#we were sitting at desks for some kind of class for the job we were all doing | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

erenjaegerwifee · 4 months ago

Text

Make You Mine

Paring: Neteyam x Fem!Omatikaya!Reader

Warnings: MDNI 18+, kissing, suggestive themes, fluff

Word Count: 3.3K

Disclaimer: All my characters are aged-up! If that makes you uncomfortable feel free to scroll and do not interact with my page or any of my posts!

Index: karyu - teacher, hupx - miss, rutxe - please, kelku - house/home

Today is your first day, you are kind one nervous even though you’re teaching 7-year-olds. Kids can be mean sometimes but that’s not your problem. You have wanted this job since you were a little kid in the class, you always thought about how nice it was growing up and being able to teach children things you got to learn yourself, it felt like you were really helping the clan. You're taking over for the teacher then taught you, her name is O’laya, or as you used to call her miss O’laya.

You get up bright and early eating a heavy breakfast you now sort of regretted and made sure your brother was ready for the day. The clan is very big so you are not the only teacher in the clan naturally the kids are split up into different classes. You were lucky to get a young one. You thank Eywa for her mercy. You dress yourself in your leaf top and loincloth that stops by your caves, you decided you might be running around and there was no need to slip someone a peak of your undergarments so you had longer loincloths made just for this job.

You took a deep breath walking out of your kelku and to the class area to meet O’laya. “Miss O’laya, how are you this morning?” You greet her with a sweet smile. “Ah my dear, I am well, ready for today? I’m going to introduce you and take my leave.” You nodded and walked behind her into the class.

“Good morning children. Now I’ve already told your parents and you all that you’ll be getting a new teacher. So, I’d like to all to meet Hupx Y/n! She will be your teacher from now on!” Everyone greeted you with sweet smiles and O’laya took her leave.

“Good morning kids! I’m super excited to be your teacher why don’t we go around the class and get to know each other?” Your smile and sit on top of your desk listening to the children introduce themselves with names and ages along with things they like. They were every entertaining to listen to. Some were shy but some were upbeat and loud one of them being none other than your clan’s olo’eyktan’s youngest, Tuktiery, or as she requested people call her Tuk. When it was her turn, she stood so excitedly sitting directly in front of your desk in the class and said, “Hi new miss! My name is Tuktiery Sully very similar to my mama’s name but not that same! You can call me Tuk, everyone does! But anyways, I’m 7 years old and I’m new in this class to just like you! I like ikrans I can’t wait to get my own one day like my mama!”

“Well, that is wonderful Tuk! I’m sure one day you will have a beautiful Ikran.” You smile and she sat down and continued the lesson. After a long day of fun activities, it was time for the kids to go home. You were cleaning up the classroom while parents came one by one to collect their little ones.

There were only about three kids left when you heard a knock on the wood by the entrance flap and two parents walked in. They were Tuk’s parents, Jake and Neytiri Sully. You brought your hands up to your forehead to make the respectful gesture and they returned it smiling at you. “Ah, you must be Tuk’s new teacher I am her mother, it is very nice to meet you.” she was so beautiful, “This is my husband, Jake” she gestured her hands to her husband that now hold their youngest.

“The pleasure is mine; I look forward to getting to know you and your family.” you smile back at her. It was customary for the teachers to get to know the parents of their classes, it allowed for much smoother sailing when it comes to their education, everyone was involved in teaching the children. “We do as well, how about you sit with us at communal dinner tonight” Jake spoke up.

You must admit you were a bit stunned; you weren’t expecting such an invitation. “Communal dinner with the Olo’eyktan’s family wow, I am extremely flattered, but I wouldn’t want to intrude on your family time” you smile at them shyly, they thought you were very cute, you might fit in quite well with their older kids, “Rutxe hupx y/n! I want you to meet my sister” you smile sweetly at her pleading eyes and sighed with a nod; how could you not say yes to her? “I be happy to, if it’s okay can I bring my younger brother along, he sits with me every day.”

They agreed to let him join you, then walked out of the class with Tuk. The remaining children left shortly after and finish cleaning up the room, you felt a bit nervous to be having dinner with them, you thought about backing out in case it might be awkward but decided against it in the end, they were very kind people their children should more than reflect that. Jake was one of the most loved rulers of the Omatikaya clan, but in passing, you've never seen him act like he was worth more than anyone else.

He is a noble man; you suppose that’s why Neytiri fell in love with him. You left the room and made your way back to your hut to get ready for the dinner. Your brother was already there when you arrived, “Kamea you’re home early isn’t training longer than this?” he was sprawled out on the floor, his training equipment laid messily on the floor next to the entrance. “Just introductions, made a couple friends than I came home, what at we doing for dinner?”

“Uh we’re having dinner with olo’eyktan’s family tonight, they invited us to sit with them. Their youngest is in my class.” Ever since your parents passed, you and your brother have only had each other. When you first lost them, it was difficult to bounce back and you didn’t want to pitied stares of your people. So, you learned to take care of your brother at home. That included cooking in the comfort of your family home then slowly you would go back to communal dinners but only once in a while. The clan was not all that used to seeing you out and about.

When dinner time arrived, you put on a pink and purple beaded top and matching loincloth to make your way to the center of the village with your brother walking behind you. Your nerves were getting the better of you now as you picked your nails and looked around anxiously, you didn’t see the family yet so you walked through the crowd politely greeting people who decided to greet you both.

When you do spot the Sullys Tuk was jumping up and down waving at you, she calmed some of your nerves but her ruckus caused everyone else to turn to you. Jake and Neytiri stood and smiled as you walked over. You didn’t glance down at their other children just yet though. You and your brother brought your hands up to your forehead to greet them respectively. Only then did you both sit down directly in front two grown mean, who just so happen to be their sons. “That you so much for inviting us again, it was very kind of you”

Tuk sat next to you and Jake and Neytiri formed a semi- circle connecting the group with their children across from you. “We are delighted ever since Tuk came home; she couldn’t stop talking about her new karyu. Kiri pass them the leaves.” A kind girl with a few braids in her lose hair introduced herself and as Tuk’s sister Kiri. “Ah so you are the sister she wanted me to meet, I am y/n” you smile at her sweetly and unwrapped the food.

She smiled back at you then Jake spoke up, “Oh yea, let me introduce you, you know my wife and Tuk, this is Neteyam and Lo’ak my sons and well now you know Kiri” your eyes dart from Jake to the man sitting directly in front of you, Neteyam. You felt a blush creeping up he was gorgeous. Neteyam looked like Eywa carved him out of diamond. His skin somehow looked soft and tough at the same time, his hair braided neatly falling over his ears when he bent his head, and his eyes, Eywa his eyes were golden, the most beautiful shade of gold you’ve ever seen in eyes. You realized you were staring a bit too long when you noticed the smirk on his face and you brother elbowed you in the stomach.

Your eyes dart down before they came up to greet them both. Lo’ak was seated right next to his brother directly in front of you. “This is my brother, Kamea. He just graduated to warrior training” you gesture to your brother speaking to them all. “I know, he’s in my group of trainees, I look forward to working with him” Lo’ak said which made you smile, you are glad your brother is making friends better than you did at his age.

Throughout the dinner you kept glancing at Neteyam as he ate and every time you made eye contact you were always the one to break it, “So you're a new teacher, that is impressive not many people can replace hupx O’laya.” Neteyam spoke to you, he actually said something to your face. “Yea she was my karyu too” you smile, “she was? How old are you? I don’t ever remember seeing you in her class” He spoke again. “I’m 22 I think I was in the year below you, we’ve never been in the same class” you dip your head to stare at your plate when felt the blush deepen on your face.

“Oh, that explains it Neteyam is a year ahead of you, so let us about yourself are you mated yet?” Neytiri asked. “No, I’m not, I haven’t given it much thought”

“Yea says the girl with the wedding scrapbook?” Kamea said. You whip your head to look at your brother giving him a menacing glare, but like the dumbass he is, he never stopped talking. “She hasn’t mated yet because she doesn’t know how it would work with everything, if it were up to her, she would have already found some poor sucker to take care of her.”

You gasp dramatically putting your hands on your chest, “Poor sucker to take care of me? I’m the poor sucker taking care of you, you ungrateful rat.” you and your brother always bicker like that, sometimes you forget people are around. He was about to retort but you were brought back to reality by Kiri’s snickering, “they sound like you and Neteyam” she told Lo’ak making the family giggle.

Your face was flush with embarrassment as you pinched your brother on the arm before you continue to eat, “What don’t you think won’t work if you mate?” You head whips up to Neteyam making eye contact with him, suddenly you lose your words, “um, I take care of my brother, I have been for years now, usually when you mate with a man you move out of your kelku and into his, well our parents are no more I can’t just leave him. My dreams of mating can wait”

“Your parents passed I am so sorry” Kiri said but your eyes never left neteyam’s you were captivated in them. Your brother once again nudged your shoulder and you turned to Kiri not noticing the look Jake and Lo’ak exchanged. “It’s ok, it was a long time ago” you smiled softly at her, “I don’t think that should be a problem, if a man loves you and knows your situation you wouldn’t be inconveniencing him by allowing your brother to live with you” Neteyam spoke to you again.

“You think? I don’t know, a couple of guys are courting but I haven’t decided if I’m ready to mate then yet” your face twisted a bit clearly showing the fact that you don’t like them which making Neteyam smirk.

You practically ignored his presence when you first got there but he couldn’t stop staring at you, you were absolutely phenomenal, the colors of your outfit complimented your tone perfectly, your hair cascaded down your back effortlessly, your loincloths were longer than the women he usually sees but he admires your effort to stay modest when teaching young children.

After dinner was over you said your goodbye hugging a crying tuk after you told her you couldn’t spend the night but promised to see her the next day. Your brother left during her crying session being tired and wanted to get some rest. The stars shined beautifully in the sky and you begin to walk away into the darkness towards your hut. “Wait up!” someone shouted behind you and you saw neteyam running up to you, that man just looks godly doing everything huh.

“Let me walk you home it’s dark” he smiled at you; he was such a gentleman. “But who’s gonna walk you home?” you joked at he started to match his pace to yours, “Very funny I am a well-known and respected warrior karyu, I can handle walking at night”

“Really, well respected I can understand but well-known? I’ve never met you before” you smile at him, being away from all the other prying eyes made it easier for you to relax and speak like you normally would, instead of being shy. You could see the your kelku coming into view and you were a bit sad your time with his warrior would be over.

“Hey listen I want to ask you something, normally I’d go about this a different way but I don’t really want to wait. Would you do me the honor of letting me court you?” his question caught you so off guard. You understand the courting process starts right after meeting each other as adults but you couldn’t believe your future olo’eyktan wanted you on his arm. “You want to court me?” You stopped walking and turned to face him making him do the same. “Why?”

“Why not, I met you a couple hours ago and, in that time, I’ve gotten to know you are single, you are smart, you have good mothering instincts and you are great with children, you are a good cook according to your brother, you put down a mean meal and still look sexy as ever, and one of the more obvious reasons, I think your so fucking beautiful”

His hands have gotten a hold of yours while he was speaking and he looked into your eyes as he said every single word and you just knew he meant it. You have never met a man you wanted to get on your knees for so bad, and he wanted to make you love him. You almost asked him to pinch you so you’ll know you’re awake but decided if this was a dream, you aren’t gonna end it.

“Neteyam..” you sounded awestruck as you whispered his name it makes him smile down at you so sweetly, you thought you were about to have a sugar rush. “Say it sweetheart, let me court you, let me make you mine” he took small steps closer until he was almost pressed up against you, one of his hands came up to your cheek stroking it softly with his thumb. “Yes, make me yours”

His lips broke out into a smile triggering yours and pulled you into closer, his arm was now wrapped around your waist and you were pressed against his chest. His skin was warm it almost made you shiver thinking about pulling away. His eyes dart down to your lips and back up to your eyes as if asking for permission to kiss you.

You leaned in and your eyes fluttered when he pressed his lips against yours softly. His lips were as worms as his body, kissing him felt like breathing a different kind of air, he was so gentle with you, so caring as if he could break you if he squeezed too hard. You tilt your head to deepen the kiss running your hands through his braids, rubbing your fingers against his head. You didn’t want to every stop kissing him, you never wanted to pull away.

He swiped his tongue on your bottom lip and you wasted no time giving him access to your mouth. He leaned more into you causing you to bent back but you didn’t let him go, Neteyam held you tightly against him exploring the crevasse in your mouth. You moaned into the kiss when he latched into your bottom lip with his fangs and pulled on it separating you from the kiss.

You didn’t waste any time chasing his lips as he pulled away making him chuckle, you continued to suck each other's tongue as if you weren’t out in the open and if anyone decided to walk pass, they would see you humping each other. You felt his bulge press against you between your thighs, you moan at the feeling of his clothed cock humping against your clit. Your time was cut short however by the someone clearing their throat behind Neteyam.

You both jumped pulling away from each other, your lips were swollen and you suddenly felt the need to cover your body from the cold and you watched Neteyam cover his hands over his bulge was we watch his father and brother stand in front of us. Lo’ak sported a wide grin almost as if he was proud of his brother and his father stood with a neutral expression but his smile was cracking through.

“I thought you were walking her home?” Jake said. “I was- I am”

“And so how did you end up with your tongue down her throat? Or was her tongue down yours?” Lo’ak said. Your eyes dart to the floor and your toes played with the grass.

You didn’t see the way Neteyam smiled at your shy behavior, “Why are you two even out here?”

“Well son, Lo’ak brought it to my attention you’ve been gone for 20 minutes and I wanted to make sure you weren’t getting mauled by some freakishly large predator, but it seems like she’s the one getting mauled.” Neteyam was at least a head over you, he was very tall, kissing him made your neck hurt but fuck did you wanna do it again. “I’ll be right there let me take her home”

Jake rolled his eyes at his son’s responses and Lo’ak just giggled like he a school kid. “It’s ok, I live right there, you did want you were meant to” you said to him softly gesturing to your kelku behind you and smiled at him.

“Yea and seems like he did a lot more too” Lo’ak snorted as he tried to hold in his laugh. If you weren’t so embarrassed you’d see how funny this must look for someone else’s point of view. “How about I take you out tomorrow? After your class, I’ll come there and meet you” Neteyam grabbed your hand and laced your fingers with his smiling at you.

“I’d like that, I’ll see you tomorrow then” you smiled as you begin to back away from him.

“Yea I’ll see you” he smiles watching you turn and run away into the safety of your hut before turning back to his brother and father.

They didn’t say anything besides tried to hold in their snickers about the whole situation, they can’t wait to watch this one play out.

✨I hope you all enjoyed reading! I had fun with this one! Let me know if yall want a part 2 cuz I want to write one!

✨Reblogs, comments and likes are always loved and appreciated!

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m1ckeyb3rry · 5 months ago

Note

hii!! First of all ur theme is so aesthetically pleasing and I love all the nagi. I like binge read all of your event works and *chefs kiss*. Could I request a piece for karasu with the theme of like academic rivals/classmates? No worries if not, hoping ur doing well and taking care of urself!

On an unrelated note I saw that post about rude comments and im so sorry that’s happening to you! I honestly don’t know what drives ppl to bother leaving nasty comments esp when it’s not like they’re being forced to read anything T-T Hoping to send you a bit of love to counter those trolls!

── FIVE WAYS TO KILL A CROW

Synopsis: Crows are clingy birds, and Tabito Karasu’s feelings are hurt easier than you realize. (part two here!) (part three here!)

Event Masterlist

Pairing: Karasu x Reader

Chapter Word Count: 9.1k

Content Warnings: academic rivals to lovers, karasu is an asshole, reader is also an asshole, jealous karasu 😍, hiori randomly pulls up at one point for some reason??, yukimiya requests to follow one (1) person and accidentally causes the most dramatic pseudo breakup ever

A/N: anon i used to pray for times like these 😭😩 LMAOAO karasu is my fav (behind nagi ofc) but i’ve never gotten around to writing him so getting this request made me SO excited HAHA. i haven’t done anything rivals/enemies to lovers before so fingers crossed this doesn’t feel too awkward or unrealistic or rushed anything!! and yayyy i love my little nagi theme (and also nagi in general) i’m glad you like it too!! and my writing too, you’re so sweet 🥹 there will always be jerks unfortunately but lovely people like you make it all worth it 💖 thank you again and i hope this is kind of what you were looking for 🫶🏻

Additional: part of my 500 follower event! see the event description and rules to make a request of your own.

ONE: POISON IT

You could hardly contain your smile as you sauntered up to Tabito Karasu’s desk, your exam held behind your back. He was sitting by himself — his seat partner was sick this week, from what you had heard, so he had taken the chance to spread out his things and stretch his legs. When he noticed you, he raised his eyebrows, mouth tugging into a frown at your amusement.

“What?” he said. You brandished the paper in front of you, irises sparkling as you leaned over to rest your forearms on the desk.

“I got full marks on the last Chemistry exam,” you said. Karasu made a face at you, snatching the test from your hands and scrunching his face up as he inspected it.

“Seriously?” he said.

“Seriously,” you said. “What did you get?”

He crossed his arms and looked away. “Not telling.”

“You definitely failed!” you said in delight, taking back the exam and laughing at him. “How embarrassing. You failed the easiest test of the year, and yet you consider Chemistry to be one of your best subjects? I can’t wait to see how badly you do during finals week.”

“I did not fail,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I got a ninety-eight.”

“Ninety-eight! That’s even worse than outright failure,” you said. “You were so close to perfection, and yet in the end, you fell short. It must sting for things to work out like that.”

“Yes, I’m positively wounded,” he said dryly before batting his eyelashes at you. From anyone else, the rapid switch in demeanor would’ve left you reeling, but the shifting mood was to be expected from him. “Will you give me a kiss and make it better?”

You rolled up your test and smacked him on the head with it. “No.”

“Anyways, my overall grade in the class is still higher than yours, because rankings were updated today and I’m still number one, so I’m not sure what cause you have to be boasting,” he said.

“Hm, but did you notice who’s number one in Modern Literature?” you said, pulling out your phone and opening the school’s app, which listed each class’s rankings in every subject. “Yup, that’s right, me.”

“Good job, Y/N!” he said, clapping mockingly. “Shall we have a party? It’s a big occasion — the mediocre number two has finally done something of such note that she’s number one for the first time in her life.”

“I’ve been number one plenty of other times!” you snapped. “For your information, I’ve been first in the class in mathematics and history every year since middle school, so who are you to be acting like this is a first? If anyone’s mediocre, it’s you!”

He raised his hands in the air innocently, his trademark smirk gracing his features once more now that he had succeeded in irritating you, as was his typical goal.

“Alright, alright, no need to be upset,” he said. “It’s not good for you. Clouds your judgment.”

“In what way?” you said.

“I mean, somehow, you got the two of us confused,” he said. “And we’re nothing alike.”

“I did no such thing,” you said.

“Well, I seem to recall you calling me mediocre, but between the two of us, the subpar one is obviously you,” he said, flicking your forehead. You slapped his hand away.

“You — the bell is going to ring, so I’m going to go back to my seat, but just so you know, you’re way more mediocre than me, Mr. Two-Percent-Short!” you said.

“Stellar comeback!” he called out. “My ego is bruised beyond healing!”

“Good!” you called back, ignoring the sarcasm. “Maybe it’ll return to a more normal size. Your head has grown too big, it’s almost as ridiculous as that hair of yours!”

“Leave the hair alone!”

During your free period, you decided to go to the library for some peace and quiet to work on your homework and find some of the sources you needed for your next research project. For belonging to a high school, the library was surprisingly extensive, and you had managed to find relevant information for every other project you had ever done in it, so you had high hopes. Unfortunately, it seemed this latest assignment was more obscure than anything you had completed before, so on your second lap of the shelves where the books, if they existed, would be located, you resigned yourself to giving up.

Just then, a volume caught your eye. The cover was shiny and pristine, the spine still unbent with newness. Crouching, you pulled it out, and when you saw the title emblazoned across the cover in bright yellow lettering, you began to laugh, making a beeline to the checkout counter with it tucked under your arm.

“Hey, Y/N! How was your morning?” your best friend said as you set your things down next to her in the cafeteria. You hummed in agreement, searching the room for a familiar head of dark hair. “You good? Looking for someone? Let me guess: your secret boyfriend that you’re keeping from the rest of us.”

“Yeah, I’m looking for Karasu,” you said before the rest of her words registered. “No!”

“You’re finally coming out and saying it?” she said, holding her hands to her heart and pretending to swoon. “I’ve been waiting for you to confess.”

“He’s not my secret boyfriend that I’m keeping from everyone, I’m just looking for him!” you said.

“Could’ve fooled me,” she said. “What do you need him for, anyways?”

“I got a book for him in the library,” you said.

“Right, and this is the guy you hate? Your ‘mortal enemy’ or whatever?” she checked.

“Yes,” you said.

“But you…got a book for him from the library, and now you’re looking for him so that you can give it to him?” she said. You scoffed.

“When you put it like that, it sounds different than it really is,” you said. “Trust me, this isn’t a nice gesture or anything. You can consider it revenge.”

“When are you going to get over this stupid rivalry?” she said. “He’s not even that bad, you know.”

“Not even that bad? Not even that bad? Are we talking about the same Karasu here? I’m referring to Tabito, not his older sister,” you said.

“Ah, I think so? He’s a nice guy,” she said.

“He is the spawn of the devil! And he’s the one who started it, so I’ll stop hating him once he apologizes and means it,” you said.

“Do you think he even remembers that?” she said. “It was in middle school.”

You glared at her. “I remember it. If he doesn’t, well, that’s just more of a reason for me to dislike him on principle.”

“Okay, okay, whatever you say,” she said. “Sorry for complimenting him. He’s awful and rude and mean. I think he’s sitting outside with some of his soccer friends, if you still want to find him.”

“Thank you!” you said, instantly forgetting that you were upset with her for taking Karasu’s side instead of yours. “Watch my stuff, okay? I’ll be right back.”

“See you soon,” she said. “Have fun. Actually, maybe it’s more realistic for me to just tell you not do anything that’ll get you expelled.”

You waved her off as you marched out to the courtyard where Karasu and his friends were lounging, their chairs positioned in the shade so that they did not overheat while they ate. None of them noticed you approaching until you were tapping Karasu on the shoulder and smiling at him sweetly.

“Y/N? What are you doing here?” he said, sounding oddly flustered. One of his friends snorted, and more than a few chuckled, but you ignored all of them in favor of setting your bag on the armrest of Karasu’s chair.

“Hi, Karasu. I was in the library earlier and I saw this book that reminded me of you, so I took the liberty of checking it out,” you said.

“Oh,” he said. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“You’re so considerate, Y/N!” one of his friends said.

“We’re all so jealous of Karasu here,” another friend, the one who you believed had snorted, said. “You’re way too pretty for him.”

“Shut up,” Karasu said, sticking up his middle finger at his friend, though none of the group paid him much mind. In fact, it seemed to egg them on more, as they continued to hurl jabs at Karasu while simultaneously incessantly complimenting you.

You didn’t respond to any of them, instead pulling out the book and handing it to Karasu, interlacing your fingers and waiting for his reaction. At first he seemed confused, and then dismay dawned upon his features as he realized what he was holding in his hands: a copy of Chemistry for Dummies.

“What the fuck?” he said. You patted him on the shoulder.

“It’s only suitable,” you said. Suddenly, his expression cleared, and he beamed at you, which caused unease to brew in your stomach. You knew for a fact that he was about to say something infuriating, and you mentally prepared yourself to respond.

“What a roundabout way of telling me you need tutoring! Of course, I’m happy to help you anytime you want,” he said, tilting back in his chair so that he could cross his arms over his chest arrogantly.

“Why would I want tutoring from someone who does worse than me in the class?” you shot back, crossing your own arms in retaliation.

One of his friends whistled. “She got you there, Tabito.”

“Enough out of you,” Karasu said through gritted teeth. His friend winked at you and mouthed ‘nice one.’

“Look, man, all I’m saying is that if you want to ask out such a beautiful girl, you’ve gotta have a little more finesse than that!” he said.

“He can have all the finesse in the world, but I’d still say no,” you said. His friends hollered with raucous laughter, which caused Karasu’s face to turn red, but you only pressed the book into his hands. “It’s due in two weeks. That should be long enough, right? Make sure you return it on time, please, I don’t want late fines.“

“I hope you go into debt because of this stupid book,” he said.

“Aww,” you cooed. “You’ll be the one paying it off, so it doesn’t matter to me. See you around, Karasu — or, hopefully not.”

TWO: SHOOT IT

You and Karasu had met in middle school. The two of you had been assigned to work on a presentation together, and he had told you during your first meeting that because you were a dunce, you should just listen to him and do whatever he said. Ever since that day, you had done everything you could to show him how much better than him you were; for his part, he found great joy in getting on your nerves and so took part in every argument with pleasure.

You had long ago proved his middle school self wrong, by anyone’s standards, but at this point it was a habit for you to hate Tabito Karasu as well as a habit for him to hate you back. And of course, habits were hard to form but harder to break, so you would probably continue in that manner until the day you graduated and left him behind for good.

It was just the two of you who did not get along. Your friends were cordial with him and his ilk, and you did not really mind his little group all that much, crude though they sometimes were. After all, it was just in the manner of teenage boys, and when they were not taking advantage of your presence to make fun of Karasu, they were actually a pretty agreeable sort.

In fact, your friend groups tended to coexist most of the time, even having lunch together every now and again — though they were always careful to ensure that you and Karasu were kept entirely separate, or else you both were guaranteed to ruin the cheerful camaraderie with your sharp tongues and quick tempers. The measures they took were admirable, but unfortunately, they were not always enough. After all, what were precautions when compared with inevitabilities?

“Oh my god!” you squealed. “Guys! Oh my god, oh my god, I can’t believe this is happening?”

“Can’t believe what’s happening?” your best friend said, speaking for everyone at the table. They were all tuned in to you now, wondering what the big news might be that would bring about such a reaction from you, given how put-together you tended to be.

“Do you remember that one model I happened to meet while I was out last weekend? Kenyu Yukimiya? He just requested to follow me on social media!” you said.

“No way!” your best friend said.

“Way!” you said. The only warning you got was an arm pressing against your back, and then your phone was abruptly snatched from your hands. You gasped, spinning in your seat and scowling when you realized that the culprit was none other than that scavenging crow, Tabito Karasu.

“What the hell? He’s average at best, why are you so excited?” he said, scrolling through Yukimiya’s profile, his eyes narrowed critically. “Y/N, don’t you have any standards?”

“You’re probably the only person in the entire country who doesn’t find him gorgeous,” you said, exhaling dreamily as you took your phone back from him and stared at the artful manner Yukimiya was posing in for his profile photo. “He was even better looking in person. And sonice, too! They don’t make men like that often.”

Karasu frowned and swiped at your phone again. You held it out of his reach, reaching across the bench to press your foot against his chest, effectively holding him back from further attempts at thievery.

“Let me look at him again!” he said.

“Um, no,” you said. “I don’t need you making more fun of him. I know you’re jealous, but expressing it like this only makes you uglier, just so you know.”

“Looks like they’re back at it again,” one of your friends said, massaging her temples.

“Yup,” one of Karasu’s teammates said.

“Ugly? Ugly? You’re calling me ugly? Have you looked in a mirror recently? Also, get your gross shoe off of my shirt!” Karasu said.

“I have looked in a mirror recently, actually, and incidentally I’ve also been keeping an eye on my follow requests. Guess what? I’m obviously good looking, since a legitimate model wants to follow me! How many celebrities request to follow you, huh? I bet the answer is zero!” you said, though you did do him the favor of swinging your leg back, allowing him to brush himself off in disdain.

“Lots of soccer players want to follow me,” he said. “I’m quite good, you know.”

“That doesn’t count,” you said. “It has nothing to do with how you look. They’d request to follow you no matter how hideous and poorly styled you and your hair are.”

“Are they seriously arguing about which of them is worse looking?” Karasu’s teammate said.

“I suppose so,” your friend said. “They’re both really hot, though, so I don’t know what the big deal is…”

“Geez, they’ll take any excuse to go at it, huh?” Karasu’s teammate said.

“Pretty much,” your friend said.

“Guess all of that tension has to go somewhere,” his teammate said.

“Exactly,” your friend said, shaking her head as she finished up her lunch.

“That model probably only works for horror magazines!” Karasu said. “It barely even counts!”

“He was in Vogue Japan,” you said smugly. “Look it up, stupid.”

“So what?” he said.

“So he’s handsome,” you said. “Like I said, it’s okay if you’re envious of him, as long as you accept it instead of doing this whole weird denial thing. I don’t blame you for it — in fact, I thought you would be. You don’t have much going for you overall, do you? In all honesty, it’s only natural for you to feel like this when faced with what you lack.”

Karasu’s eyes widened, and then he stood abruptly, picking up his bag with one arm and haphazardly pulling it onto his back. “Goodbye.”

“Bye,” you said, not really caring one way or another what he did with himself. Actually, you would prefer it if he wasn’t there, interrupting your meal and your daydreaming about your impending romance with Kenyu Yukimiya.

“Wow, Y/N,” your best friend said once Karasu was gone. “You’re kind of dumb, you know that?”

“What are you talking about?” you said.

“It’s not her fault,” another one of Karasu’s teammates said. “He’s not much better.”

“Huh?” you said.

“Never mind,” your best friend said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I have a migraine now.”

“Want some ibuprofen?” Karasu’s teammate said. She accepted it gratefully, and nothing more was said on the subject. The rest of lunch passed in a peaceful manner, though strangely, Karasu did not return.

It should’ve made you happy. You wondered, then, why it felt so odd without him there, like there was a gaping maw sitting in the place that should’ve been occupied by him.

THREE: DROWN IT

Ever since the day that Yukimiya had requested to follow you, you and Karasu hadn’t spoken. He refused to make eye contact with you in the few classes the two of you had together, keeping his gaze lowered to his work and his shoulders hunched away from you. You didn’t even try to talk to him; something told you that it would not be well-received, and you weren’t anywhere near confrontational enough to bring up his odd behavior, so the time without him dragged on and on, seemingly without end.

At first, you were happy, and you told your friends as much. It was a much-needed break from the constant aggravation he brought you, and you found your classes without your competition to be almost boring in their simplicity.

“The more you say you’re happy that you and Karasu aren’t talking, the less it sounds believable,” your best friend said, taking a sip from her juice box.

“Believe it! This is what I’ve been wanting since middle school,” you said.

“Is it?” she said. “It sounds like you’re kind of upset.”

“Am not!” you said. She shrugged.

“Sure,” she said, drawing out the word. “Definitely not.”

“Why would I be upset?” you said.

“You tell me,” she said.

“I’m telling you that I’m not upset. You’re the one with the theory, so give me some evidence to substantiate it,” you said.

“Fine,” she said. “You talk about him all of the time, even when you guys are getting along — or, at least, your twisted little version of being friendly, which isn’t friendly by anyone else’s standards but it seems to work for you two, so I won’t comment further. You keep telling us that you’re so delighted he’s leaving you alone, but you do this thing with your face when you say it that makes it super obvious you’re not. It’s not the kind of behavior you’d display when discussing someone you hate as much as you claim to hate him. Finally, there’s a reason half the school thinks you guys are dating, and it’s not just the obvious aesthetic appeal of that match.”

“What? I thought you were just trying to bother me when you brought that up!” you said. She shook her head.

“No, it’s a common misconception. It’s why no one’s ever asked you out. They all think you’re already taken. Actually, the other day, a guy asked me if I thought he might have a chance with you now that you and Karasu had broken up,” she said.

“What’d you say?” you said, half in horror, half in fascination.

“I told him probably not, and that you and Karasu hadn’t broken up, because you were never together in the first place,” she said.

“Oh, okay,” you said.

“Should I have said something else?” she said. You shook your head.

“No,” you said. “What else would you have said?”

“Dunno,” she said. “Look, you need to cheer up. I’m sure that if you just try to talk to him, things will go back to normal in an instant. Then you can return to complaining about him like usual.”

“Talk to him? About what?” you said. She gave you an incredulous look.

“You were pretty mean to him the other day, Y/N,” she said.

“It wasn’t any meaner than what he says to me on the regular,” you said. “And what I say to him in return. I don’t see why he’d be more or less offended.”

“I think it was a little worse than what you typically say,” she said. “Plus, the context was different.”

“How so?” you said. She shook her head.

“That’s for him to explain, not me,” she said. “Come on, don’t be stubborn. Work things out with him. I miss hanging out with the guys.”

“Ah, so that’s why it matters to you,” you said. “Sorry to say it, but I don’t have any plans at attempting conversation with him anytime soon. Like I said, things are finally calm and stress-free for me. He’s the one being immature, as always, so why’s it up to me to make things better?”

“Immature?” your best friend said. “You’ve held a grudge against him since middle school.”

“And?” you said. She squinted at you before pursing her lips.

“Well, I guess the two of you really are made for one another,” she said.

“What?”

The next week would mark the beginning of the swimming unit in PE class, which you were actually looking forward to. You loved to swim, you had ever since you were a child and your parents had brought you into the water for the first time, and the thought of getting to earn a good grade for something you liked doing in the first place was an agreeable on.

In preparation, you decided to stop by the pool after classes were over so that you could acclimate yourself to the motions of the strokes once again. The swim team’s practice had been canceled, and no one else ever used the pool, so you would have the place to yourself, which was just about the closest thing to heaven you could imagine while still living on Earth.

Changing into your school-issued bathing suit and putting your things into a locker, you tied your hair back so that it was out of the way and stepped into the steaming indoor pool deck. The water was a bright cerulean shade, the lanes split by lane-lines which alternated colors to match your school’s emblem. When you dipped your toe into the deep end, you found it was warm, not cold like you had feared. The school didn’t splurge on heating the water of the rarely-used pool, so usually, it was all but freezing. You supposed that they must’ve had complaints from last year’s PE classes, so they had restarted the heaters in order to ensure that no one had any cause to whine about the temperature this year.

For a moment, you just sat on the tiled edge, your legs swishing about in the water, the heels of your palms pressing against the lip of the pool as you closed your eyes and luxuriated in the tangy scent of chlorine. So lost were you that you almost didn’t notice the door swinging open, but the clang of it shutting was unmistakable. Thinking it must’ve been a confused swim team member showing up to a practice that wasn’t happening, you opened your eyes, your lips parting to issue a reprimand that died before it could take shape.

It wasn’t a swim team member. It was Tabito Karasu, wearing a pair of swim trunks and nothing else, his jaw taut and his fists clenched as he inched towards the water. He hadn’t even noticed you, and you didn’t feel inclined to announce yourself, so you let your elbows dig into your thighs, your chin resting in your hands as you observed him.

You had known that he played soccer almost as long as you had known his name. It was the entire reason he was so popular and well-regarded in the school, and an inextricable part of his identity, but until now, you hadn’t quite considered what that actually meant. After all, you only ever saw him in the loose, modest clothing of the school’s uniform, so why would you jump to the conclusion that he was so — so — well, you were loath to admit it, but he had a striking body, and, now that he wasn’t being all cocky and maddening, you could appreciate that even his face was of a similar quality.

Blinking, you cocked your head as he extended a graceful foot towards the first stair leading into the shallow end. Water splashed against it, and he yanked it back like he had been scalded. You could not help yourself from giggling as he did this once and then twice again. On the third attempt, you forgot that the two of you weren’t acknowledging one another and cupped your hands around your mouth to amplify your voice.

“What are you doing?” you said.

“Who — Y/N? I didn’t realize anyone else was in here!” he said, stepping back from the pool and straightening his shorts, though there was nothing wrong with them that required straightening. You sprang to your feet and walked over to him, leaving wet footprints in your wake as you peered at him curiously.

“I was just going to do some laps to ensure that I’m at my best for the swimming unit next week. Did you have the same idea?” you said.

“Something like that,” he said.

“What’s with that whole ritual, though?” you said. “It’s not that cold. You should just get in.”

“Definitely not,” he said. You furrowed your brow.

“Okay,” you said. “Why are you at the pool, then, if you don’t want to go in the water?”

“It’s nothing you need to be concerned with!” he said. “Why are you so nosy? Just go away.”

“I was here first,” you said.

“Fine,” he said, spinning on his heel. “I’ll go, then.”

“Wait! Karasu, wait,” you said, grabbing onto his wrist as he made to leave. “Look, we don’t have to talk to one another or anything. We’re experienced enough at ignoring each other, so there’s not an issue in both of us being here.”

“Is that what you want?” he said.

“Yeah, sure,” you said. He swallowed hard, his throat bobbing, and you thought he would say something, but he only nodded curtly.

“Fine,” he said. You gave him an expectant look, but he did not move from the spot he was rooted in, so you thought that you might as well take the initiative. Looping around to the deep end, you inhaled and then dove into the water headfirst, staying under for as long as you could before finally surfacing and allowing yourself to settle into the familiar undulations that came with swimming.

After a few laps, you took a break, peeking up over the concrete to look at Karasu, who was still standing stubbornly in place, his nose wrinkling whenever he glanced at the pool.

“Hey,” you said. “Are you scared of the water or something?”

He froze. “Who told you that?”

“No one?” you said. “It’s pretty easy to tell as an onlooker. Were you planning on trying to get over your fear by coming to swim when no one was here? That’s dangerous if you don’t know how. You could drown.”

“I’m not scared of the water,” he said.

“Really? Then why’re you just standing there?” you said. His mouth opened and closed a few times, and then finally he hung his head in reluctant defeat.

“Whatever,” he said. Judging by the way he tensed immediately after the confession, he was expecting you to say something cruel, but you only boosted yourself out of the water and tapped him on the shoulder.

“I can help you, if you’d like,” you said. “I’m good at swimming.”

“Why would I want your help? And why would you even offer it in the first place? This is just one more subject you can beat me in, and that’s all you care about, so save it,” he said. “Congratulations, Y/N. You get to be number one this time.”

He looped a dry towel around his neck and left you standing alone, shivering and dripping pool water, a puddle forming around your feet as you gazed at the door he had vanished through.

The class rankings updated again after the swimming unit was over. You were in first place. Karasu didn’t even make it to the top ten. You wanted to celebrate the victory — it was the first time you had beaten him so thoroughly, after all — but for some reason, it didn’t really feel like something worth celebrating.

FOUR: STONE IT

School without Karasu was lonelier than you thought it would be. You hadn’t realized just how much you relied on him until he wasn’t there anymore. Without him, there wasn’t anyone you could exchange looks with across the room when somebody said something ridiculous in class. There wasn’t anyone who you could talk to in the minutes before the period began. There wasn’t anyone who made you push yourself to be better. What was the point of being first if Karasu wasn’t on your heels, ensuring that you stayed on the top for fear of losing to him? It was boring and lonely to try if he wasn’t doing the same.

You and he were still one and two, but it didn’t matter much anymore. The rankings were just numbers. They didn’t mean anything when Karasu still refused to even exchange pleasantries with you. Why would you want to compete when the other party didn’t share your interest? Now, if you managed to pull out ahead of him, it felt more like you had kicked a dog that was already down than if you had actually won anything. When he got first over you, it didn’t fuel your ambition any. You just wished he would come over and gloat instead of sitting there so solemnly, like none of it had ever mattered to him in the first place.

You couldn’t understand why he was so angry. What had you said that was so egregious? You hardly remembered the conversation you had had with him, it was that thoughtlessly done. You really hadn’t meant much if anything by it. One second, the two of you had been squabbling as you were prone to doing, and the next, he was so furious that he couldn’t bear to interact with you even still.

The day you were ambushed was nondescript. It was just like any other Wednesday, and you were walking back home from school when you were forced to stop in your tracks. A tall man — no, he was a boy, probably a year or two younger than you based on his soft and innocent expression — was barring your way, his arms outstretched and feet planted firmly in the ground to prove the depth of his conviction. He had pale hair and sky-colored eyes framed by the longest eyelashes you had ever seen on anyone, man or woman, with a small mouth pinched into an expression of discontent and lines like tire tracks between his eyebrows.

“Who are you?” you said warily, reaching for your phone, though you hardly knew who you would call. The setting was wrong for this to be a mugging, as it was sunny out and you were on a well-traveled street, but you didn’t really know what else to expect from the stranger, who could certainly outmuscle you if it came to it despite his lovely appearance.

“Yo Hiori,” he said. “I play on Bambi Osaka with Karasu. You’re Y/N L/N, correct?”

“Oh, one of the soccer guys?” you said. “Uh, hey. Yes, that’s me. Is something the matter? I’ve never seen you before. How do you even know who I am?”

“I’ve been watching Karasu for a while,” Hiori said with the utmost of seriousness, his hands dropping to his sides now that he was sure you weren’t going to run past him. “He’s a pretty fascinating person.”

“I’m sure,” you said, thinking to yourself that this Hiori kid was more than a little weird. Did Karasu know that he had acquired such a shadow? You supposed he must’ve. He had always been the observant type, so there was no way someone like Hiori would’ve escaped his keen notice.

“He’s been kind of down in the dumps recently, though. Even our coach noticed it. His playing hasn’t suffered too dramatically, but he’s the captain of the team, so he’s the guy everyone relies on for a funny pep talk or a word of advice when things are going south. Nowadays, however, when he’s off the field, he just sulks,” Hiori explained.

“I see,” you said. “That’s terrible.”

You meant it, too. Karasu without his asshole quips and ready jokes was a different person entirely. A person who you missed more than you could let on, even to yourself.

“It is,” Hiori said. “I took it upon myself to do some digging, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason is you.”

He was definitely a freak. You vowed to bring it up with Karasu, if he ever talked to you again. Even if he was already aware, it felt like a moral or civic duty of yours to ensure that he was fully informed about the extent that this child was inquiring into his life.

“What kind of, uh, digging do you mean?” you said, neatly avoiding the second thing he had said.

“It was pretty simple,” Hiori said. “One of the guys asked Karasu if he was acting off because he broke up with his girlfriend or something, and he got so mad that he left practice early. I opened up social media as soon as I got home and saw that you’re the only girl he follows, so by process of elimination, I figured the two of you were having some trouble in your relationship.”

“Relationship? I think you’re misunderstanding,” you said. “There’s no relationship. You could hardly even consider us friends.”

“Oh!” Hiori said. “I’m sorry. He’s mentioned you once or twice, so I just thought — and given what he said — and his reaction and all — no, I really am just sorry. It was wrong of me to make that assumption in the first place.”

“It’s alright,” you said. “I’m told it’s a relatively common misconception, so I can’t blame you. At least, it used to be. We haven’t really spoken in a while, so I guess everything thinks that it’s over, even though it never began in the first place.”

“You haven’t spoken in a while?” Hiori said. “Why not?”

“I think I said something that offended him, and we haven’t been on good terms since. Not that we ever really were in the first place,” you said.

“You did? He’s a pretty rational person, so it must’ve been something terrible for him to still be angry about it,” Hiori said.

“Maybe, but I don’t remember saying anything like that,” you said.

“What if you tell me how your last conversation went? Maybe I can help you,” he said.

“Sure, since you’re apparently the resident Karasu expert,” you said. “Wanna walk with me? I was heading home, but we can go to the convenience store and get some snacks or something instead. I don’t want to get in trouble for standing around in front of some random person’s house for too long.”

“Sounds good,” Hiori said. “There’s one a couple of minutes away, so we can head in that direction and keep talking as we go.”

“Great,” you said. “Okay, so the last time we talked…I think it was when Kenyu Yukimiya requested to follow me.”

“Who’s that?” Hiori said.

“He’s this model I met while I was shopping one day. Absolutely breathtaking,” you said. “Just really a stand-up guy. We’ve hung out a few times since then, he introduced me to the girlfriend I did not know he had, the works.“

“Yikes, unrequited love?” Hiori said with a wince.

“It was more of a celebrity crush. His girlfriend is super sweet, though, so I can’t complain. Anyways, I would consider them both casual acquaintances. The type you call to have a coffee with, but not the ones that help you move into a new apartment, you know?” you said.

“Uh, sure,” Hiori said in a tone which suggested he had no idea what you were talking about but was too scared to inquire further.

“Moving on, Yukimiya requested to follow me, and of course this was at the peak of my celebrity crush, so I started fawning over him, which prompted Karasu to take my phone and start insulting him,” you said.

“Interesting,” Hiori said.

“Then I called him ugly, and he called me ugly — that’s pretty standard for the two of us, so don’t look so shocked! After that, I said something about how I had expected him to be jealous of Yukimiya, since he didn’t have much going for him overall, so it made sense,” you said. “That’s when he left and things got weird.”

“Okay, I think I get it,” Hiori said. You waited for him to explain further. He smiled at you pleasantly.

“Right, so are you going to share with the class or am I meant to read your mind?” you said after a moment.

“I don’t want to give anything away that I shouldn’t,” he said. “But it’s a pretty simple issue to fix. Try thinking about what you said from his perspective.”

“He has a dumbass perspective. It’s impossible for me to think that way,” you said automatically.

“Do you think that he dislikes you?” Hiori said, taking two bottles of Yakult down from the shelf, handing one to you and keeping the other for himself.

“I’m not really sure how he feels about me, to tell you the truth,” you said.

“I don’t think he does,” Hiori said. “So, try thinking about someone you like and then imagine them saying to you what you said to them. Would you be inclined to be nice to them after that?”

“Well…” Your tongue was heavy and leaden in your mouth, and you ducked your head as you searched through your wallet for money. “No, not at all. I’d probably hate them for a really long time. Maybe forever.”

“That’s possible,” he said.

“Do you think he’ll hate me forever?” you said.

“Most likely not. Like I said earlier, he’s a rational person. I think that if you say sorry and sincerely mean it, he’ll forgive you. There’s a chance he won’t, though; you’ll have to listen to what he says and accept it,” Hiori said.

“But when? I hardly have the chance to see him in school. He just avoids me, and the building’s so big that it’s all but impossible to track him down!” you said.

“We have a soccer game in the evening today,” Hiori said. “I’m heading over there in a bit. Wanna come? You can talk to him once it’s over.”

“Am I allowed to?” you said.

“Why wouldn’t you be?” Hiori said. “If anyone says anything, just tell them I invited you. Here, I’ll give you the address and time now, and you can decide if you want to show up.”

“Okay,” you said, typing out his instructions in your notes app. “Thanks a lot for your help, Hiori.”

“Anytime!” he said. “Hope to see you at the game!”

“Even if I don’t go, I’d still like to meet you again. You’re a pretty cool kid,” you said, reaching up to ruffle his hair. “Kind of weird, if I’m being fully honest, but cool nonetheless. Karasu’s lucky to have a teammate like you.”

He grinned, and it was a tender, shy thing, as if he was earnestly seeking your praise or approval — like how a cat would bring a dead rat to its master or a child would show their parents a treasured drawing. “Thank you. Even if you don’t try to talk to Karasu…maybe you can still come anyways?”

“Alright, then,” you said. “Since you asked so nicely, I guess I have to. I’ll be there.”

FIVE: TAME IT

The sun was nearing the horizon, but it still had not officially begun to set by the time you settled in the bleachers on Bambi Osaka’s side. Besides a couple of women your mother’s age and an elderly man who must’ve been someone’s grandfather, there weren’t any other spectators. Hiori had mentioned that this wasn’t a particularly serious game, as they didn’t even need to beat the team to make it to Nationals, so it was more like a friendly exhibition game than anything — hence the low turnout.

“Hello, dear,” a woman said when she noticed you sitting by yourself. “Are you friends with one of the players?”

“Yes. Um, Tabito Karasu? I’m his classmate,” you said. Technically, you were there on Hiori’s goodwill, not Karasu’s, but for you to not mention Karasu would be like a betrayal. You weren’t sure if it was him or yourself that you’d be betraying, but either way you did not want to chance it.

“You’re one of Karasu’s friends? Lucky you, then,” she said. “He’s a delightful boy, or so I’ve heard. This is my son’s first year on the team, and he was really nervous to join such a prestigious organization, but ever since his first day, all he can talk about is how amazing his captain is. Karasu’s tough on all of the players, but he really works hard to make all of them feel welcomed, too.”

Bambi Osaka’s team took the field, and you smiled when you saw Karasu in the front, his name across the back of his jersey, a pair of black gloves covering his large hands, an insolent leer on his face as he greeted the other team’s captain. He had not noticed you yet, and you were not sure if this was for the better or worse, because you wanted him to see you, but you didn’t want him to be distracted and play poorly as a result.

“He’s a wonderful person,” you agreed. “He’s the only one in the entire school who can keep up with me, academically or otherwise. I didn’t realize until recently how much I admire him for that.”

The woman’s eyes crinkled around the corners with the ease that came from a lifetime of happiness. For some reason, you thought that she knew something you did not, or could not, but it wasn’t uncomfortable that she did. It seemed to you that being left in the dark was just your lot this time around, and you found that oddly enough, it felt acceptable.

“Is this your first time coming to watch him?” she said.

“Yes, it is,” you said.

“You know, he has this habit before every match of scanning the stands, like he’s looking for someone. I thought it might be his parents, but at the last match, just about his entire family showed up, and he still seemed disappointed,” she said.

“That’s a shame,” you said noncommittally, not sure what else you should say. The woman shrugged.

“Well, I wonder what it’ll be like today,” she said. “There he goes.”

True to her words, Karasu was craning his neck towards the Bambi Osaka side, his eyes darting from person to person until they settled on you. You raised your hand hesitantly, waving at him, knowing that he probably wouldn’t reciprocate.

He turned away almost immediately, but not before you saw him fight back a smile — not the smug type he generally donned, but one you had only ever seen on him once or twice. It was one that made him seem charming and boyish and sweet, that made you want to take back every negative word you had ever said about him. Only now could you understand that it showed who he really was, that at his heart Karasu was that kind of person, not anything like the facade you were so accustomed to, which he showed you for the sole reason that it was what you unconsciously demanded of him.

You had judged him to be horrible, and so he became the bane of your existence. You had told him he was good for nothing, so he disappeared like he really was just that. Everything you said, Karasu went along with gamely, and you wished you could’ve known that earlier, so you would’ve spent less time hating him and more time comprehending these intricacies, which entranced you in the way a spider’s web entranced a butterfly.

“Looks like I don’t need to worry about that child any more,” the woman said as the referee blew the whistle to signal the start of the game.

“Pardon?” you said. “Were you talking to me?”

“No, no,” she said, shaking her head. “I was just musing to myself. Ignore me. Let’s watch the game; I have a feeling that some of our players are going to go all out today.”

Bambi Osaka completely annihilated the other team. Maybe the match didn’t matter, but none of them played that way; instead, they were aggressive and focused, with Karasu at the forefront of every goal they made, commending his teammates and deriding his opposition in the same breath.

That was something you had not expected — he had a massively foul mouth when he played soccer. You had thought that he was rude when he spoke to you, but the things you overheard from him whenever he ran by within earshot made your conversations seem tame. You couldn’t help but pity the poor defenders that he shoved past and spat barbed-wire abuse at.

He was merciless and beautiful and you could probably spend a dozen more hours watching him play without even a trace of boredom, but by the time the sky had turned gold and the sun had dipped towards the ground, the game was over and the members of Bambi Osaka were packing up their things to leave for the night after yet another landslide win.

You snuck onto the field once you were extremely assured that nobody would be upset with you for it, making your way over to where Karasu was chugging a bottle of water.

“Hi,” you said when he was finished, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and tossing the now-empty bottle into his bag. “You played really well.”

“Thanks,” he said. There was impatience but also longing in his voice, like he wanted you to say something so badly but he knew you would not, would never, and so he would rather get the conversation over with and move on with the business of his life than stick around and waste time with you.

“I’m sorry,” you said.

“What?” he said.

“I’m sorry,” you said. “Karasu, I’m really sorry. I don’t think that you have nothing going for you. I don’t know why I said that. Well, I do, it’s because I wanted to have the last word like I always do, but I don’t mind if I don’t have it this time. Or any other time. Or ever again.”

“What?” he repeated, as though he had been rendered dumb by your confession.

“I miss you,” you admitted. “I didn’t believe I could, but apparently, I can, and I do. A lot. I know that I’m unpleasant and disparaging and haughty when it comes to you, but I won’t be that way anymore if you forgive me for my vices one last time. If it means you’ll talk to me, I’ll be a fool. I’ll be in second place. I’ll be an idiot. But please, please forgive me.”

He took a deep breath. You handed him the bottle of kombucha that you had bought on your way to the game because you saw him drink it so frequently that you figured he must like it. He accepted it gingerly, holding it with the delicacy of a newborn, unscrewing the lid and sipping on it pensively.

“Alright,” he said.

“Alright?” you said.

“I’ll forgive you,” he said. “But on one condition.”

“Anything,” you said.

“You better not do anything as dumb as trying to be mediocre on purpose because you think it’ll make me feel better. What the hell is that proposition, huh? It’ll make me feel worse if anything! I like you because you’re unpleasant and disparaging and haughty and whatever else you said, not in spite of those qualities. I’m sure you heard me while I was playing…anyone who isn’t you would probably be terrified of me when I’m like that,” he said. “Just, y’know, I’m a person with feelings, too, so keep that in mind if you can. Oh, and don’t wait so long to say sorry next time, because it’s seriously annoying for me to feel all out-of-sorts for ages!” he said.

“That’s it?” you said.

“That’s it,” he said. “Hug?”

Ordinarily, you would’ve said no, but you were so weepy at the reconciliation that you nodded and let him embrace you, his arms caging you against his chest, holding you to him so that you could not escape.

“Ew!” you shouted when you registered what he was trying to do, shoving him off of you as he cackled and released you without much of a fight. “Gross, Karasu, you’re disgusting! Get away from me! I can’t believe you did that!”

“I can’t believe you fell for it!” he said as you frantically tried to wipe yourself off, though it was largely in vain. In your emotional state, you had forgotten that he was still drenched with sweat from the game, and you were now reaping the consequences of your poor decision making.

“You’re a bad person,” you said.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “Whatever you say.”

“I probably deserved that one, though, so I won’t hold it against you,” you said.

“Smart decision,” he said. “Wait. Unrelated, but whatever ended up happening between you and that model dude? What was his name again?”

“Yukimiya? He has a girlfriend,” you said. “Oh, well. What can you do, right? I’m not upset about it. Besides, everyone and their mother thinks I have a boyfriend already, so it’s probably for the best that it worked out like this. I wouldn’t want his modeling career to be ruined by home-wrecking allegations or anything.”

“It must be a pretty serious not-relationship you’ve got there, if it’s the career-ending type,” he said.

“I’d say it’s pretty serious, yes,” you said. “He’s an awesome guy. You’d like him.”

“I’ll respect it, then,” he said. “But…if you ever find yourself not-breaking up with him, then, uh, let me know. I’ll take you on a date somewhere. We can argue and reminisce about the day we met over dinner or something. It’ll be super romantic.”

He said it casually, but you were more familiar with him than either of you ever could’ve predicted you’d be. He was secretly nervous about how big of a risk he had taken, fiddling with the zipper of his soccer bag, avoiding your eyes while he waited for your response. You let the silence stretch on for a minute, just to make him squirm, and then you poked him in the ribs.

“Karasu,” you said.

“What’s up?” he said, and he must’ve been trying very hard to keep his cool, but his anxiety transmitted through the endearing crack of his voice.

“I have to tell you something,” you said.

“Go ahead,” he said.

“I’m not-single now,” you said. “So. Will you take me on a date this weekend?”

He lit up, so bright that you were all but blinded by the brilliance of his joy. Then he cleared his throat and pretended to check the non-existent watch on his wrist.

“You’re in luck,” he said. “That works for me. I’ll pick you up on Saturday for dinner.”

“Great,” you said. “I look forward to it.”

“Hold on, don’t go just yet,” he said. You paused, about to ask him what else he needed when he stooped over and pressed his lips to your cheek. “Thanks for coming to my game. I’m not really sure how you knew I was playing, but I’m glad you could make it either way.”

“Um — uh — Hiori told me, he told me you were playing, and, er, where to go and what time and all,” you stammered, trying to wrap your head around what had just happened, replaying it in your mind over and over.

“Hiori? I should’ve known he’d be the type to meddle like that,” he said. “I’m not even going to ask how you know each other. The answer will probably make me feel vaguely discomfited, so I’ll abide by an ‘ignorance is bliss’ policy.”

“That’s probably for the best,” you said, composing yourself, though internally, you were imagining what it would be like if you had turned your head, if instead of your cheek his lips had landed somewhere else. “Okay, I should go now. See you on Saturday?”

“One last thing. You’re pretty transparent, you know,” he said, grasping your chin in his left hand and leaning in. Your eyelashes fluttered shut as he grew closer and closer, but right when his mouth was a hair’s breadth from yourself, he chuckled. “Also, pretty gullible.”

Instead of kissing you like you had anticipated he would, he tackled you in another hug. You squealed in protest, but he held fast, his body rumbling with laughter as you simultaneously struggled to escape and clung onto him as tightly as you could.

“I hate you,” you said when your half-hearted efforts proved to be entirely futile.

“Sure you do,” he said.

“You’re the worst,” you said.

“Absolutely,” he said.

“I’m being serious here. You smell!” you said.

“Well, that’s plain rude of you to say,” he said, messing up your hair in what you were sure he deemed to be a punishment, as if being crushed against his sweaty form wasn’t punishment enough.

“Let go of me, you idiot crow!” you said.

“No can do,” he said. “Crows are clingy birds, you know. Even the idiotic ones. Ask me again in twenty years and maybe we can revisit the issue.”

“Karasu!”

#karasu x reader #karasu x y/n #karasu x you #karasu tabito #bllk x reader #bllk #blue lock #academic rivals to lovers #reader insert #m1ckeyb3rry milestone #m1ckeyb3rry writes

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kaiijo · 2 years ago

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GOM + KAGAMI AS ROMANCE TROPES — [KNB]

characters: kuroko tetsuya, kagami taiga, aomine daiki, kise ryouta, midorima shintarou, murasakibara atsushi, akashi seijuurou content: gn! reader, tooth-rotting fluff, aomine’s is set when he and reader are college-aged + vorpal swords is a professional club notes: finally proving my love for my bball boys and living up to my username

⋆｡° kuroko tetsuya — soulmates

You were constantly looking over your shoulder, from the moment you were born to right now. No one could really blame you, what with the words “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you” written on your arm from the day you were born. They were supposed to be the first words your soulmate spoke to you and you were supposed to be excited for the words, but you were just scared that your supposed one true love would be some creep or a serial killer.

You had moved from Okinawa up to Tokyo for high school, a move that your parents made so your brother could pursue track at one of the top high schools for the sport. Meanwhile, you had enrolled in Seirin High.

Sitting in class, you cursed your luck for being assigned a seat in the first row. You listened passively as your classmates’ names were called on roll. One by one, your teacher went down the list until she reached, “Kuroko Tetusya?”

“Right here, ma’am.” The whole class jumped at the quiet voice and you stared at the boy three seats behind you and to your left. When had he gotten there?

You turned back to face the front, sighing and shaking your head. You raised your hand when the teacher called your name, zoning out for the rest of the class. It wasn’t until your teacher said that she wanted you to turn and talk to a classmate and introduce yourselves that you listened back in.

You looked around with a frown; it seemed that most people just picked their desk neighbors or people that they were already acquainted with from middle school. Great, so you’d be the loner kid from out of town with no friends. Awesome. You turned to look back the teacher when you saw that there was someone right to your left — that super quiet kid, Kuroko. “What the heck!” you yelped. “When did you get here?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

You two stared at each other for a solid twenty seconds, silent, before you bashfully said, “Hi, I’m Y/n.” You held your hand out.

“I’m Kuroko Tetsuya.” He took your hand and shook it with a warm smile. “It’s nice to meet you, soulmate.”

⋆｡° kagami taiga — friends to lovers

“What the hell happened here?” you asked Kagami as you two packed up for the day. You held his English language test in hand, pointing at the big ‘30%’ circled in red ink at the top of the paper. “Are you sure we both lived in America because—?”

“Shut up,” he grumbled, snatching the paper from your hand. You snorted, poking his side and narrowly avoiding the swipe he aimed at your head.

You had known Kagami since you were kids in the United States, though you returned to Japan earlier than him because your dad’s job moved him back. It was a total coincidence that you wound up at Seirin together, reconnecting in your English language class.

“Yikes,” you said. “Better call Alex and brush up on your English.”

As you exited the school building, Kagami shoved you lightly, though it was enough to set you off-balance and almost careening into the ground. You would’ve if Kagami hadn’t grabbed your arm, sheepishly offering an apology. “Jeez, Taiga, know your own strength. Some of us aren’t as buff as you, you know?”

Kagami went a little red and he looked away from you. “Can we stop by Maji Burger on the way back?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m actually kind of hungry.”

You took the train over and you sent Kagami to the register to order for the two of you, sliding into a booth. As you scrolled through your social media, you didn’t notice some guy sliding into the seat across from you. He cleared his throat and you looked up, eyebrows raising. “Can I help you with something?”

“Yeah, I saw you across the restaurant and just had to ask for your number.”

“Oh, uh… I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can do that.”

“Why, you got a boyfriend or something?”

“Yeah, me—” Your head whipped over to see Kagami, standing with a tray stacked with burgers and fries. “—so you can fuck off.”

The guy’s mouth opened and closed, taking in Kagami’s large frame and mean scowl and seemingly deciding that it wasn’t worth it, slinking off with his tail between his legs. Kagami practically growled at his retreating back, settling into the seat across from you and dropping the tray on the table with more force than necessary. You watched him as he unwrapped a burger and took a big bite, still frowning. “So,” you said, “you’re my boyfriend now?”

He avoided your eyes and mumbled something around his food. You reached across the table and poked his forehead. “What was that?”

Quietly, he repeated, “If you want me to be.”

Your face warmed but you gave him a small smile and said, “Maybe take me on a date first.”

He perked up and said, “Deal.”

⋆｡° aomine daiki — second chances

Aomine, for all his pride and bravado, admitted that he wasn’t the best boyfriend in high school, especially when the two of you dated in your first year. He understood now that instead of an equal give and take for the two of you, he really just took and took and gave you very little. But he was older now, more mature, more reflective, and you were standing a few feet away from him in the coffee shop Momoi begged him to visit to get her some new, overly sugary treat that was trending on social media.

He had to do a double-take when he first walked in, having heard a laugh while he tapped through Instagram stories (Kuroko had taken a video of Kagami tripping over a wet floor sign, Kise was promoting for some skincare brand, and Akashi was in Ishigaki for the weekend). His heart leapt to his throat; when you turned from the cashier to make your way to the pick-up counter, he confirmed it. It really was you. Your hair was a little shorter and your style changed quite a bit but he would know that laugh anywhere.

“Dude.” Aomine snapped out of his daze and glanced over his shoulder as some scowling middle school kid. “Move up, it’s your turn.”

Aomine didn’t reply, approaching the cash register and ordering Momoi’s viral, heart attack-inducing pastry and a coffee for himself, doing his best to subtly glance over to where you were patiently waiting for your own drink. He shuffled to the pick up counter, standing a respectable distance away from you. Did you know he was there?

“Aomine!” The barista called, and he watched your head shoot up from your phone and you glanced to your right, eyes meeting his.

He grabbed his coffee and the pastry, unsure of what he should do next. Should he say something to you? It would be dick move to just walk away without a word.

“Aomine,” you said, breaking the ice first. “It’s been a while.”

“Yeah,” he said, frowning a little at the use of his last name. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been pretty good, studying environmental science. What about you? You’re playing for Vorpal Swords now, right?”

His eyebrows raised and something sparked in his chest. You still kept up with his basketball career? He nodded and you replied, “That’s cool.” The silence that followed was a little awkward, but neither of you made any attempts to move.

“I remember you always liked biology class,” Aomine said finally, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m glad you’re doing what you love.”

That seemed to pull a genuine smile from you and Aomine’s chest tightened. “Yeah, I really do like it. I could say the same for you though.”

The barista called your name and you jumped a little at the sound. As you grabbed it and before he could stop himself, Aomine asked, “Iced latte with oat milk and vanilla syrup?”

You looked surprised. “I’m… I’m honestly shocked you remember something like that.”

“We bought coffee almost every day before school,” he said. “Always running late because of it.”

“Hey! We ran late because you couldn’t wake up to your eight alarms, dummy.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, yeah.”

Silence followed again and you rocked a little on your heels before telling him, “I should get going. I have to help my roommate study for a quiz.”

“Right,” he said. “Yeah, it was… nice running into you.”

“You too, Aomine.” He watched you walk out the door and it was only a few seconds before he was racing out of the cafe.

He yelled your name, drawing stares from other pedestrians. You turned around and Aomine asked, “Wanna get coffee here again? Saturday at eleven?”

You smiled back at him. “Sounds like a plan. You better wake up to those alarms… Daiki.”

⋆｡° kise ryouta — fake dating

During a break in his basketball practice, Kise ran up to you from where you sat in the stands. “Look, Y/n-chii,” he said, showing you his phone screen. You glanced at it, a selfie of Kise with his arm wrapped around your shoulders, both of you are grinning. The caption read: no one else i’d rather be with <3. “We’re so cute together.”

You laughed weakly, “We are.”

A month ago, Kise asked you to pose as his partner since his sisters were going to be around for the month. They had been bothering him about getting a partner and he had gotten sick of the teasing and nagging. The two of you hadn’t been friends exactly but you weren’t strangers; you had been in a handful of classes and worked on a few projects in and out of school. You weren’t really sure why you agreed. You guessed it was that gravitational pull that Kise had that made him irresistible to women and men alike.

You were a bit embarrassed to say that you originally judged Kise as just a pretty face but the month revealed to you that it was absolutely untrue. While he may not be book smart or excel in school, Kise was emotionally intelligent, a beast on the basketball court, and — as you found out through a series of encounters with some of his fans — highly protective of those he cared about.

He took you out on cute “dates,” you met his sisters and parents, and you tried (and failed) to beat him in some spontaneous street basketball matches. You had to admit that you had a really, really good time fake dating Kise. Maybe too good a time. Your heart raced when he leaned against you, enveloping you in the comforting scent of his cologne, when he slid his hand into yours, when he kissed your cheeks when you met his family.

You felt like a complete fool, falling for a guy so out of your reach.

“Hey,” he said and you nearly leapt out of your skin when you saw that Kise had made his way into the stands and sat down next to you. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” you said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

He frowned, unconvinced, but he didn’t push it. Instead, he looked out over the basketball court and said, “Can’t believe the month’s almost done.”

You chewed your bottom lip and tried to make a joke: “How dramatic do you want the breakup to be?”

Kise said, “That’s— I’ve actually… I’ve actually been meaning to talk to you about that.”

“Do you want to do it earlier?” Your heart dropped to your stomach at the thought.

Kise’s head whipped towards you, nearly colliding with yours. “No!” He took a deep breath and more calmly, said, “No. Actually the opposite.”

“You want to break up later?”

To your surprise, Kise chuckled, “Wow, and people say I’m dense.”

“What do you mean?”

Kise tilted your chin up, making you meet that intense gold gaze. “I want to date you for real.”

⋆｡° midorima shintarou — frenemies to lovers

You wouldn’t say that you disliked Midorima but… you couldn’t say that you were good friends either. The two of you bickered in class a lot, constantly jockied for higher scores on tests, and gave smug looks at each other when the teacher praised the other.

However, while you and Midorima were, in essence, academic rivals, you were also united in the fact that you both were at the top of your classes. When a classmate would say something dumb, you’d both immediately share a side-eye together. You gravitated toward each other for group projects, avoiding people who wanted you to do all the work.

“You need to come to the game tonight,” Midorima announced to you as you two packed up after Japanese History.

You gave him a look, saying, “When have I ever shown interest in watching basketball?”

He pushed his glasses up and said, “Time to get interested.”

“Why, though?”

“Oh, just come,” Takao sighed. “None of us will ever hear the end of it if you don’t.”

“Fine,” you said, “if it means that much to you, Midorima.”

He just nodded tersely and began to turn away before hesitating. He pointed at your phone charm — a limited-edition charm from you favorite manga — and asked, “Can I take that?”

“What?” You glared at him. “Of course not!”

He huffed, ears turning pink and he pushed up his glasses defensively. “Just for tonight.”

“Why?”

“It’s my lucky item.”

You gave him a look but sighed, unfastening the charm from your phone and handing it to him. “I better get this back after your basketball game.”

He nodded again and pivoted sharply on his heel, walking away without another word, Takao hot on his heels.

On your train ride home, you looked up Oha Asa’s horoscopes out of curiosity, searching for Midorima’s. He was a Cancer, right?

Today is a fifty-fifty day for Cancers but you can change your luck for the better by inviting someone important to you to a meaningful event in your life. Your lucky item for the day is a borrowed phone chain!

⋆｡° murasakibara atsushi — stuck together

You absolutely could not believe the day you were having. As Yosen’s long-suffering manager, you supposed you should have been used to the antics of the players, but after a less-than-stellar performance on a pop quiz and spilling water on your uniform blazer, all you wanted was an uneventful practice and to go home and take a nap. But apparently, fate had other plans for you in the form of Murasakibara Atsushi.

“Y/n-chin,” he drawled, pulling on your shirt sleeve. “Do you have any snacks?”

You shook your head and asked, “Doesn’t Himuro usually have some for you?”

“Muro-chin’s coming late today.”

Ah, so that’s why the gym wasn’t swarming with girls at the moment. “Right,” you said with a sigh. You thought for a second before saying, “I think I remember Liu saying he stashed some snacks in the supply closet. Let’s go look there.”

The two of you made your way into the closet at the end of the gym and you unlocked the door. You switched on the light and rooted around shelves, pushing away cleaning supplies and spare equipment. “I swear Liu said he hid snacks in here.”

“Maybe you’re just too short to see,” Murasakibara said. Before you could tell him that he needed to keep the door open since it locked automatically from the outside, Murasakibara had already moved and the door swung shut behind him.

You cursed and grabbed the handle, twisting it and feeling the resistance of the lock. You groaned, resting your head on the door in despair. From behind you, Murasakibara announced that he found Liu’s stash of snacks. “Great,” you grumbled. “I’m so happy for you but we’re stuck in here until someone lets us out.”

Murasakibara glanced at you and came up beside you, trying the door handle himself with much more force than you ever could muster (you were pretty sure you heard the metal bend a little) but you still remained trapped. You shot a text to Coach Araki, informing her about your situation, to which she replied that you’d both have to wait until they found the spare key since Fukui had managed to misplace it a few weeks ago.

You rubbed your hands down your face and leaned your back against the door, watching as Murasakibara plopped down on the floor and stretched his legs out, munching on Liu’s chips. He took up most of the floor space of the closet, and you pressed yourself further against the door to avoid knocking into his feet.

As fifteen minutes passed, you shifted your weight from one foot to the other again, legs growing tired. Murasakibara cocked his head before he suggested, “Y/n-chin, do you want to sit?”

“I’m okay,” you mumbled but Murasakibara remained unconvinced apparently since he sat up a little straighter, set the empty chip bag aside, and leaned forward suddenly, pulling you down to sit in between his legs. Your cheeks burned as you practically crashed into his body.

“You can lean against me,” he said. Your face was on fire but honestly, you were too tired to argue with him, shifting to rest your back against his chest. He reclined on his hands and you felt his gaze burning into the back of your head.

It was about fifteen more minutes before the door opened, Himuro having found the key. Fukui, Okamura, and Liu also peeked their heads inside, Fukui and Himuro eyeing your positioning with smirks. “Looks like you two got comfy,” Fukui snickered. Okamura turned away, muttering something about how unfair life was, and Liu’s eyes zeroed in on the chip bag beside Murasakibara.

“Did thou eat my snacks?”

⋆｡° akashi seijuurou — forbidden relationship

If it was anybody but you, you would have rolled your eyes at just how cliche and utterly ridiculous this situation was. But it was you and your life and your relationship, and you would be lying if you said it didn’t completely crush you.

You and Akashi had grown up alongside one another but not necessarily in a good way. Your parents’ companies were each other’s main competitors, and while they had as polite a relationship as industry titan competitors could have, neither family wanted their heirs dating.

But at your and Akashi’s ages, it was hard to really forbid you two from seeing one another.

You sometimes couldn’t believe how many people rose to power who were insufferably boring. You stood beside your mother as she laughed and clinked champagne glasses with a group of suits, your face frozen in some disingenuous smile. Your eyes, meanwhile, scanned the large banquet hall, falling immediately on a figure with red hair and two-toned eyes. You felt your mouth curl into a real grin when you met his gaze and you winked at him, butterflies bursting in your stomach when he smiled back and shook his head fondly.

He had told you that his father arranged a date for him tonight, the heiress to one of their closest associate companies. You couldn’t say you weren’t a little jealous but you were completely confident in Akashi’s love for you; the two of you wouldn’t have carried on this long if either of you wasn’t completely enamored with the other.

“Excuse me,” you said at a lull in the conversation, “I’m going to get some air, I’m feeling lightheaded.”

“Of course, dear,” your mother said. “Be sure to be back for speeches, though. You know how your father gets.”

You nodded and slipped away to the venue’s gardens, lush and hued in autumnal colors. Your fingers brushed against the blooming wisteria as you made your way to the bridge over the garden’s pond, staring down at the moon’s reflection in the water.

A few minutes later, your reflection is joined on the bridge with Akashi’s, shoulders touching. You didn’t exchange any words for a while; you just rested your head on his shoulder and his head rested on yours.

“Where’d you leave your date?” you asked him.

He chuckled, “She’s in a conversation with my aunt about her collection of vintage Versace.”

You hummed, “That should keep her busy the whole night.”

Akashi finally faced you. “That’s the intention, beloved.” He pecked your forehead.

You gently poked his side and asked, “You call that a kiss?”

He gave you one of those looks, eyes glinting with the same promise of a challenge as they did when he played basketball. “Are you underestimating me?”

“Well, if the shoe fits…”

You laughed as he cupped your face and pressed his mouth against yours for a much, much different kind of kiss.

#knb x reader #kuroko no basuke x reader #kuroko's basketball x reader #generation of miracles x reader #gom x reader #kuroko tetsuya x reader #kagami taiga x reader #aomine daiki x reader #kise ryouta x reader #midorima shintarou x reader #murasakibara atsushi x reader #akashi seijuurou x reader #kuroko x reader #kagami x reader #aomine x reader #kise x reader #midorima x reader #murasakibara x reader #.𖥔 ݁ ˖ kaiijo writes

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yoredoesmore · 4 months ago

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HOSHINA MOON HEADCANON! Highschool AU edition

a/n: fan fiction at the end ^^ i did not plan for this to become so sad this was supposed to be a “shy boyfriend hoshina headcanon” post, chat how did we lose the plot so badly 😭 i don’t choose the angst, the angst chooses me 😔

summary: "the moon needs the sun to shine” / “the sun is alone but still shines.”

genre: romance/angst [wc: 1,3k]

enjoy!

MOON HOSHINA˚⊹ – Who first took notice of you when you decided to become the Student Council President for the last year of highschool

MOON HOSHINA˚⊹ – Who thought that because he is the (good looking) Vice President, he could easily have you fall for him (he was wrong)

MOON HOSHINA˚⊹ – who found himself captivated by your kind and sharp-witted personality

MOON HOSHINA˚⊹ – Who once saw you get hit on by some jerks and came to your rescue, only to end up frozen in place as he watched you calmly clock them with your words.

MOON HOSHINA˚⊹ – Who fell in love with you right then and there

“Oh, Vice President. I didn't see you there, is everything alright?” You asked, approaching Hoshina with a friendly smile on your face. Only seconds ago those lips were releasing the most brutal, malicious curses at the two students and now they were kindly greeting him.

MOON HOSHINA˚⊹ – Who came to you whenever he needed help with some documents or other tasks, even though he was more than capable to work on them on his own, simply to see you more since you were in separate classes

MOON HOSHINA˚⊹ – Who admired you for always giving 100% and helping out wherever possible. Yet at the same time it felt like you were miles away from him and never depended on his support.

MOON HOSHINA˚⊹ – Who made sure to pass by your classroom every opportunity given. He had to go to the bathroom? Instead of using the one closer to his class, he would walk all the way past yours in hopes that he'd randomly meet you in the hallway.

MOON HOSHINA˚⊹ – Who felt like the moon, admiring the sun

MOON HOSHINA˚⊹ – Who, despite having the fattest crush on you, keeps his distance when talking or walking together, since he feels like there is a wall separating your worlds.

MOON HOSHINA˚⊹ – Who praises you when you do a great job, wanting you to know that none of your efforts are going unnoticed.

MOON HOSHINA˚⊹ – who talks to Mina about his concerns, worries and all the cute interactions you two share

WINGLADY MINA˚⊹ – Who pretends to have an important appointment in the evening and asks you to take care of the leftover paper work by yourself (she had promised to help you a couple days ago). You agree, unable to deny the sweet smile of your friend, and get ready to stay behind alone. But upon entering the small office you see Hoshina waiting for you.

MOON HOSHINA˚⊹ – Who sits in silence, working on the papers in front of him while trying not to lose his mind. The two of you are sitting right next to each other, working on some details for the summer festival.

MOON HOSHINA˚⊹ – Who wants to confess his love for you so badly but is scared that you will reject him. As you finish up, he quietly packs his bag, ready to go home, when he notices you still being seated.

“Is everything alright?” His voice was laced in a mild layer of concern. Your gaze remained focused on the desk for a little longer, your mind lost in thoughts, before you looked back up at him.

“I’m sorry..I was just thinking about something..” The subtle sound of paper moving and pencils clicking filled the silent room. Something in your presence had changed, Hoshina could feel it, but he wasn't sure what it was. Your movements were slow and delayed, as if they were trying to prevent something..but what?

Even the expression on your face hung low, missing all its colors or enthusiasm.

Did something happen?

Whenever you came to submit your work you would meet the Vice President with a shining smile which displayed your pride. But now none of that joy remained.

At first Hoshina believed it was because of the late hours that were pulling on both your strength but then a thought ripped through his head. As you stood up from your seat you were suddenly met with the male standing right in front of you, his sudden appearance suddenly startling you.

“Is everything al–”

“You really are something, Y/n.” Hoshina said, a smile sitting on his face. His eyes were filled with amaze and admiration, a deep passion directed solely ar you. The way his eyes shone, like the reflection of stars on the calm sea, it made your heart beat uncontrollably.

“I..where is this coming from??” This was the first time Hoshina has experienced you in such a flustered state. Normally it was you who would have this effect on him.

“Let me walk you home.” Was all he said before turning on his heels and opening the door for you, waiting for your stunned body to defrost.

The walk home was calm and warm, yet borderline awkward. Neither of you said anything as you strolled through the dimly lit streets. You had long collected yourself from the shock, yet the surprised feeling still lingered on your heart.

“You really are something, Y/n.”

Those words had come out of nowhere? Hoshina was not the type to say something so sincere out of the blue and that did not sound like a “good job” praise either.

And that look on his face..

Have you ever gazed upon such dreamy eyes? Painted by such soothing colors? It was a view out of a dream.

You were so lost in thoughts that you hadn't even noticed that Hoshina stopped moving a while ago. As you came back to it, there had already been a noticeable distance created between the two of you. Your eyes locked with his, causing the tension from before to reappear.

“Hoshina..?”

“Yer shine is so bright..sometimes I have to take a step back to admire it all.” He spoke softly, not moving from his place.

“Will you allow me to admire you from up close, Y/n?”

Admire you from..up close?

“I'm sorry, please forget what I said..”

Hoshina shut you off before you could say anything, walking right past you as if nothing happened. He always did that, keeping his distance, only allowing you to get close when he felt like it.

An uneasy sensation spread through your chest as you watched him distance himself further and further away from you.

“You keep distancing yourself further and further away from me..” Your hands reached out for his, preventing him from taking another step. Hoshina's eyes widened upon seeing the distraught look on your face, his heart sinking into his gut.

“What is the use of me shining so bright when there is no one to absorb the light?”

An unexplainable tension lingered around your bodies, slowly suffocating you. There were so many things on your mind, thoughts, wishes, worries– an entire collection of emotions– and the same reflected in Hoshina's eyes.

The wind gently pulled on your skin, messing up a few strands of your hair.

You suddenly felt his gentle hands on your cheeks, caressing your face in careful motions.

All came to a temporary still stand as Hoshina looked you deep into the eyes, before capturing your lips in a soft kiss. The sensation felt oddly comforting. You melted in his arms and allowed your heart to rest safely in his embrace. Upon pulling away, you noticed the soft smile that tugged on his lips from before.

“You are my sun. Your light will always reach me, no matter what.”

a/n: ik highschoolers don't talk like that but this is just some silly writing practice (want to improve my skill) and i wanted to go for a different plot setting this time!

for those who don't get it, hoshina feels like he isn't putting enough work into his role as vice president and y/n admits that she's only working so hard because of Hoshina's praise and she wants his recognition

#yoredoesmore #x reader #hoshina soshiro x reader #kaiju no. 8 #soshiro hoshina #romance #hoshina x reader #angst #highschool au #im tired #Hoshina Soshiro headcanon #soshiro hoshina headcanon

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basu-shokikita · 2 months ago

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Skwisblocked, a Klokllege fic

I really like @kaanagen's Klokllege AU about the boys going to college, so I decided to write a little one-shot based on Skwisgaar and Toki's dynamic in it. You can read the full post of her AU here!

Plot: Toki comes up with a bit of an unusual method to deal with his (seemingly) unrequited feelings for Skwisgaar.

As usual, full fic under the read more but you can also read it on ao3. Amazing art by Kaana also 🫶💖

As usual, they had the last shift at the antique shop, which means it was their job to close the thing down, leave the place tidy and make sure the door was locked so no accidental shoplifting happened. Again. Toki wasn’t looking to get fired, so he was extra cautious with the keys now.

By the corner of his eye, however, he noticed a girl standing outside. She had long brown hair, silver hoops and a denim jacket over her loose, airy dress. A customer that came too late?

“Um, sorries, we ams closed.” He told her.

“Oh, no, it’s okay.” She smiled. “I’m just waiting for someone.” Her eyes darted to the inside of the store before looking away.

Ah.

Toki went back into the store and heard Skwisgaar whistling as he arranged the boxes behind the desk, totally unaware of the exchange that had transpired. Toki opened his mouth and then closed it, choosing to turn off the remaining lights instead.

He liked Skwisgaar. He really liked him. What was there not to like, anyway? Skwisgaar was handsome, cool and really talented at the guitar. Maybe he was sort of grumpy, but it only added to his aloof demeanor. So it wasn’t surprising to him at all that he was so popular with girls.

That didn’t mean he was happy about it.

About five minutes later, they were coming out of the back of the store. As Skwisgaar dunked the plastic wrap on the trashcan, Toki dared to ask. “Anythings funs for tonights?”

Skwisgaar closed the trashcan and rubbed his hands together. “Sleeps.” He walked down the alleyway, with Toki following quickly. “What abouts you?” A sly smirk. “Hangs with the college bands nerds?”

Toki wanted to act offended, but he couldn’t hold back a smile. “Very funnies.”

“Ja, dats my second names.”

“Reallies?”

“...Noes.”

Toki hesitated for a moment. “Does you wants to eats-”

“Hi!” They had barely crossed to the pavement when the girl came running to them. Before any of them had time to react, she continued. “I came by the store earlier.” She bit down her bottom lip, glancing at Skwisgaar.

“Oh.” Skwisgaar grinned. “Finds somethingks whats you likes?”

She giggled and, if there was any doubt remaining in Toki’s mind about her intentions, it was completely gone now. “You free tonight?”

“Wells-”

“W-We ams abouts to goes eats a borgers!” Toki impulsively got in between them. “We ams really hungries after works.” He rubbed his belly dramatically to emphasize the statement. “Buts you cans come pals if you wants?”

The girl’s gaze alternated between the two of them with surprise. “Sure?” She said, kind of confused.

Skwisgaar raised an eyebrow at Toki but said nothing. He wasn’t lying, he really did want to ask Skwisgaar to grab dinner together. And just because he didn’t manage to get the words out before she arrived, didn’t mean he had to give up.

Right?

“Byes!” Toki bid his classmates farewell, before making his way for his next class. Although, checking his mail, he realized the professor had canceled the class that morning. Awesome, that meant he had time for a quick nap under the sun. Maybe pet some of the kitty cats in the grass. He was so grateful that this college allowed cats to lounge in the park, it was the perfect distraction on stressful days.

Merry on his way he was, when he spotted his other favorite distraction sitting at a nearby table. “Oh!” He raised his hand enthusiastically. “Skwisgaa-” But the word dropped out of his mouth when he realized Skwisgaar wasn’t alone.

Toki hid behind a bush as he spied on them. The girl sitting in front of Skwisgaar had blonde hair picked up in a high ponytail and rosy cheeks. She was wearing a white cardigan with a plain blue top underneath. Her auburn eyes seemed sweet and the way she stared at Skwisgaar was anything but platonic.

Toki turned around and breathed in deeply, holding tightly onto his books. When he glanced at his books, an idea scoured his mind.

“Skwisgaar! Skwisgaar!” Toki ran towards, shouting his friend’s name.

“Toki?” Skwisgaar called his name in confusion, only to be flabbergasted when Toki dropped his books dramatically on the table. “Whats?!”

“You gotsa helps me!” Toki cried out, pointing at his books. “This financements class! It ams killings me!”

Skwisgaar clenched his jaw. “Tokes, ams in the middols of somet’inks right nows.” He glanced at his companion. “You knows?”

As if he hadn’t noticed her, Toki turned towards the girl. “Oh, Gods! Cans you helps me? I has a tests comings up and-”

“Toki!”

“Oh, it’s no big deal!” She smiled gently and Toki almost felt bad for crashing their date. “Are you guys friends?”

“Ja!”

“Noes!”

She laughed heartily, extending her hand to Toki. “I’m Jennifer, Skwisgaar’s classmate.”

Toki extended his hand back. “Ams Toki!”

“Well, Toki,” Jennifer said, inspecting his books. “I think I know a thing or two about finances.”

He smiled, amazed that his plan had worked. “Reallies?”

Skwisgaar, on the other hand, was completely baffled. And Toki? Toki felt ecstatic over his newfound power.

–

From then on it just kept happening.

Like when Toki was heading to the club and he found Skwisgaar and a short girl with curly red hair at the fountain. The sun was setting which made the location all the more attractive, with the golden reflection of the water bouncing back on their faces. They were dangerously close, with Skwisgaar holding her waist, whispering sweet nothings into her so Toki had to think fast.

“No ways!” He pointed at the couple. “Skwisgaar, you dumpeds Jennifers?”

Whatever romantic mood there was, it completely dissipated as Skwisgaar turned towards him like he had seen a ghost. “Heugh?”

“Jennifer?” She took a step back. “Who’s Jennifer?”

“Jennifers!” Toki answered quickly. “The sweet girls Skwisgaars was goings out with de other days! Why you does that, Skwisgaars? She ams so nices!”

The red-head turned towards Skwisgaar and he put up his hands instantaneously. “Waits-”

“Asshole!” She slapped Skwisgaar right across the face.

“Augh!” Skwisgaar rubbed the swollen cheek.

“Wowee!” Toki was surprised by the sight but she glared at him with anger. “Um,” He tried to look for candy in his pocket, as she approached him. “Does you wants-”

She smacked him in the face. “You too!” She said and strode away.

“Yous cheatingks on yous boyfriends, too!” Skwisgaar yelled at her, still massaging his cheek. “Whats?!” He barked at Toki.

Or when he interrupted Skwisgaar’s meet-cute at the library by constantly asking the girl about bugs.

Or when he surprised Skwisgaar and the girl he was evidently planning to sleep with by waiting at his dorm because it was ‘guitar night’ and played songs for her under Skwisgaar’s annoyed stare.

Or when he kept sending drinks ‘on the house’ for the girl Skwisgaar had come with, at the bar he also worked part-time at. He got fired soon after, though.

Or when he-

“Dats it! Ams done!” Skwisgaar screeched, pants entirely soaked because Toki dropped soda on him when he was asking Skwisgaar’s date about her hand-made skirt. She left while laughing at Skwisgaar, obviously. “What does you wants?!”

Toki feigned innocence. “What you means?”

“You ams been ruins kings my dates for weeks! Weeks, Toke! Can’ts remembers the last times I gets laids!”

Pride swelling in his chest, Toki tried not to smile. “I just wants to pals, Skwisgaar! And dese ladies ams so nice soez I can’ts helps it.” He looked down in pretense shame.

Skwisgaar squinted at him for far too long, and Toki feared he had seen his through motives. “...You wants a goils?” He asked.

This could be the moment. This could be it, when he finally admitted to Skwisgaar how he felt. In the american movies Toki had seen, this is when the confession would happen. And Skwisgaar would like him back, and they would be happy forever after.

“Uh, ja! I wants a goil…friends, haha…” He scratched the side of his face, laughing awkwardly. Reality wasn’t so perfect like those movies.

“Wells, den just says dats.” Skwisgaar rolled his eyes. “I cans sets you up with somes goils. Just stops beingks dildos.”

“Haha, okays!” Toki agreed, slinging an arm around Skwisgaar’s. “Whats abouts a Marios Karts before works?”

Skwisgaar’s face was still severe, brows furrowed when he looked at Toki. However, his expression swifty softened. “Fines.”

“Hoorays!” Toki cheered, pulling his vintage console from his messenger bag. “Ams gonnas destroy yous!”

“Eugh, keeps dreamingks, littol dildo.” Skwisgaar said, though he was smirking. “Mademes Peaches and me ams a pretties good teams.”

“Yoshis and Tokes ams betters!” Toki countered, laughing too.

As they walked away, he wondered if he’d ever have the bravery to tell Skwisgaar the truth. If he’d ever had the courage to ruin what they had for a meek gamble.

Perhaps one day, but definitely not this one.

#metalocalypse #toki wartooth #skwisgaar skwigelf #skwistok #klokllege au #my writing

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pynkgothicka · 7 months ago

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ＸＳＫＳＪ

Pairing - Jupe! Dark! Kim Seokjin x AFAB! Reader

Synopsis-Based off NOPE, you and your friend visit a new attraction called Jupiter's Claim, and a grown up child actor begins to fall for you. Part One of the Movies Series

Featuring - Megan Fox

Word Count - Around 2k

Tags and Warnings - Kidnapping, Allusions to Death

Authors Note - While studying the movie and pulling what I wanted, Steven Yuen was looking FARRRR TEW FINE. Also cried at the end, the unknown is scaryyyy

A friendly reminder that all my works are dark fanfiction! Please if you do not like that do not read them! These depictions don't pertain to reality. This is your final warning before hitting the keep reading button!!

You hated RV parks.

You felt trapped at Megan's make-up artist job. The only benefit you had was being able to be around the horses they had brought in regularly. You stood by one in particular, Lucky, and next to .him was a quiet man, who you learned his name was Oj.

You knew better than to not bother him as he seemed on edge, but you liked being around Lucky. You would pet her mane, and just like being around her.

Soon however, Megan finally had her things together and motioned towards you. Letting out a sigh you wave towards Oj. “Bye, thanks for letting me hang out with you.”

“It’s nothin’.” He mumbled singling you off with a hand gesture.

“You like him or something?” Megan said walking next to you as you guys walked to her RV. You laugh her off slightly shoving her.

“Nah, I liked Lucky though. Oj was pretty chill, he just kind of let me be around. Guess I wasn't pestering him like the rest of that crew…” You deduct making your way inside her RV. You had your own space, in which you settled in. You dropped down on your bean bag exhausted. “Besides didn’t you want to go to that attraction or something?”

“Jupiters Claim? Of course, I paid good money for it, so you can bet your candy ass we’re going to see what's there.” You groan at Megan's want to go to some random attraction. You honestly rathered the RV at that point.

“Fine, just let me rest before we head out. You know I hate being out there in the sun like that.” You complain. Megan lets out a small squeal as she tackles you onto your small bean bag.

“Thanks! I could just kiss you right now!”

“Mhmm, the things I do for you.”

🏇

Walking into the attraction you were quickly put off. The old-time Western theme wasn't appealing to you at all. But from what Megan had told you on the way there, she wasn't there for the actual attraction. “I’m telling you, that kid Jupe, from Gordies Home, he owns this place.” Megan raves leading you towards the back of the attraction up towards the staircase to the main office. “I paid good money to see his memorabilia and talk to him.”

“Why not use it for something valuable, like a nice piece of jewelry or something?” You say walking behind her as she opens the door.

“Because I had extra money lying around and well I wanted to spend it.” Walking inside you were greeted by two people, one of them being a lady in a baby blue dress, cowboy hat, and boots complete the look. She stood talking on the phone and Megan tapped on the class making a motion towards the back door.

The lady smiled and gave a thumbs-up before getting back on the phone. Megan led you into the back office space. Sitting behind the desk was a man in a white top, obviously fitting the western aesthetic. His hair was black and slicked back, lips curving into a sweet smile. “Megan right?” He asked looking at her and shaking her hand.

Then his eyes turn to look into yours. He stood in a daze looking at you.

You give him an awkward smile and take his hand. He shakes his head and takes your hand in a firm grasp. “Sorry, I should’ve said something about bringing her around,” Megan begins clearing her throat. Even she could tell it was awkward. “She's cool people trust me.” Jupe seemed to be in his own world before finally pulling away.

“Oh it's fine, you know I don't usually let people bring others around, but just this once I'll let it slide.” He says laughing. He steps from behind the desk and puts a hand on the small of your back to move past you. You jump and look at him, Jupe giving you a smirk before continuing to move past you.

Megan smiles laughing along with him. “Trust me she's like a tag along, real chill.”

He smiles turning to look at you. “Let's just hope you’re a real Gordies Home lover.”

“Trust me, I’m really not.” You say laughing awkwardly. You really wanted to leave already.

🏇

Once his tour was over you felt weird about it all. Megan was ecstatic though, finally coming one step closer to one of her special interests. She asked questions the entire time, while you stood at the door pensive.

Megan then dismissed herself to take a call. This left you inside with Jupe. “So, are you usually traveling with her while she does makeup?” He asks as you stand near the window peering outside, watching Megan. You turn around nodding at him.

“No, I just tagged along when she invited me.” You say before speaking up again. “Listen I’m sorry if she was just being a lot in there. She's my friend but I know you have feelings and all.” You say looking at him. He seemed to be lost in his own world before snapping back to reality.

He blows out smiling. “It's right really, thanks for caring though. But let's not focus on that. What do you do for a living?” He said standing up and laughing, making his way closer to you.

You laugh with him awkwardly. “A horse jockey. Yeah, I mean when I saw some of the horses you guys had, I was excited. Like a way to be committed to the western theme.” You ramble on leaning by the window. You really just kept talking to not focus on how close he was getting towards you.

He nodded smiling towards you and sat on his desk, his body close to yours. “Yeah, I know a ranch where I get them, real quiet bunch… I bet you’d like that wouldn’t you?” He said looking at you.

“Like what?”

“You don't seem to fit the whole being a side character to Megan's story. Like just look at you, you’re just gorgeous.” Jupe rambled leaning in. You leaned back as he got closer. “I think honestly you’d like it here. I can make you a star ya’ know.”

You tilted your head shaking it at him. “Listen Jupe-”

“Jin. The name is Jin.”

“Jin, I’m not really interested in whatever you’re trying to do. I’m just here because I want to support my friend.” You say putting your hands out to put some space between the both of you. “I’m not here for my claim to fame moment.” Jin shakes his head, pursing his lips together.

“You sure you don’t want more than what you have? You never even considered all you could have is someone, who gave you a chance at getting it?” He rambled. His hand went back as he grabbed a stapler on his desk. “I can make you happy… happy with me.”

Seeing him go for it you ducked as he first swung it. Your back hit one of the walls, your hand trying to stop the blow. But that failed as you instead injured your wrist. You held onto it losing your grip on the wall. “Get the fuck away from- AH!” You’re cut off by the stapler hitting your head. You see a bright light before you officially are knocked out.

Jin let out a deep breath as he dragged you into his memorabilia room. Jin closed the door, locking it, but not before making sure you were knocked out. Just around then, Megan comes back inside looking around. “Sorry, did she leave or something?” She asked looking around. Jin nodded going to sit back behind his desk.

“Yeah, she said she had a headache or something. Talked about going back to you guys RV.” He said snidely. “Did she not tell you before leaving?”

“No… Thank you once again, I'll head back now.”

🏇

He kept you in that room for weeks.

Only just recently were you moved out from there, and put in one of his set dressing houses.

He preached about falling for you and wanting to spend his days with you. Laying with you late at night, his hands around your waist. He laid kisses on your neck as he would tell you sweet nothings, yet what was even more messed up was that the entire time you were chained to the foot of the bed.

Of course, the chain had some length but still, you felt as if it was fruitless to escape. But you didn’t dare stay locked up forever. Especially after he told you Megan filed a missing persons report for you and had been asking around for and about you.

She even decided to go to his live show just to get her mind off things.

So you began walking and dragging the bed as you walked around the home. The bedframe would hit the door and you pulled at it hoping to snap off the leg the chain was hooked to. You kept doing it until it was the day.

The day of Jins live show.

Jin stood in front of you showing off his tailored suit. “Do you like it my Star?”

You hated that nickname.

“Yeah, I-It’s amazing… It’s really fancy.” You replied feeding into his decisions. Jin smiled and kissed your lips. Before standing up and heading for the door.

“Be safe okay, after this I’ll be back, and Amber will be gone.” He smiled wickedly walking out and locking the door. She was one of the reasons he moved you here. He wanted you away from his wife, who obviously hated you. You could've sworn whenever you did have to stay trapped in his office, that she tried to poison you more times than once.

But that's beside the point.

You heard the sounds of people, music everything. You spent that day continuing on your escape. You finally pulled off the leg and started banging a heavy piece of the chain on the doorknob.

The loud PA system made you speed up as you growled slamming the chain on the knob. The incessant drone of Jin talking acts as background noise to what you are focused on.

“And so, as I said, in just under an hour, ‘The Star Lasso Experience’ is gonna change you.“

CLANG!

“Stay in your seats. So that was new. They’re early...”

CLANG!

You let out a loud fuck as you cry out.

Then you hear it.

Screaming.

You stop what you're doing as the wind blows in the distance, the same amount of distance as you hear the screams. It's droning and you stop what you're doing to cover your ears, your head hurting at the sound. You wait as it all goes away before you put down the chain realizing you were probably in a life-or-death situation. With one final kick, you knock the door down.

Looking around you see that Jupiter's Claim is a mess. You couldn’t even begin to figure out what happened. But you begin to clamber away, your body hurting as you do so. You hadn’t moved like this in a while.

You make eye contact with a man. It hits you exactly who it is, Oj.

He stares at you too in shock. “Help…” Was all you could muster up to say to him. He makes a motion for you to follow him and you do. You speed up getting into the truck as he grabs Lucky.

“Just get me the fuck out of here now.”

Let me know through a dm or ask to be included in my official Taglist- @darkuni63 @captainengineer-trixie @chimmisbae @iloverubberduckiez-blog @mageprincess7 @looneybleus @whipwhoops @mayvalentine33

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sassypantsjaxon · 1 year ago

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Fuck it. UA instructors as...things the staff from my college have done, I guess?

Because it's been three and a half years since I graduated and I miss that place every single day

Principal Nezu

Principal Nezu has everybody's names, faces, and quirks memorized before the first day of school. This is never acknowledged.

(Recovery Girl also learns everybody pretty much right away, but she interacts with them a bit more directly than Nezu, so it doesn't seem quite as weird)

Somehow Nezu manages to both be so chill and yet have no chill.

Nezu once texted Mic to ask if he was available for a call about some program at school and when Mic didn't answer within 15 minutes because he was DRIVING Nezu just called him anyway and was like "is this a bad time? I can call you back :)" Like, no,no, We're both here now, let's have this conversation now. Go ahead

One time Nezu pulled the Big Three out of their classes and brought them into his office to sit them down like he was about to have a Big Serious Conversation, and then he just says "Do you think...it would be possible for you to visit the first year hero classes...and tell them about your experiences? :)" Mirio and Nejire are both going "yeah, sure", while thinking why did we have to get pulled out of class like this was something really important? Amajiki is hyperventilating.

Power loader

Power Loader is like some kind of cryptid.

He just shows up when things need to be fixed, fixes them, and then disappears again. He never says a word. Don't question it, just be grateful and let him stay in his hiding place

Random knowledge. Whenever the rest of the staff has some random question that no one else can answer. Ask Power Loader. He knows. He always know. Don't question that either, he's just one of those kind of people

Power loader and All Might are the only two teachers who were asked to come to UA instead of having to apply

Actually 13 falls somewhere inbetween applying and being asked to join the staff, because she kind of created her own job.

She just had a meeting with Nezu one day to be like "Your students need an Unforeseen Simulation Joint! Here's what that means and why you need it" And Nezu went "... :) You're hired!"

All Might

Toughest person anybody knows. Can not handle spicy food.

Everybody loves him. Anybody who doesn't isn't cut out for hero school. This is not bragging, it just happens to be true.

All Might once listed one of his credentials as BAMF. (Izuku absolutely lost it that day)

While discussing I Island with Izuku, All Might very casually stated "My ex husband lives there" as if that isn't an Absolute Bombshell to drop You can't just Say That and NOT ELABORATE WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE AN EXHUSBAND!?!!???? (Izuku lost it even more that day)

Present Mic

Mic has a bad habit of talking a little too fast. Nobody's ever 100% sure what he said.

Also he swears. Like. A lot. Like, he would get in trouble as a student for swearing.

There is a drawer on Mic's desk that's labeled 'Present Mic's Top Secret Hiding Place' and anybody who notices it is just like ??? because it's clearly labeled and Not a Secret. But Mic is very scatter brained and will lose anything as soon as it leaves his eyesight. Having a specific place to put things help with that.

EraserMic

Married. But they don't really talk about it, and they don't act married in front of the students, so a lot of them don't realize it

It's actually surprising because they have pictures of them and their kids on their desks. All you have to do is go to the teacher's office. It's not a secret. It's right there.

There's a class for the second years on like, heroism and personal lives or something. Eraser and Mic get to teach part of that unit because they have experience being married heroes.

One year when Aizawa says that he's married to Mic one of the students asks him why

That same year, when Aizawa reveals that there is one teacher he will never be friends with (like, even more than all the other teachers), just because they have nothing in common other than working at UA, and the same student asks him if it's Mic

People assume Mic gets special treatment as Aizawa's husband. This is not true. If anything, he's more likely to get the short end of the stick and be asked to cover for Aizawa.

Eraser Head

Aizawa forgot that there was supposed to be a chaperone for the remedial licensing training and said he would probably be the one doing it. He was not. He sent Mic. Thus proving the previous statement true.

Bad at interpersonal relationships

Has a bad habit of mumbling. Students are never 100% sure what he said

At some point, the people around him start referring to doing anything overly rational as 'pulling an Aizawa'. Yeah. ...yeah...

#bnha #my hero academia #principal nezu #power loader #bnha 13 #all might #present mic #eraserhead #erasermic

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shutit-haha · 1 year ago

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Rocker Bakugo/Manager reader

Rocker Bakugo who everyone labels as cocky but you simply say arrogant. There's videos that have gone viral of you correcting people during interviews saying he's only like this because he knows what he can do. This is how you gain your popularity as his manager.

"Now you're quite cocky aren't you?" The grey haired man leans forward onto his desk.

"No, he's not." You speak up from where you sit next to Bakugo on the dark green sofa.

"But he is," the man corrects you.

"No, he's not." You've taken on a more stern tone, "anytime Katsuki has ever told me 'I don't need you to teach me' he goes and proves that in fact he doesn't need my assistance. He's very talented and has been since a surprisingly young age, do I wish he was nicer yes, every one does. He's arrogant only because he's aware of how talented he is." The interview was cut short after that, security escorting your crew out. This is how you accidently make your mark.

Rocker Bakugo who has a ton of groupies but doesn't really care. As his career starts to rocket, he appears more and more in public with hickeys on his shoulders and chest. At first there's speculation of it being from wild fan, however it's all from you. Gotta make your claim on your drummer boy.

Rocker Bakugo who sits you on his lap and tries to teach you how to play the drums. He wraps his hands around yours, has you pick your favorite song and the two of you learn it together. When ever he has free time (which includes the five minutes he has before showtime) he'll sit you down and have you practice.

"Let's see," he pulls you down onto him.

"I'm not there yet," you're all bashful and shy like the other fan girls. You're not really musically inclined, you dabble sure but negotiation's are your world.

"Yeah you are, come on play." He doesn't grab onto your hands this time, forcing you to play on your own.

"How was that," you're eager for his validation.

"Certified drummer baby, might take my job."

"Don't gaslight."

"'M not."

One day he pulls you on stage for an encore. He gets up from his stool, sits you down instead and has the whole band play your favorite song as a live concert.

Rocker Bakugo who plays dumb when you're talking about laws and contracts. You know full well he understands what you're talking about. When everything was young; your relationship, careers, and ages, the two of you went to get your degrees together.

He'd help you study and was one of the top of your class. You both walked the stage together. Fast forward and his degrees just sitting there in his studio while his eye candy of a manager takes care of everything for him.

"What's that," he ask interrupting you when you use a 'big legal word.'

"Katsuki," you whine.

"What? I'm fuckin' confused explain it to me."

"You understand, I know you understand."

"Brain's melted from all those guitar riffs love, nothing in here but music notes."

"Kat," you swat at him.

"Alright fine, like when that sexy voice of yours explains it to me."

"We're not in college anymore."

"Wasn't that long ago."

Rocker Bakugo who slays at guitar hero and has the drum version. When he's pissed he plays, you come home and find him just jamming the fuck out. He's broken the game once or twice it's a pain in the ass to pay. The damn rich boy even owns the arcade version, bakusquad comes over and plays it all the time.

Rocker Bakugo who has to have your validation. (We all know he has an inferiority complex.) Who gets off stage all sweaty and shit, has that smug ass grin on his face. Still without fail always finds you and is like "how'd I do?"

"Sexy as fuck."

"Yeah," he's breathing heavily in your neck. His arms are limp by his sides, muscles sore.

"Yeah," you push his hair out of his face.

Rocker Bakugo who had everyone convinced you were just some girl. You were always with him, even when recording most people kind of just assumed you were some accessory. You always love the reactions you get when you're introduced as his manager.

Rocker Bakugo who people assume doesn't actually love you. The two of you always appear standoff-ish and scary. However this is only because you're always on alert when the two of you are with new people. You're polite but that bubbly personality of yours completely fizzles away. You're his no bullshitting manager and nothing else during those times, all work mode. There's a rule about no PDA as a way to keep up your image and reputation.

It's such a huge contrast from how the two of you are on livestreams and what not.

Rocker Bakugo who low-key has a mommy/daddy kink, and loves your praise. You're unafraid of telling him when's messed up or needs to rehearse something again. And well your boyfriend's learned to swallow your critique. This means that when he does do something perfect the first time he expects you to hang it up on the fridge.

"Again," you're leaning up against the wall on the opposite side of the room. The darkness of the rest of the space makes you seem barely there, you're like a phantom.

"Again," he growls back at you. The rest of the group is watching with open eyes weary of what is going to happen next.

"Are your muscles cramping?"

"No."

"Are you hungry?"

"No," his voice gets louder.

"Thirsty?"

"No," and louder.

"Am I overworking you then?"

"no," and louder.

"Well then do you think you can play it right this time?" Your words make everyone in the room wince, except for your boyfriend. His jaws clenched biting the words he so desperately wants to shout.

"Yeah," he barks at you.

"Good," you lean back against the wall adjusting your shoulders for comfort. "Again."

Rocker Bakugo who fights with you sometimes. "What kind of contract is that," he snarls at you.

"Katsuki what you're asking me for doesn't exist."

"Then make it happen."

"It doesn't work like that, this is difficult."

"It always is."

"Oh don't give me that, you know damn well this is hard. Actually I bet you don't, I bet you haven't even looked at it." You scoff shaking your head, "you're bitching to me about something you know nothing about."

"Bullshit," he spats.

"Yeah ok."

"And what was that shit during practice," his hand is flat on your desk. Your study smells like him and you're not quite sure how you feel about that. It's like he's invaded your space.

"That shirt during practice was me trying to make you better."

"Yeah right," he sneers putting his other hand down on the desk.

"Not everyone's got it out for you Katsuki." You rise from your seat so that you may now stand behind your desk. "You know what Dyna-mighT I can just pack up and leave. I mean you wouldn't want to sleep next to a greedy traitor." You walk out from behind your desk, "you poor fucking cash cow," you glare at him. "I loved you before all of this, when we were broke fucking high school kids."

"Not true."

"Yeah because your mommy and daddy had money to back you up." You point to yourself, "I didn't have that though. I went out on a limb because I believed in you, I took a leap of faith because I trusted the net would appear. This," you bring your finger down onto your desk, "is my income. We don't have to love each other but I am not losing this job."

"Because you made me right, you made me want I am now." He's snarling at your back, you're only a couple steps away from the door.

You snort, "you made yourself. You're really fucking smart, and your gorgeous too but FUCK do you let your insecurity get in the way. And it's my fault for making your ego bigger, this wasn't all you. Go through those records and try and tell me I haven't done some crazy shit for you. Go through documents, interviews, concerts, post, look and compare old contracts."

"Bullshit, I know people that can do better."

"Than go find them," you wave him off.

"You're just a fucking manager-"

"And you're just a fucking cash cow," you slam the door behind you.

#x reader #bakugou katsuki #rocker #drummer boy #manager #Rocker Bakugo #katsuki bakugo x reader #argument #highschool sweethearts #headcanon #insecurity #mutual praise #protective

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fancyfeathers · 2 months ago

Note

To Fancy (srry it's my first time making a request)

We seen Ballerina, Librarian, nobility, chess 'nd some other readers, but what about an teacher? Depending on the region in the world, women began to be teachers from 1810 onwards, so would it be possible for us to have a female teacher? Of literature if possible And if so, which of the characters do you think this teacher would best match?

I think I wrote something about a teacher darling with William but I would say William, Louis, Mycroft, or Sebastian.

William is the obvious answer as he himself is a mathematics professor and while the chances are of his darling teaching children since there were not many women professors way back when the idea is still cute to me. He probably meets her when visiting the school on a consulting job to take care of the headmaster of the school under the guise of giving guest lectures and she happens to be the sweet English teacher who volunteered to let him use her classroom. Then when she looses her job when the school looses its headmaster and parents withdraw their students, he is the kind university professor who offers her to live with him and his brothers.

Louis would probably meet her while out at the market on her days off. Being the gentleman he is and also being head over heels for her at first sight he offers to help her carry her things back to her house, and when she invites him inside he sees all the little gifts her students have given her along with her students’ work and lesson plans stacked up on her desk. I feel like Louis could just picture a future with here right then and there, sitting with her in the drawing room having tea with her while she reads over her student’s assignments, but of course it is never destined to end like that.

Now Sebastian Moran is an odd choice but he has had a hard and rough life and to fall for someone who is gentle and kind is almost natural. He would just happen to run into her when she is making her way back home is while she is carrying a heavy stack of books, oh let him help, it’s no problem. It is the cinnamon roll and would kill you trope. It is just so rare for Moran to be so gentle with someone that he is just sort of putty in her hands. Also you know her students love asking him about if he is going to marry their teacher or ask him stories about how he got some of his scars cause children are little shits and curious as hell.

Then I really cannot explain Mycroft, it just feels right, like just picturing this terrifying man who is literally called the government being down bad for this little children’s teacher. Like chances are she does not even know who he is, he is probably a sponsor of his old primary school which is probably how he met her. Then he becomes a sponsor specifically for her class, literally anything she needs it is there the next day and she has no idea how it got there because she did not even say anything yet. Then also picturing Sherlock seeing his brother walking and smiling with this teacher who has nothing special about her would probably send his head for a spin, Mycroft in love? What happened? Did someone die?

#william moriarty x reader #moriarty the patriot x reader #yuukoku no moriarty x reader #yuukoku no moriarty #william james moriarty x reader #yandere william james moriarty #yandere moriarty the patriot #yandere yuukoku no moriarty #louis moriarty x reader #louis james moriarty x reader #yandere louis james moriarty #sebastian moran x reader #yandere sebastian moran #yandere sebastian moran x reader #moriarty the patriot #mycroft holmes x reader #yandere mycroft holmes x reader #yandere mycroft holmes

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lovesunshinefelix · 1 year ago

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You're my lover

tags: Fluff 😃👍 , really soft Felix now I want one ☹️

Note: I wrote this one a reaaaally long time ago, and this was the time when I was randomly reading something in tumblr (which was heavily inspired from this and of course, the mother, TAYLOR SWIFT), and I suddenly just 👯‍♀️ I feel bad since I haven't updated after I was telling myself to do so I'll just... put this out here

It had been such a busy week for you; studying for your finals, finishing the last bit of requirements for your classes, and trying to keep up with your part-time job. You were tired. Heck, all you really wanted was to lay in bed and nuzzle in the arms of your boyfriend, who was kind enough to come over and help you around the house for the time being, but you were trying your best to finish your final requirements before your term break so you can finally spend some time with him. You finally submitted your work and stretched happily, clapping them in the process. Since it has been hours of sitting down in front of your desk in your room, you decided to finally get out of your room and look at what your boyfriend is up to.

Contrast to your room, the rest of your house is fairly dim, the light in the kitchen suggesting that your boyfriend has occupied the room. You can hear the faint music playing there. Smiling to yourself, you went your way over to the kitchen, seeing the beautiful back of your boyfriend working on something he randomly decided on. When you were about to be close, he suddenly dropped the plastic bowl he was working on, flour and all sorts flying all over his body. You rushed to his side, stifling some laughter. "What the hell happened?" you said, getting the bowl from the floor. The boy just sighed, trying to scoop some of the products on the bowl. "I wanted to make you some brownies. I already ordered dinner hours ago because I got bored and I wanted you to have a small treat for yourself." he said. You just smiled and chuckled, rubbing off some of the flour from his face "You didn't have to. It's literally your day off." you said, "We can just do them another day." he pouted in response, "But you always tell me how much you've been dying to eat them again! I wanted to surprise you." he whispered the final part. You just chuckled "I'll be fine. There's still tomorrow." I said. "I finally finished everything. I have the rest of the night and the whole day with you tomorrow." you smiled. His eyes beamed at the thought, and he just nodded at you. "Okay, let's just have dinner."

You both had a pleasant dinner, trying to catch up on what you both missed on each other while softly listening to the music in the background. As if on sudden cue, when Felix was done with the dishes (which he insisted on doing), Taylor Swift's Lover started playing. He smiled at you, while wiping his hand on your rug. "Wow, you listen to Taylor." you chuckled, walking over to him and wrapping your hands around his neck. He giggled at you, "What? Olivia recommended it and it was nice." he said, wrapping his arms around your waist. You hummed, "Yeah, it is." You nuzzled your head on his neck. You both swayed to the rhythm, just enjoying each other's company. "You know," you said, looking up at him. "I've always wanted to dance to this song." you confessed. He just chuckled at your confession. He pecked your temple softly, "What do you think we're doing now?" he said, taking one of your hands and positioning yourselves like how people waltzing would. You just smiled happily at him and began dancing around your kitchen.

Can I go where you go?

Can we always be this close forever and ever?

And ah, take me out, and take me home

You're my, my, my, my

Lover

Felix spun you around and pulled you to his arms, laughing at how silly and random it was for you both to just suddenly dance in your kitchen. You just laughed along at him. He nuzzled his nose against yours, his breathing tickling your lips. You just giggled at him, feeling so much love for him. He then finally leaned in and gave you a kiss. One with so much love.

#stray kids #felix #lee felix #lee yongbok #stray kids x reader #felix x reader #felix imagines #felix fluff #i want this for me too :(#felix x y/n #skz x reader #skz fluff #skz imagine #skz imagines

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hitechlatte · 2 years ago

Text

Game On - Rise!Future!Donnie X GN!Reader

All 4-1 Challenge Fanfiction

Prompt: Reader continually uses TERRIBLE pick up lines on your choice of turtle, trying to drop the hint.

(I may been VERY lenient with the prompt, but I hope you enjoy nonetheless)

Warnings: Lots of Swearing

This is based in future timeline, several years after start of Kraang Invasion.

Saw some entries for this and got invested so I wanted to whip something up real quick for it lol.

ALSO WARNING! My fic is SFW and so anyone can read but a lot of the other fics in this contest are not, so just wanted to give peeps a heads up if they look at other entries, which you should if you are of age because they are rad, but warning has been given.

Challenge Hosted by: @turtle-babe83 @thelaundrybitch @leosgirl82 @nittleboo @tmnt-tychou and @post-apocalyptic-daydream

Also stole puns from here: https://thedarkestroast.com/coffee-puns/#Jokes_About_Drinking_Coffee

FIC UNDER KEEP READING

Game On

Clutching tightly to the mug in your hand, your steps echoed in the corridor. It had only been your second day in the NYC safe haven and some lady named Cassandra had already found you a job on base.

And of course, even in the apocalypse, you were still working as a barista.

But at least this way you could be helpful and show your gratitude. If the recon team hadn’t found you hiding in that decrepit Stock & Shop when they did…

Well... You didn’t want to think about what could have been.

As you reached the end of the cave’s offshoot, you found a large metal door built into the natural structure of the tunnel. With a perplexed look, you gazed at the panel towards the right of the entrance and pressed the ‘call’ button.

“What.” A voice curtly snapped.

“Is this uh… Derek? Your brother Mikey said to bring you some coffee.” You told the panel.

“Ah.” The voice spoke back, “And did this brother of mine tell you to play into the role of barista by perpetuating the stereotype that those who handle coffee somehow lose their ability to correctly recall a name? If this is his poor attempt to simulate normalcy when I’m already stressed out, you can inform him I’m not amused.”

Fuck... You groaned in your mind, ecstatic to be making such great first impressions.

“Did you at least get my order right? Or is that part of your performance as well?” The voice continued.

“It’s just a double espresso. It’s kind of hard to fuck that up” You commented.

“Well at least you’re not entirely inept.” The voice groaned, “Bring it to my desk.”

As you harshly cursed at yourself, you could hear the whirls of an engine. To your left, the metal door slid open, showcasing a large cavern filled with machines and wires.

Slowly stepping into the space, your eyes tried their best to take everything in. Machines flickered and buzzed all around you, while monitors stretched across the walls. The large screens lined out routes of the kraang activity and the recon teams. As you walked deeper into the room, you could hear the clattering of a keyboard.

Following the noise, you could see one of the turtles sitting at a desk with several monitors. Numerous windows were scattered across the screens as he fervently typed away.

“Here’s your double espresso.” You flatly commented.

“Doppio, you mean?” The turtle corrected without looking away from his screen.

You rolled your eyes, “I’m surprised you actually know what it’s called.”

“I, unlike many residing in these halls, have class.” The turtle commented, “Besides, I’m the reason we even have an espresso machine.”

You let out a soft chuckle as you turned to head out of the room. However the turtle spoke up again, stopping you in your tracks.

“Has anyone walked you through how to use your communicator yet?” The turtle asked, his nose still buried in the monitors.

Turning back with a confused look you nodded, “Yeah, I got the rundown.”

“Good. I’m adding your device to a pager. Do whatever your typical duties are unless you receive a ping from me. The kitchen should already know this, but prioritize my orders. If I pass out when I’m supposed to be monitoring missions that will not end well.”

“Is that… uh… healthy?” You inquired.

“No, but what other choice do we have?” The turtle flatly stated as he seemed to read through something on his screen.

“Touche.” You shrugged your shoulders.

You went to take another step towards the exit, but then stopped once more.

“Oh guess I should apologize about the name mix up. What um. What is it actually?”

“It’s Donatello, or maybe I should have you simply refer to me as Donnie or even D. Since that may be easier for your poor mind to remember.” Donnie mocked with a devious tone in his voice.

Two can play this game. You thought.

With a snicker you commented back, “Ah Dennis? Cool. I can remember that.”

You could hear the turtle groan as he turned his chair around to glare at you. He seemed like he was going to chew you out until he saw the grin plastered across your face.

“Oh... You were kidding.” Donnie said, as he roughly rubbed his forehead, “Just go and let me get back to my work.”

“Sure thing, Daniel.” You called back as you made your way out of the room.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Over the next several weeks, the purple turtle seemed to slowly warm up to you. Your quick order drop off with whatever name you chose to call him that day, eventually turned into longer chats. You’d stick around for a bit, asking him how his work was going or to share gossip you’d heard from around the settlement.

One particular morning, you walked with a pep in your step. The prior night's recon team returned with a bunch of fancy coffee grounds from a nearby Whole Foods. You couldn’t help but bask in the smells emanating from Donnie’s mug.

Typing your code into the panel of the lab door, the metal whooshed opened and you swiftly headed to Donnie’s desk.

“Morning Deiphobus. Got a batch of fancy new grounds this morning and I have a feeling you’ll really like them.” You smirked.

“I’m sorry, Deiphobus?” Donnie asked as he turned to you with a grin on his face, “What is this 1250 BCE?”

“I’m running out of names!” You exclaimed, “It’s not my fault you drink like 4 coffees a day. Besides, how is that any worse than Donatello?”

“Donatello is a classic.” The turtle said, puffing out his chest as he turned back to his monitor, “Besides, where did you even find that name?”

“Some Shakespeare book.”

“Someone’s getting desperate.”

“I’m sorry it's not like we still have google and I can look up one of those stupid 3 billion baby name lists.”

“Oh if anything I commend your research.” Donnie snickered, “I’m just surprised you can actually read Shakespeare. I thought baristas were notorious for their illiteracy.”

“You’re awful.”

“Or maybe you’re just jealous you’re not as witty as myself.”

“If anything you’re jealous! I’m hella whitty.” You quickly defended.

“Uh-huh.”

“Oh it’s Game On, asshat.” You laughed, “Just wait, next time you see me you won’t know what hit you.”

A few hours passed when you heard your pager ping again. With a smirk, you whipped up his doppio and proudly made your way over to the lab.

As you reached his desk, you loudly cleared your throat. The noise caused the turtle to turn his chair and meet your gaze.

“Yes?” He asked.

��I, as I’m sure you’re well aware, am incredibly witty.” You said as you held the mug close to your chest.

“Uh-huh.”

“And someone as witty as myself, knows when a schtick has to end. So here is my new proposal.”

Donnie gave you a look of disbelief as he waited.

“Hello there, Donnie.” You began.

“Ah, my actual name. How witty. He said sarcastically.”

“Shush. That’s not it. Let me finish.” You flailed.

The purple turtle rolled his eyes as he leaned his elbow on his desk and propped up his chin.

“I just wanted to say… I made this cup of coffee, espresso-ly for you.”

The purple turtle stared at you, his eyes going wide.

"No." He said.

"Yes." You smirked.

“Oh god please no!” Donnie groaned loudly and buried his face in his desk.

Your laughing echoed throughout the room as you nearly spilled his drink. Placing the mug down on the desk, you clutched onto your stomach and tried to stifle your laughter.

“Oh- oh that was too perfect. Leo was so right.” You cackled.

“Of course he’s in on this.” Donnie mumbled into the desk.

“Hey, he's the hero of this story. He’s the one who gave me the book.”

Donnie sat up straight and gave you a perplexed look, “Book?”

“Oh yeah, you know that run to the library last week? Leo found a book of ten thousand puns.”

“T-ten- THOUSAND?” Donnie could barely choke out.

“Yep!” You smirked, “And there’s a whole chapter just dedicated to coffee.”

Donnie groaned as he planted his face back down onto the desk.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Each pun got progressively worse as you made your way through the list. Occasionally a joke would elicit a slight chuckle from the aloof purple turtle, but the other 90% of the time, he would simply groan or threaten to have you kicked out of base.

However, as the next few days turned into weeks, you began running out of material.

Or well… Material you felt comfortable using.

One section in the coffee chapter was titled Coffee Puns About Love and Romance. Every time you searched for a line to use, you always quickly skipped past that portion of the list.

But, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Selecting the least aggressive pick up line from the options provided, you made your way over to his lab.

As you reached his desk, you placed the mug down on the surface without a word and sighed harshly.

“Ah, has the day come? Have you finally exhausted that grotesque list?” Donnie chuckled as he turned to you.

“No. But we are scraping the bottom of the barrel now.”

“Oh?”

Shaking out your hands and taking another breath you stared at the turtle. Your lips were reluctant, but you were able to form the words.

“You’re brew-ti-ful.”

His eyes went wide and his face blushed a harsh red.

“Oh god.” He groaned, “Please tell me ‘bottom of the barrel’ doesn’t mean the only puns left are awful pick up lines.”

“I mean I could tell you that, but then I’d be lying.”

Donnie groaned as he roughly slapped his own face.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The pick up lines were much more entertaining than you expected. Seeing how madly he’d blush or stammer at your commentary was adorable, and you proudly played your part. For the days you were feeling extra adventurous, you‘d even pair the line with a wink or by blowing him a kiss.

However, when the list of lines was depleted, you did everything you could to keep the game going. On your offtime, you’d sit for hours, trying to concoct more coffee based pick up lines to try on him. You even found yourself practicing in the mirror to make sure you got the words just right.

And as this next chapter of the game continued on, you soon found yourself perplexed.

You don’t know when or how it happened…

But you started meaning what you said.

To no avail, you kept trying to pinpoint when everything changed. Was it when your generic lines became more personalized? Or was it when your supplemental teasing went from playful winks to gentle fingers tracing the edge of his jaw.

Although you couldn’t find the answer you were looking for, you did know this.

It wasn’t your fault.

If he didn’t have such vibrant reactions, you wouldn’t have become so obsessed with the game.

It still would have been just a game.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Late one night, your pager beeped at you. As you tapped on the device you groaned.

“He knows it’s 4am right?”

After slowly trudging out of bed, you lethargically made his drink and headed over to the lab.

Rubbing your eyes, you mistyped your code a few times before finally opening the door.

The turtle was hunched over his desk. The taps of the keys sounded slower than usual.

“Dude, you owe me for making me get my ass out of bed.” You yawned.

“Blame Leo.” Donnie groaned, “The idiot winded up setting off a Kraang patrol unit.”

“Everyone, okay?!” You exclaimed.

“Thankfully.” Donnie sighed, “But I lost some of my search drones. Had to play distraction for a while so they could make an escape. Everything seems calm now, but I want to stay up for a bit longer just to make sure they return safely.”

“That’s good to hear.” You sighed, “Well... here’s your drink.”

“Ahh finally run out of lines?” Donnie groggily mocked as he continued to look at the screen.

His snarky attitude woke something up inside of you.

Leaning forward, you gently grasped his chin, turning his face to meet yours. His cheeks burned vibrantly as he stared at you. With a devious gaze, your lips curled up slightly.

“Oh I’m sorry. I almost forgot. Thanks for reminding me.” You snickered as your fingers still softly held his chin.

But while you tried to search your mind for the pun you had thought up on the way over, you couldn’t help but continually drop your gaze down to his lips. Silently cursing your tired stupor, you tried to regain focus.

Donnie just sat there, barely breathing, as you continued to filter through your thoughts. He too, struggled to meet your gaze as his eyes continued to fall upon your lips.

However after a few more breathless moments, the line finally returned to your mind. With a slight blush on your cheeks, you smirked as you spoke.

“Words cannot express how much you mean to me.”

Both of you sat there frozen. Your eyes widened as the words left your lips.

“Fuck I said it wrong! Sorry it’s late and-” You began to splutter.

But you were cut off by Donnie’s lips crashing into yours.

Game Over.

#TMNT All 4-1 #TMNT writing #tmnt fan fic #tmnt #tmnt fandom #tmnt donnie #teenage mutant ninja turtles #TMNT All 4-1 Challenge #rise donnie x reader #rise donatello #rise donnie #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt donnie x reader #save rottmnt #rottmnt donatello #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt

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justferhere · 8 months ago

Text

We Are the Champions | Armin × Fem!Reader

My Candy Love HSL • Episode 38 > Future

Armin proposed to you once as a joke, but now you can't help but remember that time.

Word Count: 1,088

Warnings: non, just fluff and some, not actually, suggestive jokes

Almost a fucking year later omgg! Hope you enjoy! English is not my first language so, sorry for mistakes.

"AGH, that's it, I'm over with this shit."

I was walking into the classroom for Mr. Farres' history class when I heard Armin complaining in the back. "Such a nice welcome, Armin. I'm very pleased to see you too." I said with a smile. Haven't seen him since the "little" incident with Evan. I tried to support him the most, but there were things I couldn't help with, only his family. Also, we haven't spent much time together like the old times. "Oh, Lovie, I didn't see you, but of course, it's such a pleasure being able to appreciate your beauty." He wink at me with one of his best smiles.

I'd miss him so much.

"What's up, going through a difficult battle over there?" I walked to him and hugged him by the side. "Actually, it's a new game I found, very tricky I've to say. Hum." He showed me the console, it looked like an apocalypse game. "Looks like Resident Evil." I laughed. "But how does Armin S Kennedy-kick-zombie's-ass can't pass a level?" He chuckles at my little reference. That time when we tried to make a Resident Evil marathon, and I yelped every time he played with my nerves. "Well, my Ada Wong, this time we have a hard mission to accomplish."

He started to play to show me how the level was. The level consisted of recollect batteries to light up the building, but when you activate the power, zombies got you from both sides of the hall. It was practically impossible to kill them alone. "I tried to convince Alexy, but he isn't the type to play this kind of game." He shrugged. "It's almost new and not well known so I haven't found someone on the internet that could pass this level."

Mr. Farres entered the room, and we didn't realize everyone was already sitting down. "Why don't we do it together? Team Fuck Zombies come back?" I suggest to him passing my arm through his shoulders. "I would love that, love." Farres started his class, sometimes I wrote down some notes about today's chapter but I was more concentrated on Armin, tracing circles on my hand down the desk. He wrote something in his notebook and showed it to me.

What about you, me, and a furry presence at my house at 4 pm, pizza, and a session of make out? ;))

Later that day, there I was, incredibly nervous about entering my boyfriend's house wearing the outfit I had 1 hour selected because the blouse didn't suit me. I pressed the doorbell and prepared my best smile. What if his mom or dad opens the door? They already know me, but do they know I'm his girlfriend?

"Well, well the little Candy finally has got invited to the house of madness." Alexy welcomed me with a funky tone. "My little brother took soooooo long, I started to think he was just so silly to do so." He laughed. "My god, I'm just kidding, come in. If you could see your face, just relax."

"Are your parents at home?" I asked, giving him a hug. "Nope, cops aren't in the sight, so feel in your house." He turned around and went to the kitchen. "But I'm the officer in turn, so try not to eat my brother... yet" He hooted, turning my cheeks red at his comment. I love him, but he isn't helping with this.

"Come on, Alexy, stop bothering my girl." Armin went down the stairs and hugged me by the back. "That's my job." He hugged me tight and hid his head in the crook of my neck. I giggled, "You aren't helping me!"

The time passed like water, just like it always has been with Armin. A couple of pizzas, sushi, and ice cream later, there we were, trying to pass through a horde of zombies without success. "I need a break, I will kill somebody at this point," Armin said, passing his hands in his face.

Frustration was the only thing we knew at the moment, and seeing Armin getting disappointed got me worse. "How long could you stay? I'm done with that horrendous thing but I would like to enjoy my beautiful girl, you know." He kisses me tenderly. We both knew it had no reason to continue trying, at least that day.

"They are at my aunt's, so I can stay more late." He started playing with my hands. "That's great, princess." He put his head on my chest and kissed my hand. "I'm really sorry. I thought we could get it," I said.

"Oh, don't be. Obviously, I wanted to get it, but I prefer being with you." I played with his hair. "I'm going to the bathroom, stay here." He kisses my head before leaving.

Something has to be wrong... but what is it? Every single time, somehow, even if we were just about to succeed; there was something that made another horde come to us. I took control and started playing this time analyzing everything I could on the map. There was something we hadn't seen.

And it was. After beating the enemies on both sides, something new appeared on the map; we didn't just have two ways. We could go down and get to the electricity center with a passage. It was longer and had some enemies, but it was way easier.

"I got it!" I screamed. "ARMIN! ARMIN!" I opened the door and called him. He hurried to the room, zipping his pants. "ARE YOU OKAY? WHAT-?" I hugged him and hopped. "I got it! We didn't see the correct way!" He looked at the TV and started laughing and pumping kisses all over my face. "No way..."

He raised me in a hug and started spinning. "I knew it! My lord, I'm so lucky to have you." I chuckled in his arms. "God, you are amazing, you know?" He murmured near my lips. "Mmh, I have an amazing boyfriend who gave me some life hacks, you know," I murmured back and kissed him. "Would you marry me?" He said between kisses. "Armin!" I laughed. "Don't laugh, I'm serious!" He smiled. "We are seventeen, Armin!"

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Rosa finished fixing my dress, looking for any lost detail. "You look beautiful! Our little Candy, I can't believe this is the day!" I smiled and looked one last time in the mirror.

One step closer to him. Closer to be his, and he mine. Armin and I, always and forever against anything, even zombies.

Hey there! It's been a long looong time 🤡 In my defense, college is finishing with my life, and creativity isn't helping me. But hey! Here it is. Not the final I hoped, but my self-consciousness couldn't keep this in my notes anymore.

If life treats me better, I'll start writing Lys or Kentins fic! Thanks for all your support 🩷

#amour sucre #my candy love #my candy love high school life #armin x reader #my candy love armin

37 notes · View notes

stayandot8 · 2 years ago

Text

A Case of Friends and Lovers

Genre: Fluff

Relationship type: best friends to lovers

Important Contents: Thank you @bangtanmix73 for the idea 😙😙

WC: 6.1k

masterlist

Chan became my friend in the third grade.

Mrs. Yoon’s class was tough enough. A tall, slender woman with her black hair streaked with the gray of her years of experience with us youngins. Constantly dressing like she was stuck in the 80s with her long skirts and her turtlenecks, she was a no-nonsense kind of lady, which wouldn’t have been the ideal kind of teacher for third graders if you asked me. If she peered over her glasses at you, you knew from her beady eyes that you wanted to never be the subject of that gaze ever again. As the “talker” of the class, she sat me next to Chan, the quiet and good one, in hopes that he would encourage me to behave like him. Unlucky for her, her plan backfired. I instead opened him up and brought him out of his shell to his own demise. The first time I got him into trouble was still burned into my mind.

Mrs. Yoon was droning on and on about something called fractions and I had had just about enough of her voice for the day. My worksheet long since forgotten on my desk, I leaned over the aisle to poke Chan in his side rather hard and quickly sat back straight, my eyes back to the front in case the mean lady was watching. Chan yelped and pursed his lips to the side in fake anguish. I would continue to see this look a lot over the course of our friendship. Mrs. Yoon heard his squeal and glared at him.

“Mr. Bang, do not interrupt my class.” Her angry eyes were enough to make Chan’s face burn bright like a tomato. I couldn’t help but snicker as he apologized. He didn’t sit next to me at lunch that day. It wasn’t until I brought him the prettiest rock I could find, a smooth, round, white stone with dark spots to look like the moon, that he finally spoke to me again, all forgiven. That was the longest we had ever gone without speaking.

Chan became my best friend in the 6th grade.

We were walking down the cold hallways, the stench of rubber erasers and preteens still learning about deodorant forcing its way up my nostrils. It was an effort not to scream daily in those hallways, children screaming every direction you looked. This particular day was the day my period decided to rear its ugly head for the first time. It wasn’t like I didn’t know it was coming, my female friends had gotten theirs fairly recently so they had prepared me for what was to come. What I didn’t expect was for it to be quite so…. messy.

It was a very normal conversation we were having, about how his mom had gotten his lunch mixed up with his sister’s again, when I felt it; a sudden gush coming from between my legs. I stopped mid-step, kids shoving my shoulders as they kept moving. Chan had stopped a few steps ahead, just realizing that I wasn’t by his side anymore and turned back with a confused look. And then those kids started looking at me to find out why I had stopped walking, that was when the laughing started. And the pointing. I had my first panic attack that day, under the cruel eyes of everyone in that hallway.

Chan rushed to me, seeing the tears and panic in my eyes and quickly took off his jacket to tie it around my waist. He grabbed my shoulders and rushed me to the nurse. He followed me around all day to make sure no one else laughed or pointed or stared. And when someone even glanced at me with what he deemed the wrong way, he would shout at them.

“And what are YOU looking at, huh?”

They would quickly find something else much more interesting to look at and rush past us. Chan would nod at his job well done and continue whatever we were talking about, trying his best to get my mind off of this sudden change. That day we had some of the weirdest conversations we had ever had, him pulling every bizarre subject he had in his arsenal to shock me into talking about it. It was a very effective method and became a fallback in the years to come.

Chan became my secret crush in 10th grade.

It was my birthday and while my mom was a good mother, she sometimes just got too busy with her work to pay enough attention to what was going on around her. This particular birthday she forgot about. I had gotten to school and looked for Chan but he was nowhere to be found until lunch period. I was sitting by myself with my headphones in, listening to my own personal curated playlist by my one and only best friend when the doors to the lunchroom flew open and a slew of balloons were pushed through them, everyone turned to stare at the loud bang. I wondered who could possibly be coming through the doors and assumed it was for some sort of prom proposal or something. I turned my attention back to my chips and was putting one in my mouth when I looked back up to the collection of helium when I saw who was attached to them. My chewing paused and I took out my headphones.

Chan was beaming as he scanned the lunchroom and locked eyes with me. That was when I realized the balloons had ‘Happy Birthday!’ written on every. single. one. He sprinted as safely as he could without tripping over to my table, a small cake and a fast food bag in his hands along with a bright pink gift sack. My jaw dropped. I felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my head.

“Happy birthday!” He yelled as he drew closer. He set down the cake, balloons, and gift bag to throw his arms around me and suffocate me with his love. I couldn’t help my grin as he let go, his own smile infectious like always. He sat down, grabbing the food bag and laying out a nice spread in front of me.

“Is this why you’re late to school?” I giggled as I put my home lunch back in my lunchbox.

“Well duh. I couldn’t let you get away with going unnoticed on your birthday. I had to get the best for my girl!” My heart fluttered in a way I hadn’t noticed before when he said that. My veins sang as the butterflies took a hold in my stomach and remained there.

We had our lunch as the rest of the school watched, people wondering what the balloons were for when their friends explained it to them in hushed whispers. They weren’t there as far as I was concerned. All I could see was him.

That’s also when other girls started to notice him.

Chan became distant in college.

He had started dating and I hated all of the other girls that weren’t me. He always wondered why his girlfriends and I never got along, not one of them. He only saw what they wanted to see, them putting on their sweetest, most perfect facade for him as I glared at them from the sidelines. Our friendship started to suffer too.

I couldn’t blame him for wanting to be the perfect boyfriend. I just wish he would’ve realized he didn’t have to try so hard for them. He was perfect the way he was. None of them were worthy of him anyways. It annoyed me to no end how hard he would try for them while they took it and never gave it back to him like I could have. They simply weren’t good enough for him.

He hated it when I told him that. The conversation would always start the same. He would bring up some petty argument they were having and I would try my best to be objective for him, but it was so hard. It was simply that all of the fights he ever had were always the girl’s fault, either demanding he spend more time with her or do more for her or that he was too much work for them. I would make this point and he would retort with a way that it was somehow his fault. HIS fault that she felt this way. That he needed to be better. I would say it wasn’t his fault, he already spent so much time with her. We disagreed every time. I was surprised he couldn’t tell that I was in love with him. He was oblivious when it came to me. But his friends weren’t.

Feix questioned me first but Minho was the first to break me. He got me intoxicated and asked me one too many questions and the beans came tumbling out in a drunken babble. In front of all of his friends and God herself, I wouldn’t shut up about how I missed his laugh, his smile, and his hugs. The boys just looked at each other awkwardly, taking turns trying to comfort me in their own ways. Minho tried to tell me Chan’s poor qualities, walking around naked all the time, he worked too much, he never bought anything for himself. But these were all qualities I already knew and loved about him. Seungmin was just calling him old and ‘why would you want someone so close to old age in the prime of your life’ and such things. I wasn’t much younger than Chan so in reality, he was also calling me old. He ran out of things to say after that, not wanting to put his foot in his mouth any more than he already had. Jeongin and Hyunjin offered to take me shopping the next day, which I took them up on. Hyunjin pat me on the back gently and grimaced. Changbin just tried to tell me that exercise was the cure for everything. That earned a glare from everyone, to which he just shrugged and looked away sheepishly. I thanked him for his suggestion. He meant it in earnest. Han took my mind off of it, offering his best controller to play video games with him all night long. And when I had successfully beaten Han enough for him to admit defeat, Felix followed me to bed and just cuddled me until the heavy weight on my chest had lightened.

Every time we fought about his girlfriends’ issues with him, it was always on the tip of my tongue. It was always ‘Just talk to her, try to work it out’ instead of ‘I wouldn’t treat you like that.’ It was a laborious effort, keeping all of the emotions inside. I would feel the build-up when he was in between girlfriends, he would get more touchy with me, no longer under a watchful eye or a guilty conscience. I could feel myself begin to tell him my feelings and then another girl would pop up and they would last too long that the moment was over. But I was always the one he ran to when he had problems. And they hated that.

The first girl that had a problem with how much time he spent with me didn’t last long after that. But after the third girl, he noticed that it was maybe not just a single issue. So I saw less and less of him when he was involved. Then she appeared a year later.

She was everything I was not. She was popular, beautiful, and just cool. She still didn’t deserve him though. I hated that I could tell she did care about him a little more than the others but not enough it seemed. She became obsessed with the idea that he would cheat on her with me. Eventually she convinced herself that he did. That was a particularly hard fight for him to get through. He came over afterwards and explained it to me, that he couldn’t spend more time with me if he wanted to keep her, so that was it. I haven’t seen him in a while.

That was a couple months ago. I’m in my own apartment now, reading my book far too late into the night again. The pounding at my door broke me of my trance and I scurried to open the door to see Chan, his curly hair a little wild and his eyes rimmed with red.

“She cheated on me.”

His voice was hoarse, like he hadn’t used it in a bit. I opened the door further to let him in but he just fell into my arms, his emotions hitting him harder. I hugged him closer, closing the door behind him. He fell to his knees in the hallway and brought me down with him. We stayed this way until his sobs turned to sniffles. My only form of comfort was rubbing his back up into his hair. When his breathing slowed enough for his strength to return to his legs, I nudged him up to bring him to my couch where I left him only long enough to make him something to drink. I decided tea was the way to go, alcohol no good for him in his current state. He simply stared blankly at my coffee table, his silence scarier than yelling. I nudged him with the mug and he took it, letting it warm his hands. I sat beside him gently, letting him talk if he wanted to. When he didn’t, I asked the only question I would dare about the subject.

“Do you want to talk about it?” His eyes still looked blank. His mind was elsewhere. I didn’t think he heard me and I was resigned to stay quiet when he shook his head. I could only nod faintly, finally looking him over fully for the first time in months. His eyes were tired aside from their current puffiness and his clothes smelled like him a little too much, as if he’d been wearing them a little too long.

“Do you want to sleep here? You’re more than welcome to.” I said quietly, hoping he would take me up on it. I could feel my body yearning to be closer to his natural warmth but I stayed where I was, not wanting to invade his space just yet. He nodded slowly, his mug remaining untouched by his beautiful lips. I had forgotten…

“Do you want to sleep on my bed? I can take the couch.” He leaned to place the cup on the table in front of us and he grabbed my hand. He stood, forcing me to move from my spot as he led me back through my own bedroom door. He only dropped my hand to land face first on my pillow. I couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped my lips. The way he fell was just a little comical, like a cartoon almost. Luckily I had been in my pajamas for about an hour now so I just turned off the light and climbed in next to him, still not touching him. I was too keenly aware of every breath he took, every small movement he made. He turned his head to face me, still stomach down. His eyes bleary, he took a breath in as if he was about to speak. And it was taking all of his strength.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered the words I didn’t need, but craved anyway. I shook my head.

“Don’t worry about it. Just sleep right now, okay?” He nodded, closing his eyes.

“Don’t leave me.” Never. I tentatively pushed a strand of hair out of his eyes, testing his limits of the moment. He didn’t shoo me away. In fact, he hummed in contentment. His breathing slowed to even draws and gave me the opportunity to really look at him. I thought with these months apart my feelings would die. I should’ve known better. If they could survive college, they would unfortunately survive anything. Simply looking at him was enough to bring them back to the surface in full swing. Maybe this is my opportunity. This time I’ll tell him, I promised myself. Maybe when he’s better.

“I love you.” I whispered, just loud enough for me to hear.

I woke up before him the next morning. I felt more than saw the arms around my waist, the leg intertwined with mine. My heart broke slightly as I untangled him from me, moving off the bed as slowly as I could so as not to wake him. He didn’t, simply rolling over, remaining in his slumber. I watched him sleep, the crease between his brows a cause for concern. I tore myself away and exited back to my kitchen. I didn’t know how hungry he would be, so I figured I could always make more if he wanted. As the waffle iron was warming, I heard his shuffling coming down the hall. I kept my back turned to give him a second to breathe and collect himself if he wanted to. When he crept up beside me at the counter, I gave him a half hearted smile and weak ‘hi’, still unsure of his mood. I thought I still knew how to read him, but he had changed so much in these past months, I found it harder than I remembered.

“I didn’t know how hungry you would be so I was preparing for the worst.” He simply nodded, turning to the coffee pot. He started it up and returned to the couch he was on the night before. He turned on the TV to the morning news. I got the feeling it was just for background noise.

Once the waffles and coffee were done, I put on my best display of domesticity. I brought him his own plate, which he scarfed down. I talked about anything but the one thing I was dying to ask about. He merely nodded along until a particularly awkward silence hit us.

“I’m running out of subjects here, Chris.” No response. Another long pause.

“She broke up with me a while ago. I’ve spent the past couple months trying to get her back but it wasn’t working. She finally told me why. She slept with some guy back near the end of our relationship. Didn’t even remember his name.” He got quiet again. Then uttered the few words that consistently broke my heart for him. “I don’t understand what I did wrong.”

“Not everything is your fault though.”

“I had to have done something for her to do that. Why else would she have done it?”

“Some people don’t need reasons.” It was the only response I could think of. He shook his lowered head.

“It didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense. So I ran to the only place I thought of. I’m sorry I barged in on you like this, I didn’t know where else to go.” He finally looked me in my eyes, I could see his apology in the gleam between blinks.

“It’s okay, really. You’ve clearly been busy.”

“But you’ve done nothing to deserve me ignoring you for so long. And then to just show up here? Out of nowhere? I’m sorry, I should go.” He started to rise, eyes, aiming for the door. I panicked, not knowing when the next time I would see him would be. I lunged for his arm, grabbing it tightly. He jerked, but didn’t pull away, looking back at me. Those same apologies still in his eyes.

“You don’t have to go. I promise, it’s okay. I’m just happy to have you back. No matter the circumstances.” His shoulders fell in relief as he sat back down. He gave me his best smile, which was only a sliver of what I knew it could be. It still made my butterflies jump.

“I don’t deserve you.”

Boy, you have no idea…

That was a few weeks ago. He still wasn’t completely over the betrayal, but he was slowly getting better. He showed up to my apartment regularly, just like before. We would talk about everything but that night. And when he got particularly down on himself, I would drag him out with all of his friends to take his mind off of it. Being of the legal drinking age had its perks.

This particular night, he had been the one to initiate it. He texted the entire group asking which bar we wanted to start on our pub crawl for the evening. We knew what that meant. If it was a club night, he just wanted to forget the day. If it was a club crawl, he wanted to forget the week. But an actual pub crawl, something had to have happened. Minho was always ready with a suggestion. He knew all the best spots in town. And walking through the doors of our first stop of the night, everyone could tell Chan was ready for the night to begin.

“Let’s gooooo!” He shouted at the top of lungs, approaching the bar and smiling at the bartender, a short woman with enough cleavage to make a porn star jealous. I respect the hustle of it, but did he have to smile at her like that? He flashed one of his famous grins that reached his eyes, which she of course returned. It was hard not to.

“What can I get you, sweetie?” She wiped down the glass in her hand with the rag in the other, used to the shouting of men ready to forget their troubles. Chan leaned on his elbows on the bartop and cocked his head, ready to charm whoever was a willing victim.

“A round of shots for me and my friends, angel. And make them doubles if you please.” She smiled and nodded, grabbing the bottle from the shelves and nine bigger shot glasses. Chan started to chat with her as she poured, making my fingers go numb. The intense eye contact between them was enough to force my hands into fists. Felix noticed, because of course he did. I was surprised he couldn't hear my raging heartbeat. Thundering so loud in my ears I could barely hear what he was whispering to me. I felt his warmth bear me as he said

“Don’t take it too close to heart, you know he does this when he needs to release.” That didn’t stop the chill down my spine though. I wanted to deck the poor girl. She had no idea who I was or what I was going through. But if she laughed at one of his stupid jokes again…

Chan grabbed the tray of shots and winked at her, making her blush. God damn it.

“Relax. He’s not going home with her.” More whispers in my ear. I couldn’t place the voice until Seungmin gave me a shy smile, nodding in encouragement of his words. I nodded back, trying to breathe as we all followed Chan to a table near the shadows of the back of the place. Seungmin placed his hand on my back, following my lead and staying close.

Chan was doling out the shots in everyone’s direction, each conversation happening in tandem, the noise level doing the best job of drowning out my own thoughts. I decided to let this night be as much for me as its initiator. We all clinked our glasses together, tapped the table, and downed our shots in one go, Felix coughing a little as he got used to the burn.

“Another round!” Jisung shouted over the noise happening around us.

“I’ll go!” Chan started to walk towards the bar, but Jisung stopped him with his arm.

“Don’t worry buddy, I’ll get this one.” But Jisung’s eyes were on me. I could swear he nodded to me, a small sign of solidarity.

“Was I that obvious?” Hyunjin shook his head a little too quickly to be anything but honest. I grimaced in his direction, sure that everyone would see through any kind of mask I could put on. Well, everyone except the one it mattered for. He was currently balls-deep in a conversation with Changbin about something to do with…sports? Cars? I couldn’t tell nor did I care. Jisung came back quickly with twice the amount of shots as the first round. I shot him a greatful smile, our unspoken plan working. Another round of shots and we were off to the next bar, pulling the same routine until it was evident that Chan had had quite enough when he wouldn’t let go of my shoulder. He hung on my arm like he hadn’t known anything else in his life, clung to me like he had for the first ten years of our friendship. It was like nothing had changed.

“Baby, let’s go to another one down the street. They’ve got the best margaritas on the block.” Baby. It almost made it feel real when he called me that. Like, maybe one day, I could be… I snapped back to the moment at hand.

“I think we both have had quite enough there, mister.” His eyes were drooping, his gaze unfocused. His words were blurring together, all of the alochol he had consumed finally hitting his system. He would be turning into one of two people and I didn’t want to be there if the one that wasn’t the cuddly, kind Chris showed up. Not being quite as drunk as the others, I volunteered to take him home, thinking we had had enough for one night. None of the others were ready to go home as much as I was, so they let me take the invalid home by myself.

The weight of Chan’s body was too much for my single shoulder as we stumbled down the hallway to his apartment. His giggling had turned into a small laughter here and there, which eventually had made him go quiet now. We arrived at his front door, just as I remembered it.

“Chan, where are your keys?” He grappled with his pockets before he giggled again.

“Doormat.” was all that came from his mouth. This mother… His spare key was hidden under the mat.

Once we were inside, he went straight for the couch, sighing as he lay flat on his stomach. I couldn’t help my panting from carrying him up his stairs, my breath the only sound in the room. I leaned on the counter, just watching him as he closed his eyes.

“Chan?”

“Hm?”

“How are you feeling? Anything coming back up?”

“Not yet. Give me a few minutes though, you never know.” A slight chuckle from the man across the room followed by a groan of regret.

“That is true.” I laughed along with him, not feeling great myself. “Come on, let’s get you set up in your room before I go.” I started for the hallway when his head snapped up from his resting place, his eyes now sad and full of something I couldn’t place. I blame it on the alcohol.

“What?” His voice had gone high, cracking. “You’re leaving me? Don’t leave me, you can’t leave me. I’ll have no one left.” I couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not. The words he was saying didn’t make sense in response to what I meant, the fog in my head from the multitude of shots I had clouding every logical thought.

“Huh? I have to go home at some point. I can’t live here with you, Chan. As much fun as that would be.” There was some truth to that, I realized. I could picture it in my drunken mind’s eye and for a split second, it was everything I had ever wanted come alive. A reality that would always be there in another life where I had the guts to say something. And the even rareer chance that he felt the same.

“Ha. That would be fun. You would never have to leave then. You could take care of me all the time.” What I wouldn’t give… He was slow to rise from the couch, I suspected any sudden movement would make his insides turn out. And that was a mess neither one of us wanted to clean up.

“Come on, superstar. Let’s go.” He grabbed another hold around my waist now, his touch more intimate than the one around my shoulder when we first arrived. I tried not to read too much into it. It’s not like it meant anything to him. He was out of his mind, didn’t know what he was doing. We shuffled down the hall to his room, him falling on the bed like he fell on the couch. He burst into laughter into his pillow, my fit of giggles not far behind.

“Why did you fall like that? You looked like a domino.” I sat on his bed at his feet, getting comfortable.

“I don’t know.” His laughter got louder before it died down. What I couldn’t see was his face scrunching up as his own memeories of the day flew together, ready to attack him as soon as he would let them. I wasn’t expecting the sniffles to come. Well, maybe I should have considering how many shots he had.

“Chan?” I said again. A long pause, the air thick with a new sadness.

“I saw her again today.” I knew he was talking about her. I sighed but stayed quiet, afraid of what I would say if I spoke. My words tonight had slipped past every filter I ever had, a new sense of honesty I never had before. Another thing to blame the alcohol for.

“Why didn’t she love me? Why doesn’t anyone love me?” Not a question meant for my ears.

“I do.”

It was barely a whisper. A response to a question that didn’t require one. His retort was too quick for him to realize in what way I meant.

“You have to say that. You’re my best friend.”

“But that’s not how I meant it.”

He was still. I wasn’t sure if he was breathing but I didn’t care. Now was the time. This was the moment. When I had no filters or second guesses. Now would be the time I would spill it all out, everything. Risking our entire friendship in sixty seconds. I could only stare at the wall.

“I’m in love with you. Have been for a couple years now. I hated keeping it from you but I had no other choice. So all those old girfriends were right. Of course, all the other boys know too. Have for a long time. And now that I can face the fact that you don’t feel the same, I can tell you this and I can move on. I can release it. I can let you go. I love you. I am in love with you. And you do not feel the same. And that’s okay.” I took a deep breath, still without the courage to look in the space around his direction. “Because at least now you know and I can start to kill these feelings one by one until I can stomach you being around other girls. Beause it kills me inside when you talk about yourself like that. Every time you and I would argue about your girlfriends complaining to you and you think it’s your fault. It kills my very soul. You are the best person anyone could ever know. They way you make people feel about themselves, they way you make me feel… I’ve never found that in anyone else. Only you. The way you care about me, you make me feel loved.” My shoes were dirty from the path we walked. I would have to wash them when I got home.

“I love your laugh the most I think. It makes me feel whole. I love the little squeak you get when you laugh too hard. It sounds like a door hinge.” I smiled to myself, a sudden sadness as I thought I wouldn’t hear it again after this. Not for a long while at least. “I always get butterflies when you touch me. They started back in high school and they never left. I would always try to hug you when I could, which was good because I knew you liked touchy people. But the more I would do it, the more I craved it. I started to crave you. I never knew I liked attention until I tasted yours. And that was it. I was ruined.” Another sad smile as I stood up. He was probably asleep by now, listening to me drone on and on. I could make it home now on my own, the sudden pouring of the build up of the last however many years finally coming to a breaking point. I was never drinking again. I longed for some fresh air, this room suddenly too small. My hand had just brushed the door handle, ready to leave the dream I had held onto for so long in this room, in this moment for good. My life’s sustainment, the only reason I had bothered to come this far. To leave it all on the table for it to be brushed under a rug, never to be looked at or mentioned again.

Until I heard it.

“And what if I love you too?”

It was so quiet, I thought I had imagined it.

“You don’t mean that like I want you to.” I opened the door further, certain that I didn’t want to hear his next words.

“But I do.” The grip on my heart, my veins, tightened. There was no way.

“But-” I turned slowly, still not sure if I was dreaming. But if I pinched myself, I wouldn’t get to see how this dream would play out. “What-” I couldn’t think of any words. I could only shake my head in disbelief. “You can’t be serious. You’re drunk, you don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Look at me. Please. And tell me if you think I dont know what I’m saying.”

I looked, really looked at him, for what felt like the first time. Into those eyes that held nothing but clarity and truth. And I felt like I was falling into them all over again.

“I don’t believe you. I can’t. I don’t believe this is actually happening to me right now.”

He sat up to lean against his headboard, head lolling to the side, no doubt feeling heavy.

“You know that box I keep by the front door for my keys? Have a look inside. If you still don’t believe me, you can call Changbin and tell him he has a free pass to hit me as hard as he can.” On shaky legs, I raced as quickly as I dared to the front door, eyeing the little wooden box, just big enough for keys and…

A small, round, white stone. With dark spots. To look like the moon.

I cradled it, afraid it would break or disappear if I blinked. I simply stared at it, unaware that Chan had crept up behind me on silent steps. I felt his eyes on me a second later.

“Why did you keep it?” My voice was as shaky as the rest of me, still coated in disbelief that the one thing I wanted more than anything could actually be mine.

“Because that was when it started. I’ve been yours ever since.”

I felt myself turning to face him, still locked on the stone in my hand. I heard him come closer, tilting my chin up to look him in his beautiful eyes. Open for me to see every wonderful thing he had ever thought of me, the warmth inviting me in to stay forever. His hands moved to cup both my cheeks, his body so close I could feel his heart racing alongside mine.

“I still feel like I’m dreaming.” I whispered against his lips, so close to mine. Too close. There was nowhere I could run to, nowhere I could hide from his fire, his want for me. For me.

“Me too.” He whispered back.

And then he kissed me.

He poured everything he was into me, his apologies, his laughter, his sincerity. I threw everything I had at him. My darkest thoughts, my hardest moments, my deepest fears. He still did not budge. He waited for more, wanting, needing everything. Every part of me was his for the taking. My soul was his for good.

It was the feeling of finding money in the pocket of a pair of jeans you hadn’t worn in a while. It was a warm summer night after a day spent with friends, comforting and familiar. It was love, wrapped in your favorite blanket with a warm drink in your hands. He was love, finding me at long last.

He was mine.

No one else’s.

Not back then.

Not ever again.

Only

Mine.

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