#today i had my 5-year class reunion for my high school graduating class

[silhouettecrow]

365 Days of Writing Prompts: Day 246

Adjective: Aquatic

Noun: Throat

Definitions for those who need/want them:

Aquatic: relating to water; (of a plant or animal) growing or living in or near water

Throat: the passage which leads from the back of the mouth of a person or animal; the front part of a person's or animal's neck, behind which the esophagus, trachea, and blood vessels serving the head are situated; (literary) a voice of a person or a songbird; a thing compared to a throat, especially a narrow passage, entrance, or exit; (sailing) the forward upper corner of a quadrilateral fore-and-aft sail

[yoongiblunt]

Another story time since today Is nothing but blasts from the past:

I met this guy in a Walmart when I was 11 or 12. I looked older than I was for a long time, I was alt at a young age. I had bleach and dyed hair, a Gerard way shirt on, skinnies, and a beanie.

I run into this guy while I’m buying the sims for my pc, he’s a little older than I am. Bleached hair, botdf (when we didn’t know allegations abt them) tee, skinny jeans, a gir keychain on his pants. We hung out and walked around the store for a bit and that was the last time we talked for a long time. He wasn’t weird, just another alt teen excited to meet someone that liked the same stuff as him.

Fast forward 4-5 years, give or take, and I’ve moved to a small town. I’m trying to make friends so I start adding people who go to the high school on Facebook. At the time, I was dealing with having been a fast track kid at a school that didn’t accept my past schools credits, I should have been a freshman in high school but because of the lack of credits they tossed me back to 6th grade.

I saw a familiar face and added it, excited to see someone I had met before. Walmart emo guy. He was a sophomore at the time ish. I can’t really remember. All I know is I was roughly 13 or 14 at the time. We started hanging out, he said he saw me around the single day I got to go to high school before they knocked me back and wondered what happened.

This started a weird little friendship that ventured on flirty.

I remember really liking him, he was cute and emo. Just older. We had talked about dating how it would be weird because of the age gap, I think he was 4 years older than me. It was weird. We both agreed. At one point he hit me with the “we can try when you’re 18” and while the whole thing had been strange, it hadn’t started to veer on grooming until then.

Then I got uncomfortable with the idea of someone waiting for me to be of age just to sleep with me.

I have a lot of brain fog about this time in my life, no solid memories. He is unrelated to that. My sister killed herself when I was 13 so most of my life for 8 years was a blur.

I remember him bringing me albums, hanging out in my room. He never once tried to make a move.

But I do remember it being weird.

He messaged me when I turned 19, some flirty shit that I ignored.

Recently I was invited to a class reunion, and tho he graduated some years before me, he was in the chat. He messaged me privately today asking how I was. I told him things were good and asked him how he was.

How are you gonna immediately try n start dating me. How are you immediately going to come at me with THAT. Your intentions have never been pure.

I guess where I am rn is that I want to tie off loose ends from my childhood. I told him I wasn’t dating these days, which I’m not, and that if he wanted to hang out sometime that would be cool.

I want to solidify my stance with people. With who I am. And he lives two hours away from me so it’s unlikely I’ll see him irl. But if I do I want it to be said that he doesn’t have a hold on me. And never did.

I hate men

[flufflepuffle296]

Heathers au: Beautiful Songfic

This is more centred around Veronica/Marinette so not really any mentions of Heather/Heather/Heather. Sorry if someone’s done this before I apologise I just got into Heathers like two days ago. Also I changed some lyrics and took others out to make it more “realistic”. Sorry I suck at endings, it’s 5:30am rn and this is my first fic so be nice please! (I’m on mobile so I can’t add the keep reading tag so sorry if you don’t like this) xxx

I brushed down my dress: I couldn’t give them anything to criticise me over. Everything had to be perfect. I had to be perfect. Chloé sat next to me, my beautiful fiancée, slipping on her kitten heels. She may be 3 months pregnant but no Bourgeois woman would be seen wearing flats. I was in a red floor length a line dress — I grew out of my childish pink years ago, before it even went out of fashion! My hair was twisted into two plaits that were knotted together into a stylish bun at the back. Chloé meanwhile had stuck to her white and gold aesthetic, currently in a slim fitting white dress, showing off her small baby bump, decorated with gold jewellery. I rummaged through my drawers, trying to find a lipstick, when a thin book toppled out. I picked it up, and laughed fondly when I saw what it was.

My old Collège and Lycée diary.

I flipped through it, landing on the page that stuck most clearly in my mind. It was the day my class reminded me of my current reality at that time, shocking me out of a bubble that had surrounded me during the summer holidays that year.

September 1st, 1989.

Dear Diary: I believe I'm a good person. You know, I think that there's good in everyone, but—here we are! First day of senior year!

And uh... I look around at these kids that I've known all my life and I ask myself—what happened?

I bit my lip. What happened? I knew darn well what happened. Lila Rossi. She came in, flaunting her friendships and connections, a new disability every other week to cry about, another rumour about me coming out every 3 days.

Alya ended our friendship, Adrien continued to cry about Lila’s feelings. Lila just kept doing what she did best. The class gave up on changing my mind and instead decided that calling me names would be better. Because logic?!

“Freak!” “Slut!” “Burnout!” “Bug-eyes!” “Poser!” “Lard-ass!” Were the insults they liked to yell daily. Yeah, they weren’t the most creative...

We were so tiny, happy and shiny. Playing tag and getting chased. Singing and clapping, laughing and napping. Baking cookies, eating paste.

Nino and Kim used to come over to the bakery when we were kids, where we’d gorge ourselves on sweets, before celebrating our sugar rushes by chasing each other in the park and then crashing on my sofa, cuddled in blankets and laying on top of each other.

Then we got bigger, that was the trigger. Like the Huns invading Rome. Welcome to my school, this ain't no high school: This is the Thunderdome. Hold your breath and count the days, we're graduating soon. College will be paradise, if I'm not dead by June!

But I know, I know, life can be beautiful. I pray, I pray for a better way. If we changed back then, we could change again. We can be beautiful...Just not today.

I scoffed at my optimism back then. Them changing? They never did, I don’t know why I bothered trying at that point. I should’ve moved on but hey! We all make mistakes. It’s just that sometimes you make 11 friendships worth of mistakes.

“Freak!” “Slut!” “Cripple!” “Homo!” “Homo!” “Homo!”

I cringed as I read their old “insults”. They would write homophobic messages across my locker, getting Alix to spray paint a few slurs across my work after I came out as bisexual.

Things will get better soon as my letter comes from Harvard, Duke, or Brown. Wake from this coma, take my diploma. Then I can blow this town. Dream of ivy-covered walls, no smoky French cafés. Fight the urge to strike a match and set this dump ablaze!

I had purposefully sent out applications to universities far away from these people, from Paris. All three schools accepted me, something I can’t say about my classmates, most of whom were rejected for essays on false information (sourced by Lila) and a quick scan over the Ladyblog meant not a single newspaper would even consider my ex-best friend. Gabriel Agreste, as I later found out through my internship in America, had to bribe several schools with double tuition to get even one to accept Adrien, after he got exposed as sexual harasser and disgraced hero “Chat Noir”. I turned back to my diary, having to peel off rock hard gum from the page that someone had smeared in “revenge”.

Le Chiên Kim. Third year as linebacker and eighth year of smacking lunch trays and being a huge dick.

“What did you say to me, skank?” He would yell, his fist raised in the hallway.

“Aah, nothing!” I then cowered. I may be Ladybug, but he was 150lbs of pure rage. No one can compete with that!

But I know, I know... Life can be beautiful. I pray, I pray, For a better way. We can be beautiful...

“Marinette! Wide load! Honnnnnk!”

He was the smartest guy on the football team. Which is kind of like being the tallest dwarf.

“Hey! Pick that up! Right now!”

“I’m sorry, are you actually talking to me?” He used to snarl, his hands covered in sauce from knocking my tray.

I stood my ground, I had been practising for this moment. “Yes, I am. I wanna know what gives you the right to pick on me. You're a high school has-been waiting to happen. A future gas station attendant.”

Kim then smirked, crouching down to eye level and pressing a finger to my forehead. “You have a zit right there...” he pointed out, causing the cafeteria to laugh at my expense.

I used to ask myself “Why... Why do they hate me?”

And hear Adrien whisper “Why don't I fight back?”

Watch as Max Googled “Why do I act like such a creep?”

Listen in on Lila stamping her feet in the bathroom asking “Why won't he date me?” Clearly frustrated.

Kim panicking as he wondered “Why did I hit him?”

And Chloé sob down the phone “Why do I cry myself to sleep?”

I would stay up late, screaming, begging. At my lowest points I would cry out “Somebody hug me! Somebody fix me! Somebody save me! Send me a sign, God! Give me some hope, here! Something to live for!”

I remember when I first met my real friends. The famed trio had gone into the bathroom and I followed after them, clearly my throat.

“Who are you?”

“Uh... Marinette Dupain Cheng. I crave a boon”

“What boon?” Chloé asked, filing her nails.

“Um. Let me sit at your table, at lunch. If our class think that you guys tolerate me, then they'll leave me alone...”

Chloé threw her nail file out and began circling around me, running her hands through my hair, commenting that “For a greasy little nobody, you do have good bone structure!” Before coming to a conclusion.

“And ya know, ya know, ya know? This could be beautiful. Mascara, maybe some lip gloss, and we're on our way. Get this girl some blush; and Kagami, I need your brush. Let's make her beautiful.” Sabrina and Kagami, chimed in, echoing her words.

“Let's make her beautiful...”

“Let’s make her beautiful...”

“Make her beautiful...Okay?” Chloé ordered, dragging me out with Kagami and Sabrina, driving me to her hotel. They sat me down, taking my hair out of its bunches and brushing it out. Kagami painted my nails a deep navy with surprising precision, manning my cuticles. Sabrina twirled my hair into a high bun, leaving a few pieces at the front to frame my face. Chloé came back from her wardrobe, throwing a blue blazer and grey skirt at me. I changed into my outfit for them, to which they clapped their hands in glee. They dragged me back to school, taking in everyone’s reactions to the new and improved me. This became my new daily outfit for the rest of the year — the class couldn’t find anything bad about it, and even if they did Chloé would threaten them with her father’s power.

I was happy with my squad. Kagami taught us Japanese and Chloé taught us American English that she’d picked up from her mother. I taught them self defence, under the guise of learning it from my mum, unknowingly training them for the day I would rip Chat Noir’s miraculous from him, before slamming it into Kagami’s palm. I needed help that day, so thrust them bee and the fox miraculous at Chloé and Sabrina respectively. They became permanent heroes, Kagami under the name “Noirette”, Chloé under the new guise of “Buttercup” and Sabrina “Renard Rouge”. Akuma attacks have never lasted more than 15 minutes since we got rid of that alley cat, and we’ve been closing in on Hawkmoth recently.

I shook my head, snapping the crude book shut, throwing the diary in the bin. Today was going to be the day I made peace with all that happened, our 10 year school reunion. Doesn’t mean I’m gonna make up with anyone, just that I will finally leave everything behind. I found my lipstick and smeared on the crimson lip, smacking my lips together. I grabbed my clutch and helped Chloé stand up, though she wobbled a little in her heels. I slid her miraculous into her updo, blowing a kiss at her as to not ruin her makeup.

We met up with Kagami and Sabrina in the hallway, Kagami in a wine red suit with gold jewellery, and Sabrina was in emerald green to compliment her red hair. We stepped into the limo awaiting us outside and set off, arriving at the school 10 minutes later. We walked up the steps, hitching up our dresses and arrived in the courtyard. It had been lit up with fairy lights, with stands of food and drinks scattered around the court. Our old classmates were huddled in small groups, whilst Mlle. Mendeleiev’s was in a large group, enjoying each other’s company after 10 years apart.

No one noticed us, until Rose pointed at me and whispered “Who’s that with Chloé?” The group turned to stare at us, trying to place my face. Adrien looked up from talking to Lila, who seemed to be flaunting a rather tacky Gabriel engagement ring, and whispered,

“Marinette?!”

The class began gossiping amongst themselves, “Marinette? Marinette? Marinette?!”

I ignored them, their childish ways were behind me, and walked up to Aurore and Mireille, fawning over their relationship. They turned Kagami, asking her about her life and squealing over her Olympic medal for fencing. I grinned as I watched my old class, happy that they had moved on from each other — well apart from Alya and Adrien, who were still hooked on Lila. I was finally, content! I thought back on my diary, one particular paragraph standing out to me at this time.

And you know, you know, you know, life can be beautiful. You hope, you dream, you pray, and you get your way! Ask me how it feels, lookin' like hell on wheels...My God, it's beautiful! I feel so beautiful... And when you're beautiful...It's a beautiful frickin' day!

Chloé boasted my achievements, my business, my awards, and the entire of Mendeleiev’s class started chanting “Marinette! Marinette! Marinette!”, much to my embarrassment. I boasted her’s in return, Sabrina revealed how far she’d come as a lawyer, Kagami swung her prized sword from side to side as she listened to us all catching up, laughing at the memories.

It really was a beautiful day.

[polaristranslations]

Yotsugi Buddy Episode 5 (FINAL)

The epilogue; or perhaps, the punch line.

After yet another week had passed.

"So? What happened this time? If you're okay with me, I'll hear you out, Araragi-kun."

"Oh, get lost... Hanekawa!?"

My former classmate who had set off a journey wandering overseas after graduating from Naoetsu High School, Hanekawa Tsubasa, was sitting right in front of me—huh!?

What happened to Gahara-san, who's usually in charge of the endings!?

"Hitagi-chan is going on a trip to Kushiro with friends from her dorm this week, so if I may be so presumptuous as to take her place."

"She's going to Hokkaido!? That Hokkaido that I have yet to visit!? With her new friends!?"

Don't do things that will hurt your boyfriend!

Well, I was highly in favor of her expanding her circle of friends... But if she really went and ate crabs there, we might have to have a serious talk about breaking up.

"But, Hanekawa, if you're taking her place... When did you even get back? How long have you been here?"

"I actually got back just now. Since it's summer break, I thought I'd spend some time with Hitagi-chan, but she rejected me. She assigned me to you, Araragi-kun."

It was also a bit of a shock to hear Hanekawa speak as if she had no intention of meeting me... But oh well.

I wouldn't normally be a fan of breaking up the rhythm of our regular interactions, but that didn't mean I wasn't happy to be able to talk with Hanekawa—even if the subject was a tragicomedy about child abuse.

The location was, as usual, the cafeteria on the university campus—it was Hitagi who called me out, so I faithfully rushed over, thinking it was the usual thing... So this was quite the surprise.

Hanekawa Tsubasa, whom I hadn't seen in several months, now had long, straight gray hair. It wasn't braided, but it was close to the length that it had been when I first met her... However, she didn't have bangs, so I guess she just kept growing them out. I didn't know what country she just got back from, but her style, with her sturdy-looking backpack and hat, seemed like she'd just come back from climbing a mountain.

Her golden-brown skin made it seem as if she'd gotten a tan at the beach or something, but was that mismatched impression just how Hanekawa was like, now?

If there was one thing that bore a resemblance to when we first met, it would be that, though she had been wearing contact lenses since the second term of her high school senior year, she had gone back to wearing glasses—it wasn't for the sake of changing her image or her character, but simply that it was more convenient for travel.

Thinking about it, wasn't this the first time I saw Hanekawa Tsubasa in plain clothes? Since she was no longer a high school girl, I suppose it was natural to see her in plain clothes... I hadn't been mentally prepared in the slightest, so even her mountain climbing clothes left me flustered.

I didn't know if I should call it a cameo appearance or a stunt double, but, well, maybe Hanekawa was more suited for the ending than Hitagi was, as far as this case was concerned.

Not just because of the character for "hane".

Although, that's where it all started.

"Ahaha, that's pretty careless of you, Araragi-kun. Anyone with the character for 'hane' is usually good for nothing."

"They're good for something! There's something good for all of them! Don't involve the entire population of people with 'hane' in their name just because of your own self-deprecation! As soon as 'hane' shows up in your name, you're guaranteed to live a long and wealthy life! You score a hundred points in name-based fortune-telling!"

"Araragi-kun, were you always that defensive of a person...? I never said anything about economic conditions or life expectancy, either."

It's not like you get scored in name-based fortune-telling, too, pointed out Hanekawa in a dumbfounded manner—damn, after not seeing her in a while, it was like she was pointing out how dull I'd become.

Name-based fortune-telling, huh.

"You really know everything, don't you."

"I don't know everything, I just know what I know. Also, sorry about this, but we're no longer in high school, so if you don't mind, can you stop calling me 'you [omae]' so brusquely?"[?]

"We're totally not on the same wavelength!"

It was like a failed attempt at a nostalgic handshake—well, I guess such awkwardness is also part of what a reunion tastes like.

"I wouldn't say you've gotten dull. In fact, I'm impressed by how much you've grown. I never thought you'd save a teacher. I'd love to tell Hoshina-sensei all about it."

"Well, I really caused a lot of trouble for that homeroom teacher of mine... Teachers, huh... If I've become a fine person, then what have you... Er, what have you [anata] been up to lately, Hanekawa?"[?]

"I didn't think you'd be this awkward. I'm just kidding, it's fine to keep using 'you [omae]'. Well, I've finally finished the first stage of clearing out the mines around some national borders."

The scale was way too different.

In that case, her mountain climbing clothes today might actually be work clothes, or more specifically, military clothes... In other words, I guess it was my fate to never see Hanekawa in plain clothes.

It made me feel like the adventure that Ononoki-chan and I went on was nothing but a small trifle.

"There's no such thing as too big or too small when it comes to helping people. You're not your sisters, Araragi-kun."

"Now that you've said that, I'm sure even Ononoki-chan can rest in peace."

"D-did Ononoki-chan die!?"

"Well, she was already dead. Well, I'll talk about that later... I have things planned out, you see."

"Surely not. It doesn't seem like you'd plan things out, Araragi-kun."

Well, maybe I hadn’t.

And that was true today as well.

"If you've only finished the first stage, does that mean there are still some mines left?"

"No, they've all been completely cleared out. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come back. By finishing the first stage, I mean that I've been freed from my debt."

"Debt? For what?"

"The debt from chartering a fighter jet to take down Ougi-chan the day before our graduation ceremony."

Oh yeah, there was something like that.

I see, so while I'd thought that everything had been finished back then, Hanekawa had been suffering from debt hell ever since... Though it wasn't as bad as my hellish spring break.

Still, I don't know if you could say "as expected", but she repaid her debt quite fast.

What an amazing girl.

"So, from here on out, Hanekawa Tsubasa is free to do whatever she wants... Free to clear out mines of her own volition."

"......"

She was saying something pretty good, but it was kind of scary... When I was back in high school, I never thought I would end up worrying for Hanekawa's future.

"So?"

Hanekawa asked, switching back to the main topic.

"What happened this time? If you're okay with me, I'll hear you out, Araragi-kun."

"There would be no better person to hear me out than you."

It had already been in the news, and since she was the class president that knew everything, I didn't think there was anything I could add. But I told her the full story in chronological order, without cutting anything.

"—Ah, I guess you're not a class president anymore."

"Well, I'm still a president. Of the International Land Mine Removal U-20 Committee."

"That's insane. I never thought that my prediction that you would be a class president for the rest of your life would be fulfilled like this."

"But, I see, hmm. So it was something like that. You sure had a hard time, didn't you, Araragi-kun? But I think I understood most of it."

"You ‘understood most of it’ that easily, huh? The truth about the oddity incident that almost killed me several times."

"Did you really almost die?"

"By my estimate, at least twenty times."

"Don't exaggerate. It's an oddity story, after all. It could end up spreading."

At the very least, it was just once—when I was almost choked to death by my own clothes. At most, I'd say it was two times... With the time when I was locked in a cage.

I wasn't counting the two flights I made with "Unlimited Rulebook", since those were more like gags.

In that sense, perhaps I wasn't involved in that big of an adventure this summer... It didn't turn into anything like a demon-world-like summer vacation that could rival my hellish spring break and my nightmarish Golden Week.

Right.

In the end, this was reality.

"Honestly, maybe it would've been better if it had been you. If you were the one that Associate Professor Iesumi asked for help. If it had been you, you wouldn't have had the 'replacement child' misunderstanding when she first called you into her office, and you would have completely dispelled her suicidal impulses, wouldn't you?"

"Mm. Mmm. If it were up to the current me, I might have just let her die."

"......"

"It might have been impossible for the me of the past, too. The thought of helping an adult might not have even occurred to me... And I don't think I could have remained calm in front of an abusive adult. You remember, right? What I did to the people who raised me. Although I've forgotten... So, Araragi-kun, you're incredible."

Even though she said that, it didn't really feel like I was being praised.

If anything, I felt like a traitor. As if she was asking me how I remained so calm.

"I think all I could've done was call the cops at the very beginning, which would have complicated things further. So, Iesumi-san was right to choose you following Oikura-san's recommendation. Isn't that why Oikura-san told Iesumi-san about you?"

"Oikura would badmouth me to anyone."

Even if her words becoming the catalyst ended up being a good thing... I couldn't say that I had really been very helpful, just like with Oikura's case.

Rather than being helpful, I was completely helpless.

At least, that's how I felt.

"On the other hand, how much do you understand right now, Araragi-kun?"

"I barely understand anything. It's the same as always, just me regretting that there must have been a way to do this better."

In fact, the "past Hanekawa method" of reporting the abuse of the three-year-old daughter as soon as I heard about it wasn't so bad... At the very least, Associate Professor Iesumi would not have to be admitted to a police hospital for malnutrition, in this gluttonous country of Japan.

Her consciousness, which was already hazy on the rooftop, had been completely lost at this point... The doctor's assessment was that not only was she unconscious and in critical condition, it was unbelievable that she was still alive to begin with.

How was she still alive?

That was the one thing even the person herself didn't understand.

I may have managed to save her life, but her life was the only thing I managed to save... Other than that, I hadn't been able to save anything else.

The basic necessities of life—when I thought about how she hadn't been given any of that, and about her life from this point on, it didn't just leave me depressed.

"It's no wonder Shinobu didn't help me at all this time. What I was doing hasn't changed from what I did back then. If there's someone dying, I just can't help but reach out to them."

Shinobu probably had her own excuses... At the very least, it wasn't fair to say that she didn't help "at all". We hadn't made it to the parking lot in time, but once the sun set, it was her time to shine—when it came to the repairing and purification of Room 333, Shinobu had done a great job on all fronts.

"Wasn't Iesumi-san actually seeking help, too? She just couldn't say it like that in front of a child."

"What, is she a tsundere? An adult like her? I may not be a specialist of child abuse, and I may not be a specialist of oddities, but I am a specialist of tsundere. Well, it does make me feel a little better to think that way, even for a moment."

But I wonder.

I had also wanted to die in the past, and it was Hanekawa's words that had kept me alive at that time, which was what troubled me so much. Wasn't it just cruel to admonish a person who was suffering and tell them that "suicide was sinful"?

After being torn to shreds, it was like I was being attacked for wanting to die—wasn't that more sinful?

It was really hard to believe she was seeking help... That person may have just wanted to die.

"Then, if I unravel the mysteries that have been left behind, will that make you feel better, Araragi-kun?"

"Well, a little."

"Then, it might be a bit much, but this humble president would like to be of assistance."

Hanekawa grinned.

So that's why she was here—unabashedly showing up on a university campus that was off-limits to outsiders. Perhaps that was all according to my girlfriend's plan, as she looked forward to going to Kushiro.

But I wasn't going to let her off easy...

"Let's start off with something easy. How about the little bear doll on the roof?"

"Is that something easy?"

"I mean, it's a bear that's the size of a key chain, right? So wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that it was originally attached to a key?"

"A key..."

The only key that appeared in this series of events would be... The key to Room 333, Associate Professor Iesumi's territory... Was this about that key, which I'd finally been able to return to her that day on the roof?

"Non, non."

"A, a Parisienne?"

"There's one more key, isn't there? There was a lock to the second door, as you called it, that could only be opened from the hallway side."

"Ah... The door that Ononoki-chan kicked open."

Aha. While I'd tried to fix the hinges on that door, I hadn't performed a search for the key itself—and even in the subsequent (half-finished) search, I hadn't found it.

"From the fact that it's a teddy bear, isn't there a good chance that it was attached to the nursery key? And then—there's a good chance she threw it onto the roof."

Thanks to Ononoki-chan, my imagination had gone in the direction that it was a memory of Associate Professor Iesumi and her parents that she couldn't easily get rid of, but it could also have been a memory of Associate Professor Iesumi and the Iie-chan doll.

...And she threw it away onto the roof.

Littering towards heaven, not earth.

"Since she didn't find it cute anymore—right? Though, like Ononoki-chan said, you can get the feeling that she didn't throw it away, but failed to completely get rid of it. Considering the damage to that bear, it would've been about a year ago, right?"

"......"

So she felt the same way about the key chain as she did with her "own child"... The key that was detached must have been used without a key chain, like the key to the front door, or else she would not have been able to open and close the nursery door.

In the end, considering that she confined the Iie-chan doll and then left the second door locked, she may have even thrown away the key onto the roof... Perhaps we would have been able to find it under the rubble from Ononoki-chan's destruction.

That worn-out little bear.

In a way, it was also a remnant of affection, like the interior of the nursery.

"Even if it was a state of emergency, I would have felt bad if we turned the bitter memories of her parents into an oddity, but since it was a doll that Associate Professor Iesumi bought herself..."

"If it had been a gift from her parents, I think you would've been in big trouble, and not just in terms of your feelings. It would've been bad if it had been handmade, too—but Ononoki-chan is a professional, so I'm sure she wouldn't make such a misjudgment."

There was once a time where I created an oddity, too—said Hanekawa, lost in her memories.

Was she talking about Black Hanekawa?

No—it must be about Kako.

It was something that happened while I was away, so I didn't know all the details... But, regardless of good or bad, the fact that she created an oddity without even being a specialist made her one hell of a girl.

How long would I be able to drink tea at the same table with her, as she continued to raise her status as president ad infinitum?

"When it comes to Ononoki-chan, I gotta say I think she was making plenty of misjudgments... According to her, 'Ever since I came to live with Araragi Tsukihi, my clumsiness has shown no signs of stopping.'"

"Hm. Then, next is..."

"Can I ask something? It might be a little trivial, but..."

"You're talking about that, right? If it's a trivial matter, then you're asking why the weakness of the clothes and fabric that attacked you and Ononoki-chan was water, right?"

Hanekawa spoke as if she was completely aware.

"But, isn't it obvious if you check the contents of Iesumi-san's letter?"

"Um. No... That wasn't the question I had, but that's fine."

It seemed the definition of "trivial" differed for me and for Hanekawa... I didn't even care about something like that anymore. I'd crudely assumed that all oddities were fundamentally weak to water or something...

"Since they were oddities created by Associate Professor Iesumi, who was raised with 'water' as her 'staple food', the oddities' weakness ended up being water? But if that's the case, I would think they would grow even stronger when being doused with water..."

Like putting dried foods back into water, I guess?

No, when I found her on the rooftop, Associate Professor Iesumi declined the water I offered her... If you suddenly drink water after not eating or drinking, then was it fatal...? But then, what exactly would be the right way to treat such a thing?

"Rather than refeeding syndrome, maybe Iesumi-san just refused to be satisfied with water—"

"Satisfied?"

"Rather than your ski cap and jacket just becoming immobile after getting soaking wet, isn't it more like they drank their fill and fell asleep on a full stomach? Like a baby with a full tummy after being breastfed."

"......"

It wasn't their weakness—it was their staple food.

The feeling of not wanting to be satisfied was something I could understand... If the vampire on a hunger strike, Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicidemaster, were here right now, perhaps she would have something more profound and more significant to talk about here.

"Breasts, huh... Have I unexpectedly become a man that enjoys raising children? It's true that I've always been thinking that men should be more proactive in childcare."

"Araragi-kun, when you say the word 'breasts' so wholeheartedly, it sounds like you mean something else."

"So was that what you meant when you asked, 'Did you really almost die?' When I was in that crisis, it was more like a starving baby clinging onto me, so my life wasn't actually in danger..."

"No, I think that was definitely an attack. Most likely, one made out of self-defense... Still, if it were me, I would have never put back on a jacket and ski cap that almost killed me... How afraid of hypothermia are you? You're way too paranoid."

When she said that, I couldn't say anything in response.

But it really is scary, getting pulled along by "Unlimited Rulebook" without even a seatbelt...

"I would think that, when your clothes attacked you while your focus was on the destroyed father doll, they attacked rather systematically. Otherwise, the professional Ononoki-chan probably would not have had a hard time. It wasn't that opening the closet was the trigger condition, but rather they aimed for the exact moment that Ononoki-chan's hands were full with opening the closet. So, what was the question you wanted to ask, Araragi-kun?"

Hanekawa came down to my level... It was an exchange that reminded me of when she was helping me study.

I really was a baby. Goo goo ga ga.

"Don't say that as if you've resigned yourself to it. What kind of baby are you trying to be?"

"Rather than my question, it's a doubt that Ougi...kun raised. The difference between the quality of the construction and the quality of the drawing for the Iie-chan and father dolls... Because of the imbalance between the balloon-art-like technique and the 'henohenomoheji' scribble, Ougi-kun suspected that two people were involved in the making of the stuffed animal, placing the 'estranged husband' on the chopping block."

Though it was Associate Professor Iesumi who locked up the doll, it was the husband who stabbed the doll in the back with a fruit knife—I had acted with that reasoning as a basis... No, it was more supplementary.

Well, unlike Ougi-chan's deductions, Ougi-kun's deductions were a bit more sloppy—or rather, it was designed to confuse the person he was talking to and cause havoc. So it wouldn't be weird if it wasn't necessarily correct, but still, that raised some concerns regarding the discrepancy between the construction ability and the drawing ability.

From reading the letter, it seemed that both the Iie-chan doll and the father doll were made by Associate Professor Iesumi alone... Could we just say that "Associate Professor Iesumi was good with crafts but had no talent in art"?

"Oh, something that simple... I mean, that really is mysterious. All right, let's think about it together!"

"You've gotten pretty bad at backing me up. Think back to the time where you were such a patient private tutor!"

"Ougi-chan—or rather, Ougi-kun? He didn't know about the existence of the father doll at the time, right? Then it made sense that he thought that way. But if he'd seen the doll on the bed in the next room beforehand, he would surely have thought something like this. 'This girl looks just like her father.'"

"...Aah."

Instead of thinking in terms of the creator being the same... If I thought about it in terms of parent and child resembling each other, then the "henohenomoheji" face being shared was completely natural... Though it was more of a folk belief that girls took after their fathers.

I'd thought that the "henohenomoheji" face was too lacking in either skill or affection for a stuffed doll made to represent one's own child, but if it was actually an imitation of the doll that was the father figure—but, if that was the case, we'd have to figure out why the face of the father doll was a "henohenomoheji".

Was it skill, or was it affection?

That was lacking—

"—I guess it has to be affection."

A forged marriage for the sake of a visa.

It was not a marriage for money or fame, but a marriage for citizenship, a marriage solely on paper—Associate Professor Iesumi, who did it all on her own, probably didn't even know what her spouse looked like.

Unlike the Iie-chan doll, who she at least tried to raise for two years, she didn't even give a name to the father doll.

All she wanted was a family register.

"Even if you can't draw a good picture, you can still draw a bad one—but something like that is just a paradox for people who don't know how to draw... Couldn't she have drawn on the face of her ideal man, or something?"

"She probably didn't even have any ideals. Or wanted to have any."

The letter had said that it was a simulation for the sake of pretending to be married... Of course, I assumed it meant more than that.

Some special reason why she had to do something like that, like emotional attachment or nostalgia—but if it truly was nothing but performing a criminal act, then it was true that there was no need for ideals.

You could even say it was a hindrance.

Although, even in that simulation, she ended up failing—

"I suppose it means that even before she was unable to love her daughter, she didn't even love her husband. To read a bit deeper into it, she may have used her parents as role models... If she thought that the strong bond between her father and mother was the reason for her long years of confinement."

"...For the sake of loving the Iie-chan doll, she chose to 'separate' with the father doll? Although, since it's a doll, you can't really separate from him..."

Unlike the little bear doll, it wasn't big enough to be thrown onto the rooftop, either... For Associate Professor Iesumi, who had grown up in a cage all her life and never known the world "outside her house", it was probably inevitable that Room 333 had become her whole territory.

Her home, which had turned into a hangout for "bad things" like the former Kitashirahebi Shrine—a 3LDK of swirling emotions.

Her saying she was separated from her husband was not a narrative trick found in mystery novels—it was simply the biggest form of separation she could think of, as her knowledge only consisted of that strong bond between parents. She was at an absurd loss.

"Even though she had no choice but to do so, the fact that she destroyed those bonds from within the cage may have determined the rest of Associate Professor Iesumi's life. Maybe she left Switzerland, not because she wanted to get away from her mother, but because she wanted to escape from her sense of guilt."

Even if she was able to realize her great ambition of getting stabbed by her father after five long years... She surely didn't want to make her mother stab her father or even turn into a fugitive.

"...Ah, I see. I should've asked about that first. It's something that I asked Associate Professor Iesumi about on the roof, though I didn't get a clear answer."

A simulation that barely lasted two years, let alone twenty—with it becoming harder to love the Iie-chan doll, her arriving at separation and finally at neglect, let's just say it was another form of a bad ending different from reality. However, if there were differences between the "recreation" and reality—

"Then who was it that stabbed the father doll? As for who stabbed the Iie-chan doll... Was it Associate Professor Iesumi?"

If the doll-making was not a collaborative effort, but hers alone, then did that mean that Ougi-kun's theory about the abuse and the stabbing was way off, and it was actually the same criminal?

It was that conversation with my junior that became the catalyst for my subsequent actions, so the truth or accuracy of the statement wasn't really important anymore, but...

"I think you can just think that it happened normally. What you first assumed, Araragi-kun,"

said Hanekawa.

"In other words, the father doll stabbed the Iie-chan doll in the back, and then the Iie-chan doll stabbed the father doll in the face."

"...That's not normal at all, though?"

Rather than it being what I first assumed, it felt like it was completely at odds with what I assumed... At that point, it wasn't even a recreation of what happened in Switzerland, right?

It was only when I thought that the "estranged husband" was real that I thought that it wasn't Associate Professor Iesumi that stabbed the Iie-chan doll. And there was certainly a time when I thought that the moving Iie-chan doll had stabbed the father doll, but after reading the letter and interpreting that Room 333 was a crime scene recreation, then I would've guessed that it was Associate Professor Iesumi that stabbed the father doll in the face.

The fact that the father doll moved and stabbed the Iie-chan doll... Well, it wasn't impossible. The reason Ononoki-chan destroyed the father doll on the bed was because she'd been wary that the doll would start moving—"just in case".

Thus, it wasn't impossible to assume that the father doll had already "moved", long before that... Rather, it could even be assumed that being stabbed in the face by the fruit knife caused that stuffed doll to "stop moving".

However, if you went even further... If Associate Professor Iesumi stabbed the doll in the face for the sake of the recreation (?), then the Iie-chan doll needed to have already been stabbed in the back.

The order of events was messed up.

Twisted up, like balloon art.

I'd certainly seen the Iie-chan doll stabbed in the back—in other words, I'd seen the fruit knife. At that point, the fruit knife was in the nursery.

As long as Associate Professor Iesumi was already on the roof of the university building, not moving the slightest bit as if locked in a cage, attempting to commit an impractical suicide—she could not have pulled out the fruit knife and stabbed the father doll in the next room.

Was it a remote-controlled trick?

If she used the oddity that controlled cloth, it wouldn't be impossible... But I didn't think at all that my jacket and ski cap, the clothes in the closet or the carpet, and especially the Iie-chan doll were under the control of Associate Professor Iesumi.

The attacks had been extremely primitive.

It was true that, like Hanekawa said, the most suspicious of them all was the Iie-chan doll, who'd displayed a high learning ability... But if so, it would not be an accurate recreation.

Although, if you told me that there was no need for it to be an accurate recreation, then I wouldn't be able to respond... In the first place, it wouldn't have been a recreation starting from the fact that the country was different...

"You don't have to make it so complicated. Let's assume for a moment that it was indeed a recreation. In that case, what would be wrong?"

"...Well."

I wanted to say that trying to argue about what was right or wrong in that situation was already wrong, but that might be being too critical.

"Are you saying that it's actually the letter that was wrong? It was written in the narration, though?"

"Don't act like some clever reader of mystery novels. Also, don't say things as if the victim is always trustworthy."

It was something I wouldn't say, no matter what.

Narration or otherwise, the content of the letter was highly questionable—even if it wasn't groundless, it was a piece of writing meant to ascend to heaven.

From the beginning, heaven and earth had already been reversed.

It had even said something like she didn't really believe that the abused Iie-chan doll was her own child, but it was highly doubtful if Associate Professor Iesumi really, truly didn't believe that.

Though it surely wasn't a disease where she denied everything.

If anything, there were probably days she knew and days she didn't... Of course, even a guy like me had good days and bad days.

Even if the day she wrote the letter happened to be one of her best days out of the whole year, there was no guarantee that those three days she left the doll locked in the cage were at the same level of energy.

"There were probably some translation errors that came from deciphering from four different languages."

"There's no way. Meniko would never mistranslate something."

"Oh, that's some confidence you have in her. You should introduce her to me, that Meniko-san."

"Eh? Ah, all right, well, if the opportunity arises."

"So you're trying to protect her not only from Hitagi-chan, but from me as well... You're way too defensive of the new friend you made in college. It's overprotective."

However, if the crime scene that was recreated was correct, then how did we need to amend the letter's contents?

If the Iie-chan doll escaping from the cage and stabbing the father doll was the correct version of events—

"Then was the one who stabbed the pediatrician father actually Associate Professor Iesumi herself, after being stabbed and escaping from the cage? As legitimate self-defense—"

No.

More correctly—it was revenge.

"—B-but, regardless of a doll doing it to another doll, there's no way a three-year-old without any accountability could kill an adult, right?"

"It would be impossible even as dolls. But she wasn't a three-year-old without any accountability, right?"

She was a twenty-year-old adult.

Declared Hanekawa—and that was right.

In the letter, she had written it as if she'd been a baby for twenty years, but that couldn't be the case... Like how a bound foot can still grow, a person didn't stop growing just because they were raised in a small cage.

As long as they were alive, they would grow.

Just like me.

"But... Hanekawa... Let me just say this one thing..."

I tried to come up with a counterargument as I spoke, but no matter what, I ended up being convinced.

With the words taught to her by her father, she ensnared her father and prayed for him to "kill her" over five years—but what if her ultimate goal was not to simply be stabbed in the back?

What if being stabbed was just a step in the process?

What if her objective was to obtain the knife—it made perfect sense.

And if there was something else that made sense, then the reason her mother fled... It wasn't because she was the culprit that stabbed the father—the only assumption was that she was trying to flee from her daughter's revenge.

She saw her husband killed by her daughter and ran away... She finally gave up on raising her daughter after twenty years of being there for her.

"There's another way to look at the mother's behavior. She's still on the run in order to cover up for the crimes her daughter committed... As long as she herself is on the run as a murderer, she wouldn't arouse any suspicion against her daughter."

"...So there's still love there?"

"A child will grow even without love. Like me."

She spoke rather defiantly.

"After all, whether she was three years old or twenty years old, Iesumi-san at the time could not be held accountable,"

Hanekawa continued.

That's right. Even if it wasn't self-defense, there was no way that case could be judged, whether under Swiss law or Japanese law.

Even if she was a fake teacher who had illegally infiltrated a national university and was a felon who would be imprisoned without probation, she would still be innocent of that one case. After all, who would remain normal after being locked up for twenty years? Even I had given up after just half an hour.

But Associate Professor Iesumi hadn't been given that "normalcy" since the day she was born... It was something she had no choice but to acquire herself, even if she had to lie to do it.

Experiencing the loss of normalcy was something I'd felt countless times... But what would it feel like to never have a sense of normalcy to begin with?

Locked up for twenty years—

"...Anyway, the last thing would be that. The number one mystery."

"Saving the question you want to ask the most for the end... That's a habit you've had since your high school days, Araragi-kun."

"Ah, because I'm a coward. I'm afraid to hear what the answer will be."

"Isn't it because you already know the answer to the question, even before you ask it? But, go ahead. I love it when you ask me questions, Araragi-kun."

"You love... Araragi-kun? If you're going to go that far, I guess I have no choice but to ask my final question."

"I think that joke is going a little too far for our current sense of distance. I'm going to tell Hitagi-chan."

Oof. Gauging our sense of distance was hard.

How does it go between you and Hitagi, Hanekawa-san?

Anyway, now that I've warmed things up with this lighthearted exchange...

"Fundamentally, is it even possible to keep a human being locked up, from when they were a baby, for twenty years—without letting them eat or drink?"

I wasn't a specialist of child abuse, and of course I wasn't a specialist of childcare... Calling myself a man that enjoyed raising children was presumptuous. However, no matter how ignorant I was, I knew that a baby was a living thing that could die from the slightest mistake... A weak existence that could die even if you didn't make any mistakes.

Could that state have been maintained for twenty years?

The fact that her father was a pediatrician wasn't enough for an explanation... Or rather, I could sense from the letter that she was trying to avoid that question by mentioning her father's occupation.

The explanation that the blade did not pierce the heart because it was so thin was almost comical... If she was in such a condition, wouldn't she have simply died from even the slightest amount of blood loss?

It was unclear to what extent Associate Professor Iesumi intentionally or unintentionally embellished that letter... But it could even be a lie that her father was a pediatrician and her mother was a fashion designer for children's clothing. Those occupations seemed to fit too perfectly, as if balloon artists had twisted them into place.

"If you start to doubt that much, you won't be able to trust anything—but at least for that point, I agree with you, Araragi-kun. In Ononoki-chan's words, 'That's the first time you and I have agreed on something.'"

Unlike with Ononoki-chan, that statement might actually be true with Hanekawa... We'd been having a lot of disagreements because of the misunderstanding of distance, so I'd been preparing myself for the possibility that we might not agree even now, but...

"Yeah. I think she turned into an oddity. Iesumi-san herself,"

said Hanekawa, which was a relief... No, the statement itself wasn't exactly something to be relieved over, though.

An oddity.

Just as how the Iie-chan doll became an oddity.

Just as how the father doll, my winter clothes, and Associate Professor Iesumi's clothes and carpet became oddities—and just as how we turned the little bear doll into an eyeball-attached oddity.

If Associate Professor Iesumi herself was turned into an oddity by her parents—then she would be able to stay a baby until she was twenty.

Indeed.

After all, I knew a young girl that was six hundred years old.

I knew a little girl that was twenty-one years old, and a tween girl that had been used for a hundred years—therefore, a twenty-year-old baby wasn't too inconsistent for me.

If she herself was an oddity, it would have been even more strange if oddities didn't continue to form in her territory, Room 333—if they didn't attack the two trespassers like immune cells with self-preservation instincts, I would think that they were actually sabotaging themselves.

It was a natural protection.

That would explain why I, a slowpoke, was able to make it in time—in other words, why Associate Professor didn't die even though she hadn't eaten or drunk anything for a week on the roof of the university.

If she was part oddity.

Then that wouldn't allow her to ascend to heaven.

Because for oddities, there was no heaven or hell.

"Her parents locked her in a cage and used her as a dress-up doll—that's more than enough to meet the conditions for becoming an oddity. I don't know how much of what she said were lies—but at the very least, she herself has no awareness of this one thing. Once she was out of the cage, she wouldn't have had a chance to use her abilities... After all, if she could use her skills freely, she wouldn't have needed to commit any crimes. It was when her crimes came close to being exposed that her defensive instincts began to run wild..."

However... The best example of this was the trespassing that Ononoki-chan and I often did, but weren't crimes basically about skipping due process and cheating to make things easier? It was disheartening to think that Associate Professor Iesumi's blood-soaked efforts were poured into a crime in order to obtain something that should be taken for granted, like human rights.

It wasn't just her parents. The world, the law, ethics, rules—everyone had neglected her.

They'd ganged up on her, and abused her.

Of course, distributing the fault among everybody was just evading responsibility by faking collective responsibility... Not to mention, she probably had people that helped her, too. Of course with regards to her rehabilitation, but her criminal activities would not have succeeded if there had not been someone that showed sympathy to her. However, even someone saying all these sympathetic things like me was probably contributing to the abuse of someone who was trying to make an effort.

Unconsciously.

If you get involved in a different way; if the person was not someone above you; if you were in a bad mood because you fought with a friend; or if you were irritable because you were hungry—you might find yourself saying that she should atone for the crime she committed against her parents, even if she could not be held accountable; or that it was too much to flee the country based on a strange assumption; or that she should have obtained a work visa the proper way even if it took a long time.

Unconsciously.

"Right. Unconsciously. Rather... Yeah, everything was just done unconsciously. Even if she was conscious of the fact that she was her father's murderer and that her mother wasn't really a murderer, I don't think she would admit it... In order to protect the self, she abandoned it—like throwing it away onto the roof. She became so good at lying to herself that she completely fooled herself."

When Hanekawa said it, the words seemed to hold greater weight.

Words as heavy as feathers, from Hanekawa to Hagoromo.

It could be said that she survived by becoming an oddity, but she couldn't be saved from the fact that the source of the passion that turned her into an oddity was her parents' love. The thing that killed her was the thing that kept her alive—so much so that she couldn't even kill herself.

In that case, when I first spoke to her at the lab, she'd seemed like such a solid, decent adult that I couldn't believe she was abusing her daughter—but that was probably because she felt so guilty about her position that she took great pains to make herself seem decent and solid. Wherever I go, it's that same "using misfortune as a springboard" that I hate, huh.

"A cloth oddity—a yokai like the ittan-momen or the shiro-uneri or the nikujuban, perhaps? Maybe the power to manipulate fabric was a talent she inherited from her fashion designer mother. In Scotland, they say that each family has a unique tartan pattern. Well, when I became the sawarineko, it's true that I never had any dreams or nightmares, but it's still troubling that the person herself has no awareness of her oddity nature."

"It's not troubling. It's her only salvation."

Even though she thought she'd finally become human once she escaped from the cage, if she found out that she wasn't—at that point, Associate Professor Iesumi would certainly give up on trying to live.

And I didn't have the confidence that I would be able to stop her then.

"I suppose we've come full circle, and it's time for the specialists to step in... Gaen-san should be able to at least seal away her powers," I said.

That would be best.

I thought I'd successfully been able to break things off with that friendly onee-san, but it seemed my debts continued to increase... Since I no longer had the opportunity to pay off my debts, a ridiculous amount of interest kept piling up.

At this rate, I'd be forced to pay back a huge sum of money after graduating from college. It was little too late to realize that I'd been set up... But since she could wait as long as four years, I guess she really was an adult. Even though she was dressed like that.

A solid adult, huh.

"Speaking of specialists, Araragi-kun, the fact that you paired up with Ononoki-chan from the start this time surprisingly ended up being the best match. Nice badi—if it had been a 'replacement child' or a 'moving doll', it certainly would have been out of Ononoki-chan's area of expertise, but an immortal oddity is right in her strike zone, isn't it?"

That was a pretty fresh point of view.

It may be a bit rough to describe Associate Professor Iesumi as an immortal monster, but considering her track record of "not growing up" and "not dying" over a period of twenty years, it would not be an exaggeration to say that she had eternal youth.

In that case, we had better get it taken care of before Kagenui-san finds out—that violent onmyouji of justice might be the only one who would enact judgment upon Associate Professor Iesumi, for the crime of killing her father.

What in the world could have happened in the past to make her dislike immortal oddities so much...? Would the day I learned about it ever come? Was it related to the curse she received for creating Ononoki-chan?

"By the way, Araragi-kun. Now that we're on the topic of Ononoki-chan, are you going to tell me any time soon? You've managed to smoothly set it aside, but what happened to Ononoki-chan after that?"

Regardless of whether or not the topic of Ononoki-chan was brought up, Hanekawa somewhat forcibly placed the trolley on the rails of the corpse doll... Many things had happened in high school, but there shouldn't have been any direct contact between Hanekawa and Ononoki-chan.

What an admirable class president, worrying about a tween girl she'd never met.

Compared to that, I was good for nothing.

I'd said that I planned things out, but in reality, I just put it off because it was hard to say... Because, as her client, I felt a sense of responsibility for the treatment she received.

"When Ononoki-chan created that eyeball-attached bear doll... That oddity, it seems Gaen-san got angrier at her than I imagined. She scolded her so much that I thought even the expressionless Ononoki-chan would start crying. I said 'more than I imagined', but I can't even begin to imagine it. Gaen-san snapped."

"Th-that Gaen-san!?"

Hanekawa wasn't acquainted with Ononoki-chan, but she was certainly acquainted with Gaen-san, so even she was taken aback—I was finally able to succeed in shocking Hanekawa.

Surprise.

If possible, I would've preferred to shock her with how much I'd grown—but, well, I understood how she felt.

There had been times where that onee-san had gotten mad at me and scolded me before, but she'd never snapped.

"Even though she didn't even yell at me when she saw me with a reference book that had pictures of an older woman that looked like Gaen-san..."

"Learning that fact makes me want to yell at you for it, Araragi-kun, but I don't have the authority to do that right now, so I'll just stay seated and keep listening. So what happened to Ononoki-chan? Don't tell me... She was disposed of?"

Hanekawa half-smiled and said it as a joke, but honestly, it wouldn't have been weird if that had happened—but rather, you could assume that Gaen-san unleashed her fury for the sake of avoiding that "disposal".

If it had been Kagenui-san that found out about it first, then as the "owner", she might have had to dispose of her shikigami... As Ononoki-chan had said, Kagenui-san was responsible for everything about her, including killing her.

If Gaen-san only flipped out as part of an exaggerated performance, then that would certainly be a kindness that was "typical" of her... But her style of using kindness and anger as tools of communication was rather incompatible with me.

But I'm sure that Gaen-san was defending not only Ononoki-chan but also me, so I had to approve of her way of doing things this time... Especially if I had to ask her to ensure that Associate Professor Iesumi was rendered harmless.

Maybe it was about ten billion yen?

The amount of debt I owed to Gaen-san.

It was as if Hanekawa, who had finished repaying her debts, passed me the baton of the debt king... A helpless relay.

"...Then, Ononoki-chan received a scathing lecture, but got off scot-free after that?"

"No way. Naturally, Gaen-san thought that a visible form of punishment was necessary, so for the time being, the problematic eyeball was confiscated from her."

I never thought she'd actually become an eyepatch character... It was way too visible, Gaen-san.

And, that wasn't all.

Rather than the confiscation of her eye, which would surely be returned to her when things calmed down, I would say this was a much bigger "disposal" from my point of view.

"The order was given for her to withdraw from the Araragi household."

"Hmm. Hmmm. Hmmmm?"

"A restraining order was issued against me and Shinobu... And she was told to leave her current assignment immediately. In other words, this is the end of her long freeloading lifestyle."

It would be a lie if I said that I wouldn't miss her.

But she had stayed for longer than I'd expected... She started in February of this year, so about half a year?

It was another clever thing that Gaen-san was able to do. By punishing her, she was able to relieve her of her current duties... Instead of being sent to the penalty box, she was probably on her way to her next job. She probably couldn't keep such a talented shikigami by my side.

By my side, with no problems at all.

"I see... I'm glad she wasn't disposed of, but I wonder if the restraining order meant that Gaen-san realized the danger of keeping Ononoki-chan in the Araragi household, since she's an oddity that's easily influenced by her surroundings."

"She'd have known that all along. Since she's an onee-san that knows everything... Although you're making my house sound like a danger zone."

"But it is a danger zone, the Araragi household. It's full of land mines, and as land mine committee president, it's not something I can leave alone."

Were you actually called the land mine committee president?

As for me, I was optimistic that this meant that the probation period for Shinobu and me was finally over... But the commander's resources and strategy were yet unknown.

Her true intentions surely numbered three, or four... Or even a hundred or two hundred.

"And so, I gave Ononoki-chan a hug goodbye."

"You didn't really hug her, right?"

I didn't.

I didn't even get to say goodbye... Perhaps she inherited the personality of Oshino Meme, who wasn't good with goodbyes, but after explaining the situation, the corpse doll departed from the house, as if she were only taking a break to go and buy some ice cream. It wasn't like I wanted her to leave in a flashier way with "Unlimited Rulebook"—well, I didn't want Ononoki-chan to leave in the first place, flashy or otherwise.

But, it's fine.

It wasn't like we were saying goodbye for good.

In a hundred years, we'll bump into each other somewhere.

"Nevertheless, after being relieved of her duties, on top of losing one of her eyes, I'm sure Ononoki-chan will be tasked with something even tougher than living in the Araragi household... It's pretty rare to get an ending where nobody's happy."

"Too bad. I guess that unraveling the mysteries didn't serve as much of a distraction. But I didn't come back to Japan just to see you all depressed, Araragi-kun."

So, shall I bring you happiness?

Said Hanekawa with a roguish smile.

Like that of a cat.

"What a vicious joke. You can't just go and misunderstand our sense of distance now. Regardless of whether I was influenced by Ononoki-chan, if I were a land mine, I would've exploded. Should I let Hitagi know?"

"It's shocks me to hear that you're taking it as a joke. I'm a specialist in helping you, Araragi-kun, don't you know?"

"A specialist in helping me... What a crazy specialist. You're not my babysitter. Well, if you insist, then all right. I'll take advantage of your generosity and let you help me."

"Have you thought about it? After locking you in the cage, where could that flying blanket have gone?"

"Dunno... If it was just Associate Professor Iesumi that turned into an oddity, and the stuffed doll was just one of her thralls, then I imagine it would run out of time at some point and turn back into a blanket—on the other hand, if it were recreating what happened, then wouldn't it be in Switzerland by now? Like its mother, who came to Japan to escape from her mother."

"Or perhaps, she went to visit Iesumi-san in the police hospital, sleeping as though she were dead—"

"To strangle her?"

"—To drape over her chest like a blanket, as though it were a baby snuggling up against her mother."

"...Hanekawa, that's..."

It was the most untenable hypothesis she'd made today—it was untenable, as a hypothesis, and even as just an idea.

It was almost repulsive.

Who in the world could relate to such a forced and contrived "happily ever after"? If "there are no parents that don't love their children" were words that contained no love, then "parents are everything to children" were also words that contained no love. Even if it's a baby's instinct to cling to the mother—it seemed like a much healthier wrap-up to have the blanket slowly strangle her.

"There's no way. For people like us, who are far from being bedtime stories... Did we ever once see such a happy ending that was so meaningful?"

"That's exactly why it's about time something like this happened. If the simulation doesn't pursue ideals, then reality will only get worse, you know?"

I suppose so.

Associate Professor Iesumi had been thorough in her simulation of the reality she knew, which was why she'd failed in both her marriage and her child-raising. As long as you learn from reality, you can only bring forth reality... It was an endless cycle of reproduction.

Even if it wasn't there, even if she didn't want it, what she needed to have were ideals.

Even if it's run-of-the-mill to aim for the best and end up with the worst—if you don't aim for the best, you won't even reach the next best.

"But, even if you say that, it's too—"

"No, no, I'm being completely serious. I'd like to think that I'm contributing to a world like that. I want the Iie-chan doll to stop the negative cycle of abuse begetting abuse. I want it to be able to clearly say 'no' to this unacceptable reality. Just as Iesumi-san wished."

Despite being given the name for "helping", it's something I was unable to do[?]—said Hanekawa.

"Now, time for a multiple-choice question. Choose the one you think is the correct option, Araragi-kun,"

she said, as though she was recalling being my private tutor in high school.

"Choice A. While Hitagi-chan is away, secretly go on a date with me without any aftermath. Choice B. Go with me to visit Associate Professor Iesumi to check if the blanket is there. Now, which do you think is correct?"

"...I was wondering what you'd give me, but it seems the difficulty of this is C."

I'm saved.

With those two choices, there was no way I could get it wrong.

[classof99]

INTRODUCTION

Someone, somewhere, likely with a vague spectrum of power and a cruel sense of humor, decided that forcing teenagers to sit through four long years of the unmitigated hell wasn’t enough. There had to be one last “learning” component before students were unleashed into the world – i.e., the commencement speaker...

Mom liked to remind me that I fell asleep during the commencement speech at my high school graduation.

She told the story often and with great relish.

I always knew it was coming at the holidays, because a twinkling lilt would bubble up in her and she’d touch my father’s arm and remind him that local celebrity real estate agent extraordinaire Gary Pace had been our speaker (yes, where I’m from, a real estate agent can attain quasi-celebrity status if he plasters his face on the side of enough public transit). My father would pat my mother's hand in return and shoot me an apologetic look. He knew what was coming.

“We could see him from the nosebleed! Remember, honey?” she'd say to dad, talking about me like I wasn't there. “He was just sitting there and all of a sudden – bloop – his little head drops to one side, and falls onto his neighbor's shoulder,” she said, volume rising, her half-and-half tea slipping over the brim of her glass as she slapped the table in delight.

She'd turn to me directly then:

“How did you manage to fall asleep? During your high school graduation, no less!”

“Well, if you remember I worked – ” but she'd cut me off, not really asking so much as wanting to retell the story.

“ – On, uhm... who was it again?”

“Brian Goodlow”

“BRIAN GOODLOW! That's right. What a lovely boy. Do you still see him?”

You see, what mom remembers the most was the scattered laughter of my classmates as I nodded off, causing Gary Pace to lose his place (we heard later he'd taken it as a personal insult that someone -- me -- dared not to be completely spellbound by the most didactic of commencement speeches).

Not that Gary would have cared, but I had a legitimate excuse. I'd worked the previous night until 3 am as a projectionist at the movie theater. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace had just been released and I was working the midnight screenings.

I don’t remember exactly at what point I fell asleep during Gary's speech, but I do recall waking to find Brian Goodlow gently petting my hair. It was the closest we’d ever been despite always sitting next to each other due to the fact that our last name's occurred alphabetically.

Among the many things we suffered through that day, the most pandering may have been Gary Pace's self-aggrandizing speech itself:

“Dare to dream!”

“March to the beat of your own drum!”

“Live life to the fullest!”

The obvious mistake Gary Pace made here -- one shared by many highly educated alumni-turned-commencement speakers -- was that he should have known that high schoolers so close to receiving their diplomas are BEYOND learning anything new. Like, over it. They’ve spent the last 13 years absorbing every last detail that every well-meaning teacher could cram between their eyes and ears.

But what do we do? Each school invites a speaker, usually an alumni, and in our particular case, the indomitable and balding Gary Pace, to come give a speech to the bright young stars of tomorrow. He'll remind us that, decades before, he sat in the very same spot with the same ambitions we hold deep, and would serve up an onslaught of platitudes and non-sequiturs of what he'd learned since.

But we, as with most graduating classes, were a captive audience of malcontents, sweating profusely underneath our caps and gowns, generally unfazed by the generic one-size-fits-all life advice being hurled at us from notecards at the podium. I was very busy pondering that things that came next: freedom and what I could only hope would be an endless summer between me and the next four years of college.

We were the class of 1999 — the last graduating class of the millennium (also known as BCC: Before Common Core). Not since the class of 999 had there been so much self-appointed pressure for a class to “go out and do great things” – thank you, Gary, for that pearl.

While I’d like to believe that we all went on to do great things for ourselves and for society, I know it’s simply not true. Not to say that none of us did anything great, just not all nearly four hundred teenagers sitting in that auditorium that May afternoon in 1999 did. Some of us grew up, other didn’t. Some of us succeed and yet others failed and fell down. Some of us didn’t even make it far enough to note a difference.

To frame the stories that follow, please understand a few things (I’m looking at you Gen-Z)... The class of 1999 was born in 1980-81. We were the “Me Generation”, the tail end of Generation X. Latchkey kids who spent summers with MTV on while our parents were at the office. We microwaved our grilled cheeses on Styrofoam plates even though we kinda knew better. Smoking was still cool, kinda. We made it through high school without cell phones, e-mail or any relevant use of the internet which, in hindsight, has probably saved us all from a lot of embarrassment as adults. A weekend might involve a trip to the local music shop to, ya know, buy CDs. How downright old-fashioned!

But, perhaps most importantly, for the purposes of this story anyways, is that when previous generations graduated from high school, they genuinely lost track of each other which is what made a high school reunion so enjoyable. Discovering what became of everyone. Or what didn't. Today with social media, old high school acquaintances tend to circle each other in an uncomfortable, peripheral social media orbit for years and years after graduation. It's much harder to lose track of everyone, which is a true shame, because losing track of everyone after high school is a great and well-earned privilege.

As I sat there, in May 1999, at the end of my high school career, waiting to make my way up to the stage to grab my diploma, I took a moment to absorb the countless young faces around me. In a curious moment of reflection, I wondered what would happen to each of them. Would they achieve what, if anything, they sought to do with their lives. What ironies did the universe have in store for us collectively?

I catch myself remembering certain people at the most random of times – how they were then and what they made of themselves – and can only imagine what Gary Pace might have said about them. It's been my experience that the lessons you learn in real life are hardly close to the vague horseshit you’re lectured with at graduation. In fact, some time’s there no nice way to wrap up the experiences or expectations of life. Some times it just is.

After graduation, I went onto college and kept in touch with a few of my high school friends. We’d get together over summers or Christmas breaks, only to fall away from each other again afterwards. Even when we did get together, it wasn’t as if we were measuring how daring we’d all been, as Gary had suggested. We were just living our lives, however they came.

Most of my classmates went on to do what most adults try and do in the here and now: college, marriage, a few kids, maybe a divorce (but hopefully not), probably a 9 to 5. As it turns out, though, more than a few of my classmates had stories worthy of one of Gary’s platitudes.

Thanks to the unbreakable bond between Brian Goodlow and I, my mother’s general nosiness, and the burdensome genius of Facebook, Instagram, etc., I’ve managed to collect some of the more interesting stories from my class; stories about the things that actually happen after you graduate.

The following stories are true, almost entirely. However, names have been changed, identifying details have been tweaked and obvious things have been left appropriately VAGUE.

Stay awake. This time it’s worth it.

[ofheroesandvillains]

Throwback - Bucky Barnes

Bucky Barnes/fem!reader

Words: 5.2k Warnings: Bullying (not much though, and nothing violent) Summary: Request ‘Heyyy. Can you please do a Bucky(or Steve) x reader imagine where they meet again at a college reunion and since reader was always really quiet and bullied, she never though anyone from her class would like her but turns out, there was someone. You can change it up. Thank you :)’

Okay, so I want to thank @thebookwormslytherin for the request, and apologise because for some reason I didn’t see ‘college’ and assumed it was a high school reunion instead. Rookie move, my bad. But I hope this is okay! I feel like it got way too long, but at the same time it’s too short! I’m all over the place. Either way, thank you, my dear! xx

(gif not mine!)

Bucky hated this.

What the hell does anyone wear to a stupid reunion anyway? He huffed at his reflection, moodily tugging at the knot of his tie.

There was a mountain of clothes strewn across his bed, coat hangers littering the floor, and he still had no idea what to wear. It was his high school reunion and he’d be seeing all of his old classmates and friends in a little over an hour. After fifteen years, you’d think that Bucky couldn’t care less what these people thought of him. 

And you’d be right, but there was one person that kept his heart hammering away like a woodpecker.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this nervous about anything.”

Bucky glowered at his best friend through the mirror. Steve had been hovering for the past 15 minutes, impatiently waiting for him to finish preparing.

“Yeah, well, I want to make a good first impression.”

“They already know you,” Steve pointed out.

“No,” Bucky drew the word out like he was speaking to a 5-year-old, “they knew me. A lot’s changed, I’m…I know better.”

There was a sorrow in his words that triggered every sympathetic bone in Steve’s body. Bucky held onto his guilt for a long time.

But guilt wasn’t the only thing he felt where you were involved, and though he’d gone to great lengths to try and move on and meet other people, he’d always been convinced that you were the girl for him. Even if he’d never had the confidence to approach you about it.

‘I just know, Steve. You were convinced that Peg was ‘the one’ since pre-K, but you didn’t speak to her until college.’ That was his usual defence, and Steve didn’t really have a leg to stand on there. He married Peggy after years of thinking she was way out of his league.

But that was different. They stayed in the same town, went to the same college, and were friends long before any feelings were confessed. You left the moment you graduated, accepted into Stanford with a full-ride scholarship, and making a name for yourself as one of the best up-and-coming lawyers in the States. Steve didn’t deny that he was damn proud that you’d been able to show the world just what you could do, but he also knew that you’d left high school in your rearview long ago.

“Buck,” Steve began, his tone hesitant, “we don’t even know if she’ll be there tonight.”

“And I’m supposed to just leave this to chance?” His eyes widened, offended by the mere thought.

Steve sighed.

“Well, no, but I just think…” he tried to find the right words.

“What?”

“It’s been 15 years, pal, what are the chances she isn’t already seeing someone? Or married for that matter?” Steve gently pointed out.

It wasn’t like he wanted to crush his best friend’s hopes and dreams, but it really had been a long time, and your memories of him (if you had any to begin with) probably weren’t the best. It wasn’t Bucky’s fault, Steve knew that he was just as oblivious to the situation as everyone else had been at the time, but he doubted it mattered very much to you.  

Bucky’s heart clenched at the thought. He remembered a time when he’d tell his parents he was studying at the library just so he could make sure you got home safely after your shift. You worked there every second day and lived in a shadier part of town, the type of place that was barely safe for a grown man, let alone a teenage girl, but he’d make that trip whenever he could.

“It doesn’t matter,” he decided, “I at least want to apologise.”

Your family couldn’t afford much, and the kids at school were cruel. Not just to you, but your suffering broke his heart the most. The worst part was that he’d never even known that his own ‘friends’ bullied you until the end of your senior year.

In truth, he wasn’t the biggest fan of art class, but he’d taken it for a specific reason.

He was the first to class that day, and not for the first time in his high school life, he wished that Steve wasn’t in the year below him. It’d been a long year, but Bucky imagined that it would have gone a lot smoother if he had Steve there to help him keep a level head, instead of the usual group that attached themselves to him for some reason.

He was a decent-looking guy - granted, he didn’t think he was all that special, but the cheerleaders seemed to think that his dark hair and pale eyes were ‘to die for’. Bucky didn’t care much for them, but they weren’t completely terrible. After the first time he’d heard them making fun of Steve, they seemed to grow up and had even apologised for their actions. Most people knew not to mess with Steve, he was Bucky’s best friend after all, and they were a package deal.

Steve was still wise enough to leave whenever his old bullies decided to join them in the library or at lunchtime. He just hated that Bucky was so oblivious to the fact that the jocks and cheerleaders he sat with were still bullies…they just didn’t target Steve anymore.

And they definitely never picked on anyone when Bucky was around.

A few students trickled into class, and Bucky kept his eyes on the door. He didn’t know how long ago it started, but it was the first time he’d had a crush this big on someone. It was taking months for him to gather the courage to ask you out, and if he was being honest with himself, he still hadn’t quite been able to muster it. But he’d start today.

Today he was going to ask you to sit with him. He’d get to know you, and you’d hopefully be interested in getting to know him. Then he’d just ask you to…wait, what was he going to ask? A date? It was too soon. A study session? You were the smartest kid in class. To be friends? He couldn’t friendzone himself!

His heart started racing in panic, and seeing you walk through the door did nothing to calm it. You made you way down the isle. He knew you always sat at the back near the window, so you’d have to pass by him anyway. And you did.

“H-Hey, Y/N.”

Bucky gave you his best smile, and you returned it with a small and surprised one of your own.

“Hi.”

“I uh…did you want to sit-”

You stumbled forward with a gasp when something collided with your shoulder, and you did well to keep your balance.

“Hey, Bucky! You would not believe what happened at lunch!”

A beautiful girl slid into the seat beside him uninvited, a beaming smile on her face, as if she hadn’t just made the both of them look like fools in front of you.

Stacey was the cheer captain at your school and everyone knew she’d been trying to get Bucky to ask her out for months. But Bucky paid her no attention as he watched you dejectedly make your way to your usual spot while you rubbed your sore shoulder. Your eyes flickered over to him for a split second before looking down at your desk instead.

“Mr Barnes?” Bucky turned to face the front at the sound of his name. He didn’t even notice that Ms Higgins had begun her class. “Is something wrong?”

Yes, everything flashed through his mind, but he settled for a shake of his head.

“Uh, no, ma’am.”

The class went on and you’d all be painting that day. You were happy sitting on your own, you always did anyway, but your earlier humiliation still played on a loop in your mind. You never wanted to be like the rest of the girls in school, falling for the popular boy who seemed completely oblivious to the effect he had on people. His friends were a nightmare, but he’d always been kind to you. You decided that it was far too easy to fall for Bucky Barnes.

The one time he tried to talk to you in school…you shook your head, barely paying attention to your surroundings. If you’d been more vigilant, you probably would have noticed the stray backpack jutting out from beneath one of the desks.

But you didn’t.

You managed to keep your balance for the second time that day, but that didn’t change the fact that the paint you were carrying shot out to land on the unfortunate soul approaching you.

Well, it was just your luck, wasn’t it?

“Damn it! I’m so sorry-“

Bucky looked at you with wide-eyes, half stunned and half grateful that a bit of paint had been enough to get you to finally notice him. Reassuring words were already on his tongue when he was rudely interrupted.

“Oh my god, watch where you’re going, loser!”

Bucky’s eyes widened, and he turned to Stacey with a mortified expression. A swell of protectiveness rushed over him and he frowned.

“Woah! Lay off, it was an accident.”

“More like she was an accident!” One of the guys from the football team chortled, much to the amusement of his neanderthals friends.

“Shut up, Lance!” Bucky barked back, a scowl immediately making its way onto his face. Where the hell did Ms Higgins wander off to?

“Lighten up, Bucky, he’s just messing around,” Stacey chewed her gum with an exaggerated roll of her eyes, “besides, she’s used to it, right penniless?” A perfectly groomed brow arched up and she smirked.

Bucky could only watch on in horror as hurt flashed across your features before you silently dumped the paint bottles on a desk and walked out of the room. The words rang through his mind - ‘she’s used to it…’

Why? Why the hell would she be used to it?

He shook his head and bolted out of the class, ignoring Stacey’s call for him to come back.

“Wait! Hey, wait up!”

You were the only person in the empty hallway, so there was no avoiding him. He was panting lightly by the time he reached you.

“Look, I-I’m so sorry about that. I didn’t-“

“You’re sorry?” You gave a little huff, eyes glassy but too stubborn for anything else. “Well, that’s a first.”

“What do you mean?” His brows furrowed.

“Look, if this is you trying to clear your conscience before graduation, don’t bother.” There was a bitterness in your voice that he’d never heard before. “You grow thicker skin after the first few years. Like your girlfriend said, I’m used to it.”

With that said, you barged past a speechless Bucky, ignoring the sorrowful eyes that followed your every step as you went.

You managed to dodge him from then on. Mostly out of guilt though. You knew he hadn’t deserved your anger that day, if anything you should have been thanking him. No one usually stuck up for you, but the humiliation brought out the worst in you, and you took your anger out on the only person available at the time.

Whatever hope your mind had conjured was quickly banished, and you threw yourself into your schoolwork. Bucky Barnes would never look twice at someone who could barely afford a roof over her head. At least that’s what you always thought…

Graduation snuck up on him, there had been so much drama after he’d found out the truth and distanced himself from his old group, that he barely even noticed it was the end of the year. 

You looked so beautiful. He thought you always looked beautiful, but there was something special about you that day. Maybe it was because he hadn’t properly seen in you in so long, or maybe it was the relief that he didn’t recognise on your face…

Whatever it was, he cherished it, because that would be the last time he’d see you for fifteen years.

If entering their old school taught Steve one thing, it was that no one seemed to outgrow their crush on Bucky Barnes. Women, men, married, single, it didn’t matter. He turned heads without even meaning to, and Steve cringed hard when he noticed the predatory way most of the women there stared at his best friend. What was even more alarming, was the fact that he was getting similar looks himself.

He blushed ten different shades of red under their attention, while Bucky stomped his way through the crowd, neck craning as he not-so-subtly sought out the object of his own desires. For a good while they carried on that way, Bucky weaving his way through groups, muttering a distracted ‘hey, how’s it goin’?’ whenever someone recognised him, and Steve narrowly avoiding painted talons that were desperate to rope him into conversation.

“Buck!” Steve’s shout was drowned out by the unnecessarily loud music, “Bucky!”

With a huff, he sped up and tugged his best friend back by the arm.

“Hey man, c’mon. This isn’t working. Why don’t we just sit down for a bit?”

Bucky looked like he wanted to argue, but decided against it when he realised just how desperate Steve looked.

“Yeah,” He cleared his throat with a nod, “yeah, okay.”

With a reassuring pat on Bucky’s back, Steve led them over to the edge of the room where the tables were scattered. Only a few people were sitting down for now, but it would only get busier as more people arrived. Bucky’s gaze swept over the floor twice more before he took to keeping an eye on the door as people came over to chat.

He could barely recognise a few of his old friends. Some had done well from themselves, others not so much, but all had been nice enough. Humbled by life, he supposed - at least quarterback Drew was. He was sporting an impressive beer-gut these days, but he’d never looked happier than when he harped on about his wife (who seemed like a real sweetheart) and his ‘rugrats’ as he called them.    

Ten minutes passed, twenty, thirty even, before Bucky’s shoulders slumped in defeat, and he finally admitted to himself that maybe he was wrong. The stars weren’t aligning and fate wasn’t on his side. You weren’t there, and why would you be? You were successful, a hotshot lawyer was what he’d heard, you had better things to do than attend some silly reunion with people you hated. Steve was right, you were probably married by now, to someone who loved you and treated you right. Wherever you were, Bucky just hoped you were happy.

Steve watched as his best friend’s mood took a swan dive.

“I’m sorry, Buck.” he gave Bucky’s shoulder a comforting squeeze, but Bucky barely forced a smile.

“Ah ’s’alright. It was wishful thinking, right?”

“Bucky-“ Steve tried.

“I’m gonna get some air, don’t miss me too much.” Bucky shot him a tight-lipped smile and left before Steve could get another word out.

You hated this.

High school was not a fun time for you, and even though you moved on long ago, there was a part of you that wanted to see it all one more time. Your best friend convinced you that it might be a good idea, to clear the air and to finally put that chapter of your life to rest.

Gamora was always the voice of reason.

So you’d agreed, and now here you were, avoiding everyone and everything anyway.

Music could be heard from down the hallway, but you hadn’t bothered heading down there just yet. What you really wanted to see was the one place you’d escape to every lunchtime and free period. Your old art room.

It looked just like you remembered, but they had left all of the old A3 binders Ms Higgins once stored your work in, out on each student’s desk. It was a nice surprise, and you found yourself smiling as you made your way over to your usual seat.

You flipped through the pages, cringing whenever you thought of just how much better you were at art now. You used to be so proud of your work, but you didn’t even recognise some of the faces you’d drawn. There was only one you’d ever spent more time than was necessary on. You smiled at the memory of him...

He never spent time with you outside of school (or inside of it for that matter), but that didn’t mean he never saw you. You worked at the small local library and even though Bucky would never admit it to anyone, he wouldn’t have stepped foot in the building if it wasn’t for you.

You never spoke to each other though, not really.

He’d come in to study when it was too loud at home - or when he just wanted to see you. You’d sit behind the counter studying when you weren’t busy sometimes, other times you would be carrying a bunch of books around to return to their usual places along the shelves.

Either way it was usually quiet, and he’d feel all of the tension leave his body as soon as your pretty eyes locked onto his own when he walked into the building. His lips would tug up into a small smile, and you’d give him one in return, before quickly looking away again. He thought it was cute.

That day went like any other, but this time you’d been bustling between the shelves with a stack of books in your hands. The cart was missing for some reason, as was the step ladder, which meant that you were stretching muscles you didn’t know you had as you tried to reach the top shelf on the tips of your toes.

You fell back onto your heels with a huff, before someone gently removed the final book from your hand, and slid it into place on the shelf. You quickly turned around when you registered the broad chest that brushed across your back.

Bucky watched as you scooted back into the bookshelf almost imperceptibly, your eyes widening a fraction.

“You looked like you needed a hand…” He trailed off quietly with a small and uncharacteristically nervous shrug. 

Your gaze flickered around the room, not daring to look at him for too long at a time, as if he were the sun itself.

Pull yourself together. You shook your head lightly and gave him a grateful smile.

“Oh, um, thanks…I don’t know where Ms Harrison left the step ladder.”

“It’s no problem,” he returned your smile.

Your eyes locked onto his and for a moment you were caught in a strange stare-off. Both of you had plenty you wanted to say, and no idea how to say it. Regardless, the way he studied you with that unreadable look made you feel like he knew something you didn’t, but what that could be, you had no idea.

“Y/N?” Both teens turned to look at the source of the small voice, snapping out of whatever strange trance they’d been caught in.

“Hey, Harley…you need something, kiddo?” The little boy looked between the older kids shyly but nodded anyway.

“Can you help me with my homework, please?”

You gave the 6-year-old a bright smile. “I sure can, why don’t you go set up and I’ll be right over.”

Harley beamed, showing off his missing front teeth before skipping away. You sighed inwardly and looked back to Bucky, only to find that his attention was already on you. You were half grateful that Harley had interrupted your awkward chat, and half dejected that the rare interaction was officially over.

“I should probably let you get back to work…” Bucky rubbed the back of his neck.

You nodded lightly, “Y-Yeah, thanks again for the help.”

There was an amused glint in his eye - all he’d done was lift a book for you, but he gave you a nod regardless.

“See you at school, Y/N.”

You smiled shyly at the typical Bucky Barnes grin he sent your way before he turned to leave.

The noise of chatter and music died down the further he walked. A few stray couples had found their way into secluded classrooms, much to Bucky’s amusement, but no one stopped to chat or to bother him.

For the first time that night, he allowed himself to take in his old school. He wondered if any of his old teachers were still going strong, or if the students these days got into as much trouble as his own generation did. He doubted it. 

The hallways looked the same, and from what he could see, not much had changed about the classrooms either - maybe some new equipment, but the large ’T + P’ that one of the older students etched into the bricks was still there.

A small smile settled on his face each time he saw something familiar, until a light at the end of the hallway caught his attention. It was coming from the last classroom on the left, one he knew quite well. Slowly, he made his way over, hoping he wasn’t about to intrude on another wayward couple.

The door was only partially open, and his breath caught in his throat the moment he stepped inside. The lone occupant of the room was facing away, but there wasn’t a doubt in his mind about who he was looking at.

Still so beautiful, though he really shouldn’t have been surprised. 

“Y/N.”

“Christ!” You spun around, wide-eyed with a hand clutching your chest. He noticed the moment your fear gave way to panic, but didn’t understand why until his eyes landed on the binder flipped open on your desk.

He took a step closer and his lips parted in surprise.

“That- That’s not what it loo- I mean, it is, but…” you forced yourself to stop rambling with an awkward chuckle. “Oh, boy…”

Bucky laughed along with a bashful smile.

“Sorry, I kinda snuck up on you there.”

You waved away his apology.

“No, it’s fine. Really…I was just,” you took in a deep breath and cast a glance around the room, “reminiscing, I guess.”

Your gaze settled on him once more, and boy had he aged well. That dark hair still looked thicker and softer than yours could ever be, and those eyes looked even bluer than you remembered. With a strong jawline covered in stubble, and muscles that filled out his dress shirt nicely, James Barnes was a sight for sore eyes. Then again, he always had been.

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” he nodded and his lips tugged into a conspiratory smirk, “a word of advice though, don’t head towards the gym unless you want to be picked apart by vultures.”

You laughed, “so nothing’s changed then, huh?”

He scrunched up his nose and shook his head, “nah!”

Bucky tucked his hands into his front pockets and moved to stand beside you. His smirk melted into something more genuine.

“This is really amazing, you know that?” His eyes were glued to the sketch of his own smiling face.

“Thank you,” you bit your lip, suddenly self-conscious, “I used to love drawing people, I just…I don’t know.”

“God, you must think I’m super weird or something,” you muttered, mainly to yourself but he picked up on it either way.

“What? No!” He insisted, “I mean, I’m honestly flattered.”

Bucky cracked a smile at the blank look you sent him.

“I’m serious!” He cried with a shrug. His smile was a full-blown grin by now, and you shook your head at the familiar sight.

It was so easy to talk to him now, like you were both two old friends having a chat. There were no ridiculous little rules about who was cool enough to associate with who, and it was surreal to think that the conversation was flowing as easily as it was considering you were never really friends to begin with.

You crossed your arms over your chest, a habit when you were thinking too much, but he mistook it for either embarrassment or discomfort. Probably both, he concluded.  

His eyes softened and he jerked his head towards his own desk.

“If we’re sharing secrets, I think it’s only fair you know mine. Whaddaya say?”

You hesitated for a split second before following him over to his own desk. When you finally came to stand beside him, he slid a large red binder over. His initials were written in the top corner, and you looked over at him in question.

Are you sure?

He nodded with a soft smile.

Yes

You eased it open.

“Steve, he uh, he was always the better artist of the two of us. But he told me that it was easier if the subject was something you cared about.”

You flipped through the binder slowly, revealing page after page of graphite and watercolour, paint and oil, and the face you saw each time you looked in the mirror. There were colourful smiles, monochrome frowns, and every emotion in between.  

“Never really managed to do you justice…”

It was overwhelming at first, the thought that he - Bucky Barnes, the most adored boy at your school back in those days - even knew your name at the time. But this? The way he captured your every emotion in every colour, and had taken the time to do so over and over again…there were no words.

“I don’t,” You shook your head slowly, “know what to say…”

“I had the biggest crush on you,” he blushed, looking down at his shoes, “and I know it’s overdue, but I want to apologise.”

Your head tilted in confusion, finally tearing your eyes away from the pages, and he heaved a sigh.

“I uh, I didn’t realise it at the time, that those assholes I used to call friends were treating you like that. It was my fault.” His jaw clenched and there was a pain in his eyes that you couldn’t believe was there on your behalf.

“Your fault?” You weren’t following his logic.

“I liked you. Stacey wasn’t a huge fan of that, and neither were her friends.”

Your brows shot up and he almost grimaced. He must have looked pathetic to you. Fifteen years later and holding onto the past. He probably wasn’t even a footnote in your life and you likely didn’t remember a thing about him. Steve was right, he should have let it go a long time ago.

“God, I told myself that I wouldn’t dump this all on you, that I-“ he huffed a derisive laugh, “-that I’d just apologise and let you be…”

He sighed, running a hand through his thick hair.

“Look, I’m sorry, I’ll- I’ll just go.”

A hand shot out to catch his elbow as he turned to leave, and though he could have broken the hold and saved himself any further humiliation, he stayed put.

“James, wait.”

“Bucky,” he corrected, as if it were instinct by now.

“Bucky,” you offered a warm smile, “those assholes you called ‘friends’ targeted me because they were assholes.” You said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

He huffed in amusement, though it was more half-hearted than you would have liked.

“I don’t blame you, ya know?” You softly added, “I never have.”

He nodded hesitantly and your hand slipped down to his own to give it a reassuring squeeze.

“Besides, Stacey and I are actually on kinda good terms at the moment. Have been for a few months,” you added.

Bucky’s looked horrified by the very idea.

“You’re kidding?”

He drew another laugh out of you. You didn’t remember the last time anyone had managed to do that as frequently as he’d been able to in the space of twenty minutes.

“Nope, I actually helped her with her divorce last year. She apologised, and well, she’s matured a lot since high school.” You nodded, almost proud of how far she’d come. Sometimes all it took was a little perspective, and seeing your old bully fall into a sobbing mess because of her cheating husband, had given you both perspective.

“Wow, that’s…surprising.” He winced when he realised how mean he sounded. “Sorry, I meant that’s great. Really.”

“I mean, Lance is still pretty much an ape so I understand your shock,” you joked and were happy to see the first genuine smile on his face after his confession.

You stared at each other for a moment too long, but neither of you seemed to mind. Whether he felt it too, you had no idea, but you weren’t in high school anymore and you were sick of contemplating the ‘what-ifs’.

“You know, I liked you too, back then.” And now.

Now it was his turn to look surprised.

“Yeah?” He almost looked awed by that bit of information.

“Yeah,” you tried to suppress your grin with little success, “and…I know this might be a little forward but, would you like to grab a drink some time?”

Bucky’s eyes widened.

“With you?”

“Um, yeah.” You nodded awkwardly.

He was so surprised that he didn’t notice how his words had come across until your smile faded.

“I’d like that,” he quickly reassured, before pausing “you’re…you’re not married, are you?”

Ah jeez. Why did he ask that? Stupid Steve and his stupid theoretical husband! Why would you ask him for a drink if you were married? You weren’t that kind of girl!

You cocked a brow in amusement, “well, yeah. But my husband doesn’t have to know.”

Bucky froze, and he swore that his heart stopped.

“I’m kidding…”

And started again. You chuckled at the obvious slump of his shoulders.

“Jesus, woman…” he gave your hand a squeeze with a relieved smile, “don’t even joke about that!”

You looked entirely too pleased with yourself as you bumped his shoulder with your own.

“We’ll call it even for the heart attack you gave me earlier.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he rolled his eyes in good humour and they caught a glimpse of the clock, “you know, it’s only 8…we don’t have to wait for those drinks.”

“True…” you pursed your lips and nodded, “And who even likes reunions anyway?”

“No one I’ve ever met,” he added matter-of-factly, offering a hand.

You scooped his artwork up with your right arm and let him drag you out of the room with your left. Loud laughter rang out through the hallway as you raced to the exit hand-in-hand, before anyone spotted you.

Neither of you seemed to notice Steve step out of the stuffy gymnasium, nor the small smile on his face as he watch his best friend run through the halls like a teenager. He imagined what a stern-faced Ms Higgins would say if she could see you now. Steve jumped as a loud shriek filled the air, but Bucky merely howled like a hyena and doubled back to fetch the heel that had flown off in your great escape.

You slipped your other shoe off but he was having none of it, opting to scoop you up and carry you out himself. Steve shook his head, and fished his phone out of his pocket.

Heading home early, pal…enjoy the rest of your night.

It’s so late, let me know if you see any mistakes? Thank you for reading! xx

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 163: Reunions and Provisional License Training

Previously on BnHA: Gran Torino and Naomasa cornered Kurogiri in the middle of the woods somewhere. It looked like they were about to capture him, but then this big Goron-looking dude stomped in out of nowhere and we cut away from the scene, so who even knows what’s going on with that. Back at the hospital, Deku had a chat with Mirio, who was amazingly cheerful -- the last thing Nighteye said to him was to keep smiling, and he intends to follow through with that. Deku had a moment of guilt-stricken weakness because Mirio had been so amazing while he himself had needed help from everyone. He started to offer Mirio One for All, but Mirio cut him off and said that even if it was “hypothetically possible” for Deku to give him his quirk, he wouldn’t accept because that would only leave Deku in the same situation that he’s in right now. He also said that Aizawa told him they would be working hard to figure out a way to restore his quirk. And Nighteye’s last prediction was that he would be an outstanding hero, and he believes in him. Having been successfully cheered up, Deku returned to school with the other kids. The next day, BAKUGOU AND TODOROKI HEADED OFF TO THEIR PROVISIONAL LICENSE COURSE. YOU GUYS. THEY’RE BACK.

Today on BnHA: The internship kids return to their classmates who have been WORRIED SICK and don’t hesitate to inform them of this. Ochako and Kirishima have quiet moments of reflection about why they want to become heroes and how far they have to go, respectively. The next morning, Bakugou and Todoroki head off to their supplemental training course, chaperoned by All Might and Present Mic. We learn from All Might that Gran Torino and Naomasa managed to capture Kurogiri, but were in pretty bad shape after their confrontation with the Giganto dude, who apparently leveled half the mountainside during their battle. Over at the license exam training course place, Endeavor makes an appearance, having come to watch Shouto train. He also says he wants to have a chat with All Might. Meanwhile Shouto is greeted by his new best friend Yoarashi Inasa (who is still my favorite), as well as For Reals Camie, who we’re meeting for the very first time. Also Seiji of meatball quirk fame is here as well just for laughs. The chapter ends fairly abruptly, but it’s all good because this is going to be a good arc full of fun times you guys.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 187 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

(ETA: apparently the 3rd popularity poll results were released with this chapter! I had to go hunt down the color page and the full results because they weren’t included with the scanlation I read. so I’m adding in this ETA as of finishing volume 18 and belatedly realizing there were supposed to be poll results somewhere in there lol

Bakugou in the number one spot once more! that post-Kamino character development was so good that his popularity managed to withstand 40 straight chapters of being completely absent from the plot. pretty impressive

there is literally only ONE vote separating Shouto and Deku, oh snap. Shouto’s popularity also held up pretty damn well during the Internship arc. absence truly does make the heart grow fonder

Kirishima has moved up a spot! fucking superb you funky little rock man

and a surprise guest breaking into that no. 5 spot, Iida fucking Tenya! wow! beat out Aizawa by a good 400 votes. in this post-ponytail world, that is truly shocking to me. once again I will chock it up to his being absent for so long and making us realize how much we truly loved him. although a more likely explanation is that the anime had just finished up the Hero Killer arc right around when this poll was being conducted in the tail end of 2017

I’m delighted to see Kaminari here at number 8, even before his Kacchan moment which is coming up in this very chapter! I love him so much

Shinsou’s got himself some dedicated fans, let me tell you. they are doing the lord’s work, using this poll as a way of not-too-subtly hinting at Horikoshi to drop Mineta from 1-A and replace him with this kid instead. we’ll keep holding out hope

so that’s it for the top ten (with shoutouts to Aizawa, All Might, and Ochako because I didn’t mention them specifically but OBVIOUSLY I LOVE THEM TOO OF COURSE). I think the full list is in one of the omakes, so I’ll cover that at the end of this chapter.)

[mario voice] here we GOOOOOOO

so we’re back at the fanfic dorms (I MISSED THESE TOO), and the internship kids have finally made it back after going through all sorts of “inquiries and processes”

Mineta’s screaming “THEY’RE BAAAAAAACK” and honestly it’s one of the few times I’ve empathized with him so strongly

are you kidding me. you fit 18 fucking kids into this panel but you couldn’t fit Bakugou fucking Katsuki

also I always die any time Shouji is wearing one of his legendary ponchos. lmao

honestly, even without Bakugou (and who else is missing, though? ... oh shit, Tokoyami), this one panel still feels more like BnHA than the series has in ages. I missed this

(ETA: wait a sec, was Tokoyami out on his own internship while this was all taking place? is that why he’s not here? do I need to stop dragging my feet and force my ADD brain to sit still for five goddamn minutes so I can finish the arc I’m currently on?)

Kaminari’s shouting that Kirishima and Deku (a.k.a. the two who were also involved in Rescue Squad Jr.) are always getting mixed up in crazy shit and they need to stop scaring them

they were scared, then. of course. that’s fine, it was only to be expected. it’s not like I’m tempted to stop reading right this second and go look up post-Internship Arc class 1-A genfics on AO3

but like, I really did want to for a minute, and y’all know how badly I want to see Bakugou again, so please understand that I’m loving this scene just that much

Hagakure’s hugging Tsuyu and Ochako awww

what’s this

Shouto got a mysterious text? Shouto is always on his fucking phone I s2g. get off social media for two seconds and say hi to your friends

(ETA: this seems like a good place to share my headcanon that Endeavor texts like Captain Holt from B99 and composes all of his texts like formal business letters with perfect grammar and begins them all with “Dear Shouto” and signs them all with “Sincerely, Endeavor.” yes he signs them as “Endeavor” and not “dad” or even “your father” because he’s just really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really bad at being a dad. you guys.)

Iida is divebombing in front of the returning kids and screaming at everyone to calm down

;_________;

IIDA BRINGING THOSE CLASS 1-A FEELS. THAT’S OUR CLASS PREZ

but Deku’s waving a hand at him and thanking him for being considerate, “but”

oh my god

loooooool

“ARE YOU SURE, MIDORIYA. BECAUSE I JUST MADE A PRETTY BIG FUCKING SCENE RIGHT NOW, YOU KNOW”

LOOOOOOOOOL, BUT NOW THAT HE HAS THE GO AHEAD...

IIDA FUCKING TENYA I MISSED YOU TOO YOU BIG GOOBER

Momo is running off to make some tea for them

and Satou is literally shoving cake into Deku’s face now

for some reason Ochako is being very quiet though

oh. oh no

honey it’s not your fault!

shit. this is the first job-related death they’ve experienced, though. of course they’re all going to be traumatized by it to some degree. no wonder the staff wanted to brief them thoroughly

I hope they offered counseling. they fucked up with Bakugou and they need to not do that again. class 1-A keeps accumulating various traumas and if these kids don’t get mental health support they’re all going to be a hot mess by the time they graduate

in the meantime we at least have Aizawa “Mom of the Year” Shouta on the job

is it just me or does Aizawa not even pretend anymore these days. he’s so fucking maternal. he loves them all so much, and he’s not even mad about it. they’re good kids

so Ochako is having what we call a Deku Moment

staring at the hands and everything

is this the first time she’s said this? remember, previously her goal was to become a hero so that she could provide for her mom and dad. very selfless, but she was still in it for the money rather than the whole “rescuing people” thing. so I think this is the first time we’ve heard her voice this particular sentiment out loud. and it’s great

Kirishima’s looking at her with a quiet expression that suggests that his own angst is brewing beneath the surface omg

and Sero’s slinging an arm around him aggressively

this is nice! he needs this!

aww! Mina too!

NO NOT REALLY

KIRISHIMA ;_____;

WHERE IS BAKUGOU GODDAMMIT

GASPPPP

ever the antisocial one

HERE HE IS IN HIS OWN PANEL FINALLY OMGGGGGG

omg

so he’s listening in with his resting bitch face, because of course he was worried just like all the rest of them, but like hell you’ll catch him joining in with the obnoxious crowd of people swarming them all at once

but this way he can still see that they’re all right. and maybe he can talk to Kirishima later. and maybe nod at Deku or make awkward eye contact for two seconds and then pretend like nothing happened. you know how they do

LOOK WHO’S HOPPING OVER AND MAKING THE SAME OBSERVATIONS OMG

excuse me WHAT DID YOU CALL HIM JUST NOW? AHEM??

(ETA: this is disturbingly high on my list of all-time favorite BnHA moments)

is he allowed? is this allowed?? what is this. this is the childhood nickname that only one person has ever been allowed to use. (and that one person has apparently never been told to stop using it, either, because you know he would have if Kacchan had actually asked. or demanded. and yet he still uses it, exclusively. and somehow I’ve never essayed about this? what have I even been doing with my life. but now is not the time. maybe in an ETA when I’m not so fucking hyped)

(ETA: so I did in fact write a whole big essay about this, and it got so long that I ended up removing it from this already-lengthy post and putting it up as its own separate thing. because it’s definitely something I’ve been meaning to talk about, but it was pretty off-topic.

but anyways, I just wanted to say that if me writing a 1200 word BakuDeku essay out of fucking nowhere doesn’t perfectly sum up my reaction to him being back in the manga, then I don’t know what does. lol)

I don’t know what to get excited about first. the fact that he noticed Kacchan was in fact sulking in the corner being worried but pretending like he wasn’t. the fact that he came over to bother him. or the fact that he just casually called him the nickname, again most likely to bother him, but he didn’t get blasted into oblivion for it so oh my god. does Kacchan even realize that’s just giving him the green light to do it again later

anyway so Bakugou is making a classic grumpy retreat now

YES

and also he has his provisional license course tomorrow too!

Ojiro’s asking if he’s really just going to skulk off without even saying a word to their returning traumatized friends. Ojiro have you even met Kacchan before

and actually Todoroki is now bidding everyone good night as well

and getting the exact same “what are you a grandpa” response from Kaminari to boot. Kaminari is on fucking fire tonight

oh man. this is going to be one of those chapters where I just post and comment about every single panel, huh

you see, I have to post this one because (1) bunny! and (2) Tsuyu isn’t even surprised about Bakugou. they’re all used to him going to bed this early. see, this is exactly the kind of shit I need to make a note of for when I inevitably start to write fic. this kid is early to bed early to rise

it’s literally 8:30 and Kacchan’s in bed, lights off, glaring at the ceiling

and Shouto is glaring at his phone

I swear I wasn’t originally going to post both of those panels. but I just wanted to comment that (a) Bakugou has an OtterBox-style case for his phone (which makes perfect sense, because he probably abuses the poor thing every day and throws it when he gets frustrated and tries to blow it up at times, and honestly he’s probably managed to destroy it once or twice even WITH the case. and I bet he has the special warranty that includes quirk damage. and I bet they regret ever giving it to him), and (b) I’m getting an inkling that whatever reason Shouto had for retiring to his room early, it didn’t actually have anything to do with the next day’s training

someone on tumblr told me that we would be getting Todoroki Family Drama at some point. but I’m pretty sure that’s still like 20 chapters off. but maybe this is early set-up for it? hmmmm

and now panels of the four intern kids lying in bed wide awake thinking angsty thoughts

FYI, that’s Satou’s bedroom with the light still on in the middle of the 5th floor. and below that, on the fourth floor, that room is supposed to be unoccupied lmao. so that is presumably a ghost right there. next to Bakugou’s bedroom

here, I’ll post the layout so you can see

so I’m not sure if Horikoshi maybe just spaced out and moved everyone’s rooms down one from where they’re actually supposed to be, and this is supposed to be Bakugou and Todoroki’s rooms with the lights on. but if we go by our canon reference, Satou is doing some midnight baking and the fourth floor is in fact haunted

anyway, we’re now cutting to the next day and Bakugou and Todoroki are walking to the train station

every sentence Todoroki says ends with dots

is this the arc that’s going to make me ship TodoBaku. it is isn’t it. it’s already happened for Deku, Ochako, and Kirishima, it was only a matter of time before Strawberry Shortcake got in on this too

(ETA: we’re at a solid “I’ll read it if it’s there and the summary intrigues me” level, FYI)

oh my

first of all, I highly doubt that. Bakugou strikes me as being way too much of a type A to ever be late for anything, and Todoroki also has an air of impeccable punctuality about him

and second of all, OH MY GOD

All Might looking spiffy as hell in that tailored suit with his manly satchel. and Present Mic’s out here trying to poke Kacchan in the fucking eye

so Aizawa was leading the course previously, then? he’s the one who supervised whatever insanity led to Shouto’s nose getting broken and the two of them basically looking like they’d been hit by small cars? I guess he’s only a mom when he feels like it huh

(ETA: so when All Might says “leading the group”, what he really means is “accompanying the two kids to and from their lessons for safety purposes.” which makes more sense. and means that contrary to what I just said, not only does Aizawa continue to be a mom, he’s now a goddamn soccer mom on top of everything else.)

OH SHIT I’M BEING BOMBARDED WITH SO MUCH INFORMATION AT ONCE. THIS IS GREAT. I CAN HARDLY KEEP UP

so apparently they needed Aizawa to help with Eri’s quirk! so this presumably means she’s awake? hopefully he’ll be able to help her

and Aizawa made Mic come along to protect All Might, because he cares! that’s right!

(ETA: and also, maybe not a good idea to send two of the League’s known targets and the son of the current number one hero out into the world all nicely grouped together without any backup. yeah, good call Aizawa.)

and Kurogiri was indeed captured!

but Gran’s team suffered some “serious blows” apparently

!! “there was another individual we couldn’t do anything about”

yessss tell us more about this!

oh shit he done fucked them up proper

he was that bad? bad enough that you weren’t sure whether Kurogiri was worth letting him escape? holy shit

oh snap

was this like. an entire mountain that he fucking leveled here? good lord

anyway, so All Might’s telling them to board the bus

Todoroki is acting weeeeeeird you guys

what the fuck is this kid hiding all of a sudden

so now they’re at some building and the kids’ crazy uncles are dropping them off and waving

this is the cutest fucking shit. the boys look so tiny. All Might looks like he just dropped them off at pre-k

OH SHIT

WELL WELL, IF IT ISN’T THE CURRENT NUMBER ONE PIECE OF SHIT

“I wanted to have a proper chat with you” he says, the veins in his eyeballs reaching critical levels

why does he always do this. can’t you ever just have a normal conversation without dramatically cornering someone in a random hallway

Present Mic is all “I’m going to fuck off now, so good luck”

“I’ma go buy some coffee. it’ll probably take about five hours. just to be safe. see you later”

so apparently the text that Shouto got was just his dad telling him he’d be coming to watch his training the next morning

“I hope he doesn’t bump into All Might,” he thinks. Shouto, does that sound like the kind of thing that’s likely to happen. think about you and your life and how it’s generally gone up until this point. exactly

EYYYYYYYYYYYYY

IT’S MUH BOIIIIIIIIIII

OH HUSH. HERE I THOUGHT KATSUKI WAS GOING TO BE THE GRUMPY GRUMP. COME ON NOW

(ETA: and also there are like, eight people in the whole damn class. how exactly were you planning on avoiding him)

and who’s this?

!!!!

HOLY SHIT IS THIS THE REAL CAMIE

holy shit?!

so this means she’s not dead or kidnapped or whatever! well that’s obviously good!

but just. I have so many questions all of a sudden omg. I should just keep reading

apparently she’s never seen Baku and Todo before? wouldn’t she have seen them at one of the previous courses though? I guess maybe they split up into different groups in the previous sessions?

oh hey look at Kacchan asking these important questions for me

oh my god

right, he was in the character page for this volume

but he didn’t make it past the first round! what gives!!

is that why Camie’s here too, though? were they not invited to attend previously, but then the examiners had a change of heart?

once again Kacchan is acting as my proxy here

at this rate we’re going to have more people observing than actually taking the course

I wonder what Actual Camie’s quirk is? and is she also observing or are they allowing her to take the course with them?

do they even realize it wasn’t her who passed the first half? I mean obviously her teachers and classmates must know, but are they just playing along to help her get her license now?

well at any rate, it looks like these kids are ready to throw down

WE SHALL

BONUS:

people who are too low on this poll: Mina, Mr. Compress, Nighteye, Jirou, Tsuyu, and FUCKING MIRIO, ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME THOUGH

for real?? 41st place? beaten out by Stain, Overhaul, Endeavor, Seiji, and fucking Mineta??!

I’m sorry, I was going to do more commentary on this, but honestly my brain just kind of quit in outrage. honestly this poll should be ashamed of itself. the best fucking character in the manga and he didn’t even crack the top 40. for fuck’s sake

[solecize]

REPLY 2009 ⠀ ⠀⠀.⠀⠀.⠀⠀.⠀(or: 2009, year of us) — 001.

now playing: forever young by got7

summary: ten years ago, we found ourselves at a turning point in pop culture as the decade began to close. this was the year that brought the world obama, the death of michael jackson, and the highest grossing film of all time, avatar. however, in south korea, something big was brewing as well and it started off with infectious lyrics, colourful costumes, and sensational dance moves: kpop. the korean wave that started to build several years ago begins to find its footing in the international limelight in 2009. this was the golden era of kpop. this was the time of sorry, sorry. the debut of quite possibly the most different and groundbreaking girl group in korean entertainment, 2NE1. the rise of shinee, one of the most consistent boy bands of this era and beyond. the throne of bigbang would remain steady with their ventures into japan. and of course… snsd’s gee that would solidify their place as the nation’s girl group and overtake their male counterparts. nothing can touch this legendary age.meanwhile, in the very city that milled and churned out these stars, eight teenagers were also coming to a certain close in 2009. youth was suddenly running out like grains of a darkened hourglass, as everything and everyone brought tension into their lives. where was the next step on their path? high school is nothing more than a cruel halfway point between childhood and adulthood, but this group of friends made the most out of it. after all, this is the youngest that they’ll ever be. this age is the time where hopes rise higher than ever, where love burns the most passionately, and the desire for freedom expands the furthest. in 2009, we follow these teenagers’ stories to the background music of the opening chapters of kpop’s greatest legacies.but, ten years later at their high school reunion, where do we find them.

or highschool!got7, dancecrew!got7, coming of age, school reunion angst, reader x ?

PRESENT DAY (1)

The familiar smell of textbook induced tears and broken hearts filled my lungs like a smokey, forgotten haze as I remained in an entranced stare towards my old high school building. No other place had such a vile, but hexing scent. Jinyoung tugged me out of his car when I didn’t move, too mesmerized by the scenery that I’d thought I left at the very back of my mind when I threw my cap in the air for the very last time ten years ago. In 2009. However, finding my feet meeting the ugly concrete of the parking lot, I realized that it was always going to be somehow lingering, bothering me like an itch that I cannot reach, when I let out a shocked breath of air.

“So, we meet again,” I mumbled, as if reuniting with an old foe—wasn’t that was high school was for anybody?

Jinyoung’s lips stretched out into a wide grin and I could practically see the memories in his head doing a full flashback reel. “Nothing’s really changed, huh?”

With a glance to my phone screen, I couldn’t help but shoot a glare towards my brother when I noticed the time. “Dude, we’re early. And not like early enough to get to the hors d’oeuvre before anyone else, but as in the parking lot is almost empty early.”

He’d always been the punctual one between the two of us and it was like that since we were born. I usually wouldn’t have a problem with that, unless of course, I would be forced to become punctual as well. Being the less sociable and more restless one, it wasn’t enjoyable at all. Jinyoung only shrugged after taking a glance around us and too, noticed the lack of vehicles in the parking lot. The event was supposed to start at 6:00, but it was only 5:00.

“Who cares? It gives us more time to explore.” He rubbed his hands together in excitement, as he started to walk away. I called out his name in irritation, but he only raised up his arm and with a click and beep, locked the car doors in response.

Since graduating, there was no reason for me to return back to Haerin. Not even alumni events or my fiance’s occasional commitments to the school. If only he was able to make it, I wasn’t even sure of that. I opened my mouth to complain about his lack of presence, but remembered that I’d been doing it the entire car ride to the school, until Jinyoung begged me to “shut up before I do it with my foot” and that “he’ll be here soon, don’t worry.”

Strolling closer to the building, after a half-assed jog to keep up with my brother, it didn’t even feel like I’d left. I’d spent so many years on this campus and went through an entire rollercoaster, especially during my final year. Everything seemed to come flooding back in at once.

There was some muffled chatter coming from inside, indicating that there were indeed people inside. I was met with disappointment when I saw some teenagers at the front, who seemed to be busy with setting up a sign-in table adorned with ribbon. Beside it, there were large balloons that represented the words “CLASS OF 09” in the classic school colours of silver and maroon. They dressed in the usual Haerin attire of polyester uniform and all black shoes, I realized they were current students that were probably volunteers.

One boy with the name tag that read Woojin looked up at Jinyoung and widened his eyes in surprise, nudging his fellow volunteer. “O-Oh! Hello. We weren’t expecting the attendees until six—” I gave an I-told-you-so look to my brother, who pretended not to see it.

“Here’s a button! There isn’t really anyone here yet, though, so. . “ The girl next to him, her name tag indicating that she was called Ryujin. She handed the two of us a little button pin that read “HAERIN CLASS OF 2009 TEN YEAR REUNION.” I smiled and thanked her, as she showed us where to sign in.

As Jinyoung and I did so in silence, I felt as if we were being watched. I looked up and noticed a third volunteer, a boy who was putting up a banner on the front doors and eyeing us at the same time. When our eyes met, he raised his eyebrows.

“U-Um, excuse me. You guys don’t happen to be the Park siblings, do you? Part of the founders of the school dance crew?”

Jinyoung’s head snapped up, clearly surprised by the recognition. “Yeah! Well, this one wasn’t a founder, but that’s us. You know who we are?”

MARCH 2009 (2)

“Well, if you don’t want to join choir, that’s fine. There’s definitely way more options, anyway. Uh, chess club, baseball, the school newspaper—”

Spring rolled around faster than I’d expected and soon enough, I was buttoning up my uniform shirt and putting on my backpack for my final year of high school. I’d always imagined what it’d be like to finally become a senior since I was little, watching the dramas and movies about teenage life. When it finally hit me, I didn’t even feel the blow. The end of my childhood creeped up on me without me even knowing it. Yesterday felt like swing sets and multiplication tables as homework and today was suddenly university applications.

It was the year 2009, the first decade of the 21st century coming to a close. It was the year of blue avatars and Zac Efron, where everyone had A Feeling thanks to the Black Eyed Peas, and everyone was nose deep into the world of Facebook. Every American teen star wanted to have tantrums in front of the whole world. Whether you liked to admit it or not, you definitely over accessorized in 2009 with ugly hats, chunky belts and layered necklaces. Everyone hated Lady Gaga, wanted to be her, or were confused by her. Not to mention, everyone was obsessed with the sparkly vampire kids from Twilight.

Meanwhile in Korea, BIGBANG, DBSK, and Super Junior were the kings of kpop, but it seemed as though Girls Generation were looking to become royalty in their own right, with Gee having just come out. It was all we fucking heard over the school break, that was for sure. Though it may not sound so long ago, looking back, the events of 2009 feel like a lifetime ago. I was closing the chapter on my high school life, but this would be my most eventful one yet.

“Is the dance crew any good?”

I looked at my best friend as if he just grew three heads and a tail. We were walking along the halls and he suddenly stopped to look at one of the flyers that the crew obnoxiously posted on almost every surface in the building. He was looking at the bottom, below the dancer figure that was way too cool to represent the crew, where the auditions were being held.

Youngjae turned to me and when he saw the expression on my face, his smile faltered. “What? Hey, wait up!” I began to walk away, having better things to do than look at the crew’s flyers. “Isn’t your brother on the crew?”

“Yeah, says he needs something to do in his freetime or whatever. I don’t know if you wanna join, though…” I trailed off.

It wasn’t like I had some sort of vendetta against the crew, I just believed that Youngjae could be better off pursuing other things. Reading off the school handbook that held the school teams and clubs, I wanted to help him out. I wouldn’t have imagined that he’d even be interested in dancing after the fiasco that was his stint as an idol trainee, but he managed to prove me wrong. Looking into his eyes, I could see that he was genuinely interested, though.

He asked, “Why, is there something wrong with them?”

“No, it’s not like that. I mean, they’re pretty okay, they’re more like a club since they aren’t really competition people.” I shrugged. “I just don’t know if you’d …fit in with those kind of people.”

I clearly didn’t want Youngjae to join the crew. He had the talent for it and already knew Jinyoung, so there was a good chance that he’d pass auditions. I said that I didn’t have a vendetta, but after breaking up with Mark, I wasn’t sure how I felt about my best friend hanging around him and my brother, considering I used to have to fight for Youngjae’s attention when we were kids.

Youngjae was confused at that. I had to nudge my head towards the front foyer, where some of those very members were gathering. It was four of them, lounging around, probably catching up with each other as if they didn’t spend every waking moment as a unit during the break and playing catch with Jinyoung’s student ID while blasting Chris Brown from one of the three’s boombox. Between the ruckus causing Jackson and Bambam with the wannabe DBSK haircut was their apparent crew leader, Im Jaebum.

Upon watching them for a few moments, he came to a conclusion. “So, they’re delinquents or something?”

I thought of my book smart brother and reserved Mark, even the laidback Yugyeom. “What? No. Individually, they’re quite the personalities and they’re all fine, but as a collective,” I paused looking to string together the appropriate words, “they’re not quite respected around here. Students think their dance crew is a joke and girls just want to throw themselves on the boys because they’re good looking.”

I had my fair share of having to reject the fragile hearts of girls that confessed to Jinyoung on his behalf. It was embarrassing, having to do it. Having seen them dance in action one or two times, I’m sure they weren’t terrible, but I wasn’t sure why anybody would want to join them since all they did 90% of the time was fool around.

“I take it that you’re not auditioning, then.”

Jumping at the voice that seemed to appear out of nowhere, sounds of scribbling granite was heard behind me. I turned around and was met with the face of Jackson Wang, the usual power forward of the school basketball team. He’d made his way here without me noticing. Rumours spread towards the end of the last school year that he was the top candidate to be this year’s captain. He had a bright red mechanical pencil out, writing his name onto the sign-up sheets for basketball tryouts, as if he even had to try out.

Smiling shamelessly, I replied, “I’m no dancer anymore. I was going to do basketball this year again, but—” I raised up my left hand, showing off the cast that adorned the area. It was all thanks to an unfortunate accident when playing basketball with Jinyoung the week prior, the Jinyoung who couldn’t do sports if his life depended on it and ended up hurting me in the process.

The Hong Kong native sucked in a sharp breath. “That’s terrible, man. What’s the team going to do without you?” he teased, which somewhat offended me. I hadn’t been a Jackson-esque star on the girls’ team, but I was a first string player and played a decent amount to be considered important.

“Like I said, you should join volleyball  after basketball season ends! You’re tall and you hit hard, so you’d make the cut for sure,” Youngjae chimed in and it was at this moment that Jackson noticed the other male, searching for familiarity in his face, but found none.

I decided to step in. “Jackson, this is Youngjae. He transferred from Hanlim. And Youngjae,” I watched the two attempt to exchange a handshake, with Jackson going for a fist bump, but failed when the other decided to be a little bit more formal, “this is Jackson. He’s on my brother’s dance crew.”

“Hanlim? The arts school? You’re lucky to have a cutie like her showing you around,” Jackson winked in my direction, but I ignored it. He was naturally a flirtatious guy and I was immune to such mannerisms at this point, even though I’d tease back at some times. It wasn’t one of those times. Just the subject of basketball brought irritation to my senses, as I’d been looking forward to the season as a senior for the longest time.

Youngjae grew uncomfortable at the mention of his old school and chose to ignore it. “How many members is the dance crew looking for?”

“One.”

At that, Youngjae let out a sound of shock and sputter. “O-One? Why only one?”

“We usually only perform as seven and our seventh got into a huge argument with Jaebum. Chairs were thrown.” Jackson whispered the last part into the other’s ear in an ominous manner and looked around as if someone was watching them. “And because Jaebum is our leader, he has final say on everything and he wanted Wooyoung out.”

“So, he threw his usual hissy fit because he didn’t get along with someone?” I said dryly. I didn’t know Jaebum that well, but I knew him well enough to see how exactly he ran the crew.

He chuckled at what I said, not denying it, and turned back to Youngjae. “You got any previous experience?”

“If you could call it that.”

Attempting to cut in, I could see exactly what Jackson was trying to do. He cocked his head to the side, looking at me up and down. I knew well enough that Jackson wasn’t checking me out, it was some unconscious habit that he had. “I didn’t see you hanging around Jinyoung or the house over the break, did I? Where were you?”

“Stop trying to change the subject! I was working and visited my grandparents for a bit without him. Don’t you dare try to recr—”

Youngjae slyly slid Jackson his number on a piece of paper. I’m interested, he mouthed behind my head, which I only noticed when Jackson nodded in response.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Before I knew it, phone numbers were being exchanged and further info and tips were being provided by Jackson to him. After the basketball player left, I gaped at Youngjae, who I’d just spent time warning him about the crew. He only looked at me with the innocence that only Choi Youngjae could successfully feign.

“What? Hey, do you think I should audition with Gee?” He looked genuinely excited and that was something that I couldn’t deny. “It is 2009, after all. A whole new year, new opportunities.”

[yestodaymvv]

never not || lee donghyuck

↳ you never liked the tan skinned, black haired boy for he was always getting into trouble and bullying other students. when your principal decides that the both of you should be co-presidents in your third year of school, you find out that he might not be that bad. 

an: i am back from being inactive, i’m sorry! but i finally got to finish this part of the new donghyuck story i planned weeks ago, i just never got around to continuing it. i’m guessing that this story will be quite long like mark’s never stopped and jeno’s text me. it will take me some time to continue and finish their stories as well as the other dreamies’ stories. i will be doing smaller drabble writings so if you have any requests, feel free to ask them! enjoy <3

word count: 3.5k 

inspiration: my friends who claim that they don’t have feelings for each other when they clearly do

PART ONE. PART TWO. PART THREE.

.・゜゜・　　・゜゜・．

To everyone in the town, it was obvious that Lee Donghyuck, although he goes by his nickname of Haechan, had a crush on you. Most people have known it for 6 years. From your third grade teacher and your bus driver, to the diner waiter and the bookshop owner. Everyone knew about the way Haechan felt about you; how he was completely in love with you. Even Haechan knew it. He knew that he was in love with the you; the one who would always bicker him when he got into detentions. The one who would yell at him for always setting up pranks at school. For never doing his classwork and always being able to get one of the highest grades at school. Everyone seemed to know it; except you. You hated Haechan. Hated the way he walked down the halls like he owned the school. Hated how he knew that he made people’s hearts swoon. You hated the how he would, when the both of you were younger, always bullied the other students. The ones that were younger than him; the same age as you. You Hated how he was so full of himself and seemed to think everyone liked him. Everyone didn’t of course. You hated how he would always be bothering you. Always seem to find ways to annoy you and use you as a target. Ever since you’ve transferred into their school 6 years ago, he seemed to have a delight in rousing you up. He would always tease the way you dressed, the way your hair wasn’t always neat and tidy. He always had something to say to you. Haechan wasn’t one to express his feelings well. You didn’t only hate him, but you also hated his group. The “Dreamies” they called themselves. It consisted of Renjun, Jeno, Jaemin, and Mark. Together, the five of them were known as the troublemakers of the school. Not only that, but they were quite good-looking and also had a reputation with girls and boys alike. The attention they received only seemed to grow their ego. The only person in that group that you seemed to like is Huang Renjun. He was one of the students who helped showed you around school when you transferred and he was unlike the rest of the boys. True, he did take part in their pranks and he was also good-looking like the rest of them, but he was one of the top students of his grade. He took school seriously and was always on top of his work. 6 years later, after being the new kid at school and meeting Haechan and his group of “Dreamies,” you still hated Haechan. It was the beginning of your junior year and the beginning of Hyuck and his friend’s senior year. Mark, having graduated your sophomore year, was no longer found at your high school and now can be found at the closets university, studying music.

You were on your way to school, walking with your head held high and listening to Insomnia by The Rose. You were entering the sound floors when you felt an arm wrap around your shoulders, pulling you into hug.

“Ahh Y/N, always listening to music,” said Park Jisung, a sophomore and one of your best friends. “You know how many times I had to call your name? Ahh but you’ve just kept ignoring, listening to your music and ignoring your best friend,” Jisung says as he takes out your earphones.

“Jisungie!” you yell, as you turn around and throw your arms around Jisung.

“Did the both of you guys just forget about me?” a voice behind you calls out. You let go go Jisung, turning around, only to face Zhong Chenle, your other best friend who was also beginning his junior year.

“Lele!” running and attacking him with a hug. You felt Chenle’s arms wrap around yours as he starts to laugh. After letting go, you rest each of your arm around Jisung and Chenle’s shoulders; with Jisung on your left and Chenle on your right.

“How I have missed the both of you so much,” you said as the three of you were entering the school doors.

“Yea, I bet you totally missed as while you were out and about in Europe, having the time of your life. You missed us so much that you didn’t hang out with the both of us after you arrived. We still haven’t hung out and school is starting already.”

“Jisung, I did miss you of course. Don’t be bitter that I didn’t get to go to the arcade or go bowling with the both of you. I was jet lagged! I’m still in London time.”

“Yea we get it!” Jisung says as he walks out of your hold and walks ahead of you, facing you and Chenle. “You went to London! While you left me here all alone with Lele. He’s not as entertaining you know. I got pretty sick of him two hours after you left.”

You laugh as Chenle catches Jisung in a headlock, yelling at him saying that he is too, in fact, “a fun person” and that Jisung should be “grateful for spending time with the one and only Zhong Chenle.” The three of you continued walking down the school halls, making your way into the cafeteria to get your new school schedules. On your way there, the three of you bumped into your fellow classmates. Your classmates in you and Chenle’s grade seemed to have changed. The boys who would always fool around in lunch, catching each other in headlocks and yelling at one another seemed to have matured over the summer. The girls seemed to have got even prettier than before, a majority of them wearing makeup and dressing up for school. Puberty seemed to have hit your classmates. You greeted each of them of course as you passed by, giving them bright smiles and a cheerful “hello” and “how was your summer.” Jisung was quite popular among the underclassmen and so a lot of students came up to greet him as the three of you entered the cafeteria. Jisung was known as one of the best dancers at school, the first freshman to have been able to join SM’s dance crew for upperclassmen when he was a freshman. You, Jisung, and Chenle separated to different tables, as Jisung���s schedule was to be found at the sophomore table and Chenle’s at the table for the student body. Lining up to get your schedule, a familiar voice sounded behind you as a warm presence of someone came to line up next to you.

“Why hello Y/N, what a pleasure to see you today.”

You turned around and you were face to face with none other than Haechan. Like your class, Haechan seemed to have changed over the summer. He was no longer as short as he was before, looking like he grew 2-3 inches. He wasn’t as skinny as he was in his junior year and seemed to have grown into a healthier weight. His hair wasn’t the same faded orange color and was now instead a the dark color of black. It was still messy as you remembered, his small natural curls coming out and making his hair look fluffy. Whereas last year he had the tendency to wear sweats and hoodies and looking like a bum who didn’t care about school at all, he wore now instead, a button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, exposing his forearm. His skin seemed to glow even more, giving off a more honey kissed look and his smile was brighter than before. He didn’t look like the Haechan  you remembered. The one who would never do his work and would always joke around in class. He looked like a more sophisticated version of Haechan. He looked… grown up.

“How was your summer?” Hyuck asked, as Jaemin, Renjun, and Jeno came up behind him. You started at him, waiting for a rude insult to hit your way but none came. You expected him to tease you in someway, whether it was because you weren’t wearing something as nice as everyone else or the way you looked extremely tired from staying up until 5 am. Nothing came and Haechan was instead just staring back at you, waiting patiently for an answer.

“It was… fine. I got to go to London over the summer and visit my sister and see all the interesting places.” you answered, still confused about the lack of insult you received.

“Is that why you seem tired? Still not getting used the to time zone, huh? Maybe you should try drinking a cup of warm milk before going to bed, it always helps me sleep better,” Hyuck replies with a smile.

You nodded at him. “I shall try it tonight. How about you? How was your summer?”

Haechan seemed to glow after you asking how his summer went. “It was actually quite fun! I was stuck here the entire time though, I didn’t get to go anywhere fancy like London but I got to spend a ton of time with my friends and I even got to make new friends so I’d say it was a great summer. ”

You were confused as to why he wasn’t making any remarks to you. This was the longest conversation the both of you had without him teasing you or you yelling at him for being a jerk.  His smart mouth always had something to say. Never once has he ever been nice to you. Not until now.

“Well,” Haechan said as he got his schedule and was walking towards Renjun and Jeno. “I’m sorry to cut this reunion short but I have to go to the office as Principal Lee emailed me and told me about meeting him on the first day of school.”

“Got into trouble already?” you said as a small joke. “Doing a first year prank on the first day of school like what most students do?”

Haechan rolled his eyes with a “Psh, please. I’m not like one of those amateur prankers Y/N. you know me better than that. I have something better than just a silly prank on the first day of school. I have one that no one will guess what hit them. It’s so good that you won’t even know i was the one who planned it.”

“Well, I do.”

Haehcan looked like his cat just died. “Oh shit. Listen Y/N L/N, you better not tell anyone about my prank.”

“And why would I do that?”

“Because I promise you, this will start your junior year right.”

You looked at him and was considering keeping his secret. In the end, you nodded your head and said, “Okay. I won’t mention anything about your prank. It better be good.”

Haechan looked a bit shocked, as if that wasn’t the answer he was expecting from you. He recovered from his shock quickly and replied with a smile as he was walking away.

“Thank you Y/N. I owe you. I hope we have some classes together this year! Have a great day!”

And off he went. Running down the halls as was also greeting others that he hasn’t seen since last school year. He just complimented you. Told you to have a great day. Never has he ever said that either.

“Maybe he’s changed. Everyone in our class has changed as well and people eventually learn to mature,” Chenle answers when you bring up your encounter with Haechan to Jisung and Chenle.

“Yea but c’mon Chenle. It’s Haechan we’re talking about. He’s been a jerk since we he was 11. He never seemed to be able to change for the better. It just looked like that as he grew up, his head did too and he just became a bigger jerk.”

As Haechan grows up, his ego grew too. His thought of everyone liking him seemed to grow just as did his cockiness. He also had a record of breaking people’s hearts. Not many, of course, but Haechan grew up to become what most people would classify as a player. Many times have you encountered students from your last year of middle school to brag about dating the high school freshman Haechan when only two to three months later, they would end up crying in the hallways and complain about how Haechan broke their heart. It was a ridiculous how you thought Haechan can just go off with someone else after breaking their heart, but you couldn’t really say anything about breaking people’s hearts either. There were times when someone would ask you out on a date or go to the dance with. You would often smile sheepishly and reject them kindly back. You never did want to reject anyone, but you just never had feelings for them. You thought it was worse to say yes and string them along compared to rejecting them straight on.

“C’mon Y/N. Give Hyuck a break. People can change. You were always the one telling us that. How come it’s different with Donghyuck?” It was Jisung’s turn to take Haechan’s side. The three of you were walking to your lockers when you stopped and turned around, facing both Chenle and Jisung, after Jisung’s comment.

“Hyuck? Since when did you start calling him Hyuck?”

Chenle and Jisung both looked like they were just caught by the police for stealing something. It was silent for a few moments before Chenle spoke.

“We didn’t want to tell you Y/N because we know how much you hate Haechan, but we’ve been hanging out with him and the Dreamies over the summer.”

“D-did you just call them…. the dreamies? Ohmy gosh. This is ridiculous.”

You turned around and started walking away from the both of them, continuing your path to your locker.

“Look I know you’re mad-” “Jisung, I’m not mad. Okay maybe a little I am for you not telling me and becoming friends with the one person who I don’t exactly look eye to eye with, but you guys said you had a fun summer. If Haechan and his friends were the reason you guys had fun then I’m glad.”

“Wait, really,” asked Chenle once the three of you arrived at your lockers and you were putting your backpack inside, bringing only your small binder to your first two classes. 

“Yes, I have no say on who you guys can be friends with. And I guess what the both of you said was right. That Haehcan has changed to be better. Just,” you said as you gave the both of the them a hug. “Don’t forget about me. Your new friends better not replace me.”

“Ahh Y/N, they already have.”

You smacked Jisung on the head with your binder when the speakers rang out.

“Y/N L/N, please go to the principal’s office. You are needed by Principal Lee.”

Chenle and Jisung looked as confused as you were. 

“Oh, what did you do Y/N?”

“Nothing Chenle. Probably just wants to talk about some school stuff. I’ll see you guys later.”

-

“Come in.”

You slowly opened the door to the principal’s office, your head peeking in before your entire body walked in. 

“You wanted to see me Principal Lee?”

“Ah yes Y/N. Please, come in and take a seat.”

As you were walking in, you were surprised to see that only one of the two seats were empty; the other one was occupied by the one and only Haechan. Haechan was smiling at you as you entered and you only gave him a small smile in return, one that showed that you didn’t completely hate him. 

“So I’ve called the both of you here regarding the positions of student body presidents.”

You were shocked. And it didn’t seem like you were the only one because Haechan’s jaw looked as it has dropped too.

“I-i’m sorry? Student body presidents?” Haechan asked.

“Yes Donghyuck. Student body presidents. Over the years the both of you have been attending school, I’ve come to the conclusion that the both of you would be excellent student body presidents.”

It seemed unreal. More on Haechan’s point. You were a good student; straight A student who was often part of a lot of clubs and was always doing community service. You often contributed in helping out with school dances and all the big important events. But to choose Haechan as president? That seemed like a wrong choice. All Haechan has done at school was give teachers headaches, pull pranks, and holding the record of most detentions given to one student. Haechan didn’t seem like the type of student that the principal would choose. Even Haechan knew that.

“B-but sir. This has to be a mistake. I mean, I get that you chose Y/N for this position because Y/N fits the role for being president, but I don’t. I’m a mess. I’ve been pulling pranks all my years here at school. I’ve done things that I don’t even want to admit I’ve done. I’m pretty sure a majority of the teachers here at school hate me and have some kind of death wish on me. I’ve had more detentions that the amount of students in this school. You can’t be choosing me to be the student president, are you?”

“I chose you Mr. Lee,” answered Principal Lee as he got up and walked in front of his desk only to lean on it. “That you are the perfect fit for student body president. You may have a record of causing mischief in school but I, along with a few other teachers at school, have to admit that your wit and leadership is incredible. You’ve only focused on the bad things you’ve done at school. Let’s not forget that you pull some well coordinated pranks and also happen to do so with Mr. Lee, Mr. Huang, and Mr. Na. You are also the captain of the soccer team. Two  years in a row Mr. Lee. No junior has ever been chosen to be soccer captain and no freshman was ever chosen to be in the varsity soccer team Mr. Lee. Your grades are incredible for someone who seems to use most of his time scheming.”

Haechan looked as if he was thinking. He looked convinced by Principal Lee’s reasons, but not convinced enough for him to accept the position. As Haechan continued to talk and try to persuade to choose someone else for the position, you sat there thinking about what Principal Lee just said. It was true that Haechan had the leadership characteristics, being soccer captain did that for him. You knew he would become a good president, a great one. And you’d be working with him. It didn’t seem like such a bad idea to work with Haechan and it was an opportunity for you to get to know him better; see if he truly has changed.

 “Uhm, I accept the position Principal Lee,” you said as you got up, joining the two as they were also standing up.

“Excellent Y/N! I will email you often about meetings and I trust that you have everything student and school based covered. Now,” Principal Lee said as he turned to look at Haechan. “What about you Mr. Lee?”

Just as Haechan opened his mouth to answer him, you interrupted him. “Haechan, I think you should take the position.”

Haechan looked at you, something in his eyes that you couldn’t read. “Wait, really?”

“Of course. Principal Lee made some very good points. You are leadership worthy. You’re always one of the top students and I know for a fact that the teachers don’t hate you. You have the determination. You’re good at strategy planning and you can manage your time pretty well if you can do well in school, coach a soccer team, and have time to pull off pranks in school. You’re also very optimistic. And as much as I hate to say it, it would be nice to work with you. If you think you’re going to fail as a student body president, you’ll have me. I’ll be your vice.”

Haechan stared at your face. It was an intense stare, one that seemed as if he was trying to read you. Trying to figure out your motives and what you were trying to do. And then he smiled. It was a cute smile you admitted. One that reached his eyes and showed off his white teeth. He was cute. 

“Okay Principal Lee. I’ll do it.”

Principal Lee looked pleased with his answer has he walked back to his desk and started writing student passes for the yourself and Haechan. He gave the both of you each a pink slip and before leaving the office, he said, “Don’t let me down the two of you. I expect the both of you to be a great pair of partners. To a great school year!”

[purplesurveys]

459

Ok I’m sorry but these name surveys have turned out to be loadsa fun for me so let me just take another one lmaooooo. 

I honestly find it therapeutic since it allows me to reflect and look back on all of the people I’ve crossed paths with before, whether for better or for worse :) Sorry if I’ll repeat names/explanations, I’ll do my best to remember more stuff about them!

aaron: Already mentioned this in the last survey, but he’s a part of my high school friend group. He was one of my first guy friends ever and he was very nice to me from the very beginning; always made sure I felt like I belonged in a crowd. Also studies in UP and I think he is taking up sports science because he wants to go on to med school. abby/abbey: This is my mom’s name. She goes by the first spelling. I know an Abby from high school; she studies in La Salle now. adam: I don’t know him personally but there used to be a dude from WhatCulture Wrestling (a popular YouTube channel) named Adam – he was my favorite to watch until he got caught in a major fuck-up and was booted from the group. adel adrienne ajee

ajla alan: I have an uncle named Allan. He was part of my dad’s friend group in college; they met each other in their org. He was in every birthday party when I was a kid, but I don’t see him anymore now because his family already migrated somewhere else. alex: Broad comm student who plays the guitar and sings well; I haven’t talked to her. I also knew an Alex from 6th grade and she was just...not a very bright student. She had to move because I don’t think her grades reached the standard in my school, and now I think she lives in California. If not there, then somewhere else in the States. Alex is a fairly common name here, though, and I know I’ve missed out on a bunch of other Alexes.

alexa: Again, another girl from high school. Was a cool girl and a party girl from the very start. Like I said in my past survey, she lives in Australia now. alexis alexzandria alicia: My friend Alliyah’s boss, who she has a huge crush on, is named Alicia but she goes by Alice. alisa allie/ally: Gossiping fake loser from our rival journ org who does nothing but spread black propaganda about our org to keep people from joining ours – when she talks to us, though, she’s super nice. I’m so fucking happy she’s graduating because she has such a toxic personality :(  allison: Former prof in Comm 100. Wasn’t very good but I had a crush on her from the very first lecture. She had a serious car accident in the middle of the sem and had to wear like a nose brace thing for the rest of the sem. alycea/alycia alyssa: I rode the school bus with a girl named Alyssa but I was much closer to her older sister Alex. There’s also an Alyssa from broad comm and I was classmates with her in my political science, history, and broad comm classes for this semester. She’s the niiiiiiiicest girl and would always help me out if I have missing notes or whatever. amanda: Girl from my org who’s taking up engineering. I was her VP last semester, but she had personal problems and so she wasn’t able to work much under me. Whenever she did, though, she was always reliable. Quiet girl, a little socially awkward. amari amber andrew: I first met him at a rally/protest I attended in 2017. Hit it off well right from the start because I saw that he was wearing a wrestling shirt, so we bonded over WWE that day. He plays the guitar and has released his own EP, is a junior DJ at one of the hip radio stations in Manila, and has done his fair share of hosting gigs. He used to take up engineering but shifted to journalism as he likes it better. Is very adventurous and amiable but tends to get too friendly; some might find it tiring but I honestly think it’s just his personality. He was my groupmate in communication research and I thought he was decent. angela: My best friend’s name is Angela. We first met each other in Grade 1 when we were 7, and we became friends after I stabbed her palm with a newly-sharpened pencil. She still has the pencil mark today. anna: Anna is a popular secondary name in the Philippines, but no one actually uses it as their main name. anne: Same with Anne. annie: My grandma’s best friend who used to come over the house every Sunday. Like I said in the past survey, I’m honestly not sure if she’s still alive lol. She was already pretty old when I was still very young. anthony aasad ashley: I *think* I have a distant cousin named Ashley that I first met at a family reunion last year. But let’s be real, Filipino families are huge and I don’t even know if I remember her name correctly, if she’s even an Ashley. aubri: One of my closest friends in high school was Aubrey. We were very, very close in junior year until she dropped a bomb on me that her family was migrating to California by the time we start senior year. We don’t talk anymore because of the distance and the timezones, but I’ll always be there for her no matter what. Incredibly talented dancer and figure skater. She’s in UCLA right now and as far as I know she is killing it over there. austin autumn: I know an Autumn from my wrestling fandom days. I think she was a redhead, but I don’t remember anything else. barbara becca: A girl from broad comm. She was one of the principal actors in one of the productions we did for BC and she has a really cute laugh. Super elegant; she reminded me a little bit of Audrey Hepburn because she was really graceful. She’s the older sister of my orgmate Rita, who’s from psych. ben beth bethany betty: I have a friend-ish named Bettina. Betty’s kind of like a goofy nickname; she actually doesn’t use it but I think it still counts. I’ve known her since first grade; she peed her skirt in our first day of Grade 1 and I remember her crying a lot. She had a wild TV show phase starting from Grade 5 and she was into Nicole Kidman, Paula Abdul, Kara DioGuardi, Shania Twain, Celine Dion, Stana Katic, Kate Walsh, etc etc etc and a bunch of shows like Private Practice, Grey’s Anatomy, Castle, Suits etc etc etc. She was super shy, very awkward in person so I’m glad her love of TV shows and actresses sprung her into life for the most part. She’s in UP Manila and I think too busy to get into fandoms now. bijan bobby bram brandon brandy breanna/brianna: Brianna is my friend Pat’s middle name. I honestly used to be so envious of this name of hers because I thought it sounded really nice, but now I think it kinda sounds like a bratty name hahaha. brendan brian: I have an uncle named Bryan, but we aren’t related. He’s my mom’s cousin’s husband. He’s VERY shy and likes to keep to himself or his kids at family gatherings but turns really cool when he’s had a little to drink. brittany/brittney/brittni brock brooke bruce buck cameron camille: Nice girl from my childhood school bus. There’s an unofficial norm in private schools in that when you’re older, you get to be mean to the younger kids. Not her. She was always nice and include us second graders in her antics in the bus, even though she was several years older. I was bummed when I found out they moved to the States. candy carina: I used to ride the school bus with a Carina but she was much younger. I was already in high school when she was in kindergarten. She’s the younger sister of Carissa, who I always found to be pretty weird. Anyway, these girls were clearly rich and pampered; they had a nanny ride with us in the bus. carly: I had an Internet friend named Carley; she was my first online best friend. We met here on Tumblr in like 2012 and got close because we were both huge fans of Stephanie McMahon at the time haha. We would video-call EVERY afternoon when I would come home from school while she would get ready for school (she’s from Pennsylvania). Eventually she’d disappear off the face of the earth and stopped talking to me but resurfaced a few months later. She’d continue to do this like 10 other times until I got tired of getting my hopes up of having her back. She’s tried reconnecting with me again on DMs but I just ignored it cos I knew there was a good chance she’d just cut off our communication again. We’re still Facebook friends and she’d pop up on my news feed from time to time, but that’s it. carol: I have a great-aunt named Carol. But my grandma has so many sisters that I honestly do not remember which one she is. carrie cassandra: I had a batchmate named Kassandra, who went by Kasey. Really bright, sweet, intelligent girl. She moved to Singapore in 7th grade. She was very, very simple and very kind to everyone and you wouldn’t be able to tell that she’s crazy rich. Her dad’s a top exec for a famous food and drink company and she lives in the same village I do–their house is guarded 24/7. cassidy chantel charlotta chelsie: Chelsea’s part of our high school friend group and is also crazy rich. We always hung out at her place because her house is huge. She’s very maarte, which I cannot really translate to English...the closest term is probably high maintenance hahaha; but she’s very sweet and generous and kind too. cheryl chris: One of Gabie’s best friend is a Kris. Other than liking outdoorsy stuff like going to the beach and hiking which is all I know about her, I think she’s also half-American. christopher: I have an uncle with this name but like I said his nickname is Perry. He works abroad like my dad (his brother-in-law) and my dad’s sister (his sister-in-law). cienna clare: Guidance counselor for several grade school levels. Understandably, she is very maternal. I once had a nasty fight with another girl and we had to be sent to her office. clarissa: Went to school with a Clarisa. We first met in Grade 4 because she rode my school bus, and instantly clicked. She was very nice, very sweet; she was simple to the point that, like Kasey, you’d have no clue how rich she was. She lives in a huge mansion now but she lived in a huge house before that as well, it’s crazy. Really, really sweet and she would give the best hugs. I played table tennis a lot with her in high school too. She studies in Miriam now but I’m not so sure about her course. claudia: Already said a lot about her in the last survey. Popular girl her whole life. She still goes to a bunch of parties but she is so much nicer now than she was when we were younger. cody cole collin corey corinne: One of my former teachers named her daughter Corinne. I think she’s 8 this year. courtney crissy: Chrissy was one of my very best friends in preschool and grade school. She looked Chinese even though she had a Filipino-sounding surname, and I was never sure if she had Chinese blood or not. She was boyish so she was very rowdy, liked to play rough, and punched other girls if she got pissed; but other than that she was very quiet and shy. She was constantly on the basketball team too. Eventually her family moved to Canada. crystal dallas dan danielle danika: An orgmate that worked under my committee two semesters ago. She’s from business ad and was juggling another org so she wasn’t very active at all to begin with. Her performance just plummeted every month and she ended up ghosting my org last semester–never replied to anyone when we tried to check up on her. I was very mad at her until she restarted contact with us recently and explained how tumultuous stuff suddenly got in her personal life and mental health that she had to take care of herself for a while, which we all understood immediately. She’s coming back to the org this year and we’re more than ready to welcome her. She’s very charming, goofy, and kind. She has a very life-of-the-party personality haha. danny: I have a friend-ish named Dani that I met through Angela. We all sat at the same table during the senior ball at Ateneo in 2016 so we got to talk then. She played volleyball in high school and she studies in San Beda now. She wants to take up law school so I think her course is in political science.  darious david: Pat’s boyfriend from Serbia and Patrice’s boyfriend from economics HAHAHAHA. Also a sucky groupmate from my comm res class who did absolutely nothing to contribute in the final paper that Hannah and I worked our asses so hard for. dean deanglo derrick destiny devin dillon donna dwayne [Random survey-taker note: these are all very Western names...] emie emily eric: My godfather is an Eric. Like my Tito Allan, he also met my dad through their college org. He’s an exec in a bank now and is suuuuuuper rich. Has a daughter named Arya which he could’ve named after the GoT character but am not really sure about that. everette felicia gabby: Wildly popular name. 1) My girlfriend’s name is Gabie; 2) there was another Gaby in my high school batch. 3) I have a friend from the Tumblr wrestling fandom named Gabbie who was really good in Photoshop – we study in the same school but have never met each other. 4) I have a high school batchmate whose little sister is a Gaby, annnnnddd I also just remembered that 5) there was another Gabbi in the wrestling fandom who also made good edits at the time. gerald gina guliana gloria: Do last names count? Hahaha. Gloria is the surname of my instructor in my class in international relations just this past sem. He’s a new faculty member but is craaaazy good at teaching; clearly knows what he’s talking about. He was passionate about his subject and I always admired that about him. I was really sad when class had to end. grace: I have a great-aunt named Grace; he’s my late grandpa’s sister. She’s really...quite fabulous; she has connections with super prestigious people and has a fancy wardrobe. She’s the only Filipino grandmother I know who goes by ‘Nana’ to her grandkids, which I note because Nana is like a super Western thing afaik. She has drama queen tendencies though and can be sensitive to a lot of things lmao. gracie hannah: One of the close friends I’ve made in college so far! Our first meeting was when she and Macy moved from UP Los Banos to the Diliman campus (where I study) and the three of us enrolled in our classes together. I was closer to Macy first, but eventually me and Hannah got a stronger friendship. Best groupmate, workmate, and David Archuleta fan I know. Sings great and plays the piano great. An absolute angel. hasan hawa hayley: I only know a dog named Hailey lol. heather: Someone from my high school batch is a Heather! We were never in the same cliques but she is one of the friendliest people I know. She knows how to talk to anyone which I appreciated. We bonded over One Direction in high school and she also confided in me a few times about her relationship and how her parents forbade her from seeing her boyfriend because he was trans. She also studies in my school now, taking up business economics. We barely see each other but say hi whenever we do. holly hunter ibro isaac isaiah jack jackie: One of my aunts has a relative named Jackie and I literally only found this out earlier when we met up and caught up with each other. jacob jacquelin jaden: A kid of my mom’s best friend is a Jaden. He was named after Jaden Smith because he was born during the time the Karate Kid remake made big waves. jake: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I had a garbage instructor with this name. This dude was in charge of my weekly crying binges and panic attacks because I was never sure if I was gonna pass his class. He seemed to enjoy giving all of us failing marks too which made me hate his piece of shit ass more. He’s supposed to be really good at what he does but I guess knowledge just does not always translate well in the classroom. Ended up passing his class, but now I’m cursing his ass forever. james: I have a younger cousin named James. I’ve only met him twice; once when he was a newborn, and then when he celebrated Christmas 2018 with us. His family’s lived in New Zealand and Vietnam since 2008, which is why we never get to see him, and why he does not remember me at all. janai janveia jared jason jay: My uncle is a Jay; he’s my mom’s brother. I disowned him as my uncle many years ago. He’s a terrible drunk, a disgusting smoker, and an annoying freeloader. I tried giving him a chance before, but after I found out that he drunkenly punched a cat once, I ignored him forever. Sometimes my mom and grandmother would ask me to acknowledge him at family gatherings, so I’d have to begrudingly do so; but other than that he’s out of my life. jazmine: There was a Jasmin from my old school. She’d always been very artistic and she was into K-Pop very early on. She’s taking up linguistics in my school now. jeana jeanette jen: Girl from the now-ancient Tumblr wrestling fandom. She’s probably the biggest and most passionate wrestling fan I know as she would follow both the mainstream and indie promotions the last time I checked up on her. She was kinda vain and kept on taking selfies while captioning each one as ‘ugly.’ I remember that she has a dog she really loves, and that she lives in Boston. jeralyn jerry jesse jessica: Meh, annoying girl from high school. I’m sure she’s nice(?) but her personality just didn’t click with me. She was too vibrant and too friendly that it almost seemed fake; but what do I know, I never really made the effort to know her better other than bonding over 1D here and there. jim jocelyn jodi: I know a Jodee from my old school. Spoke straight English, is intelligent, but is a huge goofball and very mischievous/rebellious. She was a smartass and liked testing the teachers’ patience whenever she can, but she always did it in a very funny way I think. She was often called to the guidance counselor’s office for having relationships with other students (I went to a Catholic all-girls’ private school, so this was obviously not allowed) but she always stood her ground about it and was never afraid to fight back. She had a phase of unhooking our bras in like 5th grade. joey: My blockmate has a younger sister named Joey. I think she is also studying in UP. john: The cousin I’m closest to is named John, but it’s not his preferred name. jonathan jordan josh: I know two Joshes, but only because they are boyfriends of a couple of acquaintances. jossie julia julie junior justin: I went to school with a girl who initially went by Justinn, but like she all wanted to start calling her by her other name, Ria, as we grew older. I also briefly rode the school bus with a girl named Justine, but we didn’t talk much. kailyn kaitlyn kaleb: Chelsea’s brother is named Caleb. kali karrie karli kasey: Oh, I guess Kasey (under Cassandra) falls under this too lmao. kasahwn katarina: Not exact, but Katrina’s a fairly popular name where I live. My cousin’s boyfriend is named Katrina, my aunt is a Katrina (but she goes by Bianca), and I also went to school with a Katrina even though her nickname is Cheenie. kate: Already talked about this in the last name survey. I met Kate through my org; she’s a huge joker/goofball, is naturally very friendly, and has an awesome wardrobe. When she’s bored and we both aren’t doing anything, she puts makeup on me. Works very well but is also a huge partier HAHAHAHA. katie: This is my nickname for Kate, if that counts. kayla: There’s a Kayla in my college, but her course is in broad(cast) comm(unication). I remember her very well because she is the first person I EVER talked to when we had our freshman orientation in UP. We didn’t become close after that. She’s pretty, has nice clothes and hair, is part of the popular circle, and she’s part of streetdance which is like one of the cooler orgs on campus. kelli kent: I have a younger cousin who’s a Kent. We used to be close when we were both kids, but now we’re shy towards each other. He was obsessed with dinosaurs when he was younger, like 5 or 6. kerna kevin kiana: I have an orgmate named Kiana! SOOOOO pretty and has like the clearest skin. Very simple and down-to-earth. Is nice but can kick your ass because she has a black belt in taekwondo. She’s smart as hell and I’m pretty sure she’s graduating as magna cum laude, besides the fact that she’s going to UP Law right after. kiley kim: I also have an orgmate named Kim :) He’s the sweetest guy ever, and is just so easy to talk to. He has a really cute relationship with one of the org’s alumni. I didn’t get to bond with him much but am sad all the same that he’s graduating this year :( kimberly: Went to my old school with a Kimberly but she went by Kim. Was one of the rougher, lesser-behaved kids. She was a demon in grade school. Not quite sure how she’s doing now. She’s my friend on Facebook but can’t really care less about her life updates. kirsten kristy kyle: Kyelle is a kinda good friend of mine. He’s from the same circle, but we aren’t close in particular. He’s very nice though, very silly and likes to goof around. laila lain: I used to have an orgmate named Laine. She was our VP for External Affairs two years ago. She’s now in law school. leah: Cheenie’s mom is a Lea. She’s probably the best mom friend my mom made from my school hahaha; she’s known me since I was 4. lexi: I have a high school batchmate named Alexa but I think she goes by Lexi, judging from her Twitter name. Is naturally quiet but gets very friendly when you get her to open up. Easy to talk to. liam: Liam is my youngest cousin, I think. He was born in 2014 or 2015. I’ve never seen him, because he and his family lives in New York. I’ve only ever met his big sister. :( lilly: This girl I was classmates with for a journ elective. I found her to be verrrrry pretty and she had the biggest, most piercing eyes; until I found out that she was one of those die-hard Catholics who are vehemently pro-life. She once defended a fraternity whose members were confirmed to be misogynist, sexist, racist, homophobic and transphobic pieces of shit in a leaked groupchat simply because she believes in ‘forgiveness.’ She caused another ruckus two weeks ago when she made known her pro-life views well known. I wanna unfriend her ass so bad but she just keeps making all the wrong opinions that I just wanna stay and watch her get schooled by my less-than-thrilled college mates hahaha. lina liz: If I remember correctly, there was an Elizabeth from my wrestling fandom who went by Liz. She lives somewhere in the UK, had reddish hair, and was in love with John Cena lmao. She would sometimes make edits too. loren: Other than the Lauren I mentioned in the previous survey, I also had a friend named Lauren from the Tumblr wrestling community too. She was one of the first friends I made. She was two years older than me, fancied Andy Samberg earlier than anyone else, had a cool room, was obsessed with cats, and loved tie-dye stuff. lydia lyndsey lynnette macaila mack: JM’s dad goes by Mackey, if that counts hahahaha. He’s a lawyer and a college professor. mckenzi macey: I went to high school with a Macy and now she’s in college with me too. She used to study in UPLB but moved to Diliman after a year, since she always planned to take up journalism (she didn’t pass the cutoff initially, so she had to stay in LB for a year before she moved). I was very close with her throughout high school, but idk, she’s just never been in a good place mentally so our friendship is very up-down-up-down. I tried to reconnect when we were reunited in college, but she’s found her crowd now so I’m happy for her nonetheless.

There’s also a Macy in my org who worked under my committee for a year before she moved to finance. Quiet girl but was always nice to everyone. She’s also graduating this semester :( maddie madison margo: Went to elementary school with a Margo but she preferred to spell it as Margauxe lmao. We became close for a while because we rode the school bus together and she would lend me the other half of her earbuds so we can listen to Ashley Tisdale’s Headstong and Vanessa Hudgens’ V every day (this was when High School Musical was peak popular). She sort of had a tumultuous family life here until she moved to Hawaii a few years ago. I think she may have moved to California now too. maria: Again, this is like the base name for like half of all Filipina girls. It’s so common that it’s just simply shortened to ‘Ma.’ because everyone knows what it stands for. marina marisa: Kayla’s middle name is Marissa. marquis mary: Macy’s first name is Mary. mathew: I know a bunch of Matthews from both high school and college but they all go by Matt. The one I remember the most is Matthew from another high school friend group who was close with my group. Our group was invited to their Christmas party, and they had a gimmick that each member of their group was gonna be paired with someone from ours, and it was gonna be a costume party. I was paired up with Matthew (but they called him Cho), but I never went to the party so I never got to meet him. I’m sure he’s nice, though. matt: See Mathew. maura mechelle: I have an orgmate named Michelle. She’s clumsy, kinda awkward, but she does it in a very cute way and we all love her because she’s so funny haha. She passed the toughest med school program in the COUNTRY but chose journ in the end. Is the most Chinese Chinese-Filipino girl I know. megan: I know someone whose middle name is Megan but she goes by a different name. melissa: Hahahahaha. I knew a Melissa all right. Freeloader. meredith mersadies micah: I was classmates and friends with a Micah in grade school. My parents and hers were close, so we became close too. She was very smart but I remember her to be deathly afraid of walking on beams when we had to do it in PE. She moved schools in the fifth grade, and she studies in UST now. michael: His full name is Michael, but Mike is a guy I almost went out with in high school. Wasn’t really attracted to him, but he’s like super smart so it was a huge plus point for me lol. I also have an orgmate named Michael but we all call him Elis. He’s unreliable. miranda: If surnames count, Gabie’s best friend’s last name is this haha. molly monica: Some girl who went to my old school but transferred schools early on, like in 2nd or 3rd grade. She was Gabie’s childhood friend though so I still hear from her from time to time. She’s in UP now too, but I don’t know what course she’s taking. morgan nashid natasha: I went to high school with a girl named Natasha, but she goes by Tashie. Huge girl and a beast at softball. Can be a big softie but she has weird mood swings too (and when she’s mad, she’s quite violent) so I just tried not to piss her off while we were still in school together lol. nate: Yeah he’s in the same college as me but I know zilch about him other than he’s supposed to be really good in making films. nathan neema nichole: Annoying younger busmate who graduated high school this year. nick: Nick is the codename I gave to one of my first crushes. Obviously not his legit name so I don’t think this counts. nicholas olivia paige preasia preme prisilla: When I was still applying for AIESEC, Priscilla was assigned as one of my groupmates. I was originally iffy because she didn’t get online to work until like 11 PM, but when I did see her start working, she was a GODDAMN BEAST. Amazing. Did everything I assigned to her. When I met her in person the next day, she spoke very well and was very put-together. My respect for her soared even more after that. I dropped my application soon after for unrelated reasons but it was a pleasure working with her. Last I heard, she’s a councilor-elect in her local college’s student council. rachel: My math teacher in Grade 1 was a Rachel. I don’t remember her at all, except for the fact that when she found our class noisy one day, she completely stopped talking and mimed everything for the rest of the 45-minute period. raheim raven: Creepy, weird dude from my org who’s always looking for a dick to suck. I’m not even trying to insult him, he’s just perpetually thirsty and makes sure the whole world knows it for some reason. ray renee: Sweet, intelligent, hilarious girl from my high school. She’s very makwela, which in English means zany/funny. Her dad is a national basketball coach so it’s no surprise she followed in his footsteps. richard riley rita: Sweet, sweet girl from my org. We all just kinda naturally flock to protect her from bad influences or creepy people because she just has such a sweet soul. She’s my successor VP in my committee. robby: I have an Uncle Rob, but he doesn’t go by Robby. He’s the husband of my aunt (my mom’s cousin). He’s from New Zealand and has a Masters or a PhD in film theory, I don’t actually remember which. ryan: I used to see him a lot at a relative’s house until I was like 8. I’ve never seen him since and don’t actually know how he’s related to us or me lmfao. sabrina samantha: I have a younger cousin named Samantha. Sam was born and raised in New York but visited the Philippines last year and I was primarily in charge of taking care of her. She’s just the cutest darling I’ve seen and has the most perfect accent ahuhuhuhuhuhu. She likes My Little Pony. sara sarica sean: Someone from a lower batch in high school has this name. I never knew her but we follow each other on Twitter loooooool. secilia seliena: My older cousin’s first name is Selina but she goes by her second name, Bianca or Bia for short. We were inseperable as kids but we grew shyer as we grew older :( shannon shauna: Gabie’s orgmate. That’s all I know. She liked my tweets in the past but that’s the most contact we’ve made. shayna shelby sherry seirra skylar spencer steven stevey susan: I have an Aunt Susan. She took care of me my whole childhood; fed me, gave me baths, all that stuff when my mom was too busy with work. She got run over by a hit-and-run motorcycle when I was 9 and she was never the same after. She was crankier and had violent outbursts. tamara: I went to school with a Tamara; her nickname was Tammy. She was a gentle giant; like she was a naturally big girl but was very soft-spoken and SUPER shy. We got close for a while in 4th grade but her paths differed not long after. tashryha taylor tayshaun terrell tiffany: I had a batchmate named Tiffany. She was kinda mean in grade school but got nicer as we got older. I never really got the chance to know her well. tori trevor trisha: Another high school batchmate. All I remember was that she would cheat on tests by changing her wrong answers when the teachers would give our results back so they could correct it for her. Also a big Justin Bieber fan lol. trista tylik vanessa: There was a Vanessa in an older HS batch but she went by Via; she just graduated college yesterday but that’s all I know. There’s also a Vanessa in my sister’s HS batch; she’s half-German and that’s also all I know. victoria: Some girl I had a class with was named Victoria but it’s her middle name; we all called her Kristine. wally will wyatt zach: Another guy from the wrestling group I was in. He was one of the older dudes so I was more scared of him than the rest. zachary: Same answer as Zach. I think this was his whole name. zoey

[pbandjesse]

Oops I deleted my post. Thankfully I was only talking about last night and hadn't really gotten to write much of the day because I keep getting distracted.

I'm really glad to be in bed. I'm very tired. And I don't feel 100% but I do feel a lot better than I did yesterday. Today was really a good day and I do feel very happy.

Last night was a different story though. I was miserable and I couldn't sleep. I ended up going through Facebook and try and figure out who was married for my graduating class. Because this year is 10 years since I graduated from high school. Which is Wile to think about. I can't believe that that used to actually matter. My people would have reunions and things. You couldn't pay me to go to a reunion for my high school. And then I woke up in the middle of the night with horrible pain. It was like a charlie horse from my side all the way down my leg. I got up a few times cuz I thought I was going to be sick. I was up for a while and eventually I was able to take a Motrin and feel okay enough to lay down. But I was still in pain. James is 1000000 degrees all the time so his body heat lulled me enough to go back to sleep.

I woke up briefly when James was leaving for work. I didn't even feel him get out of bed. But he came and gave me a hug before he left. I really needed to keep sleeping though.

I let myself sleep in until almost 10. And that's been kind of normal right now just because it's cold and I'm tired and haven't been feeling good so I haven't been sleeping well. But it's not like I had a lot to do today. I got up and I got dressed. I had a bagel. I watched videos. I'm most of them watching those SCP read through ones and I've been really enjoying those. They're the perfect amount of Creepypasta but they don't have to have a conclusion which is always the weakness in a creepypasta. So it's been very nice just Mindless sort of creepy and fun.

I left here around 11:30. I biked over to dickblick to get Sharpies for the kids. Which are way more expensive than I thought they were. But ended up getting a great deal on 12 pen Sharpies for like $7. The woman said they were actually mislabeled because they should have been $12 but I want out in the mist occurring and she still let me have the price.

I left there and I went to 7-Eleven. I got lunch. And then I grabbed the bus to go to work. When I got there I found that a whole bunch of stuff I've been knocked over in our storage closet. I went to go talk to coach Banks who sort of runs lunch time. But parent was yelling at him about her child being suspended. So I noped out of there. I found another t-shirt at all. But I just cleaned it off it was fine. I ended up having a funny conversation with health aid because she wasn't sure if I was a student or a teacher. And I explained who I was. And she was just like I've never seen you here before. It was cute.

I found some new organizational tools for our cart. So now each table has their own basket with their own supplies in it. So there'll be no more arguing. So is very proud of myself for that and then me and Chelsea were able to just chill. There wasn't a lot that we needed to do.

And we had a really nice day. It was really small class today we only had about 11 by the end. Just with the snow that was coming in and there's cheerleading tryouts in basketball practice. I think the robotics team also just started up again. But that was nice. It was nice to just be able to connect with the couple kids that were there on a one to one level. And they made good art and that was really nice to see. We talked about foreground middle-ground and background. And how you can use line weight to show those different distances.

We also have the art store today. And the kids are already raised enough money to have a pizza party. I was very proud of them for donating to each other. And they got to have a cool thing over it. Will probably save it for next week. But I'm so very proud of them.

When I woke up this morning it was very heavy on my heart but I wanted to talk to Damien's mom. When he was brought to our class for the first time. The couple days before. I was warned that he was really tough to have in class. That he was on the Spectrum and that teachers found him very difficult. But his mom is great and that if there was ever an issue she would come and get him right away and not to worry about it. But that's not been my experience with Damien. He's wonderful. He's a sweet loving little boy. Sometimes he has breakdowns. Sometimes he can't focus. But he is always first to help me and he has a really sweet temperament. And so I really felt like I needed to say something to his mom today. She came early to pick him up because his sister was doing some kind of presentation at an event. And I pulled her aside and I was like Hey I just really want to let you know how much I enjoy Damien. And I told her everything and she started crying and gave me a hug. And you can just tell she works so hard with those two kids. She's a really good mom and I'm glad that Damien was able to be in our class. He's a good boy.

We finished up today. We did vocab in Jeopardy Style. Where they had to say the definition and then someone else had to give the vocab word in the form of a question. Only about half of them understand that but it was so fun. We played a game and then we wouldn't have snack and then it was time to go home. Me and chelsi got to get out of there by 5:30 which was awesome.

I got the bus and I was able to get back to my apartment only a couple minutes after 6. I packed up some stuff for dinner and then I went to James's place. He made Tex Mex and use some of the stuff that I brought with me. And we watched videos and we talked. He explained the game he made to me. Which has a whole lot of numbers in it is hard for me to get but seems to have a really nice system of rolling dice that I hope this DND friends enjoy. And we hung out for a while. And we talked. And then he walked me home.

It had started snowing and he likes walking in the snow so it wasn't completely one-sided. We just enjoy each other's company and we talked and had a nice walk back to my apartment. He said goodbye and he went back to his.

When I got here I checked the mail and Not only was my new rabbit phone case here. The old one was very matted and I wasn't able to brush it out like I was hoping. My new reindeer Furby arrived as well. I'm not sure what to name him yet but he's very soft. He doesn't seem to work. His he won't turn on. But that's okay. He's still very cute. He'll probably get packed away with the Christmas ornament ones as well once the winter is over so he'll be a nice new face to have out next year.

I'm in bed now. Just enjoying that it's actually nice and toasty in my bedroom for once. I'm going to plug in my phone though because it's dying. And then I'm going to try to go to sleep. I am working at constellation all day tomorrow and I'm hoping to do lesson plans. And then me and James are going to go see a play about Johnstown. And I am really looking forward to it. Because I love Cults. Especially murder cults.

I hope you all sleep great tonight. I hope that your animals are nice to you. And that you have a really nice day tomorrow. Good night everyone.

[kaeyas-beloved]

Hi! Can I request something with Jumin and Driver Kim? Like the story behind the stitching photo? Or the attempt at kidnapping of Jumin when he was in highschool? Or Driver Kim Dad jokes? If you could include MC as well that would be great! Thanks!!!

Hello! Thank you for the request! Sorry it took awhile but here it is! I hope it’s okay and what you wanted… I chose the 2nd option. I remember it being mentioned but I had to do a little research and I found what I needed on the wiki. This is the info: He wasalmost kidnapped when he was 17 years old, but he was saved by his owncleverness. He got no injuries but driver Kim suffered contusions (BRUISES)from a blow to the back of his head.

ALSO!! TW - Attempted Kidnapping

So without further a do….

Attempt At Kidnapping Jumin in High School

Jumin, V and I are all on our way to a high school reunionthat all the grade twelves, that graduated 10 years ago today, were attendingat Silver Creek High. The though of the reunion came from a group of grads whowanted to see how far we all came from grad till now. So, they invited allgraduates to come to the high school today to celebrate and compare then tonow. The three of us were all friends back then but after graduating, I endedup moving and not seeing Jumin or V again until I joined the RFA a couplemonths back.

The school is quite a drive away so, we passed the time withstories, road games and such, even Driver Kim joined in once and awhile. Then Iremembered something about Jumin and his time at high school.

“Jumin, while I was in Mint Eye, you called me once and toldme you were almost kidnapped while you were in high school. If it isn’t toomuch, can you maybe tell the story? Even though we were friends back then younever told me it.” I ask hesitantly. When I look at Jumin’s face, hisexpression shows that he is clearly surprised by my sudden statement andquestion. For a moment I was afraid that I may have upset him but then he givesme a reassuring smile.

“Sure Darling. I never told you because I didn’t reallythink to much about it at the time and my father wanted to not let anyone elseknow of it. V only knows because I stayed at his house for the night and healso helped me to calm down too. But, I will tell you now, Driver Kim, can youhelp me in telling the tale” Jumin asks Driver Kim and he gives a nod.  

“Of course, sir. The incident happened on February 4thwhich was a Monday I believe and Mr. Han was just leaving the school after hislast class. I was running a tad late because of traffic so Mr. Han was forcedto wait a little longer until I got there.” Driver Kim starts.

Jumin then takes over, “I was standing on school groundswhen a black van pulled up in front of the school. A group of 5 men got out andproceeded to walk to the entrance of the school, well that’s what I thought atthe time. What they really wanted was to kidnap and use me to get money from myfather. But, before they could grab and take me, I tricked them into takingtheir eyes off of me long enough so I could slip through and go to the bodyguards to arrest them.”

“What did you say to them?” I ask.

“I told them that there was a group of extremely hot and famous women behind them.” All of us started to laugh at theridiculous distraction that was made. “Their mouths fell wide open and they allturned excitingly to look. When they were distracted, I went out the front gateto alert the guards of their presence” Jumin continues.  

“I had arrived by then, just in time to see Mr. Han walkrather fast with a destressed look on his face.” Driver Kim starts. “I got outof the car to see what was wrong when I saw the men. I quickly ushered Mr. Haninto the car but when I turned around I was hit in the back of the head.”

I gasped at that. Driver Kim chuckled a little and said“Don’t worry Miss, I only got some bruises, nothing major.” After hearing thatI gave a sigh of relief and prompted for him to continue with the story.

“I was only knocked to the ground; like I said nothingmajor. When I turned onto my back and faced towards the kidnappers, they wereabout to strike again but were stopped by the body guards which I can onlyassume that Mr. Han went to go get.”

I looked to Jumin and he gave me a nod. “That’s correctDriver Kim. After that, they were taken away and charged with attemptedkidnapping along with assault. Then they were sent to prison and I never heardof them again. One of the guards called my father as well a doctor and when theyboth came my father was talking to the guards and the doctor was looking overDriver Kim plus myself. Like Driver Kim said, he only got some bruises but I receivedno injuries.”

After Jumin was done talking I quickly hugged him, burringmy face in his chest. “I’m so glad you’re okay Jumin. You too Driver Kim.” I say.My grip on Jumin tightens because I don’t want to let him go, I don’t wantanything to happen to him, to my boyfriend that I love so much. Jumin chuckles alittle, sensing my worry.

“It’s okay love; I’m okay, Driver Kim is okay, we’re allokay. Nothing will happen, I won’t go anywhere, I promise.” Jumin reassures me.

I look up at him and reach up to give him a kiss. Nothing deepand passionate, but a quick loving kiss. Once I pulled away, I give him a smallsmile which he returns.

“Ah, we’re here!” V specks for the first time in a while.Both Jumin and I look out the windows of the car and see, yes, we are here atthe high school.

“Yay! We are here! I can’t wait to see everyone again!” Icheer. V and Jumin chuckle at my enthusiasm. Once the car finally stops, Juminand V get out of one door and I get out the other. I close the door and startwalking to the school when I then remembered that I forgot to do something. Iwalk to the front of the car on the passenger’s side and lean in, “Thank youagain for driving us here Driver Kim” I thank him.

Driver Kim has a smile on his face as he gives me a nod andsays “Anytime Miss. I’ll be right here waiting for you all, have a good time.”

I return the smile back to him and turn to go inside the schoolwith V and Jumin to go celebrate.  

Requests are open, you can request your own idea OR a prompt + character from this list! (No NSFW though!)

[thesmutshewrote]

A Man Who Can Do Both - Pt 1

Warning: This fanfic contains smut in some parts

Pairing: Reader x Kihyun

Genre: fluff, smut, college!au, mature language, mild angst

Word Count: 1.5k

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Summary: Your best friend Kihyun is known for his cotton candy pink hair and being a good boy. He always does his homework and obeys all the rules. After you both graduate from high school, you’re both anticipating going to the same college. You know that Kihyun wanted a fresh start and a new look, but you weren’t prepared for this kind of change. College will definitely be interesting with this new side of Kihyun, a change that will effect your friendship forever.

You were excited to finally graduate from high school and move on to better things for your career. You graduated as a talented art student well known for your charcoal pieces. In the art wing was where you met your best friend, Yoo Kihyun, a photographer. The school knows you two as art freaks, but he’s more reserved and quiet than you are, so they think. Only you can hear his witty sarcasm and playful remarks. He thinks he has a reputation to uphold as the cotton candy haired good boy with incredible grades, which he does. We both were quite good in school, which is how we got into the same university. You like to be more mischievous than he does. You go out to parties and come home slightly too drunk, but your parents don’t care as long as your grades are high and you don’t end up pregnant. You’ve drunk called Kihyun multiple times and he’s taken care of you so you don’t meet your parents at the door totally wasted. He’s a good friend. Sometimes you feel bad for the hell you put him through on weekends, but you know he can handle it. He’ll make fun of you the next morning anyway. It’s a give and take sort of relationship.

“Y/N, how many times do I have to take your ass home like this. You’re a total mess! How am I supposed to clean you up?”, Kihyun complains as he walks you out of a house which wreaked of alcohol and sweat.

“Oh my God, you’re so funny, Nancy. I can’t believe you said that to him”, you replied without realizing you were already separated from your best friend.

Kihyun walks you to his car and puts you in the passenger seat carefully before getting in the drivers seat. He starts to put on his seat belt until he realizes that you’re too drunk to put yours on. He sighs and reaches over you to get the seat belt. Without realizing he was so close, you turn your head to see if Kihyun was in the car yet. Your noses slightly touch and you look into his eyes. Kihyun freezes in shock from being so close to you.

“Y/N, what are you doing?” Kihyun asks without moving.

“Kihyun, hi”, you giggle. “When did you get here.. and why are you so close?”

He sighs and moves past you to get your seat belt. You lay back in the seat and look at the roof of the car as he buckles you in.

“You know, I really wish you had a window on your roof. I can’t see anything like this and it’s no fun. Sometimes you’re no fun, Kihyun. Why can’t you come to parties with me?” You pout and wait for an answer, but he doesn’t reply. “It was so much fun tonight.”

“It’s called a sunroof, Y/N.” Kihyun mumbles, “but you wouldn’t know that because you were too busy getting drunk and dancing with Minhyuk. You probably don’t even know that either. Psh..”

“Oh, I don’t feel so good,” you whine, gripping your stomach.

“I swear, if you ruin my car..” and before he could finish his sentence, your vomit was between your legs on the floor of his car.

Kihyun drives to the nearest gas station and tries to clean up his car as much as he can. You try to wipe it all off your pants, but it was no use in a drunken state like this. 

“Ugh, I hate pants!” You whine as you pull your shorts off and throw them on the ground.

“No, no, no, n- ugh, Y/N, what am I going to do with you?” Kihyun tries to look away from you as he finishes cleaning up the car, but finds his eyes wandering. 

“Kihyun, she’s your best friend,” he whispers to himself, “you can’t do this.” He cleans up the car as quickly as possible and starts driving back to his house to get you cleaned up and wash your pants. 

The two of you arrive at Kihyun’s house and he helps you out of the car. Avoiding eye contact with your lace panties, he ties his sweatshirt around your waist and you walk inside. He takes you to his room, where you had been many times before to hang out and work on art projects together, and gently sits you on the bed. He brings you a cool glass of water and puts your shorts in the washer.

“Y/N, we have to get you cleaned up now. You wreak and I’m not going to let you stink up my bedroom. Now, can you walk with me to the bathroom?”

“I’m feeling better now,” you say after drinking some of the water. “I think I’m okay.” You stand up to walk, but your legs are still weak. 

Kihyun holds you up and helps you to the bathroom. He sits you on the ledge of the bath tub and swings your feet over. He brings you a wash cloth and some soap to clean off your legs, but before he can leave, you grab his wrist.

“Um, thanks for all this, but do you have any pants I can put on since I don’t have any? Maybe some sweatpants, or even boxers. Just something.”

He looks down and realizes the sweatshirt had fallen off. “Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking, I just- I’ll go find pants.” He quickly averts his eyes and walks to his bedroom. He looks through his drawers for something suitable and finds a pair of sweatpants you complimented before. 

Meanwhile, you wash your legs and dry them just in time for Kihyun to come back with something to wear. He cracks open the door and hands them to you. You smile because you remember how cute he looked in these. You put them on and stumble back to his bedroom.

“Thanks, Kihyun. Did you remember I liked these? Well they’re mine now.” You lay on the bed and close your eyes.

“Yes, I remember. You can’t have them though, okay? I like those sweatpants too! They really suit me, don’t they?” He turns around and looks at you, noticing that you had fallen asleep. “Ugh, she owes me.” 

You thought back to all the moments that you and Kihyun had spent together during your senior year. It was usually you getting into trouble and him saving you. He saved you from your parents, from bad friends, from bad boyfriends. Kihyun was there through it all. You were excited to go to college with him. The season was approaching and you were happy. Kihyun went on a trip with his family for the whole summer so it was time for a reunion. 

You texted Kihyun a few days before classes would start and asked when you could see him. He described his plans which conflicted with yours, so it looked like you would see him again during an art history class you both had to take.

You spent a little time trying to catch up so you could actually pay attention to the class instead of trying to talk. He talked about how much fun his trip was and how beautiful the country was. He also mentioned that he had a surprise for you. You were excited, but nervous. Kihyun wasn’t the type to surprise you, so the day of your first class couldn’t come soon enough.

Finally, today was the day. Only a few days had passed since your conversation with Kihyun, but you miss him so much that it feels like hell to wait this long. The summer was so boring without him and your drunken evenings were much messier. You walk down the hallway towards your art history class and hear a lot of voices from one room. You walked in and there were groups of people talking in different corners of the room waiting for the class to start. You scanned the room for your pink haired friend, but saw no one. You hear a familiar voice call your name and approach you from behind. You turn around and there stands a man with dark brown hair, shaved on the sides, but long in the front and messily styled back in a way that was irresistibly charming. He was wearing black skinny jeans and a black button down shirt.

You stood there mesmerized. He looked like Kihyun, but he surely wasn’t the Kihyun that you had always known. But then you remembered, Kihyun said that he had a surprise. It couldn’t be this. This isn’t Kihyun, is it?

“Aren’t you going to at least say hello?” He rolled up his sleeves to his elbows as he talked. You looked him up and down until your eyes finally landed on his. He smirked at you in a devilish way that riled something up inside you. Something you had never felt before. Something you couldn’t control.

“Kihyun?!”

[bensk]

Hunter Alumni Day Speech

I was nominated to be the class speaker at my 10 year high school reunion. I'm proud of how this turned out.

Good morning. My name is Ben Samuels-Kalow, class of 2008. Ten years ago, I had the honor of speaking for my class at graduation. Like our graduation speaker that day, I went on to become a public school teacher. Unlike our graduation speaker, I did not go on to write Hamilton. If you ever find yourself following Lin-Manuel Miranda on stage...don’t.

I have four minutes to speak to you on what Hunter has meant to my classmates, in the same vein as the speakers up here.

I’m not going to do that.

I’m in a room full of people who have won the lottery, and so I am going to take my remaining three minutes and thirty seconds to ask you to make an investment.

What lottery did we win? When we were in sixth grade, or maybe when we were in preschool, we held a ticket to take a test, and everyone we ever met here won that same lottery. We're not smarter than the four year old who sat next to us who missed the cut score. We're not smarter than the 6th grader who didn’t have the test scores to even take the Hunter test. I won the lottery and I came to this school where I was never unsafe, and I was never bored.

Not everyone wins that lottery, but we did.

New York City is the most diverse city in the country. We also have the most segregated schools. We rode from five boroughs to get to Hunter. Ride the 6 train 20 minutes from here and you're in District 12 in the Bronx. In seventh grade at Hunter, we read To Kill a Mockingbird. In District 12, fewer than 1 in 5 7th graders can read on grade level. One in ten will go on to college. One.

We rode from five boroughs to get here. We won the lottery. Our families worked hard and sacrificed. Some crossed oceans- some of us crossed oceans. We worked hard and we sacrificed. All of that is true. All of that is true, and none of it is unique. All of that is far more comfortable to say out loud than to admit that we were at some juncture in our pre-K or 6th grade year unbelievable benefactors of a sequence of events, test scores, prep courses, family supports, and luck. Families everywhere sacrifice and work hard. There are nerds, everywhere. Theater nerds, physics nerds, bits of both. Some get to go to a school where they are never bored, and always safe. Some don't.

I've spent the last five years teaching in the Bronx, and next year will found a public charter school in District 12. Over the past year, alongside a team of parents and teachers and community members, we’ve made the case for a new school, researched best practices, and travelled around the country to study the highest-performing schools. We got to see the inner workings of 50 schools that, like Hunter, are full of lottery winners. I'm about to run a public school where our admissions criteria is a literal lottery. I chose to be a teacher because I got to go to a school where I was never bored, and I was always safe. I won the educational lottery.

The thing about winning the educational lottery is that you have to invest your winnings in making the world a better place. You have to give a damn.

I know that I am speaking to a diverse and distinguished crowd, so please know that I know that some of you undoubtably give some of what I am about to ask.

Our public schools will only be good if people like us give a damn.

That could be giving money to a school, and I won’t say no.

That could be volunteering in a school, and I won't say no.

But giving a damn isn't giving money, and it isn't necessarily giving a lot of time. Giving a damn means the next time someone says "those kids" you ask who, exactly, are they talking about. Giving a damn means participating in community board meetings, and Community Education Council meetings, and when you hear an angry parent claim they are entitled a seat for their child because they want it, but a black or Latino family is undeserving, you call it what it is. We all have opinions on what good schools are. Sometimes, giving a damn means wading into a debate with an open mind, and a closed mouth. If we truly care about public education, if we truly want to invest our winnings, if we truly give a damn, we cannot look away.

Someday soon, probably today, or at a reunion event tomorrow, someone is going to ask you about your job. A brilliant high school student is going to ask for an internship. A college student is going to tell you they have good grades and then tell you that they have no idea what to do with the rest of their life. They won the educational lottery, too, but they don't know what to do with the winnings. If they can learn, and if you trust them, please tell them that with a steady hand, an attentive eye, and a straight back, they could make a school where kids are always safe, and never bored.

Tell them, worst case scenario, they become a teacher and take four minutes of your time at a reunion a few years from now.

Tell them, best case case scenario, they teach for a year, and go write Hamilton.

Tell them, teaching is a political act. It is hands-on activism, it is community organizing, it is high-tech optimistic problem-solving and low-tech relationship building. It is the reason they can choose a career, and it is a career worth choosing.

[goodthingsnc]

Tara Cook College & Career Coach, North Chicago Community High School

Warhawk Pride: “Every 10 years our high school class has a reunion, typically around homecoming weekend, so we’re all able to come home to a football game. The school has been very supportive. Our recent 30th class reunion was our first year away: about 50 of us showed up in Las Vegas. It was a good thing! It really does mean a lot to be a Warhawk.”

Tara’s path:

Grew up in North Chicago; attended Central (K-5, later Hart), AJK (6th), Neal (7th/8th),  NCCHS Class of ‘88 (her father was NCCHS Class of ‘62)

2 sons graduated from NCCHS; her grandson is at Neal

Started college at Xavier University of Louisiana (an HBCU in New Orleans); transferred to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale

After working some years, finished her Education Psychology degree at Barat College (of Depaul University)

Worked 17 years as director of Daisy’s Resource Optional School

Volunteered at NCCHS, then hired in 2013 to provide options and support to students on their educational journey, including college/careers

Participated in community drill team; today, coaches cheerleading

Tara’s North Chicago history: “My dad grew up here and worked for Johnson Outboard Motor. My mother worked for Abbott. North Chicago was very blue collar, and you could make a really good living.”

“My school memories are all about teachers: in Kindergarten, Ms. Bankston made me feel I could do anything. At Central, my teachers made me feel at home away from home, especially Ms. Hardy. I remember youth activities—the park district had a lot going on. Everyone would hang out there.”

“When I went to high school, I had more teachers that looked like me. I knew I could be a teacher because I had Black teachers. That was big for me: I saw people that looked like me.”

Tara’s North Chicago vision: “I’ve always wanted to work for the district, to make an impact in North Chicago. I want to show students that it really doesn’t matter where you start: you can still do whatever you want to do. I’m happy to tell them that I got my bachelor’s degree, my master’s degree. You frame your success, and you just do it. North Chicago taught me how to solve problems.”

“Being a teen parent drove me to want better for my son. On my desk, I have a picture of us at my high school graduation, at my college graduation, and at his college graduation. These are milestones I’m very proud of. I’m open with students: I want them to see we all have things that we go through—that could present themselves as barriers if you allow them to be. That’s what life is all about. Whatever your situation, you just have to keep moving through it.”

[miraculouskatsukii]

48?

hey there anon!! you sent this days, ago, but i’m currently in the middle of my finals so i hope you understand why i wasn’t able to answer you till now. i hope this is good enough for you!!

48 - meeting again at a high school reunion

Victor had stayed back after PE class to help clear up the sports hall - it was his turn to do so after all. He waved his friends off, ready to be done with his task already. he was halfway through shoving basketballs into some container in the closet, when the notoriously squeaky sports hall door creaked open. Victor turned around in surprise, as the quiet junior in his french class walked in. 

He knew the shy boy from a couple of shared classes - and Chris sometimes mentions him in passing - but he had never had a proper conversation, or actually gotten to know Yuuri. He seemed to be in his own world, earbuds in his ears and eyes stuck to his feet.

“Ah, hey, I’ll be done in a second,” Victor called out, hoping the other boy would hear. Luckily enough, Victor had said that loud enough for Yuuri to be startled out of his daze.

“Oh, man, I’m really sorry, I must have come in too early today…” Yuuri trailed off, pulling his earbuds out. 

“That’s okay,” Victor grinned. “I’m nearly done.” He carried another bag of various sports balls into the closet. “So, if you don’t mind me asking… are you practicing anything, or?”

“Oh! I do- I mean, I dance and Coach Celestino usually lets me practice after hours,” he answered Victor. 

Victor came back out of the closet, “Whew, that should be all of them…” Yuuri was stretching when Victor came back, and a sudden thought hit him. “teach me to dance?”

Yuri’s laugh made the butterflies in Victor’s stomach flutter. Yuuri was pretty cute - actually really good-looking, and why was Victor realizing this just now? “Teach you to dance?”

“Yeah, like- like a waltz?” Victor continued with a pained smile. He was probably digging himself a deeper grave in front of this cute boy he was talking to.

Yuuri laughed again, throwing his head back, “Yes, yes I’ll teach you to dance then.”

He scrolled through his phone a bit, to find the right music and then let it play as he walked over to Victor.

“So, in a classic waltz, you usually have three beats to watch out for, and the moves are based around the music. When you partner up, your palm rests on my shoulder like this, I’ll grab your other palm and then I’ll… cup my arm around your back,” Yuuri finished explaining the correct positioning, and finally seemed to realize how close they really were.

“Do you… do you want to go somewhere private?” the words slipped out of Victor’s mouth before he could think about them. What was he doing, spouting some cheesy lines as if he were a character in some fanfic? 

Yuuri smiled softly. “But we’re already alone?”

6 years later: 

Victor sipped softly from the drink Chris had shoved into his hands the second he’d stepped back into his old homeroom before flitting off to show off to their old classmates. He smiled softly, he had spent four years of his life with these people and yet now he felt like he knew nothing about them anymore. 

“School tour, you guys! We get to be freshmen again, just like last year,” Sara Crispino chirped, making everyone laugh.

This was technically their class’ second meet-up, after last year’s “5 Years Since Graduation” one. They had gone around the school then to, remembering old memories and funny jokes they used to tell when they were younger. Victor watched pleasantly as everyone around him mingled, and he too joked around with some of them, but the truth was that they had all matured and changed and they weren’t who they used to be six years ago. 

“And here’s the gym! Remember that time Coach Yakov…” Georgi’s voice trailed off as the rest of his classmates walked off, but Victor stared at the hardwood floors, bittersweet waltzes filling his mind. 

“Victor?” a familiar voice called from behind him. Victor whipped around, staring in astonishment. 

“Yuuri?! How…”

“It’s our five years since graduation party today, and I felt like wandering around the school,” Yuuri answered, brushing a couple strands of hair behind his ear. His blue glasses were still perched on his nose adorably, the same way Victor had remembered them in high school. 

A semi-comfortable, semi-awkward silence fell around them. “Remember when we danced here, when we were teenagers?” Yuuri said taking a step forward, biting his lip. 

Viktor copied his movements, moving towards him as well; he was only a couple of feet away now. “Yeah, you taught me how to hold my arms properly.”

Yuuri took another step forward, they were both tense and Victor’s attention was suddenly pinpointing to the smell of Yuuri’s cologne, to the flowers behind Yuuri, to the slight shiver in Yuri’s shoulders-

They were only a couple of centimeters away now.

“And you asked me… you asked me-” Victor could feel Yuri’s soft breaths on his face now, and he felt goosebumps on his skin.

“Do you… do you want to go somewhere private?” Victor let the words hang in the air between them, heavy with tension. 

“Yes.”

frankly idk tf i did with this???? the practicing dance in a sports hall after hours thing is a v real thing i do, our sports hall is actually larger than my ballet studio so it’s easier to practice there; haven’t met any cute boys who want to dance w me yet, will keep u posted

i really hope this wasn’t too shitty!! thank u for asking!!