#ummm hi i was looking through my drafts and found this

[helloproject-ness]

yanagawa nanami :]

[luv-lies]

I DON’T HAVE BABY FEVER .ᐟ

characters. satoru gojo / suguru geto / kento nanami / choso kamo / toji fushiguro / ryomen sukuna / hiromi higuruma

content warnings. fem!reader / established relationship / pet names / lots of compliments / suggestive / sukuna refers to reader as brat / toji’s takes place after megumi / reader and suguru take care of nanako & mimiko / lovesick and desperate men / meshinuma reference for higuruma’s / lots of touching summary. baby fever is a contagious feeling and your husband is definitely not immune to it. . .

a/n. ummm… luvie’s comeback !! this has been in my drafts since june and i’ve only jus’ finished it now "( – ⌓ – ) i think the characters are ooc, but i wanted to get this out of my drafts before the end of this month ! sorry if it’s rushed ㅜㅜ fanart by @/tekla135 on x

SATORU GOJO

“you look so pretty.” satoru’s words were muffled by your stomach, face smushed against you as he covered your skin in feather-light kisses. it was constant, though recently, his touches were more gentle and longing, eyes following you everywhere like a lost puppy. “always so pretty. . .”

your fingers tangled in his hair, lightly tugging at the strands. his eyes fluttered closed at the feeling, every gentle tug sending shivers down his spine. satoru desired you more than he had ever desired anything, content with just having you in his arms, yet lately, his thoughts had been drifting to a future where you had a little one to hold as well. he could imagine the three of you enjoying ice-cream together while walking through a park, all of you wearing matching socks and onesies, and cuddling on the couch watching movies.

“toru?” you asked quietly, noticing the distant expression on satoru’s face, “are you okay?”

satoru hummed with a dopey grin, leaning into your hand and kissing your palm. “just thinking about you.” and he was. almost all of his thoughts started with you. except now, his thoughts started with you and one— maybe two little additions to your family he wouldn’t mind sharing his love with.

SUGURU GETO

ever since you and suguru took in nanako and mimiko, suguru’s doted on the girls and practically spoiled them with anything and everything they’ve asked for. he’d never been one to tell them no.

even now as his hand rested on your hip, squeezing at the bare skin every once in a while as the both of you got comfortable in your shared bed. you could feel his warm breath hitting the back of your neck, his thighs pressed against yours with his other hand resting just below your breast. “y’know. . .” suguru began, gently squeezing your hip again and shifting closer so he could rest his chin on your shoulder, “the girls have been asking for a sibling.”

sometimes, suguru found himself yearning to ask you the same question. he loved nanako and mimiko, he really did, but he often caught himself thinking about having his own child. a child that shared his eyes and your beautiful smile, perhaps even your warm laughter. the thought sent a warmth spreading across his cheeks, his heart aching with love, desperation, and most of all, longing.

“yeah?” you asked with a chuckle, looking over your shoulder where he planted a kiss. “yeah.” suguru repeated, trailing kisses up to your ear, hand slowly massaging your breast. “you’ll look so gorgeous.”

KENTO NANAMI

the smell of the fresh pastry and sweet cinnamon rolls hit your face as soon as you stepped into the bakery you and your husband visited frequently. a small child, only about the height of your knee, accidentally walked into you and dropped his plush toy. out of the goodness of your heart, you bent down and picked the fluffy bunny up off the ground and held it out the boy. “are you alright?”

shyly, the boy grabbed the toy, nodded, and murmured a quiet “thank you, miss”, before rushing off past the both of you. you stood up straight and glanced over at kento when you noticed his gaze on you, a faint smile on his lips. "is something on my face?" you asked self consciously, your face turning a slight shade of red.

kento simply shook his head and instead brushed a few strands of hair away from your face, “i just think you were being very sweet.” though what you did was what anyone else might’ve done, to kento, it was the sweetest thing in the world—simply because it was you. if it had been someone like satoru, he probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought. but in that moment, seeing how gentle you were with that child, it only made him fall in love with you all over again.

CHOSO KAMO

choso’s arms were tightly wrapped around you, fingers daintily tracing shapes across your lower back. a content sigh escaped his lips, his hold on you tightening just a little bit more. his mind raced, questioned and already pre-made outcomes swirling in a chaotic dance. kids—or the possibility of them—had been a conversation he longed to ask. choso was a family-oriented man. he cherished his brothers deeply and he knew that he would love his own child just as fiercely if you two ever had one.

“do you think. . .” choso began, pausing, he swallowed thickly, “do you think we could ever have a child?”

if you said no, his love wouldn’t waver for a moment. though he would feel disappointed, your happiness was all he truly desired. he was madly in love, his love for you so intense he thought he would die from heart palpitations each and every time you even spared him a single glance.

with a contemplative hum, you slowly nodded. “would you like it if we tried?” he exhaled deeply, a soft smile adorning his lips as he mimicked your head movement. “i’d like that.”

TOJI FUSHIGURO

despite having said he was done having kids after megumi, toji’s hand always seemed to linger on your stomach a little longer than necessary. if you asked, he’d probably give you a look and call you delusional for even thinking he wanted to have another baby. toji doesn’t get baby fever. he had already been through parenthood; sleepless nights and diapers.

“—but they’re just so cute and small.” your attempts to persuade toji felt futile. he placed his hand on his shoulder and rolled it with a low grunt. “i already told you, no.” you buried your face in the pillow, sulking. toji glanced back, raising an eyebrow at your behavior. “don’t start. we’ve already talked about this,” he said, his tone gruff. noticing your silence, his expression softened slightly and he patted your hip. “c’mon, sit.”

wordlessly, you shifted to sit on his lap, a lingering pout on your lips. toji raised his hand and used his thumb to brush down on your bottom lip to coax the frown away. “don’t give me that face. i just don’t want to rush you if you’re not ready,” he muttered lowly, reluctant to give into your pout. “i’m ready, toji.” you whispered, meeting his gaze with a pleading look he could never say no to. he let out grunt, his resolve crumbling, and with a firm grip on your thighs, lifted you up effortlessly, laying you down on the bed.

“get ready then, sweetheart. ‘s gonna be a long night.”

RYOMEN SUKUNA

before he met you, he never once thought of having a child of his own. they were small, annoying, and would only get in the way of his peaceful evenings with you. so when he saw you tending to a small child crying in a supermarket, he couldn’t help the way his heart began to beat a little faster in a mixture of annoyance and desire at the sight of you. infuriating, to say the least. but sukuna’s never been one to shy away from what he wanted, a truth made abundantly clear by the fact you’re still by his side—and, more specifically, nestled on his lap.

“i want an heir.” one pause, then another. you gawked at him in disbelief. “what?” his hands possessively kneaded at your hips before one of them rested on your stomach, you could feel the weight of his gaze on your smaller form. never once had he ever hinted at wanting a child. “i won’t repeat myself, brat,” sukuna grumbled impatiently, his eyes bored into yours. “you are the only woman i want as the mother of my child.”

as demanding as he may be, sukuna truly cared for you. you were the only human he tolerated—the only one he desired. in a world where hatred and fear was the only emotion reflected in the eyes of those who gazed upon him, yours were warm, your presence offering him a kind of solace he had never felt before. and for the first time, he had felt peace.

“i will teach the brat how to punish those who cross us.” “ryomen.”

HIROMI HIGURUMA

“daddy!” a high-pitched voice called out from behind you and your husband, hiromi. you turned to see a little girl now hugging his leg tightly, her nose tinted pink and her eyes a little puffy from what you assumed, crying. surprised and slightly bewildered, the both of you exchanged a glance before you kneeled down to her level. “are you lost, sweetie?” you asked gently.

the girl quickly pulled away when she realized that she wasn’t hugging her papa and in fact, a stranger, her bottom lip quivered as if she was about to cry again, “i can’t find my daddy. he told me to find the shaved ice stall, but i don’t know where it is.”

you smiled warmly and extended your hand out towards her. “it’s okay, let’s go find it and wait there together.” the little girl’s eyes brightened at your offer, and she nodded eagerly, grabbing your hand.

oh. . . the way you smiled at her, so sweetly, so motherly. higuruma almost felt feverish, his heart swelling with a different warmth, an unfamiliar longing. the thought was dizzying and almost addicting. you would look so beautiful—stunning, not that you aren’t already, but the thoughts and images of you pregnant struck him in a way that made his poor heart ache. in that moment, he knew he was entirely screwed, completely captivated and unable to shake the image of you and your child out of his mind.

© 2024 LUV-LIES do not plagiarize, steal, translate or repost my works on any platforms!

[juyeonszn]

DIVE TO YOU

PAIRING lee sangyeon x f!reader

WORD COUNT 2.61k

GENRES fluff ﹒suggestive

WARNINGS 18+ MINORS DNI u already know, roommates to ;) type beat, ummm they’re naked, they are in a bathtub, sangyeon is… wow sangyeon just deserves a warning on his own, he is A Lot, there’s a mention of a voyeuristic moment but it’s nothing crazy, he massages reader, they make out, i tease u all bc i’m evil like that

SUMMARY you’ve never really thought of sangyeon in an explicit way, but now that you’re stuck in this position, it’s going to be difficult for your thinking to go back to normal.

MORE SURPRISE ALLY (@winterchimez) MY BELOVED THIS ONE IS FOR U <<<3 i hope i didn’t kill u </3 this is another request from my 100 followers event! prompts used are: 9, 16, 17 🤞

PERM TAGLIST @winterchimez @maessseongs

You hated your job more than anything in the world. It was mind-numbing. All you did was stare at a computer all day and type type type, responding to emails or drafting up documents for your boss. It was exhausting. To be honest, you were sick of it.

But you needed it, unless you wanted to get kicked out of your apartment for not making your share of the rent. Sure, having a job you disliked wasn’t ideal, but you were surviving and wasn’t that all that mattered?

Besides, you’d probably die if you were forced to move out of your apartment. Your roommate was the only reason you moved in to the damn place despite rent being so fucking expensive.

You remember the day you stumbled upon his ad like it was yesterday, though it had already been exactly one year. You’d just finished your first month at your job and you were growing tired of dealing with your parents. Yeah it was nice that you didn’t have to worry about half of your current expenses while living under their roof, but you knew you needed to ship up and move out eventually. You figured this was the perfect time to do so.

You scoured the internet for apartments, but soon realized that living on your own would be way too much, considering all of the other things you also had to worry about now. As you started filtering through listings that requested a second habitant, you stumbled upon your roommate’s. The rent itself was a little bit over your budget, but the way he worded his ad had you hooked.

Just an hour later you were emailing him and setting up a meeting to discuss important details. You met up at a cute little coffee shop a few days later when you both found some free time. Being the punctual person you were, you arrived earlier than planned, ordering your go to and picking a two seater in the corner by one of the floor-to-ceiling windows.

You had always been the type to psych yourself up before doing anything major. You needed at least half an hour of prep time if you were making any important decisions, because you could not handle things going wrong. Everything in your life had to be carefully and methodically done. You liked to say you were thorough, but everyone else called you a perfectionist. It is what it is.

And because you didn’t know this guy, you had no idea what he looked like and you weren’t aware that he had the same mindset. You glance up from your drink to see the most handsome man you’ve ever laid your eyes on walk into the cafe, ordering something you can’t make out. He looks like something straight from a drama, his hair styled neatly and his outfit put together. Even under his thick coat, you could see how well sculpted he was.

You don’t realize that you’re staring until he’s suddenly walking towards your direction, his coffee in his hands. He furrows his brows and clears his throat. “Hi, I don’t mean to bother you, but do you happen to be Y/N?”

Oh my god. No way. There was no way this hunk of a man was your potential roommate. It was impossible.

When your lips part in shock and you don’t respond for a couple seconds, he blinks at you. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that impossible. You nearly facepalm for already making such a fool of yourself before you’ve even held a proper conversation. You stumble over your words as you gesture to the chair across from you. “Y-Yes! Yes, that’s me. Please, take a seat!”

He smiles politely, setting down his drink and shedding his coat. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Sangyeon.”

You wipe your hands on your jeans before reaching to shake his hand nervously. If you could hardly handle this simple meeting, how could you handle living with the guy? He might send you into spontaneous combustion by just looking at you.

Sangyeon had the patience of a saint, and you would be eternally grateful for it. After getting to know each other better and growing more comfortable around him, the two of you discussed the roommate situation. You truly lucked out in finding him, seeing as you shared a lot of similar ideals. He even offered to lower your part of the rent as much as he could, explaining that you were by far his favorite candidate for the second room.

Later that same day, you went over and got an apartment tour prior to signing a lease agreement. And then the rest was history.

You sigh as the clock finally hits 6, signaling the end of your very long work day. One thing you disliked about getting off at the time you did was the fact that it was always snowing. It made it hard to navigate your way home, since most people packed around the bus stops like sardines. You hug your coat to yourself to block out the harsh winds, your scarf wrapped up to your nose.

You were tired and cold and all you wanted was to be inside the blanket that was your apartment, soaking in a hot bath with a glass of wine beside you. Sangyeon was supposedly working late today, which meant you’d have some much needed alone time.

The entire bus ride, you find yourself drifting off and then startling awake when you drove over a bump. You don’t remember the last time you were this drained after a work week. It could’ve been because you stayed over time a couple days, but you didn’t think it would affect you that badly.

When you finally arrive at the stop near your apartment, you’re almost in a zombie-like state, trudging through some of the snow that has started to stick. The only thing keeping your eyes open was the obnoxious chattering of your teeth.

It feels like a millennia by the time you’ve reached your front door, hands shaking as you attempt to unlock it. You’re partly surprised you didn’t drop your keys. The moment you step into your home, it’s like a huge weight has been lifted from your shoulders.

From the lingering scent of your peppermint and vanilla candle to the warmth of the building’s heating, you felt like you’d just been cuddled by a teddy bear. You shrug off your coat and hang it on the set of hooks beside the front door, leaving your shoes on the rack just beneath. Your sock clad feet drag you towards the kitchen, where an unopened bottle of wine awaits you.

You’re tempted to just drink straight from the bottle, but you didn’t want to get shitfaced, you just wanted to feel relaxed. Nevertheless, you pour yourself a… hefty… glass and waddle to the bathroom. A mental note was made to thank your coworker for the bath salt and bubble set she got you as a gift, seeing as it was finally being put to good use.

It doesn’t take long for you to peel off your layers of clothing after you’ve turned on the faucet and adjusted the temperature to your preference. You watch with heavy eyelids as the bubbles begin to form along the surface of the water, rising up and filling the tub. You dip your toes in while simultaneously taking a sip of your wine, damn near moaning at how much better you felt.

You press play on one of your playlists and light a candle before finally sinking into the water, succumbing to its serenity. Your eyes start to flutter shut and you don’t even try to fight the sleep that calls your name.

You’re not sure if hours or minutes have passed since you fell asleep, but the creaking of the bathroom door opening stirs you from your slumber. Most people probably would’ve had a bigger reaction, considering someone just walked into the bathroom without checking if it was occupied first. And also because you had assumed you were home alone.

This was one of the various times you wished the earth would just swallow you whole.

Lee Sangyeon stands in the doorway, shoulder resting against the threshold with his arms crossed. His dress shirt from work is unbuttoned all the way to the third from the top, his muscular frame stretching the fabric deliciously. You wondered how he was comfortable, since he wore such tight shirts. Occasionally you truly understood why the term ‘Take A Picture, It’ll Last Longer’ existed.

You were extremely thankful that you added bubbles to your bath, the foam covering up your body where the sun usually doesn’t shine. Sangyeon has an amused glint in his eye and even with the fogginess of your partially awake brain coupled with the few sips of wine you’ve had, you know it’s off brand for him.

“S-Sangyeon, what are you doing in here?” You trip over your words, wrapping your arms around yourself tightly.

“Well, I just got home and I was planning on doing the same thing as you,” he rolls his neck as if to display his own tension from a long day. “But it looks like you’ve beat me to it.”

You blink at him. Why was he still standing there? Staring at you like… that?

“Um… Why haven’t you left?” You swallow, but your mouth is dry.

“Is there some space in that bathtub?”

He asks the question so smoothly, the words rolling off of his tongue like he’s asked to join you in the bath on numerous occasions. You gape at him, your head spinning in circles. Perhaps you were still half asleep and your mind was playing tricks on you. That made the most sense. Perfect, sweet roommate Sangyeon would never ask you a question like that.

“I’m sorry?” Part of you feels stupid, gawking at the male and stumbling over your speech. It’s like you’ve completely malfunctioned, every logical point of your body shutting down for unscheduled maintenance. You had to recalibrate your systems fast.

Sangyeon repeats himself, not skipping a beat as he does so. You do a 180, glancing around the room as if someone else was present. You jab a finger into the only exposed part of your chest and then at the water with scrunched eyebrows.

“Yeah, is there some room in there for me to fit? You know, Y/N,” he shrugs, going for the next button on his shirt. “I have seen you naked before.”

You nearly drown yourself on the spot. Lee Sangyeon has seen you naked? This was news to you. Last you checked, neither of you had ever done anything intimate enough for that. He laughs that attractive laugh of his, his eyes forming crescent moons. You’re enticed to drown yourself a second time.

“Y-You have?” This was probably single-handedly the most embarrassing moment of your life.

“To be fair, it was an accident. I walked past your room while you were changing once but you didn’t have the door closed all the way, and well, I am a man so, I couldn’t help but take a peek.” He scratches the back of his neck, letting out a small chuckle. Okay so God definitely had favorites and you weren’t one of them. Nice to know.

He unbuttons another button, stepping closer to you, closing the distance between you. He crouches next to the tub, finally at eye level with you. Oh, what you would give for a moment of this man’s time. Here he was, handing you just that on a silver platter and you were royally fumbling the bag.

“So is that a yes?”

You really don’t trust your own voice, so you merely nod, biting back the urge to groan when he grins at you, standing upright. It’s like you’re stuck in a trance, watching him clear the rest of the buttons of his shirt like light work. The sight of his abdomen on full display has you releasing a tiny squeak. Then comes the unbuckling of his belt and that alone is a mental image you don’t think you could ever forget. You dip your chin into your shoulder, looking away when he strips the rest of his clothes.

You feel him before you hear him, his leg brushing against the back of your arm as he slips behind you into the tub. He exhales deeply, exactly like you did when you got in. You’re as stiff as a board, not sure what you should do with your roommate naked and sitting behind you, sharing bath water like it was a regular Friday night. You keep your focus on the faucet, too afraid to make any sudden movements.

“Relax, N/N,” he pins his chest to your back, hands coming up to massage your shoulders. “You’re so tense.”

The way he works his thumbs into your skin has shivers running down your spine, your entire being feeling like it’s lit up. You suppress a whimper when he kneads a knot just below your neck, squeezing your eyes shut and biting your lip. Before today, you’ve never really thought of Sangyeon in an explicit way. Sure you thought he was extremely handsome, but that had always been just a surface level notion. You’d never fantasized about a crazy, fan-fiction type moment like this. But now that you’re in it, you don’t think your thinking could ever go back to normal. You could never see him as just your handsome roommate.

You have half the mind to scoot into his lap, but it seems like he’s beat you to it, sliding his hands down to your waist and pulling you towards him. Your eyes widen when you feel him, hard and pressed to your lower back. At that, you finally make a noise; something between a strangled moan and a whine.

Sangyeon brings his lips to your ear, grazing them along the shell of it. “Can you feel how much I want you?”

“Y-Yes,” you gasp. “I can feel you.”

This is insanity. Were you still waking up, conjuring up this entire scenario with your half conscious mind? Maybe some sick and deluded higher power wanted you to realize the possibility of having feelings for Sangyeon, and this was their way of doing it.

But then one of his hands trails to your thigh and he pinches you lightly. That’s how you know this is real, this is actually happening. You crane your neck slightly to glance at him. His eyes are darker than usual, a deep brown swimming with lust that almost looks black. It’s similar to how a predator would stare down its prey and it’s a look you could get used to.

Sangyeon’s gaze flickers down to your lips and you just about lose your last bit of clarity, leaning forward to connect your mouths. It’s kind of messy, kind of rough, but the way your stomach twists into knots and goosebumps litter your arms makes you think that the higher being you were cursing minutes ago was actually doing you a huge favor. You’d have to thank them later.

One of Sangyeon’s hands comes up to cup your cheek, his thumb caressing your cheekbone as he does so. Without parting, you turn around in his lap, straddling him as best you can in your limited space. If you thought you felt him before, you definitely feel him now, his cock pulsing against your aching core. Your need was carnal, primal even. He hisses when you grind down on him, gripping your hips to halt you.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, sweetheart.”

© juyeonszn. do not steal, claim, or repost.

[allylikethecat]

ally!!!!! i’ve always loved You Know Where the City Is but wow this is the best chapter by far! like i’ve gone from obsessed to mega ultra double obsessed. everyone talking about wrapping fic!matty in a bunch of blankets and feeding him some soup is so real- you always manage to make the most cozy sweetie pie characters no matter what the fic is about. (it goes without saying that fic! taylor much like the real deal is just perfect and i love her)

counting down the chapters till we meet fic!george. so intrigued to see how there relationship will play out since you said it might not be what we expect…. love a good surprise!!!!

im practically bursting with excitement to read the christmas fic and any of the prompts you have been working on but good things take time! please don’t feel rushed to give us new content you already do so much for the sickfic matty community lmao.

hope you have a happy holiday break🥹 sending love always (also don’t be alarmed if i reblog the majority of your prompts on here soon- i have such a bad habit of liking a fic and then scrolling past it once i’ve read it so i need to go back and hunt for them all and actually save them for next time)

Ahhh thank you SO MUCH for this lovely ask omg, and thank you so much for always being so lovely, and kind and supportive 🥰 I apologize this took me a few days to respond to- I usually try and respond to asks on my laptop because I find them easier to formate and alas I had not been back on desktop Tumblr until now.

I'm so, so, so happy to hear that you enjoyed the newest chapter of You Know Where the City Is! I went back and forth on that chapter a lot (an original draft included a trip to Target lol) but I'm really pleased with how it came out and am glad that other people like it as well! Fictional!Matty (and Fictional!Taylor) could REALLY use a hug oh my gosh. They are both going through it and the worst part is they don't even realize how unwell they all 🥺 Fictional!George will be making his appearance very soon! All I can say is that Fictional!Matty is an unreliable source of information 👀 I hope people end up liking how it plays out!

I'm so excited about the Holidays fics but WOW I hope I can actually finish them in time! I haven't even finished the first one yet and I feel like the holidays are getting closer and closer faster and faster 😩 one second is was the beginning of November and now suddenly it's the end of December?! Who allowed this to happen!? I'm behind on the little schedule I made for myself- but hopefully I'll get them both done! Of course my plot bunnies are like "ummm Ally we have all the inspiration for this completely unrelated project!!!" and I'm over here like "not NOW"

We will hopefully be back to our regularly scheduled prompt fulfillment and sickfic programing after the holidays! I'm sorry about the delay, I know people are looking forward an end of SATVB / IV situation fic and I promise I am working on one!! Alas I have just also been really busy with real life.

Thank you so much for the love and I hope you have the most wonderful holidays as well! If you're ever looking for all of the prompt fills I have filled - they can be found here!

Thank you so much again for your kind words, for reading my fics and for your support! You are just so lovely and I am so grateful for your kindness! I hope you are having a wonderful night / day and will hopefully have some more fic ready soon!

❤️Ally

[mammss]

brothers meeting your parents

a/n: I have too many drafts that I just need to post and I wanted to take a break before I write more event requests. 

lucifer: sees it as pointless only because he works so much and has to watch over his brothers that he has no time to meet your parents but he knows that it’s a human tradition and fully accepts that. so when the time finally presents itself he’s curious about your parents, family, where you grew up and how… he has many questions but isn’t vocal about it. as always he’s prim and proper and very much wants to get brownie points with your parents so he never has to meet them again, he’s helping your parents out in the kitchen, complementing the food, complementing your parents, listening to every story they remember about you embarrassing or cute. the entire night lucifer is solely focused on your parents and hey hard work pays off because your parents are very enchanted by lucifer and really want to meet him again, like they won’t stop talking about him ever.

mammon: when you talk to him about wanting him to meet your parents in that moment he’s excited but when his mind is out lovey dovey world he doesn’t sleep for weeks leading up to the day. sweating up a storm, constant need of praise and approval from mc because insecurities like “is my outfit ok?” or “do you think i talk weird?” float around in his head and the last thing he wants is your parents to disapprove of him and your relationship. but when the day finally arrives he realizes he’s been a spaz this entire time because your parents think he’s funny and very much in love with you so they have nothing to worry about if you have siblings know mammon is gonna want to see them again young or old he’ll be begging you!

levi: like lucifer, levi is a very busy man and doesn’t have time to meet your parents but in reality he’s mortified to meet them and makes up every excuse in the book to put off meeting them. “mc i can’t this weekend this new anime is dropping and i have to be the first one to see it!”, “diavolo wants me to help him set up an account to play this new mobile game.” and so on and so forth. if you really want him to meet your parents then you have to do all the work, i would say the only way they will meet is if you surprise him only then will he have to sit through lunch/dinner and having to talk to them but as the outing continues he becomes very comfortable and gets out his shell a little.

satan: was happy you felt he was worthy enough to meet your parents. even though you fell in love with the embodiment of wrath he’s proven nothing but loyalty and kindness and hopes to get that point across to your parents, leading up to the dinner he makes sure he can be the best prince charming ever, not just to you but your parents too. your parents are so proud you found someone like satan he is the definition of a prince so attractive, charming, smart he impresses your parents so hard they’re already planning your wedding and introduce him to the rest of your family. if they didn't now they groan to you about starting a family and grandkids.

asmo: say the word and he’ll be ready to meet them in 30 minutes. like lucifer but only he’s public about it very very much wants to meet your parents, see where you grew up, wants to hear every sort of story about you etc. when you arrive asmo pulls out the charms and complements your parents off the bat then demands to be shown around your house in hopes of finding pictures of you all over because he will squeal and gush over every single one. he’s also generally curious about what your childhood home looked like and maybe hear some memories from you. dinner was a success, your parents and asmo had so much to talk about that the entire night you weren’t they’re main focus.

beel: you introducing your family to a family man like him? ummm yes he would love to meet them!!! as soon as you bring up the question he sits you down and demands you in his own beel way about to talk about your parents, he wants to know everything from their first date to how your were raised. he enjoys hearing you talk about your parents so fondly his excitement grows by the minute though the more he thinks about this dinner the more he gets self conscious because have you looked at him he doesn't really look like a convincing human. you just have to console him and firm to him that your parents will love beel and have no problems what so ever, so when the day arrives your parents definitely are in for a surprise which worried the giant but like you said they would love him and loved him they did. that entire night he felt so connected with you guys that he understands how you might have felt your first year in the devildom, definitely wants to go back and eat your parents cooking or if he can take home TONS of leftovers.

[jisungscaramel]

vexation | hyunjin

❀ genre; smut, college au, enemies au  ❀ pairing; hyunjin x reader (fem) ❀ word count; 2.7k 

[warning] strong language, explicit sexual content, dry humping, (mild) begging, hate sex

There it was: Hwang Hyunjin, name beautifully printed right above yours. You shuddered in complete disgust, not believing that you were paired with him of all people for your history presentation. There were 34 students in the class; that meant you had a whopping 97% chance of being paired with literally anyone else, but no. Your professor, Dr. Zhang, just had to pair you with him. 

Overachiever: that was an understatement. He was the type to want all of the glory for the taking, the type to enjoy making others feel like they were dumb, the type who had no issue in forsaking common morals for his own gain. 

You couldn’t fucking stand him. 

Begrudgingly, you stood up from your original seat, trudging your feet to sit next to him - at your professor’s instruction, of course. You planned on at least being polite, and you thought for a second that he might do the same, but he didn’t even bother looking at you, staring through to the front of the room, eyes stoic. If he was trying to provoke you, it was definitely working. 

You dropped your backpack to the ground, unceremoniously, sound drowning in the increasing levels of chatter in the small lecture hall, but clearly loud enough to make his composure teeter; his head jerked back a millimeter, a minuscule gesture but it was painfully obvious to you. And you let out an equally obvious slew of snickers before sitting back in the seat, neck meeting the old frayed fabric as you tilted your head back, arms stacking on one another as you folded them, woman spreading to occupy more real estate than you actually required.

You had to at least try to keep yourself amused. 

Hyunjin began scribbling mindlessly on a blank piece of paper - still acting as if you were not even there. 

He slammed the white sheet down on your knee, sending vibrations straight up your leg rather rudely. 

Asshole. 

Oh, baby, he hadn’t even started yet. 

“Okay. We’re doing our paper on I-Hotel and… I’m gonna write it. All you have to do is find these books for me at the library.” He turned to look at you with a very aggravating smirk… maybe you’d notice the tiniest hint of flirtation if the feeling of overwhelming irritation didn’t encompass you. 

But the chance passed when his countenance morphed into counterfeit concern, tapping his chin in contemplation for added effect, “although, I think the library’s computer system is down… I guess you gotta find them the old-fashioned way.” God, you just wanted to smack that smug grin right off his face. “I’d love to help you with that... but I’m just too busy…” It should’ve been illegal for intolerable people to be that gorgeous.

You blinked in complete confusion. “Ummm… excuse me?” 

“I’m… sorry… do… I… need… to … talk… slower…?”

You gingerly picked up the piece of paper, promptly getting up from your chair, glaring at him. You made sure your backpack was secure on your shoulder before dramatically lifting the note in front of his face to tear what he wrote to shreds, scattering the bits over his laptop’s keyboard. “Stick a motherfucking cactus up your ass.” 

You stormed out of that hall with your head high, not daring to look back despite your innate desire to see his response - you were sure it was priceless. 

‘I’ll just have to do this damn thing on my own.’

Oh, if it could only be that simple. 

The first thing that popped up on your laptop when you opened it from the safety of the library was an unexpected email. 

Since you ripped up my list - rather rudely I might add - I’ve attached the list of the books I require. I will be at the library at four PM sharp. Please plan accordingly. Hyunjin 

“Fuck.” 

‘Plan accordingly,’ your ass, according to you, your plan was to minimize the amount of time you had to spend dealing with Hyunjin, and you had been 100% sure he had the same sentiment… so much for that. 

Speaking of the devil, as soon as you decided to dismiss his outlandish request and settle in to get some of your research started, Hyunjin yanked your attention away from your laptop with merely his presence, almost as if your nerves were hypersensitive to his saccharine dipped aura, and most definitely not to the signature sway of his frame as he walked. 

You didn’t dare grant him the luxury of your direct gaze. Instead, you kept a close eye on him in your peripheral, hoping you’d blend in with the people around you… but there was still at least a 92% chance he’d see you.

“Did you get my sources?” and now he was right in front of you, nothing but a measly table in between. 

Your nostrils flared in an effort to not retort back at Hyunjin, eyes still fixed on your screen in a successful attempt to ignore him. 

Then he pushed your laptop closed, hand planted firmly on the device rather invasively. “Excuse me, I’m talking to you.”

You gritted your teeth, tilting your head up in a menacing stare, eyes narrowing, eyebrows furrowing. “What do you want?” 

God, you didn’t know his smile could get more fake than it already was. “I told you to get my sources for me,” his tone was exaggeratedly slow, “did you get my sources?” 

You shoved his hand away from your laptop. “Get your own sources.” 

Immediately his fake smile turned into a sincere snicker, rolling his eyes off to the side. “Uptight bitch.” 

His words sank in for a moment. “You wanna say that again?” 

He leaned over the table, face a mere six inches from yours. “Uptight,” you could feel your fists involuntarily clenching, digging into your palms what would soon be prominent crescents in a matter of seconds, “bitch.” 

You almost raised your palm to gratuitously slap him across the face but the simmering mellowness in you kept a tight grasp of your boiling anger. You leaned back in your seat in an effort to widen the physical gap (or the lack thereof) between you. “Fuck off.”

<><><><><><> 

“Hyunjin, y/n, can you both come down to the podium,” Dr. Zhang added at the end of his lecture, halting your plans to b-line straight to the library. 

As the aisles began to empty, you made your way down the steps to the front of the room, purposefully standing at the side opposite of Hyunjin, frankly paying no mind to him for all intents and purposes. 

Your professor glanced between you two, clearly noticing the oddity of the image but purposefully choosing to ignore it. 

“I noticed that both of you submitted first drafts for your paper, and at first I thought it was an accident, until I opened both files and realized you’re writing completely separate papers. Care to explain?” 

“Yeah y/n, care to explain?” What a fucking dicktard. 

Your lips pressed into a thin line as you wracked your brain for some feasible excuse. “Well,” but nothing came to mind… oh fuck it, “we’ve had issues working with each other.” 

Dr. Zhang raised an eyebrow cautiously. “Elaborate.”

“We really don’t get along.”

He sighed, crossing his arms. “Well you’re gonna have to try to find some middle ground. I’ll give you two a second chance to put a first draft together. If you can submit a collaborative piece by midnight, I’ll still give you full credit for that part. If not, it stays as a zero. Subsequently, you will keep getting zeroes for the following checkpoints if you submit them separately. Any questions?” 

“No, sir,” much to your surprise, that was the first moment thus far wherein both you and Hyunjin were on the same wavelength. 

“Good, that is all.” 

You felt like two negatively charged magnets as you walked side by side up the aisle to the exit. “I’m not getting a zero for this,” Hyunjin spoke up. 

You rolled your eyes. “At least we can agree on that.”

As the cold, crisp air of the outside refreshed your nerves, he lightly gripped your shoulder, swerving you to face him. “Look, I know we’re like oil and water, but I’m willing to at least try to get along for the grade.” His fingers trembled on your shoulder; his teeth lightly grazed his bottom lip, eyes searching yours for a sign of truce. 

Needless to say, the sentiment from him was unexpected. You exhaled deeply, brushing his hand from you. “Fine.”

<><><><><><><> 

But two hours spent alone in a library study room proved to be more difficult than originally anticipated. Trying to work together felt like pulling teeth - a true collaboration of absolute vexation.  

“What about this passage?” You pointed to some text in a book you were sifting through. 

He swiveled his chair around, only looking at your find for a solid half a second before, turning back around. “Nah, that’s not good enough to use as evidence.” 

“What the fuck, Hyunjin? You didn’t even read it.”

“I didn’t have to. I assumed whatever you found was as subpar as everything else you’ve ‘found.’”

You dropped the book on the table with a loud plonk, partially in shock at what he said and partially due to a natural tendency to want to irritate him. “Well let’s see what you ‘found,’” leaning over the table in a relaxed manner, carrying a dash of nonchalance as you scrolled through his writing. “You call this good evidence?”

“What on earth are you talking about?” You wanted to laugh at his defensive tone. 

“It’s obvious that you’re framing your own narrative by taking shit outta context. Not to mention all the ellipses and brackets are terrifically horrendous, visually. You’re taking literally all the credibility out.” 

“What do you know? I doubt you even read that article,” he dismissed your legitimate critique in a manner you unfortunately predicted. 

“As a matter of fact, I did… two. hours. ago. And you told me the article didn’t seem ‘reliable’ enough for you, but here you are… you must think I’m fucking stupid.” 

The side of his lips curved up in the slightest smirk. “Not true, I think you’re annoyingly absentminded.” 

You rolled your eyes for the umpteenth time in the past minute, whispering, “fucking cockmaggot,” under your breath, diverting your attention back to your screen. 

“What did you just say?” His tone suggested he wasn’t being rhetorical - he really didn’t hear you. There was something cute and innocent about his ignorance, the way his lips formed a subtle pout unintentionally, nose wrinkling in distaste. You mentally shook the image from your head, cursing yourself for thinking he was… ‘cute’ to begin with. 

“Nothing, My Liege, nothing at all,” mocking sarcasm spilled from your lips as you parted them to give them a disapproving smack. “This is complete shit; we can’t submit this.”

Hyunjin slammed his laptop closed, standing up abruptly. The action took you by surprise, making your neck shudder in a startle. “I can’t fucking do this anymore. Why do you have to be so fucking difficult?” Pent up rage was slathered all over his face, eyes twitching, eyebrows tightly knitting together, jaw unhinging from an excess of epinephrine. 

His anger diffused to you, violently charging your nerves. There was no way you were just gonna take his shit sitting down. “Why do you,” you stood up, chair rocking back from the velocity of your limbs, “have to be,” you turned around and gripped his collar with both hands, “such an insufferable asshole?” 

He was dumbfounded, wordless much to your satisfaction, but his eyes were unwavering, devoid of reaction. The time you spent stabbing each other with your unfaltering gazes felt like a goddamn eternity, tension coarse, sinfully tangible on your skin. 

It was fucking stifling. 

Before you even realized what was happening, your lips were latched together in a fervent frenzy, tension thickening for an entirely different reason now. 

There was something so breathtaking about the way his lips tightened against yours - literally. It felt like he was siphoning your soul from your body - any thought that dared to grace your mind oddly dissolved into nothingness as Hyunjin molded your lips into submission, tongue colonizing your oral cavity in an authoritative manner that was so in character for him. 

Not that you gave a fuck. 

His hands aggressively tugged at your waist; the impact of your body crashing onto his sent pangs up your spine, and in seconds, your back thudded against the wall, maintaining the momentum. You had to grip his shoulders purely for support, and definitely not because you were immersing in the moment.

You felt his grip loosen as his hands roamed downward, playfully drawing patterns on your skin with his fingers en route. And then they constricted around your thighs, lifting them up to his hips, and you hooked your ankles around his back as if it was the natural thing to do. 

The fabric of his pants became taut around the building frustration underneath, becoming oh so apparent to you when he started steady grinding against the thin fabric of your underwear - why did you have to wear a skirt today of all days?

You passed a reluctant whimper through his lips, wholly unable to deny the way your pulsing desire radiated heat through your core at the increasing friction. 

You broke away from the kiss, gasping. “Hyunjin…” you whispered almost breathlessly, desperation filling you as he continued his tantalizing test of your patience. 

“Hmmm?” There it was: that signature smug grin, but by this point, your senses were too preoccupied to even register it. 

“I can’t take this anymore.”

“Is that so?” He lifted you off the wall, pushing your laptops to either side so he could lay you on the table, spreading your legs to give him clear sight of your dampening sex. He snickered. “You look much better like this…” While ghosting one hand around your inner thighs, conveniently avoiding the place you needed him the most, he undid the button and zipper of his jeans with the other, sliding them down to his knees. 

You found yourself licking your lips at the silhouette of his bulge, now more prominent with less restricting fabric. Of course, he noticed; “so these are you true colors… I never would’ve thought you were such a dirty girl.” He brushed his fingers over the waistband of your underwear. “Where do you need me?” He pressed his thumb on your clit, “here?” 

Your teeth pressed down on your lips in an effort to stifle a moan. “Yes…” and even though you were successful the first time, there was no stopping the sounds from seeping through your lips when Hyunjin slammed his clothed erection on you once more, picking up exactly where he left off just moments ago. 

“Please, Hyunjin…” he pushed your thighs further apart, keeping them in place. 

“‘Please,’ what?” 

“I need you inside me, please.” 

His sinister laugh filled the small room. “I don’t know if you deserve it.” 

“Fucking asswipe.” 

“Now that doesn’t sound very convincing…” 

You groaned in pleasurable displeasure. “Hyunjin… please, I’m begging you. I really can’t take this.” 

“Don’t you care if someone tries to come in?” He raised an eyebrow, partially in curiosity, mostly in amusement. 

You glared right into his eyes. “No.” 

He shook his head, clicking his tongue as he stood back. “Get up.” Any urge you had to defy him before was long gone; you did as he asked and he harshly turned you around by your waist, pushing you toward one of the windows. 

While pushing you down against the glass with one hand, he reached in his front pocket with the other, grabbing a condom. He ripped the packaging with his teeth, skillfully sliding his boxers down to slip the vinyl over him. 

Not wanting to wait any longer, you aided him by pulling your panty down leaving yourself completely exposed for his taking, and you quickly pushed your hands on the glass, bracing yourself for the next few seconds, but nothing could’ve prepared you for that stretch that came. Your wrist slid down on the window pane to bite back a scream. 

“So tight.” 

 ><><><><><><><

A/N I’mma be honest: I had a fucking field day coming up with all those weird insults

[antipodeanpineapplelump]

Dear Starshot, I recently saw your latest artwork for #Shisui Uchiha and the Lost Treasure of Asura and I am DYING to learn more about this AU. If you're comfortable sharing, is there anything you can disclose about it?? Is this related to the ItaShi Indiana Jones AU you mentioned before?!!?!?!?!!

Hi Birk, thank you so much for dropping by with this ask! Are you really voluntarily asking me to talk about my current obsession and fanfic baby though? Because I warn you, you may live to regret that!!!

"Shisui Uchiha and the Lost Treasure of Asura" is now the official title of my ItaShi Indiana Jones AU. I realise it’s been over a year since I first mentioned it, and it’s still a WIP! Pretty sure that says absolutely nothing good about the speed of my writing, but a lot about how busy my life outside of fandom is. Anyhow, it’s definitely one of those AUs that’s got away on me. I was planning one story initially, but now it’s kind of turned into three (plus a cracky oneshot), and this is just the first.

I’ve planned nine chapters total so far, but the bane of my life is currently number four. It’s sitting at 16,000 words and counting. Succinct writing? I’ve certainly never heard of it… So anyway, I kind of hit a wall there and decided to take a little break to come back with fresh eyes. That’s how I ended up working on the art instead. But I’d say I’m probably about halfway through the first draft (47,000-ish words).

I recently shared the opening scene and my draft cover artwork here. Ummm… what else can I tell you? Madara is the main bad guy, and he’s definitely a few sandwiches short of a picnic. Shisui is an agent of disaster and chaos. Itachi is really… not. So their initial interactions go about as well as you could expect.

All the main characters have extensive back stories. I’m pretty sure you’re already familiar with my Machiavellian worldbuilding tendencies from reading Red Dawn, so it goes without saying I have just as many notes and plans, and as much fleshed out worldbuilding for this story too. And it will take a long time for all of that to be revealed! But the overarching theme is probably found family, which is different to anything I’ve done before.

At this risk of revealing too much, or boring you to tears, I’ll finish with another sneak peek, this time from Itachi’s POV:

When Itachi wakes, there’s nothing to suggest his day is going to be anything but routine.

He gets up at dawn as per usual, eating breakfast at the dining table alone, legs tucked beneath him on a comfortable zabuton. The solitude at this hour of day is something he prefers. It’s the only time the family home is quiet anymore—lacking the cold disapproval of his father’s increasingly judgemental lectures, the anger of his younger brother’s rebellion, or the resigned acquiescence of his mother.

By now, Fugaku should have left for work, and it’s still too early for Sasuke to be awake, given how late he’s been staying out at night. Either to irritate their father, or just avoid him entirely, he’s taken to frequenting the clubs and bars in Osaka. Mostly, he comes home. Some nights, he doesn’t.

More often than not, even when he is home his door is closed, the thumping bass line of some song or another seeping out from beneath it. Likely because he knows this angers their father even more than the leather jackets and spiked punk-rock hair style he now sports.

Part of Itachi has been glad to discover his brother possesses more of a spine than he ever has. But at the same time, Sasuke’s rejection of every last one of their father’s rules has only brought more unwanted scrutiny to Itachi’s far more minor transgressions. It’s as though, having decided his younger child is a lost cause, Fugaku now wants to be absolutely certain his eldest son and heir to the Uchiha family fortune is beyond reproach. To smother him with expectations until he emerges, a diamond from beneath the pressure.

But unbeknownst to Fugaku, Itachi has one flaw he can’t change. And it means that, no matter what, he’ll always be a failure in his father’s eyes.

Sighing, he swallows a mouthful of rice and fish, washing it down with the sweetened barley tea he favours. Pulling this month’s edition of Modern Archaeology across the table, he inspects its glossy cover and promptly chokes on his drink.

The face that smiles up from the page stokes a knot of hot irritation in his gut. Furiously, he skips to the article, skim-reading the text, despite the fact he knows it will only annoy him further.

"An up-and-coming star in the field of archaeology, particularly specialising in South-American cultures, Shisui Uchiha is an increasingly well-known fixture of the San Diego research scene. Curiously for someone so entrenched in the study of history, he is famously reticent when it comes to his own. ‘I did spend my early years in Japan,’ he confirms when pressed. ‘But I haven’t been back in a long time. The United States is my home now.’ Asked about his connection to the famous Uchiha family, he merely winks enigmatically. ‘Never heard of them,’ he says, before asking if we’d like a one-on-one tour of the dig site.

Equally at home in dusty ruins as surfing the palm-lined SoCal beaches, or scaling the cliffs of his native Joshua Tree National Park, he nonetheless shines in group settings too. At the party we attend that evening, to celebrate the opening of a new Aztec exhibit at the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City, he easily charms the crowd, finishing the night with at least half a dozen new admirers. It’s not hard to see why they like him. A conversation with Shisui is exercise in passion and obscure historical knowledge. Even so, much like the dig sites he frequents, it’s hard to say just how much of what he presents to the world runs more than surface-deep.

His motto in life? ‘Fall seven times, stand up eight,’ Shisui says with a charismatic smile. Where did he learn it? Chuckling, he brushes us off. ‘The school of hard knocks.’

Love him or hate him, one thing is certain—we haven’t seen the last of Shisui Uchiha’s brand of archaeology.”

Hate him, Itachi thinks, sipping his tea viciously enough to scald his tongue and immediately regretting it. Definitely hate. Hate how he’s reckless, impulsive, irresponsible, and doesn’t seem to take a single thing seriously. Hate that it looks like he’s never had to work hard for anything a day in his life—people only too happy to hand him whatever he wants on a silver platter, charmed by a pretty smile. Hate the fact that, despite their shared family name, he’s free to do whatever he likes. Hate the way people flock to him, falling into his orbit—and by all accounts, bed—like it’s somehow inevitable. And hate, most of all, that there’s a small part of Itachi which understands why.

Because hate or love him—and it’s definitely hate—there’s no denying that Shisui Uchiha is, objectively, a very attractive man.

Coming back to his senses and realising he’s been leaning over the magazine, frowning so hard his forehead hurts, Itachi straightens, closing his eyes and massaging the knot of tension out from between his eyebrows.

“Itachi—”

The tension sinks in even deeper. He opens his eyes. “Father.”

Fugaku takes in magazine, then his son, and Itachi really hopes his cheeks aren’t as flushed as they feel. It’s stupid, but merely knowing he feels the way he does about the man on the page makes him fear being caught. As though his father might somehow divine his deepest darkest secret, just by looking. Truthfully, Itachi sometimes wonders if he might not already know, or at least suspect. But if he does, it’s clearly a truth he’s chosen not to acknowledge.

“I take it you’re prepared for our meeting this evening?” Fugaku asks, grim as ever.

Attempting a composed sip of his tea, Itachi nods. “Yes. Of course.”

Mouth a hard, unyielding line, Fugaku makes some indiscernible noise of disapproval, sweeping an appraising glance over Itachi. “Well, I suppose it’s too much to hope that anything can be done about your hair between then and now. But they’re a modern family. New money. Perhaps it won’t matter so much.”

Fingers tightening into the flesh of his thigh, Itachi has to remind himself to breathe. “I will do my best to make a good impression,” he says, inclining his head towards his father, penitence for his innumerable shortcomings—not least of all the choice to grow his hair out. It’s a small act of rebellion compared to Sasuke’s effort, but one his father seems determined to curtail as promptly as possible.

Poker face easing ever so slightly, Fugaku’s brows trend downwards, though their slant is still severe. “I know. You are my son, after all. And it is high time you were married with a family of your own. Perhaps then you will see the value in giving up these frivolous academic pursuits, and taking your rightful place at the head of the family business.”

He might as well build a box and stuff Itachi into it. Mold him to fit his own vision of the future. But Itachi has long since learnt that what he wishes he could have from life, and what he can have, are two very different things. So, just like his infrequent clandestine trips to the less desirable areas of Osaka’s nightlife, this too, he realises he will have to sacrifice. Duty before self.

“Yes Father, I’m certain you’re right,” he says, bowing once more as Fugaku leaves for work, closing the front door behind him with a click that reeks of finality.

As his footsteps crunch away on the gravel path outside, Itachi can’t help clenching his fists, until long after his knuckles turn white.

Theoretically, it’s a good match. From a family of good standing, his potential bride is quiet and well spoken—the perfect future housewife and mother. Their marriage would kill two birds with one stone, giving her father the son he never had, and Itachi—and therefore by extension Fugaku—control of their biggest competitor’s business.

All it requires is for Itachi spend the rest of his life pretending to be something he’s not.

The weight of it burns tight in his throat, threatening to break free on a rising tide of bile. He longs to cast off his gilded shackles, take a leaf from Sasuke’s book and do something completely crazy.

With a sigh, he rises from the table, collecting his dishes and depositing them circumspectly into the sink. Another day of work awaits.

[danganronpa-21]

Naegiri Week Day 6 - Date

I did it!! I know I’m pretty late, but hey, Eon said submissions still count so I’m still going lol (thank you for the patience). This one’s a bit on the longer side and contains switching POVs, but it’s pretty easy to follow as each first line introduces either Makoto or Kyoko by name. I’ve been agonizing over it for awhile now, so hopefully you get some enjoyment out of it. If not, at least take some pleasure in the fact that I had to edit out some of my use of the word “smile” from the original draft, for I used the word 13 separate times. This is why we draft, kids. Anyway, no warnings to issue this time around.

I’ll be back to bring you Festival sometime soon. Thanks so much for your support and attention!

______________

“I’m excited for our big night tonight, Kyoko!”

Her partner’s words echoed like a horrid earworm in her mind as she jotted down her most recent case notes. They’d been vibrating around in her head since the moment he uttered them; they plagued her all throughout the car ride to the Hope’s Peak building. Even now, while he was off dealing with a misbehaving teacher case, she could not get his statement to stop pestering her. She had to be the worst girlfriend in the world to have forgotten something so important as to be classified as “big night”. Simply imagining the disappointment on Makoto’s face if she confessed to not knowing the significance of the date made her heart drop. She was never the best at remembering anniversaries and birthdays without much of a reminder; her schedule was far too busy to help her recall every significant thing. What was peculiar about this situation was that Kyoko didn’t even have the benefit of being able to check her schedule. Normally, she marked off all of their important relationship milestones on their calendar so she wouldn’t forget… but for whatever reason, today’s date wasn’t in there. No red ink scribbling circles around sloppily scrawled words, no little star stickers that her boyfriend got her into the habit of using. Just a dotting of blue ink to tell her that she had a dentist appointment the following day. Her past self refused to even give an inkling of a hint.

 Still, if there was one thing that Kyoko knew best about herself, it was that she was stubborn. A stubborn detective, at that! There was no way that she would allow herself to be bested by a simple mystery such as this. If she didn’t have any clues of her own to work with, she’d just have to start off somewhere else. Of course, what else was better to start off with than witnesses? That was how Aoi came into the picture.

Well, it would be, if she weren’t several minutes late. The tardiness was admittedly a bit strange given that she had a free period, but it wasn’t super out of character for Aoi. She tended to get so excited and ahead of herself that sometimes she would almost miss work meetings entirely. Kyoko couldn’t count the number of times on both hands that she’d come rushing in to a staff meeting over twenty minutes late. All she hoped was that she would get there sooner than Makoto would get back. To have him catch them in the middle of this discussion could be mortifying. She feared she might break his heart if she let him know that she forgot. A quick and easy bit of advice or clues from Aoi would really be ideal.

 She massaged her temples with one hand and leaned over to poke her phone awake with the other. 9:03 A.M. Aoi was officially thirteen minutes late, and in all honesty, Kyoko wondered if she should start to worry. What if Makoto had intercepted her or something? Or was she perhaps the troublesome teacher he intended to deal with? The latter seemed unlikely, but she didn’t want to rule out any possibilities. Ugh, all of this would be so much easier if she knew what Makoto had been alluding to in the first place! If it hadn’t been for Aoi arriving almost as if she were on cue, Kyoko might have given into her desire to bash her head into the desk.

 “Sorry I’m late, Kyoko!” The swimmer’s voice was just as chipper as ever, and her forehead just as sweaty. Did her morning jog run long or something? “I got a little caught up. You know how it is.”

 Kyoko sighed, doing her best to pretend to be less disgruntled than she actually was. “Indeed, I do. Still, I should thank you for coming on such short notice.”

 Aoi’s ponytail swung back and forth as she strutted to the seat across from Kyoko and plopped herself down; the manner of it all reminded her of being told to sit more lady-like by her grandfather. She tried not to scowl at the thought of him. They had been through a bit of a rough patch lately. “Of course! Anything to help one of my favourite girls.”

 The taller woman laughed softly, reaching up to brush some stray hands of hair away from her face. “I am quite glad to hear you say that, Asahina-san. You see, I have something to ask you.”

 Almost instantly, Aoi folded her arms across her chest. She turned her nose up at the detective jokingly. “You may not ask me anything unless you call me by first name. You know that’s okay!”

 She let out a half-amused sigh and did her best not to show her pleasure on her face. “Aoi, if I ask you something, do you promise not to tell Makoto that I asked?”

 Aoi’s eyes widened; her body suddenly shot forward with interest. Normally, one might have reacted with a bit of apprehension over being asked to keep a secret from their friend’s paramour, but Aoi seemed to relish it. The smile that spread across her face all but proved it. Figures. Aoi probably expected to be asked about what he was thinking of doing for their next date night or something cute like that. “Ooh! What’s going on? What do you wanna know?”

 In any other situation, there would be lots Kyoko could ask. After all, Aoi was their one friend who was not only mutual, but a confidant. She wouldn’t be able to get the same information out of Yasuhiro and Toko that she could out of Aoi, and it was vice versa for Makoto. This wasn’t to say that she begged Aoi to regularly break Makoto’s trust, or that he did anything of that sort to her – it was just that the swimmer could tend to point either of them in the right direction. When Makoto struggled to ask Kyoko for a birthday present, he would tell Aoi and eventually she would tell Kyoko what he wanted. When Kyoko was too embarrassed to confess to her feelings to Makoto’s face, she would tell Aoi and she would encourage Makoto to move in the right direction to get her to open up. It definitely wasn’t a system of broken trust, but a little one that worked for them and kept things moving to their advantage. They could function without Aoi if they wanted to, but she enjoyed helping them along. She was perhaps the person most invested in their relationship apart from themselves… and maybe Komaru.

 Kyoko drummed her fingers on the desk absent-mindedly; somehow she found she would rather watch herself move than make eye contact with her friend. It must have something to do with her embarrassment over the whole not knowing the day thing, she assumed. “Aoi… do you know why today is significant in mine and Makoto’s relationship?”

 Aoi blinked, pressing a finger to her lower lip. “Ummm… no. Why is it significant? Did I miss something?”

 “It is not a rhetorical question. I am genuinely asking. Makoto asked me if I was excited for our special night this morning, and I haven’t the faintest idea what he meant.”

 “Oh! Uhhh…” the cogs in her mind seemed to turn slowly; her gaze darting around the room as if she would somehow find the answer there. It was such an artificial-looking thinking process, yet Kyoko found herself holding her breath as she awaited a response. “I… I dunno. He didn’t mention anything to me about tonight being special.”

 Kyoko let out a groan, throwing her head into her hands. “What am I going to do?! He’s expecting a perfect night, and I don’t have anything planned.”

 “Maybe… um…” she paused for but a second, “Throw on some lingerie and hope for the best?”

 The detective scowled at her. “Very funny. You know he and I aren’t… physically intimate.”

 “Aww, c’mon Kyoko-chan, don’t feel bad,” Aoi said, her arm darting across the desk to pry at Kyoko’s wrist, “I’m sure there’s gotta be someone who knows what Makoto’s all excited about.”

 “What if there isn’t? The last thing I want to do is hurt Makoto’s feelings. I cannot afford to make such a careless mistake.”

 “Well how do you know that it was you who made the mistake? Maybe he forgot what day it is, not you!”

 Somehow, that didn’t lift Kyoko’s spirits. Mostly because of how improbable it sounded. While Makoto tended to forget more trivial matters like whose turn it was to do the dishes, he never forgot important dates. Especially not when it came to their relationship. Based on what Aoi told her, he bought most of his anniversary and birthday gifts for her over three weeks in advance. Preparedness when it came to their relationship seemed to be his strong suit, quite unlike her. Without anything to show for the upcoming night, she would look like a selfish girlfriend.

 “While I respect that you are trying to cheer me up, Asahina-san, I seriously doubt that that’s the case. You know just as well as I do how diligent he is when it comes to our relationship,” her fingers somehow worked their way back to her temples, massaging them almost aggressively, “If anyone has forgotten anything, it is most certainly me.”

 Aoi’s eyes glittered with sympathy as she watched her friend, still trying to hold her arm. Kyoko imagined that she was mostly trying to pat her forearm, but had somehow settled for gripping her awkwardly. It was less comforting and more like she’d been caught in a trap; nevertheless, she decided to appreciate the sentiment behind it. “Please don’t be too hard on yourself, Kyoko-chan. Naegi-kun wouldn’t want you to do that, even if you forgot. I’m sure he’ll understand. He’s super sweet like that!”

 That is true, Kyoko thought to herself. If anything, Makoto would find it within himself to understand her perspective. Work had been incredibly busy for both of them lately, and they did have a lot of other friendship and familial obligations to attend to… Would it truly be so awful for her to have forgotten one measly little date? She couldn’t have the answer to that question. Nobody could. There were only so many circumstances in which that things could work out for her, and it all depended on how much value the date held. If it was something huge, like an anniversary, she would never forgive herself – even if Makoto did. However, should it have been something small, she figured that they would be able to brush it off and at least try to have a good time. Value determined everything, and of course it was on the list of things she didn’t know. All she had as a clue was that the date was special somehow.

 “I appreciate the optimism, but I just don’t think I can go through the rest of today without knowing what’s going on.” She sighed, doing her best to avoid pouting like a spoiled child. While there were several things that she would confess to hating, not knowing important things hung at the top. Probably somewhere around number two on her list of hated things, coming just below coriander. Blegh. “Is there anything else I can do to figure this out?”

 Aoi shrugged, still wearing that same signature smile of hers. “Why not try asking some of the others? Komaru-chan should be in helping Fukawa-san, maybe you could ask her for help. She’s his little sister, after all!” The swimmer tapped her chin. “I guess you could try Togami-kun, too, but I don’t know how nice he would be about it. I know you guys kind of like to rib each other.”

 ‘Like to rib each other’ was a sugar coating of the truth, but Kyoko supposed it encapsulated their relationship nonetheless. Byakuya was admittedly the last person she wanted to go to for help with this Makoto situation, yet the difficulty of it all gave her little choice in the matter. In fact, she considered it to be completely unavoidable.

 “I suppose you’re right there. I’ll see about talking to Komaru-chan about it first. If that fails,” one of her hands curled into a fist, “I will bite the bullet and confront Byakuya.”

 Aoi giggled softly, finally releasing Kyoko’s arm and hopping to her feet. “That’s the spirit! Now, was that all you needed, Boss?”

 For her friend’s sake, Kyoko did her best to grin a little. Though she herself hadn’t been able to help, Aoi provided her own information that would make this anxiety-inducing task much easier. Kyoko surely owed her for that. “Yes. Sorry to call you into my office for so little, but I was getting restless. Is there any way I can compensate you for your troubles?”

 Aoi waved it off. “Don’t be silly, Kyoko-chan! We’re friends, I’m here to help you any time you need it,” amusement tugged at her lips, “That being said, though… if you have to compensate me… mind buying me a donut on your next coffee run?”

 Kyoko shook her head, trying not to show how much Aoi’s request made her laugh. Of course she’d ask for a donut. “That is… doable, yes. I presume you want the Boston Kreme again?”

 The swimmer’s face lit up with glee, her hands clapping together excitedly. “Oh god, please. I haven’t had one in soooo long. They’re so yummy.”

 Kyoko could agree with that statement. It hadn’t been until her time in Hope’s Peak that she first tried a Boston Kreme donut, but she found it to be quite a hit on her tastebuds. Definitely on her list of favourites, and Aoi’s too. The girl once joked that that was how she knew that they would be good friends. “Sounds good to me. You are dismissed, Aoi-chan. Have a good day.”

 “Thanks, Kyoko-chan! You too!”

 With that, the swimmer spun on her heel and wandered towards the door, sending herself off with a wave to her friend before closing the door behind her. God, what relief Aoi’s presence had been. Of course, Kyoko could only notice it now that she had left. Stress settled back into her the moment she departed, bearing down on her like a blue whale. Though she knew she still had the hope of Komaru and Byakuya’s assistance, doubt sprouted in her heart. What if they couldn’t help her? Oh, what would she do?

 She squeezed her eyes shut. The absolute last thing she wanted to think about the way Makoto would look when she eventually confessed to being clueless. His normally chipper expression would still remain on his face, but she would see it falter. The corners of his mouth would twitch down for a split second, the joy weakening without actually ever having to disappear. His shoulders would slump, and he would move to push a hand through his hair to make things seem more casual. He would want to show her that he was more relaxed about it than he actually was. She would be able to see the hurt cloud his eyes.

 Ugh. She didn’t want to think about that. Stealing one last long look at her paperwork, she sighed and pushed herself to her feet. If she was going to avoid the terrible, horrible fate of disappointing her boyfriend, she had better get a move on in talking to Komaru and Byakuya. The guidance committee’s not-as-problematic-as-stated student situation would have to wait.

 __________

 Makoto would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried about his fiancée.

 He hadn’t been, when he’d woken up this morning. In fact, he’d been pretty excited to spend the day with her. The two of them planned this day for ages. From the blankets they would snuggle up with to the snacks they would eat, the couple made sure everything had its place. Makoto even promised her he’d make his famous popcorn-chocolate-marshmallow bars. It was tradition for their Dead Trial marathons, after all. Kyoko tended to say that it wouldn’t have felt like a proper marathon without them. Good snacks and cozy blankets were the best thing for a day inside watching their favourite show. All they had to do was get through their long day of work. That was how it seemed at the time, anyway. Now, Makoto didn’t feel so sure.

  Kyoko’s morning demeanour changed within an instant; the moment he made mention of the day caught her in a loop of seeming unease. Her expression crumpled, falling back into its neutrality. How funny, so many years ago he would never have seen her iron mask as a sign of worry. Just a sign of Kyoko being Kyoko. These days, though, he knew better than to think that. Any emotion she gave him would be better than the cold, hard stare. The mask hid fear, the face showed affection.

  His fingers tapped on the surface of the window ledge; eyes fixed intently on the world outside. He could see two students, both girls, hanging out around the fountain on what he presumed to be a date. One with black hair and the other with brown, grinning and giggling together. The dark-haired girl was trying to feed the other a spicy tuna roll, but it dropped from her chopsticks and bounced into the fountain. Her date threw her head back laughing at how clumsy the dark-haired girl was, forcing her face to turn rose-red. At any other time, he was sure he would have felt happy for them. Even if they were skipping class to have quality time, sometimes good romance was worth that kind of thing.

 He couldn’t deny that the sight of the girls made him think of Kyoko. At the end of everything, he hoped that the two of them would have a night like those two students were having. His heart ached at the image of the two of them sitting there, a foot apart and not touching at all. No blankets draped over them, no snacks placed in their laps, no emotion as they tried to enjoy their show. He would reach for his partner’s hand but she would scarcely respond, just staring almost blankly at the screen in front of her. Her leg would be bouncing up and down like a basketball, but when he asked, she would deny being nervous. It would be a torturous, awful night; neither of them would enjoy it the way they thought they would. Then, the two of them would creep off to bed, and she would sleep with her back turned to him. She wouldn’t even try to cuddle up in his arms like she usually did.

 His gaze flicked down to his watch. 11:49, it read. His little sister was running late. She had sent him a text asking to meet him outside of classroom 8-B, and somehow had not made a point of being there on time herself. He didn’t think it was too much to expect, given that she had been the one to ask that they meet in the first place. In some sense, he shouldn’t have been surprised. It was quite like Komaru to be flaky. Makoto loved his younger sister, he really did, but sometimes the girl was just trouble. 

 He let out a sigh as he watched the girls pluck the roll out of the fountain’s water, the sunlight beaming brightly on their smiling faces. He leaned on his hand, silently wishing he could be as carefree as they were. The headmaster was leagues away from being a high schooler, but when relationship communication issues like this happened, he felt like he was right back in it again. At the end of the day, he just hoped nothing was seriously wrong with Kyoko. He hated to think that something might be wrong, and she just hadn’t had the courage to tell him.

 “Hey! Makoto!”

 Finally. Komaru’s voice snapped him out of his worries as he turned his head to look at her coming down the hall. She held a stack of paper in her arms, and her hands were brutally smudged with ink. A pair of glasses rested on her nose. Figures. She asked him to meet her, and then got caught up in drawing her manga. That was so like her. Still, he pushed down his annoyance, cracking a small smile as he made eye contact with his baby sister.

 “Hey, Komaru,” he greeted, his hands resting on his hips, “I see you’re running late, as always.”

 Komaru’s tongue found its way out of her mouth before her words did. “I see you’re still a jerk, as always,” she huffed, quickly putting her flustered run into a full stop, “Thank you for coming, though.”

 “You’re more than welcome. You said there was something you wanted to talk to me about?” 

 Komaru’s fingers reached up to scratch at her cheek, the smile playing at her lips turning sheepish. Whatever she would say next, he knew he probably would not like it. It was all a sign that Komaru had either already made or intended to make trouble. Trouble that he would likely have to clean up, he might add. 

 “Okay, so like… I know you’ve told me before that you really don’t want me to meddle in your relationship with Kyoko-” 

 Makoto closed his eyes, the tips of his fingers digging in to his hips in an attempt to quell his frustration. “I don’t, and I really hope you’re about to tell me that you haven’t.”

The smile grew even more sheepish, prompting Makoto to groan. His palm hit his forehead before he even thought to make the motion himself. Why did she have to do this to him? Why couldn’t she just pretend to vomit every time they kissed, like a normal younger sister? 

 “Okay so like… I didn’t totally ruin anything or tell her anything bad, but she did come to me asking for advice on something,” Komaru confessed, shrugging her shoulders, “And I thought you should know that she’s worried about something.”

 “Do you know what it is?” He asked immediately, his eyes widening a bit. God, he hoped she came to tell him what Kyoko was worried about. It would make things so much easier for them. After all, if Kyoko wouldn’t tell him why she was acting weird, and he didn’t know, then Komaru would be the only bridge between the two of them. It wasn’t like Aoi had had anything to say when he’d initially asked her. He was running out of options.

 Komaru tittered awkwardly, clutching her inked papers a little more tightly. One could only hope that the ink was not fresh, lest it stain her suit jacket. It was pressed far too close to her body. “You see, about that, I do, but-”

 He blinked quickly, taking a few steps forward. Whatever it was, he needed to know, and he needed to know it well. “What is it?”

 She actually cringed as she spoke, wincing like she thought that her brother was going to smack her. “She told me I wasn’t allowed to tell you.”

 He hit the window ledge with his hand, wincing as pain shot through it. Maybe not the best idea, but dammit, he was pissed off. How could she give him a flicker of hope, only to take it away a minute later? That was just too cruel. “Ugh! Why would you say anything if you knew I wasn’t supposed to know?”

 “I came to give you a hint to point you in the right direction,” she whined, stomping her foot like it was their mother scolding her rather than him, “She said I can’t tell you, but I figured you had a right to know.” 

 He swallowed thickly, the crease between his brows suddenly feeling as deep as a chasm. His body fell strangely still as he waited for Komaru’s eventual reveal. Though she couldn’t tell him much, there had to be something more to this. Surely, he could ask just a few more questions. “Is it something bad?”

 “Well, uh… hard to say. It’s nothing really bad, but it might hurt your feelings a bit.”

  To no one’s surprise, that comment did little to soothe his persisting anxieties. If anything, it planted a seed of dread in his stomach. Not only was his partner clearly hiding something from him, she was now confirmed to be hiding something that would hurt his feelings if he knew. He bit his lip. 

 “How badly, do you think?” His voice left so much weaker than usual; the ache of what Kyoko hid from him this morning digging into his soul. If he thought his palms were sweaty before, they had gained some wetness now. “Like, do you think she’s gonna dump me?”

 Komaru shook her head frantically. “Definitely not. In fact, part of the reason why she’s upset is because she likes you so much. That’s the way it seemed, anyway.”

 Makoto sighed, his hand reaching to fidget with his watch. “Are you sure you can’t just tell me what it is and I’ll pretend to be surprised if she brings it up?” 

 “Sorry, big bro. No can do. We both know you’re an awful actor.” A twinge of a smirk pricked her face. “Still, try not to worry too much. I think you’ll be able to get it out of her eventually, she’s just… worried about it, that’s all. I didn’t want you to get too in over your head if you could avoid it.”

 “I appreciate that, Komaru. Thank you.” He paused. “Is there anything else you needed to tell me?”

 “Just that you’re a nerd.”

 “Oh, come on! What are you, eleven?”

 “Yeah, an eleven out of ten!” She exclaimed with a snort, incredibly pleased with what was at best a mediocre joke.

 Makoto rolled his eyes at his little sister. “It’s like you never left middle school.”

 __________

 Kyoko wanted nothing more than to repeatedly slam her head into a wall. Step one of her plan, gathering witnesses, had proven itself to be a total bust. Not only had she completely missed with Komaru, who had no idea what she was talking about — but she’d been screwed over with Byakuya, too. He had given her no clear answers about the date, and the jerk actually laughed at her when she confessed to not knowing the significance. Clearly, he wanted to take it as some victory to hold over her head. Proof of his superiority to her or something like that. She honestly didn’t know, and could not bring herself to care. She’d left his office in more than a bit of a huff, plunking herself down in her own chair much too harshly when she finally got back to her own space. It left her with a deep hole of disappointment in her stomach; one that she suppressed all afternoon as she plunged back into her paperwork. She stayed that way until lunchtime, the pit only serving to worsen when her boyfriend wandered in.

 “Come on, honey, you really should break for lunch,” Makoto said, shooting her that same smile that won the heart of anyone who saw it, “You’ve been at that work all day.”

 Her head flicked up from the boring scribblings of ink, eyes wide with surprise. Sure, she’d half-noticed that he entered the room, but hearing him was a completely different thing. Normally his voice and presence comforted her; it took weight off her shoulders on hard days. Today, on the other hand, made hearing it seem like she was getting smacked in the face with a tennis racket — vaguely painful and incredibly startling.

 “Oh,” she paused, blinking at him as if she didn’t quite believe he was real, “That time already, huh?”

 The luckster nodded cheerfully, glancing down at the two sleek black boxes he held in his arms. They were stacked one on top of the other, one marked with her initials and the other with his. Same as always, made as sweetly as always. She swallowed hard. Why did he have to be the perfect partner? It would certainly make her mess-ups a little easier to deal with if he would just screw up every once in a while. If he could just screw up majorly on something for once, it would be helpful.

 “Yup! Can’t say I blame you for forgetting, though. You almost forgot your lunch at home. Pretty hard to remember to eat without your food, y’know?” 

 Yes, her forgetting made sense. After Makoto brought up the big night, she lost all focus. From then on, all energy went into agonizing over what she’d been unable to recall. She must have left her bento sitting right on the counter, where he always put it after finishing the preparations. 

  Kyoko smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. I guess it must have slipped my mind, with our big night and all,” it was a ploy for hints, and she wondered if it would work, “I was reviewing our plans so much that I didn’t even think about grabbing it.”

 To this, Makoto laughed. “Ever diligent, as always. I hadn’t realized that you had so many plans for it! Actually, that reminds me of something.”

 “Oh?” Kyoko feigned innocence, batting her eyelashes at him. “What is it?”

 “I was thinking that it might be a good idea to head to the store after work to pick up some stuff for tonight.” 

 “What kind of stuff?” She asked, knowing that the question would give her a little more without entirely selling her out to him. Minute by minute, she inched closer to figuring this out, and she couldn’t be more thrilled. Relief would wash over her in no time, if he would just be a good witness and comply.

 “You know, the usual for the night.” He answered with a shrug, pulling his phone out of his pocket. She could only presume that he was verifying his list. Oh, how she longed to snatch the phone out of his hands and read it all for herself. It was almost as if he was deliberately being cryptic. Her boyfriend was a wiggly salamander trying to slip out of her grasp. “I was thinking about picking up some ice cream for dessert, but I don’t know what flavour I should get.”

 Aha! A clue! A cryptic one, but still, it was a clue nevertheless. She fought off the urge to scribble it down on the precious paperwork she’d been buried in only a moment prior. A good detective should be able to commit such a fact to memory with ease, her grandfather told her once. Though she hated thinking about him, she supposed that he was right, especially considering the person she was interrogating was standing right in front of her.  

 “I’m sure that I could help you with that,” she giggled, giddy from having found a small clue, “I promise not to get stuck between black cherry and pralines and cream like I did last time.” 

 Makoto shook his head, grinning over the memory. The two of them must have spent an half an hour in that grocery store, bouncing between the pros and cons of each flavour. They had only been intending to pick it up for a simple treat night, yet Kyoko found herself paralyzed by indecision. The two of them had had such a horribly long day at that point, and she’d just wanted to settle down with the perfect ice cream. God, she would kill to have a night like that again. If she ever figured out what their plans were for their special night, she didn’t know if she could enjoy them. After all, she’d expended so much energy on figuring out what the plans would be that she might run out of energy before they even got there. 

 “I think you probably could, yeah. I’ll meet you here after school; is three-thirtyish okay?” 

 She nodded. “Sounds perfect.”

 “Great! Now that that’s settled, though… wanna go have a picnic in the Garden of Statues?”

 That had been where they left it in the office that day, a spark of hope bursting in Kyoko’s chest. Though she hadn’t been able to solve her boyfriend’s surprisingly difficult riddle right then, she was confident that she would be hot on its trail soon. She spent most of the rest of the day scribbling away at her paperwork until he came to meet her at three thirty-two. The couple were a pair of beaming faces, the two of them wandering into the nearest pharmacy/retail store in search of whatever goodies Makoto had on his list. Not that Kyoko knew what they were. In all honesty, she was a little surprised that that was even the place he wanted to go. Still, she appreciated the tip-off that it was not the most formal evening the two of them had ever had. Every hint was one she grabbed at with fervour. At this point, she needed every one she could get. The sand in the hourglass was running low.

 Even with the confirmation of the lack of formality, everything he had put in their box didn’t make sense. Salted caramel popcorn, shampoo, sponges, marshmallows, hand soap, tortilla chips, razor blades, hiyoko cakes, headache pills, chocolate, medicinal tea blends, calbee shrimp snacks, pretzels, wasabi peas, tissues… None of these things made any sense together. Separate the snacks from the household items and then maybe one could get something, but Makoto stated specifically that he was buying for their evening. Kyoko pressed her lips together, wondering whether he was just feeling snackish or if he genuinely needed these things. Part of her itched to ask him, but she worried that even that might blow her cover. Instead, she chose to quietly follow behind him, watching him continue to pluck things off the shelves. 

 “Is there anything you want apart from the ice cream, Kiri?” Makoto questioned, not meeting her gaze as his hands found a bag of pizza potato chips. Her tongue stuck out at the thought of them. They were his favourite flavour of chips, but she couldn’t stand them. Of course, it didn’t bother him any. He didn’t have to share. “You can have whatever you want. Sky’s the limit tonight!” 

 She forced herself to grin half-heartedly; the muscles in her face protested from the extra effort it took. She hoped he didn’t notice her picking at the studs of her gloves like they were a scab she could remove. “I don’t think there’s anything else I want. You go ahead and pick out whatever you would like.”

 It was only then that he twisted his head to look back at her, one eyebrow raised. Uh-oh, she thought. Must have awoken suspicion in him. “Are you sure?” 

 She nodded. “Positive. Go right on ahead.” 

 A frown carved its way into his expression. For a moment he opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, and then closed it just as promptly. He turned back towards their box and rearranged a few things as if nothing was wrong. That alone was enough to make her heart beat faster, and her breathing grow heavy. With how things were progressing, she risked actually managing to tear the silver studs from her gloves. 

 The silence persisted between the two of them for about a minute or so after Makoto rearranged their items; they wandered down a few more aisles before finally stopping in front of the frozen foods. Shivers shot through Kyoko as they walked. Unfortunately, her pencil skirt left her legs susceptible to the frigid air exuding off the freezers. She pushed herself up against him without thinking, hoping the proximity would allow her to thieve some of his warmth. 

 “Feeling a little chilly, Kyoko?” He snickered. 

 She nuzzled his shoulder. “It’s cold here.”

 He smirked slightly, pressing an awkward kiss to the side of her head. “I know, it is pretty cold. We should be out of here soon enough, though. Just as soon as you decide what ice cream you want…!”

 She groaned, slapping a hand to her forehead.

 “You promised you’d help me pick.”

 The detective only grumbled in response, stopping to turn to look at her options through the glass door. Her eyes scanned the shelves for anything that grabbed her, not taking notice of the way her partner was watching her as she worked. Her lips pursed as she searched, wondering if any of them were going to jump out at her. Bubblegum, vanilla, strawberry, coconut almond, triple chocolate, green tea, lemon custard…

 “Kyoko, are you okay?”

 ____________________________

 Okay, Makoto gulped to himself. The million-dollar question is out. 

 She turned to look at him, her brows knitted in confusion at the question. Her eyes seemed to be scrutinizing his face, drinking in every last detail. How funny it was that the two of them were spending so much time observing each other to excessive degrees. “What do you mean?” 

 “You’ve been acting weird since this morning,” he admitted, shrugging his shoulders, “It’s like you’ve been on and off perfectly normal, and then really frustrated. Some of the others noticed it at work today, too. Komaru was pretty worried about you. She said you asked to talk to her about something and seemed flustered. Said she couldn’t tell me exactly what happened, but that you were worried about hurting my feelings. Is something going on?”

 His partner cursed under her breath, and for a second he thought he’d heard his little sister’s name thrown somewhere in there. She began to nibble on her lip anxiously, her gaze darting away from him. He probably shouldn’t have brought up that he spoke to Komaru at all.

 “Did I do something, Kyoko?” 

 A balloon of pressure built inside of him as he stood there waiting for her response. His heartbeat danced in his throat. Whatever was wrong with his girlfriend, he was sure that they could manage to get through it, but only if they communicated. Otherwise, they risked never being able to find the right pieces to reach their happiness. Then where would they be?

 “It’s…” 

 “It’s…?” He parroted, reaching out to grab her hand. She moved it away from him almost like she was flinching, sending a pang of sadness through his heart. He really hoped this wasn’t going where Komaru said it wouldn’t.

 “It’s not something you did, Makoto, I just…”

 His hand moved to rest on her arm, at the very least. Though he didn’t feel he had the energy within him to do so, he cracked a small grin. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. We’re a team. We’ve got to work through this stuff together, you know?” 

 Kyoko’s cheeks burned like brand-new Christmas lights, her gaze still fixated anywhere else but his face. Her words seemed to catch in her throat as she uttered them, somehow too embarrassed to speak her mind. “Do you promise me that you won’t be upset if I tell you the truth?” 

 Oh no. Fear settled into him faster than he thought possible. She wasn’t going to confess to having done something totally wild, was she? She hadn’t grown bored of him, or decided she’d be happier with a smarter, better-looking man? He didn’t think crushing his heart in public was anywhere within her character, but she’d surprised him before. Sweat dewed on his palms; he wiped it off on his work pants as best he could. “Uh… I’d like to think I could do that for you, yeah,” he replied, cringing at his anxiety showing in his voice, “So long as you didn’t like… I don’t know, plan to murder me and then decide last minute you didn’t want to go through with it.”

 It was a bit of a joke, but neither of them laughed. Not that it mattered. He got the feeling that the two of them just wanted her to spit out her confession already. 

 “It’s nothing like that, I just…” Kyoko’s hands curled into her fists, her eyes squeezing themselves shut. “Makoto, you were saying this morning that today is such a special day, and that you were really excited about what was going to happen… but I don’t remember why today is important.”

 The murmuring of “oh” came out of his mouth before he could process it, blinking slowly as the cogs turned in his mind. So his girlfriend wasn’t mad at him, nor was she leaving him for a superior specimen? She was just… feeling ashamed because of a mistake? Because she hadn’t remembered why the day was important? She crossed her arms over herself for protection, not realizing that a relieved laugh brewed in his chest. Oh, how he’d worried over nothing! He found himself grinning within seconds. Without thinking, he leaned over and pressed another kiss against her forehead.

 “Oh, Kyoko. Have you been beating yourself up about this all day?”

 “I’m sorry. I’m a horrible girlfriend.”

 He laughed and shook his head, giving her arm a supportive squeeze. “No, you’re not!”

 “Yes, I am. I completely forgot everything that’s supposed to be important about today, and I tried to ask Aoi, Komaru, and Togami-kun to get them to tell me, but they didn’t know either. I thought maybe by coming here with you and seeing what you were buying would give me some clues as to what our plans are, but I’m just more confused. Half of these are snacks, and the other half are just random items,” she reached into the box and pulled out a container of shampoo, “Seriously. What does this have to do with tonight?” 

 He chuckled awkwardly. “It doesn’t have anything to do with tonight. We just needed more shampoo. Same thing with the hand soap and sponges and all that. Picking up the snacks was the main goal. I’m going to make those caramel popcorn bars for us to eat, and it’s been awhile since we had hiyoko cakes, and you asked me for nachos when we first planned tonight…” 

 “But you only ever make the popcorn bars when we have Dead Trial marathons...” She muttered, her eyes suddenly lighting up like she’d struck a match. To his surprise, she actually gasped, taking hold of his arm. They must have looked so silly, grasping onto each other like that. “The new season gets uploaded to Flickies tonight, doesn’t it?! Is that why today is special?”

 Finally, he let himself have a full, hearty laugh. “Yeah! Since you’ve been so busy lately, I figured you must have been holding out for it and doing all that work to make sure you could enjoy yourself once it got uploaded. I didn’t realize you’d forgotten about it entirely.”

 “So I’m not a terrible girlfriend?”

 “Far from it! Just a girlfriend who worked so hard that she forgot about a special TV bingeing night.” 

 She exhaled with relief, her hand hitting her chest. “I’m so glad.” 

 “You must have been really worried, huh?”

 “Of course I was,” she murmured, rubbing his arm in what he assumed was supposed to be some form of affection, “I was certain that I would be hurting your feelings by forgetting, and I’m sure you know that that is the last thing I would ever want to do.”

 “Yeah, I know. Still, Kyoko, I promise I wouldn’t be mad at you if you really had forgotten something important. I know you’ve got a lot on your mind most of the time, and you’re only human. Anybody’s bound to forget stuff. It’s just how people work.”

 She blinked softly at him, staring up at him with the most loving gaze that he’d ever received from him. It was as if he could see the stars in her eyes. “Really?”

 “Of course,” he assured her, “I don’t need you to remember every little thing to know you love me.”

 She sighed, throwing her arms around him and pulling him into a hug. Makoto’s heart began to beat faster as she pressed her face into his shoulder, snuggling in close. He couldn’t stop himself from breathing in her sweet smell, enjoying the cherry blossom-scent. “You’re too nice to me, Makoto, you know that?”

 “Well, you deserve it.” He murmured, holding her as tightly as he could manage. It felt so good to be in her arms.

 Kyoko snickered. “You’re such a flatterer.”

[seekeroftruthpromestein]

Welp. Paradox time.It’s the Finale.

Yikes. Last campground....

That doesn’t bode well...

Here they are. All my friends. I’ve traveled with them for this long. We’re near the end of the game. Who knows what will happen... 

Promestein. You’ve been a very interesting character to see through this game. Seeing you young kind of shows you were always a fucked up kid. But, you have a good heart. And you now have a found family. You’re no longer a lone wolf salvaging through a dark world. You have us. And we’re happy to have you and alllow you to examine this bright new world.

Nuruko. I sadly didn’t get to know you too well and I’ll be sure to remedy that next game. But you were an interesting little thing. 

I wouldn’t have pegged you as a main character honestly but hey. I’m glad your here. You were another person that I’ll have to be sure to bring next time because I feel you probably have lots of interesting insight. 

Pope. You are DEF going to be in my next group. You were one of the most exciting twists i’ve ever seen and I am happy you were here. I am still angry for no sex scene. 

Hilde. Once again, another “I didn’t bring around enough” but you hey. Happy to have you.

These two were my favorite running joke. The not so wise senpai and the student. 

Not sure why YOU are here but you WERE the first boss of the game. So. Yeah. Welcome.

And you were the first recruited monster... I think.

This little exchange reminds me. Granberia was NOT at ALL a regular character in this entire exchange. Hardly any of the knights showed their faces. Alma I think was the most regular. 

The spirits play little purpose as well. In the orginal trilogy they were SUPER important as they were a constant ability you had to keep on or die.  Here. They’re not weak, they’re decent buffs.  But I rarely use them... I did use them actually in the battle against Blalice. Alice actually is a Spirit Summoner because I felt it was rather poetic all things considered. 

Wait are you a noble? Maybe you should put on pants. And a shirt. But okay. Vanilla! The most useful member that never see’s battle. She was BRIEFLY drafted in Black Alice when all of the other allies died but yeah. She has been a rock this entire time. Constantly producing MP for the party.  

I admit I never had a use for her. She mostly stayed around because she had the most Dialog from things. 

And ah. The MVP herself. Okay second MVP but we’ll get to her soon. Superb support. Valuable as hell. Sadly a lot of Angels have Auto-hit attacks. But I would have lost without her many times. 

I’m trying to do the whole sentimental thing but yeah. Don’t have a lot to say. Maybe one of these days I’ll have just the four of them on a team. 

I’m just WAITING for you to betray me. But it’s a bit late and you’re no longer important in the slightest so. 

Ah speak of the devil. Now. Time for the main course. 

Traveling with Black Alice has been a really facinating experience. She’s a lot of fun. If you know, a bit evil. It’s interesting that she played the Alice. Pretending to be something she’s not. It makes me wonder if it’s a tradition? I wonder if this experience will make her nicer. 

Ah Sonya. You sadly have a LOT of death flags... It was interesting the idea of Luka having a human friend, but from a writing perspective it makes sense as she suddenly got the tropes that were associated with Alice in the first game. 

Not a good sign.

This does bring a point though. Sonya I dropped out of the party for not being too useful. A healer in a game where healing is incredibly easy. And she didn’t exactly have a whole lot... Actually I could have turned her into a vampire funny enough. And a worm Villager. But yeah, besides that. She didn’t have a whole lot. I’m probably gonna try using her more in my Ilias file as I want to RP it as more of a Human/Angel Centric idea. The only overlap being Prom really. 

And Alice. I really wish there was more to you but I get it. The romance between Luka and her just isn’t  a focal point. Despite the fact that her and Luka’s children are in fact facing off. I kind of wish that was addressed more. 

And her mother... There’s actually a LOT of plot threads still not addressed. 

Was hoping for Elemental Giga. This would be a game where it could be theoretically useful though. With all the abilities and such.

Ilias prayer music in the background.

Now we have Opera music... Place has changed.

Less then steller. 

You bitch.

You know what. Fuck you. YOU are FOURTH! 

Alright gotta act quickly. Can’t... wait

WHAT??

SHE SAID IT

I’m not sure if gleefully killing an entire town counts. 

Never a nice thing to learn.

“Then the fanfiction writers started... There’s this ONE bitch. She runs a Promestein blog and if you LISTENED to the drivel she writes. She made up this nonsense with male monsters for drama’s sake”

“And don’t get me started on the Luka Situation. There were like 3 at one point.”

Wait... How many others from other worlds??

...Wait When??? I can go over level 60 now?? Must be when I updated.. Huh. Okay. Wish I did this earlier.

Too many... oh

See. I’m doing an RP with La Croix that takes place using this concept. But something both of us realized is that Luka actually very rarely DIED in most of his endings. Not right away. Many of them used him as a pleasure slave. Or married him. Or he just gave up adventuring. Some like the angels even used him for 1000′s of years. So. Theoretically. He would have had to live his entire life. Die of natural causes. And then wake up back at a fight he had years ago. 

But here it just says failed. 

Oh.... Is this...Which Ilias?

I forgot... You’re... the Real ilias. so you have been trying your best to keep things from going to shit huh?

Oops.

Yikes... So yeah. Makes sense. Fuck that Lukia (Which was us)

The...Remina labs??

Oh hey. It that bitch.

Yes Little Prom. Yes. Soon. You will meet. Yourself.

A better part of the whole. I remember there being an Angel/Monster hybrid who says she couldn’t  combine her dark and holy energy. This is probably why.

I wonder if this is a joke of some kind revolving around smoking becoming less allowed in Japan.

And they summoned.... Black..Alice. Is that how she was alive in the original Trilogy??

Oh no... This..... Is.... Original Trilogy Black Alice.

As creepy music plays. I am reminded. The White Rabbit is a universal Constant. Where was she then in the original Trilogy? Simple. She was here. Right here. In Black Alice... the drug created by Promestein. The fusion of Holy and Dark.

Those poor Scientist.

That Casualty of it.

Oh. Dear. Lord.

“So you finished the art for that Hentai game right?” ��HENTAI GAME?? I thought we were making Bloodborne.”

That is terrifying. 

Oh dear lord.

Angels. Demons. Both are at her demand.

YOU SAID SHE COULD NOT REACH US.

Of course. Time Succubi from aother wordl

That. Is terrifying.

Yup. Zero.

She’s dying as the Villain again? The Pyrrha. 

Wait. What?

So... You.. Were killing them to.. Bring them into YOUR world??? So. They’re alive? 

So they’re killing people... to bring them into another?  This reminds me of a little bit of a Webcomic called Order of the Stick. Where the gods wondered briefly if they should destroy the world, in order to save the souls. Because the main monster, was a giant horrifying sould devouring creature.  So if the gods destroyed the world, they could save many from inhiliation, and bring them into the after life.  This begs a lot of question about after lives and existance beyond death and whether or not it truly is a death. 

Bloodying her hands so her daughter doesn’t have to.

Yeah I would like to know that as well.

I would like to know actually.

Wait why are you wearing clothes now?

I forgot you were a person.  Wait. So these are from another universe.... One where Ilias won...And therefor Eden got to wear clothes. 

The old Monster and Angel War, Fought in the foreground of the world we stand.

And the death flags come home to roost. 

Was she... one the entire time?

Or did she become one now?

Mhm. This looks familiar.

And the music begins. The  battle wasn’t too hard. But...

This isn’t good.

Not grand.

This battle music is though. ♪♫

Oh you bitch.

We beat both of them... or...

We did not.

That’s... really really not good.

...what?

HUH???

UMMM????

SHES A WHATR??

She’s the element of chaos....   Does that mean there’s a HOly and Dark Spirit too?

Fine. I’ll train you.

...What?

Oh.... shit.... Dad... Killed Alice’s Mom.

And. That. Is the end.... Welp. I guess we have to do the Ilias Route next.

[ljf613]

Red String Theory, Part One (Rough Draft)

The fifth-grade class was filled with chattering children. “This so cool!” “It’s so stupid and gross- why do I have to learn about some girly-” ‘My parents told me years ago.” “I’ve never even heard of-” “My dad says that was he was a kid, they didn’t learn about it in school until seventh grade!” “No way!”  Everyone seemed to have an opinion on the subject. Everyone, that is, except for a girl sitting in the corner of the room, sunglasses over her closed eyes, running her fingers along the bumpy pages of her book. She wished everyone would be quiet.  She was the first person to hear the teacher coming down the hallway. The moment she heard the familiar footsteps, she stood up, grabbed the white cane lying next to her, and walked over to her desk. “Class! Please settle down and get to your seats! I know I’m a few minutes late, but that’s no excuse to disturb other classes. Now, I know what I said yesterday, but we still need to get through this week’s vocabulary words.”  The entire class let out a collective groan. 

After the vocabulary lesson, the teacher erased the board.  “Alright class, today we’ll be learning about the red string. By a raise of hands, how many of you have seen it?” Three hands tentatively rose up from different sides of the room. “Three out of forty-four-- more than than I was expecting. When I was your age, none of my classmates had seen it yet.”  One boy in the back raised his hand. The teacher called on him. “Umm, what is the red string? It seems kind of like, ummm,” he said nervously, “It’s like everyone else here already sort of knows about it, but I never heard of it until you mentioned it yesterday.” “That’s a very good question, Andy. Some of your classmates know about it because their parents or siblings have told them, but some parents wait to tell their children until they’re older, or let the teachers tell them.” At this, several of the students let out sighs of relief. Evidently, they’d been as clueless as Andy, but hadn’t wanted to admit it. “The red string,” continued the teacher, “Often referred to as ‘the red string of fate,’ is an invisible, intangible- that’s one of your new vocabulary words- red string that is tied somewhere on your body.” A couple of the children started looking at their arms, checking for a red string. Of course, they didn’t see anything. “The string connects you to your soulmate. Now, many of you already know that much. What most of you probably don’t understand is what a soulmate is, and how the string connects you.” A tall girl in the back of the class raised her hand, and the teacher called on her. “A soulmate is the one person who you’re meant to be with, right? And following the red string will lead you to them-- so romantic,” said the idealistic girl. “It’s not quite that simple, Olivia,” said the teacher, “You three, who can see the string, do all of you have String Since Birth Syndrome (SSB Syndrome)?” The two boys nodded, but the third student, a wispy, short girl shook her head. “It just appeared yesterday, when you mentioned that we’d be talking about it today. I didn’t really know what it was, so I hoped you would be able to explain what was going on.” The teacher looked thoughtful at that. “Hmmm…..Well, Adam and Jared, have either of you ever tried to follow the string?” The boys nodded sheepishly. “Did either of you ever find the end of the string?” They both shook their heads and sighed. “It’s to be expected,” explained the teacher, “You’re both very young and have plenty of growing to do and choices to make. Your soulmate isn’t set in stone, after all.” The girl in the sunglasses was listening carefully, and was now very confused. An invisible string tied you to your soulmate, but who your soulmate wasn’t necessarily determined? And yet some people could see it? Why hadn’t her parents ever mentioned the string to her? Was it because- “In your life, you will make many, many decisions. Some of those decisions will change the course of your future. Where you go to college, what job you have, where you want to live. That’s what it means to have free will. Different circumstances in your life will make you into different people, and your soulmate is the perfect match for the person you become. Some theorize that a person may have as many as seven different potential soulmates. That’s why, other than the occasional SSB, the vast majority of children and teenagers can’t see their string- because you all have so much potential, and could become anyone.” All the children (other than the girl in sunglasses) were staring uncomprehendingly at their teacher. She realized she was going a little too deep for them. “Let me put it this way,” the teacher said, “You guys know how identical twins, who are genetically the same person, can have totally different personalities?” The students nodded, some of the turning to look at Adam and Michael, the two identical boys sitting next to each other. They knew all about identical twins with drastically different personalities. “Well, you’re all sort of like that. When you’re an adult, you could be anything, and choices you make and circumstances that you go through will make you different types of people. And just like twins will need different soulmates, if you become an artist in Paris you’ll need a different sort of soulmate than if the become President of the United States. That’s why you SSB boys couldn’t find the other ends of your strings- your lives are going to take plenty of twists and turns before meeting your soulmates. And the person who might be tied to the other end of that string right now might not be the one you eventually meet.” The kids more or less understood that one. A cheerful looking boy in the corner raised his hand. “So if my soulmate could be anyone, then when will I be able to see the red string?” “Good question, Sammy. Unless you have SSB Syndrome, you won’t see the string unless you’re really ready to meet and commit to your soulmate. That’s why, even if they’ve only just met, unless they’re underage, soulmates will usually get married right away- they know that both of them are committed to building a future together. Which is another reason why there aren’t many kids- or even college students- who can see the string, and why almost no one who can’t see the red string gets married. They aren’t ready to commit.” The classroom starting buzzing. This was definitely news to all of them. It took a few minutes for the teacher took get them all settled down. “Now, as I was trying to explain before you all worked yourselves up into a tizzy, when someone without SSB Syndrome can suddenly see the red string, it usually means one of three things.” The teacher started writing on the board. “Number one, and most common,” she said, pointing to the first line on the board, “People who are already in a relationship. Can anyone guess why? Yes, Jennifer?” “Ummm, because if you’re dating someone,” said a brainy girl in the front row, “They’re likely to be someone who makes you happy?” “Very good, Jenny. Your soulmate is probably not a starving in some third-world country-- they’re someone whom you’d probably meet anyway-- and maybe already have. In which case, it’s very likely for two soulmates to meet and start dating before the red string appears. The red string will only appear when both people are ready, and sometimes, even if they’re dating, two people have too many things to do with their lives before they’re ready. I just want to be clear, though-- this does not mean that just because two people are dating, they are soulmates.” The girl in the sunglasses sighed. This was so complicated. “Number two,” continued the teacher as she pointed to the second line, “Someone who needs their soulmate. Yes, Andy?” “My mom always says that no woman needs a man.” The teacher sighed internally at that one. Andy’s mom was a wonderful single mother, but she didn’t really believe in soulmates. “Like I said, most of you probably don’t really understand what a soulmate is. Now I know that all of you have been really sad at one point in your life, right?” The students all looked at each other. Where was she going with this? “Well, when you’re really sad, sometimes you just need a friend, right? A shoulder to cry on, if you will.” Some of the students nodded along-- including the girl in the sunglasses. “Well, a soulmate, aside from being a romantic partner, is also the best friend you’ll ever have. Sometimes, when someone is going through some hard times, they need their soulmate to help them get through it. That’s probably why you can see it now, Millie-- either you or your soulmate needs someone to be there for them right now.” Millie-- the short girl who hadn’t been able to see the red string until yesterday, looked puzzled. Clearly, she didn’t need anyone there for her right now. “The third reason has become much less common than the others, especially with younger people, but used to be the mainway most people found their soulmates.” The teacher pointed at the third line on the board. It just said one word: Ready. “Sometimes, people are just ready to find their soulmates. They’ve decided what course they want to take with their lives, and they’re ready to share it with someone else.” She erased the board. “Alright, the test will be the day after tomorrow. Does anyone have any questions?” Most of the class raised their hands or started calling out. One by one, the teacher patiently answered each of their questions and was about to let them out to recess when she realized one more student had her hand up. “Yes, Mattie?” The teacher was surprised. The quiet girl rarely spoke, let alone asked questions in class, and the teacher didn’t know much about her. “How will I know if I’ve met my soulmate?” “That’s what I just spent the entire class explaining! You’ll be able to see the--” That’s when the teacher remembered. The aloof girl in sunglasses was blind. A few days later, Millie’s mother was diagnosed with cancer, and she died six months after that. Luckily, Millie had her soulmate to help her get through it. Seven years later, Jared met his soulmate in his AP English class, and he married her two days after graduation. Adam met his soulmate when he went away to college, and Sammy, who’d chosen to stay and work in town, discovered that his high school sweetheart was also his soulmate. But ten years after she’d sat in class and learned about the red string, Mattie was still looking for her soulmate.

[vaelynez]

Sooo, I started writing this in June of 2019. It was an idea for a story called ‘Heroing is Funny Like That’. I was drafting the idea, but I never finished it. Maybe one day I will, I make no promises. I decided to share it, because why not?

It’s quite old so the characterzation might be a bit off because I was really new to the fandom. But, no harm no foul. Improvement amIright? Also, this story is outlined or planned I was toying with the idea, so the summary is kinda eh.

Anyway, hope you enjoy this.

Summary: Before Cosmo died, Tails trusted Sonic he would save her, but he didn’t. Ever since there’s been a divide in the two brothers' relationship that got worse over the years. But when Tails is injured in an ambush by Eggman, Sonic has to learn to trust himself. For the sake of the city, and the relationship with his brother.

Words: ≈1830

“Sonic!” he cried. He took a few steps towards him, and he backed up, placing his hands up protecting him. “Sonic, ummm.” He stopped talking as he grabbed his arm placing something in his gloved hand.

“Tails, this was all that was left.” He shut his eyes trying to block out his small cries. He clutched the seed slowly walking towards him. He rested his head on his stomach, and he felt his tears run down his leg.

“It’s not true!” he cried. “Cosmo was just here! I heard her voice!” He pounded softly on his chest, but he didn’t say anything, letting the kit process what had just happened.

“Sonic! I had faith that you would save her! I believed in you! I believed in you!” He stopped hitting his chest as he slid onto the ground, his cries turned into screams of disbelief. But he didn’t say anything.

Those words. As soon as he said them, a ping shot through his chest. He wanted to cradle the young fox and apologize, but he didn’t. He let him blame him because he knew how much it hurt to lose someone. Sonic knew he couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

He thought it would be better to let him use him as a reason for what had just happened because he longed to make it easier on the young kit. But death wasn’t easy, loss was one of the hardest things to go through. But what he didn’t know was what was going on in his head, and what had happened to him in the past.

This wasn’t his first loss.

But he didn’t know this, so he tried to let himself be the reason. But little did he know it would just make it worse. Tails didn't just lose Cosmo that day, he lost his trust in Sonic, and Sonic didn’t just lose a friend, he lost trust in himself to be the hero he was proclaimed to be. But one thing was for sure, their relationship would never be the same, and neither would either of them.

4 Years Later

Sonic

He felt the wind in his quills. The pounding of the dirt road under his feet and heard it crunch under his feet. A feeling he’d never get over, running. He had always loved to run for as long as he could remember. He ran when he just needed a pass-time, or when he was bored, and when things got stressful all he wanted to do was run.

That was today, he just needed to clear his head. Needed something to take his mind off things. Despite what people would think, after a while, he did get tired, like now. He had been running since the sun had barely lit up the sky now it was noon.

His legs burned, his throat was dry, and his chest was tight from trying to breathe. But he pushed past it because if he stopped he wouldn’t start for a while, then he’d have to face his thoughts which he didn’t want to do just yet. So he carried on, the bright summer sun beating down on his deep blue quills. The bottom of his feet burned, friction caught up in his shoes- which never seemed to be able to keep up with him- but he didn’t care.

He didn’t stop, he just kept going. He knew he should have stopped, normally he didn’t push himself so far, but today- God he just needed to think about something else. For everyone else, this day was a good thing, and it should have been, but he couldn’t find joy in it. He clenched his fists in speed up, despite telling himself not to, he didn’t listen. He couldn’t sleep all night and left the house at 4 in the morning.

He should have stopped at some point, but he didn’t.

He kept going, faster, then when he thought about it again, he went faster. He knew he had seen a few of his friends a number of his times, just to show how many times he had been around the trail that barely made it through the clearing of where Amy’s house was, a small little get-together celebration to celebrate. The trail he was taking was around 17 miles long, but he deterred from it many times, making the- to most people- daring trail 93 miles.

The past few times he passed Amy’s house he heard her yell to him, and it was coming up, he saw it in the clearing. This time, there were a group of people out there. Amy, Cream, Vanilla, Knuckles even, but he didn’t slow down.

“Hey! Sonic!” Amy called. He ignored her, and tried to speed up, but found it too hard.

“Mr. Sonic, can you stop for a minute? We’re-”

“You heard her stop for a minute!” Knuckles snapped.

He almost did. For once, he wanted to stop, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. So he kept going. The 19-year-old had never been good with emotions, so he tried to run away from them. Especially on days like today. The speedster kept on, ignoring the callings of his friends. He didn’t hear someone come up behind him, he didn’t expect anyone to even try and catch up with him despite not going full speed. But he was knocked out of his thoughts when he was tackled to the ground.

Sonic looked up in shock as he held him down. He pushed him off, standing up letting the rubbery feeling of his legs set in. He struggled to stand but didn’t dare show weakness to who was standing in front of him.

“Shadow, what the hell?” Shadow stood in front of him, his arms crossed staring down the younger hedgehog. Sonic had no clue he was even at Amy’s, he wouldn’t have expected it of him.

“You know it’s rude to ignore people, you made Cream cry,” he said nonchalantly. Sonic clenched his fists and looked away.

“Shut up, Shadow.”

“You always do this! Every year!” Sonic put a hand up to silence him, he flashed a small- fake- smile.

“Now, Shadow. You should know I’m not much of a partier-”

“Bullshit. I’ve been following you for a while now, something's bothering you. How long have you been out here?”

“Depends, what time is it?” he asked.

“Quarter to 2,” Shadow replied raising an eyebrow.

“So about 10 hours,” Sonic replied shrugging. It was longer than he had thought, but at this point, he really didn’t care.

“Are you stupid?” Shadow yelled. He shrugged again. He would have run away if his legs weren’t killing him.

“I couldn’t sleep,” he said. The next thing he knew, he was hit to the ground, Shadow’s hand balled into a fist. “What was that for?” he retorted.

“Just trying to knock you out, you’re exhausted.”

“You can tell?” Sonic asked looking at the ground.

“One, can you hear yourself? Two, you can barely stand.” Sonic sighed. He knew he sounded like a dying anything. He had just hoped Shadow didn’t notice, even if it was wicked noticeable.

“I’m fine,” Sonic replied rolling his eyes trying to look amused

“No, you’re not. And don’t think I’m trying to let you vent on me, because I’m not. I’m just making sure you don’t kill yourself. Go home.” He bit his lip. He didn’t think he could handle being home, not today. He couldn’t stand the memories of what happened.

“Sorry, no can do, Shads.” He tried to sound uppity, but the fact he had to blink away tears said otherwise.

“Go before I drag you there,” Shadow grumbled. Sonic sighed, surprised. Either Shadow was really irritated or worried, normally he’d try and kill him for calling him that. He went for irritated, it wasn’t like Shadow cared about him or anything, right?

“Fine. But only to get you off my case!” he snapped standing up brushing some of the dirt out of his quills getting ready to run ‘home’. Why? Because he had no other choice, and truth be told he just wanted to take a shower and sleep. But he knew he couldn’t.

“And get some rest, you need it.” Sonic smiled sadly.

“Didn’t you hear me before. I can’t sleep, not today.” And with that, he speeds off, arriving at his once shared home. Now, the entire thing was empty until he stepped in. All it reminded him of was that day he came home. The day he found out what he was hiding from him. There was so much guilt and the worry that it never stopped. He wasn’t even sure if he counted as a sidekick anymore, not like this.

Most people considered him to be. Nobody noticed how far they had grown apart. Everyone thought they were fine and moved on. But they hadn’t spoken in months. One of them could be dead and they wouldn’t even know. It was a sad reality, but the last time they spoke was on a mission when Tails had to warn Sonic that the roof was collapsing and had to leave.

He never even thanked him.

The last time they talked outside of a mission? He didn’t know. Sonic covered his head with his hand and slid down the wall. It was this day their relationship went to hell. The anniversary of the defeat of the Matrex 4 years ago.

The day Tails moved out, 3 years ago.

A day he always spent alone.

Sonic threw the towel to the side basket in the bathroom. He grabbed his shoes and threw them on as well as his gloves. Although he wasn’t a sweaty mess anymore, his shower hadn’t made him feel much better. He sluggishly made his way to the couch flopping on top of it sighing.

“Never again.”

He winced. His aching legs agreed as he sat them on the arm of the couch, ignoring- or at least trying to ignore the voices in his head that played through.

“Sonic! I told you to stop doing that!”

“Not today you didn’t.”

“You get the point,” he chuckled.

“I don’t get why you’re making such a big deal out of this.”

“You’ll get dirt all over the couch!”

“I’m sorry you never took a step outside, Tails,” he playfully taunted.

“Oh, shut up!”

Sonic let out a small whine from his throat turning his head blocking out the memories. He covered his head with his hands and tried to fall asleep but he couldn’t. He never could, despite how exhausted he was. He just laid there not really sure what to do. He was bored out of his mind but didn’t have the energy to do anything.

It wasn’t like he had much better to do. Everyone else would probably be together celebrating. But he wasn’t in the mood, it wasn’t like him, but he’d end up just playing it off as he was sick. He sighed. It was going to be a long day…

Aaand that’s the end I never finished the first chapter but I do have a folder of brainstorming for this story. 💕

[seijch]

BY DAY, you attend classes and sling drinks at the campus cafe. By night, you’re known as the Harbinger, an individual with the Gift of shadow and darkness. Your two jobs have never had any reason to collide…not until the appearance of a fellow Gifted by the name of Ace, anyway.

[ read luck of the draw here !! ]

this is an extra post for me to infodump on all the worldbuilding details i never got to fit into my already obnoxiously large fic 🕺🏻🕺🏻 its holding my brain hostage so maybe posting this will help!!!

please read luck of the draw before clicking the readmore !! there are spoilers abound (and you probably won’t understand much of what i’m saying if you haven’t read the fic LMAO)

ABOUT THE CONCEPT

the very core of luck of the draw isn’t actually unique to kenji or to haikyuu in general; in fact, it was originally a part of a superhero!skz series i was planning to write but never got around to. the foundation of this fic -- kenji’s power and the idea of them being opposing forces that slowly draw together -- was originally given to stray kids’ hyunjin. i never went past the Thinking Stage with it, so it was fairly easy to hand the concept over to futakuchi when i moved fandoms.

the dynamic of this fic in general was inspired pretty heavily by miraculous ladybug’s “love square,” but i ... obviously wasn’t going to write all four sides of it so i stuck to the civilian identities (the reader and kenji) and the alteregos (harbinger and ace). in the kpop version of this wip, the reader and hyunjin were coworkers, but in moving from one fandom to another and reworking it for futakuchi, i decided to make them friends instead. they’re not particularly close (they’re definitely comfortable but not close Emotionally) to start with, but there’s potential for something to start!

ABOUT THE WORLD

in this universe, the city is ruled by two major factions that control much of the economy: seijoh, who controls the entertainment/tourism industries and has its fingers in most of the smaller businesses around the city (such as johzenji and dateko) and nekoma, who is partnered with the equally large fukurodani to control shipment of all kinds as well as the food industry (among others). nekoma has allies within the local government, and seijoh all but controls the law enforcement.

karasuno, on the other hand, works entirely from the underground to overhaul the way things are run in the city; it’s a bit .... corrupt as of right now, and they seek to change that. 

at the top are typically individuals blessed with special powers known as gifts. these gifts can be as mundane as the ability to make flowers bloom wherever you walk or as powerful as being able to alter the flow of time. there exist a series of regulations (and a shit ton of paperwork) that come about whenever an individual happens to manifest a gift. 

however, the city’s gifted demographic is incorrectly represented; a chunk of the gifted population are instead drawn to the allure of making money by doing illicit deeds for companies like seijoh or nekoma. these individuals’ gifts are never properly documented due to the traceability it lends itself to, should a job go wrong.

the government is supposedly in talks to enact stricter laws on the gifted, despite them making up a comparatively small percentage of the population. the head of the department of gifted individuals, ushijima wakatoshi, is a particularly overwhelming force in support of better regulation of his fellow gifted.

ABOUT THE CHARACTERS

in the first draft of luck of the draw, the sequence of events and relationship dynamics were MUCH different. in the final draft, you see the alteregos being drawn to each other first before you see the civilians come together. 

in that first draft, it was originally centered on the civilians getting together despite kinda-sorta being attracted to each other’s alterego? as a result, the kiss scene between the alteregos was still there but it was DRASTICALLY different. the whole idea of it and imo moral ambiguitity (kenji and the reader never went official with their relationship in the first draft) didn’t sit right with me at all; it felt a little like i was using cheating as a plot device which ??? no.

to make the long story short, the execution of that (tbh poorly developed) idea was.......less than stellar.

so i took a look at the chronology and basically upended the entire midsection to make the concept something that was less awful morally? that’s what i hope happened, anyway LJSKDFLSD

in the first draft, the reader (as harbinger) was also much less competent than they are in the final draft as a result of having been affiliated with karasuno for a shorter time. in truth, the harbinger’s origin story didn’t surface until i was in the middle of writing the second draft!

when it comes to the other characters:

oikawa doesn’t have a gift, which is rather rare for someone with their thumb sitting so heavily on the city’s pulse point

iwaizumi’s gift is entirely up to interpretation! him and oikawa making formal appearances in the story was something that only came up towards the end of draft two, so i didn’t have the space (word count wise) to really give either much thought

kyotani came into his gift without any control over it, and is only given amnesty because he was found hiding by iwaizumi

i really really wanted to talk about kyotani in this fic but ultimately it wasnt revolving around him + i once again didn’t have space to even tease an encounter with him (so in the fic proper he’s mostly there as a cameo + to scare you as you read into a potential action scene)

aone and kenji actually come from the same company that happened to come under seijoh’s control, so they’re more comfortable with each other than anyone else!

hinata has the gift of manipulation as long as you’re making eye contact with him; unfortunately, if he wills it, it’s rather hard to break eye contact once you’ve made it -- aone made the mistake of glancing at him during the takeover at seijoh hq, leading to his hold on harbinger loosening

kageyama obviously has the gift of ice/hail/snow manipulation to a rather strong extent, considering he can create it where there is none and lower the temperature of the air around him (the reader cannot create their own darkness, only manipulate what is around them)

he also has some beef with oikawa (or is it the other way around?) that involves him formerly working under seijoh -- not one of their many smaller companies, but seijoh itself (much like iwaizumi and after kageyama leaves, kyotani)

in terms of who’s been with karasuno the longest of the introduced cast, it’s tsukishima/three-eyes > hinata = kageyama > reader (but not by much)

MISCELLANEOUS

following the takeover of seijoh, tsukishima finds himself at wit’s end much more often LMAO

there are a good amount of deleted scenes and scenes that were only added in at the very last second!

among the deleted scenes is a scene where the civilians are at the park -- in the first draft, it happened in the middle, but in the second it was towards the end. it got taken out because come the end of the second draft, i realized it no longer fit ...

in terms of completion status, it probably ?? took a little over a month from this to go from Thinking Stage to the 14.2k monstrosity you see now? there were a couple of weeks early on where i did nothing on my ipad and laptop except outline and write, respectively

i definitely got burned out halfway through (which is abt the time i posted the xc2 au .. i NEEDED to work on smth else)

the idea of the clock tower wasn’t present at all in the first draft!! i only really came up with it in the second draft because i’d rather have them meet somewhere consistent and identifiable rather than some nondescript building

the running joke (?) of them getting drinks together wasn’t present until the third and final draft -- originally the scene where ace asks “do you remember our last conversation?” had a different beginning

in fact, a lot of the scenes that are a bit more...emotionally charged (see: every scene after ace’s unmasking as well as the movie night scene where the civilians struggle to define what their relationship has become) had to be overhauled dramatically

ummm i love kenji thats it! none of this would be possible if i didnt have the strongest mf brainrot for him so ... ! theres that LMAO

(theres probably more im forgetting to say ........ if any of you want to pick my brain regarding the chronology or the characters or why i had them say something or do something send me an ask! this post tbh is almost entirely for me but i didnt put this much thought into a fic that long to NOT share it with everyone else)

[lionsenpai]

ummm i want answers to ALL OF THEM but for now I'll ask for 2, 4, 10, and 11? ;w;

2. tell us what you’re most looking forward to writing--in a current or future project? my favorite thing to do in any story is to set up a character who seems to have the answers and the abilities to Solve The Plot and then remove that character when they’re needed most. in both of my main stories, ive got a moment like that and i REALLY like to daydream about it

4. share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of i went overboard and shared a small scene!! this is the main character of my project--ascendancy--very early on in the story! it feels very Establishing and i like how quick and snappy it was :)

“And why--” The man--Herviel, according to the thrall in the antechamber--behind the desk was sharply dressed, with little gold accents on his suit and spectacles. He had a darker brown skin then Sorina and the keen, black eyes of a marten. “--Should you be admitted in the Court of Her Ascendancy, the Countess Ducal?”

The room was well lit with tallow candles and richly furnished--save that Sorina had entered and found no chair waiting for her. She stood. 

Clearing her throat, she began, “Well--”

“Well?” 

Herviel made a note. What? About what?

“Well--” Sorina tried again. “--Her Ascendancy, the Marquis Casimir requests entrance to the venerable court of the Countess Ducal to partake in the fruits of her--”

“Understood. I was briefed of the nature of your patronage before you arrived. It’s why you made it to my office.” Tapping the nib of his quill against the paper; agitated. Why? “My question is: why did Marquis Casimir send you?”

“I--I’m her piece--”

“You’re nobody.” Herviel’s mouth screwed up, and he glared up at Sorina from over his glasses like she was a problem which had been cruelly inflicted upon him personally. “I can’t find a damn thing about you that’s older than a month. This isn’t a cover-up. Obfuscation leaves subtle clues. You simply didn’t exist in the Courts until just recently. Why in the world would Eirisse Casimir of all people accept you as a piece?”

Sorina watched him hunch over his array of nibs and inkwells and neatly cut paper, massaging his temples and muttering to himself. 

Softly, she said, “I hope you don’t honestly expect me to tell you.”

He made a face. “You don’t even recognize a rhetorical question. For fuck’s sake.” (“I knew--”) “Marquis Casimir or no, there’s no way I’m letting you run rampant in my court. You’ll do something foolish on the first night.” 

Sorina’s mind said: Obstacle. She needed leverage. 

Drafting what looked like a decree, Herviel was saying, “...Castle Bran will only permit your presence for a duration of two hours each night. The guard will take note of any coming and going, and if I discover that you’re overstaying your welcome, you’ll be barred entirely. If you prove that you know how to behave yourself, I’ll consider extending your time each night. Do you understand?”

“This office is fairly small, and it’s been tucked away where no one notices it,” Sorina replied instead. “You seem competent. Is there a reason you’ve been shunted away out of sight for this administrative position? A recent debacle? A tiny scandal for your Countess?”

Sorina paused for effect. Herviel’s expression sank into what looked like a practiced neutrality.

“Do you think,” Sorina asked, lowly. “That a person like that would face no repercussions for turning away the newly anointed piece to Eirisse Casimir?”

The air in the office cooled. Sorina held the gaze boring straight through her. Deliberately, Herviel leaned forward in his chair. “Let this be your first lesson, you little guttersnipe. Figure out what power really is before you try swinging it around blindly. It’s embarrassing.”

Sorina’s mind said: Fuck.

“Now--” Crossing a line from his decree and writing something over it, Herviel stood. “--You have one hour each night, and if you spend even a minute more within, I’ll show you exactly how much your patron’s name is worth in someone else’s court. Now, get out of my office before I strike you from the guest list entirely.”

this!!! this is tasty!!!!!!!!!!

10. just. messy. i dont think i have much of a process. i find one or two core ideas that i want to build around and then i just keep flailing until ive got something good. orz

11. what do you envy in other writers?  i really love authors who make their whole cast pop! i usually nail down fun characters for the main set, but beyond that, its harder for me to fill in the surrounding world with characters that don’t feel like their purpose is the plot lol

[taki118]

Why I Personally Dislike Sebastian

There’s a kind of beauty in Hawkes rag tag group of misfits in that they’re just that a group of random nobodies. I don’t think it was a coincidence that 3 of them were minor characters in the previous game. Let’s role call you have

- a fereldan refugee/guardswoman

- a writer/ 2nd son of a business

- a pirate currently without a ship

- a former slave

- a former first to a keeper

- an apostate former warden

- the sibling of the MC

And then there’s Sebastian.

When I first heard of Sebastian I thought great a character who can use all those bows I keep finding and speaking voice for the third group in the political troubles of Kirkwall. Then I heard his story and I instantly began to dislike him.

To me Sebastian feels like a first draft character he just has too much, like a kid making their first OC.

So like ok he use to be a rogue reveling in debauchery then he found the faith and now absconds that life.

Ok ok good good.

Oh and he’s also the second Prince of an entire country

ummm ok alright

AND his brother died so now he’s the heir apparent and he’s wrestling with whether or not to take the throne

hmmm that’s a little....

PLUS he’s also wrestling with whether or not he should seek revenge

Ok no stop please.

Like it’s just too much. One of the reasons I adore the companions in 2 is that while they seem flat in act 1 by act 3 they all have these lovely depths to them.

Isabela puts on a mask of indifference to hide her fears of not being good enough

Merrill’s naivety about human society beguiles a person so devoted to her history she’d die for it

Fenris stoicism hides just how deeply he feels for others

Anders self righteousness is a front for his pain and trauma he’s never gotten over

Avelines staunchness gives way to her insecurities that she’ll fail them all eventually

Varrics sarcasm is a way to act like nothing matters to him when it very obviously does

And then there’s Sebastian who starts as a man ruled by his emotions and impulses despite himself and ends as a man ruled by his emotions and impulses despite himself. What a great guy to put in a position of power.

All of his backstory doesn’t mean anything when his base character is so weak and stuck between extremes.

Honestly they really should have gone with one or the other

Either a former criminal who found faith and is trying to lead a righteous life to make up for past sins

Or a second prince who found a place to call his own in the chantry but is now torn between his duty as a son and his vows to the maker.

Trying to shove both together is just too much, more so given that he has less time to develop than the others.

Add in that despite how the devs couldn’t really alter much of the story present when he was added in they still want him to FEEL super important sooooooo if you don’t kill Anders to calm his revenge boner he vows to take the throne and steamroll Kirkwall which is like slightly referenced in Inquisition. As though that would retroactively make the choice feel bigger than it does while playing cause no one reacts to it.

(Also I take offense that in the mark of the assassin dlc they try to imply through Bethany that he’s the hottest when they have Varric like no shut up you made best boy already and you won’t let me romance him)

I guess my biggest issue though is I feel like the devs are TELLING me I should care about Sebastian rather than giving his character the polish he needed for me to NATURALLY care about him, and there is nothing that annoys me more than people saying I should care when they didn’t put the effort in themselves.

Cause like look I’m one of the few people who finds the chaste marriage romance option for him great I like this. And he’s the only romance who has a real difference if you choose hatemance as I wish that was played with more.

But it doesn’t mean anything when I just can’t connect to him as they tried to do far too much with him out of what I gotta think is fear he’d be ignored as he was dlc.

And yet that’s exactly what happened for me he just feels like an unnecessary tacked on extra.

[goodbyecringe]

(Un)Natural Selection Chapter 14

Éponine

“I’m pleased to announce that the Queen’s Annual Garden Party will take place one week from now! Her Majesty will be welcoming 500 citizens that have dedicated their lives to the betterment of Illeá through the practice of civil servitude. You will be expected to be the epitome of grace and manners, which is why we will be replacing history lessons with more etiquette lessons,” Claudia beamed.

The room became a buzz with girls smiling and giggling. Cosette turned to me beaming with excitement. While I was relieved to take a break from history lessons, etiquette could be equivalent to a death sentence.

“Oh Éponine, I need to tell my maids so they can get started on the perfect dress! I’m thinking a light baby blue so I can have little flowers in my hair,” she giggled.

“That sounds beautiful. You’ll look amazing,” I said half heartedly.

I didn’t need to tell Cosette that she would look great because it was just common knowledge. I focussed on staying awake rather than paying attention to the rest of the girl’s conversations. Even with the sleeping pills that Combeferre had prescribed I hadn’t been able to sleep since the nightmares started. After he cornered me in the hallway all I could see were his dark brown eyes and yellow smile. Montraparnese had tried to kiss me, which only resulted in his physical assault to the groin.

It was the first time my maids had seen me really lose it during my stay. Elise let me collapse into her arms while Laila went to get Mariam. After I calmed down Laila spent nearly an hour rotating between hot and cold compresses on my arm. The bruise that he had left on my wrist was an ugly red that Laila was unable to cover before my date with Enjolras. I didn’t tell them who did it to me because I remembered what Parnese yelled as I ran towards my room.

“I’d be careful who you tell about this, unless you plan on telling him about us.”

If I told Enjolras, he would find out about my history with Montraparnese and I’d be expelled from the Selection. Who could know what my father told Parnese before he was drafted. Did he know about Cosette?

“Éponine, can you repeat what I just said about the difference between drinking coffee and tea?” Claudia asked, marching in front of my seat.

“Ummm,” I stalled looking around the room.

Some girls were giving a vicious smile, happy to see who they believed to be Enjolras’ favorite fail in class. Some girls, like Cosette, looked horrified knowing that my failure would be reported to the King and Queen. Claudia, however, showed no emotion, as she always remained a neutral character.

“You put your pinky out when you sip tea?” I guessed.

The room immediately erupted into laughter.

“Musichetta, can you please help Éponine correct her mistake?”

“Of course Claudia! When drinking tea the middle finger supports the bottom of the cup and the thumb and index finger grip the handle. When drinking coffee, you can loop the index finger through the handle. Don’t worry Éponine, I made that mistake the first time I dined with members of a royal family,” she smiled.

For the most part I found Musichetta’s comment to be mostly empathetic.

I tried to hide in my seat during the rest of the lesson while other girls demonstrated their superior knowledge. Why couldn’t Royals learn about pickpocketing or how to lie? I would excel in those lessons. As the clock signalled that the hour of etiquette lessons had passed, I attempted to be the first person out of the door.

“May I speak with you for a moment, Éponine?” Claudia called.

“Might as well go pack your bags, Six,” Teresa sneered.

“Might as well go pack your attitude. It’ll be awhile before I care about what you think of me,” I smirked, wrinkling my nose.

“Miss Jondrette,” Claudia began. “You are obviously at a disadvantage here because of your upbringing, so I don’t fault you for that. However, at this rate it will take you a year before you’re at the level of some other girls. Now I am aware that you’ve been on several dates with Prince Enjolras, but I am obligated to report your progress to the King and Queen.”

“Well can’t we just do some extra meetings? I mean I’ve been trying to practice with my maids, but they can only help so much.”

“I’m not permitted to fulfill any such request unless you are chosen as one of The Elite. I suggest that you ask one of the other girls to help you. I just want you to know that if you can’t perform basic etiquette it doesn’t matter how much the Prince likes you, the King and Queen would never approve.”

Claudia didn’t say anything in a condescending tone. Although it was very easy to perceive it as such. If she didn’t want me to succeed she wouldn’t have talked to me today. I left feeling a strange pull between defensive and thankful.

“Lady Éponine,” I heard a voice call from behind me.

I turned around to see Bossuet jogging towards me.

“Would you be so kind to join Les Amis in the Men’s Room?” He asked with a cheery expression on his face.

“If I’m permitted in the Men’s Room then I would be honored to dine with you,” I smiled.

Lunch with Les Amis would be a refreshing change from the girls. Most of them had started to warm up to me, but a few were still acting like pompous princesses. As we approached the door I noticed that this was the first time I hadn’t seen Grantaire standing outside. Bossuet must have noticed my face because he laughed.

“Grantaire will be assisting with today’s demonstration, My Lady,” he said as we walked into the Men’s Room.

“Please Bossuet, just call me Éponine. We’re both Sixes, there’s no need for formalities.”

“Actually, when addressing the future Princess of Illeá, we would prefer to use proper formalities,” Courfeyrac smiled.

All of the boys were standing in a line behind a small table set for four people. The Men’s Room was brighter than the backroom of the Musain, and every boy appeared relaxed.

“You must have the wrong Selected girl. I was just told no matter how much Enjolras likes me I’ll never be royal until I can learn some manners.”

“That’s exactly why we’ve asked you here today! We, with the great aid of Grantaire, will be leading etiquette lessons in preparation of the Queen’s Garden Party,” Courfeyrac beamed.

“Éponine if you’d please sit here,” Combeferre said, pulling out a chair.

I sat down in the chair as Bahorel, Fueilly, and Bossuet joined me at the table. Joly, Jehan Prouvaire, and Courfeyrac stood behind them while Combeferre remained behind me.

“Everyone will have some one on one instruction while we go through lunch. Grantaire will be serving and I’m sure he’ll help as much as possible,” Courfeyrac said.

With Courfeyrac as my guide I felt comfortable and confident. His gentle reminders how to hold each glass and which utensil to use were subtle. For once I wasn’t the worst person at the table. During the first course Bossuet dropped his glass, leaving water and broken glass covering the table. It took two more courses for Joly to stop worrying about glass shards. Feuilly slurped everything that entered his mouth, which made Jehan Prouvaire almost lose his calm demeanor. Bahorel did well until he asked if he could light a cigarette during dessert.

“Clearly, we need to do a few more of these before the Garden Party,” Combeferre said, pinching his nose.

“Come on, Ferre you have to give Éponine the credit she’s due. She was by far the best at the table.”

“Oh no, I definitely shouldn’t be called the best,” I said, shaking my hands.

“I think we could make an argument,” I heard a voice say from behind me.

“Enjolras, Anna said she was having lunch with you.”

“We did, it was informative. Excuse me Friends, but I need to speak with Éponine,” he said, holding out his hand.

I grabbed Enjolras’s hand and waved to Les Amis as we exited the Men’s Room. We walked down the long hallway until entering the garden.

“So is there any particular reason you’re gracing me with your presence so unexpectedly?” I asked, as we walked on a pebble trail.

“You’ve inspired me to make an important decision,” he smiled.

“Why aren’t I excited?”

“Because there’s a possibility that it involves your money. Your points about the lavish spendings surrounding the Selection made me realize that my future wife isn’t here for the money. So I decided to forgo the stipend for all natural born Fours and higher. The money saved will go towards the Caste Relief Program,” Enjolras said, holding his breath.

“Only Fours and higher?” I asked.

“Well from my research all of the lower castes need the stipend. With a few Fours its need is debatable, but for the most part the Fours can do without it.”

“I mean what’s a few months stipend for a lifetime of security?” I turned to face him.

“Exactly. You’re only the second girl I’ve told so I would appreciate it if it could stay between us until I tell everyone. I hope to finish sometime this evening, and announce it to the media tomorrow morning.”

“That’s a good decision. People will see you as generous and considerate,” I said, sitting on a bench.

“Well what do you see me as?” He asked, sitting next to me.

Did my heart skip a beat? No. Would any other girl have gone into cardiac arrest? Yes.

“I see you as a man with good intentions that is passionate about his beliefs. You’re a good person,” I noted, nodding my head.

“You are too. A good person I mean,” he said, looking into my eyes.

My heart ignited with rage. I want to stand up and scream about how he didn’t know anything about me. But I didn’t stand and scream, I could only stare at my hands, folded neatly in my lap. Enjolras could never know anything about Éponine Thenardier.

“I hate to contradict, Your Highness, but I am not a good person. I’ve never done anything good in my life.”

“You’re humble too,” he smiled, not taking me seriously.

“No, Enjolras. I’ve never done anything with a good intention in my life. At the last meeting when you were describing the banquet and how all of us would help the hungry man, I didn’t. I didn’t get up from my seat to give him my food, even though I knew everything that man was feeling. I’ve been hungry,” I said, my thought trailing off.

“I can understand, Éponine,” Enjolras said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry but you really can’t. There was a summer a few years ago when I hadn’t seen my father in days. Azelma and I were sure he had died in some alley. My mother was inconsolable and refused to leave her room. There was a point when I was staring out of a window in our apartment and I started to hallucinate. ‘Zelma said I opened the window and tried to jump, but she pulled me back,” I remembered, feeling a tear fall on my wrist.

There was a bit of a pause while Enjolras gathered his thoughts.

“I am truly sorry, Éponine,” was all he said.

We sat together in silence for a bit. I watched two Blue Jays play in a birdbath while Enjolras stared at them. He wasn’t really watching, it was just where his eyes had landed. He walked me to the Women’s Room, where he asked for Cosette to join him in the hallway. He didn’t say goodbye, which was fine because I didn’t know if I wanted to address him. I wasn’t angry with his reaction, or lack thereof.

As I read in the corner of the Women’s Room I heard Musichetta whisper to some other girls.

“I don’t know what happened on their date but she was hysterical when she came back to her room. I tried to watch her from my room but a guard came and shut the door,” she exclaimed.

“That’s horrible. She must have done something horrible to be sent home after just a lunch,” Liberty said.

Enjolras had sent Anne home right before he talked to me. He didn’t seem remotely affected by his sudden elimination, or any of the previous ones. Maybe his lack of reaction had shown me a colder side of him.

I stayed in the Women’s Room for a few hours and watched as Enjolras called girl after girl. After talking to Cosette about Anne’s elimination I decided to go back to my room and take a nap before dinner. When I arrived, Elise nearly attacked me with her excitement.

“This arrived for you about an hour ago!” She said, holding out an envelope addressed to me.

Éponine,

I’m sorry I didn’t have more to say earlier. You stated that you didn’t think that you were a good person, so I’ve compiled a list of every good thing you’ve done since you’ve been in the Selection. Thank you for confiding such an intimate story to me, and I promise that I won’t repeat it to anyone else. I’m looking forward to a real date with you on Thursday.

E

[writingforjoy]

Chapter One: The Interview

At long last, ladies and gentlemen, I give you a very rough draft of the first chapter of (Im)Mortal! I hope you enjoy~

p.s I promise it looks better in docs💀🤦🏽‍♀️

@orchidalienscribbler @alexprompts @rhikasa @morganwriteblr @stephrawlingwrites @wiseauthorowl @givethispromptatry

       Mallory and I were over my cousin Cassidy’s house one weekend, working on a project that neither of us like and only Cassidy had experience with. We were in Cas’ room when Mallory shot up from Cas’ bed and looked at me with a huge grin on her face. “Hey bruh, let’s do something while we wait on Chef.”

The smile on her face told me that whatever she was planning had to be worth getting into trouble. “What is it my bold and bored friend?”

“Let me interview you.”

“Seriously? Right now?”

“Yeahp. Just tell me your life story…okay maybe not, like, yo whole life but the um...most eventful? Yeah we’ll go with that.”

I shook my head and laughed. “Wooow, okay then. Should I include Skyla or nah?”

“Was the meeting eventful?”

“I found her in the woods. She liked me. I liked her. Then she became my precious baby lamb.”

“Save it for our next interview. It’ll be our pet edition.”

“Alright, cool. Ssoooo...how am I starting this off?”

Mallory rolled her eyes and tossed one of Cas’ pillows at me. “Witcha name ya dumb duck!”

“Rruuuuuude. ...But what about her?”

She sat quietly on the bed, thinking about the question. “Ummm...I don’t know? Just roll with it I guess?” She took her phone out and started recording me as I fidgeted around on the floor messing with our dying project.

“Okay then, here goes nothing.” I took a deep breath to relax myself. “Now, this is a story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down and I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there, I’ll tell you how I became the demon of a town called Easthaven.”

“Okay, Will, let’s get it then!” She said laughing.

My name is Helouise. I was born with clay-red skin, eyes the color of golden topazes, and raven black hair. I’ve been told a few times that ‘Helouise’ wasn’t supposed to be my name, but ‘ELouise’ instead to kinda match my mom’s name ‘Ellen’. So whoever wrote my name on my birth certificate misheard her completely. Lucky for them I had a great grandmother with that name. So my whole name is ‘Helouise Nevaeh Piercemen’, which I think is kinda amusing. My middle name, ‘Nevaeh’, is ‘Heaven’ spelled backwards.

         Growing up I was known as the ‘Problem Child’, as most other parents called me. I honestly was a hot-headed little girl. Whenever I would throw a tantrum, my parents would often give me ‘soothing potions’ calm me down. To some parents’ disbelief, I wasn’t as spoiled as they thought I might’ve been. My parents raised me just as like any other parents would raise their own children (just a little bit overprotective), but I didn’t feel as if they actually loved me all the time. So I would call them ‘Mother’ and ‘Father’ to irritate them often. It didn’t bother them much as I had hoped though, they just laughed it off.

“Pfft, but why would you do that?” Mallory asked through her giggles.

“Bruh I don’t know! I was an evil lil shit I guess.” I said laughing with her.

         When I first started school in fourth grade, all the other kids there just stared or stayed away from me. I could tell that they were afraid of me. I was afraid of them too honestly. I was homeschooled at first, and had never been to a school before until then. Someone had talked my parents into thinking that I should go out and make friends, prove to people that I’m not as weird or awkward as they thought I was. So, I was just as scared of my classmates as they were of me. I wasn’t wearing my shades back then, so I believe that it was mostly the color of my eyes that either scared people away or was the reason I got bullied a lot. No one stood up for me except my new teacher Ms. Wrangler. The old one mysteriously disappeared one day and she was there the next day. She was always there to comfort and protect me from the other kids, she was the nicest person to me in to whole school. She had always made me feel special at the end of the day, telling me that I had nothing to worry about as long as I stayed with her. On days when I didn’t eat in the cafeteria, she would go out and buy me food to eat and we’d eat in the classroom together. She would even buy me things ‘just because’, and told me not to tell anyone. I really liked her, I felt more love from her than I did either of my parents, so I did what I was told. Then one day she told me that she wanted to take me somewhere special and that I would need permission from my parents to go. So, she handed me a slip saying that the class was going to the local science museum.

On the day of the ‘field trip’, we didn’t go to the science museum. She took me to a park outside of town and said that we were going on a nature walk. Whenever she looked at me, I thought it was funny that her eyes had changed from their normal bright blue color to red, but I was young and didn’t know better. Later that evening she said that today was going to be my last day with her. I didn’t understand what she meant and couldn’t ask, somehow I had blacked out after that. All I remember after that is waking up in my dad’s car, being held tightly by my mom with her crying ‘I won’t…not again’, then I went back to sleep.  We moved from our first home later that week with the help of my uncle. I tried asking them what happened to my teacher, but all they would say was ‘We’ll explain it when you’re older’.

After being homeschooled again for a few years, and after being told some strict rules and to never take off my shades for anyone, I was allowed back into school. I was in high school by then, and I was lucky enough to make a few friends, even though others continued to stare and judge me whenever they thought I wasn’t around or couldn’t hear them, but I didn’t care as much as I did when I was little. So I thought things were finally looking up for me. Then again, what would high school be without a few surprises?

         One day while I was in biology class, I was called into the office and was told that my dad was coming to pick me up.  Since it was close to Christmas break, I thought we were taking an early vacation, but as soon as my dad got there and we made it to the hospital, all thoughts of any vacations were gone. For fourteen years, I’ve been alone and gotten used to being an only child, then my parents decided to go and add a new kid in the mix. I was never fond of the thought of having a sibling, let alone a sister, and this one caught me by surprise. I never noticed mama’s stomach getting big (even though she was a ‘stay at home mom’) and they never told me. They said that they wanted to surprise everyone. When I first saw the baby, she had deep blue eyes and rosy cheeks, and small tufts of hair that looked so shiny at the time they thought it was golden. She was such a beautiful baby…I didn’t like her. I hated how normal and happy she looked. Then they told me her name. They named her Rose.

A beautiful name for a baby girl. Was I so ugly when I was born that my parents let me have an ugly name? I thought to myself. Is she even that pretty to deserve a name like that?

I was so angry that I started to hate Rose. She looked normal and they gave her a normal name, and the way that they were looking at her, with so much love and affection, made me hate her even more. Mama tried giving Rose to me, but I didn’t take her. I was too angry. Then my dad rushed over to me, held me close while brushing my hair back, and told me to calm down before I set off the alarms. I pushed him away and ran out the room, I ran into the nearest bathroom I could find and curled up in the corner of it and cried. I cried from the anger and from the feeling that my parents weren’t happy with me, let alone loved me. A moment later, my dad opened the door and peeped in. When he saw me, he came and hugged me, saying things like ‘We still love you’ and ‘We thought you’d be happy to have a little sister or brother’ and other things that I barely heard. Once I stopped crying, I noticed a burned hole on his jacket and asked how that happened. He laughed and said his stupid cigarette lighter button had been pressed earlier when he wasn’t paying attention. Daddy was a frequent smoker, so I believed him. He brought me back into mama’s freezing room. I still didn’t want to hold Rose, but I was curious about her cheeks. So I asked mama if I could touch them, and she said yes. I placed a finger on one of her cheeks and jumped back a little as she laughed at me. Rose’s cheeks were ice cold. She said that it was just the room, but it didn’t matter. I still didn’t like her, and I had already made up my mind that I wouldn’t have anything to do with her (as less as possible anyway).

The next surprise, which I’d like to call ‘The Train Wreck’, happened almost immediately after I turned sixteen a few months ago. The first thing was that Rose’s hair wasn’t blonde after all, but instead it was white like our dad’s hair. I figured that it was some genetic mutation like the color of me and Mama’s eyes. Another thing was that I actually kind of liked the idea of having a sister and I kinda liked her, even though she was a brat at times. The last thing happened one day after school. My parents, Rose, and I were meditating in the basement (well Rose was half-asleep holding her new, blueberry scented teddy bear). I was really thinking about the ugly sofa that Mama had bought last week. For the first time ever, I had a few friends coming over to study and hang out in a few days, and the first thing they would see when they came in would be that disgusting, over brightly dyed hippie couch. My parents needed a new couch, but couldn’t really afford one after they had redecorated Rose’s room. I knew and understood that, but the couch was so damn hideous that the neighborhood cat my parents like to let in every so often wouldn’t even piss on it.

There has to be a way to talk them into getting new couch! I’ll be embarrassed for life if my friends saw that hideous thing. They need to get rid of it! Uugh, I hate that stupid looking couch!

If you hate the couch as much as you say you do, then do something about it. I jolted my head up and scanned the room, but no one else was there other than my folks, so I thought that I was just imagining things. You’re not imagining it, I’m the…’other’ you, I’ve just woken up from a peaceful sleep. If you hate the couch then get rid of it.

What do you mean ‘the other me’? And just how am I gonna to get rid of it?

Haven’t you figured it out yet? The reason why you look the way you do. Don’t you think you were destined to do something great in your life? I’m the…’special’ side of you. An active subconscious, if you like. We’re a special girl Helouise. Did you know that we can manipulate fire?

“I can do what?!” I blurted out. Mom and Dad looked at me with startled faces and Rose fell over backwards. I quickly apologized and went back to trying to meditate.

The subconscious giggled. Of course we can, all you have to do is concentrate on the couch, speed up the molecules, and imagine it bursting into flames… or something along the lines like that at least.

I don’t think that’s a good idea. I mean, what if instead of burning the couch I, and I hope it doesn’t happen, burn down the house?

What do you have to lose? Our parents got the extended warranty or whatever on it anyway and if something does happen to it, they have the money to get a new one! You could even convince them to get something better than that. And what if the house burns down? It’ll be even better since you’ll be able to get a better house than this dump we’re in now. Besides, no one will get hurt in the process, we’re not that strong yet, promise~

I thought it over on what she said and decided to give it a shot. If she’s right then no one will get hurt and we’ll be getting a new couch. I wished that I was going crazy, but I hated the couch so much that I started imagining myself setting fire to it. It’d be a win-win for me if everything went ok. Minutes later, the smoke alarm went off. We rushed upstairs into the living room and saw that the sofa was on fire. Daddy rushed to get the fire extinguisher in the kitchen while Mama set Rose down and ran to the hallway to try and activate the sprinklers and yelled for me to watch Rose who was already stumbling towards the blazing couch. I, on the other hand, stood there watching in amazement.

See?! You did it! Don’t try to stop it now, just let the couch burn!

I can’t just let it burn! I’m gonna try to stop it now, it’s burned enough anyway. And besides, Rose will get hurt if she gets to close. I thought after I yanked Rose away from the couch and set her beside me.

Then let her burn too. You never liked her anyway; she’s nothing but a pest. Remember, she’s the one that replaced you and took what little love your parents had for you. It’ll be all over quickly if you push her into the fire. Just push her towards it and hold her there. She’ll be the only one being burned if that’s what you’re worried about. Haven’t you realized yet that temperature doesn’t affect you? So if you touch it, you won’t get burned genius.

Are you insane?! It doesn’t matter if I like the little brat or not, she’s my sister! I can’t kill her, Mama and Daddy would kill me if I did!

ONLY because you killed what was precious to them! Think about it: they don’t love you anymore, they don’t care about you, and you know it. That’s why they replaced you.  …Look at you, if you really couldn’t kill her like you said, then why are you slowly pushing her towards the fire?

I looked down to see that Rose was only inches away from the fire again, but it was me pushing her towards it. “Rose you little idiot!” I yanked her back again and took several steps back from the couch.

Why don’t you just go ahead and do it? You were almost there; she could’ve been dead by now! You can’t deny the fact that you want to kill her.

“Shut up and leave me alone!” I said loudly. Okay Helouise, just take some deep breaths, and concentrate on the fire…and don’t touch Rose. I concentrated on the fire on the sofa, and imagined the flames getting smaller. Then Mama and Daddy finally came back just in time to see that I was already making the fire go away. They stood there with a worried look for a moment, and then asked me calmly if I was the one who put the fire out.

“Yes, but I caused it too. The thing is I don’t know exactly how I did it, I just” -Maybe I shouldn’t tell them about the voice…maybe I’m just going insane- “I just thought about burning the sofa like the voice said at first and then making the fire small. But why did this have to happen in my junior year, just when everyone was thinking I was normal, just when they finally accepted me? Why am I hearing this cynical voice inside me head?!” I cried while looking at them. They told me that they knew I was going to have my powers fully awakened, just didn’t know when. Then they told me that I had fire-powers since I was young and that I just couldn’t remember them. Then I showed signs of it when I was about three and threw terrible tantrums. Then I remember the day that Rose was born, when Daddy was telling me about the alarms and came into the bathroom with the hole on his jacket, and then I became angry.

“So that day when Rose was born, tell me Father, what did you mean about the alarms? And what really happened to your jacket?” I asked looking directly at him. His face went from a calm expression to a shocked one as he mumble something about my eyes. “I didn’t ask about my eyes, tell me what really happened the day that Rose was born!” I yelled. He told me that when I was upset, my hair was slowly turning into flames and I was standing by some posters that were right under the smoke detector. Then he told me that when I pushed him away, I burned a hole through his jacket and almost his shirt. Then Mama started speaking, but I couldn’t hear her, my mind was too busy processing what I just heard. They lied to me, that’s why they kept giving me those potions when I was younger; they knew something was wrong about me from the very beginning! I’m just a weird accident to them; they never loved me enough to tell me the truth.

To be honest, they probably never really loved you at all. Why else do you think they had her Helouise? Don’t you remember how they were looking at her and how pretty she was?

I remembered how they were looking at Rose in that hospital room and became infuriated. That’s why they had another child, they never loved me, they probably never even wanted me in the first place, they wanted a normal, beautiful girl! Another little girl that they could truly love! I felt Rose trying to give me her teddy bear, but I was too angry and knocked it away from her and she began to cry.

“Helouise, look what you’ve done!” Mama called out rushing past me.

“So what if the stupid bear is burning?!” I cried wiping the tears from my face. “You two lied to me almost all my life and then tried to replace me with that stupid brat! And now all you care about is some stupid bear and-” I looked behind myself to point at Rose, but I stopped as mama rushed past me again with Rose in her arms, holding and kissing on her hand. I noticed a small burn mark on Rose’s wrist as she did. I just burned my sister. “Oh my god, I’m sorry! It was an accident, I swear!” I can’t believe I burned my little sister.

It felt good, didn’t it Helouise?

What did?

Setting things on fire, and of course, burning your sister. Feel a little proud of yourself, don’tcha?

…Just leave me alone.

I knew you’d enjoy that. You can’t hide it from me.

Will just go away already?!

Just think of how great you’d feel if you would just kill the lil brat already! It’d be fun, you’d-…wait a minute…do you smell that Helouise? It smells like we’re not the only one with magic in here. Helouise, we gotta have that power.

Suddenly my dad came up behind me and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t touch me!” I yelled, bumping into the hanging fern and causing it to burn too.  Then I moved away from him and the fern.

That’s it! That’s where the power is coming from! You can take his power for yourself if you touch him. Drain his power. That’s all it takes.

I do want that power. Why haven’t I noticed it before?

You never noticed because he knows how to conceal his power, and you couldn’t sense it, you didn’t know how to sense other people's magic. But now that I’m awake, we can sense other peeps magic a little!. All you have to do to get their power is drain it from them.

…I really do want that power; it smells sooo good. Whatever it is, I need that power.

Then drain him. I reached for my dad’s hand pretending to want to hold it for comfort. Kill Daddy for his magic. I drew my hand back quickly before grabbing his hand. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

ARE YOU CRAZY?! “Dad get away from me!”

 JUST KILL HIM!! 

“I can’t kill my Dad!” As bad as I wanted his power, I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t kill my own dad. He told me to calm down but I couldn’t. “Daddy, I just made our couch and our fern get on fire, and I burned my little sister and her bear! I can’t calm down! And look,” I pointed frantically towards the couch and the fern. “The couch is burning again and the fern is still on fire! I can’t control them!” I said panicking. He stepped towards me again with his hands out saying that everything was going to be ok.

He’s practically giving you his hands, just take them and kill him!!

“NO!!”

His power could be ours and we could be stronger!

“Daddy get back! I know you have powers I can smell it and the voice is trying to make me kill you for it and I’m trying not to so please just stay back!” We looked at the smoke alarm that finally went off and the built-in sprinklers turned on, but when I looked at the flames on the couch, nothing happened to the flames.

Quick! Do it now while he’s distracted!

“WILL YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?!” I shouted out flailing my hand out, pushing nothing away, and letting a fireball fly out of my once empty hands onto the faded blue curtains. Still the water from the sprinklers couldn’t make the fire die out. “See?! Even the water can’t put it out! What if the fire spread? What’s going to happen if the firefighters come and they can’t put it out? What if-” Then he swiftly approached me again and grabbed my shoulders, and an immense chill overcame me that caused my knees to buckle. Then he told me to calm down again, only more sternly. He told me that they know it was an accident.  It was their fault for not telling me about my magic sooner. He let me go and told me to look back at the couch. I looked at the smoldering couch and then turned quickly to see the burnt fern and the burnt curtain. He told me that I could do anything as long as I was calm. Then he reached into his pocket, pulled out his lighter and tossed it towards the couch. He said that if the firefighters did come, they‘d find that, so I could stop worrying about them trying to find out who did it or what would happen if they stayed to long.

I looked back towards the kitchen where my mom and Rose were coming from and saw she had put some of the homemade healing salve on Rose’s wrist. I looked back to my dad and he told me that everything would be all right, then Mama said that we would start practicing to control my emotions and magic tomorrow.

The next day, to make sure that Rose didn’t get hurt or learn about our magic ‘too early’, my parents called and told my grandmother, my dad’s mother, what happened and asked if she could keep Rose for a while. She agreed, and she when she came over she smelled the same way as daddy did; just slightly different, but definitely stronger. The same urge came over me to drain her too as she and my dad walked in the house, but mama held on to me, and told me to focus on her scent and to tell her what it smelled like. Then Granny looked over at us with disgust as Daddy showed her to Rose’s room, and to tell her what was going on. I could feel the anger building up as she glared at us, but Mama covered my eyes and nose and told me repeatedly to calm down as she rocked me. A moment after she did that, we could hear Rose crying upstairs. She wasn’t willing to leave at first, but soon they convinced her that it was only for a little while, and that she was going to have a lot of fun with our granny. So she left with her, and it was just me and my parents once.

Afterwards, my parents told me the truth. The whole truth. First, they told me about the color of my eyes. Mom said that everyone on her side, including me, had the exact same eyes and that we’re demons, and the voice I heard was actually my inner demon, like an active conscious of sorts, that was implanted, given, or something by our many great grandfather, Guidry. She also said that some demons were born with the natural instinct to kill, to be truly ‘evil’, and they were mostly always the ‘upper level’ ones, but for us it was different and she couldn’t exactly explain why. Daddy said he wasn’t a demon, but he wasn’t a witch (or warlock…wizard, whichever they classify themselves as) either, but he could subdue people with a single touch. They didn’t know about Rose yet, and only time would tell if she’s was going to grow up to be normal or like one of them. Then Mama told me what happened Ms. Wrangler, and why I had to start wearing shades in public. Ms. Wrangler was a demon too. Everyone on mama’s side of the family were being hunted by other demons. They feared that we would become over powerful or somehow immortal, so they would catch and take us to the Upper Council where we’d either die from enslavement or something else entirely. So for whatever reason Ms. Wrangler had tried to kidnap me for, the end result wasn’t going to be good.

When Mama noticed that my scent had gone outside the city, they came after me. They saved me and had to kill Ms. Wrangler and the other demons that was there, and that’s why we had to move. Then Mama started blaming herself for not going to meet the woman herself when she first came into town.

After that, she helped me to gain control of my new ability and to quiet the voice inside. They had me to train with my power everyday. Soon, I was able to create fires and make them go away at will. The voice was still there, but she didn’t talk as much after that.

But still my grandmother didn’t bring Rose back. Mama called and asked her why, then I heard her gasp from the kitchen and I went to see what happened. I watched her as she was listening to whatever Granny was saying, and then she finally said that she understood and hung up the phone. Mama never told me what happened, but only said that we could visit her whenever we wanted. I thought that Rose had either gotten really sick or this had somehow became a custody battle. Even though I never really liked the brat at times, it still hurt to hear that Rose wasn’t coming home, and it made me feel that with my power being ‘fully awakened’, my granny didn’t trust for me to be around her. I regretted being a demon at all that day despite what the voice said otherwise. I saw no point in having this power if it only caused my parents pain and having my sister taken away. I could tell that her not being able to come back home yet had broken their heart. Then I promised myself that when she comes back, I would be the best big sister ever.

         “Wow...just wow. Why didn’t you tell me all this before?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess I don’t like talking about it much.”

“Fair enough. Now just a few questions. Just two, I think, if you don’t mind ma’am?”

“Shoot.”

“You said that your Dad’s power had a scent? Is it just him or what?”

“Well, it’s more of a scent for him and not his magic? Like, I can smell it even when he’s not using it. And no, everyone has their own scent. I think I’m just now...paying attention to it? I mean, I probably noticed his and Mama’s scents before but never just...thought about it, if that makes sense?”

“Cool. So what’s my scent?”

“A sweet little cupcake.” I laughed as she groaned. “It’s not chocolate though, friend~”

“Thank you Jesus.” She mumbled. “Now, what about Rose? When was the last time you saw her?”

“We see each other everyday, sometimes Granny would bring her over, or we’d go over there to visit. Sometimes I don’t go though, cause I still don’t think she likes me.”

“That sucks. Do you still feel like you want to...you know, take their magic? Or anyone else’s?”

I shifted around the floor. “No comment.”

“Damn bruh...savage.” I snorted at her attempt to make things better. “So, final question! Do you think this is the end of your epic adventure? Has everything finally calmed the fuck down for you?”

“Oh my God yes and I hope it stays just like this forever.”

Silly girl, if you believe that then you should really know better. This is just the beginning of our adventure.