#we're very tired and I think we messed up with the coloring sorry

[itsahotminuteinbetween]

drew these two because they've been in my head for the past week and this was the only way to get them out so @sunny-inajar please come get your boys

[ashthemadwriter-archived]

Me & my hubby!

—When you accidentally introduce your boyfriend as your husband

Fandom: Bungou Stray Dogs

Pairings: Dazai, Chuuya, Fyodor, Ranpo, Akutagawa, Jouno X Fem!Reader

Genre: Fluff, Humor

Format: Drabble

Warnings: Suggestive content in Dazai's

Word Count: 1.6K

A/n: This is very rushed so sorry if its not well written

↳Osamu Dazai

As the door of the fitting room opened, your boyfriend came into sight. The white tuxedo hugged his slim frame perfectly, making his tall figure stand out even more. The color had given him an elegant look, which nearly made you wonder if he was the playful guy you were dating.

Dazai smirked as he picked up on your stun and flashed you a cheeky smirk. "Like what you see, Bella? You're staring a little too hard you know~"

Suddenly the fitting room seemed like the perfect place to show him how much you actually liked his new look. It didn't matter if you made a mess out of the tux, since you were about to buy it anyway.

"Oh Osamu... You should wear white more often"

"Everything alright here?"

The salesclerk was checking up on you with a warm smile.

"Ah yes! We would like to buy this one. It looks gorgeous on my husband"

You didn't exactly pay attention to your words, but seeing Dazai's eyebrows jump in surprise made you question your statement, and...

Oh.

Anxiety washed over you as you weren't exactly unfamiliar with your partner's commitment issues, but much to your surprise, Dazai wasn't upset nor terrified; his huge ass grin was showing off his joy and flatter.

"I'm her husband!"

For god's sake.

The salesclerk on the other hand was looking at you oddly, probably questioning her life choices.

"Ah, ok. Well then would you mind taking the tuxedo off? I'll wrap it up for you"

A snicker left your boyfriend's lips as he pulled you close by your waist. "Sure, but I might need my wife's help to take my clothes off. Will you be kind enough to help me out, Anata?"

"Oh shut up already!"

↳Chuuya Nakahara

One of the benefits of working at the same organization was that when your boyfriend had a mission overseas, you could go with him.

You had just arrived to your hotel after a five hour flight, which made you tired as hell since you couldn't sleep on the airplane. Although that wasn't enough to lessen your excitement for going on what could be some kind of a trip after you finish the job.

"Have you made a reservation beforehand ma'am?"

"No, it was kind of rushed. Would that be a problem?"

The receptionist shook his head to the side. "Not at all. Lucky for you, we still have some rooms available"

The door of the hotel opened and Chuuya came in, approaching you with your luggage in his hand. You looked back at the receptionist. "Great! Then I'd like a room for two people. We're going to be here for a while since my husband needs to take care of some stuff from work; right, honey?"

Chuuya froze in the spot and a light shade of crimson appeared on his cheeks. This was definitely unexpected. It made him feel butterflies in his stomach in a good way and somehow questioned all the logic that made him avoid thinking about the future of your relationship.

"Well your husband doesn't seem to be sure" The receptionist commented in a humorous way. "Alright then, here's your key"

On the way to your room there was a silence that couldn't exactly be marked as "uncomfortable". Chuuya was wearing a warm smile yet so drowned in his thoughts that you refused to take him out of his zone. However, when you reached the door, he suddenly lifted you up, making you suddenly gasp and gaze at him with astonishment.

"What are you doing?"

"What a good husband is supposed to do"

The familiar beam was back on his face.

"I'm carrying my wife to our shared hotel room"

↳Ranpo Edogawa

"Ranpo! You can't eat this whole cake!"

Going to the bakery had become some sort of tradition since you and your boyfriend started dating. You went there every afternoon, tasted the new pastries, you lectured him to not get carried away and he stopped you by shoving a cookie in your mouth. That was pretty much repetitive, except that something extra was coming along today.

"I can and I will. That's why it's called sample y/n" He munched on his cheesecake, delighted by the sweet taste lingering in his mouth.

"Well Mr. detective, It's a sample so you should just take one bite and then move on! If you like it then just buy one!"

The baker chuckled and walked toward you. She knew you since you were regulars there, and she had enough respect for the president to not throw a tantrum over a few pieces of cake. "It's alright Miss y/n. Let the man eat his sweets"

"You don't understand ma'am! My husband eats way too much sweets and that's not healthy at all! What if he comes down with diabetes or something?!"

Ranpo stopped chewing for a brief second and looked at you from the corner of his eye. The lady on the other hand, was more excited than shocked. "You got married? Oh! Congratulations! It's nice to know that Mr. Ranpo has finally settled down!"

You didn't know if you should correct yourself or hide your red cheeks. "I— I meant that— " "Please have some more cake! They're on the house. Consider them a gift from me"

As she left you alone, you finally turned to your boyfriend to see his reaction, which was exactly the way you expected it to be; smug and playful. "Ah, I went into this marriage with so much hope"

"Oh grow up!"

↳Fyodor Dostoevsky

"How's your steak honey?" You asked, looking at your boyfriend with curiosity. He had been taking bites reluctantly, swallowing without actually tasting the meat.

"It's burnt to a crisp, even though I ordered it medium rare" He gently wiped his mouth with the napkin, placing the cutlery on the table. You gave the dish a once over and flagged the waiter down. After a while he approached your table. "Is there a problem, ma'am?"

"Yes. My husband ordered his steak medium rare and as you can see, this is not what he asked for"

My... Husband?

"Eh, so... He'd like his steak... Medium rare... Please?" Awkwardness was hitting you and you really didn't want to be alone with Fyodor right now, but unfortunately, you were on a date and there were no way to escape from it.

The waiter excused himself after apologizing and taking the plate back to the kitchen. He did find your sudden change of expression odd, but he didn't say anything since he wasn't asking for less tip. However, Fyodor was completely ready to bring it up. You could tell that based on his grin, but you were doing your best not to face him at that moment.

Not that it was enough to stop him.

"How's your pasta Mrs. Dostoevsky?" "Fedya! Stop!"

↳Ryuunosuke Akutagawa

Getting sick on valentine's day was not originally your plan, but at least you got to visit the doctor together. You were now waiting for the secretary to call your names.

"How long should we wait?"

Covering your mouth with a tissue, you lightly coughed. "Anytime now. All the people ahead of us went inside"

Akutagawa glanced at the door of the doctor's office and nodded. He had made a reservation at your favorite restaurant today and was planning to take you to some place nice afterwards, get on one knee and ask you to spend the rest of your life with him, but you suddenly got sick. It's not like he could be mad at you. It was not your fault, but... It seemed like the perfect opportunity. The perfect day for a memorable gesture...

"Mrs. Akutagawa! You're up"

Akutagawa.

She was referring to you, with his last name.

You had introduced yourself as Akutagawa. He was sure you did it accidentally since your face was redder than a tomato now, but still, he never thought hearing it would feel so... special.

The raven-haired man held your hand and leaded you to the doctors office, a ghost of a smile spread on his face. He might've lost the chance to propose now, but it's not the end of the world. You're stuck with him and not going anywhere, so he would try to make the perfect plan for a perfect proposal, for the perfect girl.

↳Saigiku Jouno

"Are you sure this is the store?" Your boyfriend crossed his arms.

"For the thousandth time! Yes!" "Well, you were also sure that you knew my size but it turns out you were wrong" "Ugh! Let's just get inside!"

Thanks to his job, Jouno was always on endless missions and barely had time to rest, let alone go shopping. You this T-shirt when you were walking by and you just couldn't help but to imagine your boyfriend in it. It might've cheered him up if it was his size.

The clerk recognized you the second you set foot in the store. "Oh hi ma'am! Welcome back!"

"Hi Amaya. Thank you. So, remember how I was not sure if the T-shirt was my boyfriend's size?"

She only nodded with a forced smile, because how could she forgot? You spent fifteen minutes staring at the T-shirt, wondering if it would fit him.

"Well, it wasn't" Jouno's smile got wider and you sighed. "Yeah yeah, I admit it. I don't know what size is suitable for my husband. I'm the worst partner ever. Can we please change this one and leave?"

"I don't understand ma'am"

For real? You just can't take a break.

"I'm saying that the T-shirt was too big for him!" "Yeah I got that, but I thought he was your boyfriend?" "What do you mean you— oh!"

No.

No no no no no no no no.

Jouno's smirk was still on, and now with a little smugness. He was clearly enjoying himself.

"If this is your way of proposing, it's really lame" "Oh shut up you big jerk!"

All rights reserved © 2023 AshTheMadWriter. Please do not copy, repost, translate, or modify my works on any platform.

Tag List:

@pussydrunkfyodor @silverbladexyz @h8kolya @gettinshiggywithit @exhausted-doll @echo28 @rosasensibles @nekokinax @paperllama @the-foreigner @arsonklee @fayenfim @circinuus @c4xcocoa @asqmi @blueberry-writer @ryokuryuu @ayladove @sinfullysophiastrange @sugarcherryemo @whossuzy @sigmazcasino @linn-a-a @uottani @spiritis-rambles @glitch-karma @ilovechuuyaa

Want to be added to my bsd tag list?

[etheries1015]

Imagine MC with a crush on Lilia, but Lilia is completely oblivious. When asked who MC likes, they're vaguely describing Lilia without name-dropping, and Lilia pouts over it because he thinks they have a crush on someone else

Cute! I can see it already...

*slumber party at ramshackle*

featuring ace and deuce, the wing men, who know you have a crush on Lilia. And Lilia, the oblivious old man who is utterly in love with you but can't seem to wrap his head around your hints. Thus, it was time to finally come clean to him!...to the best of your abilities!

Ace- Soooo...now that we're all settled in.....how about we talk about crushes and stuff, right? *winks at you*

Lilia- Ohoho!! I love a good love story! Now pray tell, (y/n), do you have a particular type or someone who has caught your eye?

Deuce gives you a thumbs up and a nod of confidence

MC, blushing- Hmm... well. I do, actually! He's shorter than average, and he's incredibly silly...He has the most beautiful ruby-colored eyes, and he never fails to make me smile.

Lilia was shocked to get an actual answer and analysis and is becoming increasingly worried. Who was this man?? All he could think of was the fact that you indeed had someone! The description didn't even phase him! He never thought you had a thing for him, but he thought he would notice the signs if you had fallen for someone, which he obviously missed! Woe is he, heartbroken and confused.

Lilia, sweating bullets- I see! He sounds...lovely. Does he go to this school?

Ace whispering to Deuce- Is he really this dense...? They practically described him verbatim!

MC, raising an eyebrow- He does. He's in Diasomnia-

Lilia, plotting for murder- Ah! Then I'm bound to know this person, as vice house-warden! Pray tell, who is it?

MC, confused why he hasn't gotten it yet- hmm. He's a fae.

Lilia, taken aback- A fae? Why, the few fae in diasomnia are... Ah! I think I have an inkling who this mystery crush may be.

MC, nodding and leaning in, getting excited- Yesss....

Lilia- Is it Sebek?

...how he came to that conclusion after the descriptions you gave, will forever be beyond me. And Logic.

Ace- oh come on bro even I'M not that dense! They like you, senile old man!!

MC- Ace!!!

Lilia was internally shocked about the "senile old man" comment, but I digress. Once you become that oblivious, how else could you justify it? You can't.

Deuce, getting up and rushing Ace out the door- Sorry, (Y/N). It had to be done. We are tired of you guys flirting and getting nowhere. Good luck!!

Ace and Deuce leave you and Lilia alone, Lilia with an excited and mischievous smile and a blush upon his cheeks (acting like this after the idiotic display...he has very limited brain cells, but it's okay. We still love him.) And then there was yourself, a blushing mess as the fae waited to hear your explanation... hehe.

[harmonyckrs]

Act 3, Scene 1 of Twisted Veronaville: Some New Opponents Arrive

THE LAST PAGE

Tank: Ow...huh? Where am I?...Buck? Are you okay?

Buck: Yeah, I'm fine!...did we get kidnapped?

Tank: Last thing I remember was us walking home...

???: Hello, Tank...and Buck. We are the Knights of Order, and we brought you here for a very important mission.

Tank: Huh? What-

???: We need you to find and kidnap your brother Ripp, and bring him to us...he's being used by two criminals who are trying to mess with everyone's fates...and then we're going to need you to break up a couple and set up another in order to restore normalcy to Veronaville.

Tank: Fates?...Veronaville?...huh?

???: Just do what we say! You seem to be good at that, anyway.

Buck: Tank, I don't like-

Tank: Sure. I'll do it.

Buck: What?

Tank: If it gets us both out of here, then I might as well.

Hamza: Good day, (sir/ma'am)! I was wondering if you've seen a man with dark skin about this tall? Unkempt hair that's slightly over his eyes and probably wearing a colorful shirt with a silver necklace and little silver earrings?

Bianca: Don't think so, sorry. Is there a reason you're asking?

Cyd: Nope. Why?

Kent: What's it to you?

Hamza: He's my brother. I've been looking for him for...forever. Have you seen him? I have a photo, if you'd like.

Kent: (Wait, that's Aktu! He didn't tell me that he had a brother, though!). I've never seen that man in my life.

Bianca: Still haven't, but I'll let you know if I see anything!

Cyd: Oh, he looks a lot like my ex. Haven't seen him since I moved here from Strangetown, though...

Hamza: Okay, thanks! I've got to go now, but maybe we'll talk again later!

Little did the Knights of Order know, their actions had summoned a unwanted man into the town of Veronaville - one that would be a threat to both sides of the Terrestrial family.

General Buzz: I told that man that he couldn't take my eldest son, and what does he do?...I'll make him-

Pascal: Buzz?

General Buzz: ...Vidcund? How did you escape my-oh, my bad. Pascal! You look different.

Pascal: (What did he mean by escaping?) Yes...I wanted to try a new look. What are you doing here in Veronaville, General Buzz?

General Buzz: Rescuing my son.

Pascal: (Son and not "sons," huh? Still the same as always.) Would you like my help? I've been getting familiar with the area of Veronaville, and I can help you track him down with my knowledge.

General Buzz: Well, you've always been the most respectable out of your siblings...sure. Why not?

Pascal: (I'll have to cancel that meeting with Aktu and Sita. This is far more important...) Wonderful! I'll take you back to my place.

Pascal: So yes, that's everything I know. How are you enjoying the food? I tried to follow one of the recipes Lazlo gave me.

General Buzz: It's pretty good. A bit of a sour taste, though.

Pascal: (That would be the poison.) That's a shame. I'll be sure to put in less lemon next time.

Pascal: I'm glad you're enjoying the food regardless, though. I've never seen anyone eat that quickly.

General Buzz: Haven't eaten in about eight hours.

Pascal: (The exact amount of time you have left before the poison takes your life.) I see...do you feel anything?

General Buzz: Huh?...well, I do feel a bit tired, but that's probably from the trip here. Why do you ask?

Pascal: Well...sometime before I came here, I visited Loki in jail to confront him about killing my baby. And there was something very interesting he told me...

Pascal: He said you were the one who gave Tycho to him.

General Buzz: Yeah, and?...I thought we were supposed to be allies. If this is the only reason you came to talk, I'm going to leave.

General Buzz: ...Why can't I move?

Pascal: Don't worry about that, Buzz. Remember when you paid off the police to do nothing about you speeding on the road while drunk and hitting Nervous and Ophelia?

General Buzz: Yeah, so? I'm the General! I practically run that town!

Pascal: No, you don't! Nobody in Strangetown likes you! Your own children don't even like you! You're a failure and a disgrace, on top of being a murderer and child kidnapper!

General Buzz: At least I have a child.

Pascal: ...Hmph.

General Buzz: Why are you dragging me outside now?

Pascal: It's a nice night. Thought you'd want to see the view of the stars before I bury you alive.

General Buzz: Revenge isn't going to bring back Tycho and Nervous.

Pascal: You're right. So since there's nothing that can bring them back, there's nothing that can save you.

General Buzz: They're...going to find out it's you...

Pascal: I covered all my tracks. I deliberately came here earlier than the other Knights of Order so that everyone would assume I went missing, and you came here in search for Tank. For all anyone knows, you went missing in search of him.

General Buzz: But...Vidcund...

Pascal: He has an alibi. He's in Strangetown, and don't think I didn't hear you when you asked me how I "escaped." You have him captive, don't you? If he's still there, then there's no way he could've traveled eight hours to Veronaville just to kill a man.

General Buzz: ...

Pascal: Now, before I pour dirt on your face, tell me where you're holding him.

General Buzz: ...Fuck...you.

Pascal: Fine. Then tell Olive I say hi when you see her in Hell.

While General Buzz dies a slow and painful death six feet under, the patriarchs of the Capp and Monty were about to be alerted of their grandsons' actions.

Romeo: Nonno! Nonno! I just saw something horrible!

Patrizio: Ah, lemme guess...monster under the bed.

Romeo: No! I'm not a baby anymore, Nonno! Mercutio was kissing a...a...

Romeo: (He kept my secret for me...but I can't do this! Those Capps are evil! And he's going against the very own advice he gave me! This is for his own good!)

Romeo: A Capp! And Tybalt of all of them!

Patrizio: (HE'S GAY?) WHAT? No child living under my roof will be a...a...

Patrizio: A Capp lover!

Patrizio: Consort must be up to his old tricks again...

Consort: Tybalt, may I speak to you?

Tybalt: Yes, Grandfather?

Consort: Patrizio told me that Romeo told him that you were kissing Mercutio.

Tybalt: Why does it matter to you? Hermia gets to bring her boyfriend over, but I can't?

Consort: Hermia is a GIRL. And Puck isn't a MONTY. There is a difference, Tybalt, and I thought you of all people would know that. You already saw what happened with Kent.

Tybalt: ...

Consort: It's alright. I'll let you remain in the house, on one condition.

Tybalt: Which is?

Consort: Once you are to turn eighteen, I'll be setting you up in an arranged marriage.

THE NEXT DAY

[duckapus]

(this would obviously be after Emulator's corruption has progressed significantly, to the point where she's well aware of the problem but the malware has such a firm grip that it can force her to keep it hidden from the others, though it doesn't yet have full control. Key word being yet.)

Deep within the horrific fleshy caverns beneath the Mushroom Kingdom, Emulator stands amongst the ruins of the old castle, where the infection wracking her code is at its strongest. Here, she can drop the illusions that she's been forced to apply, revealing a web of pulsing, glowing fuchsia veins covering her model and a twitching photorealistic eye where her brooch should be. Her face is twisted in both pain and concentration, eyes firmly shut. Floating in a circle around her are seven different-colored Wonder Flowers, each with several lines of pink-and-yellow code spinning around them in thin cylinders.

This will only delay the inevitable you know.

She shuts out the voice, and she has every moment of every day since it became clear enough to understand.

Plus, are you really gonna drag a bunch of randos into your mess?

Focus Emmy, you're almost done.

And of course there's the fact that you'll just be trading one known flavor of corruption for seven different mystery flavors at once. Bet that'll go over well.

Just tune it out, girl. You got this.

And while they're all dealing with this mess you're making, I'll still be right here, chip-chip-CHIPping away at your mind.

Focus.

You're already so tired, Lovely. We could be so good together if you'd just let me in.

Another assault on the parts of her mind that are still her own, this time forming the impression of a gentle, delicate hand brushing along her jawline, and she can't help but shudder before stubbornly, desperately picturing a vivid memory of a fluffy purple tail performing the same action.

FOCUS damnit!

Still thinking about other girls, are we Lovely? Don't worry, when we're finished here we can go liven up that stuffy office and let her join our fun~!

She very firmly does not think about that, thank you very much, instead transporting the modified Wonder Flowers to random, scattered locations throughout the kingdom, before sitting down on what's left of one of the staircases to wait.

'I'm sorry everyone, I wish I could've done more.'

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

Meanwhile, up in the Showgrounds, Domain and Forum are telling the Crew (or at least some of them. A few aren't there right now due to prior obligations...or a nap in Melony's case) about the SAA/Diamind 6 fused universe.

3 winces, "Yikes, and here I thought you couldn't get any worse than our activation."

"Oh, ours is still considered the worst. This one was pretty bad, though."

"Anyway, we were wondering if a few of you would be willing to visit their world. You know, introduce them to the multiverse, see how they're settling in, that sort of thing."

4 smiles, "That sounds like a great idea. Guys?"

"Mario's ready to go! How about you, bro?"

Luigi nods, "Sure! November's pretty slow for flower sales anyway."

"Hell yeah, maybe I can make deals on some new kinds of space drugs!" Bob...will be Bob, I suppose.

Marcy raises a sword, "could I come as well? I usually miss the interdimensional adventures."

Meggy side-eyes the two of them and leans over so she can whisper to 4, "I'll try to keep the wonder twins from getting us arrested again."

"Good call. Juliano, Tari, how about you?"

"I'd love to, but I'm having a bad leg day at the moment," sure enough, Juliano's leaning on his cane more than usual.

Tari, however, has no such issue, "sure, it sounds like fun!"

Toad...is still in his house, not having bothered to show up to the meeting. Even if he now likes the Crew enough to live with them like this, he still very much values his "Me Time" and not getting caught up in Adventures if he doesn't have to.

As you might expect, the kids (just the three who live in the castle, since the Haltmanns are with their mom this week and everyone else is still at their own homes) are pretty excited, "Space trip! Space trip! Space-"

"Now hold on there!" 3 gives them a stern look, "These kinds of trips usually take multiple days since we don't know exactly where our destination is, and tonight's a school night. So the four of us are staying right here."

The three deflate a bit, "Figures."

At this his gaze softens, and he kneels down to their eye level, "Sorry, but I've gotta put my foot down this time. You kids already miss enough school from the adventures we can't keep you home from. Besides, it's not like this trip's a one-off. We already visit the other SMG universes all the time, and this won't be any different."

4 looks at this exchange with great fondness, then turns to the group, "So that's everyone set, right?" At the various sounds and gestures of affirmation, he grins, "Then there's no time like the present."

He opens up a portal to the new universe, and the typical goodbyes are had all around, with one longer exchange between the SMGs.

"Don't have too much fun over there without me, Scrub."

"Only if you try not to destroy the place while we're gone, Edgelord."

"Hey, you're the one who's gonna have three Avatars to deal with."

Predictably, Mario leans back out of the portal in his SM64 model, "HEY! You two should kiss!"

The two turn to glare at him, "Shut up Mario!"

Once he's gone, they end up laughing, "Okay, but seriously. Be careful out there, alright?"

"I'll do my best," he goes to step through the portal, then pauses partway through, "Oh, and I know you can handle things just fine, but you do your best to be safe too, alright? I've got a weird feeling."

"Roger that." as he finally leaves and the portal closes, 3 rolls his eyes, "right, like the world's gonna get flipped upside-down or something just because a third of the team's gone. We'll be fine!"

Right as he makes that assertion, the scene changes to one of Emmy's modified Wonder Flowers appearing beneath the Ferris Wheel in the deeper parts of the Showgrounds...

[patchdotexe]

doip. / 2.21.23

first doip of the new year! aaaand i wish i was asleep. <- woke up early for physical therapy joined vc while jorb was rehearsing the intro. OOPS. gives me time to reread my notes! OH YEAH ALSO THIS SESSION IS SPECIAL. alongside doip., our gracious dm jorb has been running a one-player campaign with @bahamutgreen! which is taking place in the same area and time period as doip., and seeing as we're down a guy and green's been having fun in her solo campaign, she's joining in! Chaos Ensues.

me: [talking abt how im tired] jorb: don't worry, the binturong can drive the bus me: yeah, i'll give the binturong my keys, why not

[still farting about before the session starts] jorb: chaos, chaos! i can do anything! me: i roll to do anything. where is my dice [one dice-finding montage later] me: 60! jorb: you can teleport up to 60 feet away that you can see. me: cool. i teleport 60 feet straight up

me: i've already misread some of my flavour text as "you can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gay." green: amen. jorb: 50 shades of gay. me: NOOOOOOOOO

jorb: alright it is 4:20 in my timezone- me: nice. jorb: -are we ready to begin?

LAST TIME, ON DRAGON OF ICESPIRE PEAK! After reutrning from Neverwinter with new supplies in toe, our heroes . i have fucked this up so bad. we beat up the rats, fixed donjon's ratness, and then tobias journeyed off into the wilderness. farewell my guy. time to go to dragon barrow! Will they be able to brave the dangers alone? Find out… today!

nyx: fun fact: binturongs smell like popcorn. green: this is the best animal ever.

nameless has depression! TIME TO GO FIND A SWORD. [me getting stepped on by pepper while jorb and nyx do narrative]

nyx: i turn into binturong form and climb up on alidaar. me: alidaar is grateful for his cold resistance. nyx: nameless has wet little hands. me: alidaar does not have wet resistance. nyx: does he have little hands resistance? me: no.

ran into a hobgoblin on the way! (jorb faked us out into thinking it was green's character. rude.) apparently there's lights over the barrow at night! green: yooo, aliens pog me: WHAT DO I ROLL FOR UFO nyx: anything can be a ufo if it's unidentified and flying. you could throw a pancake REALLY FAST

hobgoblin: once you're done in the barrow, could you help me with something? alidaar: yeah, sure, i love throwing out helping hands to anybody that crosses my path- that. sounded more sarcastic than i meant it to. I'D LOVE TO HELP! [..] me: OUR GUY THAT TALKS GOOD AT THINGS TURNED INTO A RAT, I'M DOING MY BEST

apparently the hogbogling . fuck. the hobgoblin . hoblin. the hoblin (targor bloodsword) had a bad run-in with the followers of talos and his whole squad died (HE DIDN'T LOSE 25% OF HIS SQUAD. HE DIDN'T LOSE HALF OF HIS SQUAD. HE LOST HIS ENTIRE SQUAD. sorry ive been overtaken by demons) so we're gonna help him out after we check out the barrow

green: i can chat as barrel crab.

the lights have vanished! definitely not spooky. I ACCIDENTALL Y ROLLED AS THE BARREL CRAB adventure paused while i draw my cat. NYX'S ROOMMATE ALSO HAS A CAT NAMED PEPPER pepper distraction time

alidaar: i throw nameless [up the slope] and run up. jorb: IT'S 30 FEET! alidaar: ok i don't do that YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAA KEPESK! kepesk!! kepesk is trying to do.. something?? there's a bunch of stone spikes on the barrow and kepesk is messing with one of them. and failing. alidaar and nameless just kinda Watch

kepesk: IS THAT A BINTURONG? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE alidaar: i heard there was a cool sword, do you need help? nameless: [turns into a bear] kepesk: THAT IS NOT A BINTURONG

with the power of teamwork (two lizards and a bear), we have nat20'd this bitch open! kepesk: i'm just here for fun! jorb: roll a deception check. me: [STARTLED LAUGHTER] kepesk: i'm not here for a sword and i can share very good.

[derail about halfling!nameless climbing all over alidaar like weevils and kepesk thinking they're alidaar's kid]

after hearing alidaar talk about wanting to kill a dragon, kepesk handed over the map of the barrow! apparently he wanted to steal the sword bc he thought it sounded cool but figures we'll get actual use out of it. alidaar's chill with it though

me: is this place empty? i probably should've checked for traps or something- jorb: as you round the corner you see- me: AH, (it's a will-o-wisp! they're little bitches and resistant to a lot of things. a lot of things including "just about everything alidaar can do and most of what nameless can")

nameless decides to approach the willowisp! nameless: i step.. more- jorb: ok you fall into the pit [...] nyx: i have a spell called 'find traps', why didnt i use it?! me: we haven't had traps before-- green, desolate: i did. [...] kepesk: you think they're ok?? alidaar: no. [walks in]

rescued nameless! thankfully alidaar has rope. and also thankfully nameless has not gotten fantasy tetanus. or fancy tetanus kepesk: i have a potion of healing, if you need it - not that i. care or anything me: great, the lizard is tsundere (affectionate)

new plan of action: THROW NAMELESS. jorb: just gotta do some googling real quick.. me: where there's a will there's a way! nyx: where there's a will there's a wisp

OH MY GOD I GOT A NAT20

nameless tried to thorn wip the willowisp in mid-air and missed. and also getting yeeted did 1 damage to the wisp, who takes half damage, so it took no damage. and then nameless got bonked from being thrown.

nameless turns into a dog and is awkwardly crammed into a tunnel. also kepesk poked the willowisp with his magic sword and evaporated WOLF WEARING GOGGLES. BOTTOM TEXT the sequel to teen wolf: scene wolf

made it through! there is a whole-ass dragon skeleton embedded in the wall, and on top of the skull is a sword! nameless as a direwolf walks up and hormfs the sword jorb: let me get something here… me: [worried] did the music change? AW FUCK THE MUSIC CHANGED HM. NAMELESS GOT ATTACKED BY. SOMETHING. AND WE ARE NOW IN COMBAT. WITH SOMETHING. HELP

[alidaar vaults over nameless and then spends 5 minutes remembering how his mechanics work] nyx: ..so alidaar, you are standing on the sword right now that i am holding me: [looks] OH. I AM, nyx: which is going to make the thing im going to do next a little difficult, me: im doing the dark link thing.

NAMELESS IS SWINGING THE SWORD

jorb: does a 29 hit you? me: [looks at my 17 ac] me: Y EA,,,,

oh hey kepesk is a barbarian! RAGE TIME! also storm aura! We Are Now On Fire (we're fine)

jorb: you could try to take the sword- nyx: no. fuck you. me: alidaar makes grabby hands at the sword and nameless turns away nameless: rrf. >:( (NAMELESS'S CURSE IS ACTING UP. AAAAAAAAAAAAA THE SWOOOOOOOOOORD)

nyx: i swing the sword again. jorb: against all odds, that's a hit I AM TRYING TO WRESTLE THE SWORD AWAY FROM NAMELESS. IT IS NOT WORKING fuck it breath weapon time BREATH WEAPON NOOO </3 (it did not do much)

once again, nameless is a dog with a sword nameless is no longer a dog with a sword. nameless is now holding the sword in their mouth as a halfling "i could try to take the sword from nameless again but i'd feel bad bullying them" NAMELESS ROLLED A 20 ON THE SWORD BUT WE HAVE DISADVANTAGE SO INSTEAD IT WAS A 6,, MEAN

THROW THE INVISIBLE BEAST IN THE TETANUS PIT (this is not possible) alidaar grabs the sword, stabs the beast with it, and then nameless GRABS IT BACK jorb: it is the invisible stalker's turn! me: is it gonna steal the sword? jorb: it doesn't look like it's doing anything. kepesk? green: i take the sword. [...] me, a couple tiles away: i take the sword back. jorb: from over there??? me: i reach over and i make grabby hands at the sword.

oh we have been stabbing at nothing for the past few turns. lol. lmao apparently once i got a hit in with the sword, the whatever-it-was went away! me: who has the sword again. i want it back nyx: uh, you me: i take it back from myself. […] kepesk: so do you think that thing is valuable? alidaar: oh yeah for sure, this is primo shit nameless: 8(

nameless gave kepesk the pole of collapsing! and also threw tobias's mystery key at him. still holding onto the sending stone though. time to explore the rest of the dungeon! ah fuck more wisps nyx: i take a step forward. jorb: you fall in the pit.

nameless, at 2 hp: i am going to leave. nameless goes outside, pulls out a blanket, and curls up and goes to sleep kepesk: mammals, am i right? Alidaar And Kepesk's Terrible Dungeon Raid (we found the other two wisps, but decide to go to the One corridor that DOESNT have a wisp because i am SMART and remembered there were 3 and. then i got a faceful of poison for my troubles. bro this sucks) alidaar misses with his sword, then instakills the wisp with his axe. "alidaar is looking from the sword, to the axe, and is clearly doing math on how worth it this trip was" KEPESK HAS BEFRIENDED A SKELETON HORSE

me: i have so much blood and most of it is outside me now (i am at 4 hp) jorb: [at green] do you want to rage? me: PLEASE NO,, jorb: you could get the sword…………… green: nameless looks up and sees me ride past on a skeleton horse holding the sword and cackling and goes "where's alidaar?" me: alidaar is facedown on the floor. in the family guy death pose.

wisps have an ac of 19 jesus christ. but also it just fucked off mid-battle so kepesk gets to loot everything (alidaar is Very Injured lmao) nameless was crying and then kepesk rides his honse up the stairs and meanwhile alidaar is literally crawling his way up super bloody and agonized kepesk: didja see my horse? :D kepesk cheerfully asking everyone if they like lutes (alidaar: i like flutes! its like lutes but it has an f in it! kepesk: that's so true! we should start a band!) nameless gets the lute. kepesk lowballed it to them because if he threw it full force he would kil them instantly

alidaar: [dizzy] oh right,, there was,, a man,,,,,,,,,, alidaar walks to the side of the hill, lays down, and rolls down the hill oH MY GOD ZODIARK (THE HORSE) IS HUGE back to tagor's camp! he's a bit worried abt zodiark bc. skeleton horse. kepesk: the horse was dead when i found it. [..] tagor: you went in one man and an animal and came out three men, no animal, and a.. skeleton horse.. nameless: bold of you to assume the binturong didn't turn into the skeleton horse. we are trolling the SHIT out of tagor lmao. this poor man has no idea what's happening.

backstory: tagor went off on a hunting party with his squad of goblins and hobgoblins, but got ambushed by followers of talos! 2 or 3 of them and a wolf vs like a dozen talos-ers. they were cornered, had no choice but to fight, and tagor was the only one left standing out of the whole scuffle. he went back to get reinforcements, but everybody in the castle was dead and he assumed the talosers did it. (it was kepesk. kepesk did So much murder.) our trek to find a talos outpost lead us to falcon's hunting lodge! so far it's a warm reception OH NO HE'S HOT time to team up with falcon the hotguy! he's ALSO dealing with the followers of talos and would like us to do murder. wahoo! we are good at that! also he's gonna give us cool boots

nyx: can i ask a question? jorb: sure, in character or out of character? nyx: i'm a binturong, i can't ask a question. jorb: oh. jorb: if you're gonna ask if you can wear two pairs of boots, you cannot

talos! god of storms and war, big stinky. gruumsh was an evil god that made the orcs do evil etc etc, but gruumsh's son tempus, god of honorable war, got fed up and killed him + freed the orcs. orcs are now, like, fucking Normal. and then talos showed up! some believe talos is gruumsh, having somehow survived, and the followers of talos believe that very intensely and seek to reinstate him as chief god of fuckshit. this entire thing is to try and work around the fact that we keep having to murder orcs left and right. the orcs we're roughing up are specifically shitty, but outside of that orcs are just like. a normal part of society now. oh hey nameless lore, potentially? nyx was checking something with jorb. hrrmmmm

new boot goofin! kepesk: man, these guys are treasure magnets, i'm stickin' with them [..] alidaar: i'm good with the guest house, we're all friends nameless: [looks at kepesk] [looks at alidaar] [shrugs] alidaar: [shrugs] kepesk: i'll be friends with anyone for a free room!

it is 11:30 pm. i am so tired. ALIDAAR IS NOW LEVEL 5! aaaaand roll20 does stuff differently now. what is a charactermancer. son of a bitch jorb and nyx booped off to dm chat to talk about Doing A Scene as nameless levels up which is. definitely not worrying at all. oh well not my problem i've got a cool sword (and also got to chat with green about how stuff's going so far) OH RIGHT THE MYSTERY INVISIBLE FOE. yeah we were fighting an air elemental and alidaar killed it when he hit it with the sword. alidaar is not a special chosen one he's just very proficient in swords

and that's game! what a fucking mess. i love doip. [goes directly to bed]

[paleparearchive]

Are Amusement Parks The Enemy of Beauty?

Van Dyck's Amusement Park 3★ story (2/2) ( 1 - 2 )

Location: amusement park (morning) | Characters: Van Dyck, Rubens, Aoi/MC

Aoi: Which one should we ride next? The merry-go-round over there seems cute and interesting too.

Van Dyck: Why don't you just go?

Aoi: Huh? You're not riding it, Van Dyck-kun? But it's very beautiful, with elaborate decorations and stuff, you know?

Van Dyck: … Indeed. But I'm kind of tied up right now. Aaaah. The sunscreen here is coming off too!

Aoi: I see… I thought you would've liked the way they used the colors there, but… It's a shame.

Van Dyck: … I'm not saying I won't ride it with you. I'll go with you after I put on this sunscreen. I mean, are you wearing sunscreen properly? You haven't reapplied it once since you left, have you?

Aoi: Uuuhm… hahaha… I forgot…

Van Dyck: Huuh!? How much damage do you think that would do to your skin!?

Aoi: No, I thought a little tan would make you look healthy, so…

Van Dyck: Yes, tanned skin might look healthy. But if you do that… You'll be the one crying in 10 or 20 years, you know? You know that, right!?

Aoi: Is that how it is!? I guess I hadn't really thought that far ahead…

Van Dyck: It is. If you don't want future skin stains, you must protect it properly! Beauty isn't created overnight, you know? The beauty savings you've been accumulating over time speak for themselves.

Aoi: I see… But I forgot this time, so I'll be careful next time.

Van Dyck: … Geez, guess I have no choice. Here you go. The sun cream I brought as a backup. Do you want to use it?

Aoi: Thank you. But I feel bad… so I'll pass this time.

Van Dyck: Aaah, come on! The ingredients aren't bad, so do it properly! Here, I'll apply it for you, so be quiet.

Aoi: Huuuh!? No no, I can apply it myself, you know!?

Van Dyck: No way. I have a feeling that if I just give you sun cream, you'll never use it, saying that you'll apply it later. Plus, I have a feeling the areas where you'll apply it will be a mess…

Aoi: (Uh… I think I could do that…)

Van Dyck: C'mon. Sit on this bench here. The more time we take, the more spots you'll get!

Aoi: Y-Yes!

(I can't resist this…)

—

Aoi: Pheeew~ We're ridden a lot of things. Which one should we ride next?

Rubens: Let's see… I'm tired, so let's take a break before going onto the next one, shall we?

Van Dyck: That's right! That would be fine!

Aoi: Ah, there are tables and chairs with umbrellas over there.

Rubens: Well then, let's go over there for a light drink and snack.

Aoi: Alright! There was food for sale everywhere. And it smelled good too!

Van Dyck: The deputy and I will get you something, so you can rest here, Teacher. I'll buy you something incredibly delicious!

Rubens: Is that so? Then I might as well ask you this favour.

Aoi: Then we'll go.

Van Dyck: We're going! Please wait patiently!

—

Van Dyck: Churros… Ice cream… Caramel-flavored popcorn… Why are they all so high in calories!?

Aoi: Because they're delicious, aren't they? Ah, look, there's a hot dog with lots of cheese over there!

Van Dyck: It doesn't have enough calories to make it a light snack! If you eat that stuff, you'll feel your stomach full!

Aoi: But we're moving around and burning calories, so I think we'll do okay, won't we?

Van Dyck: Do you have any idea how much you have to move to consume that thing!?

Aoi: Uuuhm, not really…

Van Dyck: You should at least know that before you say anything!

Aoi: S-Sorry.

Van Dyck: Goood! Why are amusement parks so full of things that are bad for beauty!?

[z-iridest]

I Am Phoenix- A My Hero Academia fanfic

Chapter 17- Nightmare's Shadows:

When I woke up again, I found myself in a hospital room. I groaned as I sat up, pain shooting through me. "Try not to move around too much. You lost about 35% of your blood volume from the wound from your stomach and your leg combined, so we had to give you a transfusion." Well, that explains the difficulty breathing and the dizziness...

"How long was I out?" I asked the doctor.

"About 12 hours. After the adrenaline of what happened last night, your body went into hypovolemic shock."

"Probably around when I passed out last night. The last thing I remember is the Hero Killer challenging the pros that were there to a fight before he passed out himself. How're my friends?"

"The three boys? Well, since the fluids to help your body restore the blood and the transfusions are done, I can go- What're you doing?!" Tired of hearing him prattle on, I shoved off the blankets of the hospital bed and forced myself up. 

"Going to see my friends." I answered shortly before heading out to find their hospital room while the doctor tried to get me back in bed. 

"Goddamn it, Hino, can't you stay still for two seconds?!" I heard Ember walking toward me.

"They shouldn't have put me in a different room than my friends." I told her. Once I found their room, I opened the door.

"Hino, you're awake!" Izuku sounded relieved.

"They told us you needed a transfusion, shouldn't you be resting?!" Iida asked me, looking worried.

"I'm fine, I wanted to check on you guys." I sat down on the bed next to Iida's. Looking at them, I saw that Izuku's arm and leg were bandaged, Todoroki had bandages on his arm, but Iida had both arms bandaged and in a sling. "You know, thinking about that fight, we actually did something pretty amazing." I continued after a minute. Izuku nodded in agreement. 

"Yeah, I agree." Todoroki replied. 

"After everything that happened back there, it kinda feels like a miracle that we're even alive. With my leg messed up, I was an easy target. He probably could have killed me if he really wanted to." Izuku pointed out.

"Yeah." Todoroki looked at his arm. "Seems to me, he let the three of us live on purpose. I'm impressed by you though, Iida. He was actually trying to murder you, but you stood tall." He turned his gaze to our class rep, who looked away.

"That's not true. I was-" Before Iida could say anything more, the door opened again, turning all of our attention to it.

"Oh, so the injured youngins are awake." He looked at me. "Hinotori, you should be in your own room resting." His voice was scolding.

"I just slept for 12 hours, I'm not going back to sleep anytime soon. Besides, I wanted to check on these guys." My answer made Gramps shake his head as he walked over to me.

"Gran Torino." Izuku smiled, but Iida looked ashamed when he saw Manual there as well. 

"And Manual, too..." He trailed off.

"Idiot." Gran Torino turned to Izuku. "I could yell at you and my granddaughter for hours right now." He walked over to Izuku.

"Yeah, I'm sorry..."

"But, before I do, you've got a visitor. And despite it being reckless, Hinotori, I do think you need to be in the room with them for this one. Makes things easier." I blinked, not knowing what Gramps was talking about until I saw who had joined us in the room. He was a very tall, sturdily built man with the head of a beagle. The area around his eyes and his ears were a dark brown, the two sides separated by a tan line which runs down his forehead, widening at his muzzle, which is flecked with pale brown. He had a large, black nose and dark eyes, and, although the rest of his body was of normal human shape, his skin appeared to be the same tan color as most of his face. He wore a suit, consisting of a dress shirt, and waistcoat, over which he wore an unbuttoned black blazer and matching dress pants underneath. He had a belt with a large buckle and a black and white tie that resembles a dalmatian’s coat. I slowly closed my eyes, knowing we were about to be in a crap load of trouble. "This is Hosu's chief of police, Kenji Tsuragame." Todoroki, Iida and I all stood in respect, Izuku moving to do the same, but Tsuragame spoke.

"No, please, stay seated, woof." He told us. Woof? "So, you four are the UA students who brought down the Hero Killer, huh?"

"Yes, sir." I answered.

"Stain has some serious injuries. Severe burns, and several broken bones. Right now, he's in the hospital under strict guard, woof. Here's a lesson you should have already learned. When Quirks became the norm, the police force sought to maintain the status quo. They decided we wouldn't use Quirks as weapons. That's when heroes came in. They could do what we couldn't, if they were licensed, of course, woof. It would be impossible for the police to condone the use of deadly Quirks. After all, we're here to stop such harm from being done. The only reason pros can use their powers now is because of the strict code of ethics that the early heroes chose to abide by."

"That's why you came all this way." I looked at my hands. "By fighting Stain and causing those injuries unlicensed, we broke the law."

"Whether you were up against the Hero Killer or not, none of you had the authority to harm the villain. That means the four of you, and your supervisors- Endeavor, Manual, Ember and Gran Torino- should receive harsh punishments for this gross abuse of your powers."

"Now, wait a minute! If Iida had not stepped in, Native would've been murdered." My head snapped up at Todoroki speaking up. He looked mad almost. "And if not for Yagi and Midoriya, both of them would be dead."

"Todoroki..." Iida quietly spoke. 

"No one else even realized that the Hero Killer was in Hosu. Are you saying we should have stood by and watched people die?!" He continued.

"Calm down." Midoriya tried to get Todoroki to cool down for a second.

"So, it's okay to break the law as long as it goes your way?" Tsuragame asked.

"But, sir, isn't it a hero's job to save people?" Todoroki countered. 

"This is why you're not a full fledged pro yet. It's obvious UA and Endeavor haven't been teaching you near enough. What a shame." He replied. An angry look crossed Todoroki's face.

"You damned mutt!"

"Todoroki!" Iida and I exclaimed at the same time, my stupid ass moving to stop him as he went to pass me, but feeling an intense pain as soon as I moved.

"Listen, he's right!" Iida continued, following him to stop him.

"Stop there, kid." Gramps moved in front of him, holding up his hand, which made him stop. "You'll wanna hear him out till the end."

"What I've said is the official stance of the police department. But, any punishment would only be necessary if this went public. If it did, you four would probably be applauded by citizens everywhere. But, there's no way you could escape from being reprimanded. On the other hand, we could say Endeavor saved the day. Stain's burns would support this story completely, and we could pretend you weren't even involved, woof. Thankfully, there were very few witnesses. This could be the last you heard of an punishments. It would mean no one would know about you, though. You'd receive no acclaim at all. The choice is yours. Personally, I know where I stand." He put a thumbs up. "I don't wanna damage any promising young careers. Not for a mistake like this."

"But, either way, we would still have to take responsibility for being negligent as supervisors." Manual put in. Iida walked up to Manual and bowed. 

"I'm sorry, I should have listened." He apologized. Manual chopped him on the head.

"Yeah! You caused us a lot of trouble. Remember that and don't do it again."

"Sir." Izuku bowed.

"And I apologize as well." He added. Todoroki and I both did as well.

"Me too, we'll leave it to you." I continued. 

"I know it's not fair. You won't enjoy any of the fame and praise you probably would have received otherwise. But at least, allow me as the chief of police, to thank you." Tsuragame bowed as well after we had straightened. 

"You know, you could have started with that..." Todoroki mumbled, making me shake my head. 

"Todoroki." Midoriya smiled a bit. My thoughts drifted to my Mom. I could just hear her, scolding every last one of us while doing what she could to help us heal, but expressing pride for us showing that we're true heroes through and through. But, thinking of Mom reminded me... Today was the anniversary of my Mom's death 9 years ago...

"Yagi? What's wrong?" I was brought out of my thoughts to see Todoroki and Iida looking worriedly at me. 

"It's nothing." I looked away from them. "I was just..."

"Thinking about your mom?" Iida asked.

"It was that obvious?" I looked at him. He didn't answer, only looking at me. I sighed softly. "Well, you're right. Today's officially 9 years since her passing."

"What happened?" Todoroki questioned.

"I don't know the full details, even after all this time... From what I was told, Mom was on patrol when she heard screaming coming from one of the back alleys. Thinking it was someone in trouble, she raced down it to help. But, when she got there, there was no one there... Except for a villain. Part of the villain's quirk allows him to sound like someone in trouble to lure victims to him. Just before he attacked, Mom got the feeling something was wrong and was able to block the first attack. They fought in that alley for a while, long enough for Mom to call for backup, but she ended up getting hurt, badly hurt. By the time Ember had found her, she had lost half of her blood and there was no sign of the villain that had attacked her anywhere. She was in a coma for a week, but after a week, her body finally gave out and she passed away in her sleep." I looked at Iida. "As you may have already guessed, Wendigo was the villain that caused those injuries." 

"Is that why you pushed me out of the way?" Iida asked. I nodded.

"Wanting to honor my Mom's legacy isn't the only reason I want to be a hero so bad." I looked at my hands. "I don't want what happened to me and my Mom to happen to anyone else again, not if I can do something about it..." I trailed off. Before Todoroki or Iida could answer, the door opened, Izuku coming back into the room. 

"Oh, hey, Iida, I just talked to Uraraka." Izuku told him.

"Midoriya." Todoroki got his attention. "Iida just got his test results back." Izuku turned to Iida, already worried.

"My left hand.. Might have damage that's permanent." Iida revealed to our friend, echoing what the doctor had told him. 

"What? Permanent?" Izuku asked.

"Both my arms were pretty torn up, but the injury to my left arm was especially severe, probably why Yagi's healing tears couldn't do much beside stop the bleeding. There was damage to my brachial plexus, which just means I'll have trouble moving my fingers, and my hands might have some numbness. Apparently, there's a chance it could be healed with nerve transplant surgery." He looked down. "When I came across the Hero Killer, I stopped thinking rationally. The first thing I should have done was call Manual. But, I got lost in my own anger. I hate him so much, but I can't deny he spoke the truth. That's why... Until I'm able to call myself a real hero, I'll leave my left hand as it is." Todoroki looked at him.

"Are you sure?" He asked. 

"Iida, I feel the same way. Let's get stronger. Together." Midoriya held out his clenched fist. 

"We all will." I smiled. Iida nodded in agreement. 

"I feel kind of bad." Todoroki spoke after a minute. 

"About what?" I asked. He was looking at his hand. 

"Whenever I'm involved, someone's hand gets all messed up. Is something wrong with me?" He asked. The other two boys looked just as confused as I felt. "Am I cursed?" 

"What?" I shook my head, a small laugh leaving me. "You're not cursed at all."

"Todoroki, I didn't know you had a sense of humor!" Izuku replied as he and Iida chuckled. 

"This isn't a joke, I'm like the Hand Crusher or something." Todoroki insisted, which only made the two boys laugh harder.

"You're not the Hand Crusher, Todoroki." I told him, despite my own giggles. Two days after the Hosu incident, the Hero Killer's identity and motives started being dissected from various angles. A 34 second video about Stain came out, though it was attempted to be taken down, it always popped back up at some point. The same day, Iida, Todoroki and I were released from the hospital, but due to his injuries, Midoriya had to stay a bit longer. The news channels and articles were full of the Hero Killer. The official story is that seven pros and four high school students came across the Hero Killer, then Endeavor rushed in and took care of the situation all by himself. The chief was true to his word, we were never named in connection to the Hero Killer, and our injuries were explained by accidents that happened during our internships. The same day Iida got his test results back, Iida went home to his parents' house so his Mom could take care of him. Todoroki's injures weren't all that bad, so he and I returned to our internships the same day. I continued patrols and training with Ember, and even got night combat training in with Aragami. By the end of the week, I was stronger with my flames, and faster with my wings. I bowed as I stood in the lobby with Ember on that final day. "Thank you for everything, Ember, and I'm so sorry I caused you so much trouble."

"Hino, I know you were trying to protect your friends, and you did just that. Your Mom would be proud of you, as much as she would have yelled at you for hours about breaking the law." That made me grimace. Mom had taught me to be a true hero, but, this definitely would have gotten me in trouble with her. "I want you to come back for your work studies when you have them. There'll always be a place for you here." I smiled at her offer, nodding.

"I will. Thank you, Ember." I thanked her. She nodded.

"Always... Phoenix." She replied before I left for the train to head back home...

"Hino! Are you okay?! What were you thinking taking him on?! You could have gotten yourself killed!" Not even three seconds after I walked in the door, Dad hounded me with questions.

"Don't you think that's a little hypocritical considering you would have done the exact same thing in my shoes?" I asked.

"That's not the point, Hinotori, I don't want to lose you!"

"You're not going to! This line of work is dangerous to begin with. You know that, I know that, and Mom-of all people- knew that! You, Mr Aizawa, Mom and now every hero in Ember's agency are training me to be a stronger hero, to be able to come out on top every time! I'm. Not. Going. Anywhere!" It was silent for a minute leaving me wondering why the hell Dad was so worried, so worked up over this.

"I know... I know you can handle yourself, Hinotori, and God, do I know you'd do anything to protect the people you love, just like I would, just like she did. But, please, I want you to be safe while you fight out there." He told me, his voice softer than a few seconds ago. "I worry, not just because you're my daughter, but because the last time something happened like this, I wasn't there to save the day like I was at the USJ... 9 years ago, I was patrolling, unaware of what was happening that night in Hosu. I even had a big plan to take your Mom out to dinner while the neighbors watched you, so I could finally tell her how I felt. But, then I got the call from Ember that something had happened to her. It turned into dropping you off at your friend's while I went to see her, because I didn't want the last memory of your mother to be a broken version of her that would never be able to say goodbye to you. My biggest regret, as a pro hero and a man, is not only not being there to save her, but not being able to tell her just how much she meant to me." That was when it finally hit me. Dad always thought about Mom, especially around the time of her death. My being away from him, even if it was just for internships that week, must have scared him shitless, not made better by the fact that I could have died from blood loss due to the same villain that had taken Mom and I had fought the Hero Killer while badly injured. I hugged my Dad, feeling him hug me tightly back.

"If things had been different, I probably would have, but... I wasn't alone in that fight, Dad. Todoroki, Iida and Midoriya... As stupid as they can act sometimes, they had my back the whole time. They didn't let me fight alone, and I don't think that's going to end anytime soon." I told him. He held me tighter. 

"I love you so much, Hinotori. More than you'll ever know and more than I could ever tell you." Dad told me. 

"I love you too, Dad." I replied as he pulled away slightly. We trained and ate dinner together as normal, but that night, I had the weirdest dream...

I couldn't tell exactly where I was. Darkness covered the space around me, and I couldn't see much of anything. I heard Wendigo's screeching, only to cry out as my old wounds suddenly reopened. But, when I looked at my blood, it was black. It covered my vision, and I couldn't breathe as I struggled against it. When I finally broke free, I was surrounded in a green light, tubes everywhere around me. There were countless Nomu in the tubes, but that wasn't what freaked me out so bad... I caught my reflection in one of the empty ones, but I didn't look right... My hair was snow white, a red streak in my hair that was now jaw length. My eyes, though... They were blood red. I backed up a few steps as my reflection came to life, smirking as her eyes glowed. Her fingers stiffened, and pain filled me as she took control of me, though I had no idea how this version of me had not only Bloodwork, but my own Quirk... I screamed in pain, feeling like my body was being pulled apart from four different directions. "You were meant to be just like me." She spoke with my voice, but something was wrong... Another voice, deep, suave almost, sounded over the top of mine. My clothes turned into a black version of my outfit with a red thorn pattern on it and she took over my body, forcing the real me out and to watch as she wreaked havoc on everything and everyone I ever cared about...

"NO!" I woke up with a scream, panting as I looked around wildly. I was in my room... No sign of the Nomus, no sign of that version of me that I had seen... I held my head in my hands. Whatever that was... It had felt too real. I checked on Dad. I didn't know how, but he was still sound asleep. He must have overworked himself again... I couldn't shake off the voice that had overlapped my own, though... Why did I feel like I'd heard that voice before? And why did that mirror image of me have my ex's Quirk? My head started to hurt, and I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Hino? You're up earlier than usual." I looked up to see Dad at the bottom of the stairs. "Is everything okay?" I know what you're about to say... You told him, right?! Well...

"I'm fine, just a bad dream's all." I gave a sheepish smile. Dad looked at me for a minute. "Seriously, Dad, I'm fine." I insisted. Okay, yeah, I should have told him, but it was only going to freak him out more if I did! Dad kept pressing me, but I kept dodging and avoiding the question. I managed to avoid it until I got to class, taking a deep breath as I sat at my desk. I couldn't avoid the questions from Dad for long, but I didn't know how long I could avoid answering him for...  Not long after I had arrived, Kirishima and Sero were howling with laughter.

"HOLY CRAP! WHAT THE HECK, BAKUGO?!" They asked at the same time. I just about lost it myself when I looked over at him. Instead of his usual spiky hair, it had been combed over to one side and smoothed down. Bakugo looked about ready to kill them.

"Stop laughing... My hair's gotten used to this and I can't get it back the right way. Did you not hear me? I'll kill you both!"

"I'd like to see you try, pretty boy!" Sero's comment made me snort.

"WHAT'D YOU CALL ME?!" With his yell, Bakugo's hair exploded back to normal, which honestly made the whole damn thing funnier. Leave it to those boys to take my mind off things... 

"How was your week, Ochaco?" Tsu asked, but the vibe coming off our friend was... Well... Intense. 

"I'd say that it was... very enlightening." She replied before doing punches.

"I think she found her fighting spirit..." Tsu trailed off.

"Yeah, that battle hero must've been something else." Jirou commented.

"After one week, she's a totally different person." Kaminari put in. 

"Different? Don't be fooled, Kaminari... All women are demons at heart.. They just hide their true personalities behind pretty faces" Mineta looked scared.

"Remember that the next time you want to be a perv." I told him. 

"What the heck did Mount Lady do to you?" Kaminari asked him. "Everyone at my internship loved me, it was actually kinda great. Now, if you wanna talk about the ones who've changed, it was those four." He nodded toward me, Iida, Todoroki and Midoriya. 

"Oh yeah, the Hero Killer!" When I looked over at Sero and Kirishima, I saw that Bakugo was basically holding them by their shirt collars.

"Glad to see you guys made it back alive. Seriously." Kirishima told us.

"I worried about you, too." Yayorozu told us.

"You were lucky Endeavor showed up and saved you guys." Sato replied. Oh man, I wanted to tell them the truth so bad...

"So cool!" Hagakure added. "Just what I'd expect from the number two hero." He can't hold a candle to my Dad still. I thought. Todoroki looked down.

"Yeah, that's right. He saved us." Todoroki spoke.

"Did you guys hear the news about the Hero Killer?" We looked at Ojiro. What did he mean? "Everyone's been saying that he was somehow connected to the League of Villains. Can you imagine how frightening it would've been if that creep had been there when they attacked the USJ?" He didn't seem like the type to join up with them, they probably extended an invitation to him or something, but... I don't know... Stain works in the shadows while Shigaraki prefers to blast his message. It's not a viable alliance when two people have separate ideas on how to go about things. Then again... The timing on the Nomus and Stain's attacks on the pros seem to be too convenient to be a coincidence. Is it possible they agreed to provide the distraction for him so he could go uninterrupted?

"Kaminari!" Izuku exclaimed, bringing me out of my thought ramble.

"Uh- Oh! Dude!" Kaminari covered his mouth.

"No, it's okay. You're fine." Iida replied. "It is true, he is quite a tenacious villain. I understand why people might think he was cool. But, instead of helping the world, his beliefs led him to cold-blooded murder. No matter his motives, killing cannot be condoned. To keep anyone else from suffering like me, well, I promise: I will strive to be the perfect hero." There's our class rep...

"Yeah, let's do it!" Izuku added.

"It's time for class to begin! Please, everyone take your seats!"

"He's back." Tokoyami grumbled.

"This is your fault for talking about weird stuff." Jirou shot a pointed look at Kaminari, who almost looked like a sad puppy at that point.

"Sorry... I'm gonna keep my mouth shut." Kaminari promised. A few hours later, we met up with Dad in his hero form.

"I am here! Hope you're ready to return to our lessons. Today it's Hero Basic Training! Feels like I haven't seen you in a while. Welcome back!" I mean, technically it's been a week... I thought, but kept my mouth shut. "Now then, listen carefully for what's in store. We're going to be conducting a little race." I instantly looked at Bakugo, smirking when he looked my way, remembering the last time we had done a competition against each other. Take everything you learned from your internships and apply it to this rescue training." Iida's hand popped up and when I glanced over, I noticed Izuku looked like a rabid fanboy again. Seriously, after a little over a year now he still wasn't used to Dad being around him?

"If it's rescue training, then shouldn't we be at the USJ instead?" Iida asked.

"Ah, that facility specializes in disasters. As I said earlier, this is a race. So prepare. You're about to step into Field Gamma! Inside is an area full of factories that form an intricate labyrinth, so good luck finding your way around. You'll be competing in groups of five. Each person starts from a different location on the outskirts of the model city. I'll send a distress signal, and you must do what you must to rescue me. Whoever finds me first wins!" I smirked, leaning into Bakugo from behind.

"Bet I'll be faster than you." I taunted, making him pissed off.

"But try to keep the property damage to a bare minimum, please." Dad looked and pointed at Bakugo.

"Why are you pointing at me?" Bakugo asked.

"Maybe because you blew up the last mock city we were in." I reminded him, making him glare at me. "Hey, you asked the question."

"All right. First group, get to your places." All Might told us. The first group consisted of Ojiro, Midoriya, Iida, Sero and Mina.

"Wait, Iida hasn't completely recovered yet, right? He should sit this one out." Kaminari said, sounding worried about our class rep. 

"Man, everyone in this group had really good mobility." Kirishima commented.

"Huh... I'd say Midoriya is at a heavy disadvantage against those four." Yayorozu replied.

"That's what I think. Moving around quickly isn't really one of his strong suits, that's for sure." Jirou agreed. Boy, are they in for a surprise... I thought, remembering that Todoroki, Iida and myself were the only ones in our class aware of the progress Izuku had made during the week of our internships.

"And whenever he uses his powers, he always gets badly injured." Yayorozu pointed out.

"Who's your pick? I'm bettin' on Sero." Kirishima spoke up. 

"Oh yeah? I got odds on Ojiro." Kaminari countered.

"I choose Ashido." Mineta piped up. "'Cause she's got a super athletic body."

"I know Deku will be last." Bakugo replied.

"Even if he's still recovering, I think Iida's got this one." Ochaco put her bet in, Tsu nodding in agreement.

"Is everyone ready? Begin!" Dad called, the rest of us watching the race on the monitor. 

"Lookit him go! In a maze like this, it makes sense to be above everything else!" Kirishima exclaimed as he watched Sero. 

"So, that means Sero's at an advantage because he can take to the sky." Shouji observed. Why do I get the feeling that they're gonna say the same thing about me? I thought. But, just as I thought, Izuku blurred past Sero, moving quick. I snuck a glance at Bakugo, who was slack jawed for a quick second before he glared. The look on his face said it all.

"Whoa, Midoriya?!" Mineta and Kirishima exclaimed in confusion.

"Since when can he do that?" Kaminari asked.

"From what he told me, it was part of his training at his internship." I answered. 

"Crazy, those jumps... He looks just like..." Ochaco was standing in amazement, and Bakugo looked more pissed than ever. Izuku was looking like he might be the winner... Until one misstep threw everything off. I grimaced as I watched him go down. Dammit... Sero ended up winning in the end, and I was in the next group... Against Bakugo, Tokoyami, Kirishima and Kaminari. Funny enough, I was starting from the same place Midoriya did. I stretched out my wings and my arms. It made more sense to use my wings than my flames... After a bit of a shake off, I got into a ready stance before Dad hit the button to start it. I got a running start, flipping into the air and using my wings to shoot forward. I did have a little fun with it, showing off a bit as I landed, tucking my wings away to run through tight spaces before jumping into the air again and flying upward. When I caught sight of Dad, I tucked my wings into my back, back flipping and turning in the air to land in a squat, beating Bakugo by a couple seconds. 

"Wow, I was showing off on purpose and you're still slower." I teased him as I stood to full height.

"Shut up!" He yelled, as I cackled.

"And it's over! Thanks, hero, and congratulations!" Dad gave me the winner's sash. "Young Yagi might have come in first, but compared to the start of the year, you all have showed me some incredible improvements. Keep working and preparing for your upcoming final exams!"

"Sir!" We all responded before Dad called the next group. Before I could leave the field, he spoke.

"Find me after class with Young Midoriya. The three of us have something to talk about. It's time I told the two of you the whole truth... About me, and One For All." He told me. I nodded before leaving the field with everyone else. In the locker rooms, we changed into our uniforms. 

"Rockstar of the day, totally Hinotori." Hagakure gushed.

"Agreed. Hino, you're amazing." Yayorozu added while I was trying to not turn redder than my hair. 

"Guys, quit it!" My whine made them giggle. "Most of my training since I was a kid's been around my wings, which is why I'm so fast. If anything, I shouldn't be focusing on one aspect of my Quirk for mobility... I need to work on being faster while using my flames too." I was going into self critique mode, not knowing just how badly those words would come back to bite me in the future...

"Hino, stop, just accept the compliment already." Ochaco told me.

"Yeah, seriously, give yourself some more credit, girl!" Mina added.

"You should listen to them, ribbit." Tsu chimed in. We all froze at the sound of Iida's voice coming from the other locker room. 

"Don't even think about it! Peeping on them like that would be criminal!" No sooner than those words had left Iida's mouth, I noticed the hole, gasping.

"Guys!" I pointed at it, the ones who weren't dressed covering up.

"Got it!" Jirou plugged it with her earphone jack, and a yelp told us all that the little creep in our class had been about to look through it. She suddenly looked distressed, and I wondered what the actual hell she had heard.

"Uggh. Thanks, Kyoka." Hagakure told her.

"Despicable. We'll close this hole up immediately." Yayorozu chimed in. I gently touched Jirou's shoulder.

"Hey, whatever that creep was saying, ignore him." I told her. Once we were finished and school was over, Izuku and I looked for Dad in the teacher's lounge. Izuku knocked.

"It's us, All Might." When we entered, Dad looked grim. It made me pause.

"Dad?" I questioned as I closed the door behind us.

"Come have a seat." His hands were folded in his lap, and I saw a picture that looked familiar. Dad always kept a picture of Mom and him as teens with him, it was always folded neatly and kept in the inner pocket of his suit coat, the one near his heart. "You both went through a lot recently. I'm sorry I wasn't around to help you out."

"Dad..."

"You don't need to apologize for that. More importantly... Um... You mentioned One For All earlier."

"I heard that the Hero Killer swallowed your blood in the attack." Dad pointed out.

"Yeah, his Quirk made him able to paralyze someone after tasting their blood. Is that what this is about?" He asked. That was when I realized.

"Wait a second, I thought the passing of One For All only worked if he was willing to pass it to someone else." I told Dad. I should have kept my mouth shut, because Midoriya jumped out of his seat.

"Holy crap! Don't tell me the Hero Killer has One For All now?!" He shrieked.

"No, he doesn't. I just thought you might be worried about that, but... I see it didn't cross your mind." I leaned back in my seat.

"Nice job giving us a heart attack, Dad..." I mumbled under my breath. 

"But, you are right though, Hino... One For All can only be given to another person if you, the bearer, intend to pass it along. It's not something that can just be taken by force. Although it can be transferred by force... Kinda like a girl you don't really like telling you that you have to take the chocolates she made for you."

"What kind of example is that?!" Izuku and I asked at the same time.

"The Quirk you now have is unique, and you should know its origin." Dad looked at me. "Both of you should know. One for All was derived from another odd Quirk, a power that's very old."

"It used to be something different?" Izuku asked. Dad nodded.

"The name of that Quirk is All For One. It allowed its user to take Quirks from others. Then, the user could keep the Quirks for himself or give them to someone else." 

"What? You mean... He could steal powers?" Izuku asked, and quite frankly, I felt the same way he did.

"This was back when Quirks were just starting to show up. Before society had figured out how to deal with the newly powered among them. When Quirks first appeared, suddenly impossible to say what it meant to be a normal person. Laws and human rights were hotly debated. Civilization's progress stalled, society decayed."

"If superpowers had never appeared, then humans would be taking interstellar holidays by this point." I spoke up this time. "I remember hearing that from someone famous."

"I did too." Izuku replied. 

"Right. During that chaotic period of change, there was one person who managed to rally many people together. He went by the name of his power, All For One." A cold shudder went down my spine. "He stole quirks from others and then, with his overwhelming abilities, he spread his influence across the country. He manipulated people to serve his purposes, and committed evil acts with little resistance. In the blink of an eye, he became the leader of villains and ruled over Japan."

"I've seen plenty of rumors about this online, sure, but isn't that all just made up?" Izuku asked. "It's not mentioned in our textbooks."

"Probably because no one wants to be reminded of the mistakes made during that time." I answered, glancing at my friend.

"Exactly, it's the kind of shameful history people would rather ignore. Anyway, when a person gains true power, they enjoy showing it off to others."

"How does this all tie together though, Dad?" I asked. For once, I couldn't put the pieces together. 

"And what about One For All?" Izuku questioned as well.

"I said the All For One could give Quirks to others, remember? He made people trust him or submit to his will by altering their abilities. But apparently, there were many poor souls who couldn't bear the burden of the Quirks they were given. They became like mindless, living dolls, incapable of speaking..."

"Just like the Nomus are." I realized, putting a hand over my mouth. Dad nodded.

"Meanwhile, some Quirks actually evolved as they were passed on, some even combined with other power sets. This evil man had a Quirkless younger brother. He was small and sickly, but he had a strong sense of justice. They couldn't have been more different. It pained the brother to see All For One's deeds, so he kept resisting him. And then, All For One transferred a Quirk to his sibling, one that would allow him to stockpile power. We don't know if it was a gift he was giving his brother, or if he just wanted to force him to submit." I realized what that meant.

"Don't tell me..." Izuku trailed off.

"Yes, even though everyone thought he was Quirkless, turns out, the brother did have a Quirk. Though, even he hadn't realized this to be the case. He had a useless power that only allowed him to pass on Quirks. And so, the stockpiling ability merged with the younger brother's power, and that is how One For All came to be. I've always found it ironic that justice so often spawns from evil."

"Wait, hold on! I understand how One For All came about now, but this bad guy must be long dead at this point, so why are you bringing him up?" I looked at Dad at Izuku's question. The grim look on his face...

"One who steals Quirks has no limits. Anything's possible. There are Quirks that halt aging, he probably has something like that. The Symbol of Evil seemed pretty much immortal. With the state of the world at the time, and the huge difference in their combat abilities, the younger brother decided to entrust this new Quirk to future generations. Even though he couldn't defeat All For One, he hoped One For All would continue to grow in power, until it was strong enough to stop his older brother. Eventually, it was my turn, and I managed to defeat All For One! At least... That's what I thought. But, he survived and is now back in action as the brain behind the League of Villains." Dad got up and walked over to the window. "So, now you know. The entire purpose of One For All is to defeat All For One. As its holder, you may one day have to fight against this great evil yourself. Because I failed. I know you didn't expect this, but..."

"I'll do my best!" Izuku jumped out of his seat again. "I'll do whatever you ask. No matter what it might take. As long as you're with me, I can do anything! I know you'll have my back!" The look that crossed my Dad's face was one I'll never forget. Like he was holding something back, but couldn't say it for fear of hurting my friend. He hesitated for a few minutes, covering his mouth with his hand for a few seconds before opening his mouth. After a second though, he closed it, dropping his hand.

"Thank you." He replied. As Izuku and I left the school, I got a bad feeling rising in the pit of my stomach. I couldn't explain why... But, I felt like something was going to happen to Dad.

"Well, it's almost time for summer vacation. Don't get too excited, you can't just relax an entire month." Aizawa was telling us a few weeks later.

"Does that mean..."

"You'll be training... While you're camping in the woods."

"I KNEW IT, ALL RIGHT!" Kaminari and Kirishima exclaimed. 

"A big sleepover!"

"Baths!"

"Fireworks!"

"Springs!"

"And s'mores."

"Skinny dipping!" For each fun idea our classmates came up with, Mineta had a perverted idea. He's just lucky I was too far away to smack him...

"We've been training in cities, so these will be very different conditions for most of us." Yayorozu mused.

"No matter the environment, we must always remain vigilant. Yes. Very wise." Tokoyami was saying.

"Hanging out with everyone all summer, I'm so excited!" Hagakure squealed. 

"However, those of you who don't pass the final exam before the semester is over will have summer school." Aizawa continued.

"Everyone, do your best!" Kirishima and Kaminari turned to face everyone. 

"This is so stupid." Bakugo mumbled. God, I wanted to throw something at him...

"All you girls better pass this thing!" I rolled my eyes at Mineta.

"Wouldn't be such a bad thing for you to fail..." I mumbled under my breath. My mind wandered to Mom, part of me wondering what a class with her would be like. Not that we would ever find out...

I studied as hard as I could during the days that followed, memorizing everything we had learned up to that point. While studying, I made the mistake of using a special on a TV show called Live Till After Noon! as background noise for studying. "Welcome back to our live show! For our next topic: Is it really necessary for heroes to dress sexily? Let's ask our very special studio guests what they think. She's the rookie hero who debuted just this year. It's Mount Lady! And she's a pro who's currently teaching at UA high school; it's the incomparable Midnight!" The host announced. A debate with those two? Oh boy... "Thank you so much for joining us!" I bet everyone in that studio was blushing with those two there... "Please, have a seat. Let's start with you, Midnight. When you first debuted, your revealing outfit caused quite a stir. In fact, it eventually led to the Regulations for Exposed Skin in Costumes bill being taken before the legislature. You're a hero who's sexiness changed the very laws of the country."

"Her costume's still pretty racy..." Mount Lady trailed off in a sing song voice.

"Now, I rely on Ultra Thin fabrics. Because of the nature of some people's Quirks, clothing can restrict their abilities, sexiness isn't just an aesthetic, it's sometimes needed so we can do our jobs well. Besides, what's more attractive than a hero who get the job done quickly." Midnight answered the question. That was about when the peace in that studio went out the window with Mount Lady's next words.

"I think you just like the attention." She did not just disrespect Midnight like that...

"What's with you, Lady? Are you trying to start a fight?"

"Of course not, I look up to you! I think you're amazing... For someone of your age."

"You can act like the blushing ingenue all you want, but you're not that young yourself, ya know!" Midnight was out of her chair at this point. 

"All I'm saying is if the older pros try too hard, the rest of us have to go even further!" Mount Lady got up too and a fight ensued, causing me to shut it off.

"Geeze, those two were going at it pretty hard." Dad commented. I glanced up.

"I was just thinking that." I told him before we exchanged a smile. 

"So, I got an email from Melissa today... You want to tell me what's going on?" He questioned. I bit my lip, trying to hide a smile. "Hino..."

"I have no idea what you're talking about?" It came out as more of a question, making my Dad more suspicious. "What did she even say?" I asked.

"That she missed me and you and her were planning a special surprise for this year's I-Expo." He answered, making me unable to hold back my giggles anymore. 

"You'll have to wait until I-Expo to find out!" I managed to get out. Dad shook his head as he pulled me into a bear hug.

"What on Earth am I gonna do with you, Hinotori Yagi?" He asked me with a smile, causing me to smile back. 

(Taglist: @iheartbarbie @qweenexplosionmurder13 )

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[dinasilvertongue]

My total was actually about $50 less than the estimate cuz it didn't take as long in labor hours & the part they'd ordered was a little cheaper than the one they'd originally planned, which was out of stock... I mean, obviously, it's an adjustment for me because I'm used to paying $35-40/hr directly to the mechanic, instead of shelling out $143/hr to a shop (other places charge even more, though not much more)—but if I'm going to go to a shop, then these guys are worth it... And we know shit happens w/my fellow Eastern-European immigrant mechanic sort of guys—like, either they become personally unavailable for an extended period of time, or they install a fucking EGR valve that's cheaper than that water bottle I almost bought today & then refuse to acknowledge the possibility that they may have fucked up—I mean, that was *quite* a saga, which did eventually get much more expensively fixed by those same Earl's Garage guys... But those guys were just a delight today—they actually brought out that Jane dog right after 4 to hang out w/me in the lobby because Tim said to Jack (the mechanic who I think did work on Celestine & whose dog it is), "Yeah she wants to see her," even though he was just reading me, I wasn't requesting it out loud... And then Jack had a seat & was telling me how actually common it is for Huskies to have two differently colored eyes, one brown & one blue, though Jane's eyes are both brown because she's only half Husky, & the other half Lab... Then, he said, for a cat it's unusual to have two different eyes, after which he pointed out that Tim has that too—but Tim said, actually, his eyes are just two colors w/in the same eye, but not two differently colored eyes... "Oh that's right, I saw that," Jack said, "when I gazed deeply into your eyes"... And I was like, "Well, you guys do work at a place that's very conducive to male bonding"—and Jack goes, "Well, they don't call it Earl's Gay-rage for nothing"—which kind of blew me away (I mean, for a car shop), so I said, "Well, that's nice that you guys are comfortable talking that way"—because it was kind of a natural moment, you know—and they were both, like, totally nonchalantly, "Oh yeah, we don't care, we're totally cool with that"... It's just amazing how different work places that do the same sort of thing can have such different internal cultures (it's the same w/my job as well)—cuz at that other Ace shop it's a totally different vibe... I mean, I don't know how they feel about the whole "gay thing"—but I know that just handing my car keys to this one dude that one time when I had a flat tire (on Luca's birthday; and today is also my half-birthday) made me feel like he was condescendingly smirking at me for no other reason than that I must be female; I mean, I can't imagine any other reason he would look down on me in that context—sure, I did say "sorry about the mess" & grabbed a bag of groceries before I headed out, but that doesn't really warrant a look of condescension, does it?... It's like, seriously, man—get the fuck over it, a half of us are female & most of us do drive & own cars, and that has been the case for quite some time... There's nothing about what we just did that warrants that kind of attitude on your part... Yes, people get flat tires—that's not unusual; and plenty of us, both male & female, need other ppl's help to install new ones—so what exactly is it in this context that makes you feel you're so much better than me?... (I digress, but I just don't get people sometimes... Speaking of which, & on a totally different note—it's amazing how many people out there on the streets behave as if they're actually talking to someone when, in fact, they're not talking to anyone that anyone else can see—today I saw at least two very prominent examples of it... It's very Cittàgazze—but what really drives me nuts is that a person who's yelling at someone who's supposedly standing in front of them, never fucking shuts up to let that other invisible person talk; if I were that ghost, I'd be seriously annoyed...)

[the-firebird69]

The way the engine is and the colors make it look really intense like the motor is just so big it is big and it hardly would make a big motor for probably a 109, and not all Chrome and two tone and we could make a small liquid cooling system, can you say we should probably just we could use our 450 and make the fins bigger cuz these fins are huge and little ride for a long time. I think we'll put a cooling system in the face down with the pedals are maybe even for the jacketed version so we're going to test out tranny versus jacketed and see what looks better but it kind of hides it there and it's a trick cuz really we want to keep it cool but we're going to use this look it's really not even accustomed it's just like a modification of a Harley. Yeah that's awesome and he says it's awesome you keep the year tank he doesn't look different than the modern tank still think it's a chopper fully but really would be wouldn't it and the rear shocks have to be shocks sorry I don't know what those are from a car maybe it could be struts. And Hera says I want to talk about it and so she's talking about it look these things are self-evident no I don't know why it looks so cool to him it really looks cool to me now. It's like the first chopper I've ever seen and it's not but boy is it look awesome in those heavy forks in the front make it look real cool. And we can play with the tire and back but I think it's the right size and they do too he says wheels of beefy with a lot of the spokes they are beefy spokes what is a good decision, and the bigger tank makes it look righteous and you have to cool it on the gas would heat up so we're going to take ours out cuz it looks just like this and we're going to test it and mess around with a few things we have a look at cool thing it doesn't look as good anyway change the color of the frame we're going to change it back and it looks really nice brand new it looks awesome a little bit better than this actually it's very rugged looking and it's very powerful and if we make a 109 it's going to go way too fast we have a larger motor we can use at our Harley and it's like a 90ish but it's big I mean it's like 1100 cc's and it really hauls I mean it'll pull two really big people on it and my husband can't ride it's way too powerful way too fast he can drag race with it and it'll be practically everything that's the way to advertise it and Max is waiting for us to come out with it cuz he wants to buy one with the final Rev and we're doing it now coming up with the final design.

Hera says, now this is going to go ahead cuz he has a program he wants to initialize and John remillard is mad again. What's real cool is you can tell it's powerful in the movie and yeah we think this is a 109 all of us agree and we like the style of the motor it makes it stand out and a lot of people like it. So we're going to go ahead with it and his program and we already started it and it'll be the only slight changes in the earlier models to be worth more. And we're not making a replica but it's really the same and we have the frame design and everything and we modified a little and it's for strength but it's the same shape and it's from the same bike and it's originally a Harley-Davidson frame and it's a Harley-Davidson shaped frame on the on this particular chopper we're building all the parts are original Harley-Davidson.

Freya then Thor

And we're going to mass produce these now that's why they weren't selling but we put it in the brochure it's not online and a lot of people got it and said no one has this and they got it the bike now they're here it's a different one but it's very much the same the same motor and we will keep the same size as a really big motor boost it is about a 90ish right now so we got the motor right we got everything perfect except the cooling which he says we need and we do agree let me put the cooling in there but it's a bigger thing but we're going to put it down low and see if it works they say they did the testing it works down low on both the coolant and the transmission coolant too so we're going to cool both we both get pretty hot even though it's huge and the tire size is good the way it is so going with it and it's only the cooling that we modified

Olympus

[rose-colored-amy]

So, this is a continuation to my extremely short one-shot Last Moments, Last Regrets, but it can be read as a stand-alone. Regardless, I'll leave the link of that one in here:

Also, thanks to @coeurhh for suggesting I write a second part. You're a sweetheart 🥰

She made a lovely fanart/gif, which I'm also sharing, of course:

Prompt: AU. Sakura's death goes unnoticed to everyone but the squad she protected with her life and Tsunade. Team Kakashi doesn't find out until the very end, when Naruto and Sasuke have already had their fight, and there's nothing to do about it but mourn the absence.

Warning: Mild Sasusaku and lots of angst. Team 7 sort-of-fluff (?)

—Blue Bird, Let Go—

"Hey, bastard... I know they really let us down, the village, I mean."

"Aa... "

"But I really think it's not all that bad. When we were I team, I knew you understood. It felt like having a brother, believe it."

They were watching their lives go by, shadows of unknown faces passing by them, not noticing their pain, or not caring whatsoever. Their backs were touching, but it was all cold and bleak; a bad memory. A clan slaughtered, a demon sealed. Two lonely boys wallowing in their own sadness.

"Well, even if I don't make it, I'm glad it was you, bastard—"

"Shut up, idiot." His voice sounded strained, even for his standards, but Sasuke was so tired he couldn't even bring himself to care.

"We're really dying, ah? Wanna say something? I do have things to say, 'cause there's no way I'm dying—"

"In silence?" Sasuke interrupted, but Naruto payed him no mind.

"Without telling you how much of an asshole you've been! I couldn't even keep my promise to Sakura-chan! She's gonna be so damn mad when she finds out, I'm sure she'll drag me back to life just to cave my face in—" He was rambling at that point, but it was just so comforting and normal to Sasuke that he didn't even acknowledge it anymore.

"Hn. Sakura... She..."

"She still loves you, asshole. I don't have any idea how it can be possible but—"

"I'm sorry..." It sounded rushed, but Naruto heard it perfectly, and in the darkness of their shared consciousness, Sasuke heard a resigned sigh.

"Well, it's not that bad. I cannot imagine dying beside anyone but you, bastard."

"Idiot..." He made a pause. "Me neither."

"You're both a pair of idiots!"

Suddenly, the unreadable mass of unrecognizable faces around them cleared, and one figure stood in front of them, pink eyebrows frowned in annoyance. Though this version of Sakura looked familiar, it was one none of the boys had seen in a long time. Genin, long-haired, Sakura was glaring at them, arms crossed.

"Sakura-chan! What are you doing in here?!"

Her eyes softened. "What, so I'm supposed to let you two die, after everything? No way in hell!"

"Sakura..."

"You!" She pointed at Sasuke, who flinched slightly at her rudeness. "I don't know what the hell happened, but I don't care. Lighten up and start being your moody self. We love you just like that! Don't act so repented and shit! If you're sorry stop looking like a lost puppy and start doing something about it, you asshole!" Her voice was raising with madness and it was slightly off putting to see what used to be a stuttering lovestruck preteen talking to him like that.

Naruto snorted at that, obviously delighted for not being at the receiving end of her wrath for once. It was short-lived, however.

"And you!" She pointed at the blonde; then crossed her arms. He jumped back in fright. "What is this? How dare you even consider dying after you promised to be the best goddamned Hokage in history?! Here I am, rooting for you, while you lay around like a lazy pig with your edgy bro there. You should be ashamed of yourself!" She scoffed.

Naruto's mouth was so wide open he could have caught a fly. "Lazy pig? Are you kidding?!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, half amused, half annoyed. "Edgy?"

Suddenly, the edges of their vision began to blurr, like a genjutsu being unravelled. "Ah, someone came to help you at last." Sakura seemed relieved. Strangely so.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! You know what? You're right. I'll be the best damn Hokage ever, believe it! Just you watch!" He threw a punch to the air.

Seemingly placated and pleased with his answer, she nodded. "I know so." Then, she turned to her other teammate, who was concentrating solely on her face, mismatched eyes softened as they'll ever be. "And you'll make sure he doesn't mess up, right?"

They shared a long silence. There was something strange about Sakura aside her appearance. He could tell. "Hn. I will..."

"Hey! I don't need him watching over—"

"Sure you don't." He countered sarcastically.

"Also..." They turned to her again. "I'm sorry."

"Wha—" Naruto stuttered. "What the hell would you be sorry for, Sakura-chan?! If anything, it's the bastard here who should be apologizing to you!"

"Sakura..." Sasuke seemed to be searching for the right words, but she couldn't let them go without them listening to her. To what she needed them to know. There wasn't much time left after all.

"I'm sorry, because I wasn't what you needed..." She closed her eyes, her pretty minty orbs. Her appearance suddenly shifted, before then now standing her true self, still dressed in the standard shinobi uniform of the alliance. Her forehead protector lost to whoever knows where. "And thank you. You both made me stronger. You made me appreciate what I had. And I'll always, always love you. Our moments together like team seven... I'll treasure them for all eternity."

"Sakura-chan..."

"I know Konoha wasn't the best to you both, but don't forget the good... The wholesome moments. It's all that matters in the end... Our bonds, the bonds you managed to forge with sweat and blood... The world we live in, the world that gave me the chance to meet you. To me, that's to be cherished. Forever."

The white light started overwhelming the rest. Even Sakura's features started dissapearing.

"Live. Just live." For that, she specifically stared at Sasuke, a soft smile playing on her lips. "And thank you."

Sasuke started racing towards her, hand stretched, a forebonding understanding shaking his bones. "Sakura!"

And then, they both lost consciousness.

When they woke up, aside from feeling like shit, the first thing that crossed their minds what the finality of Sakura's words. Tsunade was beside them, patching them up, with Kakashi beside her, silently watching over them.

"About time, brats! What were you think—"

"Baa-san." Naruto interrupted her, his voice the most serious she had heard him until then.

"Where's Sakura?" Sasuke finished for him, his eyes icy and detached, trying to keep his worry at bay.

But she didn't need to answer. Her chakra flow hesitated, spiking with sorrow. Her eyes glistening with unbearable loss. Kakashi, at her side, stared, eyes widened in comprehension.

She was gone by a long shot.

And they were just finding out.

...

Everybody had different ways of dealing with loss. Naruto helped rebuild the village along with everyone else, but he skipped his usual meals, his ramen left forgotten in his kitchen counter. His movements when sparring were sloppy at best, not just because of the new prosthetic limb, but also because his mind was clearly somewhere else. Usually, Shikamaru would drag him out his makeship house, like he had done when Jiraija was gone for good. Sometimes, he would bring Ino with him, who was suspiciously skinny and messier than normal. No makeup covering the dark circles under her eyes.

Kakashi spent more than usual at the memorial stone every day, tracing the newly marked name of the girl who once remained him of Rin but that had come to claim a place for herself in his heart. Also, he took more missions than it was allowed in a month, going so far as to pick up his ANBU mask again, which caused an altercation with Tsunade, who hadn't been sober in a long time and had been hoping to hand the Hokage seat to him.

Sai avoided the color pink for a long time.

Sasuke... Well, he dealed with loss the same as everyone else... Longing for the missing person to be there, itching to have the opportunity to say what he couldn't at the time. Wanting to be alone whenever they would reach for him... And he built a tomb for her in hopes to find some closure. Not that official, because there wasn't a body to bury, and it had no name, but it was enough for him. He would bring with him camellias every day, buying them at the Yamanaka's, where Ino would always glance at him in silent understanding.

One morning, on his way to her tomb, he spotted a young shinobi leaving a white lilly for her. When he came by, the child spoke without a care, like they were acquaintances. "This is Sakura-san's, right?"

"Hn." It wasn't really an answer, but the child seemed to understand anyway.

"You know? Mama and big sister are also buried in these grounds... I always talk to them and tell them about my day and stuff I want them to know!" He turned to the Uchiha, a smirk on his cherubic face. "I'm sure she would appreciate it as well." And just like that, he left without another word.

Sasuke sat on the ground, just in front of the stone, mismatched eyes half lidded. Sensing no one in the vicinity, he exaled a shaky breath, and his dam opened up, the words longing to be said broke the silence he had been wrapping around himself since he knew of her death:

"I miss you... I've been missing you since I first left."

[cedricslover]

Troubled (final)

Pairing: Cedric Diggory x Fem! Reader

Pt.1 Pt.2 Pt.3 Pt.4 Pt.5 

Series summary: A very unfortunate situation happened and it resulted in very unfortunate events. You had everything, a good boyfriend that everyone dreamed of, best friends that you got in a twin pack, and a loving school. It was a calm before a storm and in your sixth year the storm came. You faced the consequences your deceased parents run from, you were only left with your only family, your little brother. What would you do in order to save him? The answer is, everything, even if it means joining a terrorist group of wizards, joining THE DEATH EATERS…

Chapter Summary: Death is inevitable 

Note: there is no specific house:))) I would like to thank everyone that kept waiting and was patient enough, I started this series around March and now it is May. This is my very first series and I hope you all liked it! Again thank you so much❤❤

Warnings: angst, death, little bit of violence

Word Count: 4.2k

You stopped in front of a headstone. Your hair brushing your cheeks as the wind blew it. "Hey" you started talking, through the years the big lump in your throat slowly fades whenever you visit. "It must be nice there" you smiled and placed the flowers that you were holding down to the ground. 

You breathed in the familiar smell of the field. The smell of the countryside was really different from London. Closing your eyes, memories of the past came flooding in. 

[5 years ago]

"WHAT?" Phoebe, one of your roommates looked at you with shock, "what?" You chuckled as you ate a chocolate frog. 

"What do you mean "what"? So we're just going to act like we didn't see Diggory in front of our dorm earlier" Alice rolls her eyes as she brushes her blond hair, "Oh yeah we got back together" you shrugged and sat on your bed. 

"You really won't tell us what happened that broke the two of you?" Phoebe's voice became wary, she was trying not to say something bad. You shake your head and smile apologetically. "I'm sorry girls" you felt bad. You wanted to tell them of course, but even your best friends since first year don't even know. And surprisingly didn't even nag you about it. 

"It's alright doll, we understand. Besides, Diggory is a great guy, you two are both smart enough to know what is right and wrong" Alice looks at you, there is always comfort in her eyes. Like she always knows what is going on even if you don't talk. She was the perfect example of the person that you can vent to and she will just listen. 

"How about you girls, anything going on with your lives? Why is it always mine?" You laid down and stared at the ceiling. Silence filled the room. For about 10 minutes only the brushing of the tip of the quill to a parchment, breathing, and the noise from the common room are the only sounds you heard.

"Nothing much" you heard a bed squeaked, it was probably Phoebe's. "My life is the most boring one yet" Alice mutters and sighed,  you can see her sitting on her bed. "I don't think so. Each of our lives have different stories. I don't think that's boring" you replied before you pulled your blanket and be completely eaten up by darkness. 

Weeks have passed, it seemed to be doing great. Everything was falling back to pieces. After the school found out that you and Cedric got back together, George and the Beauxbaton girl also publicized their relationship, both of them explained that it really wasn't you in the photograph-which you completely didn't want them to do because you didn't owe anyone any explanation- but they still did. 

Fred and Angelina seemed to be also doing great, well, especially how Fred is under Angelina. 

Of course Barty Jr.-that's disguising as Professor Moody was always giving you 'the look'. Everytime and everywhere, even at class, even your classmates find it strange why Professor Moody always calls you, and then gets mad. They feel bad but you just let it all go, because you knew what his true colors are. 

"Fred" she warns

"Frederick Gideon" with her scary tone

"Frederick Gideon Weasley" that's when you all know Fred was in trouble. 

"Hello darling" you smiled and kissed Cedric's lips before you sat beside him at the library. You both have free time, especially him, tomorrow was the final task, he was trying to study spells that he might use.   

"Hey" he stops reading and wraps his arms around your waist, "Tired" he murmurs while he buries his head on your neck. "You want to eat sumthin'?" You asked while playing with his fluffy hair, running your fingers through his scalp. "No" you can feel his breathing on your neck, it sends shivers down your spine. 

After a while of complete silence, Cedric's breathing seemed to follow a pattern, that's when you knew he was asleep, in your arms. 

You started humming a song that your mum used to sing you to sleep. You can't see his face, but felt it instead, his nose, his lips, his forehead, it felt peace. It felt like home. 

And later on, you also found yourself getting sleepy, your eyelids drooping down. And before you give up on the warmth, your eyes found the book-or more like a magazine that Cedric was reading earlier, you didn't notice it earlier until now. You let out a smile before you closed your eyes.

'Real Estate Magazine, Countryside Edition'

You woke up early, dressed up early, showered early, and went to get breakfast early, and you didn't expect that a lot of students were up early too. Earlier than usual.

"Y/N!" You turned your head while you chewed a toast. It was the trio. "Hey" you greeted them as they sat in front of you. "You alright?" You looked at them while your forehead creased, "yeah" they all answered in unison, that caught them off guard. 

"Harry's going to be fine don't worry" you shake your head and smile as you reach for another toast. "It's just that-" Harry stopped and his hand went to his forehead, where the scar is. 

"His scar's been hurting ever since he woke up" Ron told you, his face was screaming with worry, just the same as Hermione. 

"You should take a rest Harry. You still have til before dusk. I think that would be enough time to prepare and rest" you said, trying to cover the worry in your voice, and of course the fear. 

You four continued to eat, the Great Hall was starting to get more crowded, noise, banners, cheers, they were all anticipating who will win the triwizard tournament. Although you should be joining this crowd, wearing shirts with the one they support, cheering, waving the banners at 8 am. You can't. You were filled with worry, Harry's scar was hurting, and it seemed strange that the Dark Lord wasn't doing anything the whole year. 

And as you walked by Moody's office, it seemed like your suspicions were answered. 

"I already handled it, Dark Lord. Yes, yes, but how about the girl?" You heard Moody, he was rather loud, obviously he used the opportunity as most of the students would be either outside or the Great Hall.

"She wouldn't be a nuisance, we have his brother. She will be extremely useful for the next few years. She has much more potential than her parents. Let her bloom Barty" a faint voice answered him, that was the reason Harry's scar was hurting since this morning. Mere communication can still cause it, you knew he couldn't possibly be physically here. 

"What if Harry wouldn't be the one touching the cup?" Moody's voice was filled with excitement but at the same time, fear. 

"I'll kill them. And you next. Better do your job Barty." The voice disappeared. Your eyes widened as you heard footsteps slowly approaching the door. You ran to the closest hiding spot and peeked. 

"Better handle that girl then" Moody looked around before he drank again from his flask. "Polyjuice Potion" you whispered as you observed him. 

He walked away, to the direction you came from, you waited until you made sure he was gone. 

"Mad-Eye Moody!" You started banging the trunk where Moody was prisoned, your hands shaking as you got the key from one of the drawers. 

"Moody!" You banged again, panting, your sweat started dripping. Your heart was beating fast, you have to do something. You sure don't know anything, but Moody surely does. 

You finally opened the last layer of it and saw that he was there, peering back at you, he was thinner than the last time you saw him. And he lost a lot of hair too. 

He seemed mad, of course, you were the only person inside the castle that knew the Professor Moody that was going around the school the whole year was an imposter, well aside from Cedric who was suspicious.

You started explaining to him, now this was the person that deserved your explanation, not the gossip people. 

It took a while before he finally understood. He must be thirsty and hungry, but you didn't bring any food but only your wand. You looked for any container and luckily you saw a flask, it must have been a spare Polyjuice Potion, you threw the insides away.

"Aguamenti" you chanted and the flask started to be filled with clean water. You cleaned the mess you made and returned it from what it was when you entered before you slowly dropped the flask to Moody who was now drinking it like he hadn't drank any water for a whole week.

"I cannot hear clearly, but I heard Little Hangleton. You know that right?" You nodded at his question. "I don't know what and how, but they would try to bring the Dark Lord back. In power" he looks directly at your eyes, his gaze was piercing, he was expecting you to do something. And you will. 

"I'll be back" the last words you said to him before you slowly closed the trunk, he nods slightly for a response, there was also something in his look, the same look you saw with your parents when they were about to die, the same look you saw with the people of the Order, it was a look of hope and pride. 

"Hey hey" you stopped on your tracks and it snapped you back into reality, you didn't know what to do, "Y/N?" Cedric cupped your face, you looked at his eyes, his questioning eyes. "What's wrong, love?" He tucked strands of hair from your face to behind your ear. Your breathing started to calm down. 

"They're moving Ced, I have to do something" you admitted, there was no point in keeping it a secret to him. His jaw dropped, he was now looking everywhere, trying to be cautious. 

"What can I do to help?" He asks, you felt bad, and it seemed like he noticed it. "Don't feel bad, Y/N. You already carried too much burden, at least let me help you carry it" his mouth curves as he assures you. "It will all be okay" he whispers, still not letting go of your face.

You were still doubting, but he was persistent. "Protect Harry. Help me protect Harry, Ced" your eyes darted to him, both of you knew this was a life and death situation. This wasn't just those silly games you played before, you both only had one chance to save a life, and this was it. 

"I will" he nods, there was more than just the tournament in his mind now. And that is to protect Harry. At all costs.

You observed Harry the whole time before the task, ofcourse, not being so obvious. You would join the three of them at some point, or drag Harry with you and the twins as they show the fireworks that they made and plan to light up when he wins or Cedric. 

It was a win-win, Harry forgets that bloody scar while you keep an eye on him. 

And now, it was Cedric's turn. 

He kissed your forehead and gave you a little smile. "You did well. Let me take over" he said before he turned his back and let go of your hand. Amos waited for him and waved in your direction. The corners of your mouth turned up, trying to be nice to him, despite how you somehow despised because of how he always pressures his son, he always has to do this, reach this, be like this. It was not healthy. 

You knew he was trying to be a good parent, but you wished he had taken lessons from your father before he died. Thankfully Mrs. Diggory was nice enough to appreciate Cedric's achievements, small or big. 

"You alright?" Alice asked you as you sat at the bleachers. "Quite" you smiled at her and returned your gaze to the champions. You were with Alice now, well long story short, the twins were with their girlfriends, even Phoebe, and Alice invited you to join her so here you are now. You know Alice is beautiful, she is also great in academics, even she and Luna Lovegood could really pass as siblings, they have the same interest in things that were believed to be not there, and even their way of clothing were the same. But they both confirmed that they were not related. Still, you were still quite confused as to why she was not out there, having a partner. 

"You know that guy?" She pointed to Gregory Goyle's older brother. "Yeah?" There were lines forming between your eyebrows. "He asked me out" she giggled and covered her mouth with her hand, her shoulders started shaking, you also laughed. "What really?" You asked in disbelief, you tried your best not to laugh out loud.

You hated Goyle, he always bullies the ones that he believed was weaker, even Alice. He always made fun of Alice and how she always tries to get people's attention. Now look how the tables have turned.

"He asked me out with those cheesy pick up lines, doll. I tried my best not to laugh and just rejected him immediately" you were both still laughing. She stated some of the pick up lines that made you laugh so much but you still tried not to be loud so in the end, you choked on your own saliva while she stifled a laugh as she pats your back.

The laughter seemed to be a curse, bad luck, or just joy before a disaster. Because right after that you all saw a yellow light sparked to the sky, it was from someone in the maze. 

You were the only one who was not confused, because as that yellow spark flashed, it was a message for you.

'He is safe. Cedric's with him' 

Red sparks were seen earlier, it must have been a marker for the injured ones, but the Yellow ones, the audience and judges didn't know what it meant, only you.

You started praying to the higher ups, if they were ever there, listening to you. You prayed that they would be fine. Only a few scratches, but still good. After just a few minutes another yellow spark was seen, the people decided to shrug it off, but you, you were beyond happy and relieved. The second spark should mean that they got to the cup. They should be arriving any second now. 

You anxiously waited for them, ten seconds, twenty, thirty, and then a minute and they weren't still here. 

'Little Hangleton' 'Back in power' ‘Dark Lord’ 'Coming Back' 'Do your job' 'Kill' 

Voices started to cloud in your mind, Moody, Barty Jr., Voldemort, memories, you patched up the information you got. 

And without even thinking twice you disapparated, thankful that Dumbledore lifted the anti-disapparition charm because there were a lot of outsiders anticipating the third task.

You grunted as you stumbled, you hated how apparition makes your insides like they were being squeezed. It was convenient of course, but you didn't like it. 

"Kill the spare"  you heard, your vision was still dizzy, but you knew that voice. Your vision was blurry, the world was spinning and it felt like your intestines were spinning too. It was the after effect of apparating. 

You stood up, still feeling nauseous, “NOOO!” you shouted as you ran, there were figures and you knew who they were. “Avada Kedavra!” it was definitely Pettigrew, no, not Cedric, not me, not Harry, don’t kill us, please, the words repeated in your mind. The few steps felt like a hundred, you wanted to stop time, and as you rushed towards the figures your vision was slowly being clear. And by the time you can entirely see clearly, you wished, you hoped, that someone blinded you, you wished that this was a dream, hallucination, but as you collapsed on your knees, as the rough ground kissed your legs, it was all real.

“Alice...” tears started to fall from your face as you looked at her face. Her reddish cheeks was now white, her lively eyes was now soulless, her warmth, 

It’s gone, she’s gone. 

“YOU!” You stood up, picking up your wand, Cedric stood beside you, “Free Harry” You commanded him, your nose was now flaring, glaring at the two figures in front of you, Peter Pettigrew carrying the weak Voldemort. 

“Expulso!” you incant, in a snap, Voldemort was now dropped to the ground while Pettigrew was far away, “I’ve had enough of you. You and your values” you stared at Voldemort who was now crawling away, he was so weak, and this was the only time you could do it. The only time you could take revenge from all the lives he took.

“You’re so weak, and you should stay weak” You stepped on his thin legs, he screeched like a creature tortured, “You deserve, every, single, pain” now you stomped on his hand, you felt the bone touch the sole of your feet despite wearing shoes. 

“Sectumsempra!” you cried at his pleading face, you thanked that potions book you saw in the classroom. You watched as so blood just came out from the child like figure in front of you, for a second you thought you were doing something beyond your morals, but you remembered, the images of people that this person-no- monster killed, the mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, and friends, he took away so many lives, he made the world like his playground, killing whoever he felt to kill, and that justified what you did. Regret was not even near. 

“Incarcerous” Cedric’s voice echoed, the tense was back again, Pettigrew was still here, “We’ll take care of him” he told you, giving a second to glance at the lifeless Voldemort that was on the ground, curled, you nodded as an approval. 

And like a vase dropped, or someone threw a big stone to your head, you remember Alice's bleeding body, her opened eyes but why? Why is there a ghost of a smile plastered on that doll-like face?

You slowly walked to her lying body, you never expected that this would happen, that she, she would do something like this. Did she just suddenly hold your arm as you disapparated? Is that why she splinched, her arms, even her legs were bleeding. 

“Dumbass, did you even know where I was going.” you kneeled, reached for her face and removed the strands of hair that were blocking her face. “You’re so dumb. Who’s going to call me doll anymore” you blinked and a tear fell straight to her cheek, you blinked again, another tear fell, you blinked, again and again, and at the same time, tears fell on her pale face, you cried, wailed, even shouted while hugging her body. 

She was there when you needed her, she was there to understand you. She was there when you cried, laughed, even if you were sick, she was there. 

“Doll, come here.” Alice called you while you were packing your things, you were a mess, you just heard that your mother was ill, you have to go home. You sighed and let go of the clothes and walked towards her, she tapped the seat in front of the mirror. 

“You know, you should always look tough in front of the people you have to protect. That’s what my parents told me before. The people that saved them from the Death Eaters, they were tough, I told you about that right?” she started brushing your hair, you examined your reflection, your eyebags were visible, you were also definitely thinner than usual, you felt drained. 

“Before my ma died, she told me information about those who saved them. My ma and pa owe their life to them.” even if you didn’t look at her face, you know she was smiling. “She told me that when they were being saved, the woman was pregnant” you can feel the gentleness from her touch. 

“And?” you asked, she was now tying your hair, “and she told me to protect that child, a token of gratitude for giving my ma and pa another tomorrow” she placed the flower accessories in your hair. 

“Did you protect the child?” you turned to her and saw her eyes twinkled, “I still am doll” she replied to you before she handed your bag. Alice used magic to help you pack, you laughed and hugged her, “Thank you” your mouth curved into a smile. “Aww it’s nothing” she waves her hand and rolls her eyes, acting shy. “Shut up” you chuckle before you turn your back and step outside. 

“You impulsive lady, how about that child you should protect. How can you protect them if you’re dead” You were still crying, thinking about all the memories you had with her, and how you would tell Phoebe, she would be heartbroken. 

Was it really necessary? Are sacrifices really necessary? You just wanted to stop a war, a cycle, you wanted to follow the path your parents took, are deaths really necessary? In exchange for peace, a life should be taken. A meaningful life, someone's daughter, friend, and stranger. 

[present]

“Y/N!” a woman’s voice called you, you turned your head and saw a woman, her hair was now just above her shoulder, brown curls jumping as she walked the hill. “Phoebe” you greeted and opened your arms, she sprinted and hugged you. 

“Oop, be careful with the tummy” you grinned and touched your tummy, there was already a big bump, you were pregnant. “Hello there little one” she lowered herself and talked to your bump. 

“It’s her death anniversary isn’t it” she straightened herself and was now staring at the headstone. 

     Alice Constance O’Brien

March 12, 1978 - June 24, 1995

“Hmm” you answered, peace and silence enveloped the both of you. “It was Alice all along.” sadness took over your face as you remembered what Alice has done for you. 

  Loving daughter and friend

                A hero 

“Ced that night when you saw me following the man. Why were you still roaming?” you asked Cedric as he sat at the library.

“I haven’t told you yet? It was the Head Boy, well technically it was Alice actually, she told me that the head boy couldn’t find me so he asked her to tell me. My schedule changed that time” he muttered as he chewed a pumpkin pasty. Your eyebrows shot up and just shrugged. You owe Alice an acid pop at Hogsmeade.

“She was the one who told me about your situation. She must have known about the dark mark but never told us. She wanted to help you, but in the shadows.” Remus admitted as you talked to him about Alice’s death. He was shocked, the whole society members actually. They are now taking care of his subjects that were lurking around. 

“Hello ladies!” George and Fred suddenly appeared, both of them wrapped their arms around each of your shoulders. “Fred. I prefer women, thank you” Phoebe removed Fred’s arm and even tried to dust it off, “Rude” Fred squinted his eyes at her while she just smirked and flipped her hair.

“Where’s your husband and brother?” George asked and also placed flowers at the ground. Now there were a lot of flowers for Alice. “You’re liking that aren’t you?” you talked to the headstone, you were all just silent. Even the loud twins fell in silence, they liked Alice, not romantically, they admired her, how she was unique, always had a voice, and how she stood up for herself. 

“I love it doll” you heard a whisper as the breeze came by, you knew it was her, it had always been her. She was still there, watching. 

“Oh Alice” Phoebe started crying, the twins tried to offer her a hug but she went to you instead, you sniggered as you saw their offended face. 

They all felt her. 

“Hey!” two voices called all of your attention and there it was, Cedric your husband, and your eight year old brother. Theodore hurried to the twins that immediately picked him up, he liked them. “We bought snacks.” Cedric raised a basket and spreaded out a cloth to the grass. 

“Are you crying?” Cedric inspected Phoebe who still has her nose red from crying. “Yes. What about it” she rolled her eyes and got bread from the basket while Cedric was still arranging the cloth. “I’m just asking.” Cedric chuckled and shook his head. 

You observed each and one of them, they all changed, with their own careers and life, of course they will change. Cedric was now working at the ministry, he did once think about being a professional quidditch player, but he felt like a work at the ministry would be better, and he liked it. The twins and their joke shop was still going, stronger as it was before, they’ve built quite the reputation, and Phoebe, she was now a Herbologist, she always had an interest in plants. 

And you, you also built your career, with your dream job. 

Are you seeing this Alice? I made it. We made it. 

You carefully sat at the cloth and they all asked you what you would name the child inside of you. Your eyes gleamed, you always knew that if you had a chance to name your child it would be…

“Alice”

[writteninkat]

xii - overwhelmed

word count - 2,220

"if i love you was a promise, would you break it if you're honest?"

index

You walk towards the classroom with your palms sweating and your heart about to beat right out of your chest. You had just confessed to Katsuki thinking he also felt the same, but all he replied was a lousy 'you don't even know me'.

You furrow your brows, clenching your palms into fists in irritation. How am I so stupid? I came to Japan to prove myself and to that dumb father of mine that I can be a powerful hero! And yet here I am being swept off track by some lousy high school crush!

"Careful- if you stare any harder you're gonna melt holes through the walls." A tired and very familiar voice calls out feom behind you. You turn around, anger still clouding your head as your eyes fall on a violet-haired boy.

"Careful- if you don't do anything about your lack of sleep anytime soon you're gonna collapse." You spat back; suddenly everything around you vexes you. You send a mental message to everyone in school; today you're hot-headed, your patience is as thin as a hair strand and taking out your anger through physical violence seems like an amazing idea right about now.

"Jokes on you, I've been like this my whole life and I've never collapsed." He smirks, causing you to raise a brow. "Okay maybe I never collapsed from my lack of sleep."

"Look what the hell do you want?"

"Well- thought you looked pretty upset." He holds up two pastel yellow-colored papers. "And I just so happen to have two free ice cream passes for that new ice cream place right beside the campus." He takes a look at his watch, "We still have an hour and thirty minutes till the bell rings. What do you say?"

"And that idiot just says 'you barely even know me'" You wave your hands up, making a dumb face as well as a dumb voice to match, "like hello! I know I barely know you and that's why I feel so upset and conflicted right now! You get what I mean???" You huff back on your seat, shoving the small pink translucent teaspoon in your mouth.

Shinsou nods his head, eyes on his ice cream as he shoves a few scoops in his mouth. "Mmm- this banana flavor tastes amazing. You should try it." He offers his cup to you, making you frown.

"You're such a jerk! I thought you brought me here to let me vent out my anger." You frown, your eyebrows knitting together as you place your cup on the table, leaning back on your seat as you crossed your arms.

"I did. I listened as you vented out your anger to me and we're having ice cream but I never said we were going to talk about the situation." He points out, annoyingly unbothered expression resting on his face as he continues eating his own ice cream.

You look at him in irritation and silence for a few moments, trying to calm yourself before taking your little teaspoon and scooping a bit from his own cup. You shove the scoop inside your mouth, pouting. "The banana tastes amazing." You huff, expression still angry.

Shinsou chuckles lightly, the small smile actually lighting up his usually dark features. "It is, isn't it?" You've only ever met one person with a so-called 'contagious smile' and he was the funny boy you met at the park one day.

Ethan will have to share his spot in my list for 'contagious smiles'. You thought to yourself, letting a smile break your frown as you look down at your ice cream.

"Have you seen the new conjuring movie? It's pretty cool, a solid six out of ten." He shrugs. You shake your head, "I can't watch scary movies. I won't be able to sleep especially now that I live alone."

He raises a brow at you, "Oh come on. We can watch it together through video chat or something. I really wanna see you piss yourself while watching it." He chuckles, causing you to squint your eyes at him. "Is that a challenge?" You point your spoon accusingly at him.

"What if it is? You gonna back out? Loser?" He pushes jokingly, mirroring your squinted eyes. You bring your hand on the table in a fist, "Oh it's on."

Shinso walks you to your classroom just five minutes before the bell is about to ring. "How can I contact you?" He asks, doing the thing with his hand behind his nape as he looks away. "Here." You tug at his hand, writing down your discord account with a marker. "Call me after the sun sets. I'll be home by then."

He waves you good bye and you step in, almost completely forgetting about why you were annoyed so early in the morning. Your eyes fall on the blond boy, still looking angry as usual. His eyes meet yours for a fraction of a second before your looking towards your seat.

As you sit down, the bell rings and in comes Aizawa, tired as ever. "Today, you will all be choosing your hero names. This has a lot to do with the Pro-Hero draft picks and because you are only first years, any offers can be taken back before you graduate." He explains, pointing at a chart where Todoroki's, Katsuki's and your names are written at the top with thousands of heroes wanting to recruit you.

"You will all spend one week interning with the pro heroes you choose or those who chose you, depending on if you have multiple offers or just one." Aizawa continues to talk about the importance of hero names before Midnight walks in the classroom.

The class begins to cheer in excitement as they all are given boards and markers for their names. The cheering and yelling dies down in a few minutes but the excitement doesn't. You smile, feeling your heart throb at the innocent looks in your classmates' faces.

Each of you all are being called up to present your hero names and as your turn slowly comes closer, your palms begin to sweat and that feeling of not being able to stand properly hits you.

"L/n Y/n. It's your turn, come on up sweetie." Midnight calls for you, curling her fingers a few times. You stand from your seat, walking towards the front, keeping your eyes forward and looking anywhere but Katsuki's eyes.

You flip your board around. "I chose the name Tempest. It means a violent windy storm." Midnight claps her hands, "I love it! Basically telling the villains not to mess with the storm." She cheers, allowing you to walk back to your seat.

"So! Have you guys chosen an agency yet?" Mina asks, shoveling food in her mouth as Kirishima and Sero follow suit. You shrug your shoulders, "I'm having a difficult time choosing between Hawks' agency or Endeavor's agency. I want to work on my speed but then again, Endeavor's the number two. It'd be a waste to throw this chance away."

"And yet," Denki points his fork at you, "It's also a waste to throw away the chance of working with Hawks. I heard he's the youngest pro right now who has his own agency and is in the top ten."

As you were about to scold the blond for talking with his mouth full, Katsuki marches towards the table, setting his tray down before sitting down beside Kirishima. You look at the empty space beside you and your mood immediately turns sour.

Wow. Sure, he has the right to feel uncomfortable with my sudden confession but to not actually have some type of closure? You sigh, not bothering to finish your food before standing up. You slide your tray to Denki, earning a cheery mouthful 'thanks!' from him before you walk away.

You walk out the classroom upset, tired and hungry. Your mind races back to the tuna sandwhiches the cafe sold and your mouth immediately begins to water.

"Hey idiot."

All your food fantasies disappear the moment his gruff yet very warm and relaxing voice calls out to you. To make sure you weren't about to embarrass yourself, you look in front of you, searching for someone else only to be greeted by an empty hallway.

Slowly, you turn around, pressing your lips together as you look at Katsuki with the most nonchalant look you could pull, no matter how much you wanted to scowl at him.

"What's up?" You ask, mentally slapping yourself. What's up? What's up??? Who the fuck do you think you are to him, Kirishima??

He looks awaw, walking towards you. "They have new matcha cookies today. I checked before I got here."

You stand there, staring at him for a second, two seconds, five- ten- "Dumbass. Yo. Can you hear me?" Katsuki snaps his fingers in front of you, gaining your attention as he snaps you out of your daze- literally. "Well?"

As much as you want to say yes, accept his offer and just live a happy life, you didn't want to live a confusing one where you get hurt in the end. "I don't see why you have to do this, honestly." You look to your right, looking out the windows.

"We hang out, I feel like you're treating me differently than the others, I feel like I'm special to you, I recognize my feelings, and although I feel conflicted and upset I still confess my feelings to you." You grip onto your bag, "And you respond to me by what- telling me I barely know you?"

You look back at him, the corners of your lips pulled downwards sightly. "Katsuki I- I got the message, okay? Don't do whatever this is to me because from my point of view, you're leading me on cause you can't voice out or even figure out your own feelings." You motion your arms between the two of you. "If you liked hanging out with me, I'm sorry but I gotta keep some distance between the two of us before I go confessing to you again like an idiot."

You stand there, eyes dropped to the floor in silence.

Say something, you idiot! Fucking say something to me! Tell me how you feel- it doesn't matter if it'll hurt me, just say something!

"I'm sorry."

You look up at him, confused. His brows are knitted together in dejection as his shoulders sag momentarily.

You feel your eyes prickle with tears as you nod, pressing your lips together. "Okay." You click your tongue, turning away as you walked from the unnervingly quiet boy.

As you reach your apartment, the sun has already set, you're tired, your cheeks are stained and are still being stained with tears and your phone is blaring.

You answer it without another thought, Shinsou's tired and relaxed voice giving you a soft 'hey'. You can hold it in much longer as you break down into sobs.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong? Talk to me, Y/n." He sounds genuinely concerned. You sob for a few moments, letting out all the emotion you've pent up inside you as you walked back to your apartment.

"I-I just-"

Another call interrupts the two of you, making you furrow your brows. "Hold on-" You sob, your eyes scanning down your screen to see your mom calling you. You put your call with Shinsou on hold, answering your mom.

"Hey mom!" You cheer, trying to act as gleeful as possible. "Hey baby! So I heard you have a boyfriend, your aunt Miwa sent me a picture of the two of you in the paintball place? I just thought maybe you wanted to know about that boy's abrasive and violent past?"

He's not your boyfriend.

"What- you looked into him?" You yell.

"Well I had to! It's my first time my baby has a boyfriend. Anyway, I don't mean to be that mom but I don't think he's a good fit for you, honey. He's bullied countless students in middle school and after observing how he acted in the sports festival, I don't think that boy changed at all." Your mother does sound truly concerned for you but everything seemed to be too much for you today.

Before you can even think of the sentences you want to say, you hear a knock on your door. You sigh, pacing towards it as you pull it open, brows furrowing in anger at the sight of your father in front of you.

"Y/n I just want a second chance-"

You yell.

You yell out your frustrations, your sadness, your hesrtsches, everything. Every single emotion you felt today just came pouring out as you yelled from the top of your lungs.

Your body falls to the floor as your limbs begin feeling like jell-o and your head begins to spin. You hear your father ordering his guards around frantically, but his words are all muffled and unclear. You begin seeing double- seeing two of your father really isn't helping right now.

"Hey, Y/n, baby keep your eyes open for me. I'll bring you to the hospital just-"

"Can all of you just shut the fuck up for a moment?" You whisper weakly before darkness swallows you up once again.

It's cold. It's dark. You're alone.

You're always alone.

[twrites1]

“Love In The Dark”

Time Frame: Friday Night, April 29, 2016

Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Summary: What happens when loving someone in secrecy goes wrong?

Take your eyes off of me so I can leave
I'm far too ashamed to do it with you watching me

This is never ending, we have been here before
But I can't stay this time 'cause I don't love you anymore

Sam opened the door to his home, the stress of the day finally settling in. What started off as a great day, only turned worse with one call from his parents. They never failed at finding a way to irritate or piss him off, and today, they had managed to do both. The more his mother whined about him turning into a failure and that he needed to be more like his brothers, married with children, the more it made him want to stay away from them. You see, Sam’s family was wealthy, owning the best car dealerships in the state of Texas. They wanted him to return home and be apart of the family business but Sam didn’t want that for himself. He resided in Oklahoma City and while he wasn’t in the family business, it unfortunately ran in his blood, seeing that he was a car salesman at a local dealership. It was something that he was good at and something that he actually enjoyed doing on his own terms. Its how he met his girlfriend of two years, unbeknownst of his family. They thought he was still a bachelor, hence the phone call today. A family reunion was coming up and he had no plans on going until his grandmother called him earlier in the week begging for an appearance. He vowed that he would stay only for a day. His mother took it upon herself to set up blind dates for him when he touched down on Texas soil. He wished he could be man enough to tell the truth, but it would be repercussions to his actions and he couldn’t, more like wouldn’t let his girlfriend be subjected to them.

As Sam finally closed the front door, he turned just to see something that bewildered him, “Baby.” He called out, eyeing the luggage confusedly before he sat his bag down. Strangely enough, he haven’t heard from her all day, gettin a cryptic text back from her. He didn’t see her truck out front, so he was confused on how she got here. He walked to the living room and stopped almost immediately when she saw her sitting on the couch. He was taken aback by her appearance, which consisted of swollen red eyes, and her hair pulled up in a messy ponytail while she was dressed in her sweats. Before he could even open his mouth to ask what was wrong, she spoke with a mixture of anger and hurt in her tone.

“I got a phone call earlier requiring my services for a family reunion. It was your mother.” She watched as the color starting to drain from his face, a humorless, sarcastic chuckle escaping from her lips, “Apparently you finally told her about me.”

“I-“

“Apparently.....I’m the help and Quinn’s nanny.” Mercedes recited bitterly in a whisper, her vision becoming blurry, “What in the actual hell, Sam?”

“Mer...”

“Shut up.” She snapped as the tears fell from her eyes as she stood up, moving towards him, “In her words, she told me that you said I’m a very good worker and you wouldn’t think about firing me for a second.”

Please stay where you are, don't come any closer
Don't try to change my mind, I'm being cruel to be kind

When Mercedes first met Sam, she had to admit that the man knew how to pitch a sale, and it only helped that he was easy on the eyes. Although his charm was a big factor, his personality is what drew her in. That day, she not only left with a new truck but also his business card with his personal number on there. One date led to four more before labels were attached. She can honestly say that the man made her feel like the only girl in the world and she fell quick, but was that mistake? Sam was open with her about everything but when it came to talking about meeting his family, there was no question about his stance of her never doing so. The reasoning being that he stated that they weren’t close but she raised a brow at how often he spoke to his brothers when he thought she didn’t know. She knew it was true for the parents, but she didn’t understand why and what he was keeping from her about them. Another thing that bothered her was the fact that he asked for her not to post any pictures of them on her social media pages. Not that social media was big thing to her, but why couldn’t she at least show people who way making her feel like the happiest girl in the world? She accepted it and let it go because he practically begged her to. She even confided into the one person who he was close to, his cousin Quinn, who she became very good friend with over the years. Quinn explained to her that Sam’s parents weren’t good people and left at that.

“I never would’ve thought....” She got choked up as she broke off, shaking her head as anger continued to fill her, “You’re an inconsiderate son of a bitch. I’m not going to continue to love you in the dark. I’m tired, Sam. I’m so tired.”

Sam caught her arm before she leave, eyes going wide as held up his hands once she she shrugged away from him, “Baby, wait...please stay and let me explain.”

But I don't want to carry on like everything is fine
The longer we ignore it all the more that we will fight

Please don't fall apart, I can't face your breaking heart
I'm trying to be brave, stop asking me to stay

“My parents....they’re stuck in the typical, old southern white folk ways.” He started as he moved closer to her, only for her to step back, his own eyes welling up with tears, “I’m just trying to protect you...protect us.”

“So fucking what if your family doesn’t like me, oh fucking well. As long as you did, it didn’t matter. I didn’t need anyone else’s acceptance. I’m hurt because you fed into their ways. The help? Quinn’s nanny? Do you not know how demeaning, how hurtful that shit really is? How dare you. How fucking dare you.” She spat as she finally lost all ability to keep her emotions in check, “You’re no better than them.”

He wasn’t thinking at all when he said it. His mother brought her up due to a picture Quinn had posted of the trio plus her three year old daughter, Virginia, at the play barn. He wasn’t thinking, he wasn’t. So when her words of him being like them left her mouth, it pissed him off because he was nothing like them but he didn’t deserve to be mad because he made this mess. She couldn’t be collateral damage, he couldn’t risk that, so he shamelessly lowered himself to their level to avoid them finding out about her being his girlfriend. He wanted to tell Mercedes the truth but just couldn’t muster up to it, “I’m so sorry, Cedes. I want you to believe me. I love you with every bone in my body but...”

“There shouldn’t be any buts Sam. I should be enough. I really should but I’m not. Until you’re ready for that and I have a feeling you never will be, I can’t be with you. I’m no one’s dirty, dark little secret.” Mercedes felt the tears continually gliding down her face as she walked out the room, not giving him a second glance as she grabbed her luggage and exited out of the place, to her awaiting Uber, she had just got started to know due to her recent move in.

I can't love you in the dark
It feels like we're oceans apart
There is so much space between us
Baby, we're already defeated
Ah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah everything changed me

With that, Sam watched as she walked out the door, shock instilled so deeply in him that he couldn’t do anything. His mind was screaming for him to go after her but it was falling death on his ears. He just lost everything and wasn’t even fighting to get her back, whispering to the closed door, “Please don’t go.”

But I want to live and not just survive

That's why I can't love you in the dark

It feels like we're oceans apart

There is so much space between us

Baby, we're already defeated

'Cause ah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah everything changed me

And I-I-I-I-I don't think you can save me

[airaaachaaan]

CHAPTER 1

I'm always having a hard time making friends. Not because of me being picky with them. I've always been thinking about my flaws, and I can say that I'm very low tempered. It's not that everyday you'll see, or pass by someone weird, right? I have a visual disability, right eye closed, And surely, if you'll pass by me, at the road, at school, or everywhere. You'll probably look at me, look away, then look again. I know many people do that, a quick glance, or, sometimes they overlook, and it kinda creeps me out. It's not that I don't really have friends, Ofcourse I have some. I can say that I'm the cheerful one, the extrovert, approachable, so I can easily have friends. I also play volleyball, so I became a part of the school's volleyball team. My name's Ayaka. Matsumoto Ayaka. 【松本彩花】My name means, colorful flower. I think it really suits me.

I've been on the volleyball team for so long, 5 years to be exact. Being around in a big group of people is quite fun, you'll get to share your thoughts to many people, and if you're talking, its kinda overwhelming to get everyone to listen to you! But to be honest, I still don't know who to trust with these guys. It sucks. I always have a feeling like, "Do they talk about me when I'm not with them?" "Are my jokes really that funny?" "Do they like me? Or they just do that because we're teammates?" I overthink a lot but, hey! It really does make sense, right?

I never really planned on joining Volleyball, I mean, it was never been my dream when I was a kid. But when the school directress saw me, she signed me up. So through the years of playing, I'm kinda getting in the hang of it, kinda intense, an absolute torture to your body, but it's fun! Specially when we have tournaments. We have this Regional Tournament yearly, it's my favorite league by the way. We got to train everyday, instead of just every other day. And we get to go to other places and stay there for a month! Ya'know, get to know your teammates more, and even get to be with the boys' team! (Internal screaming) The boys' team are from the other campus. There was a guy that I like, ofcourse. His name is Kousuke. Ishikawa Kousuke. 【石川康介】 He's not really that cute, I mean, he's not the kind of guy that will catch your attention but, guess what? He got mine!

February 2017:

It was a hot afternoon at the place we're staying, a school at a province, few stores, less highways. I was watching Anime at one corner that time, I got lazy to get my earphones at my luggage so I just boosted up the volume of my phone. I was already in the climax of the thing that I was watching, when I suddenly felt, breathing by my left ear. It was Kousuke. He was watching too! I really don't know how to respond with that, I was internally screaming, I was shaking and I didn't get to catch up with the best part of the series! Well, actually maybe the best part was, his face being that near to my face. He continued watching, then he left, and at last I got to breathe! (Sigh) But he came back with his own chair, placed beside me and we finished the show together. I didn't really know where to look? I really wanted to take a glance at his face but it's kinda awkward, right? My arms turned quite numb trying to place my phone where he can see it clearly, until that thing that we're watching, ended. And ofcourse here's the awkward part, getting up into a conversation with your crush.

"That anime is always a cliffhanger."

He said with a disappointed look on his face.

"O-Oh--yep, I t-totally agree haha"

I ended up stuttering, with a nervous laugh.

"Say, do you still have more Anime saved on your phone?"

He said while trying to peek at my phone screen. He grabbed my phone from my hand and he saw the design of multiple anime characters at the back of my phone.

"I didn't know you also liked that series eh.."

"O-Ofcourse! We just met!"

I answered him with a squint on my face.

"Well yeah, you can't put all your favorite characters on the back of your phone 'cause you'll prolly be blocking your camera lense... Haha."

So that's where the conversation started. I didn't know we actually have the same vibe! Well, I thought he's a shy type, he's always have this mysterious aura, or he always has this serious face. It's like we've been friends already for a very long time. The whole month of our stay at that school, it's always been me and Kousuke chilling, talking about nonsense things, and ofcourse, watching anime. We've been buddies the whole month. I was already expecting that my teammates would tease me, and yes, ofcourse they did. I was so scared that he might know that I liked him, I mean, I guess he already knew, but he never told me about it.

It was the last day of the month, we both brought home the bacon. Both teams, boys and girls. Ofcourse it was a very blissful moment for us, I had a good game, and I'll be seeing my mom again, but quite sad too. Like, who wouldn't be missing these guys if you've been with them for one whole month? And ofcourse, I'll be missing Kousuke. I hope we'd still be talking at our social media accounts. And also, we already exchanged numbers and emails! I hope he message me soon!

I just arrived at home, fixed my stuff, took a shower, then went to bed. I was scrolling at my gallery, just staring at all of our pictures, including the picture of me and Kousuke. Then suddenly, my phone vibrates. It was Kousuke. I didn't really expect him to message me!

-"Matsumoto-san, I hope you went home safe! I just got home and I was so tired so I thought I should message you before I go to sleep. I had a fun time with you! See you at our training!"

I was so surprised! I actually don't know how to reply him. My hands were shaking, I was so startled!

"Ah! Ishikawa-san! Glad that you messaged me!"

"No!"

"I mean"

"I'm glad that you got home safe!"

"I had so much fun with you too!! See you soon!"

"Ahhh-- what am I doing? "Glad that you messaged me!"?! What was that?! How did I even mess up with this? So stupid." I said to myself while banging my head at my pillow.

"Haha. It looks like you don't have anyone to talk to usually, huh."

"Ah, yes! That's why I'm glad you messaged me. Hehe."

Our conversation was until 11pm and I didn't even noticed. So did Kousuke. I think. Is he already sleepy? Should I tell him that I need to sleep even if I still don't want to? Ah, this sucks.

"Matsumoto-san, I planned to sleep once I got home but here I am, talking to you. Haha."

"Oh, I actually thought of the same thing haha."

See? I screwed up! Maybe I was telling to much stories, I didn't even noticed that he wanted to sleep! How dumb.

"I'm sorry, Ishikawa-san! We should sleep now! Sorry for bothering you!"

"No, it's okay! We could talk tomorrow! I'm just really tired, it's not that you bothered me. I enjoyed talking to you tho, don't worry."

"Goodnight, Matsumoto-san."

"Okay! Goodnight!"

I turned off my phone, I couldn't help but scream at my pillow! This has been one of the greatest year for me!

-END OF CHAPTER I-

[cloudylovemuses]

Arcade (2)

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Reader, past!Natasha Romanoff x Reader, past!Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes, Wanda Maximoff x Sam Wilson

Summary: It's time for you and Bucky tell Sam and Wanda about your decision. Also you need to talk to Nick Fury and talk things out, hoping for the best.

Author's Note: Sooo, I tried to right a small chapter for the time gap between my first and third chapter. It's a bit awful and lazy, next week week (I'll give a lil spoiler) we'll meet the house and the neighborhood. I wasn't feeling really good to write something more, but hope you like it.

(1)

It's been 5 days since you accepted Bucky's offer, to start a new life with him. At first you and Bucky where discussing where will you live. You suggested to buy an apartment at Brooklyn, but he rejected the moment the suggestion hit the table. He didn't want to be back to the place where he grew up. He didn't want to return to his past. Didn't want to start his new life based on how he used to live.

"Can we have a house with a big kitchen? Ohh Buck, it'll be really nice to have a huuuge kitchen and try so many recipes freely, with so much space to work on." You said dreamily while standing on your elbows to watch Bucky. He turned his gaze from the ceiling to you with a smile in his face.

You were in his room daydreaming about your future life. You're laying next to him being excited about your plans. He laughed and pulled you out of your thoughts. "What? Why are you laughing?" You smiled at him.

"I'm just thinking that if Sam watched us cook with aprons. We wouldn't hear the end of it." He laughed.

"Oh my god, you're soooo right. He'll tease us 'till the day we die." You both laughed again and you suddenly stopped and gasped.

"OH MY GOD, SAM!"

"What about him?" He questioned, confusion covering his face.

"We need to tell him that we want to leave." His smile left his face and his eyes dropped to his hands. Even though the two boys were always fighting, they were the closest and best friends. Bucky didn't know how Sam would take it.

"We need to talk to him." He finally said.

"What? Like, right now?"

"No I think he is already asleep. Tomorrow morning. The sooner the better!"

"Yeah, yeah, you're right." you sighed and curled to his side.

"He won't be very happy, will he?" You both returned your gaze to the ceiling a worried look on both of your faces.

"I don't know, doll. I don't know."

~~~~

The next morning you knocked on Bucky's door, still worry over your features. He opened slowly having the same emotions as you. "Ready?"

He softly sighed "as ready as I can be."

"We have to, Buck." You took his hand on yours and pulled him out of his room.

"I know, I know." He sighed again and you started walking towards the living room.

"Sam!" You shouted and he popped his head from the couch.

"Hello Cinnamon, hello Tinman. What's up?" You giggle at your nickname while Bucky glared at him. Sam liked to call you Cinnamon because you putted cinnamon everywhere, from aromatic candles to coffee dressing.

"We um...wanted to talk to you about something." You said hesitantly.

"Of course, what is it about?"

You moved further and sat down next to him and Bucky sat behind you, staying close to you. "Me and Bucky were thinking umm...we were umm...thinking..." You nervously said playing with your fingers not wanting to look into his eyes.

"Guys. You are worrying me, what's wrong." Sam said worry all over his face.

"No, no nothing is wrong...we just kinda thinking..." Bucky trailed off and then you took over.

"Me and Bucky were thinking about to retire and live a normal life." you stated with one breath closing your eyes and opening them to see a bit confused Sam.

"What do you mean?".

"Sam, we won't lie to you, we're both really tired of this Avenging life. And after our losses we are falling apart more and more. We appreciate all your and Wanda's help, but unfortunately is not enough. We are trying really hard to recover. But all this fighting is keeping us behind. Reminds us -and most certainly me- of the past. We can't keep living like this. We LOVE working with everyone here but it's not doing us any good. We would really, REALLY, appreciate it if you at least consider our retirement and talk things out with Fury."

You were staned by Bucky's words. You didn't expect him to take control of the conversation. And it was a really happy surprise.

"Wow, Buck. I forgot you could talk so much" Sam laughed. "Guys, I understand that your mental health is not stable and of course I noticed your struggle at your latest missions. I'll admit I was thinking to tell Fury give you some days off and retirement hit me like a truck." You both looked at his smiley face, when he turned his gaze behind you and you saw Wanda, who was coming slowly and was smiling too.

"I told Sam that you two needed some time off. But if you feel more comfortable with retirement we are both going to support you." she said while sitting next to Sam grabbing his hand into hers. "Also, let me tell you, I'm gonna help to convince Fury to give you what you want." She smirked, that knowing smirk which said yes, I'm going to manipulate him for you.

You were nearly in tears. You didn't believe that they accepted your decision so quickly and without hesitation. "You guys, you don't know how much this means to us." you teared up, standing to hug them both.

"Thank you so much. Both of you." Bucky said softly trying to keep himself from crying.

You pulled away and looked into their eyes. "When are we going go talk to Fury?"

"How about tomorrow?" Wanda questioned.

"Ok, tomorow then." Bucky said.

"Shall we go make some dinner? I'm starving!" Sam whined and you all laughed.

"Let's go" Wanda laughed and dragged you all to the kitchen.

After two burned steaks, 1 burned apple pie and somehow a burned salad from the boys, who wanted to show off to you, you and Wanda took over.

The dinner was so peaceful. So beautiful. They were your family and you really loved them. So much.

"Oh, guys, have you decided were are you going to live?" Wanda asked at some point.

"Y/N told me about her grand-grand mother's mansion in Magnolia Springs. She said that it's very big for two people, but it'll be big enough to build spare rooms and rooms for us to spend our time. I haven't saw it yet, but I trust her."

"Wait. Did you just say 'build'?" Sam said confused.

"Yeah well I thought it'll be nice to create a home with our hands." You answered.

"It sounds really sweet, but what about the money?" Wanda asked.

"Stark left to much money, for us to use. So we think its the best way to use them." Bucky said.

"Yeah, Tony left a lot money to everyone and I still don't know why." You giggled.

"He's dead and he still makes us happy."

You all smiled at that and fell into silence. Memories from Tony making you all smile. Bucky smiled on the stories you all said about him. His smile fell from his face. He wanted to say he is sorry. For his parents for the mess he created between Tony and Steve. Oh, how much he wanted to apologize.

"Um, I'm finished does anyone want desert?" Bucky asked after a while. You all raised your heads and looked at him.

"Yeah, I do. I'm coming to help you." Sam said and they both left for the kitchen.

"Are you sure?" Wanda asked a minute after the guys left.

"For our decision?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, yes I am. Bucky is an amazing guy and he is in the same boat with me. If we start over together it will be just a little bit easier."

"But sharing a home is a lot more than a start over, you know that."

"Wand me and Bucky are friends and we can do this. This will just be an adventure for us. We'll have fun, building our own house. Living a new life. Sure it'll be sometimes a little difficult, but we'll do this."

"I'm happy for both of you. I believe in you. And me and Sam will help you with what ever you need." She reached for your hand and held it.

"Thank you Wanda."You smiled at her. A smile which turned onto a smirk after a moment "oh and since you mentioned it. What's going on with you and Sammy?"

She left your hand and blushed like crazy. "Nothing, we're just friends"

"Yeah, yeah I believed you now Wands" you laughed.

"Shut up" A crimson color took over her cheeks and you laughed again.

-Meanwhile in the kitchen-

"Bucky, are you sure you wanna do this?"

"Yes, Sam, I'm 100% sure." Bucky sighed, cutting a big slice of cake for you.

"I mean you two don't know each other so long, to start a life together." Sam said with a concern voice. Bucky dropped slowly the knife and his head. But he immediately looked at him again.

"Sam, I trust her. She's been there for me in ways I couldn't even imagine. She never gives me an apologetic smile or looks at me with pity eyes. She is comforting in her own way, and she helps me when I need it even when I don't ask. I don't say that you or Wanda don't help me, it's just...she is...She's different and I like it. She makes me feel good."

"If she makes you happy, of course I won't get in the way. I just want to make sure that you're ok with that decision. I want the best for you bud." Sam admitted softly patting Bucky's shoulder. Bucky turned and hugged him tightly, not letting Sam breath for a bit.

"Ok, ok I need to breath now please." Bucky let him go and they both laughed.

"Ohh, bird brain I didn't ask you before." Bucky smirked without looking at him.

"What's it this time Tinman?" Sam rolled his eyes and said with an annoying voice.

"What's going on with you and Wanda?"

Sam choked on air while Bucky hit his back, still smirking.

"Nothing's happening."

"Yeah, yeah sure bird brain."

"Fuck off, asshat"

"Idiot."

"Let's go the girls are waiting."

They came after a while with four plates of chocolate cake. Your and Wanda's favorite.

"Here you are ladies." Sam excitedly said.

"Thank you boys" you smiled at both of them and continued your lovely night.

The dinner was over and you all were at your rooms waiting for sleep to take you. When a soft knock at your door, caught your attention.

Bucky opened further the door and whispered, "Doll, are you asleep?".

"No Buck, come in." He closed the door behind him and took small steps towards your bed.

"Hey" he waved at you.

"Hi" you chuckled.

"Can I please stay with you tonight?"

"Of course you can Buck." You pushed your covers and he laid beside, pulling up the blanket.

"Doll, am I the only nervous for tomorrow?"

"No, not really. I think I'm a bit nervous too. I mean we are going to tell Nick Fury that his last two super soldiers are going to retire and they're going to live like two farmers but yeah, no I'm not THAT nervous about that." You joked and he let a heartful belly laugh, that made your stomach feel weird, in a really good way.

"Yeah, way so nervous? It's so normal!" He laughed again and you followed.

"Seriously now Buck, Fury won't be happy. I'm slightly afraid that he'll refuse to retire us."

"Honestly, doll? I don't know what will happen tomorrow. Part of me hopes for the best but another part is just pessimistic."

"What will we do if he says no?"

"We'll see." he sighed.

"Ok" you said a lil' disappointed.

You curled closer to him and moved your gaze from the ceiling to his face. He found your eyes and spoke again softly, not wanting to disturb the peaceful silence, "come here, I don't mind." he smiled.

You pressed your body on his and wrapped your hands around him. He hugged you too and put a soft kiss on your head.

God only knew how much you both loved to be on each others embrace.

~~~~

When morning came, the nervousness came along with it. All your mind was thinking about rejection and Fury. You almost cried when the time for the meeting arrived.

Bucky came to your room to take you and went together, sharing some of the anxiety.

Before he opened the door, Bucky hugged you tightly and you hugged him back the same. You breathed and opened the door.

You greeted Fury and moved to sit down, next to each other, not wanting to let go the others side.

"Mr.Wilson informed me about your thoughts and decisions and of course the state of your mental health, and I have to say I'm surprised that you want to do such a thing together."

You looked at each other with a smile at your faces and a giving an actual loving gaze, and turned to Fury again and said and awkward yeah.

"So, where did that came from?" He said and confused you.

"What do you mean, sir?" Bucky said.

"Where that idea came from? How did you think such a thing? What brought you to that decision?"

"We just had a conversation together, after a tough night and we realized we can't do it any more."

"We want a new life. Bucky is really tired fighting and holding a gun on his hands and I'm really tired fighting too. But we don't have a problem helping whenever it's needed."

"We have a lot to discuss." Fury said with a frown.

After 2 hours and a lot convincing Fury agreed. He said that he will first check the house, the neighborhood, the neighbors' past, just to be sure. He said that he'll put Friday and a security system in the whole house. You hadn't disagreed of course. He also said that you'll get paid for whatever job you do for him, you'll still be his employees no matter where you live or what you do.

You didn't really care what jobs he'll give you eventually, you just wanted to live as far from this life as you could.

When you signed the papers, Fury dropped his serious face and said "I'm really proud of both of you" and left.

You turned and looked at Bucky, who just smiled. You smiled back at him and left, to start making plans for your new house.