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noosayog · 9 months ago

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003 an unexpectedly sweet valentine

❥ warnings/content: kuroo tetsuro x reader, sfw, slight angst if you squint, mostly fluff, jealousy

❥ wc: 3.4k

❥ valentine's masterlist, regular masterlist

“Good morning, senpai!”

Your senior of one year turns around as he changes from his outside shoes to his inside shoes. “Huh? Oh, morning.”

“It’s raining hard today, huh?”

“Oh, yeah. Sure is.”

“Did you bring an umbrella?”

“Nah, forgot it.”

“Aw, too bad! I remembered mine today!”

“Good for you.”

The conversation comes to a lull. Senpai stands there looking at you, as if to ask, anything else?

Somewhat awkward, you wave to him. “Have a good day, then!”

He nods, turning away to make his way to his first class of the day.

“Wowwww,” a voice from above you drawls. “That was a painful watch.”

You swivel around to face Kuroo, your classmate.

“Shut up, Kuroo,” you growl at him.

“‘Morning Senpai! Have a good day Senpai!’” He mocks you in a high pitched voice.

You give him a swift kick in the shins, satisfied when he bends over to cradle the spot.

Kenma appears from behind him, shaking off the stray droplets clinging to his hair. “You deserved that.”

“Morning, Kenma,” you snicker.

Kenma returns your greeting, heading off to his own class in the year below yours and Kuroo’s.

A tap on your shoulder gets your attention. “Sorry about him. He’s just in a bad mood because of the rain.”

“Kai-kun!” you greet. “It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize for this idiot.”

“Hey!” the idiot in question protests.

Another head pops out from behind Kai. “What’s going on? Talking rooster head trash? That’s a conversation I can contribute to.”

“Morning, Yakkun.”

“Can we not talk about me like I’m not here?” Kuroo complains.

“Shall we head to class?” Kai asks, easily ignoring him.

“Yep!”

“Hello? We’re all in the same class here!” Kuroo wails as he runs after the three of you.

In your homeroom, Kuroo, Yaku, and Kai all head to their seats as you take yours by the window. You greet your friends who sit by you, excited to ramble about your encounter with the cool Senpai from the basketball team whom you’ve recently developed a crush on.

“What do you like about that guy anyway?” your friend asks.

“What do you mean? There’s so much to like!”

She gives you a dubious look. “For example…?”

You start counting on your fingers. “Well, he’s captain of the basketball team, so he’s tall-”

“You like him because he’s tall?”

“He’s older, so he’s more mature-”

“Right,” she nods sarcastically. “Being a year older makes him so mature.”

With two fingers up, you’ve run out of reasons. Your friend rolls her eyes at you.

“Personally, I prefer the volleyball guys in our class.”

“Kai-kun?” you nod empathetically. “I can totally see that. He’s kind and smart. Yakkun, too. He’s energetic and outgoing.”

“Kuroo’s included in that group too, you know.”

You wrinkle your nose.

“What’s your beef with him? He’s tall, smart. Lots of people in our grade would say he’s funny too. He’s actually pretty popular.”

You shake your head, “the most that guy has going for him is his friendship to Kenma. I can totally see someone getting close to him so that he’ll introduce them.”

Your friend just shrugs patronizingly, like you’re beyond reasoning with.

“Anyway,” you switch topics. “Senpai forgot his umbrella today, and it’s going to rain all day. I’m going to watch basketball practice afterschool and offer to share my umbrella with Senpai on the way home. Wanna come with?”

“Pass.”

You shrug. “Suit yourself.”

–

“Did you hear that?” Yaku elbows Kuroo, whispering not very quietly.

Kuroo swipes at the elbow, rubbing his ribs and mumbling for Yaku to keep it down.

“Damn, what’d you do? She thinks you’re such a loser.”

“Gee, thanks,” Kuroo grits out.

Yaku holds his hands up in surrender. “Just pointing out the facts.”

“Hey, now. Let’s not be too hasty,” Kai cuts in. “It might just be a temporary infatuation with the basketball club guy. There’s still hope!”

Kuroo groans and slumps forehead first onto his desk. Even when Kai is trying to be nice, it makes him feel so pathetic.

–

When the final class of the day ends, Kuroo lingers in the classroom, still racking his brain for an excuse to keep you from going to the basketball club. He trails after you as you get up to leave the classroom.

You’re taking a drink of water when Kuroo watches your friend shoulder into you a bit too hard, leaving you to stumble backwards, hands flailing to keep your balance. The uncapped water bottle in your hands goes flying into Kuroo, dumping its contents into the bag in his hands, containing the spare jerseys the volleyball team had planned on using for practice matches today.

Kuroo drops the bag, arms coming up to support your back and keep you upright.

When you’re stable on your feet, you quickly pick up your water bottle to staunch the flow of water, though it doesn’t matter much anymore given the jerseys are all soaked through.

“Hey! What did you do that for?” you scold your friend. You turn to Kuroo, “thanks and sorry…” you trail off, not knowing how to remedy the situation.

When Kuroo catches the wink your friend sends him, he catches on. “Aww man, now what’re we going to do for practice?”

Yaku cuts in. “Oh, it’s fine. We can just use the spare-”

Kai slaps a hand over Yaku’s big mouth, dragging him off towards the gym. “We’ll head to practice first. Why don’t you figure out the situation, Kuroo?”

“Kuroo, I’m so sorry, but this was all her fault. Hey-” You turn to where your friend was standing, but she’s gone.

“We needed these for today’s practice. You’re just gonna have to help me out with the laundry to get these dried before the 3v3 drills then.”

You pull a very displeased expression, mumbling something Kuroo can’t quite hear but is definitely a curse out of your friend.

“Can’t I please make it up to you some other way? I have really important plans today.”

Sure, as if trying to suck up to that basketball captain counts as really important plans.

“All you have to do is toss these in the dryer and wait until they’re done. It’s the least you can do.”

You offer a begrudging, “fine,” hauling the wet bag and following behind a triumphant Kuroo.

As promised, it takes you less than an hour to dry the jerseys, passing the time by watching the volleyball club boys warm up and run drills. As you pull the jerseys out of the machine, Kuroo meets you by the locker room.

“All done! Now can I-”

“Man, it took too long to dry them. We had to restructure our drills since it’s too late to start practice matches now.”

You pinch the bridge of your nose. “Look, Kuroo. I’m sorry, but I have no say over how long a dryer cycle is.”

“I know. It just really put us in a hard spot, especially given that Nationals are around the corner…” he sighs audibly. “But it’s fine, I know it’s not totally your fault.” He sighs again.

“Ok, ok” you give in. “What can I do to make up for it?”

It takes all of Kuroo’s willpower to suppress a victorious grin. “Hmmm,” he pretends to deliberate. “Aha!” he exclaims. “You could be our manager until Nationals are over. That’d help the team and Coach Nekomata out a lot.”

You hesitate. “Manager? Why don’t you just find a permanent one? Everyone says you’re all popular-”

“Everyone?” he smirks.

“Yeah. Personally, I don’t really get it, but,” you miss the slight dimming of his grin. “I’m sure there’s someone out there who’d be more willing… I mean, more helpful than I would be.”

“Figures that you’d try to weasel your way out of this.”

“Weasel my way- wait just a second-”

“It’s fine,” Kuroo cuts you off, turning around to leave you there. “You’re right, we’ll just find someone who’s more responsible.”

“Hold on, Kuroo!” you grab the back of his jacket, pulling him back.

This time, the grin on Kuroo’s face spreads in full force.

“I’ll do it. I am not irresponsible.”

“Great, you can start tomorrow.”

You cross your arms over your chest, huffing indignantly like you’re satisfied that you’ve restored your reputation, your plans to be alone with basketball-senpai completely forgotten.

Hook, line, sinker.

–

Your job as the volleyball club manager is actually enjoyable. Save for the extended time you now need to spend in Kuroo’s company, you make friends with the rest of the team, especially the enthusiastic younger class.

During lunch time, Kuroo will often request that you join Kai, Yaku, and him on the roof.

“Why? I deserve freedom from you outside of volleyball club hours.”

“Interesting that your commitment to taking the position of manager only extends to certain hours.”

“What? Slander! I’m committed-”

“We were going to discuss and review our plays from previous games, but I guess we’ll manage without you. Just hand me the notebook and we’ll review without you-”

You stand abruptly, slamming your palms on your desk. With the notebook in question in hand, you storm past him, making your way to the roof access stairs without another word.

“Well?” you demand when Kuroo doesn’t follow. “Are we going or what?”

Kuroo grins. “Coming.”

In your indignation, you fail to ever catch the grins from Yaku, Kai, and your friends.

Sometimes, those lunches end up being just you and Kuroo, Yaku and Kai often being called away halfway through. Once all volleyball business is complete, you and Kuroo finish eating in relative peace. Often, he lies down to spend the rest of break napping. You tell yourself it’s too awkward to leave him there without a word, so you sit quietly to keep him company.

One time, you had awoken to a sound of a camera shutter, realizing belatedly that you had fallen asleep on Kuroo’s shoulder. When you crane your head to face the boy in question, eyes wide and swiping at your lip in case you were drooling, you’re met with the usual smug grin on his lips, but his eyes are warm. Instead of smacking him and throwing a scatching remark, your cheeks heat up and you avert your eyes like an embarrassed schoolgirl.

–

When February rolls around, the entire student body is buzzing with the excitement of Valentine’s Day. You haven’t had any more development with basketball senpai, with your time mostly preoccupied with volleyball, but you’ve long standing plans to make Senpai chocolate. You’ve done research by asking around to find out that Senpai likes dark chocolate.

“Have you thought about making the volleyball boys chocolate?” Mari asks you.

“Yep, I plan to.”

“And Kuroo?”

You choke on your water. “Why would you single him out? Of course… because he’s a part of the volleyball boys…” you trail off.

Your friend props her chin on her palm, expression bored but the corner of her lips twitch. “Uh huh,” she says in obvious disbelief.

Your inner turmoil is exacerbated when Kenma says to you, the day before Valentines, “despite his looks, he likes sweeter chocolate.”

“Who?”

Kenma just gives you a look, waving as he makes his way home.

The following day, you show up to school, hands full with all the chocolates you made the night before. Each bag is wrapped in an individual baggie with a white ribbon except for one that is wrapped special, in a small box with red ribbon.

For Senpai, obviously.

Your first stop of the day is your friend. You hand her a bag and she smiles, quickly opening it and popping it in her mouth right in front of you.

“What do you think?” you ask.

“Mmmm,” she closes her eyes, savoring the sweet treat. “So sweet. Milk chocolate? Weren’t you going on about how Senpai likes dark chocolate?”

“I… made different batches.” you lie. You brandish the box with the red ribbon. “Senpai’s was made special.”

“Still sticking to giving that boring Senpai chocolate, huh?”

“He is not boring!”

“Sure, whatever.” She peeks into your bag to look at the array of all the baggies you plan on giving out today. She looks up at the red ribbon box in your hands then back into your bag. “Just that one box? And it’s for Senpai?”

“... yup.”

“What was that pause?”

“What pause?”

She just rolls her eyes and turns back to her textbook.

–

“Did you hear that? It’s for the basketball guy.” Yaku elbows Kuroo’s ribs.

“Can you stop elbowing me?”

“That’s not important right now! She’s still going to give that guy chocolate!”

“I know, I heard,” Kuroo hisses.

Kai gives Kuroo a pitiful look that ticks him off. “What are you going to do?”

“What is there to do?” Kuroo replies, keeping his eyes focused on the homework he has on his desk. “I’m going to grab a drink from the vending machines. Be right back.”

He gets up to walk to the furthest vending machine in the courtyard. Maybe the walk and the winter air from the garden will help him cool his head.

When he gets back with a can of tea in his hands, Kuroo sees you standing at his desk, where Kai and Yaku are still loitering around before class starts. He watches you hand each of them a bag tied tastefully with white ribbon. He lingers in the shadow of the doorway, watching Yaku and Kai thank you, then you walking back to your desk without leaving a third bag for Kuroo.

He feels like he could use another walk right then, but the teacher catches him in the doorway and pushes Kuroo into the classroom to start class for the day.

He makes eye contact with Kai and Yaku, who shake their heads at him, answering his unasked question.

–

At lunch, Kuroo disappears on his own. He thinks to himself that he just needs the time to cool down, in fear that he’d embarrass himself in front of you by asking where his portion of chocolate is. He would feel bad enough if you just handed him giri-chocolate that you have everyone else. He would die, though, if you said you didn’t prepare him any at all.

As he sits alone in the rarely frequented stairwell of the west wing of campus, he sighs.

What does that guy have that he doesn’t anyway? Every conversation Kuroo has overheard between you two has been terribly boring. He gives dry, one-worded answers. He’s not funny nor particularly smart. He’s tall but so is Kuroo? Maybe he’s good at his sport, but Kuroo is taking his team to Nationals. He’s obviously not into you, whereas Kuroo himself? You get the picture.

Anyway, he doesn’t think it very presumptuous to think of himself as a better match for you. The two of you joke and laugh together. You get along with his closest friends. Despite your sharp tongue, you seem to be comfortable enough around him. He reminisces of the one time you fell asleep on his shoulder on the roof. He had been wide awake and frozen solid, scared that even breathing too loudly would shatter the moment. He would never tell anyone that the photo Yaku had snapped of you drooling against his shoulder was saved in a password-protected folder in his phone.

He sighs again, all the tension leaving his body as he lets himself feel all the feelings he’s been holding back. A heavy arm rests over his eyes, squeezing them tightly when he feels the sting behind his irises threatening to surface.

Unable to pull himself together enough to face you in class, he ends up at the infirmary for the rest of the day, citing a headache. The nurse offers one of the beds and Kuroo gladly takes it, napping the afternoon away, a temporary escape from thoughts of you.

The break is short-lived as he wakes up just in time for the last class of the day. Not even the prospect of his favorite subject, science, can improve his mood as he drags his feet to the lab classroom. He makes his way to Yaku and Kai’s table, not meeting your eyes. His teammates give him questioning looks but say nothing when Kuroo shakes his head and immerses himself in the lesson for the day.

Class goes by even more quickly than normal and before he knows it, the dreaded time of day has arrived. He packs slowly, hating himself for wanting to eavesdrop on your plans for the rest of the afternoon.

“So, what’s the plan?” he hears your friend ask you. “Volleyball or basketball?”

“Not sure,” you reply. “Gotta go, see you tomorrow!”

Kuroo watches as you hastily grab your things and leave the classroom. He ignores your friend’s prying eyes on him as he walks out after you.

In the hallway, he spots you speeding away towards the shoe lockers. As he contemplates chasing after you, he hears a call of your name.

Kuroo watches in mild horror when he finds that the voice belonged to the captain of the basketball team. His eyes stay glued to the boy who approaches you, all charming smiles and grinning snake eyes. The two of you are too far for Kuroo to hear your conversation but he can see your expression morphing into one of bashfulness.

All his emotions spill over as the scene unfolds right in front of him in slow motion. He watches your hands dig into your pocket, making the motions to pull something out and likely hand it to your senpai. It all happens so quickly, but before he knows it, Kuroo’s grabbing your hand and dragging you away.

Something - wind? His boiling hot jealousy? - roars in his ears, any protests you let out going right over his head. It’s only when the two of you reach the garden behind the gymnasium that he lets go.

He freezes, back still turned away from yours.

It hits him then. He drops your hand like a hot potato, almost giving into the overwhelming urge to bury his face in his hands, crouch down so low that he’s buried in the ground.

“Kuroo?” he hears you call tentatively.

How was he going to get himself out of this one?

So he does what he does best with you.

Cower.

He turns around, putting two hands behind his head to feign nonchalance. He forces out a laugh and in the lightest voice he could possibly muster at a time like this, he sticks his foot in this mouth.

“You were gonna give your chocolates to that senpai, huh? You better be glad I interrupted and saved you the embarrassment of getting rejected in front of the entire student body.”

You blink at him. “Excuse me?”

“I mean, I really saved that guy back there. Knowing your cooking skills, you might as well have poisoned him-”

A box thrown at his face interrupts him. He catches it before the fall to the ground, staring at the offending hand that launched the item. He then looks to you, thoughtless as your eyes begin to water.

“They’re for you, asshole. If you don’t want ‘em so badly, go throw them away for all I care.”

As you turn around and storm off, Kuroo sees one of your hands coming up to rub angrily at your face.

He gives chase once more today. It’s easy to catch up as he gets in front of you, face craning to look at you, to validate that he’s not going crazy and you’re really crying over him.

You turn away stubbornly until Kuroo grabs your arms, holding them up in the air to trap you.

“Let go!” you thrash.

But it’s easy for Kuroo to keep them still, unusually quiet as he looks and looks until he gets his fill and confirms that he’s not dreaming.

“They’re for me?” he asks.

“Yes, you idiot. Do you wanna add deaf to your list of defining characteristics? It can be right up there with moronic, insensitive, stupid-”

He chuckles; he doesn't even know where it came from, really.

Relaxing, he lowers your arms back down but keeps his hold. “And are they the ones you made for all your friends? Or are they…” he trails off, staring into your eyes to get his meaning across.

You cringe, neck shrinking to retract your face into your scarf. Averting your eyes, you mutter, “the second one.”

He suddenly engulfs you in his arms. The squeeze he gives you forces a little squeal from you.

“Oh my god,” he rubs his cheek against the top of your head like an overgrown cat. “You’re so cute, I could die.”

Your cheeks feel hot as you repress the urge to smile.

Instead, you mumble, “die then.”

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twstgarden · 1 month ago

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❁ ❝ 𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀? ❞

━ third years and gn! reader (separate ; can be seen as platonic or romantic) ━ how unfortunate, you had to leave your dorm to buy some snacks in sam's shop, only to realise that the moment you stepped out of the mystery shop, a heavy rain started to drench you and your groceries. (f/n stands for first name)

do not steal or translate without my permission.

"thank you! all the best for your future!"

as you waved at sam, his goodbye greeting made you smile and bow politely at him before leaving his store. it was going to be a great day, or so you thought. you held the grocery bags in both hands as you started walking away with the intention to head back to your dorm, but the sudden roar of thunder followed by heavy rain hammering down sage's island said otherwise.

"damn it. just what i need."

you mumbled sarcastically to yourself, sighing heavily as you walked to a nearby bench under a tree. it was a little soaked with how heavy the rain was, but compared to the open streets, it was better. you looked back at sam's shop and wondered if you could purchase an umbrella, but you had no madols left - the ones you used to purchase the groceries do not have any change, so you were left with 0 madols in your pocket.

silently admitting your defeat, you sat on the bench. your clothes were already drenched, so why does it matter if you sat on a wet bench? at least sitting under this tree won't let the rain hit your face directly.

and so, there you were, sitting on the bench with your eyes up at the leaves of the tree, thinking about your next step. should you just run back to the dorm and say "fuck it"? or should you wait on this slightly drenched bench for the weather to be better?

you were about to do what you think is the best decision - even though, it's not, until a shadow cast over you. your view of the tree leaves was changed with a piece of fabric and what seemed like the interior of an umbrella.

❝ 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐝 ❞

"ooh, prefect? what are you doing in here all alone?"

that was the first thing you heard from your so-called saviour of the day. a semi-bright smile was seen on the heartslabyul third-year's lips as he stood beside you on the bench, covering your slightly drenched self from the rain.

"oh, cater, uh... i just finished my grocery shopping and i did not know it was going to rain today, so with my shitty luck, i got out of the shop and the rain started pouring... i did not have any madols left to buy an umbrella, so i sat here and... started thinking if i should just run back to my dorm or wait until the weather is clear."

cater let out a soft "ooohhh..." as you explained your little situation, then he urged you to stand up as he grabbed a few of your grocery bags, "i'll help you, then! we can share my umbrella."

you hummed softly and thanked him in response, standing up as you grabbed the remaining grocery bags that he did not carry. "what are you doing out here, though?" you asked, walking down the main street with cater by your side.

"oh, me? i just got back from the bakery at the foot of the hill and i knew it was gonna rain today, so i came prepared!"

lucky him for reading the weather forecast before going out, then.

after he said those words, cater let out a soft laugh as he nudged you a little bit and spoke with a teasing tone, "you should read the weather forecast every now and then, n/n~"

you snickered at his words and nudged him back by the elbow, "it was so sunny when i went out, literally there was no indication that it would rain! the world is out to get me, cay-kun, the world is out to get me."

as you both walked down the drenched streets of the campus, the sound of the heavy rain drowned both of your conversations and laughter. soon, you arrived at the front porch of your dorm, turning around to smile at cater as you gave him a little polite bow.

"thank you for coming to my rescue~ haha, just kidding, but thank you for accompanying me."

❝ 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 ❞

“you’ll get sick if you stay drenched out here.”

a kind voice seeped through your ears as you looked up and saw trey looking down at you with a hint of concern in his eyes. he held his umbrella towards you, sheltering you from the heavy rain while searching through his pockets for a handkerchief, hoping it might at least dry you up a little.

“i did not know it was going to rain today,” you replied sheepishly, “but at least i got my groceries.”

“which are also drenched.”

“…yeah…”

a soft sigh followed by a laugh left his lips before grabbing your grocery bags and urging you to follow him. “come, i’ll bring you back to your dorm and prepare some soup,” said trey as he started walking with you in tow, making sure you’re still shielded by the umbrella.

“you’re a life saver, trey,” you spoke with a soft laugh, “if only i had read the forecast, then i would have been prepared for this.”

“is that a new lesson learned, n/n?” questioned trey rather teasingly. “oh totally,” you replied, “maybe i should pack an umbrella for emergencies… but then again, it would mean we wouldn’t meet in the rain like this.”

“oh, no. that is dangerous. you might get sick,” spoke trey, clearly not getting the hint that you were trying to say you wanted to see more of him.

‘ah… how dense…’

❝ 𝐥𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫 ❞

“are you trying to get sick?”

hearing leona’s voice made you look up as you replied, “of course not.”

“then don’t sit in the rain,” said leona as he continued sheltering you with the umbrella, “come, i’ll bring you to your dorm.”

without another word, you stood up with your grocery bags in hand and walked alongside the savanaclaw dorm leader. no words were exchanged for the time being, but he paused in his tracks the moment he caught you shivering a little and lent you his jacket.

“read the forecast next time,” scolded leona with a soft click of his tongue.

in response, you huffed, but held onto his jacket for warmth, “hmph, it was sunny out, so i did not think it would rain… but i think it was worth getting drenched in the rain.”

with a raised brow, leona asked, “huh?”

“’cause you became my savior!” you replied with a rather cheeky and teasing smile, wanting to joke around with him, but his deadpanned expression was ten times better in response. his deadpanned expression turned into a soft smirk as he said, “ah, you did that on purpose, then. you are as sly as ruggie despite being an herbivore.”

it was your turn to have a deadpanned expression.

“i’ve told you plenty of times that i am not an herbivore.”

“whatever you say.”

❝ 𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐭 ❞

“my my, did you not know you’ll catch a cold just bysitting in the rain like that? tsk tsk,” spoke vil as he sighed and pulled you up, “what are you even doing out here?”

“oh, vil! i went out for groceries, and…” you trailed off.

“…you did not know it was going to rain today?” questioned vil.

“...yeah.”

“hm. figured.”

you blinked in response, watching as vil turned around and urged you to follow him while you carried your groceries – which were drenched, by the way. “you could have stayed in sam’s shop until the rain passed,” suggested vil, “rather than moping on the bench like a wet cat.”

“i did not think of that… i was thinking of buying an umbrella, but i no longer have any madols left,” you replied.

vil hummed in response as he pulled you closer to make sure you were walking under his umbrella. he can’t have you sick now, can he?

“next time, bring an umbrella for emergencies. yes, we are in sage’s island and the weather seems to be under control, but you have to be prepared. you’re lucky i even caught you out here,” scolded vil.

“okay, mom,” you muttered.

“what was that?” asked vil with a raised brow, as if daring you to repeat what you just said.

you quickly shook your head in response, “nothing! um… what are you doing out here anyway?”

“i just got back from the botanical garden,” replied vil, “i was looking for a specific plant for a project of mine.”

“oh, i see…” you replied before looking up and realising you were standing right in front of ramshackle’s gate, “ah, we’re here! thank you, vil!”

just as you were about to run off, vil caught your wrist and spoke, “what are you doing? running in the rain all the way to the front door? no. i will accompany you. you’ll surely get a cold and grim isn’t exactly capable of taking care of you now, is he?”

❝ 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭 ❞

“oh la la~ seems i caught a sweet rabbit all alone.”

“rook, stop calling me that,” you quickly replied as you looked behind, “it’s creepy.”

with a soft laugh, rook proceeded to sit beside you, still holding onto the umbrella that now protected you both from the rain. “what might bring you here in this stormy afternoon?”

“groceries… and bad timing, i suppose,” you replied.

a dramatic sigh left his lips as he spoke, “mon dieu! how unfortunate. i shall take you home then, chérie.” as he stood up, he held his hand out towards you and smiled, “well, let’s get going, then.”

your walk back to ramshackle was a little quiet – well, you were. rook was busy talking and sharing a few things about his morning with vil and epel when you suddenly asked, “what were you doing out here, by the way?”

“ah, me? why, i was merely sightseeing!”

‘riiight… sightseeing…’ you thought to yourself.

“sightseeing… what… exactly?” you questioned, though at the same time, you wished you didn’t.

“wildlife, of course! just a lion in his natural habitat.”

‘called it,’ you thought.

“a-anyway, thank you for accompanying me, rook.”

❝ 𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝 ❞

“ortho?”

‘right… why would idia be out here anyway?’

“hello!” chirped ortho as he smiled at you while holding an umbrella. he was protected by his gear, so he clearly did not need the item as he handed it to you. “what are you doing out here, nee-/nii-san?”

“i was buying groceries,” you replied.

ortho hummed a little ‘oooo…’ in response before replying, “you should bring an umbrella with you next time!”

“ortho! wait for me!”

the sound of another voice caught you off guard as you looked away and saw idia heading towards you and ortho. “i should not have gone out,” muttered idia as he quickly hid behind the bench after reaching you.

“huh? idia?” out of pure confusion, you looked at him wide-eyed like a fish, “this is a first.”

a soft grumble was heard from the ignihyde dorm leader as he replied, “don’t start, n/n. i needed some snacks, but ortho insisted i leave my room and accompany him in this quest.”

“it’s not healthy to have junk foods as your entire diet,” you spoke.

“not this again,” mumbled idia.

you laughed a little and patted his shoulder, seeing as he was crouching behind the bench, “i’m just looking out for you. well, let’s go?” as you stood up, so did idia as ortho trailed behind you both.

the walk did not take long until you reached the front door. once you entered, you turned around and spoke, promptly inviting them into your home, “come, let’s play some games and enjoy the rainy weekend.”

❝ 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐮𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐚 ❞

“child of man?”

a familiar voice made you turn around as you smiled and sighed softly in relief, and it took a few moments to realise the rain had abruptly stopped. “…huh? wasn’t it raining…?” you muttered, but as you looked at the man before you, he sported a frown.

“i did not realise you’d be out here. worry not, the rain has temporarily ceased. please, let me dry you off,” spoke malleus as he lifted his hand to cast a drying spell on you, but you knew just how powerful the gust of wind would be as you instinctively held onto the bench whilst he dries you off with his magic.

it did do the job, though, so you had no complaints.

“let me escort you back to your dormitory,” said he as you were about to grab your grocery bags, “and let me carry those.”

“wha- no, no, it’s alright. you don’t have to – “

“nonsense. this is the perfect chance to walk together, no?”

without another word, the grocery bags started floating beside you as he held a small smile on his face, gesturing you to follow him, and so you did. as you walked together and talked together, you couldn’t help but feel safe now that he was around.

“– and the order of their placement shows the most recent to the oldest carved gargoyles, which can also indicate just how long this academy has been around,” spoke malleus as he had been educating you on the gargoyles of night raven college, and you, of course, listened attentively.

all that talking made it seem like time was going too fast as you had already arrived at the front porch, causing you to sigh. “we’re already here? i wanted to hang out with you more,” you replied before realizing you had said those words out loud, which caused malleus to blink in surprise before smiling.

“we can always continue walking around. this building may seem old and decrepit, but it doesn’t mean it has no story to tell. don’t you think so, child of man?”

❝ 𝐥𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐞 ❞

“oh dear, by the seven, what is a poor little prefect doing out here?”

you huffed the moment you heard that before turning around to meet with lilia’s red eyes staring back at you with a teasing grin, but you knew he was worried about you as he quickly dried you off with a spell and held the umbrella over your head.

“you’ll get sick if you continue to soak yourself in the rain,” scolded lilia as if his teasing demeanor quickly turned into a parental one, “come, let’s bring you back to your humble abode.”

with a blink of an eye, lilia carried all your groceries in one swift motion, letting them float alongside you two as he hummed a happy tune while walking down the drenched main street. the umbrella continued to cover you from the rain as you stayed silent.

the short silence was cut by lilia as he gasped, “oh! i had completely forgotten. dear me, my memory must not be as sharp as it used to be.” confused, you blinked and looked at him, waiting for him to at least explain what he was talking about, but he had not said a word and instead, held your hand.

as you were about to ask what he was doing, you suddenly found yourself back in ramshackle’s foyer. did he just use his teleportation magic?

“…woah… that was so cool!”

you exclaimed, finding yourself amazed at the magical experience as you looked at lilia with a huge smile, “and you get to do that all the time? that’s so convenient! you are so cool, lilia.”

lilia laughed a little as he ruffled your hair, “look at you, gleaming like a kid looking at a candy. i suppose it is very cool, but cute is the best adjective to describe me, don’t you think so?”

“…um… yeah, sure.”

“is that hesitation i hear?”

you quickly shook your head, “no, not at all!”

in response, lilia smiled and patted your head, “then i am glad. i should reward you with a nutritious dinner made by yours truly.”

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