come close to the anxiety he felt at that moment. "That book you were reading last week?"

"Ah, it's this one. I'm almost done. It's a period romance, princess, knight and all the little things that involves." you laughed, knowing that from your description he would hate the book. "There's no point trying to convince me to read Sora, this one is much cooler."

"So cool you were crying the last time you read it." he said in a teasing tone.

In a casually planned way, even if it went unnoticed in your eyes, he placed the comic he was reading on the bed.

"It's because he was so sweet to her, made an amazing statement."

"Really? Let me see." He moved even closer to your back, looking for space on your shoulder to follow the written words and find the perfect cue.

"Here. Can I read it?"

"Please." he asked, feeling his hands sweat cold.

"Of all the countries I've visited, I don't think I've ever found a home except in you. You've been my home, my safe haven." You started reading, already feeling yourself melting with those words. At the same time, Law took out a small box hidden behind one of the pillows. "So let me be the sword that protects you, the heart that loves you infinitely. I thought happiness would only find me in the next life until I found myself lost in you. What do you mean by that, my love? So, the The knight fell to his knees, the wounds of the battle he faced seemed not to bother him, not when Annya's eyes rested on him. Annya then heard the four words that carried a lifetime of promises…"

"Would you marry me?" Law's voice echoed alongside yours.

Before you could ask what he thought, a small black box appeared in your field of vision. Inside it, a golden ring with a small heart symbol glittered. The book fell from your hands, finding your lap, as you turned to your boyfriend.

"Law?" at that moment, your voice was not the most reliable. As shaky as she was, your vision was blurred by what you suspected were tears. Your hands covered your lips, still not believing what you were seeing.

"Maybe my sword heals you more than defends you, but that doesn't mean I'll let anyone hurt you in this world. You're my home, my safe haven and I can't wait for you to be my wife. I'd even kneel, but It's a little complicated." he smiled, seeing you still paralyzed on top of him. "So, would you marry me?"

"Yes." the first time came out as a whisper. "Yes Yes Yes!" with each new time the word left your lips, you allowed euphoria to take over your body.

Law took your hand, placing a small kiss before putting on the ring and repeating the gesture, as soon as the jewel was in the place where it belonged. His hands pulled you so your legs were around his waist.

"That's…" you even tried to speak, but it was impossible to put everything you felt at the moment into so few words. You saw him pull out a ring that was the same color as yours, without all the details. "Let me do it."

Before he could put it on his own finger, you took it from his hand and repeated the same thing he had done to you. He placed a small kiss between the tattooed fingers and let the jewelry take its rightful place.

"I don't believe." You looked at your hand and then at him. "Law, that was so amazing."

"You're incredible. I can't wait to see you become Mrs. Trafalgar. My beautiful, smart, a little crybaby…" he wiped away your tears, bringing a laugh from your lips. "My dear wife."

"I love you so much." you cupped his face, taking his lips to yours.

Even though it was full of emotions and promises, it was a calm kiss. Law, like you, wanted to record every second of that moment, every inch of skin kissed, every touch.

In the end, Law was also a marriage nut - just with his dear Lady Trafalgar.

----

Little extra:

Law was never a big fan of public displays of affection, but that morning he had made an exception. Seeing you happy, showing off your new ring and the promise of marriage, ideas of what to do on the date, honeymoon suggestions. He couldn’t deny it, it was amazing to see how happy you were with the whole situation.

His happiness was short-lived when he saw three sullen faces - one of them looking like a bear - sitting in front of him.

"So Law, my friend." Penguin began.

"Shut up, it's me."

"But I'm his best friend." Bepo grumbled.

"What do you want?" he asked, trying to understand what the three were discussing so much

"Which of the three of us will be the best man?" Shachi warned and Law watched the three in front of him cross their arms and wait for a response.

Before he could respond, Law felt two arms slide and lock around him.

"We haven't decided that yet guys. We can talk about it later." you asked and watched them begin to argue among themselves who would be what.

"Thanks." Law muttered, making you laugh. You bent down to his ear level.

"And you, I'll be waiting for you in the room. I got someone to cover my duties today, now I want to continue feeling what my dear fiancé can do for me." In contrast to the whispered and sexy voice that left your lips, you left a chaste kiss on Law's cheek and left towards the dorms.

[yslkook]

BRIGHT (2)

mind of mine masterlist

summary: you and jungkook share a moment in a bookstore. pairing: “badboy” jk x “shy/reserved” oc warnings: cursing, excessive use of pet names…bc its me

“Oh, lighten up Jeon,” Yoongi rolls his eyes, “You look like someone told you that your cat died.”

“The only kitty he wants won’t give him the time of day,” Mina grins, earning herself a glare from Jungkook.

“More like I can't get her time of day because her stupid best friend has a stick up her ass,” Jungkook mutters.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this,” Mei observes, “Our baby tattoo artist pining over a girl…”

“If looks could kill, you’d be dead by now, Mei,” Yoongi says pointedly, “Now stop wasting time meddling in Jungkook’s love life, Jin will have all of our heads-”

“Love life? I don’t have a love life,” Jungkook protests, eyes adorably round.

“And that’s why you’re so broody today, honey,” Mina teases, “More so than usual at least.”

“I am not broody,” Jungkook grumbles, turning his back on his laughing coworkers and friends. He can’t help but smile at their teasing.

“Oh, lighten up, Kookie,” Mei says lightly, clapping his shoulder, “If it makes you feel any better, that girl couldn’t stop staring at you at Hobi’s birthday. And she definitely wants a piece of this.”

Jungkook ignores the raucous laughter of his friends (which only increases when Jin comes out from the backroom to add on to his suffering) and the reddening of his cheeks as he gets ready for his full day of tattoo consultations and appointments.

Jungkook’s day ends about an hour earlier than he had anticipated- his last client for the day had to reschedule due to a last minute conflict. That’s fine by him. It gives him time to stop by the bookstore a few blocks away from the tattoo parlor before it closes.

Jungkook tries his best to read at least one new book a month. He’s known the older shop owner, Jia and her young son, Jae-sung, for years now, as he had basically grown up with Jia from childhood.

He loves the quiet of the store and the immediate scent of vanilla and cedar that surrounds him as soon as he walks in. The bookstore itself has a vintage sort of feel, with dimmed lights, old shelves of mahogany and candles placed throughout the store.

Jungkook always brings croissants from the bakery nearby for Jia and little Jae-sung. Usually when he comes by, the bookstore is empty (or close to it).

Jae-sung screeches when he sees Jungkook walk in the door and immediately runs up to him, hugging his legs. Jungkook crouches, ruffling his hair fondly and Jae-sung is nearly bouncing off of the heels of his feet.

“Mommy say she have new book for you, Kookie!” Jae-sung beams, eyeing the box of croissants in Jungkook’s free hand.

“Does she?” Jungkook muses, “Your mommy always knows what kind of books I like.”

“Me too! Me too!”

“Hey, Jungkook,” Jia’s voice filters through the store as she approaches, “It’s been a while.”

“It took me a while to finish the last book. But so worth it,” He says apologetically, “I also brought croissants. Enjoy.”

“You spoil us,” Jia rolls her eyes, “The new arrivals are in the back, third aisle from the left. You know the drill.”

Jia has known Jungkook since he was a baby in diapers- she’s been his aunt’s close friend for years and years now. Jungkook likes to joke that he likes Jia more than his own aunt, and Jia always reprimands him (without really meaning it).

He thought the bookstore was empty, save for Jia and Jae-sung. But he’s clearly mistaken, when he sees a figure in an olive green sweater and black jeans perusing through the new arrivals with their bottom lip tucked between their teeth in concentration.

He recognizes them immediately and when the person raises their head in curiosity, he sees your wide eyes and a shy smile starting to pull across your lips.

You’re here, in his favorite bookstore where he feels like he’s at home. If he was looking for a sign, then this was it.

“Hi,” You say softly, waving your fingers at him, “So you like reading, huh?”

You visibly cringe and Jungkook chuckles. Your cheeks feel warm when you take him in, swirls and dots of his tattoos peeking out of his black leather jacket and beckoning you closer to him. The three hoops in his left ear glint with the light and the dangling earring on his right ear dangles with the movement of his head. His hair is tied back into a ponytail, accentuating the curve of his jaw and his soft dimples.

Your breath is stolen away when you meet his eyes, deep brown and murky, popping against the peach eyeshadow on his eyelids.

You nearly swoon on the spot before you get your bearings. Maybe he’d catch you if your knees buckled, you think dryly. How embarrassing.

“I try reading something new once a month,” Jungkook replies, pulling you out of your reverie, “And I just like the bookstore in general. Sometimes I like to just come here and hang out with Jia and Jae-sung.”

“Oh! Jia makes my favorite lavender chamomile tea. There’s nothing like it,” You say a little dreamily, “Jae-sung is a cutie. That boy can just look at you and you’d be putty in his hands. Kinda like you.”

The last bit slips out of your mouth without you meaning for it to.

“Kinda like me, huh,” Jungkook smirks, eyes glittering, “It would be fun to see if you’d be putty in my hands, wouldn’t it?”

“The world may never know,” You mumble sheepishly and avoid his eyes again, “What kind of book are you looking for?”

“The one you’re holding, baby,” Jungkook murmurs, looking past your shoulder for another copy of the same book.

“Are you looking for this book just because I’m reading it or because you’ve been genuinely eyeing it?” You ask boldly, a hint of a smile playing on your lips.

“Oh, you’re funny,” Jungkook snorts, walking past you to grab the book off of the shelf.

“So I’ve been told,” Your eyes flash, “We should do a boozy book club.”

“Is it a book club if it’s just the two of us?”

“It can be whatever we want it to be,” You shrug, “Besides, don’t you wanna hang out with me?” You tilt your head and Jungkook’s resolve weakens. His heart does something funny- is this how it’s supposed to be?

“Of course I wanna hang out with you, baby,” Jungkook murmurs smoothly, “C’mon, let’s go have some of Jia’s tea. And a croissant too, if Jae hasn’t eaten them already.”

Jungkook glares at Jia the entire time that she’s making tea for both of you. He knows her sly, curious eyes and was unable to keep the surprise off of her face when you had both walked down the stairs together.

She even had the audacity to wink at him. He hopes that the family groupchat doesn’t start blowing up when Jia inevitably informs his aunt and mother about this new development.

“Kookie,” Jae-sung whispers (loudly) when you step away to use the bathroom, “Is dat your girlfriend?”

“What?” Jungkook hisses, “Who told you that?”

“My mommy say I ask you! I not know!”

“No, Jae, that’s not my girlfriend,” Jungkook mumbles, shooting Jia another death glare. She only smiles smugly at him from her spot behind the counter.

Jia leaves him alone for the most part when you return and take your seat next to him. He can still feel her eyes on you both as she washes teacups, watching like a hawk.

“These croissants are so good,” You nearly moan, “Where’d you get them?”

“There’s a bakery near the tattoo parlor,” Jungkook says, “You should come by sometime.”

“The bakery or the parlor?”

“Both?”

“I’ve only been there a few times,” You muse, “I hear you’re the best tattoo artist there. From the mouth of Hobi and Jin themselves.”

“Don’t let Mina and Mei hear you say that,” Jungkook says weakly, rubbing the back of his neck. His cheeks are a little pink and you resist chuckling to yourself.

“I’ve always wanted to get a second piercing,” You trail off, “But never really committed to it.”

“What would you want to get? We do piercings, too,” Jungkook says.

“Cartilage? Industrial? I don’t know,” You shrug, sipping your tea.

“Mina usually has a good eye for that,” Jungkook admits, “Now you have more of a reason to stop by.”

“Oh, I already had a reason to stop by the parlor,” You say brazenly with a sweet smile.

“Is that so?” Jungkook says, quirking an eyebrow at you.

You hum and continue to sip your tea, wondering if he can somehow hear the loud rattling of your eager heart in your ribcage.

Conversation with him comes so easily and you don’t know when the last time you had spent this long with him was. Something always seems to interrupt you both when you eventually do find yourselves alone with each other during outings with friends. But this time, it’s just you and him tucked away in this bookstore.

The sun has long gone down and Jia was about to close the bookstore for the day. In fact, the only reason she kept it open for this long was because of you both. You apologize profusely with worried eyes when you realize the time and see Jae-sung fast asleep in his mother’s arms.

She waves you off, giving Jungkook a lingering look that you don’t understand.

“I’ll be back soon,” You promise Jia in a soft voice, so as to not wake Jae-sung, “Be well, Jia.”

She bids you both goodnight, and unbeknownst to you, she shoots Jungkook a simple text. It states: “keep her close, i like her”.

Jungkook ignores it in favor of focusing on you.

“How you getting home, baby?” Jungkook asks as you both walk up the block shoulder to shoulder.

“Hmm… I’m supposed to meet Sora for dinner but she said she’s stuck at work,” You murmur, wrapping your arms around yourself as you scroll on your phone, “But I was just on social media and it looks like she’s getting drinks with her other friends…”

You look at him with a frown tugging at your lips and your eyes wide. “Maybe it was a last minute thing,” You mumble to yourself.

“Or maybe she lied to you,” Jungkook says sharply. You only look at him in silence for a few moments with furrowed brows.

“Maybe there was a reason,” You shrug, “Why would she lie about that?”

Because she’s Sora, and she just would. But Jungkook stays silent. You don’t need to hear about how he dislikes your best friend, at least not yet. Not when you’re not ready to hear it.

“Forget about her,” Jungkook says easily, “Lemme take you home, baby.”

“I’m not riding that metal death contraption,” You say flatly, “You just got it! Like two weeks ago! You don’t even have an extra helmet, and forget a helmet, I need elbow pads and knee pads-”

“Will you relax,” Jungkook says, putting your books in the small basket he built into the front of the motorcycle.

“No, I will not relax, Jeon Jungkook!” You nearly screech, “This is so dangerous, we could both fall in the road and then what? Become roadkill for the next soccer mom van to run us both over? Death by soccer mom, what a way to go-”

“Are you done?” Jungkook says dryly.

“No, actually, I’m not done-”

“You trust me, baby?” Jungkook asks, hand on your shoulder. You can’t even properly appreciate the warmth of his large hand over your jacket.

“Of course I trust you, I don’t trust that,” You point at the motorcycle accusingly and Jungkook rolls his eyes. You can already feel your resolve weakening. He wordlessly places his own helmet over your own head and you glare at him, about to start your tirade again.

“You take mine,” Jungkook murmurs, “And hold on to me.”

“You can’t just give me your helmet, what if you fall? Or worse, get pulled over?”

“Or worse, get pulled over, are you joking-”

“Jungkook! Be serious!”

“I am being serious! You said you only live ten minutes from here, just relax. I won’t let anything happen to either of us,” Jungkook says, tongue poking the inside of his cheek.

“If anything happens, it’s your head on a platter and I’m bringing it to the tattoo parlor.”

“How can you do that if we both die?”

“Shut the fuck up,” You say, but a laugh escapes your lips. Jungkook sits on his bike and looks at you expectantly.

“C’mon, baby,” Jungkook coaxes you and you awkwardly sit behind him, making sure that your legs don’t touch his and your arms are safely away from him.

“If you sit like that, you’ll definitely fall off,” Jungkook snorts, “Wrap your arms around me.”

You hesitate, afraid of touching him like this for whatever reason. He unnerves you and you feel completely exposed like this. You’ve never really been this close to anyone, at least anyone who made you feel the way Jungkook makes you feel.

Biting the bullet, you tensely wrap your arms around his narrow waist loosely. “Good girl,” Jungkook murmurs, “Tighter, baby. I don’t bite, unless you want me to.”

Your stomach flips at his words, subconsciously wrapping your arms around his narrow waist even more tightly. Your fingers graze the hard press of his tummy over his jacket and you almost moan at how warm and strong he feels. He smells nice, like Sunday morning laundry.

“Ugh, you’re annoying-” And then you shriek as he pulls away from the road and shoots off into the night with you plastered against his backside.

“See that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Jungkook says, taking the helmet off of you. He’s met with a glare but you sigh in defeat.

“No, I guess it wasn’t. But I never want you driving this hunk of death without a helmet for yourself,” You say, poking his chest.

“You should be nicer to her,” Jungkook says, taking your finger in his large hand.

“You’re right, it’s you that I should be mean to,” You roll your eyes. You wonder if Jungkook could feel your heart slamming in your chest (in fear, adrenaline and excitement) as you hung tight to him. You had refused to look up, pressing your face into his back and squeezing your eyes shut the entire way. Jungkook had only chuckled.

The heat in your eyes melts away quickly once Jungkook helps you off of the motorcycle. “Thanks for taking me home, Jungkook,” You murmur, “I’m glad I ran into you at the bookstore.”

“Any time, baby,” Jungkook says. A strand of dark hair falls from his ponytail and into his face. You reach your fingers up to thread through his hair before pushing it back behind his ear for him.

“Get home safe,” You say, with stars in your eyes, “Can I hug you?” When he nods, and before you can change your mind or convince yourself out of it, you wrap your arms around him. And before he can properly return it, you dash into your apartment building while calling out “text me when you get home!”

Hours later, when he’s in the comfort of his home, he decides that he likes the way your spicy vanilla scented perfume clings to his leather jacket.

tags: @kookdbean @tiemeuptogoldenchains @boymeetsparadise @jungkooksseuphoria

[akaluan]

Erich/Kisuke: One Night Stand Turned Serious + Balcony Wooing Scene Part 5

Kisuke jerks awake at the sound of footsteps, the breath catching in his throat and one hand reaching for his blade—

“Woah, hey, just me,” a vaguely familiar voice announces even as the footsteps halt. “There’s no danger around.”

Kisuke scrubs at his face, trying to shake the cobwebs from his mind, and then glances blearily up at the healer. “How long…?”

The young man shrugs and casually walks an arc around Kisuke, never coming within arm’s reach, as he makes his way to the other side of the table. “I was gone maybe fifteen, twenty minutes? Not sure how long of that you were asleep for.”

Kisuke grimaces at the answer and forces himself straight despite the exhaustion weighing on his limbs. If anything, he’s even more exhausted now than he was before he closed his eyes, but he refuses to show any more weakness—

A bowl of miso soup appears in front of him, fragrant steam wafting from the bowl. He blinks at it, then up at the young healer in question, uncertain when the man had time to make — or even just heat up — anything for him.

(Damn.)

(He hates being like this!)

(Especially around unknowns.)

“Eat,” the man says sternly as he sits down with a bowl of his own, clearly taking his own advice. “I know you probably don’t want to, but your body will thank you later.”

Kisuke makes a face at the man, then carefully picks the warm bowl up and starts to eat without any more fuss; he knows the man is right, everything he’s ever learned agrees with him, but it still burns to be told to eat as if he’s a recalcitrant child.

“I should probably introduce myself,” the young man muses after a moment of silence. “Sorry about that, I’m Sora.”

“Kisuke,” he introduces himself, then twitches towards the doorway as a sound catches his attention—

There’s a tiny child standing in the doorway, with brilliant orange hair and wide, wary brown eyes. She’s staring at him, her little hands clenched tight and her body tense, and Kisuke… Kisuke doesn’t know how to react.

She’s smaller than any child he’s ever met before and clearly terrified of him as well, though he has no idea why; he’s not exactly an imposing presence at the moment, Benihime aside, though he is a stranger, so… perhaps that’s the reason? He has no idea.

“It’s alright, Hime,” Sora says gently, setting his bowl aside and beckoning to the little girl. “Do you want some food?”

Hime nods shyly and then darts across the room, giving Kisuke a wide berth in the process, and practically glues herself to Sora’s side.

Kisuke considers the picture they make as Sora rises and heads back to the small kitchen with Hime, trying to figure out their relationship; Sora looks far too young to be Hime’s father, but the wisps of power that Kisuke can sense from both of them indicate a familial relationship. Siblings, perhaps, or maybe cousins, Kisuke isn’t entirely sure.

Not that it really matters, he reminds himself, shoving his curiosity aside in favor of refocusing on his food. Whoever they are, however they’re related, it’s none of his business.

(No matter how curious he is.)

Sora returns to the table with Hime still glued to his side, and Hime promptly settles in Sora’s lap the moment he sits back down, a small bowl of soup cradled carefully in her hands. Sora seems accustomed to it, at least, so Kisuke sort of hopes it is her usual way and that it isn’t because of him.

He tears his gaze away from them. Focuses on his food. Reminds himself that Sora insisted he stay so there’s no point in worrying about it.

Tomorrow he will see Erich, will assure himself that Erich is fine, and then… then he’ll do… something.

(He’ll figure it out later.)

(He’s too tired right now.)

(Later will be fine.)

\\\

The sound of footsteps down the hall wakes Kisuke at a frankly horrific hour — the sun isn’t even above the horizon yet! — and he rolls over with a groan, pulling the blankets high over his head.

(Morning people are the worst.)

(Ugh!)

He manages a bit more sleep before the drumming of tiny feet racing down the hall wakes him once more.

(At least this time the sun is over the horizon, but damn these people are early risers!)

Kisuke rubs a hand over his face, debates burying himself in his borrowed bed for another few hours of rest, and then reluctantly sets the thought aside and drags himself out of bed: the sooner he’s up and about, the sooner he can check on Erich.

(The sooner he can set his worries aside and figure out what his next step will be.)

(He still hasn’t decided.)

(Doesn’t know if he wants to decide.)

(Doesn’t even know if Erich will allow him close—)

(No.)

(One step at a time.)

“Morning,” Sora says as Kisuke steps into the main room, then nods towards the table and adds, “Take a seat, I’ll have breakfast ready soon.”

“Maa, you don’t—”

“So I’m supposed to ignore you and just feed myself and Hime?” Sora asks sharply, then closes his eyes and take a deep breath, shaking off the edge of anger in the process. “Erich won’t be awake for another hour or so,” he says with confidence. “So sit down, eat, and let me make sure that I didn’t make a mistake last night when I let you go to bed without checking you for injuries first.”

“Ah, I’m fine, you don’t—”

“Kisuke,” Sora bites out, then tips his head back to stare at the ceiling as if praying for patience. “Stop arguing with me,” he says in exasperation. “You aren’t burdening me or whatever else is going through your mind right now. I have more than enough food to share with you, and healing is what I do for the townsfolk here. Just… let me do my job. Please.”

Kisuke grimaces but concedes the argument with a nod. He’s fine, he knows he’s fine, but he can use this opportunity to assess how skilled a healer Sora is.

Healers — actual, trained, powerful healers — are rare out in the wild-lands, with most people resorting to the more reliable methods using herbs and poultices and a simple needle and thread to keep a body together. Those skills, at least, can be passed on to anyone with the patience for it, unlike Healing.

So he sits across from Hime, and he settles his mind, and he watches as Sora dishes out breakfast and brings the trays to the table, setting one in front of Hime, one next to her, and the third in front of Kisuke: it’s a very traditional looking meal, with miso soup, rice, some seared fish, and some vegetable sides, but Kisuke’s portion is certainly larger than he expected to receive.

(Not many people understand exactly what it means to be a Shinigami, especially in regards to their food intake.)

(The consideration is… nice.)

Before he can remark upon it though, Sora is kneeling next to him, power gathering around one hand, and—

Waiting.

Expectantly, but waiting, instead of simply reaching out to touch. Sora’s power is calm-patience-focus to Kisuke’s senses, but it doesn’t stray far beyond Sora’s body, just pools around his right hand and stays there.

(Not entirely untrained, then.)

(Good.)

(He can work with that.)

Sora doesn’t move until Kisuke nods, and even then he doesn’t do anything abruptly: he just casually leans in, telegraphing his movements in a manner that feels like habit, and sets his hand on Kisuke’s shoulder. His power slides into Kisuke’s body like water, not a single rough edge present, and slowly spreads out, lingering in all the myriad scrapes and bruises and minor wounds that Kisuke had picked up during the previous day’s combat.

Kisuke breathes through the uncomfortable sensation of a stranger’s power wending beneath his skin and forces his mind to focus, forces himself to pay attention—

Sora is not exactly an unskilled healer, Kisuke decides as the young man carefully heals him, and he’s certainly not an unpracticed healer, he’s just… not trained to the level Kisuke would expect of a Shinigami healer. Through no fault of his own, of course, but gaps in knowledge can be deadly, especially out here.

As Sora withdraws his powers and pulls back, Kisuke gives the young man a considering look, debating if he wants to offer lessons, if he wants to share Shinigami secrets with an unaffiliated healer—

“Thank you for letting me check,” Sora says with a small bow, interrupting Kisuke’s thoughts. “Forgive me for ignoring you last night. I knew you’d been fighting, but—”

“You were exhausted,” Kisuke cuts in with a shake of his head. “We both needed sleep more than I needed healing.”

Sora grimaces at Kisuke’s words but gives a shallow nod of agreement. “This time, yes. But—” he cuts himself off and looks away, rising to his feet in order to move to his spot at the table next to Hime. “Never mind,” he murmurs as he sits back down. “Please, eat. And let me know if you need more. I know approximately how much Erich needs after a fight, but I’m unfamiliar with a Shinigami’s precise needs.”

“This will be plenty,” Kisuke reassures Sora even as he files away the man’s clear displeasure with his current level of skill; with luck, that means Sora will be open to some lessons, especially if Kisuke can convince Tessai to be Sora’s teacher.

(It’s just good business to have trained healers in places where Kisuke frequents.)

(Really, that’s his only motivation.)

(Whatever else Sora does with his lessons is up to him.)

Kisuke takes a few bites of food, considering how best to ask, then decides to simply go for it. “Would you want to learn more healing skills?” At Sora’s wide-eyed look, Kisuke shrugs awkwardly and focuses on the food in front of him. “I could ask a friend if he’d be willing to teach you, if you want. Tessai wasn’t an official Healer when we were Shinigami, but he knows more than enough. And… if he doesn’t want to, I, uh… I’m not unskilled, just… not the best at teaching people,” Kisuke can’t help but ramble as Sora continues to simply stare at him.

Sora’s chopsticks click against the rest as he sets them down, the sound weirdly loud in the silence that falls as Kisuke stops talking. At his side, Hime blinks up at him and then across at Kisuke, clearly understanding that something important is going on, but not entirely certain what.

“Ah… sorry if that was out of line,” Kisuke mumbles, resisting the urge to hunch his shoulders at the attention. He doesn’t know if — or how — he’s stepped wrong, but an apology seems prudent.

(It’s the best way he’s found to deal with these sort of mistakes, especially when he doesn’t know what he’s done wrong.)

(People always seem to overlook that when he apologizes.)

“What’s the catch,” Sora asks, his brows furrowed and something dark-wary-suspicious creeping into his presence.

Kisuke blinks. “Catch?” he echoes in surprise, then pauses, frowns, and slowly says, “I’m not expecting anything except future healing in return.” He meets Sora’s gaze firmly, hoping to convince the young man of his sincerity, and adds, “I’m an ex-Shinigami, and so is Tessai. This is where we live now, so… doesn’t it make sense to offer? Someday, one or both of us might need a skilled healer.”

Sora watches him, wariness slowly fading, then nods once and picks his chopsticks back up. “I’ll think on your offer,” is all he says on the topic.

“Let me know whatever you decide,” Kisuke says as he turns back to his meal. “The offer will remain open.”

Sora hums softly, a touch of disbelief in his tone, but says nothing else.

Kisuke figures that’s the best he’s going to get.

(The offer’s there and that’s all that matters.)

(That’s good enough.)

[kenmasgameboy]

【ｒｅａｃｈｉｎｇ】

an oikawa x seijoh president!reader

oikawa toru has so many girls falling at his feet, but it wasn’t always like this. when y/n met him there was no one yet to inflate his ego, when he was pure to himself, the person he is when it isn’t performative. she fell in love. after forcing a rejection from him, where he says he never saw her as a girl, she’s determined to become the absolute perfect girl for every one except him.

profiles: [ student council ] [ on the block ]

masterlist

listen to the mixtape while you read

previous  ➺ now ➺  memory unlocked: age 15

age 18:

𝕚𝕚. libero hours who up

Meet me at 5:55 by the sports equipment shed,

i have something to ask you

You twirled that note in your hand before shoving it in your pocket. You didn’t think too much of it, it wasn’t your first time getting something cryptic like this but you could handle it. You wondered why the time was so exact, but decided it was a concern for after school. Ito must be in some sports club, you knew nothing about this kid so maybe that was it.

Once your class was released for lunch, you had no time to waste. You waved at a few of your classmates who you promised you’d eat lunch with them another time. You speed walked your way to the faculty office, trying to avoid any questions and interruptions since you only had a few minutes to handle your future volleyball club actions and probably ask your faculty advisor a question or two and maybe eat something.

You opened up the doors to see your Coach Kabakura standing in front of you with Coach Nobutero of the boys team. Upon your entrance they both turned to look at you.

“Hi coach, you wanted to see me?” You asked, becoming extremely awkward at their glances. You still straightened your back, knowing you’d have to fight whatever they threw your way.

“L/N, glad you could make it. Just wanted to let you know, I’m keeping you on the team.” Kabakura explained plainly, almost nonchalantly as if there was no discussion to be had.

“What? Sir I– I love the girls on the team, I love volleyball but I told you I can’t make volleyball a priority anymore as student council president I have a lot of—” you started to argue but soon were stopped with a hand up.

“This team is ready to take nationals, but only with a superstar libero like you to complete our defense, L/N. I already talked to the principal and he agrees. As for your schedule we can work around it. You’ll have to do as much student council work during lunch, come to as many practices as you can and practice games.” He told you, “I’ll understand if you can’t make all of them but try to at least come to 3 a week. The boys team practices on Saturday mornings and Fridays, I want you to go to 2 of their practices a week. If you can receive their hitters, you can receive anything. We can change it as we go but this is how I want you starting your conditioning.”

“But Fridays are our rest days?” You questioned. If you go there you’ll see him, “Besides, Kando is more than prepared to take my spot in the starting lineup anyways.”

“Not yet, she still has a lot of growth I need to see. And you’re right, Fridays are our rest days, but they aren’t yours. Take off Sunday to maintain your studies. The principal will have more work for you on Monday. So I don’t expect you to be there at the beginning of the week.” Kabakura overloaded you with this information, you didn’t really know what you expected. He had always been this way, he’s a very strong-headed man. But you were just as strong willed, you had just as much control over your own life.

“Not yet, she still has a lot of growth I need to see. And you’re right, Fridays are our rest days, but they aren’t yours. Take off Sunday to maintain your studies. The principal will have more work for you on Monday. So I don’t expect you to be there at the beginning of the week.” Kabakura overloaded you with this information, you didn’t really know what you expected. He had always been this way, he’s a very strong-headed man. But you were just as strong willed, you had just as much control over your own life.

“I guess I just don’t see the point of practicing with the boys team, the girls team is a perfectly reasonable training level for me—” you started to argue but you were again cut off by the door sliding open. You turned and shockingly made eye contact with a pair of eyes you had been avoiding all day. His eyes were wide in surprise for just a second, he was always the worst at hiding his emotions from you.

“Ah, there he is!” Nobutero proudly exclaimed, walking toward his new superstar captain. He claps Toru on the back and practically pushes the pretty boy into the faculty room to join you and your own coach. You visibly release a deep sigh of disappointment, feeling your eyes roll as you look over your other shoulder in annoyance. Your coach was too busy preparing to shake Toru’s hand the only person to see your moment was the person who caused it.

Toru tried his best to maintain his composure as the coaches talked over the unspoken thick tension between the two of you. Your dead eyes meeting his as he tried to fill his with passion. He wanted to see the trust return to them so bad, he wanted to reignite what he used to see in those beautiful eyes of yours.

“Here is the reason you will be practicing with the boys a few days a week now.” Kabakura patted you both on the shoulder, “Surely you guys know each other, right?”

“Right.” 

“Not really.” You talked over Oikawa, crossing your arms.

“Well, we have the best server in Miyagi at our school. And a large part of our loss last year in the qualifiers was due to our serve receives.” Kabakura continued, swallowing the harm he just did to your ego. Last year was a particularly tough loss against Shiratorizawa, you blamed yourself for all of it. You hated asking for help, even more so when that help was coming from Oikawa. 

“Isn’t that right? I’m so proud of this kid, even Watari has a crazy amount of struggle receiving Oikawa’s serve.” Nobutero smiled, seemingly ignoring your state of mind.

“Oikawa, how often do you practice serving?” Kabakura asked, covering his face with his mouth.

“I practice 100 serves a day, sir.” Oikawa relaxed his body. Trying his hardest not to make you feel uncomfortable.

“Think you can receive all of those? Just two days a week?” Kabakura switched his attention back to you.

You balled your fist as he continued, you felt like nobody was listening to you. You just wanted to leave volleyball behind you, leave this all behind you, leave him behind you but nobody would let you. Oikawa was about to cover for you, being the only one to seem to pay attention to your obvious detest of the situation.

“Coach, please.” You exhaled through your nose, before smiling through gritted teeth, “Of course, I could.”

“Alright, that’s the spirit!” 

“But I won’t.” You cut him off before it could get any further, you were going to be heard. “At least, not now. You haven’t been listening to me at all. Thank you for speaking to the principal, and figuring out a training regimen that could work, but I never said I would return to volleyball. And hearing that I’m working with him doesn’t make it any better than it was before. I don’t care, working with my own team is a better bribe since I actually love them. Please, just allow me a few days to think about it. I need to figure out for myself if I will have the time in my schedule. Thats a decision I make, not something you tell me. Now if you’ll excuse me. I have a lot to think about.”

You turned on your heel, and everyone watched you. What a presence you had, how you managed to wrangle it into this room was incredible. You weren’t like that shy little girl Toru met when you were both six, you had commanded attention the second you were pushed over the edge. You weren’t afraid to speak your mind once pushed out of your nice exterior. You were not the kid he volunteered to be class representative in their first class of middle school, because he knew she wanted to do it even if she never said anything. No, she didn’t need him anymore.

“L/N! Wait–” Your coach ran after you. Waving your jersey behind him, “Just check out their practice once.” 

“Oikawa,” You turned your attention to the pretty boy who was watching this scene unfold, for once in his life keeping his mouth shut, “I have to meet with you at your practice anyways, have your budget paperwork for your team ready. I’ll talk to you again tomorrow, Sensei. But I can’t promise you anything now.”

“That’s all I ask today, thank you L/N.” Kabakura sighed, he forgot how difficult you were. Oikawa smiled once you left, out of pure admiration. 

“She’s a fiery one isn’t she? I expected her to be excited to work with Oikawa.” Nobutero clapped his star players back, “Most girls would be–

“Not L/N. She’s never really cared about stuff like that. I’ve had to kick out so many guys from our practices it’s disgusting. The girls have some fun with it but I know she hates it. I don’t know what happened to her but she hates boys.” Your coach chuckled at some memory he had of you.

That’d probably be because of me.. Oikawa thought this, but he kept it to himself.

                               ━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━

The bell that excused your class from the last long lecture of the day seemed to be louder in your ears than everyone else. You had too much to do today. This was the longest day of your life it seemed.

After exchanging smiles with a few friends, you ducked out of the classroom again. Rushing to be the first to open the student council room. You got in, dropped off your things and took out the budgeting paperwork. You made 5 copies, one for each of your other student council officers. Leaving them in neat piles by their name tags.

They all strolled in at their own time.

“President, what are you doing here already? The bell rang like 5 minutes ago.” Sora was shocked to see you standing in there, he already had his keys out to open the door but realized you already unlocked it, “That excited to see me?”

“You wish.” You rolled your eyes.

“I really do.” He admits fully, dragging his fingertips across the table to try and meet them up to you. Once he’s only a few inches away from you, he reaches his hand up to take the stack of paper away from you. His fingers overlapping on your hands.

“You need to stop this. Sora, I like having you as my VP and I’ve trusted you, but it’s to the point where my friends are texting me asking what’s going on between us.” You begged, staring at his collarbones just peeking out of his uniform instead of his eyes.

“What is going on between us?” Sora asked, your eyes widened in surprise at the question.

“I–That’s not what I meant. I meant they saw you pulling me into the opening ceremony and assumed we were a thing.”

“Are we not a thing?” Sora grazed his hands up your forearms, daring to try and relax your shoulders, “I thought I’ve been pretty clear about how I feel about you.”

“You’re my VP.” You croaked out a response, you’d never talk about this kind of thing again. It scared you.

“You’re cute when you try to avoid the topic.” Sora cracked a bright smile, you couldn’t help but feel goosebumps rise on you arms from where he touched you. He removed his hands and took the stack of forms from you, finishing off the job you were doing, “We don’t have to do this now. I’ll wait.”

The others came in as soon as that happened. You wondered if he must’ve heard their footsteps.

“I swear, y/n you’re crazy! How’d you already make all these copies?” Naeko dropped her jaw from over Sora’s shoulder. She was shocked at the layout you already spread. She knew. you were awesome, but come on.

“I swear she’s a monster. She’s a monster, a seductress, an sentient being. L/N doesn’t exist–” 

“As much as I love conspiracy theories, I’m just really fast.” You chuckled at Riku’s ramblings, they always had their own way of complimenting you. You quickly changed the subject to tell them the game plan. Everyone had different clubs to visit to split up the work. You yourself had 9 to visit today. 

It took maybe an hour and a half to visit all except one. You groaned at the last one you had on your list. Naeko offered to switch this one with you but you gratefully refused. You needed to do this, for coach and your own sanity. You can act normal around him. You can be the same old cool president as normal.

You went to the upper level of the boys volleyball gym. At least 15 girls were already up here. You didn’t want to disturb their drills, but you didn’t realize you’d have so much company. But of course you would, all these girls were here to see Oikawa. You had a familiar pang in your chest. This wasn’t your first time finding yourself next to these girls, feeling lost in the masses. 

No, this is the first time I’m different from them. You told this to yourself and picked your head up. Even as you exchanged pleasantries with those girls, and knew in your heart they were kind, you couldn’t help but feel that green devil still kicking in the cage of your heart. You leaned against the fences a few feet away from the other girls. Hairs fell over your face and you forced yourself to clear them, your face would never change as you watched your friends.

Hanamaki and Matsukawa were the first to notice your presence, sending waves up your direction. Iwaizumi didn’t notice you yet, but he knocked the back his friends heads for slacking off. Once they explained they all jogged in your direction. 

“Y/N! What the hell are you doing here?” Iwaizumi asked you.

“Good to see you too, Iwa.” You laughed off his greeting, “My coach might have me come practice with you guys a few times a week. Something about practicing my serve receives with harder opponents. Plus I need his signature.” You waved your clipboard and stack of forms as a note to what you were doing.

“Serve receives?” Iwaizumi knew exactly what you were talking about, but decided to help, “I could help you with that, you could’ve just asked.”

“Not from you, unfortunately.” You said, your eyes betraying you as they slacked off in a half hooded solemn manner. “You know.”

He did, but decided not to make you uncomfortable.

“He’s outside right now. If you need to talk to him.” Matsukawa announced, suddenly all his fangirls followed suit out the doors and to run outside to talk to him.

“That’ll get him back inside.” Maki gave his partner a high five. 

“He hasn’t changed.” You said it under your breath but Iwaizumi heard you. Sure enough, Oikawa snuck back into the gym. Dragging his right leg behind him in a moment of pain.

“Alright, which one of you was it.” Oikawa gritted his teeth in a smile while looking directly at Mattsu and Makki.

“Iwaizumi.” They both said at the same time.

“You alright?” Iwaizumi turns away from you to attend to his best friend. But Oikawa’s eyes drifted up to the last person on the second level. 

“Heads up!” you heard an underclassman yell as a ball came flying towards the upper level, it wasn’t coming for your face. But you extended your right arm to the side, angling your wrist in just the perfect fashion for the ball to be angled back downwards. 

The slap it made when the volleyball ricocheted off of your wrist satisfied a hunger you didn’t know you had in a long time. It was like getting a difficult answer on a test correct. You smugly smiled, teeth proving to be able to give anyone the perfect amount of serotonin just by looking at them as they were revealed from behind your tight lipped expression.

“Thanks!” The underclassmen hollered, two or three having apparent goofy smiles from their thoughts.

“Are you listening to me?” Iwaizumi snapped Oikawa back from staring intently at you. He looked back over his shoulder, “Are you talking to her or what?”

“Yeah. At 5:55.”

      【ｆｕｎ　ｆａｃｔｓ】

➺ Oikawa slipped that note in your desk after he saw you holding hands with Sora

➺ Maki and Mattsu have been coming up with different ways for oikawa to be bothered by his fangirls. Today was the most vanilla of them all. Most of the time its them telling the girls incorrect facts about Oikawa’s likes and dislikes.

➺ Sora admitted his feelings for you at the end of last year after you were elected in your positions. You had known each other from being co-representatives the year before in class. You denied him on the basis of “working together�� instead of your normal “I don’t like you, i’m sorry.” He took this as you still have feelings for him to, which is why he doesn’t give up.

➺ Naeko is normally the outsider from the fangirls at practice. He though Maki and Mattsun were waving at his girlfriend, he finds himself being more and more jealous recently.

➺ that was the first time oikawa had seen y/n receive something up close since middle school.

➺ i say up close, because just like he does for his own team, he always gets a copy of the girls vbc matches just so he can cheer you on. He never stopped wanting to be your fan.

➺ one time naeko caught him watching your game in his room and she still makes fun of him for being a “simp” even though she thought it was really sweet.

taglist:

@chibishae34 @bby-bokuto @shittykawaa @1-800-schmacked @artsamber @berriesii @bbyazu @roseestuosity @gaytoasterstrudels @mirdy47707 @trippy-kitty @iwanttogotopluto @hvneymun @a-listaire @princessmidas @glyxiebear @akaashiwife @anejuuuuoy @kiyoojima @deimmortales99 @unstableye @sugawarabby @haikyuufairy @ashaite @bettys-other-shoe @defchamseoul @honeymoneyy​ @animatedrapture​ @alexthe80swhore​ @nellieleverlin​ @forhyunryu​ @thosenerdy3amthings​ @mariachiii​ @dishonestkilla​ @notdahyun​ @angyboibakugo​ @tuaningly​ @sxrensxngwrites @anhphunnnn​ @montys-chaos​ @toorubread​ @dawnsbaby​ @lovinsugamamma @halxma06​ @dumbv1rgo​ @neomemartin8383

[phoenix-downer]

Autumn Mending Chapter 2: Festivities and Memories

~4050 words. Romance, Angst, Pining, Mutual Pining, Fluff, Comfort, Healing, Making Up. For SoKai Day 2021.

Sequel to Kisses and Lies because I couldn’t just leave Sora and Kairi hanging, now could I?

Will have three chapters because the story took on a life of its own, and the actual final chapter will be the one posted on SoKai Day.

Summary: Sora and Kairi are still broken up, but with the help of old friends and Twilight Town’s autumn festival, the spark between them just might be rekindled.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

After her mission with Sora, Kairi had been left so confused. She’d thought, after that kiss, after that conversation, after the way Sora had looked at her, that he’d make a move. Ask to talk. Try to work things out.

But he didn’t. He was nice. He was cordial. But there was a giant wall around his heart, and no matter what she did, she couldn’t get past it. 

Breaking up with him was the worst mistake of her life. She could see that now, and how she regretted it more than anything. Because it was done out of fear. She’d been scared of the future. Scared he’d leave her alone again and never come home. Not like he’d done it on purpose before, but when he told her he was planning on continuing to fight instead of going to college or settling down, a deep, awful feeling of dread had settled in her stomach. 

Instead of discussing things with him, she’d talked at him and told him a bunch of things. Told him she was scared he was addicted to fighting and hopping from one world to the next. Told him she was afraid he wouldn’t ever want to settle down and start a family like she wanted to. Told him she feared he’d leave again on yet another dangerous journey and never come back this time. Told him she couldn’t live a life like that, couldn’t live a life where she never knew when her husband would be home, a life where her kids might be abandoned without any clue as to what happened to their dad and she’d be left to raise them alone. 

She’d never forget the look in his eyes that night on the beach. The hurt, the pain, the agony. The begging and pleading and promising to be everything she wanted and needed, then the tears and anguish when she told him it was over. They’d both cried their hearts out, and she assumed he would never forgive her after hurting him so deeply. Especially when he ran off the next day and avoided her for months afterwards. It wasn’t until Master Yen Sid had assigned them to go on that mission together that she got to talk to him again. 

How wonderful it was just to spend time with him once more. When she’d kissed him to fake out their enemies, it hadn’t been fake for her. She’d missed him so badly. Missed his smiles, his laughter, his heart. His hugs, his warmth, his kisses. His sass, his humor, his love. She wanted to talk to him about what had happened. Apologize for breaking his heart and beg for forgiveness and explain that the problem wasn’t him, no, it was her, it was always her, she was always the one making things difficult for them both—

But he’d been standoffish. He’d cut off her attempts to talk to him. Only near the end of the meal they’d shared in that food court was she able to confirm he still had feelings for her. It was his eyes that had given him away. It was always his eyes. They really were like the window to his soul, or more accurately, his heart. 

So then why did he act so awkward around her afterwards? Why did he avoid her? She despaired and figured she’d blown her final chance with him. So when the cute guy who worked at the souvenir shop asked her on a date, she thought heck, why not. Why not give another guy a chance. He was nice and the date was nice, but the moment he tried to kiss her at the end of the night, she knew this was wrong. It was all so wrong. 

Here she was, at the door to her parents’ house, the moon and stars shining down on her and this perfectly nice guy trying to kiss her, and all she could think about was Sora. She couldn’t get his face out of her mind, couldn’t help but wonder how he would feel if he knew this guy had almost kissed her. Couldn’t help but remember all the times he had kissed her.

Sora. It was always Sora. He would always have her heart. No matter what happened, that would never change. 

“You okay?” her date asked with a frown. “I’m sorry, I should’ve asked first—”

“No, it’s not you, it’s me,” she told him. “You’ve been wonderful and tonight was wonderful, but I… I can’t go out with you again. I’m sorry.”

She’d retreated inside the house and threw herself on her bed and cried. Sora was the only one she ever wanted to kiss for the rest of her life. Wiping her eyes, she dialed his number. It just rang and rang and rang. She tried texting him. Nothing. So she called his mother. 

“I’m sorry, Kairi, but you just missed him. He said he’d be leaving and wasn’t sure when he’d be back.” 

Her heart sank as she thanked his mom and hung up the phone. Her timing really was awful. And if he wasn’t picking up her calls, she only had so many ways to reach him. 

He avoided her attempts to contact him for the next few months until finally, finally, she got a lead. She was chatting on the phone with Olette when Olette casually mentioned that Sora would be visiting Twilight Town for the fall festival. 

“Oh really?”

“Yep! Are you gonna come too? I thought you two were still broken up.” 

“We are, but I think he might still have feelings for me. And, to be honest, I still have feelings for him too.” 

Olette squealed. “Then you have to come!”

“Really?” Kairi asked, then chewed her lip. “You don’t think he’d be upset?” She hadn’t gone chasing after him because she wanted to give him his space. He hadn’t blocked her number, but he hadn’t responded to any of her attempts to contact him either. The message he was sending her was loud and clear: I don’t want anything to do with you right now. 

“Maybe he will be,” Olette said, “but if he is, you can just apologize and leave.”

“I don’t know, I don’t want to ruin his visit,” Kairi said as she twirled a strand of hair around her finger. 

“You won’t, trust me. If things get awkward, we can go do something else. I really do want to see you and hang out, you know.” 

So that was how Kairi had ended up here in Twilight Town, cautiously following Olette into the gang’s old hideout. Several different emotions warred on Sora’s face as he registered her presence. Shock. Frustration. Anger. Pain. But then, when their eyes met… the hurt and anger melted into something soft and vulnerable as he stared back at her. 

“Kairi?” he said, his voice far more tender than she deserved. 

“Um, hey,” she said back. “Listen, I know this is really last minute and unexpected, so Olette and I can go somewhere else if this is too awkward—”

“No, it’s okay. It’s… good to see you.” 

“It’s good to see you too,” she said, her voice breaking a little. They just stared at each other for a few moments until Pence cleared his throat. 

“So, um, shall we?” he asked, gesturing towards the makeshift curtain. 

“Let’s go,” Hayner agreed, and Sora stood. Kairi wasn’t sure what to do. Should she walk beside him? Give him his space? 

But their friends made that decision for them, because soon they were walking side by side through the back streets while Hayner, Pence, and Olette continued up ahead of them. Kairi loved seeing the little lanterns strung up between buildings and the fall leaves hanging on garlands, taking in all the delicious scents lingering in the air, and feeling the magical autumn atmosphere of the town. But no amount of good vibes could bridge the gap between her and Sora. 

“How have you been?” she finally asked because the awkward silence was unbearable. 

“Not too bad,” he replied, and his voice was surprisingly chipper, all things considered. “I’ve been saving munny, talking to Hiro about going to San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, that kind of a thing.”

She stole a glance at him. Saving munny? Going to a university? This was a far cry from the Sora who wanted to hop from world to world with no plan for the future. 

“What about you?” he asked. She couldn’t help but think he looked especially handsome today. Relaxed and casual and ready for the fall festival, and yet still put together. He always made everything look so effortless, even looking good.

“I’m still working at the crafts shop on Main Street,” she said, avoiding thoughts of how nice a hug from him would be right now. “Except for missions of course. And I’ve been thinking about going to a university too. Not sure which one though.” 

He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I’m sure you’ll do great wherever you decide to go.” 

She smiled sadly at him. That was Sora, always cheering her up and cheering her on even when he was upset. She wanted to say more, but they were at the festival now, and it was getting too loud to comfortably talk. Booth after booth lined the streets of Twilight Town, the trolley was decked out in fall leaves and decorations, and a few stages had been erected throughout the area for performances. 

First up for their little group were all the food booths, which was good because Kairi’s stomach was growling and she was craving delicious festival food. Pumpkin soup with piping hot bread, warm apple pie with cold ice cream, roasted chestnuts and salty pretzels, and her favorite, apple cider to wash it all down. The non-alcoholic kind because she wanted to be fully aware of whatever happened the next several hours. 

Sora got non-alcoholic apple cider too, as did Hayner, Pence, and Olette, and the five of them toasted each other. Sora’s hand shook a little when he accidentally brushed up against her hand, and their eyes met as they took their first sips of the cider. But instead of immediately looking away, his gaze lingered on her for a few more seconds.

Those few seconds made her want to hold his hand, to hug him, to apologize and explain everything that had happened—

But then the moment was over and he looked away. She ducked her head and tried not to let it get to her. Of course he was still guarded around her. Anyone would be. 

The five of them enjoyed the festivities in town for a while (Hayner, Pence, and Olette even gave a rousing karaoke performance of an old classic on Twilight Town), then hopped the train to go out to one of the farms in the surrounding area. Here was where the fun would really begin: a pumpkin patch, hayrides, an apple orchard, a corn maze, cozy campfires, falling leaves… 

As they walked the short distance from the station to the farm, Kairi took in the scenery around them. The pathway was lined with trees shedding their brilliant red, yellow, gold, and orange leaves, and the temperature was perfect. If she and Sora were still dating, this was the moment she would’ve grabbed his hand and leaned against his shoulder and sighed happily. 

But they weren’t, so she kept her hands to herself and tried not to stare at his hands. They were so big and strong, so gentle yet firm. She always felt safe in his arms and melted at his touch.

“Alright, first up is pumpkin carving!” Pence said once they’d arrived at the farm. “So, we gotta grab our pumpkins from that patch over there, then once we’ve paid for them, the three of us always compete with each other to carve the best pumpkin, and you know what that means?”

“What?” Sora asked.

“You and Kairi are joining the competition too,” Hayner said with a grin. “No backing out!”

“You’re on,” Kairi said. She grabbed Olette’s hand, and they giggled and took off towards the pumpkin patch.

“We’ve gotta get the best ones before the boys take them,” Kairi said. 

“Absolutely,” Olette replied. As they carefully scoured the pumpkins for the best-looking ones, Olette scooted closer and lowered her voice. Even though the boys were a little ways away, better safe than sorry. 

“He seems happy to see you,” she said. 

Kairi stole a glance at Sora. He was currently fighting Hayner and Pence off of his choice pumpkin, laughing as he swatted their hands away, and when their eyes met, she couldn’t help but smile. 

“And you seem happy to see him too,” Olette added. 

“It’s just nice to see his smile,” Kairi said as she examined a big orange pumpkin. Yes, this one should do nicely. 

“Kairi, it’s totally obvious you’re still in love with him and he’s still in love with you! Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Kairi sighed and hoisted the pumpkin onto her hip. “It’s my fault we broke up. I’m the one who broke his heart, and he’s been avoiding me for months on end. There’s no way he still feels the same way he used to about me.”

Olette sighed as she selected a white pumpkin and stood. “Maybe not, but it’s clear he still feels something for you. Why are you denying it?”

“Because if he still loved me, he wouldn’t be pushing me away,” Kairi said, staring intently at her pumpkin like it held the answers to all her problems. 

“Maybe he’s pushing you away because he does still love you. Maybe being around you just hurts too much.”

Kairi stole another glance at him. Was it possible? Was it possible he’d fled, not because he hated her, but because he still loved her? Was it possible they could fix what went wrong and make things better than ever? If only she could apologize. That was all she wanted, to apologize and ask his forgiveness. Then maybe at least they’d find peace.

Their eyes met again, and he smiled. A soft, gentle smile that reached his eyes this time, and she blushed and smiled back. Then Hayner grabbed his arm and Pence snatched his pumpkin away, and he let out a shout and chased after them, leaving her and Olette in stitches, they were laughing so hard. 

When at last the pumpkin situation had been sorted, the five of them carried their pumpkins to the carving tables and got to work. Gutting the pumpkins was always messy, but the pumpkin seeds were well worth the effort. She would take those home and roast them later with oil and sea salt for a delicious snack. That taken care of, she stared at her pumpkin. What to carve? A typical Halloween creature, like a wolf or witch or bat? No, that didn’t feel right. Wait, she had the perfect idea. She grinned and began, and before long, she was etching the same drawing she’d sketched on the cave walls of the Secret Place all those years ago. On a whim she included the paopu part too because why not. 

When it was time for everyone to reveal their pumpkins to each other, Pence had made a very impressive ghost, Hayner had carved a vampire, and Olette had made an adorable cat. Kairi’s nerves got the better of her when it was time to reveal her pumpkin, however, and she clammed up and said, “I’ll reveal it later, when it’s dark and everyone’s lighting their pumpkins!”

That way she’d have time to get rid of this one and do another one that wouldn’t pressure Sora or put him on the spot. 

“Sora?” Hayner asked.

“Oh, um, I’ll do the same,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Alright, next on the agenda isssssss… apple picking!” Pence called out like he was announcing the Struggle Tournament. They went to the entrance of the apple orchard, where a nice old woman handed each of them a bag and a pair of scissors and told them they could keep whatever they could carry. 

The best part about apple picking on Twilight Town was the experience. While Kairi did intend on filling her bag to the brim with juicy ripe apples, a big part of apple picking was eating a couple of apples first before picking more to take home. There were so many different kinds to choose from, soft plump red ones, tart crunchy green ones, golden ones with a rich flavor, sweet multicolored ones with her favorite taste… a veritable feast of delicious fruit. 

When they’d gathered the first round of their bounty, the apples they would eat right then and there, they sprawled out on a picnic blanket on the grass and munched away. Kairi’s eyes traveled to Sora as they so often had today because she loved the perfect look of contentment he always got on his face when he was eating something especially delicious.

And these apples were delicious. Kairi had only plucked three so far because that was all she knew she could safely eat, but she wished her stomach were as big as her eyes. The apples were juicy and delicious and perfectly ripe, and she kept having to dab at her mouth and chin because the apples were just that good. 

Once they’d had their fill and had filled their bags, they went to a special tent that would keep their goodies for them until it was time to go home. Their arms free once more, it was time for the corn maze.

“Hayner and I have already tried the one this year,” Pence said, “and let me tell you, it’s so convoluted it’s easy to get lost. Some people call it the Eighth Wonder of Twilight Town.”

“We’ll see about that,” Olette said with a smirk. “Bet I can beat your record.” 

“Oh, you’re on,” Hayner said, a glint in his eye. The moment the group entered the corn maze and were surrounded by stalks, Hayner, Pence, and Olette took off, leaving Sora and Kairi behind. 

“So, that’s a thing,” Sora said with a chuckle. Kairi giggled awkwardly and glanced at the sky. They probably only had about another hour of daylight left, going by the sun’s position. 

“I hope we can finish this thing before dark.”

“If we work together I bet we could.”

She nodded. “Okay.” 

They walked largely in silence as they tried different routes. Some were dead ends, but little by little they were making progress. And it was nice to just… be with him again. Working together on something. The silence between them wasn’t awkward the way it had been earlier today, either. It just felt safe. Comfortable. The crunch of crushed corn stalks beneath their feet was soothing, too. 

Kairi wondered if now would be a good time to say something or apologize. 

“Sora?” she said as they rounded a corner. One of the corn stalks brushed against his arm, and it rustled when it moved back into position.

“What is it?” he asked. 

“Thank you, for letting me join you guys today. I know you didn’t really want to see me, but I’m glad you let me stay.”

He was silent for a few moments as they continued, an unreadable expression on his face. “Who says I didn’t want to see you?” he said at last. “I have to admit, it took me by surprise, but I’m glad you came.”

She fiddled with her sleeves. “I am too.” 

He looked at her, the sun setting behind him, and she thought he seemed more radiant than ever. How could she have agreed to be away from him for so long? She should’ve run after him the moment he ran away from her. The first time and the second time. She’d gone after him before, why had she let her fear and shame stop her this time?

She reached for his hand. “Sora, I—”

“There you guys are!” Pence called as he burst around the corner. “Buncha slowpokes.”

Aaaaand the moment was gone. Sora ribbed on Pence for calling him a slowpoke, and soon Hayner and Olette joined them too, and together the five of them finished (or, in Hayner, Pence, and Olette’s cases, re-finished) the maze. 

But as she got a little badge from the booth at the end of the maze that congratulated her on finishing, she noticed Sora was waiting for her. He must already have his badge, so maybe he wanted to talk more. The other three had gone on ahead to get them tickets for the hayride, as it was quickly getting dark. 

“You should put your badge on,” she said as she joined him and they started walking towards where the hayride would start. 

“Already have,” he replied, pulling back his hoodie and pointing to the badge. Twilight Town Fall Festival Corn Maze Completionist! was written on it in tiny letters, along with a photo of this year’s maze. “But you haven’t put yours on yet. Here, let me do it.”

As he gingerly lifted her shirt enough to stick the sharp part of the badge through, she wondered if he was as affected by their closeness as she was. He was focusing carefully on the badge so as not to accidentally poke her, and that meant she could take everything in. His scent, his warmth, his eyes. How she’d missed seeing him, talking to him, being with him.

“Thank you, for doing the maze with me,” she said. “It was a lot of fun.” 

He smiled and met her gaze. “Yeah, it was, wasn’t it? I missed doing this kind of thing with you.” 

“I did too.”

A few moments of silence lingered between them. But then he took a deep breath and said, “Kairi, what were you gonna tell me earlier? Before Pence interrupted us, I mean.” 

Her mouth went dry and her palms got all sweaty. “Oh, um, I wanted to… I wanted to…” 

He patiently waited, and she knew she had to do this, she had to get it all out.  

“I wanted to apologize,” she finally said. “For hurting you. For breaking up with you. I never should’ve done that.” 

He stared at her, his eyes wide and his mouth open. Something very vulnerable was in his expression too, and that vulnerability gave her the courage to continue. 

“The way I handled it was awful too, just talking at you instead of discussing things with you. Maybe if I had, we wouldn’t have—”

“Hey, lovebirds, the hayride is about to start!” Hayner called, and her chance was gone. Or so she thought.

“We’ll be there in a sec!” Sora shouted back. “If you need to go, go on without us!” He turned his attention back to her. “This is more important.”

She nodded and fiddled with her sleeves again.

“You aren’t the only one to blame for this whole mess,” he said sadly, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I ran away like a coward instead of talking things through with you. I was so hurt that I—”

“Last call!” Hayner yelled, and Sora sighed, irritation flashing through his eyes.

“This hayride had better be the best hayride in all the worlds,” he grumbled. 

“It’s okay,” she said, “we can talk more about this later.” 

He nodded. “We will. I won’t run or hide this time, I promise.” 

She dared to offer her hand. “I know you won’t.” 

He smiled sadly and took her hand, and as they hurried to scramble onboard the hayride together, she couldn’t help but hope that maybe, just maybe, things would be okay between the two of them. Sora didn’t let go of her hand as they settled in on one of the bales next to Hayner, Pence, and Olette, so that was a good sign. And as their guide began telling ghost stories as the tractor and wagon rattled along, she rested her head on Sora’s shoulder. He didn’t push her away, just leaned his head against hers, and his closeness made her feel so warm inside despite the chilly night air.

She hoped and wished and prayed with all her heart that after this was over, they could mend the hurt between them for good. 

[arigatouiris]

redamancy // akaashi keiji x reader (1/2)

Author’s Note: I think Akaashi’s too perfect of a human being to crush on, so I made him a vampire in this one because heck, why not?? Akaashi is a gentleman in every aspects, phew. Do tell me what you think? I’ve been having ‘different’ ideas for Haikyuu boys, and I think quarantine makes me want to write them all uwu especially after that heartbreaking, yet perfect end of Haikyuu. 

Word count: 4k+

Pairing: Vampire! Akaashi x Golden Blood! Reader

Summary: You were head over heels for Akaashi Keiji.

He was a perfect gentleman—hard-worker, handsome, kind, shy, and confident; a perfect blend of all the right things that a human boy could have at the age of 18.

But, what if he wasn't human? And what if he wasn't just 18?

As you search for your own answers, Akaashi doesn't make it easy for you to channel your common sense. After all, a rare blood type only meant danger—especially for a handsome predator with feral eyes.

Warnings: unrequited love, one-sided crush, slight angst, pining, mentions of blood, blood-drinking, vampire akaashi, rare blooded reader, haikyuu manga spoilers???, fluff

Akaashi Keiji had never accepted a confession in high school.

Yet.

You wondered if your confession would make any change since even after two years, he's been almost nonchalant about the girls and boys who go over to him and confess their feelings. He's said no to each of them, albeit not coldly, but he said no nonetheless. Therefore, a part of you wondered why your confession would be any different. Even if it wasn't different, even if he was going to say no to you (though a small part of your brain wanted him to maybe give you a chance, but it's Akaashi, so everyone wishes for that), even if the odds were against you, you'd made up your mind.

Today, after school hours, before his practice would begin, you'd go over to him and tell him you liked him.

The plan was simple: You would walk over to the boy, he was your classmate after all, and you would tug on his sleeve, bat your eyelashes at him even though it didn't increase how cute you could look in his eyes, and you'll tell him. Your heart was already prepared for a no, but you knew that even though you were prepared, you were going to be crushed; and if it meant that Akaashi was the one breaking your heart, then so be it.

It wasn't because he was good-looking, after all. Your intense feelings for him rose out of actually knowing him a little bit. Sure, you were not friends, but you got to sit beside him last year for a semester, and now in your third year, even though both of you were on the opposite sides of the classroom, you were thrilled even to be in the same classroom again. He was hard-working, dedicated, and the mere fact that he was the sole support for the entire team, no the entire school, after the loss to Ichibayashi in the finals last year, it moved you to no end. You entered school feeling quite confident with yourself, but upon seeing Akaashi inside the classroom, sitting and reading a book, it made your heart combust.

He turned to you on your entrance and nodded once before offering a kind, courteous smile, which you forced yourself not to overthink about.

    "Good morning, Akaashi-kun."

Your heart was pounding and your eyes were wide, but thankfully, Akaashi couldn't see you since you'd walked over to your desk, which was two desks behind his. Letting out a breath, you stared at the back of his head as thoughts overrode your mind. You wondered if you had to let him know right now that you wanted to speak to him, but with the way your heart was pounding, you weren't sure if you could get multiple words across without stammering.

But, I have to!

     "Akaashi-kun?" He turned to you a second later, blinking inquisitively, while you felt your heart rate gradually skyrocket. "I... After school, can you... Can you wait for me?"

Okay, that wasn't bad. That wasn't bad at all.

    "Is there something you want to tell me, (s/n)-san?"

You nodded, feeling the air build in your lungs. No one told me it'd be this hard, you wanted to shut your eyes and run away from there, but you were already too deep in this situation, there was no backing out now.

    "It'll just take a few minutes."

Akaashi smiled at you before nodded, "Sure."

He turned away after that, getting back to the book he was reading. Conversing with him was just too difficult, and if this was the case before you confessed, how was it going to feel like when you were going to do it later? Not wanting to overthink before the event even happened, you forced yourself with other activities like doodling or even finishing leftover homework that you needed to complete. You and Akaashi were both in a college preparatory class, which meant that the burden of homework constantly loomed over you, and there was never really a 'completed' scenario.

Right when the bell for lunch rang, you stood up first before picking up your books, not realizing the edge of the book had extended past your desk, therefore while retrieving your hand, you knocked your nail against the edge of the desk, earning yourself a nice small cut. You winced rather loudly before shaking your finger, to see a small trickle of blood leak out of the corner of your nail. Your friend, Mamoru Sora, chuckled before shaking his head and quickly reached into his bag to look for a band-aid.

    "Do you have a band-aid?" You asked, sucking your finger, but suddenly froze to your spot when you felt feral eyes on you.

It was the same feeling you'd get when walking back from school when it was a tad bit too late in the evening. When a person's eyes lingered on you for a moment longer that it escalated from being genuine curiosity to apparent danger, but to feel this feeling inside a classroom confused you. Your eyes trailed from Sora to search for where this bloodlust was coming from, before landing on Akaashi's wide blue eyes, and his jaw slightly ajar at the mere sight of you. Your heart skipped a beat at the way he was looking at you, as if you were the only one he could see, before he realized what he was doing and turned away.

You couldn't understand why he looked at you like that; your gaze fell back to your little wound and you wondered if he had heard you wince. Was that concern? No, it looked a lot more like he was surprised you were in the classroom at all, and even if that look did feel strange, it came from Akaashi, an object of your desire, so you could easily brush it off. However, the thought lingered in the back of your mind—unable to entirely forget the way Akaashi's blue eyes had fixed themselves on you.

You couldn't really find a band-aid, and while you knew going to the infirmary for something as small as this would only waste your time, you ignored it. You could barely feel the little cut now, and you knew it was eventually going to dry on its own. However, everywhere you went, you felt eyes on you; and while you knew it was too forward of you to think Akaashi might actually be interested in you, you couldn't forget the feeling his gaze had given you, and of how that feeling lingered all through the day.

When the final school bell rang, you noticed Akaashi quickly leave the classroom before you felt your eyes widen and you stood up right away. Your heart fell at the way he just up and left, but maybe something had happened? Turning to Sora, who shot you a confused look, you shrugged before turning to follow after Akaashi.

    "You told me you'd tell him, right?" Sora asked, with a grin, "Then go and tell him."

You smiled back before leaving the classroom, trailing after the boy of your dreams. Surely, you weren't in love with Akaashi, but the feelings you had for him were quite strong. While you couldn't hold a casual conversation with the boy, you knew that with time, and after getting to know him when given the chance, you could show him who you truly were.

However, for that to even begin to happen, you had to find Akaashi but you couldn't. You narrowed your eyes, wondering where he had suddenly run off to, but you were more than positive that he hadn't run toward the gym. Even so, your legs carried you over to the gym before noticing that he wasn't there either. Did he leave to avoid talking to me? Your heart dropped at the thought, but he wouldn't do that, right? Akaashi-kun isn't the sort to do something like that.

But, if you couldn't find him, what other thoughts were you supposed to have?

With the way you walked back to class, you could feel how heavy your feet had suddenly become. It was as if you had gained 10 extra pounds, all just on your feet. You weren't the sort to cry, but you knew that being rejected would have hurt you less.

Sora took you home that evening and gave you a soft hug before apologizing. Right before he rushed off home, you once again felt eyes on you, which you basically ignored and went straight into your room. Maybe, Akaashi-kun found out that I wanted to confess to him? You thought, knowing that it was a possibility. Maybe, he's just too tired of all the confessions he's been receiving, and he just... didn't want to take it anymore?

While these thoughts were alright, when night hit, your thoughts turned dark. You began questioning yourself, maybe it was because it was you that Akaashi rushed away like that. Maybe, he had realized that he made a mistake of accepting to meet you that he gave you such a nasty look during lunch. Maybe, Akaashi just didn't like you, even if you did admire him in secret. Admiring Akaashi in Fukurodani wasn't really a secret, if you were being honest, since a lot of people admired him relentlessly, behind his back and in front of his face.

Just as you felt your eyelids get heavier that night, that feeling came up again. Your eyes shot open as your heart rate accelerated, you shot up from your bed before walking over to your window and looking outside, wondering if there was someone there below. You narrowed your eyes before shaking your head, there's no way there could be anyone there. It's close to 1 a.m., while you were trying to be rational, you couldn't shake off the feeling that someone was indeed watching you. Maybe, I'm just being paranoid because I got dumped, you pouted before heading back to pet, pressing your hand to the bed as you got on, before wincing slightly at the wound you had received earlier that afternoon. Your eyes lingered on the small cut that suddenly reminded you of the way Akaashi had looked at you; and a part of you let yourself believe there was some sort of worry in his eyes before you fell asleep.

The next day, Akaashi didn't turn up.

You walked into class and noticed that his desk was empty and that he wasn't even in school. Even as classes began, Akaashi didn't turn up and strangely, the teacher didn't call out his name either. You turned to Sora before frowning a bit, as he shrugged. He handed you a note: Maybe he's sick and that's why he ran away.

Right, you thought, feeling your heart drop, Maybe that's why he left in such a hurry? He's not the type to leave someone hanging unless there's a solid reason to do so, right?

Him not coming to school that day filled your heart with the joy it had missed the day before and brought back your desire to confess to the dark-haired heartthrob once more. As you could feel the hope settle at the bottom of your stomach, you also felt strangely cautious because the image of Akaashi's intense gaze rippled in your mind. Not only could you not take your mind off it, but you could also see it each time you closed your eyes; simply because it was just so out of character for Akaashi to look so confused and surprised in the first place.

    "(s/n)-san?" Your homeroom teacher announced at the end of the class, "Can you take over for Miyamizu-san today? She's ill and won't be able to clean the board and the classroom. Mamoru-san can help you."

You grinned turning to Mamoru-san, also known as Sora, and he scoffed. Cleaning duties always irked him, but you, on the other hand, enjoyed them. Cleaning was a way you could relax and as therapeutic as it felt, you also enjoyed throwing out dirt every time you saw it. As soon as school ended, you grabbed Sora by his elbow before giggling toward the janitor's closet. As much as he hated cleaning duty, Sora would accompany you to the end of the earth, so this was nothing. You've known Sora all your life, to be precise, having him as a best friend kept you sane on days when rain poured down a bit too hard.

    "Do you want Akaashi's phone number?" Sora asked, smirking at you.

You blushed before scoffing, "If he didn't give it to me, then no. I don't want it. It'll be so weird."

    "Not really, I think he got to know you're confessing so he just up and left. Because," You cocked an eyebrow at his words, "Because he secretly likes you and is damn shy."

    "Shut up, Sora." You laughed before brushing the floor with the broom.

Once cleaning duties were done, Sora patted you on the back before showing you his phone. Your eyes narrowed before pouting at him, knowing he couldn't accompany you home this time.

    "Can't you just... not go?"

   "If they subbed me instead of someone else at work, I can't ditch. Sorry, this is about money and I can't deny how much it tempts me, (y/n)."

You groaned before waving at your best friend, before turning to the shoe lockers. You swapped to your outdoor shoes before skipping outside, enjoying the evening weather. You were never really a morning person since there was something so ethereal about the evenings. The sky would turn into multiple shades of color that you can't readily find in a palette and it's just the day kicking back and relaxing for throwing a strong morning at you. Everything, with its mellowness, calmed you in the evenings. As you watched the sunset, you noticed how the sky welcomed the darkness that was impending, how the dark blue slowly started to blanket over the horizon, and how shades of stars can finally seem visible. The best part of the evenings was how it oozed poetry in the sky, suddenly stopping you in your tracks, making you let out a sigh simply because even the air seemed light and welcoming. You decided to take a detour before heading home, knowing full well that a poem was on its way to you.

You didn't spend too much time writing, but you enjoyed it nonetheless. It wasn't as if you thought you were good, but you enjoyed how it made you feel—the words on paper, staring right back at you with the emotions you had just poured into them, it gave you a looming sense of comfort that you couldn't find even with cleaning.

The city was strangely mellow despite how it wasn't entirely dark. You noticed that it was a rather lazy Thursday evening, the grips of the week were slowly slipping away but it wasn't quite the weekend yet, so you could still see life in the city blossoming in expected places. You knew that taking this route meant you had to take the train home, but that didn't matter; you felt like walking today, and a walk you shall take.

Your parents had asked you to be careful about walking without a mask, so you put on yours as you continued; knowing how weak your immune system was. You caught colds like birds caught fish, and as easy as it was for you to fall sick, you tried your hardest not to. You knew that the doctor had said it had something to do with your blood type, but since you were a child when you had heard from that doctor, you couldn't quite remember what the deal was about. A second later, you felt something nuzzle at your ankle and you froze when you spotted a cat—a tabby nonetheless—rubbing itself around your leg. You wanted to touch it, but you knew you couldn't; your parents had forbidden you from touching any stray animal.

Oh, no, you thought before thinking of how cute the cat looked, It's rubbing itself all over my leg! Unable to withstand how adorable it looked, you slowly reached out your left hand to push it away, before a second later, the cat bore its fangs out and scratched you. You yelped before jerking your hand away, the shock made the cat instantly run away. Your eyes welled up at the sudden impact before noticing trickles of blood ooze out of the newly formed scratches on your hand. Shit, shit, shit, you thought before you felt the anxiety bubble in your chest.

A second later, however, things moved too fast. You were in motion, and before you could scream, what felt like a hand firmly pressed on your mouth, swallowing your shouts. Your back was then pressed to what felt like a wall and you couldn't see anything; the scratch the cat gave you was burning now, but the impact had given you whiplash.

However, what you saw, almost made you want to puke with confusion. You forgot about the scratch, you forgot about how your mask was rendering it close to impossible for you to take deeper breaths because you sure as hell required it.

Akaashi's blue eyes were almost feral as they bore into your eyes, and his mouth was ajar as he gazed at you coldly. You could hear what sounded like a growl from the back of his throat, but you weren't sure if you were simply imagining it.

    "What's your blood type, (s/n)-san?"

What's with him? Your heart was pounding now, unable to swallow the way Akaashi's gaze was unwavering. You wanted to scream but his hand was pressed against your mouth, and his other hand had gripped you against the wall. You couldn't believe how much power he had in his arms right then, but some part of you couldn't even process what was even going on.

    "(s/n)-san," He almost sounded like the Akaashi you knew, "Please, tell me what blood type you have?"

He slowly released you, hoping you wouldn't scream and you instantly pulled down your mask before breathing in and out heavily. Akaashi waited for you to catch your breath before noticing the tears welled up at the corner of your eyes. You couldn't tell if he was being considerate letting you breathe, or if he was an assailant for having grabbed you unawares the way he did. Your mind was clouding with thoughts, but the question Akaashi asked suddenly made you tilt your head at him.

    "W-What?"

    "Your blood type, (s/n)-san."

    "I-It's...O negative."

    "That c-can't be..." He looked confused, almost disillusioned. "It didn't smell like O negative, even though it is quite rare."

    "A-Akaashi-san?"

He looked at you now and his eyes widened at how close his face was to yours, moving back a few inches. He looked almost apologetic to have put you in such a situation, and while he knew his impulsive actions were going to make him regret them later on, he couldn't help it. His apparent confusion over your blood group, over how intoxicating you smelled, over how he had almost lost control—no, he couldn't recall that feeling. It was terrifying.

    "I truly am very sorry for this," Akaashi almost sighed, "I shouldn't have alerted you this way."

He pulled back almost hesitantly, letting you go. However, you stood there, confusion plastered all over your face at the way he stood—almost reluctant to let you go, almost as if it was physically hurting him to be standing in front of you. You slowly reached out, using the same hand that the cat had scratched you on, before noticing him flinch visibly. You paused in midair, before drawing back your hand.

    "I... I don't understand, Akaashi-kun, what's... why did you need to know my blood type?"

He didn't answer, but merely gave you a look that made it seem like he regretted even being born. There was something devastatingly alluring about Akaashi right then that twisted your heart into a knot, you couldn't understand why he seemed so ashamed, especially when he had actually not done anything wrong. Had he done something wrong? It was a second later did his words register in your head, and your eyes begin to widen slowly.

    "What did you mean by... 'smell like O negative'?"

    "Exactly what it sounds like, (s/n)-san," He straightened up, eyes glancing back at the new wound on your left hand. "You are not an O negative."

    "I am, though," You argued, eyes narrowing, "I should know."

    "Then why are you..." Akaashi bit his tongue before changing his words, "There's something more."

You just looked at him. Every word that spilled from his mouth confused you, scared you and simultaneously, drew you in. You wanted to know what got him so intrigued and confused at the same time—and the feral look in his eye when he had first grabbed you resembled the very same feral look he had given you back in class. And it was right after you had cut your finger.

Right after your blood touched the air, Akaashi had reacted rather peculiarly.

You almost gasped before pressing your back against the wall, desperately wanting to be away from him. No one would believe you, there was no way this was even real. Akaashi didn't seem the type to prank someone, but this seemed just like an elaborate prank right then. Your eyes widened in absolute horror at the realization that perhaps he, the boy of your dreams, was not human.

That perhaps he, Akaashi Keiji, was a blood-sucking vampire.

He looked at you now and immediately caught the realization in your pupils. He pulled back, despite how painful it looked, and your heart wrenched in a weird sort of betrayal.

    "You... You're a... You're a vampire—"

    "I'm sorry to reveal this fact to you this way, (s/n)-san," Akaashi said, biting his tongue, "I never intended on telling anyone, in fact."

    "What changed?"

You still pressed yourself against the wall, fearing him, but even fearing him made you feel terrible. This was someone you liked with all your heart, yet, watching him stand a few feet away from you the way he was, hurt you more than you knew.

    "Your blood," Akaashi said, now looking into your eye again, "I almost lost control in class yesterday because of it. I couldn't come to school today because the scent of your blood evoked my appetite."

    "You're joking... This can't be real... You're lying..." You said in absolute disbelief, and Akaashi merely watched you.

    "If your injury was any deeper, I... I don't know if I could hold back."

You pressed your lips together before letting out a shaky breath. You could feel your heart pounding heavily now, and you moved back just a bit before bolting out of there. You couldn't look at him, you couldn't bring yourself to even register this new information you had received. Your heart was aching and your mind was screaming—you didn't know if you had feelings for him, you didn't know if you now despised him for lying not just to you but to literally everyone around him, and you didn't know if you had it in you to be a vampire sympathizer.

You didn't believe in vampires until Akaashi cornered you in that alley, so you knew for sure that you would need some time to process this.

As soon as you reached home, your mother instantly saw the scratch on your hand and your distraught expression before comforting you and cleaning the wound instantly—her understanding was that you looked scared to death because of the wound you had received, which made sense since you fell sick too easily. However, Akaashi's words kept ringing in your head, it pushed and pulled your mind, and the words exited your mouth before you could even comprehend that you were speaking.

    "What's my blood type, mom?"

Your mother chuckled before focusing on nowhere but your scratch, "You've got the golden blood, sweetie."

Golden blood? "What's..." You were sure you were having a panic attack, "What's... Why didn't I know this?"

    "You were really young when the doctors told us, and he also told us that your rare blood group can weaken your immune system, which is why we stress so much that you wear masks when you're out and this," She gestured to the scratch, "Golden blood is apparently one of the rarest in the world. Less than 50 people have it."

What in the world?

    "Does that mean... I've got some sort of problem?"

    "Oh, no, no, no. It means you're special, honey. Don't worry."

Special. 

That was what you were fearing. Suddenly, you felt eyes on you again and without a second thought, just as your mother finished cleaning your wound, you rushed to your room and slammed the door and locked it. You were breathing heavily now, and you brought a shaky hand up to your chest, feeling fresh tears leaking out of your eyes. You continued to feel like someone was watching you, but now you have a face for that someone. Now, that someone was a vampire that could kill you, a vampire that could perhaps end your life because you were—

Hold on a minute, you thought before feeling your breath get stuck in your throat, He could have killed me. He could have...

He could have definitely killed me if he wanted me dead.

Strangely your mind begged for you to give Akaashi a chance. For two years, he was a simple student, struggling with grades, playing Volleyball, being a best friend to one of the school's biggest sweethearts, Bokuto-san, and not once had you ever seen him react like a feral animal the way he had today. You had also just learned that you had the rarest blood type in the world, with less than 50 people having said blood type, which... which could have been a reason for Akaashi snapping, after all. But, you wondered if these thoughts only sprung up because of your affection for him, but didn't Akaashi's decency deserve it by itself?

What should I do? You thought before tossing and turning in your bed, feeling strange and uncharacteristically uncomfortable. You felt an overwhelming desire to see him, an overwhelming need to have him explain what his motives were, and if he was a vampire then what was he doing in school?

You got out of bed and walked over to the window, staring out without a single qualm. You wanted to see Akaashi because a part of you felt guilty for running away like that; for leaving him behind when he looked so strangely in pain. Your eyes graze the scratch on your left hand and instantly recalled the way Akaashi's eyes looked as they bore into yours, and your heart skipped a beat.

Could you still like him even if he was a vampire?

[bert-thefrog]

Grief - Rafael Aveiro

Content Warning: Character Death, Cheating

Word Count: 1097

Rating: SFW

Rafael Tag List: I have forgotten...

Perma Tag List: @msjpuddleduck @lilyoffandoms @itsbrindleybinch @twin-skltns @theo-oface

Description: Not me appearing like a year and a half after I last wrote anything on this site. This is basically if Sora and Rafael stayed together but PB still killed him. I’ve had this in my drafts for a few months. Please tell me if you remember if you were meant to be on my tag lists or not.

Our love is a river long. The best right and a million wrongs. – ‘Go Solo’, Tom Rosenthal

“It’s alright Casey; it’s going to be alright.” Bryce strokes my hair in a futile attempt at comfort as I cling to him sobbing.

“He’s gone.” I choke, crying harder as a fresh wave of grief washes over me.  Bryce doesn’t reply, holding me tighter without another word. There’s nothing anyone could say right now to make the pain go away. Everyone is grieving in their own way. Elijah sits silently by the window, staring at the world outside blankly. Sienna is in the kitchen, distracting herself by baking. But the tears in the mixing bowl weren’t part of the recipe. Jackie, I don’t know. She hasn’t left her room since the news broke.

Aurora called us a few hours ago from Mass Kenmore. Rafael Aveiro is dead. I didn’t hear the rest. I don’t want to know.

“Someone should check in on Sora.” Elijah speaks up. Sora. Shit.

“Oh god. Poor Sora.” Sienna bursts into a fresh flood of tears, but my stomach churns at their words. It’s not that I don’t feel for her, but how do you comfort the grieving girlfriend of the man you were sleeping with and not feel like a complete fraud?

“Casey, you knew them both best. Maybe-“

“No.” I cut Elijah off before he can even finish the sentence.

“Not the best time Elijah.” Bryce shakes his head at him across the room.

“Sorry, I just thought because they were friends...” He trails off.

The word is a punch to the gut. Friends. That’s all anyone knew we were since Sora came back into his life, if they knew the truth they’d be disgusted, furious. Especially since this was all my fault. He was about to tell her the truth, to leave her so we could make a proper go of things. That wouldn’t happen now. None of the plans we’d made would.

…

               “Casey are you coming?” Jackie sticks her head around the door, morning of the funeral. She’s already dressed, ready to leave. Meanwhile I’m still buried underneath the covers, same place as I’ve hidden for the last week.

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?” The bed dips with her weight as she sits down beside me, hand resting on where my shoulder is buried by the duvet.

“I just can’t face it.” I don’t tell her about Sora’s text, warning me she knew, to keep away. It only confirmed my worst fears; that this really had been all my fault. In his decision to leave her for me, I set about a cataclysmic chain of events – starting with a kiss and ending with an upturned car wreckage on the side of the road.

“I hate to be that person, but this isn’t about you Casey. Our friend is dead, and we have a responsibility to show up for him and for Sora.”

“Sora doesn’t want me there! Okay?” I throw the covers off me, sitting up to stare my best friend down until she leaves.

…

               “She hasn’t gotten out of bed in days, I know they were close, but this is crazy. Ramsey is worried about her clocking up enough hours to stay in the programme.” I can hear Sienna in the hallway, talking softly to an unknown.

“You don’t think-” Aurora trails off.

“No. No way, Casey would be some secret affair. She’s too good for that.” Sienna leaps to my defence immediately. If only she knew.

“I’m not so sure. You know Sora told her to stay away from the funeral, right?” Jackie interjects.

“What?” Both Sienna and Aurora are stunned by the news.

“That doesn’t mean anything. She’s just grieving. Grief does funny things to us – we all know that.” The voices get quieter as the trio retreat to the living room and I begin to feel guilty, remembering how Sienna lost Danny.

…

               “You’re up!” I hear Sienna before I see her, turning around in the kitchen to where she’s standing in the entryway.

“Yeah. I thought I better get back into the hospital at some point. Don’t wanna lose my residency.”

“Ah. You heard us yesterday.” Sienna blushes and I offer her a watery smile.

“It’s okay. You guys were just worried about me.”

“Did…” She struggles to find the right words for a moment. “Did you still love him?”

“I did.” I concede and understanding flashes between us for a moment. “It was after everything with the senator…” She winces, remembering. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Do you want to talk about him? With me I mean?”

“Not yet. I’m not ready yet.”

“Whenever you’re ready.”

…

It was right after everything with the senator, the cannister and Danny. Sora went home for the night, once she knew Raf would pull through. And I, I hovered outside his room, weighing it all up. What I was about to do – was it worth it? We had nearly died, if there was ever a time to risk it all. It was now.

“Casey I know you’re there, come in.”

“Sorry.” I hesitate in the doorway until he pats a space on the bed beside him, inviting me to sit there.

“Don’t be. What is it?” His hand finds mine, stroking the pad of his thumb across my knuckles gently. Here goes nothing.

“I love you. I never stopped loving you and sometimes I don’t think I ever will stop loving you and it hurts Raf. It hurts.” I didn’t want to cry but somehow the tears won’t stop falling, rolling down off my cheeks and onto the blue waffle bedcovers.

“Casey…”

“Please don’t say anything. Please? Just give me one more minute where I can believe you love me too before you break my heart all over again.” I take a deep breath, using my free hand to wipe away the rogue tears still making their way down my face. He holds my other hand tighter, watching me wordlessly.

“You don’t have to stop believing that.” He whispers, watching me with tired eyes.

“What?”

“You don’t have to stop believing that. I love you too.” He repeats, voice a little stronger this time. He tugs the hand holding mine, until I get the hint, lying down beside him and curling into his side, wary of all the wires around us.

“What are we going to do?” I question, letting my eyes open and close drowsily when he kisses the top of my head.

“We’ve got time. We’ll figure that out.”

…

But time is up.

[snowflake-of-destruction]

Imagine Roxas and Axel babysitting for Sora and Riku

Teamwork

"I like adding spontaneous, fun extra challenges to the day as much as the next guy, provided the next guy is you, but I have to say, I think Floor is Lava Tuesdays is a better idea than weird plastic puzzle locks on the cabinets."

Roxas glanced up from where he knelt on the floor, fixing covers and bars on the under the sink cabinets in the kitchen to see his husband framed in the doorway, looking the casual print ad model, chiseled lines under soft sweats, hands curled around a mug of steaming liquid that smelled almost as delicious as the holder (of course the mug was emblazoned with the word SLUT in bold letters which would probably have to be censored out of the ad), bun with just enough flyaways to seem careless but pulled to the perfect angle.  "I'm baby proofing."

"As the baby, I resent that remark," Axel tutted before setting his coffee next to the sink and crouching down beside Roxas. "What brought this on? You have some news to tell me?"

Axel expected an eye roll from his husband, but Roxas set the angry looking plastic finger trap he was holding down and ran a hand through his hair nervously, a mild pink tinge crawling up his neck and Axel felt his smile freeze in the middle of forming.  "Well, actually, I do have some news..."

"You're kidding." Axel felt his blood run cold and then super heated through his veins in quick succession as time slowed down.

Roxas's frown at the interruption morphed to a furrowed brow of confusion and then annoyance. "Axel, I told you already. Replica bodies don't work that way. I'm not going to 'go seahorse'"

"Xion can..."

"Xion is a special case. You are stuck with me with no alterations."

"Eh, I still have the much better end of the deal."

"Yeah, you do."

A shared smile and a quick kiss distracted Axel a moment longer from asking, "So what's the news?"

"I told Sora and Riku we'd babysit for them tonight." Roxas ripped the bandage off quickly. He braced for a less than enthusiastic response, though actually receiving one was still disappointing.

"Listen, I'm sorry about the acknowledgements. Every book I write is dedicated to 'my heart, my love, my Roxas.' I thought that was a given by now, and I just had to write what other dedications would come after it. It was the publisher's fault, and I should not be punished."

"I'm not punishing you," Roxas felt his face wilt as he picked back up the baby proofing supplies to finish what he had started. "I thought it would be fun. Riku and Sora really need a night out, and it gives us a chance to, you know, see what it's like."

It wasn't that Axel missed Roxas's hurt tone or his latter words and their meaning, even if they had been mumbled. It was more a combination of not wanting to be lured toward a slippery slope of manipulation or ready to revisit the conversation of whether he felt they should start seriously thinking about adding to their family soon rather than a general "some day" they'd always said before. Roxas had brought it up last week, and Axel appreciated that he had, but it hadn't exactly gone well when he'd been taken by surprise and his gut instinct response was less enthusiastic than Roxas had seemed to want. He was letting the idea soak in now, and it needed a little more time to marinate before he could give a response. If Roxas was going to push, it would probably need even more time. So it was better not to toe too closely to the sensitive, personal part of baby discussion and do what they both had the inclination to always go back to, deflection with a joke. "To let a Babynort into the house?"

"Ripan is not a Nort." Roxas hissed defense of his other's son since Sora and Ripan couldn't defend themselves.

"Then how come he has white hair? Answer me that," Axel challenged.

"He has silver hair. Like Riku. Riku's genes are the only inherited evil Ripan has and I don't think we should hold that against him. He's just a baby."

"No, no, babies are adorable balls for holding and cooing at and then handing back to their parents. Terrifying because their heads are squishy and they can't hold them up, but otherwise not dangerous at all. This thing is mobile. I've seen it." Axel lent the revelation the appropriate air of horror, though he neglected to mention he'd seen Ripan crawling up a wall, imitating either one of his fathers or the younger Incredible boy, which rendered his warning easily mistaken for his typical melodrama.

"That's why I'm baby proofing."

"Did you get the upstairs?"

"It's not going to be able to climb the stairs by itself...Is it?"

Axel thought it over since the stair thing seemed to alarm Roxas. "Probably more easily than it could get to the ceiling. I'm just going to feed it ice cream and hope that appeases it."

"I don't think it..he can have ice cream yet. Sora said he was going to write us a list of rules."

Axel's attitude toward the night ahead of them turned on a dime when the suggestion that someone else thought he was less than capable intruded to punch at his ego.  "Rules like what? We know what to do."

"Damn straight." Roxas stood, dusted off his hands, and stole Axel's coffee off the counter.

"We'd be great with kids," Axel insisted, reaching out to take the coffee back, taking a sip, and returning it to Roxas.

"That's right," Roxas encouraged.

"We take care of Demyx!" Axel could honestly say that he'd fed, bathed, and rocked Demyx to sleep under different circumstances. Luckily, no diapers had ever been involved. "We're Turkey's dads!"

"And he's the most demanding little baby of all!" Roxas championed Axel's logic even while being reminded that he'd forgotten to feed Turkey before starting his project with the cabinets. He'd have to rectify that now. It was a miracle Turkey wasn't already dramatically expressing the utter betrayal of being left to starve.

"Next to me," Axel provided the punchline at his expense.

"Next to you." Roxas leaned up on tiptoe to steal a kiss and pressed the coffee cup with its last sips at the bottom into his husband's hands for him to finish off. "Now go put on something more suitable for tonight."

"What's more suitable than sweats for babysitting a baby? A tarp?" Axel drained the coffee.

"Put on something nice."

"Is Ripan conducting a formal interview before storytime?"

"No, but his dads might."

Roxas's instincts turned out to be right. Sora and Riku not only had a list of rules but a pop quiz on protocol and babysitting readiness that needed to be passed before they would leave, despite the fact that Roxas and Axel, already had the job, were doing it as a favor, were only taking Ripan for a few hours and not permanently adopting him and taking him into the heart of Deep Jungle, and Riku and Sora's normal babysitter was a fifteen year old girl (though Violet had warned them that she might have to cut back even more than she had. Ripan and her brother Jack Jack tended to be "a little challenging" in her words, when she had to watch both of them).

Ripan's part of the testing was to sit on the floor sucking on his giraffe pacifier and rolling an alphabet block between his hands, occasionally looking up with large, liquid blue eyes either to question why he was sitting on a strange floor or to ask why his dads were still there. Or maybe to ask why the other baby curled in the entertainment center next to the cable box was so ugly and meowed.

"I promise you. Ripan is going to have so much fun tonight he's never going to want to leave...but he's also going to be asleep by nine and I won't forget to rub the cream on his arms before I put on his sleepytime shirt," Roxas swore, crossing his heart over the I like coffee and maybe three people shirt he'd neglected to change out of despite telling Axel to look nice.

"Okay, I believe in you," Sora assured him before selling out his husband. "But Riku sincerely does not. So can you please promise me you will take extra good care of our little angel? I know he's kind of a handful, but-"

"Are you kidding?" Axel chuckled, unperturbed. "You're talking to the best babysitters in the business. There is no one more qualified for this job."

"You've literally never done this before," Riku groused, hands clenching in his pockets as he regressed to his old nervous tick.

"We are totally capable of taking care of your precious angel, okay? It's not like we don't have kids too." Roxas gestured to the entertainment center where Turkey sat, eyeing the miniature human. It had eyes like His Boy, so Turkey thought he might be able to trust it, but the threat of someone else Heat Giver and His Boy might want to snuggle that was not Turkey was hard to face.

"That's why I'm concerned," Riku concentrated on breathing evenly through his nose and not sounding too snappish. "That is not a child. That is a cat in a knit sweater."

"We'll be fine," Roxas insisted, ignoring Riku's slight, when defending Turkey's status as first child would make Sora and Riku miss their reservation. "We have your list and everything he needs. You two just enjoy yourselves!"

"See, it's fine, Riku." Sora nudged Riku toward the door. "Bye Ripan! Behave yourself for your uncles!"

Ripan gurgled solemnly, swearing to be nothing but the perfect child.

"Have fun guys! We'll be back around eleven!" Sora nudged Riku a bit harder, recognizing him for the immoveable object he was. "Riku stop glaring and walk."

Roxas opened the door for them, Axel waved to them as they retreated, Roxas closed the door. It was a total of maybe fifteen seconds they didn't have eyes on Ripan. The first fifteen seconds they were in charge of the vulnerable life of the baby that had been sitting near motionless and content in the living room for fifteen minutes. The baby that was still sitting content after those fifteen seconds and still near motionless, just with his pacifier out of his mouth and on the floor beside him and his mouth working as if he were chewing.

Axel and Roxas shared a glance and dove at the same time. Ripan shrieked, which should have proved his mouth was empty, but Axel used the opportunity to sweep a finger inside the child's mouth to make sure. Ripan employed natural defenses. Namely, biting down as hard as he could with his four impressive teeth.

Axel howled. Ripan laughed which allowed the red head to withdraw his injured hand. Roxas comforted Axel, for a moment, then warned him not to take his eyes off Ripan again because they might not get lucky again, and went to wash floor germs from the pacifier for the first, but, by no means, last time of the night. Minute one drew to a close with everyone still unscathed.

Minute fifteen gave birth to everyone's least favorite game, Turkey Chase and Smack, though Crawl Behind Couch gave it a difficult battle for the title.

At the end of the first hour, a nice balance had been found and everyone was getting along until Axel tried to heat up a bottle by summoning fire in his hand and subsequently scalded his wrist while testing results, as well as putting the idea of fire into Ripan's head. Sora had been right. Ripan was very smart and liked to try and mimic what the big people did. The living room couch suffered.

The next hurdles were The Incident of the Second Bottle Being Too Cold, The Great Despair of not Being Able to Have Both Bottle and Pacifier at the Same Time, Bottle Gone Too Quick, The Pukening, Second Washing of the Pacifier and Trial of Separation Anxiety, The Changing of the Onesies with Ripan Super Spleen Kicking Action, and The Pukening Part Two: Roxas's Shirt Looks Absorbent.

It was all minor stuff. Normal stuff. Expected, other than perhaps setting fire to the couch.

The real trouble didn't begin until the pacifier was lost.

[noctisfishing]

Prince of Tennis (...and Flowers)

Day 3 - Hobbies

#noct writes taiora week 2020 [ 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 ]

@taioraweek for more Taiora love! @noctisfishing for Taiora/Digimon writings and more. :)

Setting: Digimon Adventure tri. timeframe / Canon Divergent

Tags: Fluff, Romance

MinorCameo pairing: Mimato

Other Characters: Toshiko Takenouchi

Notes: I think we know more about Sora’s hobbies, and hopefully the silly title gives you a hint as to what this story is about.

I also wrote in small musical references from DigiDestined FM by @earlgreymon & @tangledupblue‘s digidestined-inspired playlists. I recommend you listen to them - there’s something for everyone! :D

~*~*~*~*~*~

On a late afternoon, Sora sat on a bench at the side of the school tennis court with a towel hanging over the top of her uniform for tennis practice. She was relaxed as she took intermittent sips from her water bottle as she waited for her mother to call the end of practice.

“Hey, look! it’s Sora!”

"Sora? You're here late."

Sora turned around to see Yamato and Mimi standing on the other side of the chain-linked fence.

“Hey, guys,” she said. “I was supposed to go home and prepare dinner. Taichi said that he wanted to come over and help, but…”

She turned around to face the tennis court again to see her mom on one side of the court shouting at the player on the other side - that player being Taichi, who was in his gym shorts and loose muscle shirt.

“...can’t prepare dinner if no one else is there to eat it.

“He’s that into it, huh?” Yamato asked.

Sora saw Taichi catch sight of Yamato, and he raised the tennis racket high above his head as a greeting.

“Taichi!” Sora’s mom yelled, making Taichi flinch and turn around to return to focus. 

Sora, Yamato, and Mimi laughed quietly in their corner.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” Sora explained. “It wasn’t that hard of a transition for me from playing soccer.”

Sora wasn’t sure how it happened, but she tried to explain it to Yamato and Mimi in the best way that she could. One day, she and her boyfriend Taichi were talking about soccer and their individual hobbies; the next day, he was jogging alongside her at the start of her tennis practice with her mom coaching them for the day.

“So, he wants to try out all of the things that you like to do?” Mimi asked after her explanation. “That’s so cute!”

“Yeah. I’ve gotta admit - it’s been pretty funny to watch him try.”

Sora’s mom blew the whistle, and Taichi lowered his arms letting the tennis racket swing toward the ground. As he headed to where Sora sat, Yamato let out a snort of laughter, and Mimi gasped.

“You even got him to wear your visor,” he said. “I’m not going to let him live that down.”

“Be nice!” Sora warned, although she thought that seeing her white visor over Taichi’s big and fluffy brown hair was as funny as Yamato did. She stood up from the bench and held out Taichi’s towel and water bottle by the time he got to her.

“Aww, just for me?” Taichi asked her. “Aren’t you sweet?”

Sora smiled at him as they stood face-to-face. She had already had a chance to cool down a little from practice, but being close to him, she felt the heat emanating from him after he moved around the court. There was more that she wanted to say, but she knew that Yamato and Mimi were still standing on one side, watching intently; and although she was far away, her mother was staring them down.

“Listen,” Taichi added in a softer voice for only her to hear. “Tonight’s probably not a good night for me to come over. I’ll just walk home with Yamato.”

“Ha! Was Mom giving you bad vibes or something?”

“...Kinda.” 

Taichi chuckled nervously, but Sora frowned.

“Sora!” her Mom shouted.

“Alright then,” said Sora, letting the troubling thought rest for the night. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow? At ‘One OK Rock’?”

Part of their hobby swap was listening to each other’s music, which had been a ‘hit or miss’ depending on the music they shared with each other. 

Taichi laughed at her reference of his favorite band. “I’ll get you to listen to the acoustic versions of their music. I think you might like those better. You liked OneRepublic, right?”

“I did. I’m surprised you even liked Norah Jones and Dido.”

“Why wouldn’t I? They remind me of you.”

Sora went in for a tight hug, and she felt Taichi’s arms around her back as he gave her a squeeze. She loved that he gave her the best hugs.

Then silence fell between the two of them when they pulled apart. They stared at each other, but Sora broke the gaze first, feeling herself blush. She felt too self-conscious with other people watching them, especially her mother.

“Love the new look,” Sora heard Yamato tease as she walked away. 

~*~*~*~*~*~

Taichi was over at the Takenouchi residence the next afternoon, sitting next to Sora on the floor in front of a flat, round container, with flowers and branches neatly laid out on either side. 

Sora sat on her knees while Taichi sat with his legs crossed to watch her. She had given him half an hour of attempting ikebana with her guidance until she grew impatient from bickering with him over how he was handling the pieces. As many times as she told him to be gentle, he still ended up with a few bandages around his fingers.

Silence had fallen between them as she began to concentrate on choosing the right long branch from the small stack she and her mother had picked out earlier that morning. After running her hand on each one and observing each branching having a variation of sprouted leaves, she chose the one that she felt was right, and gently extended its branches before setting it in the container.

“You make this look so easy, Sora,” Taichi quipped.

“It’s not as easy as it looks,” she fretted. “I’ve been practicing this for a few years now, and I still don’t feel like I’m getting it right.”

“But it’s something you like doing, right?”

Sora smiled. “I do now. I used to hate it, but that was before I resolved things with my mom. Now I like it because I get to do it with her.”

It was likely because her mom was out shopping that Taichi said it so freely:

“I don’t think your mom likes me.”

But Sora expected him to say that and knew he had been ready to vent about it, so she continued to place another leafy branch. “What makes you say that?”

“Did you see how harsh she was with me at tennis yesterday? I’ve never had a coach so strict.”

“You’ve probably never had to deal with your girlfriend’s mother as a coach, either.”

“It’s like she doesn’t approve of me, or something.”

“Now, that’s ridiculous.” Sora had to laugh while she turned to choose the bloomed flowers. “Mom’s just strict when she teaches; that’s why it seems like she might be hard on you.”

She placed the flowers in between the branches in the container, but her face fell when she looked at the arrangement so far.

“She was really hard on me at first. That’s why I pushed myself to train harder. But, I’ve learned that she just wanted me to do well, so I know where she’s coming from. I think that goes for you, too, Taichi.”

Turning her head to Taichi, she gave him a smile in hopes to reassure him.

“She could tell you were serious about tennis,” she added. “If you weren’t, she would’ve refused to help you.”

“That makes sense.” Taichi smiled back at her, and it brightened her own smile knowing that she made him feel better.

After a few minutes of silence, Sora had let go of the last stem and sat back from her flower display. The arrangement still didn’t feel like her best work. She wondered if the branches needed to be spread out more or be rearranged, and what her mother would think of it when she returned home.

“Wow…” Taichi leaned closer towards her to look. “You really do have a talent for this, Sora.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, this looks awesome!”

She tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear which might have looked red from the heat on her face. “Thanks, Taichi.”

“Say, since I obviously suck at this, maybe you should teach me another hobby instead.”

She shot a look at him. “Like what?”

“I dunno. Sewing?”

“No.”

Taichi grimaced. “That was quick.”

“You want to try to handle a needle when you don’t have the patience to handle the thorns on these branches? You’re only going to suffer with more pricks on your fingers.”

“Really, Sora? I’ve gotten bruises and broken some bones playing soccer, and you’re worried about my hands?”

She adjusted her sitting position to face him as she kneeled, and she held his hands in hers while she looked over the bandages on his fingers.

“You really need to be more careful, Taichi.”

Taichi placed his rough hand over hers with his other one underneath, causing Sora to hold her breath.

“You don’t have to worry about me so much. You know that, right?”

Her eyes meeting his made Sora lose what she meant to say next. He had a soft smile on his lips, but he stared at her with the same sense of waiting as he had the late afternoon before.

She couldn’t wait either. Slowly, she leaned forward, and noticed that he was doing the same toward her. They had only kissed each other on the cheek twice, both times out of public view. Sora was always self-conscious when everyone else was watching.

But in that moment, it was just the two of them, and they inched closer together, and Sora anticipated finally closing that gap…

The noise against the front door caused both of their heads to turn toward it.

“Oh…” Sora said with an exhale, crestfallen by the interruption. With her face flushed and her heart rapidly beating, she returned to her kneeling position before the ikebana, and she saw Taichi from the corner of her eyes return to his crossed legs, blushing all the same.

“I’m home!” Sora’s mom called.

“Welcome back,” Sora replied. “How was shopping?”

“I’ve bought some more vegetables for the week. I’ve got a great idea for dinner tonight. You’re welcome to join us for dinner, Taichi, if you don’t have plans.”

“I’ll be happy to,” Taichi said, and Sora noticed that he looked especially cheerful. “I guess I can help you and Sora like I was meant to yesterday.”

“Ah, yes. Thanks to having us work on your poor form.”

“Y-yeah…” Taichi’s face showed a hint of horror.

“You’ve got the fancy footwork, Taichi, but it’s your stances when you swing the racket that needs more work.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Mom, please go easy on him,” Sora chimed in, feeling pity for Taichi. “He’s just starting out.”

But as her mom set the bags of vegetables on the counter, she paused as she looked in Sora’s direction.

“Did you do that, Sora?” she asked, staring curiously.

“Oh…” Sora turned to her flower arrangement. “I did. I was showing Taichi how to do it.”

“Well, you showed him well, dear. Just beautiful.”

Sora beamed at her mother’s compliment. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Ah! I think I’ll change out of these clothes after being out for most of the day. I’ll be back to start preparing dinner.”

“Okay.”

Sora looked at her own flower display again, feeling silly for doubting herself. She reached over to brush her finger over a leaf on one of the branches when Taichi called her name and lightly nudged her arm with his elbow.

“Hmm?” She looked to meet his eyes again as he smiled at her.

“I agree with what she said, Sora. ‘Just beautiful’.”

Sora knew that it was more than the flowers Taichi was talking about.

When Sora leaned forward this time, she finally kissed his lips. She could tell that she startled him, and in a short moment of panic she realized her hands were at her sides and she didn’t know where to move them.

But then he pushed against her slightly. Her hands made their way to either side of his cheeks, and she felt his hand on the side of her neck. She took in this new feeling of his lips against hers as they held each other, and she wanted to explore this even more.

“Sora,” her mom called suddenly, causing both her and Taichi to jump and break their kiss.

“Y-yes, Mom?!” Sora called back in a tone higher than normal. She and Taichi had quickly jumped a few feet apart from each other, although her mom had yet to reappear.

“Can you and Taichi start chopping up the onions and the leeks?”

“Okay!”

Sora stood up first, then she helped Taichi up as he shook his legs from being numb. Not wanting to risk another interruption, Sora and Taichi laughed together as they held each others’ hands before heading toward the kitchen. He offered to slice the onions which she accepted, knowing that unlike with her other hobbies, Sora could trust him to do at least that.

Well…

“Oops,” Taichi said as he let an onion drop and roll on the kitchen floor.

.

.

.

.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Trivia: The band “One OK Rock” got their name as a play on the time they used to have band rehearsals. :P

One OK Rock and Norah Jones are included on @earlgreymon‘s playlists, while OneRepublic and Dido are included on @tangledupblue‘s playlists. :)

[witchypumpkindoesthings]

Hi there! Really stoked that you decided to do such a blog. ✨ Could I request a NSFW Soulmate AU with our sunshine boi Sora? With fem!Reader and him upon discovering each other, also discover all that pent up sexual desires for each other and having to make up for all that time that was lost. Lots of verbal declarations of love and them being adorable. 🥰 After that DLC, Sora deserves all the love in the world. 😭💓 Many thanks!

Thank you so much for this request! I love our sunshine boi so much and I totally agree that he needs more love after everything that happened! A few things before we get into it! Firstly, I apologize to anyone in the tags who stumble upon this and don’t want to see my NSFW work, I’m on mobile so I’m unable to do the “keep reading” option. I’ll have this tagged as “#pumpkinsNSFW” so please feel free to block that tag if this isn’t something you want to see! Secondly, I wasn’t quite 100% sure how to write this soulmate au and found it kinda hard to write but I think it came out really cute regardless and I hope I did okay! And lastly, I apologize if this isn’t as smutty as you had hoped Anon. As I said, I’m not great at smut but I tried my best and I really hope you enjoy regardless! —Pumpkin♡

My One and Only.

☆Sora x fem! Reader.

☆Word count: 3536

☆Warnings: Smut at the end there but mostly just cute soulmate things.

☆(All characters are 18+)

☆☆☆

You had always been curious about what meeting your soulmate would be like.

People explained it as a "surge of sudden and new emotions" and this piqued your interest quite a bit. A lot of emotions were unknown to you and others who have yet to find their soulmate, and you weren't sure who or what to expect... or even when to expect it but you were more than ready to find out. No matter who, no matter what, and no matter when, you promised yourself that you'd be ready.

Okay... failed step one.

It was like any day really. It didn't exactly scream "hey you're gonna meet your one and only today", because if it had, you would've dressed better and emotionally prepared. No, it started as just another day. You were finishing up your third day at your new job at the local bistro, handing checks out, clearing tables, and getting closing tasks done in between.

Stacking a tower of tableware and taking it in your arms, you watched as the last costumers of the day, a happy looking couple, walk out the door, and you watched them wistfully. You couldn't help but wonder when that was going to be you with your own true love, as fairytale as that sounded, it brought a dumb, hopeful smile to your face. You were so lost in your own daydream, you almost didn't hear your boss calling you.

"Oh! Sorry! Yes, Mr. McDuck?" You asked, peeking over the mountain of plates in your arms. The Scotsman chuckled and carefully tapped the plate tower with his cane.

"As soon as you put those in the kitchen, feel free to head home. Little Chef and I will handle the rest." Scrooge McDuck said as he pushed a stray chair back into its place. You blinked in surprise as you walked beside him towards the kitchen.

"Are you sure Mr. McDuck? I can stay late if you really need me." You offered as he held open the kitchen door open for you.

"No no, Lass. You've been a huge help! You've more than carried your weight around here, go home and rest." Said Scrooge before letting the doors close behind you. You couldn't help but chuckle. Mr. McDuck was a very nice man- er duck, but you have noticed that he's a bit of a penny pincher. You could absolutely believe that he was just genuinely being nice... but it was still much easier for you to believe that he just didn't want to pay you over time. You laughed again as you set the dishes down in the sink and carefully untied your slightly dirty apron, catching your reflection in one of the shiny pans hanging from cookware chandelier. You pretty much screamed "tired waitress". While you did your best to straighten your clothes and fix your hair, you heard the front door open, despite it being past closing. You quickly grabbed your things and prepared yourself to help Scrooge turn away the stray costumer.

"So sorry but we're cl- Sora! My boy! It's been much too long!" You heard Mr. McDuck greet the newcomer. You tilted your head as you slowly walked around the corner so not to disturb Mr. McDuck's conversation and to catch a glimpse of the stranger, who happily greeted him back.

"Heya Scrooge! Sorry for dropping by so late, but I was in town visiting Roxas and I started craving Little Chef's cooking-" the man, Sora, went on as you finally got a look at his face. You couldn't help but blink in surprise. He was a handsome young man, around your age, with a warm, incredibly dazzling smile, and spiky, yet soft looking hair. Sora was still talking when he finally noticed you. "-and... I was... hoping..." his voice faded out as gorgeous blue pools locked with your own dazzling e/c eyes.

Suddenly, it felt like something inside your heart exploded, sending a zap up your spine, making you visibly shiver and stumble back a bit. Despite the shiver, warmth spread through your body as a foreign feeling wrapped itself around your racing heart. Judging by Sora's own shiver, he was experiencing something similar. The heat went to your cheeks as a very viable blush when you realized it wasn't just you two in the room. You cleared your throat and rubbed your arm.

"S-Sorry I-I didn't mean to interrupt." You stuttered an apologize to both Mr. McDuck and Sora, who was equally as red.

"Oh don't worry about it, Lass! Where are my manners? Y/n, this is Sora, a very good friend of Little Chef and I! Sora, this is Y/n, she's new but a huge help around the bistro!" Scrooge introduced the two of you and you smiled shyly at Sora as the warmth and alien feelings still surrounded your heart. Your body felt like jelly but you forced yourself to walk up to Sora and hold out a shaky hand.

"N-Nice to m-meet you." You fumbled with your words, and cursed yourself for it. Sora's adorably shy smile didn't help your flustered state.

"It's really n-nice to meet you too." He grabbed your hand, and you almost yelped in surprise. The warmth increased dramatically and spread to belly in a... not uncomfortable sensation, but rather a new and strange one. You were also acutely aware of the sudden need to just... touch him more. You weren't sure how you wanted to touch him, but you just felt the strongest need... a desire. You pulled your hand away quickly and grabbed your arm as you took a step back and smiled stupidly. You took notice of the look in Sora's glossed over eyes. He looked you up and down, then looked at his own hand with such an adorable, confused look.

Mr. McDuck cleared his throat and looked between you and Sora. "Right! Well Y/n, I said you wouldn't have to say overtime, but if you wouldn't mind, could you help Little Chef prepare something for Sora?" He asked, you almost didn't hear him.

"Hm? Oh! Yes of course- um... what would you like?" You shyly asked the young man, shifting on your feet as he blinked.

"Oh! Uh... surprise me?" He said a bit unsurely as he took a seat in the nearest booth, still blushing quite a bit. You just nodded and gave him a soft smile as you went back into the kitchen to inform Little Chef.

•••

After serving Sora and cleaning off his table, you had a a moment to think. Well... think as best as you could with the strange feelings still swirling inside of you.

You just met your soulmate. You were sure of it. And frankly... you weren't sure where to go from here. Do you talk to him? Ask for his number? Ugh you weren't sure.

You slipped on your coat as you walked out to the front of the bistro, finding Sora and Mr. McDuck having a serious looking conversation. Disappointment briefly took ahold of you, you didn't want to interrupt or bother them, and you weren't sure how long they planned on talking for so you didn't want to just stand aside and wait either. You sighed softly. Maybe today isn't the day for you two to sit down and chat or do whatever soulmates do. You made your way towards the front door, trying not to disturb the two, however Scrooge noticed you.

"Oh, Lass. I'm sorry for keeping you so late. I don't like the idea of you walking home alone at this hour." He said. You glanced outside. Man, it really was late, and usually you wouldn't want to walk home alone either but today you didn't really mind. You glanced at Sora. No, you didn't mind at all.

You opened your mouth to reassure your boss but Sora spoke before you. "I can walk her home!" He said, a bit loudly, once he realized that himself, he turned pink. "I mean... it's the least I can do for her after all that she's done tonight." He added with a goofy yet extremely charming grin. You smiled back at him gratefully, blush returning.

Sora then said his goodbyes to Scrooge and Little Chef, promising to return tomorrow during actual business hours, then taking his leave with you.

You walked side by side in silence for a good minute. It wasn't uncomfortable... but clearly a lot needed to be said. And as you stood next to him, the strange feelings skyrocketed, making your legs feel weak. You needed to say something.

"So Sora-"

"So Y/n-"

You both started, you glanced at each other and you both laughed. "You first." You said and smiled at him, making him blush.

"How far away is your place?" He asked you, never breaking eye contact with you, not that you complained. You loved his eyes.

"Not far, but we can take the short route, or the scenic one." You said as you glanced at the scenic route, taking in the glow of Twilight Towns beautiful late night light.

"Well... I've always been one for pretty sights." Sora beamed and your heart skipped a beat. You smiled in return and grabbed his hand, ignoring the feelings for the time being and taking Sora down the beautifully lit streets of Twilight Town. You both got to know each other as you walked, from something as simple as favorite colors, to as big as hardships you had to go through. Your heart aches for Sora and what he's been through, and he didn't even tell you everything! He gave you the short and sweet version, but it was enough for you to see how strong and amazing he is. And even after telling you that, he still cracked jokes that made you laugh until your sides hurt, and complimented you so sincerely that your face was as red as a Moogle's nose. You only fell harder for your soulmate.

Finally you reached your home after what felt like a life time... and yet not enough time at all. You glanced at Sora, who looked back at you. Clearly neither of you wanted to say goodbye, so you didn't.

"Would you like to come inside for a bit? It's kinda cold out there..." You opened your door and offered for him to come inside, he happily agreed with a cute "Thank you."

You hung your jacket and made some hot chocolate for the both of you, your mind wandering as you absentmindedly continued your hot coco task. You two had pretty much talked about everything except the obvious, should you bring it up now? Would it be weird? You weren't sure, but you felt like it should be discussed. You carefully grabbed the full mugs and joined Sora on the sofa, sitting down next to him and handing him his drink.

"Thank you! This looks amazing!" He beamed cutely as he cautiously took a sip of the hot drink, his eyes lighting up as soon as he got a taste. You blushed and tapped your mug with your index finger as you held it.

"Sora...?" Your voice got his attention and he looked at you with wonder as you shyly continued. "Earlier... when we shook hands... did you feel it too?" You ask softly. Sora blushed and set his mug to the side, yours following.

"Y-Yeah... I did." He mumbled softly, but loud enough for you to hear him, then avoided your gaze. "Honestly I still kinda feel it..." he admitted. You couldn't help but reach out and touch him, your hand resting on his cheek, body heating up and heart quickening.

"Me too." You replied. Sora's gaze shifted back to yours, his own hand coming up and resting on your own. And as if there was magnets involved, you both leaned forward until the gap between you two was no more. Your heart melted in a puddle as the new and wonderful feelings swirled around with joy.

Sora's lips fit into your own like a puzzle piece, warm and soft and just... perfect. He tasted like the hot coco and he was a little bit unsure and sloppy, you couldn't help but smile at that fact, though you were sure you were similar. After a moment, Sora took his free hand and used it to pull you onto his lap, resting it on your hip, then took the other one resting on your hand, and slowly ran it down your side, as if he was testing if it was okay or not. You shivered in response to that, which was a silent reassurance for him. You moved both your arms over his shoulders and hands in his soft spikes as the kiss started to heat up.

The hot feeling in your belly begged for more as the kiss picked up from sloppy and shy, to skillful and passionate, as if the two of you mastered the craft in mer minutes. Sora squeezed your hip, causing you to sigh softly, allowing him to slip is tongue past your lips to run along your own. Soft moans and sighs escaped the both of you as he explored your welcoming mouth, meanwhile you felt the need for friction between the two of you so you lazily rolled your hips against Sora's, getting a sharp gasp and moan from the young man. Sora pulled away from your lips to kiss along your jaw. "Do that again... please." He breathily asked as he searched for the spot on your neck that would make you melt in his arms, it didn’t take long for him to find it. A sweet moan fell from your lips as Sora abused the spot, making you crazy for more as you rolled your hips again, earning another beautiful moan from the young man as he pulled at your shirt which ended up on the floor seconds later, heat rose to your face as Sora grabbed your hips to slow you down and took a moment to really look you over.

"Beautiful..." He mumbled in amazement as he traced the strap of your bra, finger leaving the item of clothing to trace the top of your breasts, making you whimper with need. His eyes went back to your bra, searching for a way to remove it, once he had found it, he looks at you for permission. You hesitate but then shyly nod to which he grins and attempts to undo the clasps, Sora struggles for a moment before you let out a soft laugh and help him. Once you discard your bra, you can't help but cover yourself in embarrassment, Sora tilts his head and squeezes your hips. "Hey no need to be shy. I think you're beautiful, Y/n... and I already love everything about you." He said softly as he kissed your shoulders and neck softly, allowing you a moment to become more comfortable. You let out a soft hum as he lovingly nuzzled your skin and slowly dropped your arms, blush covering your face from his actions.

"If you say so..." You say and shyly avoid his gaze. Sora's eyes widen at the sight of your bare top half, tracing your breasts yet again, making you hum happily. You glanced back at him, seeing that he was totally fixated on you, making your blush deepen and giggle softly. You suddenly realized how much more clothed he was than you, and decided that won't do at all. You pulled at his shirt, snapping him out of his daze, and getting the item of clothing off. You blushed in amazement as you ran your hand down Sora's lean torso, fingers tracing his soft, tan skin making him sigh softly. A moment later and you both decided to ditch your pants as well, just leaving you in your panties and him in his boxers. Your eyes dipped down, going pink at the sight of the bulge in his boxers. Sora pulled you back into another passionate kiss, and you take that as sign to go back to rolling your hips, without pants in the way this time. Sora let out a breathless moan as he moved his lips down your jaw, and onto your neck, finding you sweet spot yet again. You let out a moan as you run your hands down his torso once more, as if to memorize every little detail of his body.

Sora nipped and sucked at the spot lightly, not wanting to hurt you, and leaving a mark that would fade within a day or two. Then he made his way down your chest, groaning as a result to your movements, making you sigh and moan softly as he left the sweetest kisses and without warning, he took one of your nipples into his mouth, moving his free hand to roll his thumb over your other one.

"Fuck, Sora-!" You moaned in surprise, your reaction making him chuckle. You turned into a moaning mess in his arms, the movement of your hips getting sloppy as his name left your lips in moans and whines, only making Sora harder. He switched to give your other nipple the same treatment, a hand going down to your panties, pushing them aside and searching for your clit. Once he finds it, he moves his thumb in perfect circular motions, making you arch your back and pushing your breasts into his face as a result. "Sora! Holy shit don't stop!" You begged him your own moans and whimpers only encouraging his actions.

Your felt a knot begin to form in your gut, but before it could snap, Sora removed his thumb and kissed back up to your neck, his lips and nose ghosting your skin, you whined in response. "I want to be inside of you... please Y/n..." Sora begged softly as he softly kissed your jaw, driving you mad.

"Yes please! I want all of you Sora, please...!" You answered his begging with your own, giving him permission to go even farther. You were both quick to remove the last items of clothing, your womanhood dripping wet with lust and need. You curiously glanced down at Sora's cock, fully erected with precum beading at the tip. Your body heated up with a need for him... all of him. He position himself at your entrance and look into your eyes with an intense mix of love and lust.

"Ready?" He asked softly, making sure you were 100% okay with this. You were. You nodded and let out a breathy "yes", and slowly lowered yourself onto him. Your eyes widened with both pain and pleasure. Sora let out a loud moan as he grab your hips, moving ever so slightly, making you moan and whimper. He stopped and captured you in a loving kiss, whispering sweet things as he let you adjust, and once you felt the pain melt away, you nodded at him. Sora slowly started to move, letting out a string of moans and curses, joined by your own, both your voices mixing together in a sinful tune.

"Sora," His name left your lips as he quickened his pace, hands and lips roaming your body as you bounced along with his thrust. "Oh Sora! Fuck... I love you!" The words left your mouth without another thought. Sora's breath hitched as he bit back a moan, sweetly kissing your ear.

"I love you too." He whispered, then let out another moan as his climax approached, yours not far behind. His thrusts and kisses became sloppy as he arched his back. "F-Fuck... Y/n-!" He moaned out your name before bursting inside of you, Sora buried his face in your neck as he rode out his orgasm.

You followed right behind him, coming undone just after a few more sloppy thrusts, you moaned out beautifully, riding out your own high as you held Sora close.

Sora groaned as he fell backwards to lay on the couch, you laying on top of him. He pulls you into a lazy yet loving kiss as you pulled a nearby blanket over the both of you. "I love you." Sora whispered between kisses, you hummed against his lips.

"I love you too." You said, happiness lacing your sleepy voice. Honestly, you had imagined what meeting your soulmate would be like... but this would greater than anything you could have come up with. With the new emotions, love, lust and the desire to be with him, came Sora... and how he's here, with you.

Sora... your soulmate. Your one and only. Your love.

You nuzzled into his chest as sleep started to get ahold of you. Sora held you close as he spoke again. "Y/n?"

"Mhm?"

"I think the hot coco is cold now..."

You let out a sleepy giggle as he held you, his fingers lovingly combing through your hair. You decided that this is where your Happily Ever After begins. Yes... this is your soulmate and you couldn’t have asked for anyone else, no one in all the worlds could compare to how perfect Sora was, and how happy you both are at this moment.

[mercurryblack]

Chapter 5: Amaryllis

Day one: the investigation begins.

❃❃❃

“Are we there yet? My legs can’t take it anymooore.” Hattie whined.

Despite the coffee and hearty breakfast she had enjoyed only moments earlier, the girl was still sluggish as the team walked to the precinct. It was hardly further than their excursion from yesterday, but the journey today seemed to be taking longer than usual, especially in the slow hours of the early morning.

“If you stopped dragging your feet, maybe we’ll get there faster.” remarked Lillian, a bit exasperated. “You’ve been awake for over an hour, had two cans of coffee, and you got the same amount of sleep you always get. How are you still drowsy?”

“…I dunno. Circadian rhythms?”

“It’s only two blocks away, don’t worry.” Amaryllis reassured Hattie.

Cait was in front of all of them, and in a much better mood than their teal-togged teammate. “Remind me to thank you, Lillian. This is sure to be much more cool than yesterday.”

Lillian rolled her eyes. “I don’t think it’s going to be that ‘cool’ once you consider what we’re dealing with.” She responded, remembering how distraught Rudyard had looked.

***

A couple of minutes later, they reached the precinct and headed up to Yuen’s office. The second they opened the door, they were greeted by several storage boxes and piles of paper scattered on the seats around the doorway. Sardion and Rudyard were both looking over copied reports, while Detective Yuen was arranging new pins on the corkboard.

“Good morning, Team LLAC. Please sit down, we need to brief you on what we’re going to do today.” Yuen ordered, barely turning her head as she placed a report footnote on the board. As they did so, she turned to one of the supply boxes and lifted it onto her desk.

“Umff— Today, we’re going to be taking a further look at the crime scene for material evidence. Anything you can find, mark it and let us know. It could be a household object out of place, a scrap of clothing you don’t recognize, a mark on the floor or wall. Anything that doesn’t belong in the area, report it. Here are some things you need.” She pulled several pairs of gloves from the supply box, as well as two smaller boxes of identification markers. “And finally, this should go without saying, but do try not touch any piece of possible evidence. Last thing we need is someone getting labelled as a suspect because they accidentally left their fingerprints on it.” She finished, distributing the equipment to the group.

It felt a bit unusual for LLAC— Lionheart had spoken to them earlier as if they were off on a Search and Destroy mission, but latex gloves and plastic site markers weren’t exactly the attire and equipment to go for when fighting.

“We’ll make sure to follow everything you said to the letter, Detective.” Lillian confidently assured her.

Yuen nodded. “Good, we’re counting on you. Any advances you make today will help this case greatly.” She stood up and picked up her weapon of choice - a polymer handgun - and made one last adjustment to the collar of her uniform as she tucked in into her hip holster. “Shall we go?” She asked.

“Yes, let’s. Time’s a-wasting.” Sardion spoke as he got to his feet and followed her out the door. Cait, Hattie, and Amaryllis all did the same, leaving Rudyard and Lillian inside the office.

Turning to her mentor, Lillian noticed that his attention had turned to the pictures on the board. “You doing okay there, Rudyard?” she worried.

Rudyard nodded solemnly. “I’ll be fine.” After a second, he added, “Just promise me that you and your teammates will watch each other’s backs while you’re out there? Don’t be as careless as I was. Just because they’re good fighters doesn’t mean that they’re safe from harm.”

“If we only watch each other’s backs, how are we gonna be able to walk properly? I’m afraid one of us might trip.” Lillian replied, cracking a weak pun to see if she could garner a laugh.

Rudyard paused, then let out a small chuckle. “I’m serious, though, Lil-Lil. We don’t know yet what’s out there.”

***

Yaara and Berilo’s houses were both fairly close together, in a residential neighborhood at the top of the Sora District, not far off from the restaurant where LLAC had enjoyed their milkshakes the other day. According to Rudyard, both of them had wanted ‘peaceful lives away from all of the city buzz’— for all the good that had done them, apparently. After graduating from Haven Academy and beginning their Huntsmen lives outside the city proper, they had kept themselves out of the limelight, apart from the occasional appearance at Haven alumni ceremonies.

Rudyard had always assumed that Yaara and Berilo, despite never having married, had been boning one another. They had never explicitly denied it, and the proximity of their homes only heightened that assumption.

“Miss Dailan’s house is right around that corner. We should split up now. We’ll meet back here before dusk.” Yuen said, before turning to Rudyard and Sardion.

The group nodded and said their goodbyes to the adults. Lillian gave one last smile of reassurance to Rudyard, just to let him know she’d be okay. While his mustache concealed his closed mouth, she could tell he returned it by the way its edges curled.

“So, where are we looking at first?” Hattie asked, turning to eye the house. If they wanted to thoroughly cover the entire place before the sun went down, they had to start soon.

“I’ll look inside Berilo’s house.” Lillian suggested. “There’s a garden and gazebo in the back, too. I say we split up into groups of two. Cait, if you’ll take the back?”

“‘Kay, sounds good. Who’s coming with me?” Cait looked at their teammates, spreading their arms.

Hattie’s hand shot up in the air. “Me! Me! Mememe!” She declared, bouncing on her heels.

Cait smirked. “Alright, then that leaves the wonder girls together. We’ll see you two later! Come on, Hattie! Adventure awaits!” They let her grab their arm as they walked around the side towards the backyard.

“I wish I was a wonder girl,” remarked Hattie. “Hmph.”

“Oh, don’t worry, all of us are wonder girls in our own little way.” Cait reassured her, still maintaining their cheshire grin.

Hattie turned her head to face them. “But you aren’t a girl, Cait.” She remarked quizzically. “Or a guy, for that matter.”

Cait shrugged. “Yeah, but hey, I’d take it as a compliment nonetheless. It doesn’t really matter that much to me s’long as it has ‘wonder’ in front of it.”

Amaryllis chuckled as she watched Cait walk away with Hattie. Despite everything, the former tended to be quiet more often than not, but whenever Hattie was around, they wouldn’t stop talking.

Lillian, meanwhile, walked up to the front door, which was cordoned off by yellow tape reading “CRIME SCENE - DO NOT CROSS” in blocky black letters.

“Let’s get started, Am.” she said, ducking under the tape into the house.

***

The atmosphere inside Berilo’s home was horribly eerie, despite the fact that not a soul besides the two girls was currently within the walls. An cup of now-cold tea rested on the kitchen counter, likely what he had planned to drink on the night of his murder. Aside from the living room, the rest of the domicile was immaculately kept— if it wasn’t for the large pool of dried blood in the center of the living room, no one would have likely been the wiser to the fact that a murder had taken place. Several black strings tagged with small numbers extended from the bloodstain to small flecks on the wall and couch, likely the work of a forensic technician.

After more than three long hours of careful inspection, however, Lillian and Amaryllis still hadn’t found any further clues. Whatever was out of place (which was few and far between) had already been tagged by the police.

“…I wonder how Hattie and Cait are doing outside. Do you think they’ve found anything?” Amaryllis wondered aloud, moreso an attempt at conversation to alleviate her unease.

“Probably not. The second they did, knowing Hattie, she’d blast in right through the wall to tell us.” answered Lillian, parsing over a small bookshelf. “Like that weird drink commercial.”

“Yeah…” Amaryllis sighed. Exhaling harshly through her nose, she changed the topic; “Don’t you find that we’re investigating the deaths of our predecessors? I can’t believe they’re gone so quick, and so brutally.”  After Rudyard had taken Lillian under his wing, Amaryllis had found a sense of respect for SYBR— a bit of research had quickly brought up the team’s Vytal victory, and while she hadn’t gotten to know them very well aside from Rudyard, they had always seemed as kind as they were skilled.

“No kidding. It’s the lucky ones that’re fortunate enough to have old age take them. Just didn’t happen to be the fate in store for Yaara and Berilo…” answered Lillian. “Not to be a downer, but I think if one of us two were to bite the big one, it would be better if I passed on first.”

“What makes you say that?” Amaryllis asked, taken aback with Lillian’s words.

“You’re the one with the big heart, Amaryllis. At least you’d be there for others as they’d be there for you. Me, on the other hand… well, let’s just hope it doesn’t come down to that.”

Amaryllis slowly shook her head. “I couldn’t bear to see you die, Lilly. Between the two of us, you’ve always been the one with the indomitable heart.” She said softly. “Sure, you’re the older sister and it’s your responsibility to act like you’re tough and stoic and all… but I honestly don’t think I could go on if I lost you.” she continued, her tone betraying a hint of playfulness as she jabbed at Lillian.

It was true for both of them, however— the Armilde sisters had been inseparable since they were in the womb. To either of them, the thought of losing one another was the worst thing imaginable.

Lillian turned to face her sister, her expression unreadable. “Hey, Am…”

“Hmmm?”

“…You aren’t getting all mushy on me, are you?” She asked, her mouth curling into a smirk.

Amaryllis sputtered, before she started laughing at her sister’s comeback. “Well, not anymore I’m not! Way to kill the mood, musclehead.”

[angel-with-a-pipette]

How far I’ll go

It has been over a week since Sora had disappeared and Kairi had done absolutely nothing. Now that not only her enemies but also her friends started to sideline her and keep her out of anything remotely dangerous, Kairi has had enough.

Haunted by massive guilt along with her hurt and sorrow, she finally steps up to take her fate into her own hands - with the help of a small friend.

Rating: General

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Friendship

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Disney/Square Enix.

Also available on: ao3

A big thank you goes to @kairizine​. The fic wouldn’t exist without the zine and it definitely wouldn’t exist in this polished form. Thank you so much for your support and all the changes you made to the product so it would turn out just the way I wanted it to!

Another round of pre-sales open on July 5th, so please consider getting a copy for yourself! All money that doesn’t go into production and shipping of the zine will be donated to Futures without Violence. Check out their site here: https://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/

Let’s all work together for a wonderful future without violence ♥

Another thank you goes to @phoenix-downer​ who as always supports me and my writing despite me being very difficult to work with. Thank you so much ♥

Please enjoy!

___________________________

The sun had barely started to rise when Kairi opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling, reluctant to get up.

An old toy boat that her father had crafted for her hung from the ceiling, complete with three little dolls that leant over the railing, staring back down at her. The cool morning breeze rocked the boat back and forth, causing one of the dolls to shift and hang even more precariously over the railing than the other two, yet somehow it didn’t fall.

The little grin that was etched on the doll’s face made a sad smile spread over Kairi’s lips before she sighed and got up, making her way over to the school uniform she had laid out the night before.

School. What a waste of time when she could be actively searching for Sora.

It has been over a week since he had disappeared and she had done absolutely nothing. Emphasis on 'she'. Riku had used the time to travel to Radiant Garden and the Land of Departure for intel, postponing the start of his first year of high school while Kairi was stuck finishing her last year of middle school after her friends had unanimously decided she should finish as much of her education as possible. While she understood their sentiment obviously, she couldn't help but feel frustrated that once again she was put on the sidelines against her will with no means to leave Destiny Islands on her own terms.

And that didn't even touch upon the massive guilt that was hounding her every day.

Kairi threw a glance at her vanity mirror. Her reflection looked back at her, with eyes red and irritated from so little sleep. Her face was starting to thin, too, but that was no surprise either. She hadn't felt like eating in over a week, not since—

A tear rolled down her cheek and she rubbed at it, furious with herself when instead more started pouring out. It was this weakness that got them into their current situation in the first place, probably the very reason everyone wanted her to stay on the Islands, to be out of their way.

"Kairi?"

With a small sniffle, she rubbed away the last tears and smiled down at the table. Her view was still blurred, but she offered her open palm to the small creature standing there. It immediately heeded her call and jumped onto her hand so Kairi could bring him up in front of her face and put on the best impression of a smile she could muster.

"Good morning, Jiminy. I hope you slept well."

It was Sora who had asked Jiminy to stay with Kairi. Knowing that his time was limited, he had urged the cricket to leave his hood and take refuge in Kairi's instead, to keep Jiminy safe from whatever was about to happen to him. She felt another tear roll down her cheek and a little frown spread on Jiminy's face in response.

"I slept wonderfully, you made me the softest makeshift bed possible. But the question should be: How do you feel?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"No change," she answered softly, then shifted the sad cricket onto one hand. With the other, she held her skirt pocket open, allowing him to nestle into it. It wasn't as spacious and comfortable as her hoodie, but it had to do during school hours. She didn't need her enchanted dress—not yet. Not until the others told her it was time to go. Until then, she had stashed it away in a small traveling bag, filled with leftover potions and everything else that could be of use and loaded it into Riku's gummi ship. 

After an awkward and quiet breakfast, Kairi grabbed her satchel and quickly fled the pitying glances her parents were throwing her, only to be surprised by Riku who was leaning against the wooden fence of her front garden. Her heart ached at that. It was the place where Sora formerly—no, normally , Kairi corrected herself, because his disappearance was temporary, not permanent—waited for her each morning. 

"Good morning."

His smile didn't reach his eyes and her shoulders slumped a little.

Things with Riku were awkward ever since the fight in the Keyblade Graveyard. He rarely smiled and was tired constantly, something Kairi could more than understand as she was experiencing the same. However, she was very aware of how he avoided looking into her eyes—and she couldn't help but feel that he was upset with her—as if he blamed her for his best friend’s disappearance.

And how could he not? Had she been stronger, had she fought harder, maybe–

"C’mon, Kairi. You’re going to be late." 

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Are we going off-world?"

Riku shook his head and his smile wavered.

"I meant school." 

Oh. Kairi didn't reply to that, just walked ahead with her head hung low, avoiding Riku's eyes as much as he kept avoiding hers. After a few minutes of awkwardly walking next to each other in silence, Riku spoke up again.

"How are you feeling?"

Kairi shrugged."How are you feeling? Probably not too differently from me."

Aside from all the rightful anger and disappointment towards me , she added in her mind. But she had her own self-loathing to deal with, so maybe it evened out.

Riku didn't answer her, he just nodded, and before long, they reached the front of the school gate. Some of Kairi's classmates waved at Riku, having been friends with him for most of their lives and some of the younger girls giggled and fluttered their eyelashes at him as they passed by, but neither Kairi nor Riku paid them any mind.

"Why don't you take me with you on your world trips?"

Riku sighed and started rubbing his face tiredly, and for some reason it only made Kairi more upset.

"We've been over this before. We all think—"

"He is my friend, too."

"You're a Princess of Heart, Kairi," Riku tried again, a little quieter this time, fully aware of the students that threw curious glances at them. "You know we have to keep you safe."

"So that's what it's all about," Kairi huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest, "this was never about my education, this was always about this stupid 'light' business."

"It's not 'stupid light business' and you know that."

"He saved my life, Riku!"

"Exactly, that's why I won't let you throw it away!"

Kairi halted and let her gaze fall. She was right. She had been right all along.

"Kairi?" 

Riku sounded hesitant as he called her name and Kairi fought hard to hold back her tears.

"I'm– I'm sorry it's me."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry I'm here while he's somewhere else."

Riku startled her by grabbing her shoulders and making her look up into his pained eyes.

“Kairi, you can't believe that?!" 

“I will set this right,” she replied instead and internally cursed her voice for sounding weak and shaky. “I will fight harder and work harder and I won’t be a liability anymore. I know it’s all my fault, but I will help bring him back.”

And then Riku did something unexpected: he hugged her. Tears filled Kairi's eyes.

“I know I wasn’t good enough, but I–”

"No. You were good enough. It was all Xehanort. He chose to do these despicable things." Riku pulled her tighter. "Kairi, listen to me: I'm not blaming you. I never blamed you. You're my best friend as well, I could never choose between the two of you."

At that, Kairi couldn't hold back anymore. She grabbed a fistful of Riku's shirt and cried. Cried over the traumatic experiences she had had to go through, cried over the guilt she was harboring inside of her, cried over Sora being forcefully ripped away from her when she had just gotten him back.

They held each other for a couple of minutes, finally mourning the loss of Sora together, until the school bell interrupted their moment.

A little reluctantly, Kairi untangled herself from Riku, but he held onto her shoulders, searching her face with a worried gaze. She sniffled a little, brushing away a few stray tears that hadn't soaked into his jacket.

"I think I needed that. Thank you, Riku."

"Will you be okay?" he asked her and she shrugged.

"I feel better."

And she really did. Crying always made her head ache and she could feel the pain slowly creep into her forehead, but talking to Riku had lifted a heavy weight off of her chest. She adjusted the strap of her satchel and was ready to go when Riku called out to her again.

"Hm?"

His eyes seemed strangely sad once more as he mustered her intensely.

"...Take care, Kairi."

___________________________

Despite feeling better about herself and Riku, Kairi’s headache prevailed. Not that it mattered—she couldn't focus on her lessons lately anyway and when she could, she was unable to remember half of what had happened during class.

After the last bell of the day rang, Kairi quickly fled the classroom to escape her friends. She couldn't stand Selfie fussing over her constantly or the looks of pity Tidus and Wakka were throwing at her. But what upset her even more was the complete lack of compassion some of her classmates confronted her with, uncaring of Sora's whereabouts.

Two streets away from school, Kairi felt like she could breathe again. She immediately slowed down—she didn't look forward to arriving at home for the same reasons she fled school—and reached into her skirt pocket to free the little cricket. Jiminy gratefully jumped up and nestled into her hair and the two of them started enjoying the sun and warm rays on Kairi's walk home.

That was until Kairi arrived to see a familiar purple bag in her front garden. Her heart stopped.

”No…"

Kairi quickly opened the gate and ran onto the grass, hands flying to the zipper and revealing pink material and green bottles along with a handwritten note.

I'm sorry

"No. He wouldn't!"

Everything was a blur when she dropped her book bag in favor of the purple one, grabbed Jiminy from the top of her head to let him slide into her bag gently, and began running to the beach. She quickly untied her old boat and rowed over to the play island, ignoring the growing pain in her shoulder as she pushed faster and faster, all the while repeating the mantras of "No" and "He wouldn't do this to me" over and over again.

Having secured her boat as fast as possible, Kairi took off again, this time into the bushes, fighting her way through the thicket to reach Riku's gummi ship.

Except it was gone.

The clearing Riku had used to hide his gummi ship in was empty.

Kairi felt herself sink to her knees and hot tears pool in her eyes. Jiminy carefully wiggled his head out of the insides of her bag and looked at her with pity. 

"Oh Kairi…"

"He left me behind again."

"He wants to keep you safe." Jiminy jumped back onto her shoulder and brushed away a big tear that was slowly running down her cheek. “He cares a lot about you. We all do.”

“Then why does he ignore what I want?” 

“You know Riku,” Jiminy brushed yet another tear away with both of his little hands, “he’s not the best when it comes to emotions and other people’s feelings, but what he does he does out of genuine concern for you.”

“Maybe that’s the problem. Not only Riku, everyone keeps disregarding my feelings and just assumes what’s best for me.” She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand before moving to massage her throbbing shoulder in an attempt to soothe the pain a little. It was another reminder of what had happened a week ago.

“Sora refused to let me help him because he thought it was too dangerous. Both he and Riku left me behind when King Mickey asked us to help him out. Axel held back during our training because he kept seeing Xion in me and refused to attack me with all of his power. If they had taken me more seriously, if they had just talked to me instead of protecting me...maybe things would have gone differently.”

“Don’t be too harsh on Riku. He helped you summon your Keyblade, remember? To be honest,” Jiminy let his shoulders droop a little, “I don’t think it was his first choice to leave you behind. I think he wanted to honor Sora’s last wish.”

Kairi's throat constricted. "Sora's– Sora's what?"

Jiminy nodded and climbed into Kairi's limp hand which she raised to better look at the little cricket.

"Before he spent his last moment with you, he asked Riku for a favor. He wanted him to take care of you—the same kind of request Riku had back when the Door to Darkness was about to close and trap him and His Majesty in the Realm of Darkness." Jiminy's expression softened. "They genuinely want what’s best for you, Kairi."

"I’ve always wanted what was best for them, too, and yet I never told them to stay put.” With her free hand, she grabbed the edge of her skirt tightly until her knuckles turned white. “I’ve always encouraged them to follow their hearts. Why does nobody allow me to follow my heart for once? ‘May your heart be your guiding key’—isn’t that what Master Yen Sid told us?"

Jiminy lowered his head with a sad frown and Kairi let her eyes wander, too tired to keep the argument going. The beach was bathed in an orange color by the setting sun and the water was glistening prettily. From here, everything seemed so peaceful, so unlike what Kairi felt right then. She lifted her eyes a little more and looked at the red sky when something caught her eye. It was small and very faint, barely visible against the strong rays of the sun, but that didn’t deter her. She gently placed Jiminy back on her good shoulder and got up.

"Kairi?” She felt Jiminy’s tiny hand press against her cheek. “Is everything okay?”

"See the line where the sky meets the sea?” was her only reply to which Jiminy cocked his head.

"Huh? You mean the horizon?" 

Kairi nodded. "It calls me."

She began walking forward, across the clearing and down until she reached a small cave.

"I don’t know why, but when I looked at the horizon I saw something in the distance. Like a small glimmer of hope. It sounds crazy, but my heart tells me to go. The horizon is where sky and sea meet. Sora returned to the world of sky and sea. It can’t be a coincidence. This is the best lead we have."

Her face lit up as she saw what she'd been searching for in the corner of the cave. Small and modest, but sturdy enough to survive strong waves, it still waited for its maiden journey.

"And our raft will take me there."

"No, no, no!” Jiminy pressed his hands into her cheek to catch her attention. “Kairi, that's dangerous! We might end up in the Lanes Between, a place filled with darkness!"

"I’m a Princess of Heart, the darkness won’t get to me. And this dress made by the Three Good Fairies additionally protects me from it. You’ll be safe in my hood or pocket, too. That is, if you want to come with me.”

She started to check on the ropes and sail, happily nodding to herself when she deemed them to be in good condition. 

"You've made up your mind, didn't you?" Jiminy asked her again and she smiled at him.

"I have to do this, Jiminy. I’ve waited for too long. Waiting isn’t good enough anymore."

"Then I don't have any other choice,” Jiminy mock-sighed and then puffed out his chest. “I will join you on your quest!"

"Oh thank you!" Kairi squealed and happily cupped Jiminy to her cheek.

This time, she would save Sora. And that's a promise.

[yslkook]

rear view (5)

mind of mine masterlist

summary: sora sets you up on a blind date, and the night ends up being an enjoyable, pleasant surprise. pairing: “badboy” jk x “shy/reserved” oc warnings: cursing, alc, excessive use of pet names, kinda toxic friendship

Five minutes. Ten minutes. Then fifteen minutes. Then twenty-five. The waitress has come by twice already, giving you a look of sympathy when you sigh and give up on waiting.

He’s not coming, you realize with a sigh. You check your phone for any messages from him for the millionth time in ten minutes, only to see that you have no notifications waiting to be opened.

So you were really stood up. But maybe something came up? An emergency, maybe? You give him the benefit of the doubt until he has the opportunity to explain himself. But truly, you’re already over the excitement of a first date. A blind first date. You’re already over daydreaming over the potential of him.

Instead, your heart aches over the rejection. Perhaps there was no emergency. Perhaps it was you.

You leave the restaurant in a hurry, tipping the waitress despite not ordering anything except for a glass of water (that you hadn’t even finished). You leave before you can spiral through your thoughts in such a public place, knowing that tears are already pricking at the back of your eyes.

You walk aimlessly through the familiar streets of the city with blurry eyes. It was silly of you to get your hopes up over the mere idea of possibility. You had enough self-respect to know that he had done you so wrong, but it still didn’t soothe the hurt.

You never put yourself out there, not really. But when you do, this is what happens. You get stood up. It doesn’t help that the man you actually wanted to go on a date with had pulled away from you a little bit in the last few days.

This is just a distraction. From your own sad, frustrated heart. Frustration of yourself, mainly, for not really going after what you truly want.

Such is life. In a few hours, you’ll be okay. You know you’ll get over it soon. But for now, you just want to wallow in your self-deprecating thoughts.

Wallowing in your self-deprecating thoughts led you to a bar with dim lights and only a few patrons in it. It also led you into having exactly two shots and two drinks, resulting in your present tipsy state.

You’re alone and you could drop your head to the bartop and just cry and cry and cry. In some corner of your mind, you knew this was a bad idea.

Truly, it was not one of your best ideas.

You contemplate calling a friend to come pick you up, but you can’t bring yourself to do it. You don’t want to talk to anyone. Or so you’ve convinced yourself.

Even the bartender looks at you like you’re pathetic. Maybe you are.

You start to cry despite your best efforts to hold it in, vaguely aware that your perfectly done mascara is streaking down your face in dark rivulets. The bartender looks alarmed and asks if there is anyone you can call.

You’re about to sob again and say no, there’s nobody. In your narrow mind, there is nobody, nobody who wants you-

But then your phone rings. And it’s Jungkook.

“H-hello,” You mumble, hoping your voice sounds more sober than you actually are.

“Why’d you pick up? Aren’t you on a date?” Jungkook asks, something teasing with an undercurrent of concern in his tone.

“I mean, I was…” You reply, desperately focusing your gaze on the edge of the bartop. As if that’ll keep your voice from breaking.

“No second date? He couldn’t get it up? Bet the guy couldn’t tell his head from his ass, huh-”

“He didn’t show up, Jungkook,” You say sharply, having possibly the first moment of clarity you’ve had all night, “He didn’t fucking show up, he didn’t text or call me, and now I’m drinking at a bar by myself.”

There’s a pause and then a dry laugh that pulls a watery laugh from you, too.

“Well, why didn’t you say so? Where are you? Let’s get drunk together then, baby.”

“Y’know what,” You slur, “I don’ care! I don’ give a sing- singular fuck-” You hiccup and glare at Jungkook, who is sitting next to you with amused eyes, not nearly as drunk as you are.

“Okay, party animal. Is that so?” Jungkook raises an eyebrow and pushes your glass of water closer to you.

He’s so close to you that you can smell his cologne and feel his warmth radiating through his leather jacket. His piercings glint with the dim light of the bar, but he looks as ethereal and demonic as ever.

You think his eyes flash red for a minute. You must be really drunk.

“Hell yeah,” You mutter, “Fuck that guy. Nobody ever wants what ‘m selling a-and I even waxed for this-”

Jungkook knows you’re good and drunk because you hardly ever open yourself up like this. At least in front of him. He’s never seen you so open, not even with your own mutual friends. It’s nice to see you with your guard down.

He wants what you’re selling, but that’s a conversation for later.

“Why didn’t you call Sora?” Jungkook asks bluntly, “Your annoying as fuck best friend would’ve come to pick you up, right?”

After all, she was the one who masterminded this entire disaster. Even if he was pouting over the fact that you were going on a date with someone who wasn’t him, he’s more concerned over the fact that you hadn’t even wanted to go. And yet, you still went because of some weird obligation you felt you owed Sora and this stranger.

It makes Jungkook’s chest burn.

Your face immediately falls and you take a large sip of your water, “She’s not around. She went to her parent’s place for the weekend.”

“Yoongi? Hoseok?” Jungkook sighs, “Who else would you fuckin’ call, baby?”

“You called,” You say quietly, looking up at him with swirling soft, dark eyes, “Besides, I just wanted to... sulk for a bit.”

Jungkook hates when you look at him like that. As if he has the answers to the entire universe, to the meaning of life. It makes him feel vulnerable, like you’re staring directly into his heart. He doesn’t know how Yunho could ever have stood you up- when you’d probably look at him the same way.

He doesn’t know how Yunho could ever have stood you up, when you look so pretty. Clearly, you had dressed up for the loser- your eyes bright and pretty against your makeup, your dark green blouse neatly tucked into your dark wash jeans and your oversized coat sitting pretty on your shoulders. Your lips are painted red and pulled into a pretty pout as you chew on your bottom lip. Thin, gold chains sit around your neck.

It annoys him. Annoys him that some asshole stood you up. Annoys him that some asshole hurt your feelings enough for you to find a friend in alcohol this way. Annoys him that your lips are about to bleed-

“Stop that,” Jungkook scolds lightly. You look at him in confusion and before you can say anything, he gently pulls your bottom lip out of the enamel cage of your teeth. Your breath hitches at his touch, heart immediately accelerating. “You’ll make your lips fuckin’ bleed. Is that what you want?”

Instead of answering, you take a swig of your water and avoid his intense gaze. Jungkook has always somewhat intimidated you, from when you had first met him (barely as acquaintances, when Hoseok had cheerily introduced you both) to now.

It’s not the piercings, the all black and the tattoos visible on his knuckles, his forearms, and the peek of ink on his neck. It’s his entire presence- he’s always felt so larger than life to you that he overwhelms you sometimes. Drives you to the point of silence, like now.

You’ve always been a little envious of him through the years (even from just being friends with him on the periphery) if you’re being completely honest. If he wants something, he just goes and gets it. And then there’s you- deliberating and contemplating every possible outcome before ultimately (likely) convincing yourself out of whatever it is. Especially if it proves to be an inconvenience to anyone around you.

“Who was the fucker anyway?” Jungkook asks abruptly, tearing you from your train of thought.

“Huh?”

“The asshole who made you cry,” Jungkook says breezily.

“Oh, uh. Yunho, he’s a friend of a friend of Sora’s,” You croak weakly with a feeble smile, “But it’s okay, I mean, I’m sure there’s a reason-”

“Don’t do that,” Jungkook hisses, eyes flashing once more at you, “Don’t make excuses for an asshole treating you disrespectfully. You can say he’s an asshole, you can tell him to fuck off. Did you even want to go?”

“I-I don’t know,” You say with wide eyes and a nod, “He’s an asshole and he can fuck all the way off, so far off that his head gets stuck up his ass-”

Jungkook lets out an airy chuckle, a smile that fills up his entire face and it makes your heart skip a beat. “Good girl,” Jungkook mutters, shuffling a little closer to you, “And if I ever see him around, I’ll kick his ass, baby. Don’t worry about a damn thing.

“Besides,” Jungkook nearly purrs, his tattooed hand dangerously close to your thigh but his fingers float upwards to dance over your chin, “You’re brilliant and pretty. It’s his loss. I don’t think you really wanted to see him anyway.”

You wish you could have said something suave to match his dark, balmy charm, but instead you just choke on your water and Jungkook laughs at you.

Jungkook’s only fatal flaw (in his humble opinion, at least) is that he’ll never say no or that he’ll never back down from a challenge. Much less a challenge from you.

Which is exactly why, about an hour later, he’s three shots and two drinks deep into an impromptu drink-off that you’ve challenged him to. The apples of his cheeks are flushed and your laughs are wild and uninhibited.

Your words are slurred, questions and answers spilling off of your tongue in a drunken haze. But you look so happy, you sound so much happier than you did when he had called you. Your cheeks ache from how much you smile and drunkenly giggle around him, and he always wants to see you like this.

Jungkook can recognize that much even through his own drunkenness. Your eyes are crinkled in mirth at something he’s said (he’s probably making fun of you), hands playfully shoving his shoulder.

He catches your hand easily- he’s tempted to thread his fingers through yours, if only to see the flustered look on your face and to see your reaction. What Jungkook wants, he gets.

So he pushes his fingers between the small spaces of yours, watching carefully for your soft gasp and the widening of your dark eyes. He grins at you, before pulling his hand away. It’s like a shock to the system, as if you’ve been doused with cold water.

“Whattsa matter?” Jungkook teases but you only level him with a glare.

“Don’t hold my hand,” You say sternly (as sternly as you can while being absolutely intoxicated) with furrowed brows, “If you don’t mean it, don’t hold my hand.”

“And who said I didn’t mean it, pretty girl?”

You hide your face from him yet again by taking another hearty swig of your drink, trying to ignore the burning in your face. You quickly change the topic, shifting a few inches further from him to create space.

Jungkook only laughs at how easy it is to fluster you.

Jungkook keeps his arm tight around your shoulders as you both walk through the now thinning streets of the city. It’s not as crowded as it was a few hours ago, but you’re clumsy and drunk.

He’s wary of people’s gazes on him and on you. You don’t seem to notice it, but he does. Jungkook always does- people are so quick to judge. Can’t seem to mind their own business.

But it doesn’t bother him, especially not when you feel as warm as you do against him.

You’re rambling about something- he doesn’t think he’s ever heard you speak this much ever- when you nearly trip on a misaligned edge of the sidewalk. But Jungkook catches you with a strong arm around your waist and scoffs at you.

“So fucking clumsy,” He rolls his eyes and you ignore him.

“You gonna tell Sora that her date was a dickhead with a micropenis,” Jungkook asks bluntly. You laugh (really, it sounds like a snort).

“That’s mean,” You mutter, “I can’t confirm or deny that claim. I guess I’ll text her later tonight…”

The truth was, Jungkook knew of Yunho. He was all stiff suits, slicked back hair, polite, prim and proper with a disgusting self-satisfied smirk that seemed to always be on his irritating face. The kind of guy with a five, ten, fifteen year plan. Probably a trust fund baby with retirement funds already squared away. Every single small thing planned out, right down to the detail with no room for veering off of the path.

It makes Jungkook question Sora’s agenda when it comes to you. Can your supposed best friend not know you to this degree?

Everything that makes Jungkook roll his eyes. Initially, he would’ve thought that that was your type. The kind of person that checks all of the boxes on paper. But he’s beginning to realize that maybe he doesn’t know you as well as he thought.

Why would Sora set you up with someone who stood you up?

If he had been quietly seething when he heard from Hoseok and Yoongi that Sora had set this date doomed to fail up for you, that was his business. Jimin and Taehyung took pity on him (after a few minutes of making fun of him), and had suggested he call you. He almost felt like Sora was doing this to spite him- ever since she caught him checking you out all those months ago, she’s had it out for him.

God, he hates her. Hates her judgemental eyes, the way she sticks her nose where she doesn’t belong. The way she makes you feel so small and manipulates you into her own bidding, and you don’t even realize it. He wishes you would.

All Jungkook knows is that he likes your smile, he likes hearing the intonations of your voice, and he likes the way your legs look in that one skirt he had seen you wear when he had seen you with Yoongi and Hoseok.

All he knows is that he likes you the most like this- your guard down, your eyes wide and shining at him. He can pretend that your eyes shine for him, for now.

After all, as Sora had so eloquently screamed at him- you’d never go for a guy like him. So he’s content with this.

But you surprise him when you gently ask him to come upstairs to your apartment once he walks you home. You tell him that it’s late, that he’s welcome to stay the night on your couch if he wants to.

(You nervously stammer a few times and scratch the back of your neck bashfully, but the offer is there.)

In the end, Jungkook declines, not wanting to cross a line with you that hardly exists. You tilt your head to the side in confusion with a slight pout but nod in understanding.

“Then wait here until your Uber arrives,” You say, handing him a glass of water.

So he does, toeing his shoes off as you welcome him inside. If Jungkook notices your nerves (you genuinely can’t remember the last time you had a man who wasn’t Yoongi or Hobi in your apartment), he says nothing. But he notices your not so sly glances his way, lingering on his eyes, his arms, his thighs.

Jungkook smirks to himself- he thinks your best friend knows nothing about you and what kind of person you would be into.

“Nice place,” Jungkook nods, glancing around your cozy condo.

“Thanks, I guess,” You roll your eyes and gesture for him to sit on the couch. Every inch of your apartment that he can see is covered by little notes of you in the mix of pastel and dark colors- the throw pillows, the coffee table, the television stand, the small record player that sits in the corner of your living room.

“Maybe you’ll invite me over, some other time, huh?” Jungkook murmurs. He thumbs your cheek and it takes every ounce of you to meet his hooded eyes. Your breath hitches, the sound loud in your ears, as you lean into the heat of his thumb.

“Jungkook,” You mumble, “Thank you. For hanging out with me after a shitty evening. I… I had fun.”

“I had fun, too,” Jungkook says honestly. You’re a little mesmerized by the shine and sparkle of his eyes. “We should do it again sometime, baby.”

With that, he leaves- just as he sees the flabbergasted expression on your face. It’s one he’s become accustomed to as of late. When you wave your fingers at him to say goodbye, he shoots you a wink and a smirk.

To his surprise, you blow him a kiss before closing the door in a hurry.

tags: @kookdbean @codeinebelle

MoM tags: @tiemeuptogoldenchains @boymeetsparadise @jungkooksseuphoria @kaepjjangiya @drumsofheaven @ppeachyttae @tae-bebe @yiyi4657 @mygscafe

[i-do-trash-fanfictions]

Thera’s Journal Entry #22

I decided to take the day off from missions. Scout suggested that I do. I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately. I would stay up late to do either work or something else, then wake up early to do more missions for the Vanguard and Variks, all while trying to fit in a few Crucible matches, and a Wrathborn hunt. Ikora, of course, let me take the day off. She almost always does.

So I slept in. It was time for lunch by the time Scout woke me up. I had gotten more than twelve hours of sleep and I was feeling great. I dawned, instead of my armor, civilian clothing. A normal t-shirt and jeans with nice white tennis shoes. I threw a leather jacket on and headed outside.

“So you’re not going to sit around in your room all day this time.” Scout said.

“I think I’m going to do something different today. I’m going to get lunch and head down to the city where those kids play.”

“I thought you weren’t good with kids?”

“I lied.” I answered. “And I haven’t been able to go play dodgeball with them last month, or the month before.”

I ordered a bowl of ramen at the shop in the Bazaar, ate it quickly, then headed to the elevator. I would have invited Ann, but she had three long patrols in the EDZ, and then two more on Nessus.

As I walked through the city, civilians waved as I passed. I barely knew any of them. The only two I did know I never ran into. They were only kids when I met them, now they were probably in their forties with families of their own. I had helped their family reach the Last City. I doubted they even remembered me anyway.

When I reached the field all heads turned my way before the children flocked to me. I followed what I had seen Shaxx do, and picked one up and set him on my shoulders.

“What are you doing here, Thera?” One asked.

“Oh, I had the day off and thought I might come hang out with you kids.”

“We don’t have any dodgeballs right now. What can we do instead?” Another asked.

“Well, what do you all want to do?”

“You’re the hero of the Red War so you’ve got to have stories to tell, right?” A young boy stated.

“Well, I don’t think I should be telling you scary stories such as that. But I have others.”

“Like what?” One of the older ones asked.

“A story a friend of mine once told me. Her name was Sora.”

“Was she a Guardian too?” A girl asked.

“Yes. She was a warlock.”

“Tell the story.” One urged.

“Alright.”

I began the story.

“It was a dark night, deep in the forests of the EDZ. Sora was in uncharted land, and was trying to find her Ghost Blythe. They had gotten split up during a fight with some Fallen. Sora had been at her ship while Blythe fixed up a few things. Fallen got near and she had to lead them away. She was unsure where to go, since all directions looked the same. Sora kept her gun out, ready if any more Fallen decided to attack.

“Then ahead, she saw some light. She thought for a moment it may be her ship and ran to it, only to find herself at the edge of a cliff, looking down at a very, very small town. It only had ten houses at least. Light flickered through the windows of one. With no other choice, except for heading back into the forest, she headed downhill.

“She passed the houses which had no light in them, not wanting to wake those inside, and knocked on the one that had light in the windows. The voice of a man called out, ‘Just a minute!’, and then he answered. He was described to be a tall man with chestnut hair and dark brown eyes. His eyes widened when he saw her, knowing that she was a Guardian.

“’What are you doing here?’, he had asked her. Sora answered that she could not find her ship after leading a group of Fallen away from it, and the man invited her inside. He said his name was Callum, but that most there called him Cal. She told him her name as well. He gave her food and tea and they talked for a small while. 

“She learned that the small little town that had in total, three shops and ten houses in total. The people there were all mortals, just like you, no Guardians.”

“Why didn’t they come to the City?” One of the boys asked.

“I’m not sure. Maybe there was something about the place they lived that made it special. Now, back to the story.

“Three men went everyday to go hunting, and the women pulled their weight by farming and cooking. Even the children helped out it some way or another. Sora asked if everyone in the town were related. Cal shook his head. He said that the leader of the town just let anybody in, as long as they pulled their weight. However he also said that they pretty much were family. If parents needed someone to watch their child, one of the other residents would gladly volunteer too, along with other things like that.

“Eventually Sora headed to the small room which served as a guest bedroom. Cal stayed up for a bit longer, working on something that Sora had forgotten to ask him about.

“The next morning there was a loud noise outside and soon, doors were slamming as they opened and closed. Shouting came from the residents. Sora shot up and grabbed her gun, she then headed outside to see what the commotion was. Fallen were attacking.

“Cal was right beside her with his own gun, and both went into the fight, alongside the women and men. There were many Fallen, all coming out of the trees. Sora knew that if she were to get hurt, she would not be healed, since Blythe was all the way back at her ship. But she fought anyway, wanting to protect the mortal people that lived there.

“They fought for what seemed like more that thirty minutes, but had really only been ten. Then, while Sora was preoccupied with the Fallen in front of her, she didn’t see the Fallen Dreg aiming at her from behind.”

The children gasped. I had them on the edge of their seats.

“The dreg took aim, and fired. By the time Sora noticed it was too late for her to move out of the way. But it was not too late for Cal to jump in the way, taking the blast instead. He tumbled to the ground as Sora quickly took care of the Dreg. She rushed to his side.

“But he didn’t seem worried at all. A Ghost, black and silver, appeared above him and quickly healed him. He got back up again as if nothing happened.”

It seemed as if the children all let out a sigh of relief.

“He was a Guardian. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Sora asked him. ‘I wasn’t sure if I should. And I wasn’t planning to at all. But I can’t sit by and let you get yourself killed.’

“They continued to fight, and when the number of the Fallen grew smaller, the rest retreated, knowing this was a fight they could not win.”

“Cal said that the residents could now go back to their normal routines and they did as he said. Sora could tell he was the leader of the small town. After Cal made sure that no more Fallen were on the way, he headed back to his home with Sora to explain. He said he did not want to tell her that he was a Guardian because he didn’t want her to think he was a traitor to the Vanguard.

“Sora said she did not think of him as a traitor, and asked him why he no longer stayed at the Tower. Cal explained that he wanted to start a place for refugees away from the Tower. Those who didn’t want to live in the confined area that held many people. He also said that he hoped to start a family here, but he couldn’t do that back at the Tower. He asked that Sora stayed at the town to help out, saying that they could use another Guardian.

“Sora refused, saying that her loyalties lay with the Vanguard and the Last City. Cal understood and gave her a quick breakfast before she made her way back to her ship.

“She finally found it and told her Ghost everything that had happened as they returned to the City. Sora told no one else about Cal and the small town, except for me and a friend. And when she found the time she went to visit, though she didn’t go often. Everytime she went Cal asked if she would stay, but every time she refused. He never forced her to stay, but you could tell that he was in love with her and wanted nothing more than for her to stay with him until their final death. But, Sora stayed with the Vanguard, and would not turn away from her duties to stay with him.”

I finished.

“Did Sora love him back?” A girl asked.

“She didn’t say it outloud, but I know that she did.”

“Why didn’t she want to stay with him? They were in love, it doesn’t make sense.” Another asked.

“Because she wanted to fight, not settle down in a small town.”

“What happened to them? Did they ever get together?” A boy asked.

I sighed. “No. They never did.” I didn’t tell them why. I was sure that if Sora had still been alive, there would be a time where she would eventually agree to stay with Cal.

“It was a nice story.” One of the girls said.

“Thank you. But I had better head back to the Tower.”

“Alright. Will you tell us more stories sometime?”

“Of course.”

Scout hovered over my shoulder as I walked. “There were a lot of details left out.”

“I can’t tell the bloody details to children.”

“Well what about the sweet details? Like the ones about how all the people that lived at the town got excited whenever Sora’s ship landed. Or how all the kids there loved to play with her.”

“I felt like it would bore them.” I shrugged.

“I’m surprised the boys were entertained by a love story.”

“I am too. A few liked the story, but the rest only liked it when it got to the fighting. And the girls loved it.”

“Maybe you should dig that box of Sora’s old books out of your closet. I’m sure there are some stories in there that you can tell them.”

“Maybe.”

“Hey, Thera? You busy?” I heard Ann over the coms.

“Nope. What’s up?”

“Just got all my patrols done. Another Guardian took the ones on Nessus for me. What have you been up to?”

“Just telling a story to the kids.”

“Well, I’ve got a few Crucible bounties I need to finish-”

“I’m on my way.”

[fizzingwizard]

We got episode 3 “Into the Digital World”! And the good news is we are still Very Much at it with the Taishiro lol

This pic pretty much sums up the whole episode for me:

❤️!

Spoilers under the cut...

So let’s knock the most important thing off right away, at the end of the ep they DO go to a real digital world!

And it looks like a child’s fantasy... a beautiful natural world full of amazing creatures. I have no idea how similar it’s gonna be to the world we know, though! So far everything’s different, even things that seem the same. Keeps me guessing.

The landscape is pretty intriguing. Looks like a planet/moon on the horizon? And I’m sure that interesting island’s gotta mean something...

But back to the beginning.

So last week, I was all boggled because they introduced Omegamon and Jogress so early. It was easy to think that since they’d started this hype wave, they were gonna keep riding it out, especially with Hikari and Takeru seeming to receive magic feathers and all. Well, that’s not really how it goes down.

The battle is very quiet, with few words - none at all from Taichi or Yamato until Koushirou gets their attention. I am not 100% sure about this, but from the way Taichi looks to the side when an attack comes his way and Omegamon then takes it out, I think it might mean Taichi and Yamato have some mental work of their own to do to help Omegamon fight and that’s why they’re so quiet. But that’s just a thought. I do love the idea that the kids’ ties to their Digimon have more of an affect on their ability to battle than just their evolutions.

One thing a Jogress does is make you glow. Yeah yeah, we glowed before too. No, I mean GLOW.

Like, nonstop.

Also, I have figured out that Taichi and Yamato must have suction cups on their shoes and that’s how they don’t fall off Omegamon while he’s hurtling all over the place

Cue awesome rock version of the theme song battle music!! Omegamon kills nu!Diaboromon the same way he kills him in Our War Game, with a STAB. But that doesn’t stop the missile. Here I thought would be Koushirou’s turn to shine, but aside from continuing to keep tabs on things, he doesn’t get to join in the fight this time.

Omegamon is somehow able to detect missiles, I guess?

And lock on to the infected one, which conveniently shows an actual lock, is red, and even has the monster’s eyeball symbol. We also see a bunch of Digi code before this.

He absorbs the powers of all the Crests into his sword (!!) ...

(notice they’re still glowing!)

... and stabs it. Because in Digimon, stabbing is always the answer.

BOOM shakalaka

People of Tokyo: Wow that’s bright! I should probably avert my eyes or put on sunglasses. But first, to Instagram!

Thanks, Kouushirou’s computer.

The missle blows up way up high and no one gets hurt. They also don’t seem to care all that much about what this is either! Seconds later everyone’s devices lose power, including Koushirou’s computer. He is very distressed, but the outage doesn’t last long.

Yamato and Taichi’s suction cups finally lose their grip and they fall away into a bright light...

Omegamon became a butterfly!!

It is now certain, Taichi didn’t pull a Kouichi xD He’s perfectly fine. That’s the RIGHT way to get in and out of the digital world at a train station. Take notes, kids.

OK before we move on I must take a second to appreciate these text messages Koushirou receives from someone named Mr.Unknown (gee I’m sure we’ll never hear from him again!)

OMG my life is

WHAT KIND OF REACTION IS THAT TO YOUR IMMINENT DEATH!?!?

“Someone stop it!” Suddenly Japanese (also from Mr.Unkown)

Twenty bucks says this guy is Gennai? Ryou? Wallace? KEN?!

no don’t bet against me please, I have no money.

Have an adorable Hikari, who didn’t get to do anything with the feather in the end. Who knows if she even really has it. She DOES seem to totally know what happened with her brother though. Takeru might know also? But Hikari definitely does. Our little oracle is back.

So Taichi is fine, Koushirou is fine, Yamato is fine. They all get back to the human world safely. Taichi and Koushirou head home, wondering if all that really happened, talking about what could happen next. More importantly, the Taishiro power returns at full throttle.

Koushirou: Do you know about this? This? This?

Taichi: Hmm... hmmm... hmmm.. thinking makes my head hurt...

(Like I rag on Taichi for not thinking but tbh he’s quite the thinker and planner... maybe more so in this season than in the original.)

Gloves returned to pocket. Goggles still at the ready.

Then Taichi reaches out his hand... Koushirou stares at it like he’s not quite sure what to do with it. And Taichi’s like, “Thank you so much, for everything, you were a huge help!”

Koushirou: “But I didn’t do anything.”

Taichi: “You helped so much by doing all that research! You’re awesome!”

Koushirou: :D “Y-Yeah!!”

He agrees that he’s awesome!! My baby!!

They shake hands! They’re such good friends now!

... Then Taichi walks backwards out of the elevator with his hand still outstretched, staring at Koushirou

WHAT

WHAT THE HECK IS THIS!?!?

This show producers aren’t even TRYING to hide their bias hahaha okay that’s the Taishiro fan in me but HOW ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO READ THIS SCENE CMON LIKE!?

So Taichi’s about to go home, and at this point I’m thinking “I guess Koushirou’s never gonna ask that question about camp...!”

Then Taichi is like, “Oh yeah, didn’t you have a question about camp?”

Fricking. TAICHI.

I am absolutely stunned that it’s him who brings up Koushirou’s original errand xD Koushirou himself has completely forgotten about it! (Too busy basking in the glow of being called awesome about twenty times in what this episode establishes is less than an hour!)

Seriously Taichi is SUCH A DAD!? His mom comes home and tells him about her day. Hikari comes over and he pats her on the head and tells her she was brave and did a good job. All he needs is a newspaper and a tie to reach peak Dad-ness.

Hikari: “Thanks big brother!”

Taichi: “...? For?”

So about Yamato... on the elevator Taichi realizes he never found out where Yamato lives...

... It’s Shimane. Grandma’s house in Shimane! Well I mean, they could make it somewhere else, but the point is it’s super inaka countryside. Yamato has a call with Takeru which makes it seem like they indeed don’t live together, as Takeru shyly asks Yamato if he’ll come visit since it’s summer break, and Yamato says he does intend to go to Tokyo and see him. Not sure yet who Yamato’s living with, if it’s still his dad or he lives with his grandparents in this version, or there’s some other reason he’s not in Tokyo...

Yamato also asks if Takeru’s okay, and Takeru replies he was inside all day so he’s fine. That’s what makes me think Takeru knows about Yamato going to the digital world. He might not, but I like the idea that he does. My guess would be he knows because he’s seen Yamato do it or something, whereas Hikari just knows because she’s psychic :P

Then guess what! WE GO TO CAMP!

Only for like, two minutes, though. That was a bummer for me. Camp is just a vehicle to introduce a couple other characters, then they go home. Well, we don’t need two of the exact same show I guess... I’ll just appreciate this as a nod to the original.

First we see Jou! He’s hancho again and trying to tell other kids how to use a knife. He immediately cuts his finger. Good ole Jou I can’t wait to have him back.

Taichi and Koushirou are walking around camp and Koushirou trips due to Jou yelling and basically throws his laptop straight into the air

Laptop: “FREEEEEDOM!”

Mr Superior Reflexes AKA Taichi quickly grabs Koushirou and prevents him from smashing face first into the dirt. GOSH THEY JUST WILL NOT STOP WITH THE TAISHIRO. I CANNOT.

Koushirou: “H-H-Human c-c-contact?!?!?! Is this SKINSHIP”

Like y’all know this isnt my fault right? I wouldn’t have to say these things if the show didn’t make it so durn easy. Bahahahaha.

Guess who catches the laptop! Soooooraaaaa!

My girl is back! She’s got butterflies!

Koushirou says he knows who she is because the girls in his class always talk about how she’s so cooooool!

This episode establishes that Sora is 1) popular 2) well-liked 3) responsible 4) quick-thinking 5) athletic 6) Taichi’s old friend 7) coooooool in like, thirty seconds.

Taichi and Koushirou continue to spend aaaaaall their time together. My one complaint here is that all they do is talk about the digital world. And while I know it’s no surprise, the one thing I always loved about old Adventure was that to a certain extent, the kids got to act like kids. Of course they had uncanny adult wisdom and ability to sit still, lol. I understand that. So far in this show, they’re not really acting like children even a little bit. It’s all superheroing. That’s how I feel at the moment though - the only one I expect to really act like a child is Takeru, and probably Mimi, I’d guess. I do hope we get to see a larger range of personality from all of them in the future. It is only episode three.

Koushirou’s icon is a pineapple <3

So there’s a new threat but it’s not as obvious as the old one. Another power outage happens but they don’t know how important it is right away. Then both Taichi and Koushirou’s digivices start to glow! Taichi runs out, and here we finally got some new personality from him, something beyond friendliness and bravery: He really, really wants to see Agumon again. He’s already feeling the depth of that bond and it’s really been weighing on him that they parted so abruptly. He has so many questions. I would say, Koushirou talked about the digital world non stop because he finds it interesting, but Taichi talked about it because he misses Agumon. (Koushirou after all hasn’t met Tentomon yet.)

Before he can run out, Taichi runs into Hikari in the living room. She’s worried, and she clearly knows what he’s up to, but all she says is “Itterasshai.” I super appreciate that the set up and lighting is the same as these scenes between the two of them in original Adventure! It’s a total throwback to that hallmark ep of Adventure, episode 21.

Unable to think about anything but seeing Agumon again, Taichi runs outside to the train station where Koushirou is (I wonder if the train station is going to become like their base point or something). He doesn’t even notice Sora, but she notices him...

... and in true Sora fashion, immediately turns around and starts chasing after Taichi without a word xD

ugh I will always hate how PINK she is in this

Sora: “Taichi’s running somewhere awful fast... he has that look on his face... he’s going to get into trouble ugh I just know it”

The digivices glow and both Taichi and Koushirou disappear into the digital world. As they go through the vortex, we see a bunch of colored lights...

So this one is clearly Taichi and Koushirou, and Sora as well. My guess is she gets swallowed up as a result of following Taichi.

However, over here we have Yamato, Jou, and Mimi, but why would they all be together? Yamato’s fine, but how are the other two getting in?

It doesn’t seem like Takeru’s joining this time, which is interesting. But I might be wrong - only episode 4 will tell.

Taichi wakes up in the real Digital World and is finally reunited with Agumon. End episode 3 <3

I’m really curious about what’s coming next! I’m still pretty shocked that a Jogress happened so early, but I’m gonna guess now that we might not see it again for a good long while. My prediction is that Yamato’s gonna be more like the lone wolves of other seasons (Ken, Ruki, Kouji, etc) who don’t want to join the main team right away, then suddenly just do. Everyone loves a rogue hero. I am super excited for the whole team to be together though so we can see all those personality dynamics grow! I really want them to not go home for a while and have to live by their wits, but I don’t think that’s the way this show wants to go, it wants the drama of going back and forth between lives... OTOH, we now know for sure that it IS summer break, so I suppose they don’t really have a NEED to go home. Maybe we’ll get a bit of both - they usually go home after, but sometimes end up on a longer stay?

I think what I need most from this show is the rest of the team before it will really feel like Digimon Adventure to me. So looking forward to episode 4!

eta: I totally forgot about the pics I took of the trailer for next week!

Look how awesome this is! This is exactly what I am hoping sticks around for a good long time! We need the partners to bond and we need to live up to the name of “Adventure”!

Since the trailer only shows Taichi and Sora, I wonder if that means everyone’s split up. Koushirou’s light seemed a bit distant from the other two in that screencap up there, so maybe he lands somewhere else and they all have to find each other. Makes sense, really. I’d expected that for the other three but figured Koushirou would be with Taichi... but it’ll be awesome if he has to try to get by on his own in the beginning. Also, so excited for Birdramon!

Bonus: I found a vid on youtube that claimed to have English subs and I clicked out of curiosity... this is what it wrote when Taichi says “Koushirou”:

X’D Koushirou has so many nicknames now. DJ Wiseman, Kou the Bro, Awesome, Taichi’s New God, Godzilla... I love Youtube.