#went on my first real work trip in FOUR YEARS yesterday. had one meeting.

[stars-inthe-sky]

UGH.

[harrison-abbott]

that f*cking man

My daughter Cassie got in touch with me to tell me she was getting married. To this man called Derek Collins. I had met Derek only twice in my life and I politely admit that I never liked him, at all. I didn’t say this to Cassie, but that’s how I felt. He came over here to my flat, with her, once, a long while ago. He stank of aftershave and after I told him what soccer team I liked he kept taking digs at them, the team, because he supported the arch rivals. It was funny at first but he kept doing it for hours. Then, between the meal that I had made for them, he would excuse himself to the toilet down the hall. Except, he kept doing it as if he had a bladder infection. And, I followed him down the corridor to get something from the living room … and when I was coming back, I heard these swishy snorting noises from inside the bathroom. Was he actually doing that? He was doing cocaine in my toilet, after coming over to ‘meet the parent’ for the first time with my daughter. I didn’t mention anything to Cassie. She was real pretty, when I came back into the kitchen, sipping at her orange juice. I thought that maybe I had only been imagining things about what Derek was doing but then when he came back into the kitchen as well and resumed speaking I noticed white powder up one of his nostrils. Jesus. … Oh, and the next time I saw him was at the train station. I was heading to work. And I noticed this tall fellow in a blue suit wearing these cream sneakers standing looking at his phone outside a WH Smith. That was Derek – back, then, my daughter’s boyfriend. So I had met him for the first time back in the summer six months earlier and now it was the winter; Derek had mentioned that he took trips to this city for work. I went up to say Hi to him. “Hey there, Derek?” I said. And arrived in front of him and offered a handshake. He looked up at me from his screen, irritated and narrow-eyed. “How are you doing?” I said, and I kept my hand hanging there … He blinked. And his eyes didn’t expand, until I said, “It’s me. Andrew. Cassie’s father.” And just then, his face bloomed up and he went, “Oh, of course! Andy! How are you doing mate! Sorry, I��m sleepy, I didn’t recognise you!” And he grabbed my hand and crashed it with his fingers. He apologised four more times within the next couple of minutes, for not remembering who I was: it was because he hadn’t much sleep and that he was hungover and that I hadn’t had a beard last time he saw me. But that he really enjoyed the dinner I served at the flat that time. “The macaroni cheese! What a belter that was. … Anyway, Andy: I have to go now and catch my train! Was super nice to see you and we should meet up again soon, right?” … There was another of those tremendous handshakes. And when he walked away from me I thought, ‘I did have a beard last time. Because I never shave.’ …

So that last episode happened four years back. And Cassie called me yesterday to inform me that they were engaged. I hadn’t seen Cassie since she came to the flat that time for the Mac Cheese: and so that was five years ago. It did make me wonder why she was even calling. Until she started talking about money. She was all flowery with her chat, until she began speaking about how much the wedding was going to cost. And so I nabbed the intentions behind her communication. There are a whole load of stories about why Cassie wasn’t so close to me. But, she was doing this manipulative behaviour in adulthood: scouting for money because she needed the finance. I couldn’t really be bothered with that. “Cassie,” I said to her. She was telling me a story about a recent trip she’d made to the zoo with Derek. And how he had been joking about the animals. “Do you remember when Derek first came over to the flat to meet me? For the first ever time?” She went quieter when she answered, “Yes?” And so I asked her, “Do you know what he was doing every time he went to the toilet?” She remained silent on the other end and I could tell that she knew what I was talking about. “Cassie. I can give you a bit of money, because I do have a spare amount, and I’m not liable to live much longer. So may as well pass some on to my only kid. But I’m also not interested in coming to a wedding to watch you marry that fucking man. Plus, I’m tired right now and I need to rest before getting up for work in the morning. See you later for just now.” He hung up the phone and the short smack of that act was quite satisfying.

[rhysismydaddy]

Elorcan smut after so much y e a r n i n g!!

🥺 please?

Lorcan remembered the exact moment he first saw Elide Lochan. 

He’d been on his way to his last class of the day, senior year exhaustion weighing heavily on his shoulders, and had looked up from his phone to see her standing at the other end of the hall, talking animatedly to a professor. 

She’d been wearing dark slacks and a pale, soft looking sweater that contrasted against the silky black hair hanging down her back. He could tell that even with the heels, she wouldn’t even reach his shoulders, and not a small part of him enjoyed how small she was in comparison to him, even though it also made him feel like a hulking brute. 

The same part of him took one look at her and said Yes.

He’d made his way over, planning to totally interrupt her conversation and ask her out, and she’d looked up as she saw him coming, wide brown eyes meeting his.

A rush of heat went through him as she’d tilted her head and took him in from his too-long hair all the way down to the dusty boots he’d never cared to clean.

And then she’d done something that’d been a prominent player in his dreams ever since: she bit her lip.

That goddamn beautiful, blush pink lip that doubled as the most tantalizing thing he’d ever seen. 

His imagination had immediately run wild.

He’d wanted to draw that lip into his mouth, nibble on it and soothe the ache with his tongue. Wanted to taste them both as he pushed into her. Wanted to see them wrapped around his cock as she looked up at him with those big, beautiful eyes.

And that was just her lips. 

The rest of her was almost too much for him, even in his fantasies. 

Full hips; slim thighs that would feel too good parting for him; heavy breasts he wanted to taste.

She was a fucking wet dream. He’d never been so attracted to a woman, much less one he’d never met.

As he’d drawn closer and closer, she’d bid farewell to the professor and turned to him with a wide smile that made him almost trip over his own fucking feet. 

And then she’d asked: “English 135?”

His sex-foggy train of thought had come screeching to a halt, and he’d raised a brow. “What?”

She’d nodded toward the classroom they were standing outside of. “English 135. Creative writing. Are you in this class?”

It’d taken him an embarrassing amount of time to realize she was a TA. 

And an even more embarrassing amount of time to realize the fact that she was his TA.

Because he was, in fact, enrolled in creative writing. 

He’d chosen the class at random since it fulfilled his last general education requirement, and he’d been dreading it all week, but now... now it didn’t seem so bad. 

Especially as she looked up at him, the heat in his eyes reflected in her own, and said softly, “Welcome to class.”

E~

Elide felt like one of those tight rope walkers--doing something dangerous that might have disastrous consequences but unable to stop because she loved the thrill.

She knew entertaining thoughts of one of her students was stupid, but from the moment she’d met him, she hadn’t been able to help it. 

Like her thoughts had summoned him, he strolled into the room, and she let her eyes graze over him, finding him just as distracting as they had yesterday and the day before and every other day so far this semester. 

Tall and broad-shouldered, with hair like a midnight sky and eyes just as dark. He was like nothing she’d ever seen. 

For the past two months, she’d been unable to stop herself from imagining how it’d feel to have him on top of her, pressing her down with his heavy weight. How he might say her name in the morning and how he looked when he came.

Thoughts that were nothing but a bad idea, since she was his student. 

“Good morning, Mr. Salvaterre,” she said politely, trying to keep her voice from going husky.

He looked at her like he knew what she was doing, which he probably did. He wasn’t exactly subtle when it came to watching her day in and day out. 

His dark eyes followed her when she paced in front of the class, tracked down her body whenever he came in the room, and burned with desire whenever they met her own.

He also always came in a few minutes early to talk to her before other people arrived, like he had right now.

A corner of his lips pulled up as he replied, “Morning, Elide.”

She almost sighed. Unlike the other students, he never called her Ms. Lochan. And he never smiled. 

His lips would tilt up in a smirk, and occasionally he’d go so far as to look mildly  amused, but he never gave her actually smiled. Which was probably a good thing, because she didn’t know if she was strong enough to resist Lorcan in general, let alone a smiling Lorcan.

“Do you have your paper?”

They had a story due today. The prompt was to write a chapter of a romance novel--not her idea. The plot, setting, and everything else was up to them.

Elide was looking forward to reading his more than she’d ever admit, but she remained calm as he handed over a thick stack of papers. 

Calm or not, she was unable to stop herself from flipping it open and scanning a few lines.

Every thought inside her head came to a halt.

“This is...” She looked up to find him raising a brow and waiting for her to finish. “This is a sex scene.”

"Mmhm,” he confirmed, the amusement and hunger in his eyes clear to see.

A blush fought to work it’s way up her face as she saw the main character’s name was Elise. One letter away from Elide. Coincidence?

Then she saw that male lead’s name was Lorance. 

Definitely not a coincidence.

They’d been subtly flirting for as long as the class had been going on, but nothing so bold as to write a sex scene about them.

She read a little more and almost passed out. It was a sex scene in a classroom.

“Feel free to make corrections or suggestions,” he murmured, for all intents and purposes sounding like he was actually talking about the assignment.

Elide cleared her throat, trying to unscramble her brain.

“Mr. Salvaterre, the prompt was to write about romance.”

Lorcan smirked and flipped the paper open to a certain page. “What’s more romantic than that?”

On their own accord, her eyes dropped to scan the page, finding an explicitly detailed scene of “Lorance” bending “Elise” over the desk and pulling her panties down with his teeth.

Elide looked up at the ceiling, taking a deep breath and fighting the urge to press her thighs together. 

“This is inappropriate.”

“How so?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m your professor.”

He braced a hip against her desk and pointed out, “You’re my TA. And only for another month.”

“Yes, but... I could get in trouble. Nothing in here,” she shook the papers, “is allowed between PhD candidates and college students.”

“I get it, Elide.” He shrugged. “I’ve wanted you since the moment I saw you. I can wait another four weeks.”

When he said it like that, it sounded like forever. But she nodded, appreciating his patients. 

“Thank y-”

“But you know, I think I’ll continue with this story. Just something to, you know... pass the time with.” 

“What?” she choked out.

He explained slowly, “I’m going to keep writing.”

And then, faster than should be possible for such a big person, he was right in front of her, mouth dipped to her ear as he whispered, “And in four weeks, you get to pick one.”

He pulled away right as students started walking through the door, leaving her flustered and shaking and completely screwed. 

~

Every class for the next month, Lorcan brought her a new chapter. 

They were the filthiest, most erotic things she’d ever read. 

She was addicted to them.

His imagination seemed to know no bounds when it came to her, and it made her shiver just to think about what else he might come up with. 

He never said a word, just came in and put the papers on her desk, then went and sat and proceeded to eye-fuck her until the class was up. 

On the last day of class, he gave her both a new chapter and his final paper for the course. She was woman enough to admit she only cared about one.

“Wait to read this one till after class,” he said quietly before sliding in his seat at the back of the room.

She pursed her lips, wondering why, but acquiesced and didn’t read it during the twenty minute reading time at the beginning of the class. It was burning a hole through her desk, but she ignored it the entire sixty minutes.

After she released everyone and bid them a happy summer, she watched as Lorcan got up, winked, and walked out of the class without a care in the world.

Um... what?

He wasn’t going to talk to her? Seriously? After two months of-

The chapter.

She flipped it open, immediately finding the reason for his casualty. 

While the others were all written in the past tense, this one was present. And it used her real name.

And the first line was: Elide left the classroom, anticipation making her skin tingle, and walked to the parking lot. 

Huge smile on her face and skin indeed tingling with anticipation, she made her way to the parking lot, then turned the page and read, She drove to Lorcan’s apartment. 

His apartment? She’d never even been on a date with him. Not that that really mattered to her at the moment.

Was she seriously doing this? 

Her eyes drifted to the next line to see his address, and she decided yes, yes she was. 

Traffic seemed to go on forever as she drove the ten minutes to his apartment, and by the time she knocked on the door, she was too excited to stand still.

She knocked on the door, then knocked again when there was no answer. 

Brow furrowed, she looked back to the chapter, flipped the page, and saw: She used the key under the mat to let herself in, then went to his bedroom in the back. 

Hands shaking, she bent to grab the key, then let herself into her Lorcan’s apartment like she did it all the time.

An empty, clean, almost-barren apartment greeted her, and after taking an intrusive look around, she walked down the hallway to his room.

Thin drapes were closed over the window, filling the space with soft, hazy light, and she instinctively walked to the bed to run her fingers over the silky sheets. It smelled like him in here, like smoke and rain and something just Lorcan. 

Inhaling deeply, she looked back at the paper in her hands. 

Knowing he’d be there soon, Elide took off her clothes, got on his bed, and waited.

Her mouth dropped open as she read that line again and again. It was the last page, so she had nothing else to tell her what was going to happen.

Was he serious?

Was she seriously going to do it?

Her body made the decision before her mind did.

She kicked her shoes off and let her hair down from her ponytail before she could think better of it.

“Crazy man,” she murmured, even as she pulled her dress over her head and threw it on the floor. Her bra and panties followed, and then she was standing there in a man’s room while he wasn’t even home.

God, what if this was some elaborate prank? What if this wasn’t even his apartment?

The realistic part of her brain told her how crazy that sounded, which relaxed her a little. 

She eyed the bed, not sure if she should get on it or just stand here. It felt strange to be naked in the first place, even stranger to be in his bed without him.

But it also felt exciting. 

She’d wanted him for such a long time, and now that she was minutes away from actually having him, she felt like she was going to combust.

This was another way, she realized, of heightening the anticipation between them. Elide had made him wait for three months, so he was giving her a taste of her own medicine.

She crawled on the bed without another thought, relaxing on his pillows and trying to calm down. 

Then the question became... how long was he going to make her wait?

Twenty minutes later, she had her answer. 

She heard the lock on the door click open, and God above, just the sound of his boots coming down the hall made her breath come quicker. He got closer and closer, and then there he was.

Lorcan leaned against the door frame, looked her over from head to toe, and for the first time since they’d met, gave her a full smile.

She found herself smiling back, unable to help it. She was right; smiling Lorcan was undeniably her favorite.

He didn’t say a word as he prowled closer and braced his hands on the bed near her feet. He didn’t have to; his eyes told her exactly what he was thinking. 

They roamed over every inch of exposed skin, lingering on the sweep of her hips, the apex of her thighs, the quick rise and fall of her chest. 

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve imagined this moment,” he rasped, leaning to press a featherlight kiss to the inside of her ankle. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

He pulled back and continued to look at her like he was content to do exactly that for the rest of his life. She needed him to touch her, needed him to put that still-smiling mouth on hers.

“Lorcan,” she breathed, squirming under his dark gaze. She pulled her lip between her teeth to keep from throwing pride to the wind and just begging him for what she wanted.

Turns out, she didn’t need to beg. As soon as she bit her lip, he was on her, heavy weight pressing her down in the way she’d imagined he would for months, mouth covering hers, hands cupping her face like she was something precious. 

He stole her lip from her, sucking it into his mouth and groaning. 

Like a thread with too much tension, they snapped, hands and mouths starting frenzied as they both tried to kiss the other harder, deeper.

His hand slipped between her thighs, and he pulled back far enough to press his forehead to hers and mutter, “Shit.”

Then he was kissing her neck, sucking down at the same time he pushed two fingers inside of her. His name fell off her lips, sounding desperate to her own ears. 

He ignored her plea, kissing a path down to her breasts. He swirled his tongue around the peak of one and used his free hand to pinch the other, making her cry out. 

“These breasts,” he growled, sounding a little angry. 

She didn’t know if she should apologize or shove them further in his face. 

He switched to the other, choosing option number two for her. His teeth scraped against her nipple at the same time he pushed his fingers into her a little harder, and it felt so good her legs shook.

Then he was moving, going further down until his face was pressed between her thighs. 

He pushed her thighs back, and she blushed at being so exposed while he hadn’t shred a stitch of clothing. But then he pulled his fingers out, licked them clean, and said, “You taste like strawberries,” giving her a whole other reason to blush.

Lorcan calmly slid down to his stomach and got comfortable, then proceeded to eat like he’d been locked in a room with no food for two weeks. 

His tongue was everywhere, licking her from top to bottom, circling her clit, pushing inside her. He hummed, and she arched off the bed, pushing her hips further toward him. 

She wanted this to last forever, but her body was reacting to him like it never had to anyone, and she felt herself getting closer and closer to the edge. 

He added his fingers back at the same time he sucked her clit sharply, and she fell to pieces, twitching and pulsing around him and breathing like she’d done something besides lay there.

She yanked him up the bed, needing to feel him against her. She slid her hands in his hair and licked his lower lip, smiling when he made a gruff sound.

Elide slipped her hands under his shirt and pulled it off, then started working on his belt, only to have her hands knocked out of the way by his. He unceremoniously ripped his clothes off, then rolled on his back to reach for a dresser drawer. 

While he dealt with that, she perused him head to toe like he’d done her.

His body was lean and cut, tan and beautiful. 

Crawling next to him, she ran her lips over his chest, down his abs. When she attempted to go lower, he stopped her with a hand in her hair. 

“But I want to-”

“Later,” was all he said before throwing her on her back, rolling the condom on in an oddly primitive manner, and thrusting inside of her.  

She gasped, feeling so full she might split apart, and clung to him as he let her adjust.

When she felt like she could breathe again, she wrapped her legs around her waist and tilted her ups up, taking him even deeper. He made a deep sound of approval, eyes dropping to half mast. 

Lorcan braced himself on his elbows, gave her a very male look, and said, “Hold on tight.” 

Then he started to move, pulling out all the way before thrusting back in so hard she shook. 

It was like the past months of lust and heated glances were coming back all at once, reminding her how long she’d gone without him.

She’d imagined what he’d be like more times than she could count, but the reality was somehow better.

Her nails dug into his shoulders as he pounded into her, probably hurting him, but he didn’t seem to mind. 

Their mouths met in a messy, wet glide, and he bit her bottom lip, anchoring himself by it as he fucked her even harder. 

“Elide,” he groaned, deep voice desperate and scratchy. “Come on, baby.”

The knowledge that this was undoing him as much as it was her was what pushed her over the edge again. She moaned his name as she came, eyes going shut and body arching up into him. 

He followed immediately, stilling on top of her and fisting the sheet hard enough she worried it would tear. 

When she came back down to earth and released his shoulders, she saw she’d left little half-moon marks on him, and she leaned up to ease the hurt with her lips.

After a moment, he rolled off of her and collapsed on the other side of the bed with a huff.

They both stared at the ceiling, unable to find words for a long moment. 

Until Lorcan stated, “Wow.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, body still tingling. “Was it worth the wait?”

He shrugged, and her heart constricted painfully in her chest until he said, “Might need another go before I say for sure.”

Elide shoved his shoulder, turning on her side to look at him.

“What now?” he asked, rolling to face her. “I do actually plan to take you on a date, you know. Dinner?”

A part of her was relieved to hear this wasn’t just sex to him, but there was something else she wanted at the moment. 

“Chapter 3?” she suggested instead.

Lorcan gave her a wolf’s smile. “I like the way you think.”

________________________________________________

not me being horny on main yikes. sorry it’s long

[jerkbitchidjitassbutt]

It Was You (Part Four)

A/N: Jensen and Y/n are childhood best friends. When his agent informs him that his image could use some improvement for a role, will she help him? Or will her feelings get in the way?

Read Part one, part two, and part three here (masterlist forthcoming)

A holiday (Christmas centric) Jensen x Female!Reader Best Friends to Lovers series for @spnchristmasbingo​​. This chapter and others will fill the square of ‘fake dating’. Un-beta’d, so all mistakes are mine. Header created by me with images from Google. Chapter word count: 3446

Series Warnings: cursing, angst-ish at times (if you squint), but mostly all the fluff.

I consider this an AU, as Jensen is single in this fic. This is completely a work of fiction, and I wouldn’t want his reality to be any different, this is purely for entertainment.

Jensen woke to his cell buzzing on his nightstand, reaching blindly to silence the pestering noise. Lying on his back, he quickly peered through one half opened eye to see what all the fuss was about. Seeing it was Stacy, he hit the side button to reject her call, vowing he’d return it after ten more minutes of sleep. As he rested his head back on the pillow, you stretched slightly and rolled to face him as you slept, reminding him of how he’d carried you to his bed last night. You reached for him and pulled yourself under his arm to cuddle against him, throwing a leg over his as he laid on his back. He loved waking up next to you, no matter where it was. You’d shared a bed multiple times in your long friendship and he’d never felt as rested as when you were next to him, even if the vacancy was filled by someone else.

Jensen let his mind wander to what it would be like to wake up to you every morning, to take your friendship and turn it into something more. He would be lying if he said Y/n hadn’t been the first person that came to his mind when Stacy mentioned him settling down, and almost choked on his coffee when she agreed to be his pretend girlfriend. When he was young, he’d always just seen you as his best friend, but when he left for L.A. after his eighteenth birthday, the absence made him realize how much he’d loved you for so many years. It was a fondness that grew out of the shared intimacy and a longing bloomed within him, and it was no secret to him why it hadn’t worked out with anyone else. They weren’t you – they didn’t laugh like you. They didn’t touch him like you. They didn’t care for him in the way you did.

Since you’d moved to Vancouver, each time he’d get the nerve to bring his feelings up to you, you’d either be seeing someone or mention once again how much you valued his friendship. There were moments when he thought you may feel something for him to, between the lingering touches and occasional yearning gaze. When the time came, though, he’d always let his fears of losing you get in the way.

As you moved against him, trying to get closer to him in your dreaming slumber, his grip tightened around you to bring you to the spot no one else could seem to fill. You threw an arm around his waist and nuzzled into the crook of his neck, your warmth seeping through him as your breath fanned across the tender skin. Jensen buried his face in your hair, inhaling a mixture of you and the floral scent of your shampoo, content to savor the moment where he could pretend that it was real, that maybe you wouldn’t scurry away when you woke to find yourself there.

You began to stir, breathing deeply and opening your eyes. You pushed against him slightly, just enough to peer up at him through your lashes.

“Morning, sweetheart.” Jensen whispered, searching your eyes for a long moment. He could have sworn he saw it, that fleeting passion that he could have sworn was intended for him. His eyes flitted to your lips, plush and full and slightly agape. It would be a dream to mold his mouth to yours and feel you let go. Your skin would feel like silk beneath his fingertips and he would savor every touch.

You seemed to study him, almost searching your brain for some sort of recognition.

You were in a blissful fantasy before you woke, wrapped in Jensen’s arms as he pinned you beneath him, nipping and licking at the exposed skin of your neck. In your hazed mind, you could still feel his delicious weight on top of you as he ground against you, and the burn of his scruff still tingled across your chest as he kissed down your body. His touch still ghosted across your skin but left no trace as your eyes opened slowly to be met with his emerald ones. It took your foggy, drowsy mind a moment to realize that you were no longer dreaming, but the fire in your core was still lit ablaze.

His eyes were filled with fondness as he looked down at you. Finding yourself in his arms as you woke still felt like a dream as your heartbeat rapidly sounded in your chest, until he began drawing patterns on your upper arm with his thumb. Your head rested against the swell of his shoulder and you could feel his stomach rising and falling with breath beneath your arm. He shifted a bit and you realized that your leg was tangled with his as your hips and body angled towards him.

“Y/n? You okay?” Jensen breathed, flitting his eyes between your eyes and lips as you stared at him, still playing catchup in your brain. He sucked in a breath when you pulled your bottom lip between your teeth, still silently searching his features. He could do it – he could kiss you. He could feel every curve in his hands and feel every breath if he took the chance, and the way you were looking at him, eyes darkened with want, he began to lean forward, slowly and tentatively.

Jensen’s tongue ran across his plump lips and continued to trace small circles on your exposed skin before moving his hand to your hair. This wasn’t for show, and the weight of the intimacy bared down on you as he moved towards you, aiming for your lips.

As soon as your eyes fluttered closed, Jensen’s phone began to ring. His eyes snapped open with annoyance as he stared into yours. He didn’t want to pick up – whoever it was could go to hell right now, but when you smiled and told him to, he sighed heavily and grabbed his cell, seeing that it was Stacy once again.

She could usually take a hint, so this must’ve been important. Jensen gave you a sympathetic smile and pressed the button to answer.

“Hello?”

“Jensen? Good morning, it’s Stacy.”

“Yeah, how are you?”

“I’m great. Have you gotten the chance to check social media this morning? There’s some great stuff floating around about you and Y/n already. Apparently some paps got some photos of you two in town yesterday so gossip is buzzing.”

“Oh, that’s… good?”

“It sure is!” Stacy exclaimed, which you could hear from your spot, still tucked beneath Jensen’s shoulder as his grip on you never loosened. “Great job, you two. This is going well already. Keep up the social media stuff, but I wanted to warn you before you guys headed to the airport that there would probably some cameras around.”

Jensen’s eyes went wide, “The airport… right.”

“Yeah, I wanted to catch you before you got in. Are you about to leave? Your flight is in 3 hours.”

He snapped his head to face you as you realized what that meant, looking at him with a panicked expression. You needed to get your ass up and go.

“We’re about to leave soon. Cliff should be here in, uh,” Fuck, it’s 9:00. “20 minutes to get us.” He said, more to you than Stacy as he grabbed his watch from his nightstand when you rolled off of him.

“Alright, well you guys have a safe trip. I’ll be in touch soon!” her chipper voice echoed through his receiver before it clicked and ended the call. You were dashing around the room, gathering your sweater, shoes, keys, and phone before you had to run to your apartment to change and grab your packed suitcase, allowing Jensen to do the same. As you made your way to the door, Jensen called to you, still in his pajama pants and tight v-neck with his hair was gloriously tousled.

“We’ll continue this later?” He proposed, his voice deep and smooth.

You paused in the doorframe to respond, arms laden with your belongings. You pulled your bottom lip between your teeth and grinned, “I’d like that.”

He sighed a breath of relief through his smile before rushing to the adjacent bathroom to take a quick shower.

It was December 22nd, and the airport was going to be insanely packed, but between Jensen’s security needs and first-class tickets for the two of you to Austin, you were able to get priority registration and pre-checks.

You hurried quickly to your apartment, pausing momentarily when you shut your door to run your fingertips through your hair and calm your swirling thoughts. There was no question that he was going to kiss you, at least from your perspective. Could this really be happening? With a smile and a pounding heart, you ran to your bathroom to brush your teeth, freshen up, and change, opting for black leggings and a thick shawl. You threw some last-minute items in your makeup bag and slung it over your waiting suitcase, grabbing your scarf, sunglasses, and purse and you were ready to meet Jensen outside.

Cliff and Jensen met you at the waiting SUV and loaded your luggage into the trunk, Jensen sliding in beside you in the back seat. It was a short ride to the airport and was mostly spent with Cliff briefing Jensen of the security protocols he would be taking once you arrived. He was already prepared for the possibility of paparazzi being present and would be sure you had a clear path to the entrance.

With about five minutes until you arrived, Jensen leaned in to whisper, “Would you be alright with holding my hand? You know, when we go in? F-for the cameras?” he asked, his eyes hopeful and nervous.

Your smile faltered as he said the last bit, worried that maybe the arrangement was still at the forefront of his mind. Until he added, “Or, if you just wanted to.”

His features softened as the smile returned to your face and you agreed. “I mean, ya know… I’d be alright with it.” He said in a teasing fashion, puffing his chest as you giggled. Sliding his hand across the leather seat, he brushed his fingers across yours before entwining a few. Your cheeks began to tingle and your heart swelled within your chest, a feeling present that you’d never experienced before.

Jensen couldn’t get the image of you from this morning out of his head. Each time he closed his eyes, he saw you beneath him, biting your lower lip. It was driving him mad and he was more than sure you were going to kiss him back. Now, though, he was kicking himself for answering that phone call. He was kicking himself for not pulling you into his arms as soon as he hung up.

A short moment later and you were pulling up at the entrance, not entirely surprised to see a few people lingering around the pillars with cameras in their hands. It was a popular spot for folks in their profession, hoping to snap a few shots of celebrities boarding their flights and since the movie and television studios had just recently shut down production for the holidays, their odds increased of getting a good photo to sell.

“You ready?” Jensen asked, squeezing your hand as you stared out towards the building.

Taking a deep breath, you nodded, “Yeah.”

“Hey,” he urged, placing a hand on your shoulder. “Don’t worry, alright? Cliff and I will be right here.”

You gave him a small smile, but deep down it wasn’t only safety you were concerned about. You knew that once photos surfaced of you and Jensen, the rumors would spread fast. Now, though, there would be some truth to them, or so it seemed.

Cliff exited the car and grabbed both yours and Jensen’s suitcase from the trunk before opening the passenger’s side rear door, allowing Jensen to step out. As soon as he did, loud clicks and a whirl of footsteps could be heard, with people surrounding the vehicle quickly. Cliff stood like an intimidating brick wall and bellowed at them, which made a few of them move back a few steps.

When Jensen turned and offered his hand, you put your sunglasses on and grabbed your bag, hearing the furry of camera shutters increase rapidly. Clearly, they were very interested in who Jensen was bringing with him.

You slid across the seat and took his extended hand in yours. When he helped you shuffle out of the vehicle, he laced a few of his fingers loosely with yours once again and made his way through the crowd of shouts and flashing lights, each of you pulling your suitcases as Cliff led the way. One reporter asked Jensen who his guest was, which made you laugh a bit. Another asked where you were headed, but those were the only few that you could make out in the chorus of questions. He waved graciously as he pushed passed them, continuously checking beside him to make sure you were alright. Jensen’s hand tightened around yours and he looked at you through his darkened glasses, giving you a grin. When you returned his smile, you realized that it may be for show, but he never dropped your hand even after the cameras were behind you.

Cliff said his goodbyes when he ensured that you made it safely to the TSA pre-check. He would be heading home soon also, but his flight was a red eye that night so he would have time to pack himself. He gave you a fleeting, knowing look as his eyes casted down to yours and Jensen’s entwined hands, the tiniest smile adorning his lips.

After going through the security check, you and Jensen explored the shops at the airport and grabbed a coffee before taking a seat at your gate with fifteen minutes to spare before they began boarding. A few fans approached him and asked for an autograph or photo and he was polite and chatted with each of them as you smiled from the sidelines. He was always so gracious with the people he met, and it made you a bit proud. It was just another way that he’d proven to stay true to who he was even now that he was recognized almost everywhere he went. It had taken a bit of getting used to when it began and now his fans were calling you by name. When he and Jared were together, there was no stopping the barrage of passersby.

The few people gave you a wave as you sat next to him and you offered to take their photo for them before they ran to their own flights that were departing soon.

Jensen beamed as he waved them goodbye before turning to you, “You know, I’m not sure I’ll ever get over that.”

Laughing, you commented, “Well, I can’t blame them. They get excited seeing you in the ‘wild’.” You joked.

He sat back and stifled a yawn before taking a sip of his coffee, “You okay? Are you tired?” you questioned.

“Oh, yeah. I’m good. I’ll be fine once we get on the plane.”

“Yeah, I know. You’ll be asleep before we reach the end of the tarmac.”

You were jealous of his ability to sleep on planes, but since he began traveling so much he learned to get some shut eye where he could and now the whirl of the jet engines was a lullaby to him, almost putting him to sleep instantly.

“Well, if you snuggle with me, I’ll be a goner, for sure.”

He gave you a suggestive look and wiggled his eyebrows. Before you could respond, the attendant began to call rows for boarding, meaning you and Jensen were some of the first needed to get in line.

He stowed both of your bags in the compartments when you found your seats, opting to give you the window and asking for an extra pillow or two from the attendant. When you sat, Jensen leaned in to whisper in your ear, “Two o’clock.”

You turned to view what he was talking about, knowing that he was signaling you to look in a specific direction. Sure enough, in the row directly behind you to the left, there was someone with a phone pointed in your direction, seemingly hoping to get a photo of Jensen. This meant the two of you couldn’t necessarily talk freely during the flight, especially about what happened that morning, as many people were in earshot.

Giving you a small smile, he reached for your hand after he’d buckled in, clasping it in his as the plane roared down the freeway and took off towards Austin.

Sure enough, Jensen fell asleep against your shoulder about a half an hour into the flight, so you quietly ordered a drink and a snack and caught up on some Netflix on your phone, gently plugging your headphones in your ears so that you wouldn’t wake him.

You were lucky to have a direct flight into Austin, and Jensen woke up about an hour before you landed. You laughed and chatted about random things, just passing the time until the wheels touched down. He held your hand once again as you exited the airport, his fingers searching out yours expectantly and gripping them tight. He began to scan the crowd for Jared, who smiled widely and waved frantically when he caught sight of you as he towered above everyone else in his surroundings.

As he drove you through the streets of Austin to his home, he caught you up on the details of the party tonight, “Gen decided she wanted to do an ugly Christmas sweater themed party, so she grabbed you both one to wear. Don’t blame me, she and the boys picked them out.”

“Oh goodness…” you commented. “I hope Gen looked out for me a little.”

Jared threw his head back in laughter as Jensen looked at you from the passenger’s seat, turning his head to shoot you a look of yeah right as you sat in the back.

You were met with hugs from the Gen and the littlest Padaleckis as soon as the car pulled in the driveway and Tom whisked you away to show you the drawings he’d made for you and Uncle Jensen.

“Hi to you too!” Jensen shouted as they ran inside, pulling you by your hands to follow as you turned to stick your tongue out at him. They loved him, truly, but he was all but forgotten when you were there with him. He waved you off and rounded the car to grab your bags, Jared popping the trunk and helping.

Jared clicked his tongue and pressed, “So… Things are… different?”

“What do you mean, man?” Jensen retorted, feigning innocence.

“You and Y/n. There’s something there that wasn’t there before.”

Jensen sighed, but couldn’t help the smile that bloomed against his cheeks as he ran his hand along the scruff of his jaw.

“Or,” Jared interjected. “Or maybe it’s something that’s always been there?”

Jensen looked at his best friend with a bit of worry in his eyes, feeling as though he’d just been caught. Jared had always known how much you cared about each other and had his suspicions that you each had more feelings than you were letting on, but Jensen had never confessed it to him in all the years he’d known him. It was the one thing they didn’t share, partially because Jensen knew he’d never hear the end of it and Jared would try some sort of scheme to get them together. If it happened, he wanted it to happen organically, not because of the meddling of his 6’4 goofy-puppy co-star. The truth was, though, Jensen was still afraid of ruining your friendship. He never wanted to lose you, ever.

Jared noticed the energy his friend was giving off and tried to offer him a bit of solace, “Hey, man. Not to worry. You two have always been together, just not together. This may have started as an arrangement, but maybe it’s just the open door you both need to explore your feelings? Maybe this is the way you two stop dancing around each other. Maybe this is the push you needed.” He clasped his hand on Jensen’s shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile, his lips curling on one side before he shut the door to the garage.

Jensen thought about his friend’s words, a new sense of courage blossoming within him and making his heart stammer and swell.

“Yeah, maybe.”

To be continued...

…………………………………………………………………………………………

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[potionsprefect]

The Familiar Face (Chapter 2)

Pairings: Ethan Ramsey x Victoria Clarke

Word Count: 1.6k

Summary: After yesterday’s news, Victoria spend a day with her kids.

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: none

Category: fluff

Chapter 1 here

Chapter Two: Always There for You

Ethan was always the first one to wake up in his house. He liked to let Victoria have a lie in, particularly when the twins were newborns as Victoria was with them all day.

It was still dark outside, which was normal considering it was the middle of winter. Slowly, he got out of bed and headed down the corridor to check on the twins in their respective rooms.

Ethan smiled when he saw them both fast asleep, breathing deeply. If someone had told Ethan this this would be his life four years ago, he wouldn’t have believed them.

Ethan bent down towards Lily’s bed and stroked her blonde hair from her face. Selfishly, he wanted her to be awake so they could spend time together. Lily was the spitting image of her mother, bright green eyes and curly blonde hair and she had Ethan wrapped around her little finger. Much like Victoria did. He couldn’t say no to his two girls.

Luke meanwhile was the spitting image of Ethan with blue eyes and brown hair. He however had Victoria’s cheeky attitude whereas Lily was very much like Ethan. She has a no nonsense attitude and at 3 years old, Ethan wasn’t sure how and when she had picked it up.

The repetitive strokes had stirred Lily from her slumber and pulled Ethan out of his daydream. Lily sat up and rubbed her eyes, smiling widely when she saw Ethan.

“Daddy!” Lily threw her arms around Ethan’s neck.

“Good morning sweetpea.” Ethan smiled giving Lily a hug, sitting her on his lap. “How did you sleep?”

“Good! Mummy, Daddy work today?” Lily asked.

“No Mummy and Daddy don’t have to work today. We’re going to spend the day with you and your brother.” Ethan smiled kissing the side of Lily’s head. “Would you like to help Daddy make breakfast?”

“Yeah! With Luke and Mummy?”

“How about we surprise Mummy with breakfast in bed? Why don’t we go wake Luke and make some pancakes?” Ethan smiled.

That seemed to wake Lily up. She got off Ethan’s lap and raced off down the hall to Luke’s room. “Don’t run!” Ethan chuckled even though there was no stopping her. Despite being a mini Ethan, when Lily was determined she was exactly like Victoria. By the time Ethan had reached the hallway, Lily was pulling Luke out of his room.

“I was asleep!” Luke rubbed his eyes.

“Come on.” Ethan said picking him up. “We’re going to make pancakes for Mummy.”

That seemed to wake Luke up and he wriggled to be put down as both kids made their way down the stairs with Ethan behind them. They were met at the bottom of the stairs by Jenner who licked the twins faces making them giggle.

In the kitchen, Ethan sorted out all the ingredients and set to work making the batter. Luke and Lily stirred the batter and helped Ethan pour it into the frying pan. Once they were brown and cooked, he served them on a plate and put it on a tray.

“Are we taking it up to mummy?” Luke asked.

“Yes. Why don’t you lead the way and I’ll carry it?” Ethan suggested.

The twins grinned and ran off out the kitchen towards the stairs and up to Victoria and Ethan’s room.

“Mummy! Mummy wake up. Breakfast!” Luke and Lily shook Victoria awake.

“Did you do all this?” Victoria looked at the twins as Ethan set the tray across her lap.

“They sure did. They’re proper chefs our twins aren’t you?” Ethan said giving Victoria a kiss as the twins climbed onto the bed.

“We hope you like it!” Luke grinned.

Victoria ate both of the pancakes made much to the excitement of Luke and Lily. Victoria knew they had a real talent for food.

After getting dressed for the day, Victoria received a text from Sienna.

Have you seen the news?!

Victoria smiled at her phone, she knew Sienna was on the ball with election knowledge. She sent back a quick: yes I know who’s the nomination.

No no no. Have you seen WHERE he is? He’s in the hospital!

Victoria stared at the text. Ed was in the hospital? Why would he start his campaign in Bloom Edenbrook of all places?

Victoria raced downstairs and saw Ethan in the living room with the twins. She shoved her phone into his hands and his eyes widened as he read the text.

“I’ll sort this. I’ll make sure Leland understands.” Ethan said heading for the door and grabbing his coat.

“You don’t have to go in. Just ring them from here.” Victoria said.

“Vic I promised I’d never let him inside the hospital. I should’ve warned the team last night. If I had anything to say about it he wouldn’t even be stood outside the hospital. It won’t take long I promise.” Ethan said giving Victoria a quick kiss before opening the front door.

“Ethan don’t do anything stupid. Meet us in the park when you’re done.” Victoria replied.

Ethan just smiled and headed out the door. Victoria headed back into the living room where Luke and Lily were playing with their toys.

“Where’s Daddy gone?” Lily asked.

“Daddy’s just popped out but he won’t be long. How do you fancy a trip to the park?” Victoria suggested.

Luke and Lily loved their trips to the park and immediately jumped to their feet. Victoria just chucked as she helped the twins into their coats and put them in their buggy. The park was only down the road but Victoria knew their little legs would get tired and she couldn’t carry them both back home.

When they reached the gates to the park Victoria’s phone buzzed. It was Sienna.

So I’ve had to give the Senator a tour of the hospital and he doesn’t recognise me? You’d think after being forced to praise him he’d recognise a doctor that kissed his ass?

So not only was Senator Ed inside Bloom Edenbrook, Sienna was the one who had to give him the tour. Wanting more answers, Victoria sent a text back:

Was anyone else with you? And did the others recognise him?

Sienna immediately replied:

The ENTIRE hospital recognised him. I got many sympathetic glances. Luckily it was over in 15 minutes.

“Mummy are you ok?” Lily asked, pulling Victoria out of her thoughts.

“Yeah I’m ok.” Victoria smiled. “Now what shall it be first? Slide or swings?”

“Swings!” Both the twins exclaimed.

Victoria chuckled as she got the twins out of the buggy and set them down on the swings. Luke and Lily giggled as they were pushed back and forth by Victoria. Not long after, Ethan joined them.

“Daddy!” Luke grinned as Ethan picked him up out the swing and gave him a hug.

“How’s my favourite human?” Ethan grinned tickling Luke making him laugh.

“No Daddy! I’m your favourite!” Lily crossed her arms from the swing.

“And here’s me thinking I held that crown.” Victoria chuckled.

“It wouldn’t be fair if I said it to one and not the other.” Ethan laughed.

The twins ran around the park for a while longer before they became tired and the family of four headed home. Luke and Lily went down for a nap whilst Victoria and Ethan sat down on the sofa.

“So Sienna text me earlier. Saying she was the one who had to give Ed the tour.” Victoria looked at Ethan.

Ethan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “There was nothing I could do about that. She was already showing him around the ER when I got there. I tried to intervene but she said she could handle it.”

“Sienna’s a strong woman, nothing could scare her.” Victoria replied.

“He didn’t seem to recognise her though which I found strange. However the minute he made eye contact with me, I knew he instantly recognised me. It took all his restraint not to say something to me. I marched straight to Leland’s office and demanded an explanation.”

“What did he say?” Victoria asked.

“He said it was the hospitals obligation to show presidential nominees who request to look round hospitals.”

“He requested to look round the hospital?!” Victoria said startled.

“I didn’t believe it either. I had to argue with Leland as to why it was a bad idea. I had to tell him, I’m sorry. I don’t want him anywhere near the hospital again.” Ethan explained.

Victoria noticed her eyes brimming with tears. Ethan had noticed it too and pulled her in for a hug, gently rubbing her back.

“Why would he want to look round the hospital where he deemed himself to feel unsafe?” Victoria wiped her eyes.

“He doesn’t want people knowing that. Americans probably don’t remember the events at Edenbrook. I sure hope Massachusetts does because he should not win this state.” Ethan replied.

“I know I said I’m not scared of him and I’m not. But seeing him in power. I... I just don’t know if I could handle it.” Victoria said tears rolling down her cheeks again.

Ethan rested his chin on top of her head, stroking her hair. When she looked up at him, he wiped her eyes, kissing her forehead.

“Whatever happens, however this turns out, I will be by your side to help you see it through. And our two beautiful children will be there to give you a million hugs when you’re feeling sad.” Ethan smiled.

The tears started flowing down Victoria’s cheeks freely again, this time because of happiness. “What did I do to deserve such a beautiful family?”

“You didn’t have to do anything. We’d do anything for you. You know that.” Ethan chuckled tightening his arms around Victoria.

Victoria snuggled into Ethan, resting her head on his chest listening to the beating sound of his heart and the gentle rise and fall of his chest.

Everything that had been thrown at Victoria in the past, she had overcome, and gained newfound confidence from. This was just something else she would have to face with her head held high.

And with her family by her side, she knew she could face anything.

— — — — —

Writing dialogue for children is difficult so I hope I’ve made it as realistic as possible. My English A level required me to study child language development so I tried to remember how much a three year old could speak and implemented it here.

Hope you enjoy this! Lmk if you would like to be tagged.

Tag list: @ohchoices @openheartfan @queencarb @genevievemd @iemcpbchoices @choicesaddict5 @schnitzelbutterfingers @alina-yol-ramsey

[wendystales]

Memories - lrh (Chapter Three)

Memories (also on Wattpad)

Chapter Two ※※※※※ Chapter Four

My mother spent the night with me and early in the morning I managed to convince her to go home and sort out her own things. Stephen was supposed to arrive at 8 am and I didn't want her here when that happened, she wouldn't like to see him at all.

“If there's anything I'll call, you can go, really.” I assure her, who goes reluctantly.

The clock struck five to eight and I was for the thousandth time running my hands through my hospital gown and my hair. My hands were sweating and my stomach was churning, I stared at the door as if I wanted to open it with the power of my mind, until it opened.

It was shocking to see him so different from what I remembered. His hair was shaved and bleached, almost white. Now he had a colorless rose on his neck that took up half of his left side and a piercing in his septum. He was a different person, just like me, it really had been years.

“Only Marnie McGonagall manages to remain exuberant even all run down.” he cracks a wide smile to break the tension. “These are for you!” he hands me a bouquet of daisies. They're not my favorite, but I thank him.

“Thank you, they are beautiful. Thank you for coming.” I try to control my breathing. It's all so strange.

“I was surprised by the call, I swore that after you left you would never speak to me again.” he throws himself on the chair beside the bed.

“So our breakup was real?”

“Yes, but not the way you were told, you met this famous guy and fell for him. We had already broken up when I started going out with Bethany.” he talks as if he is talking about the weather. The mention of him and Bethany together makes me nauseous, maybe it was jealousy.

“My mother talked about cheating, that I caught you guys.” I introduce the subject calmly, I know how much Stephen hates to be accused of anything. He rolls his eyes like he' s saying ‘I knew it.’.

“It impresses me that you buy that, Lizzie. You know how much your parents hate me. You broke up with me, that's true, but because you met this guy. He bewitched you, and it wasn't easy to get over you.”

I take a deep breath trying to control myself. It was too much information, too much information. I had broken up with Stephen for Luke, this didn't make any sense. I loved Stephen, I still do. Maybe this memory loss was a chance for us to get back to the way things were before.

“Did you and Bethany...?”

“No! It didn't work out, then she moved to Canada with her family, it wasn't going to work out, and deep down…” he comes closer, sitting on the bed and holding my hand. “I still love you.”

I open my mouth, but can't say anything, the statement takes me in total surprise. Stephen seizes the moment and kisses me. Nostalgia overwhelms me and all the moments we have lived through take over my mind, but deep, deep down, something screams in my head, it wasn't right, it didn't feel right. It wasn't him.

I lower my head breaking the kiss, feeling more lost than before. Stephen holds himself in place, but my urge is to push him away. Something bubbles up inside me and it is not happiness or passion.

“I think it's time for you to go.” I let out a harsher tone than I expected. I still don't face his eyes, maybe out of fear, maybe because I can't bear to look at him.

“You call me here and send me away like this?” he asks incredulously and offended. “You are unbelievable, Marnie. I don't know why I still waste my time with you. Your memory may have faded, but deep down you are still under his spell.” at that moment I abruptly turn my face to meet his. I know that my eyes are burning with anger, and so are his.

“I said, it's time for you to go.” I say in a broken voice, listening to my heartbeat rise.

Stephen stares for a few seconds before he gets up, picks up the daisies, and slams the door. I sink into bed, trying to calm myself. It really wasn't one of my better ideas to call Stephen here, but maybe it was necessary.

I turn on the TV and flip through the channels until I notice a picture of me. I go back to the channel and turn up the volume. They are talking about my accident and without me being able to prepare myself, they play the video of how it all happened.

I hold my breath as the pickup truck crashes into my side, causing my car to spin on the road and crash into the pole. They play it one more time, but in slow motion. The tip of my nose tingles and my eyes start to fill up.

Still watching the TV, my mind brings back the moment of the accident.

"I crank up the starter and before I can send the audio, I feel a loud impact on my left side. A deafening noise fills the entire car. Quite faintly, I watch the track spin and feel the shards of glass hit me, before I give myself over to that uncontrollable sleep."

The video changes and they show my attending, I cover my mouth, watching my unconscious body being pulled from the car.

My stomach clenches and I feel like vomiting from the nervousness. I turn off the TV and grab my cell phone, going back to researching my life in an attempt to distract myself.

Unlike yesterday, I Google my name and see what headlines pop up about me. Some sites give a brief summary of my trajectory, which helps me a little.

I watch some videos of rehearsals, interviews, fashion shows, even those videos of paparazzi leaving restaurants, with him. I look again at Instagram calmly, photo by photo, video by video, even the stories archives. There are several parties, trips, slumber nights, bts from photo rehearsals, and a lot of stuff with him, again. Of course, he is your boyfriend. Asshole!

I barely recognize myself on the screen. The Marnie I watch is outgoing, funny and charismatic, and I was never like that, at least as far back as I can remember. Which leads me to believe that this Marnie, model, famous and full of important friends, is a character.

Leah, Noah, Calum, Ashton, Mike and Kyleen. They don't just seem like friends, they seem like my family, brothers, I don't know. While it is fun to watch some of these videos, of all of us fooling around and messing up, on the other hand it hurts not to have any memories of them.

“How is my little girl doing?” I snap out of my trance and run my eyes to the door. I feel my eyes water as I recognize the middle-aged man.

“Dad!” I hadn't realized the urge to cry until I saw him. Until I felt his embrace.

“ It's okay, my love. I'm here. It's going to be all right, I swear!” he comforts me while I soak his shirt.

“ I'm sorry.” I pull away, trying to control my tears.

“For what?” he looks at me curiously. I shrug, not knowing what to say. Lately I feel I have to apologize for everything. “Honey, none of this is your fault. This amnesia is just a sequel, in a little while it will go away and you will remember everything.”

“I hope so. Even because everything I've forgotten has been very hard to remember.” I comment, playing with the bar of the blanket.

“ It's been a busy three years. You went from just my little girl, to one of the top models of 2019. That's quite a breakthrough.” he laughs, which makes me crack a smile. Only my dad could make me find that funny.

“Apparently I'm dating a rock star.” I join in with him.

“A very nice guy, I must say. He gave me a Gibson guitar.” he widens his eyes, emphasizing how awesome that was.

“Dad, you play guitar?” that would be nothing compared to what I couldn't remember.

“No, but it is amazing to have it on the wall.” for the first time since this whole nightmare, I allow myself to laugh.

My father spent the rest of the morning with me. He told me about his new job and how he was traveling the world now, helping his boss. I don't know how my mother was dealing with all this, she hated to be away from him.

“Mom must not like this new job of yours at all, huh?” I ask, scraping my red Jell-O.

I glare at my father when I notice his silence. We were sharing the bed space, he also had a Jell-O and we looked like two little girls gossiping while stuffing themselves with ice cream. I find his silence strange and wonder if something is wrong.

“Dad?” I call him once more.

“I was trying to find the best way to tell you this.” he sits up straight.

“What? Did you and Mom have a fight?” that was normal, not that big a deal.

“No! Actually, a little more than two years ago, your mother and I talked and we thought it was better to go our separate ways... with different people.” he speaks very slowly, calmly, and a little fearfully. I blink a few times, taking in the words and what they meant together. They got divorced?

I sit up like him, feeling uneasy. I start to breathe deeply. My relationship went down the drain. My parents broke up. Bethany disappeared across Canada. Nothing, absolutely nothing, that I had before had survived.

“Honey?” he brings me back to reality.

“Why? What? What happened?’ I ask. He opens his mouth a few times, saying nothing, trying to find what to say.

“Things were not going very well anymore. We were arguing too much and not even looking at each other anymore.” he takes a deep breath, visibly uncomfortable. “And I had an affair with a woman from my old job, that was the end of it.” he says so low, I can hardly hear, and honestly, it was better not to listen.

I always grew up thinking that my father was the best man in the world. My superhero. Prince Charming from all the Disney movies. The kind of man I would like to meet in my life. And then I find out that my father was none of these things. He is just like all the others.

“How could you?” disgust overflows in my mouth. “You have a family.” again something bubbles up inside me.

“I have no excuse, no justification, I was wrong and I regret the way things turned out. It didn't have to be this way. Okay, today your mother and I are friends and we go our separate ways, but there was no need for all that suffering to happen.” he stares again at the jelly, ashamed.

Silence fills the room. Nobody knows what to say. I don't recognize the man next to me. I don't even know what is going on in my head at the moment, there are so many thoughts and assumptions that I feel like I'm going crazy.

“Have you found someone yet? I mean, are you still with that woman from your old job?” I ask softly, poking the skin on my finger.

“No, she was just a fling. It didn't work out. Your mother was seeing someone until last month, but apparently it didn't work out.” he shrugs, which shocks me a little. I know it's so natural for them, but I'm still absorbing it here. “I met someone, Meredith. We've been together for a year now.” he gives me a beautiful, passionate smile. “Let me show you some pictures.” He gets as excited as a teenager. “Unless you don't want to.” he looks at me fearfully.

“I want to.” I crack a tight smile.

My father is back to being the excited teenager as he shows me the pictures of Meredith and her children. Children?

“They're yours?” I ask slightly jealous.

“No, Kendall and Samantha are from her first marriage, they are twins.” he smiles. “But I love them as if they were my own, the same way I love you.” he gives me a kiss on the side of my head.

He passes me another picture and my heart races as soon as I see them both, he on my lap and she on Luke's lap. I hold up the cell phone and stare at the picture with an ache in my chest.

“This was at my wedding, you both looked beautiful.” my father comments softly. I bite my lip, trying to control my crying and smiling at the same time. We really did look beautiful.

“I always wanted to have brothers, remember?” I ask with my voice shaking. I pass another picture and now my father and Meredith are posing with the four of us.

“They think you are the best big sister in the world.” I grimace, letting the tears come over me. They are not from sadness. Honestly, I don't even know what they are from, but the feeling is good.

Around lunchtime my father left, as he was exhausted, he had come straight here from the airport after a 12 hour flight. I was alone for the rest of the afternoon reading, until my mother arrived at 4pm to pick me up.

When we left the room, I noticed that Luke didn't come, which I find strange, since I remember my mother had commented that he was coming with her.

“He had an upcoming incident with the band, but he should be at your apartment later.”

The fact that I have to wait longer to talk to him makes me nervous and anxious. I just wish he would show up soon so he could help me with everything and clear up the sea of curiosity.

Along the way, I am talking to my mother about her and my father. I was so distracted by the conversation that I didn't even notice when we arrived in front of a beautiful building.

“Are you sure we are at the right address?” I ask looking out the window. My mother laughs and gets out of the car. I live here?

When we get to my floor, I realize that there is only one apartment per floor. We must be at the wrong address. My jaw drops as I enter the hall of the apartment.

Right away I find a huge painting of myself on the wall to my left. I was wearing that strange make-up and an even stranger outfit. The tone is black and white, but I am sure that the color picture is very colorful.

“This was the picture of your first magazine cover.” my mother clarifies with a huge smile on her face. I stare at my picture again, still frowning.

I follow my mother into the living room, once again letting my jaw drop. I had a living room right at the entrance, to my right was the living room with a huge TV, and to my left was the dining room. Slowly, I walk through the space, looking at everything breathlessly.

“Is this my apartment?” I ask in surprise. My mother lets out a short laugh before confirming. “I bought it?” she nods. “With my money?” she nods again. “As a model?” she laughs. “Okay! This is still too much for me.”

I walk curiously around the apartment again, looking at the kitchen, living rooms and, of course, the bedrooms. Two guest rooms and mine. When I reach the second floor, I am confronted with a hallway full of pictures. They range from personal photos to work photos. I pay more attention to the pictures of me and Luke. We are a beautiful couple.

I go into my room and find everything arranged. I let the excitement take over me when I see the closet. I look at the clothes, amazed, besides several boxes of brands like Gucci, Prada and Chanel still unopened.

On the last shelf, I see an older looking box, the slightly faded color catches my eye. I pull out a small ladder and carefully pull the box onto my lap, it wasn't heavy, but doing this with a broken arm and a twisted leg is not easy.

I sit down on the closet floor itself and open the box, wishing I hadn't seen it and maybe never opened it. I gently run my hand over those little souvenirs with tears in my eyes once again. I need to stop crying.

Movie and concert tickets, dried flowers, empty peanut cans, cards, cabin photos, and beer caps, everything I lived through with Luke. The feeling that takes over me is almost suffocating. My body feels and radiates all that it represented, but my mind would not let the image load.

Underneath it all, I pull out a diary and, at the same time that curiosity eats away at me, fear also takes over. I close my eyes and open to a random page.

"I can't believe I modeled at NYFW. OMG! OMG! OMG! It's unbelievable. I'm going to need to watch the runway show about a thousand times before I can believe it."

I flip back a few sheets and stop when I see Luke's name.

"I know it's not a good sign that I'm thinking about him and being so close to him, but I can't help it. Luke is amazing. The way he looks at me, how he listens to me, how he understands me, and his kiss...I can't forget his kiss..."

“Sweetheart?” I hear my mother scream. I wipe away the tears and put the little box under the skirt of some dresses. I get up as fast as I can and walk to the bedroom door.

“Yes?”

“I thought I'd help you in the shower, what do you think? Get rid of that hospital smell.” I accept the idea, which sounds very good.

After a good shower, I put on some pajamas and get to know my room, opening all the drawers, looking at all the makeup, everything. I decide not to go through that box anymore, because I still don't know how to manage everything it represents.

Once again my mother calls me and I believe it's for dinner, but when I get to the living room I find a brunette girl and a guy with red hair.

“Hi?” I nod gracelessly.

“Hi!” they return the greeting a little nervous too.

I ‘know’ who they are. Ashton and Leah. They are in several pictures in my social networks, in my hallway and on the living room furniture.

I watch the brunette with long hair, crack a huge smile. I watch her fingers tightening, like a child trying to control herself. I smile fearfully, but it was enough for her to apologize before squeezing me in a hug.

“I know you don't remember me, but I am your best friend and I am so glad that you are okay.” I look at my mother, who is smiling, and at Ashton, with my eyes wide and patting her on the back.

“Leah, you don't have to suffocate her.” Ashton comments without manner, scratching his forehead.

She walks away gracelessly. I give her a smile, but thank her for the space. Ashton approaches a little fearfully and holds out his hand, respecting my space, but it is apparent that he also wants to give me a hug.

“You can hug me, I don't bite.” I joke, trying to break the tension.

He says nothing more and surrounds me with his arms. Unlike Leah, I manage to return the hug in the right way. His hug takes longer and I feel some tears on my shoulder.

“I thought we were going to lose you.” he squeezes me one more time, before pulling away, drying his tears clumsily.

“You won't get rid of me that easily.” I blink at them both.

“Well, the reason we came here was not just to see you. Of course we were worried to death and everyone wanted to come.” Leah begins.

“But we thought it better not to come all at once so as not to frighten you.” Ashton interrupts quickly. I thank him silently.

“Deep down, we wanted to bring you this.” she hands me a pen drive. “It's not perfect, but we made a powerpoint to explain everything that happened in these three years.” Leah gives a closed smile.

‘You made a power point?” I ask incredulously.

“Of course we did!” Ashton shakes his shoulders. “We hope it helps and that you remember something. Anything at all, any questions, just call.”

“Thank you very much!” I smile in appreciation for both of them.

“Don't you want to stay for dinner?” my mother offers. I look at them expectantly. They both look at each other and give a shrug.

“We don't have an appointment, right? It won't be a problem. The guys will just be really pissed off that they didn't come.” Leah warns Ashton.

“It will be a pleasure to have dinner.” Ashton smiles in appreciation.

Dinner was very quiet, I did most of the talking. They were very curious to know what amnesia was like and how I was feeling and dealing with everything.

“Depending on how things go for you this week, we thought we would have a dinner on Friday. Then if you feel comfortable, of course, you can see everyone again.” Ash suggests.

There is still time until Friday, but just the thought of seeing everyone makes my stomach turn. I know they are my friends and they know me, but I still get nervous. Not to mention that they are famous, I don't know how to deal with these people. Although I am too.

“That's fine, we'll confirm by Friday.” I open a nervous smile. “Huh, Luke didn't want to come?” I question, upset at his absence today.

How am I supposed to get to know and get close to him if he doesn't come?

I watch the two of them look at each other and wrap up the beginning of their answer. In the end, Ashton sighs and answers.

“He is having a hard time absorbing all this. He just needs some time to sort it all out in his head.” Ash shrugs, signaling that it was no big deal.

I understand that it is hard for him. I don't know how I would handle it if I were him, but I'm not going to pretend to be upset that he's not here either, although I can't do anything about it, I'm not going to force him to stay here if he doesn't want to.

“It's really weird having Luke as my boyfriend, you guys as best friends. It's so out of reality. It feels like I'm in a dream and soon I'll wake up.” I comment, playing with the cloth napkin.

“Look, the first time you handled and accepted all of this well. I'm sure you'll manage again.” Leah squeezes my hand on the table.

“So, a powerpoint, hm?” I change the subject not being able to prolong my curiosity any longer. Even though I'm scared, I want to see it.

Leah cheers up again and begins to explain everything very excitedly. With their help we go to the living room and I put the pen drive on the TV, ready to see what they have done. It is strange to think that this small object has all the answers I am looking for. Not to mention the fear of the unknown, in this case, the forgotten one.

“Ok, so this is Michael…” I watch her standing beside the screen, explaining everything to me, with extreme patience and good will. My god, she is an angel.

I look at all my friends and the things we have done. I notice how Ashton was a kind of older brother, overprotective, and Leah was a kind of sister. Always holding hands or holding arms. Or when we were drunk, trying to climb on each other's backs.

They put all the trips we took, my fashion shows and photo shoots, some interviews. It was a great summary. I stare at the screen feeling something strange welling up in me, I see flashes forming in my head, and I begin to force myself to remember.

“Don't skip.” I shout to her, not wanting to lose the flow of memory. “Play that video again.” I ask desperately.

I approach the TV watching Noah, Leah's brother, walking in front of the camera with a bag on his head and complaining that the product was burning. He was bleaching his hair.

" “Why does this shit burn so bad?” I hear Noah shouting from the room, pissed off.

“Because it's bleaching.” I answer, grabbing another cookie from the plate. I sit down on the couch next to Calum, who is very interested in the package of bleach.

“What do you think about me bleaching mine?” he asks, still focused on the package in his hand.

I stare at him for a few minutes, trying to imagine the look. I pout, signaling that it wouldn't look too bad, in my opinion.

“For God's sake, you're not going to do that ridiculous lock of hair again, are you?” Leah shouts from the bathroom.

“It wasn't ridiculous.” He defends himself loudly. “But I really wouldn't do it again.” he comments softly, making me laugh.

“OH MY GOD.” I hear Noah scream. We run into the bathroom to find his white hair, with a few colored dots, just like the ones in the bag.

I cover my mouth in shock. Leah starts to record trying to hold in her laughter, as do I, but we simply can't stand it when Calum reads the name of the pharmacy in Noah's head.

I see him leaning against the doorframe laughing with his hand on his stomach and eyes closed. Miserably, I still try to hold in my laughter, not lasting long and joining Calum, becoming almost breathless.

“Oh man.” he dries his tears, laughing again next."

“Noah didn't want to go out anymore that night. We ordered burritos and stayed at his place. Calum and I spent the whole night laughing about it.” I speak too fast, running over a few words. I replay the scene in my head a few more times still flustered.

They both look at me and Leah starts jumping up and down in celebration. I remembered, I remembered! I start yelling at her, celebrating.

“What's wrong?” my mother comes running from the bedroom.

“I remembered. I remembered Noah with bad hair!” I shout, out of breath. The three of them hug me and again we shout.

[theobxhummingbird]

THE TWO HARDEST WORDS OF HIS LIFE. -JJ MAYBANK X READER

(GIF CREDITS TO OWNER)

Summary: JJ totally smitten by Y/N.

A/N: Here’s my deleted story :( I tried my best to write what I remembered from the other one. Enjoy it.

 Y/N and JJ were the one power-couple the whole OBX talked about; let alone the Pogues themselves. Everyone knew they were just so in love with each other, that no one could get used to seeing the apart. They walked hand in hand everywhere, even surfed together on a same board. All in all, they were too in love to be taken seriously sometimes; but it was cute for those who didn't have a relationship, like Pope for example. It was another of those coupley days, where the Pogues took the famous HMS Pogue for a ride in the open waters. Kie was the saver, with her big cooler filled with drinks, as well as her bag filled with snacks, since that day was one of OBX's boiling hot days. Sarah cuddled up with a sandwich next to John B, who was sipping his beer. Kie and Pope talked about the littering of the beaches, while Y/N and JJ were too far away from each other. Too far meaning, both on each end of the boat. It was strange for the others, knowing their constant touches and kisses, but shrugged it off, probably thinking they started to feel uncomfortable with always being stuck to each other. Y/N's knees were brought up to her chin, as she enjoyed the small splashes of water on her legs and arms. Her attention was easily caught, when Kie asked the one question, she got an answer faster from Y/N, then poor Pope who didn't have time to even think. -Do you want to come for a swim? -she asked Pope. -He can't come! -Y/N jumped up, almost tripping over the rope and falling in the water, -He can't because----uh----he promised about a science topic talk with me----yesterday, he promised yesterday. -Did I?-Pope furrowed his eyebrows, trying to accept the promise in his head, before refusing Kie's offer. -Yes, yes you did. -she tried to convince him, then turning back to Kie, -JJ---can go with you----uh----he's free. JJ's lifted his head up, to meet her gaze; he knew exactly what she's doing and couldn't go against it because it would be too suspicious to the others. He jumped up in a kneeling position, then up on his feet, taking a grip of Y/N's hand and kissing the back of it, before jumping in the water with Kie. -What's going on? -Sarah muttered but John B was near to hear her. -I don't know, but it's another of Y/N's weird actions of taking Pope away and letting JJ do some activities with Kie, and it's getting me confused. -Let's see what happens next. Y/N wasn't listening to poor Pope who was trying his best to explain detail by detail. She just nodded her head at whatever topic he was talking about, which she forgot about and which she didn't even ask about in the first place. Her eyes shifted between her friend and boyfriend, trying to see if her plan worked, but it seemed that they were just talking, normally, like they would.

After the little science session with Pope, Y/N was again, sat alone on the boat. Sarah and John B, made a small plan about talking to JJ and Y/N and then see if the same reasons match together. So, Sarah unsuspiciously approached Y/N, and John B approached JJ.

-Hey, Y/N!

-Hey, JJ.

-Hi Sarah.

-Hey, dude.

-What's up with you? Why are you alone and not next to JJ?

-What's up with you? Why aren't you next to Y/N and alone here?

-Nothing, I'm just enjoying the water.

-Nothing, I'm just enjoying the water, bro.

-Don't lie to me please Y/N.

-JJ, don't lie to me bro. We're best friends, tell me.

-We're best friends Y/N and you can tell me everything.

Y/N's hands went up to her face, as she tried to keep her tears from falling. Sarah noticed her shaking body and put a hand on her shoulder, as a sign of comfort.

-If I don't tell someone, I'll probably die. -she said and let out a few heavy sighs. -JJ and I are not dating; we're doing this fake dating thing because he wants Kie. It all started when he kissed me at her birthday and we're trying to make her jealous, so they could be together. -Y/N- she was speechless and couldn't process the information all at once. -This---couldn't be true----it's a lie, right? -Sarah---you have no idea how relaxed I feel right now. I've been keeping it inside of me for four months and I can't anymore. -But you seem so in love---Y/N I saw the way you look at each other, that's not fake.

-JJ, I saw the way you look at each other bro, that's not fake---it couldn't be fake. And please don't tell me you want Kie, because it's obvious how in love you are with Y/N. -What can I answer you, John B, you even know how good at lying and acting I am. -Dude, this is different. -It's not, shut up.

-This is different. This is not acting. This is love; real love. -He doesn't want me, okay? He wants Kie and tomorrow our deal's over and I'm leaving the Outer Banks. -What deal?

-We made a deal bro. Four months for Kie to fall for me. Tomorrow's our last day; everything ends. -No dude---this can't be true.

-You're leaving?! H-how Y/N, you have friends here? You have us. -I'm going tomorrow afternoon. I'll apply for college, it's been my dream.

-JJ---I cannot believe you bro, this is too wrong for you. -And Y/N's right for me? -Yes?! Are you kidding, she's perfect.

-I'm so stressed right now, this is like the year's biggest scandal. You convinced me of each other's love, I can't think right now. -said Sarah, sitting down on the boat, -And you're leaving just like that? No, Y/N, this is too wrong for you. -And JJ's right for me. -Yes! You guys are perfect for each other, are you kidding with me?

After the amounts of trials, Sarah and John B did to persuade them that they love each other, the Pogues were back at the Chateau. Y/N went to pick up all the things she had there, from her hair products, perfumes, bandanas, shirts, jeans; everything that could remind them of her, and packing it in her beach bag, to not make it too suspicious to the others. They knew she wanted to leave for college and even talked in front JJ to them about it, with the thought of preparing them earlier. JJ was in his room when she entered to take some of the belongings she had there. -I came to take my shirts. -she said and went to the dresser to quickly shove them in the bag. -You're leaving completely, huh? -Our deal's over and I have nothing to do here anymore. Bye JJ. -she caressed his hand quickly and left the room. He wanted to stop her; to run and engulf her in a hug, but couldn't. He hardly had Kie as his logical partner. His logic said she is the one that suits him the most. Y/N---she was different. She didn't have time to hug Pope and Kie, because they left the Chateau, but said one last goodbye to John B and Sarah, before hopping in her car and driving away.

- Y/N was at her house; her suitcase opened in front of her, on her bed. She was folding the clothes and putting them in, completely lost in her thoughts, that she didn't hear her mum come in with a plate filled with every type of fruit she had at home. -Here, eat this. -she placed it on the nightstand. -Mum, a fruit plate, seriously, I'm not a kid anymore? You can't take out words from me by feeding me fruit anymore. -I can try at least, right? -she smiled, -What happened? Is it JJ? -"We're not dating mum, it was all fake." -her inner voice wanted to scream the words, but couldn't because her mum was emotionally connected to JJ and the same pain they shared. -I'm leaving for college and will miss him a lot, that's all. -Don't worry; you'll face time all day I know you two. She didn't. She didn't know them. There was no them. But her mother was too happy to see her daughter happy, that something like fake dating wouldn't even pass her mind. -I'll leave you pack your stuff. -she sat up, -See, the fruit plate worked. Y/N's smiled disappeared, as soon as the door was closed and her mother was out of it. Her eyes though, were stuck to her phone, hoping he'll call and stop her from going, creating scenarios in her messed up head that he has a bit feelings for her, developed in four months like she had. But instead of JJ, John B's name appeared on the screen. -I'm coming immediately. It took her a second to slip her shoes on and leave the house, leaving her mum with questions. She wasn't walking, she was running towards the Chateau, at what John B told her.

-Where is he? -she came breathlessly to the couple. -He's shaking Y/N and keeps saying your name in his sleep. Go to his room. Y/N swung open the screen door and then made her way to JJ's room, where he was wrapped in a blanket, and his hair was wet from too much sweating. -You can go guys, I got him. John B and Sarah followed her words and left the Chateau, as she went to the kitchen and filled a bowl of water, dropping a cloth inside and taking it to JJ. She squeezed out the water and started dabbing it on his heated skin. -Y/N- his voice came in a fragile whisper. -JJ---I'm here. -Don't leave me, let me come with you. -he was now in full pain, but still sleeping. -Where? -she said, lifting him up and positioning his head on the headboard of the bed. -Wherever you want. Just let me be with you. -JJ, I'll go make you a soup, it'll make you better. -she jumped up and rushed to the stove, to make JJ a soup. She stirred it as fast as possible and poured a bowl for JJ and  cup for her, because the Chateau was freezing at night.

It had passed a few hours and JJ was now having nightmares; just like the hours before where he had a few. -JJ---you're having a nightmare. -It---it's cold Y/N. Without thinking twice, she slipped her shoes off and threw the blanket over herself, hugging JJ and transferring him her warmth. She rested her forehead on the side of his head, trying to calm down his trembling body. But what she didn't see coming, was completely falling asleep in his arms. The next morning, John B and Sarah came back to both of them asleep in JJ's room, and to them it seemed that he felt better because she was there, rather than the empty plates of soup and the bowl of water. They shut the door and left them to have peace alone. But not too long after they left, JJ woke up to Y/N in his arms, and nudged her to wake up. -Y/N. -she hummed in response. -You slept here. -Yes. -she said and slowly opened her sleepy eyes. -What do you mean? You don't remember me coming here? -No, I don't. -he said and slipped himself out of bed. -Okay then. I see you're fine. I'm leaving then. -she put her shoes on and walked to the living room. -Y/N! -he ran after her. -We can all have breakfast, huh? You don't have to leave immediately. -Yeah....I HAVE to leave JJ.

- Her drive out of the OBX was painful and full of anger. The boy didn't remember the words he said, neither the care she took of him. Her hands tightly gripped the steering wheel and she hardly held back her tears, from the goodbyes she had to tell her parents. JJ on the other hand, was pacing back and forth, regretting not stopping her from going. After Sarah told John B she's leaving, they rushed to tell JJ that Y/N's going. He was helplessly going from John B to Sarah, asking them what to do. John B's quick pep talk about the way JJ feels for the girl, and that it's too late because she's leaving, woke up his other side; his heart. And he now understood that love sometimes has no logic...or most of the time, and that emotionally he needs to be with Y/N; the girl that's leaving his life forever.

She turned up the music, just to not hear her loud cries. But she did hear them, as well as constant beeping behind her. She tried to fasten her driving, thinking that a driver behind her is too angry at how slow she drove, but the beeping didn't stop, until she realized the same car she was sometimes driving or being driven with. Y/N pulled aside, knowing it must be the blonde coming to at least say his goodbye. -What are you doing, JJ? -I'm stopping you from leaving, Y/N. -Why are you doing this to me? Just go. Weren't you supposed to go to Kie? -No. -Why am I asking even? Whatever you want to do with your life, do it, I'm leaving. -Y/N, don't leave. -those two words stopped her hard steps. They were JJ's never told words, and two hardest words of his life. Traumatized from his mother's leaving, he hadn't told them to anyone since then, thinking he can't hold a person who wants to leave his life. -Why? Why shouldn't I leave, JJ? Is there a reason? -Yes. I've fallen in love with you. You're always on my mind. You've taken a hold of my entire self and I can't let you go. -he said and pulled the back of her head, meeting her lips with a deep kiss. Y/N accepted it and placed an arm around his shoulders. When they split apart, all that made JJ sure that she won't be leaving, is the bright smile curved on her lips.

[sammystep]

No One Lives Forever- CH6

(AO3 link)

Stardust Crusader Wolf Pack AU

[From the beginning- CH1]

<Previous Chapter    Next Chapter>

Jotaro is woken up by the gentle rays of the sun shining through the only window of the room, feeling not necessarily more well rested than usual but calmer. Contented. You are still asleep when he turns to face you. Neither of you had moved much during the night but he’s surprised your hands are still linked together on top of the blankets. He takes a second to decide if he really wants to be awake right now, he’s not used to feeling happy to wake up next to someone else. But ultimately, he’s not tired enough to fall back to sleep and it feels creepy to just stare at someone while they sleep. So, he carefully separates his hand from yours and gets ready for the day.

Exiting the attached bathroom after finishing his morning routine he sees that you’ve also woken up. Well maybe ‘awake’ isn’t the right word. You’re sitting up in the bed but he can’t see if your eyes are even open with how low your head is hanging, your hair obscuring your face. You seem to sense him getting closer and lift your head, only one eye open and squinting at him. Jotaro can’t help the chuckle that slips past his lips, it seems you are not much of a morning person.

“It’s still early. Go back to sleep.”

You have no arguments to this. With a sigh and a flop, you move yourself to the center of the bed and curl all the blankets and sheets around you. Jotaro catches a mumbled “OK. Thanks,” as he picks up his half-torn hat from the night stand and leaves the room.

He’s not surprised to see that Avdol and Kakyoin are already awake and enjoying the start of their day in peace and quiet, counting down the moments till Polnareff and Joseph wake up. Hmm, he should have warned them to be quiet before he went to bed last night. Then again, he didn’t really stick around after dinner to talk things out with his pack. The blood rushes to his cheeks and he tilts his head down so the brim of his hat can shield him. Good grief, they must think he’s some love-struck pup. One girl shows up and he drops all responsibilities to follow after her…

“Ah! Jotaro!” Joseph doesn’t exactly shout at him, but it’s close as the older man walks down the hall, Polnareff following behind him. “Good to see you’re up! You disappeared on us last night.”

“Well can you blame him? Who wants to hang out with us when there is a pretty girl in your bed?”

Jotaro growls a bit at Polnareff, “Don’t be perverted. Both of you knock it off.”

“Easy son, we’re just kidding. Right Pol?” Joseph elbows the platinum blond hard in the stomach. It was one thing for him to tease his grandson, but Pol had a habit of taking things too far. Better to nip this in the bud before they get into a real fight over it. Pol wheezes out a half-hearted apology and Joseph turns back to Jotaro with a more serious look in his eye.

“All joking aside, we do need to discuss this. As a pack.”

Jotaro nods and gestures for the other two men to make their way to the lounge. Once everyone is seated Joseph begins, “So. As exciting as yesterday was, we need to do some damage control and planning. We need to figure out if this was just a rogue group or if they had purpose for being this far out away from towns.”

“Avdol said (y/n)’s wounds were from small shot, and not a killing blow.” Kakyoin added, “But the pellets were silver. Someone was hunting wolves specifically. And planning on taking them captive.”

“We need more information. I’ll lead Polnareff and Gramps back to where I left the hunters. We can see if there are any more clues to who they were.” Jotaro stands as he announces the plan, “Kakyoin, Avdol. Hold down the fort here. I’m trusting you two with…”

“Ah, I see how it is. You don’t want me around for my amazing tracking skills- non! You just don’t want two, what did you call us? Perverts? Around the little lady.”

With a sigh, Joseph starts forcibly pushing Polnareff out the front door. “We’ll be outside Jotaro. Someone needs a lesson on what is appropriate to joke about so early in the morning.” The front door closes with a slam and a muffled smack is heard soon after.

Jotaro shakes his head and exhales loudly out his nose. “Well, he’s half right. Except I do need his tracking skills for this.” He catches the smirks from the remaining two men. “We won’t be too far out I don’t think. Howl if anything goes wrong, we’ll keep an ear out.”

“Same to you. Good luck finding what you need.” Avdol bids him farewell and Kakyoin gives a small wave farewell as Jotaro joins the other two outside.

Polnareff is holding the back of his head and looking more downcast than when he was inside, the older alpha must have dished out some discipline to the younger man. “Hey, Jotaro. No hard feelings, right? I was only joking.”

“It’s fine. This whole situation just has me on edge. Just… don’t.”

“Ah, no worries mon amie! I promise I won’t make anymore jokes about our new packmate.”

“New packmate? Hmm. We’ll need to discuss that later. First things first.” Jotaro motioned with a nod to the forest in front of them. “I’ll take lead getting us there. I left them by the lake but think we need to bring some shovels just in case. That ecosystem can’t handle all of the bodies at once.”

Gathering up some shovels and rope the three men made their way into the forest, backtracking the smell of blood past an outcropping of rocks then turning sharply to the south. The trip took about a half hour on foot, covering up the blood trail as they went to prevent any nosy hikers or forestry department personnel from following it. Finally, they reached their destination, not far from the clearing where you first saw Jotaro in his beastly form.

The remains from the four werewolf hunters were scattered over the forest floor, and although Jotaro had been fast at dispatching them, he was also brutal. Savage bites and claw marks indicated that all four were assuredly dead before Jotaro left them, none of them had bled out. Small scavengers had already made a meal out of the easy pickings, by the scent of the trail it must have been a few coyotes.

Polnareff goes up to the nearest body and starts rummaging in the pockets, Jotaro and Joseph follow his lead. Gathering wallets, extra ammo, and gear they bring what they find to a clear spot not to far away, making sure to keep the belongings separated according to which body they were found on as per Polnareff’s instructions.

As Jotaro searches through the pockets of the last hunter, something seems off to him about this body. None of the others had smelled like anything supernatural, the opposite; they had smelled just of silver and wolfbane. “Gramps, Pol. Come take a look at this one. Or a smell I should say.” The other two meet him at the side of the corpse. “You guys ever smell something like that? It’s not coming from him, more like he touched something and it stuck to him.”

“Hmm, that is weird. He doesn’t have any gear that is giving off that smell, does he?” Joseph crouches down to get a better look at the man. “Pol? Hey Pol, snap out of it!”

Polnareff seems to be in shock from the scent that is clinging to the dead hunter, “I… I know that smell. I had hoped to never catch a whiff of him again!”

“You know it? Well spit it out man!” Joseph shouts, impatient with the younger man’s stalling.

“I met him years before I joined this pack. He called himself DIO!” Polnareff exclaims before grabbing Joseph by the shoulders, “That man; he’s pure evil. I’ve never met another creature like him before or since!”

“You said DIO? That can’t be! How would he have…” Joseph’s eyes go wide as he shouts back in Polnareff’s face, “OH MY GOD! That slimy son of a bitch! After all these years! All these centuries!”

“Old man, what are you talking about?” Jotaro basically pries Polnareff’s hands from his grandpa, both men so distracted that they don’t notice. “Who the hell is DIO?”

“I… I don’t know where to begin! Polnareff is right, he’s the living incarnation of evil! My grandfather, Jonathan, was killed by that bastard! And my father as well by his devoted followers!” Joseph clenches his fists and grits his teeth, “He is the enemy of all Joestars!”

“Hold on old man, you are saying that this guy, DIO, killed your grandpa? How do you even know he’s talking about the same guy? It’d be impossible for it to be him,” Jotaro looks between Polnareff and Joseph, “look, we will talk about this more at the cabin. For right now we need to focus. Besides the weird smell that may- or may not- be this mythical DIO guy, what else do we have to go on?”

Joseph takes a deep breath and collects himself, Polnareff however remains on edge as the cloying stink of magic remains in the air.  “You’re right son, you’re right. Ok, the guy over there had his wallet on him. Just his ID, some credit cards and some cash.” Joseph pulls out the items one by one from the wallet, replacing the cards and cash and keeping the ID out to look at.

Polnareff regains his focus and takes a closer look at the ID. Pulling out the wallets and IDs from the other hunters he studies each one. “The addresses, they are all from the boroughs around the city. Except smelly guy here, he’s from Jersey.”

“Gramps, hold onto those. We can do some research when we get back. Anything else?” Joseph nods to Jotaro and holds out some of the ammo collected from the hunter’s gear.

“Found extra shot on them, its all silver by the smell.”

“And I found this on the other guy over there.” Polnareff holds out a thin strap, made of some kind of flexible plastic with a large protruding box fitted to it. “It looks like it has a clasp. I’m going to see if I can get it working.” As Polnareff clicks together the clasp the box device beeps loudly in the stillness of the forest. A puff of air is released right before a static shock emits from the prongs hidden on the inside of the box. Quickly, Polnareff drops it to avoid being shocked and steps back. “Uggh. I think I’m gonna be sick. Smells like… concentrated wolfsbane.”

Once the initial shock is discharged Jotaro quickly unclasps the collar and deactivates the device. “We’ll take this stuff back with us, let Avdol and Kakyoin have a look. See if (y/n) recognizes any of them from their ID’s.” Surveying the area quickly Jotaro makes a decision, “We’re further from the lake than I thought. We’ll have to bury them all.”

The men make quick work of digging the shallow graves, barely an hour goes by before they are dumping the last body into a ditch. Polnareff makes sure to rip a piece of the fabric from the odd smelling man for further investigation. As they finish their grim work Jotaro picks up on his grandfathers’ pensive mood and unusual silence. “What are you thinking about, gramps?”

“Hmm. It’s that man, DIO. I know you don’t believe that the DIO Polnareff mentioned could be the same as the one who killed our ancestor, but the coincidence… That he’s another evil man named DIO that is now entangled in the Joestar bloodline? And the whole reason we’re here, at the cabin at all…”

“I agree with Mr. Joestar, the coincidence is too unlikely to not be fate. Non, there is something at work here.”

“You think the appearance of this DIO guy and the city getting more dangerous for wolves is connected somehow?” Jotaro pinches the bridge of his nose as he closes his eyes, “Polnareff, you said you met him years before you joined us. That would put the timing right around when wolves started going missing in the city.”

Joseph nods sagely at this connection made, “I’ll give Caesar a ring when we get back, let him and Suzie know we’re cutting this trip short.” He crosses his arms and snorts, “Even if this has nothing to do with DIO, these hunters were here to capture a wolf alive. They didn’t know we were here, which is more concerning cause it means their operation has escaped my notice! I’m Joseph Joestar! And they’ve been abducting wolves outside of MY CITY? Under MY NOSE?” The bristly hair on Josephs arms and face stand on end as he nearly triggers a shift in his anger.

Polnareff is not doing much better to contain himself, the memories of meeting the evil man replaying in his head. Combined with the knowledge of what the hunters were set out to do. “(y/n) said they drove her off the road yesterday. I’m going to take a walk and see if I can find the cars and more clues.” There is a deep growl permeating Polnareff’s words and Jotaro can tell he’s going to take the walk in his wolf form. “I’ll meet you back when I’m done.”

“Take the time you need to cool off Pol.” Jotaro nods at the blond in understanding, the gravity of the situation sitting heavily on everyone’s shoulders. “We’ll see if (y/n) knows anything else about these guys or what they were doing. She’s our only living link to this right now.” Polnareff sighs and nods back, already starting his shift into a massive white werewolf. He quickly picks up the trail the hunters left and sets out on his own.

Jotaro and Joseph follow the trail back to the cabin in silence.

The smell of bacon and eggs hits them as they walk through the front door. A quick look in the kitchen reveals its Kakyoin taking his turn to prepare the meal, you and Avdol are in the dining room setting the table for brunch. Avdol is the first to greet them, “Welcome back. Find anything of interest?” His eyebrows furrow, “Where is Polnareff? Did he not come back with you?”

“No, he went on ahead to check out the cars for clues.” Jotaro says, shaking his head. “We found some things… Lets talk about this after we eat.” Avdol just nods and makes his way to the kitchen to help Kakyoin. Jotaro turns to you and you feel his eyes sweep over you quickly. You’re still dressed in his borrowed night clothes as you have nothing to change into. “Your leg doing better today?”

“Yeah, much better. Just a little stiff, and Mr. Avdol helped me change the bandage already. I should be good as new in a few days.”

“Good. That’s good.” Jotaro sticks his hands in his pockets and leans back. “Like I said, you can stay as long as you need. We… well we’ll discuss it after breakfast, but there was some concerning stuff we found out there. And, I’d… We’d feel better if you stuck with us for a while.”

You frown a bit as the seriousness of the situation weighs on your shoulders, “That makes sense. Honestly, I’m not in a hurry to go wandering off on my own again. Its… nice. Being with other wolves again.” You smile at him and you swear there’s a hint of a smile on his face too before both of your attention snaps to the doorway where Kakyoin is carrying in a serving plate of food. Avdol and Joseph follow him in with the rest of the meal and drinks and you all sit down at the table. “Should we wait for Mr. Polnareff?” You ask looking around at the other men.

Jotaro shakes his head, “No. We don’t know how long he’s going to be gone. We’ll set him aside a plate and some leftovers.” Joseph nods in agreement before starting to pass around the food. The meal is eaten in near silence, Joseph and Jotaro’s tense mood spreading to the others. Once the meal is finished and leftovers put away the pack reconvenes at the dining room table.

Joseph lays the items they took off the hunter’s bodies in the center of the table, “This is the stuff we found on them. As you can see,” he gestures to the rounds of ammunition and the collar device they found, “they came prepared.”

“(y/n), can you tell us if you recognize any of these men?” Jotaro passes the IDs to you as Kakyoin and Avdol examine the other items more closely.

You study the faces and names closely but nothing seems familiar to you. Their photos are almost disturbingly normal looking, they look like average guys but they were capable of such violence? “No, I’ve never met them at all. At least not before yesterday.”

“That’s part of what has us so on edge actually.” Joseph lifts his chin to nod at the collection of gear on the table. “They were professional hunters then. You weren’t targeted for personal reasons. Just the nature of what you are.”

“What is the other concerning part then?” Kakyoin questions the alpha.

“We believe you were right when you deduced that they intended to take (y/n) with them alive. We found this,” Jotaro taps the band of the collar device with his index finger, “on one of the hunters. When the clasp is latched it releases concentrated wolfsbane and an electric shock.” You go pale as you wrap your arms around yourself for comfort. The rest of the pack looks pale and shaken as well, hard stares looking at the cursed device and glancing to you occasionally. “(y/n). We need you to tell us exactly what happened. Starting with where you came in contact with these guys.”

You nod and take a sip of your water before starting your summary of events. “I realized there was something wrong when I left the last town I stayed in; I think it was still in Pennsylvania at the time. I picked up some under the table waitressing job to make some cash and was on my way to see Niagara Falls for my next stop.” You look at the IDs laid out on the table again, pointing to one of them, “I noticed a white van pull out behind me, I think this guy was driving it. I remember his dumb Clark Kent looking glasses. Anyway, I thought it was just another driver at first, until I had to make a pitstop for gas. They must have been far enough back that I didn’t see them get off on the same exit, but when I got back to my car after paying, I saw the van pull around the side of the building.”

You blush and look down at the table, “I kind of panicked then, instead of getting back on the freeway I took some random turns in hopes I would lose them. I thought I did and just ended up driving for a few hours north. But then they caught up to me.” You put your arm on the table and rest your forehead in your palm, “I was looking for a good place to turn off and just fight them, but they ran me off the road before I could find a place. When I got out, I tried to run but they shot at me.” You pick your head up to look at Jotaro, his face set in grim determination as he listened to your account of events. “I guess you know the rest. Jotaro showed up after they shot me a second time and here we are.” You motion around you with your hands.

“Hmm. So they followed you on your way out of town yesterday morning. Had you ever seen them before? Maybe they were customers in the restaurant?” Kakyoin says as he studies the faces on the IDs.

“Its possible. Everyone seems to blend together when you work a job like that.”

“My question is: why did they target you? How did they figure it out that you weren’t human?” Joseph scratches his beard as he looks up at the ceiling. “They have this special gear for hunting wolves, maybe Polnareff will find something in the van?”

“I can’t imagine they caught me slipping up. I am usually very careful with how and when I shift. And I can’t think of anything that happened in public that would have drawn attention.” You shake your head as you examine one of the extra shotgun shells in front of you.

Jotaro taps you on the forearm to get your attention for his next question, “You said things were getting bad for lone wolves. We’ve heard similar rumors in the city, that’s why we are all the way out here. What else do you know about those rumors?”

“Hmm, well there are the normal things you hear about- runaways and lone wolfs having bad run ins with religious nuts. But for a few years now, it’s been more than just that. Whole families go missing sometimes, or someone just barely gets away and after a few weeks they’re gone too.” You shudder and hold yourself again at the memory of the horror stories you’ve heard. “They say it’s a new gang- they’re recruiting or trafficking or something. But the worst stories are about the boss. They say he’s a supernatural creature too- immortal and invincible. Calls himself a lord.”

“(y/n)… calls himself what. What is his name?” Joseph looks like he’s seen a ghost, face white as paper and eyes wide.

“They call him Lord DIO.”

<Previous Chapter   Next Chapter>

Author’s Note:

You were expecting a romance werewolf fic- BUT IT WAS I! DIO!

So this is going to turn into a full Stardust Crusade AU- but when I say AU I mean there are only hints of canon left.

Also, Polnareff, are you trying to upset your pack alpha before he leads you into the forest to the bodies of people he’s killed with only his grandpa as a witness?

Also- no hate intended for people from New Jersey lol. I’ve never even been there and I’m sure you are all lovely, but Pol has issues with you (at least in this fic)

[honey-dewey]

Patient Zero

Chapter Four

Pairing: Din Djarin/Imperial Reader

Word Count: 2,885

Warnings: No big ones, mention of blood draws.

Permanent Taglist: @phoenixhalliwell

Working with the Empire as one of their researchers was, in theory, a boring job. At least, right up until you were assigned the mysterious Patient Zero. With no records, no data, and no name, he may as well not exist. But he’s much more than meets the eye, and you’re about to find that out the hard way.

Multi-chapter story. Chapter 4 of 4. Read Chapter 1, Read Chapter 2 Read Chapter 3

Returning to the medi-ship with the blaster hidden in your clothes wasn’t exactly the smartest move, but it was the only one you could pull off. It was nighttime, so the lights were all dimmed and the only person you knew would truly be awake was Yen. Walking through the halls as if nothing was wrong, you headed towards the medical rooms, where Din was likely sleeping. If all went right, you wouldn’t have to reveal your blaster. If it didn’t, well, then things were about to get ugly. 

Yen was, as expected, outside Din’s door when you walked up to it. 

“You’re back early!” He said happily, yawning widely and grinning. “Have fun?” 

“Not really,” you grumbled, trying to act natural. “There is sand everywhere.” 

Yen laughed. “Damn. Why don’t you go shower and get some sleep? Patient Zero was a doll for me while you were gone, by the way.” 

You took a breath, preparing your poker face. “Ah, that reminds me. I got orders from the boss while I was on my way back. They want to move him. Something about an upgraded facility in the outer rim that might be able to finally ID him.” 

“Oh!” Yen perked up. “That would be nice! When do you leave for that?” 

“Uh,” you shuffled your feet and put on your best guilty performance. “Technically I was supposed to leave yesterday. Figured I’d come to get him as soon as I got back, but I couldn’t make it in time. Is it okay if I take him now?” 

Yen sighed. “Sweet Maker. Alright, I’ll go prep a ship. Sure you don’t wanna wait until morning?” 

Shaking your head, you pulled your key card from your pocket. “Nah. I have to make up for lost time. And I have a ship prepped. Never turned the one I used off, so she’s still running, ready for immediate takeoff.” 

“Alrighty then,” Yen said, stepping back as you unlocked Din’s door. “I guess this is goodbye.” 

Guilt gripped your heart. “Yeah. Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll see each other again.” 

Yen smiled. “Me too.” 

Just like that, he was gone, and you were sliding into Din’s room. “Zero!” 

He shifted in his bed, rolling over and blinking at you. “Wha?” 

You rushed to his side. “Get up. We’re going.” 

Din’s face changed, confusion decorating his features as he sat up in bed. “What?” 

Taking his hands, you looked directly into his eyes. “Din Djarin, I am taking you home.” 

Din jumped to his feet, not even bothering with shoes as he followed you out. You kept your head high as you walked, hoping not to run into anyone else. Luckily, you were able to get Din onto the ship without any issue. Unluckily, as soon as the doors were closed and you were climbing up into the cockpit, alarms started to blare. 

“Dank ferrik!” You yelled, sliding into the pilot’s seat and gripping the controls. “Hold on!” 

Powering the ship up, you took off, immediately swerving to avoid hitting a TIE fighter. The medi-ship didn’t have much by way of attack power, but it could absolutely defend itself if it had to. “Come on!” 

Din gripped the chair he was sitting in, his face tight with worry. “Let me pilot.” 

“Little busy!” You shouted back, swerving again and swearing violently. 

Din stood, holding onto the control panel for support. “Move over!” 

You kept your hands on the controls, standing and letting him sit. As soon as he took over the controls, it was like he was piloting a whole new ship. The Crest moved with odd ease, flipping and swerving with no effort at all. 

“Where to?” 

“Tatooine!” 

Din hit the hyperdrive, the blackness of space blurring away and fading into the pale blue of hyperdrive. You finally relaxed, falling limp into one of the copilot chairs. 

“Okay.” Din turned, keeping an eye on the controls as he put the ship into autopilot. “Explain.” 

And you did. You told him everything. The trip to Tatooine, learning who he was through Boba Fett, the plan to get him out and send him on his way to reunite Mandalore. He listened intently throughout the entire thing, facial expression never changing. 

Finally, once you were done, he nodded. “Does this ship have a communicator?” 

Twenty minutes later, you watched as Din set up the holo-communicator, frustration making his face pull. Eventually, it worked, a shaky image of a man appearing. 

“Din?” The staticky voice said. “Is that you?” 

“Yes,” Din said, nodding. 

You stepped away, allowing Din to have his conversation in private. Shutting the cockpit door, you headed down the ladder to the cargo hold, beginning to set up two small spaces to sleep in storage cabinets. It wasn’t neat, nor was it very comfortable, but it was private and it would work. 

“Hey.” 

You jumped, seeing Din holding the holo-communicator. A scrawny blonde with light robes and a single glove was on the screen. “Who’s that?” You asked. 

“His name is Luke.” Din held the communicator out to you. “He wants to talk to you.” 

You took the communicator, setting it up on a crate and urging Din to sit beside you. “Luke. Hello.” 

“Hello,” Luke said cheerily. An urgent babbling cut him off, and he grinned. “Din, your son is very eager to see you again.” 

Your heart almost stopped when Luke lifted a very cute green baby up, his wide brown eyes finding Din’s face and he cooed happily. 

“Is that,” 

“Grogu? Yeah.” 

You smiled. “Hello Grogu. It’s nice to meet you.” 

Grogu burbled and began to chew on a metal fixture on Luke’s coat. 

Luke gently pulled Grogu away and turned back to you. “Din tells me you’ve been doing regular tests on him, the most concerning is a blood draw. Now, we’ve had theories for years, but I’m eager to see if they’re to be confirmed today.” 

“Well,” you started. “We noticed when we started taking samples of Din, that he wasn’t naturally Force sensitive. However, he reacted to the use of the Force and he had a higher M-count. So, we assumed he’d associated with a particularly strong Force user for a long period of time, and that exposure to the Force changed his systems and adapted him to become more Force tolerant.” 

“Wait,” Din cut in. “Does that mean I’m like Grogu?” 

Luke shook his head. “No. I doubt you could be able to wield the Force. However, this means that the things the Jedi only theorized are true. I would love for you to join me on my planet and explore this concept further. Din, you would be welcome as well, of course.” 

You were shocked. Learning and researching with the Empire was one thing, but with Luke Skywalker? It was a dream come true. 

“Of course,” you said. “I would love to.” 

“And you Din? I could always use more protection out here.” 

It wasn’t even a question for Din. He nodded. “Absolutely. But we have to stop on Tatooine first. Can you send us the coordinates?” 

The communicator pinged, the coordinates saving to the device. 

Luke smiled. “May the Force be with you.” 

“And with you,” you responded, shutting off the communicator and looking at Din. “We’ll be on Tatooine in about 12 hours. Do you want to sleep?” 

Din nodded. “If I’m not up, can you dock us in a specific place?” 

You agreed, and Din immediately went off to sleep away his rescue. Meanwhile, you settled down in the cockpit, ready to land the ship when it came out of hyperspace. 

Approximately twelve hours later, you were landing the ship, hesitating upon hearing faint yelling. 

“I swear to the Force Mando! If this ship is falling apart again I will kill you myself, beskar be damned! Where the hell were you? No wonder this thing is always in horrible shape!” 

You grinned, stepping out of the ship to find a short woman in a mechanic’s uniform. “Hello! Are you Peli?” 

The woman scowled. “Are you with Mando?” 

“Uh.” You had no idea how to respond. “Yes?” 

“Yeah, they’re with me.” 

Peli softened when she saw Din, stepping forward to get a better look. “Where’d the helmet go?” 

Din shrugged. “I was kidnapped. The armor’s all with Fett.” 

In an instant, there was a blaster pointed at your face. “Did they kidnap you?” 

“No!” Din scrambled to correct her. “No! They broke me out.” 

You nodded, letting out a breath as Peli lowered the blaster. “Fine. Do you need speeders?” 

Din shook his head. “Just a place to refuel and get some new clothes.” 

Peli looked Din up and down, finally taking in his stained white Empire issue clothes and no shoes. She did the same to you, eyes narrowing at your cleaner cut researchers uniform. “C’mon in. I don’t suppose you’ve still got the little one, do you?” 

“He’s off getting proper training,” Din reassured, following Peli into the building. “With a Jedi.” 

Peli made a noise of approval as she handed you a stack of clothes. “Try those, I think they’ll fit. And Mando,” 

“Din.” 

“Din,” Peli corrected herself without skipping a beat. “Try these.” 

She left you two to change, abandoning the Empire white for Tatooine browns, greens, and burgundies. As you adjusted the loose cargo pants, you giggled at Din, who was desperately trying to pat his hair down. “C’mere.” 

He moved towards you, waiting as you sat on the bed. You patted your thighs. “Sit. I’ll fix your hair.” 

Din sat between your legs, allowing you to slowly comb through his hair with your fingers. He’d been decent about self-care while he’d been with you, always shaving when his facial hair got annoying and never needing help with his hair before this. You had to wonder how mentally drained he was if he needed your assistance here. 

Peli came back in, holding two plates of food. When she saw the blissed out Din, she quietly put the plates down. “Do you want a real comb?” She whispered. 

“Yes please,” you whispered back, nodding your thanks for the food. 

When she returned with the comb stick in a cup of water, you thanked her again and slowly drew the wet comb through Din’s hair. It worked much better than your hands, untangling the knots and taming the cowlicks. When Din finally got up to eat, he looked much more presentable. 

You turned to use the comb on yourself, but Din stopped you. Taking your wrist, he looked at you with pleading eyes. “Can I? I mean, you did it for me. It only seems right that I, y’know,” 

“Of course.” You dropped the comb into his hands and sat on the floor, waiting. Din carefully put his legs around you, sitting on the bed and wetting the comb. Water trickled down the back of your neck as he worked, his warm hands firm on your head as he guided you. The tug of the comb lulled you into a soft, gentle place. A place beyond trouble or fear. 

But good things don’t last, and suddenly you were up and eating so you could head out to Fett’s palace. 

“You come back now, you hear me?” Peli said as you climbed aboard the ship again. “I don’t want you dropping out of the galaxy, okay?” 

“Yes Peli!” Din called back, shutting the hatch. “See you soon!” 

You smiled, waving as you took off. Fett’s palace wasn’t far, so you didn’t even bother napping during the short trip out. 

When Din landed, he eagerly bounded off, knocking firmly on the front door you’d stood before not even a week prior. 

“It’s Din.” He confirmed to the hatch. “I’m here to see Boba and reclaim my armor.” 

Immediately, the doors opened, and Fennec was scooping Din up in a hug, his feet actually leaving the floor. “You had us worried sick!” She said happily. “Boba and I assumed you were dead! And you,” She said, turning to you. “You returned our bounty hunter safely. Is there any way we can repay you?” 

You shook your head. “No m’am.” 

Fennec snorted. “Please. Just Fennec will work. C’mon, let’s go see Boba.” 

Of course, on the way, you two detoured to pick up Don’s armor. He methodically put it all on, from the flight suit to the vambraces. You watched, memorizing his every movement. He picked the helmet up, staring at the dark visor. “When I swore the Mandalorian creed,” he said softly. “I swore that if my helmet ever came off in the presence of any other living thing, I wouldn’t ever put it back on. I would lose that part of myself, forever.” 

You stood, taking the helmet from his loose grip. “Din. You’ve earned this helmet ten times over.” Slowly sliding the helmet on, you noticed an immediate difference. Din stood taller, more confident and clearly more comfortable. “It suits you.” 

Fennec poked her head in. “Are we ready?” 

Din nodded, strapping a strange hilt to his belt and sliding a pure metal spear into a sheath on his back. “Let’s go.” 

Meeting Fett again was interesting. He, like Fennec, thanked you for returning Din. You simply responded that it had felt right, and there was no need to thank you. 

That night, after ample private celebrating during which Din removed his helmet so he could drink, you were alone, staring at the moons through a barred window. Slowly turning over, you sighed, trying to chase away the loneliness in your chest. 

A hesitant knock at your door snapped you upright. “Come in?” 

Din pushed the door open, slipping into the room. He was in his pyjamas, armor nowhere in sight. “Can’t sleep?” 

“And I take it you can’t either,” you pointed out, standing and stretching. “What’s troubling you Din?” 

“Loneliness.” 

You smiled. “My bed is always open,” you offered, not even thinking before you spoke. 

Din blinked. “Really?” 

Before you could hesitate or stop yourself, you nodded, scooting over. “Of course. C’mon.” 

He slid into the bed with you, eyes immediately blinking shut as you drew the covers up, covering yourself and Din to the shoulders. He relaxed, breathing out and sliding an arm over your body. You didn’t protest, instead curling closer to his warmth. “Are you really going to stay with Luke and Grogu?” You asked the hushed air. 

Din breathed out. “For a bit. I have a planet to run, apparently.” 

You laughed a bit, trying to stay quiet. “Right. The planet.” 

Din smiled. You could feel his cheek moving against your head. “What about you? Will you stay with Luke forever?” 

“Probably not,” you admitted. “I’m a traveler at heart.” 

“Me too,” Din said. “Bounty hunting was how I got out of the covert.” 

You snuggled deeper under the covers. “But you’ll stay with Luke for a bit?” 

Din was quiet for a minute. “As long as you stay too.” 

His response confused you. “What do you mean?” 

“I like you,” he admitted, his voice tender. “I enjoy having you around.” 

You smiled. “I enjoy having you around too. Can we finally be friends instead of researcher and project?” 

Now it was Din’s turn to laugh. “I thought we already were friends.” 

“Maybe we can be something more than.” 

Din hummed out a shallow breath. “Something more,” he said. “I like the sound of that.” 

The next day, as the twin suns painted the sky a brilliant orange and pink, you bid Fennec and Boba farewell as you got aboard the Crest. Din let you pilot, opting to, instead, organize the ship. You heard him clattering around every so often, but didn’t question it. He’d clearly flown a Crest before, and you trusted him to make this his home. 

Finally, you landed on the mysterious green planet from the coordinates. Setting down near a temple, you drew a cloak across your shoulders as you stepped off the ship. 

Immediately, Grogu came running as fast as his tiny legs would let him. Din crouched down and scooped him up in a tight hug, his shoulders heaving as you realized he was crying. Quickly ditching the helmet, he let Grogu pat his face down, smiling behind his tears. 

“Ah?” Grogu finally noticed you, pointing one small claw at you. 

“Yeah,” Din said. “That’s a very nice person who helped me come home to you.” 

You smiled, stepping forward and taking Grogu’s hand. “Mhm. Your dad is very brave and has waited a long time to see you again. He told me all about you.” 

Grogu cooed, cuddling into the curve of Din’s shoulder and falling asleep. 

Luke came over the hill, much slower than Grogu. “Hello.” He waved. “How was the trip?” 

Din shrugged. “Just fine. We didn’t find trouble, if that’s what you’re asking.” 

“Perfect!” Luke said, clasping his hands. “I’ve got two rooms set up for you guys, if you’ll follow me. I apologize if they’re messy, my nephew is visiting.” 

“Actually,” you said quickly, glancing to Din and getting an approving nod. “Is there any way you could make that just one room?” 

Din smiled, kicking his helmet. You reached down to pick it up. “Yeah,” he said, putting the arm that wasn’t holding Grogu around your waist. “Just one room.”

[like-a-bag-of-potatoes]

Then and Now - Smells Like Home

AN: It's been a while since I’ve written Supernatural, or Dean, but I'm back now with a new Series. Gonna be 10 parts in total with a lot of feels and fluffs. I've been toying with this idea since I started re-watching spn earlier this year (thank you quarantine) and then after reading a series by the amazing @percywinchester27​ I got inspired and started writing. Shout out to my awesome beta @thorne93​, you da bees knees. 

AN2: I'm doing a thing where I raffle off a personalised drabble every month. How do you join? Easy, just hammer that reblog button. Reblog is one entry, reblog with comment is two entries. So you help spread my work and you might get a little sumpthin’ in return. Win Win

Pairing: AUDean x Reader

Warnings: None I think. 

Wordcount: 2494

Summary: It's 2010 and you’re back in Lawrence to settle your family’s affairs after your mom passed. You hope to be in and out of town before anyone really knows you’re there, but that doesn't go as plan. Will a certain green eyed mechanic convince you to come back to the life you once had in Lawrence? Or are you going to return to the real world as soon everything is settled?

The small town air in Lawrence was so much different than the polluted, exhaust filled air in New York. Here, you could actually breathe and not feel as though your mouth and lungs filled with whirled up dust and fumes from the constant traffic. It was something that you had gotten used to doing as the first thing when you reached a new place, to draw a deep breath through your nose and smell the town. It sounds weird, but every town and city had its unique smell, and Lawrence? Well… Lawrence smelled like home. 

It had been a long time since you called Lawrence home though, and now, considering the circumstances, you didn't know if this place would ever feel like home again. Even though it smelled like it. 

The town passed by the window as your cab made its way through it, some of the small businesses that you remember going to as a kid had been replaced by others, but some remained just as you remembered them. Like Rufus’ Hardware, where your dad got all his tools and things like that, and Harvelle’s Scoops where you used to hang out after school. The memories made in that place brought a smile to your lips. It had little to do with the fantastic ice cream sundaes they served, and all to do with the group of friends you used to hang out with. At the edge of town, you passed the Winchester Auto Shop, and again you smiled. The facade hadn't changed since you were here last, and neither had the clutter that surrounded it. Dean Winchester ran it now, your mom had told you not to long ago. John had passed away about a year earlier, in his sleep of all things. You had thought then about picking up and calling Dean, to offer your condolences, but it didn't seem appropriate after all this time. 

A knot started to form in your stomach as the cab turned from the main road and started down the gravel path that led to your childhood home. This place would never be the same again to you, not now that you were the only one left. The words your father had preached so many times echoed in your ears as the house came into view, and all of a sudden you felt the familiar sting of tears behind your eyes. ‘A home is not created by four walls and a roof, it's the family inside that makes a home’, but there was no family left in that house, and therefore it was no longer a home. 

It smelled like home though, moreso out here than it did in town. It smelled of freshly cut grass and flowers, and somehow it still smelled of the livestock that hadn't lived in the barn in many years. When your father had died about six years ago, your mom had discontinued the run of the farm, she just wasn't up for the task anymore and you weren't willing then to come back and help her. It was a huge mistake you had made back then, something you'd have to carry the guilt of for the rest of your life. 

As you climbed the few steps up to the front porch of the house, the planks creaked just the way they had always done, and a weird feeling of comfort crept upon you. It was soon washed away though, as you saw the wilted flowers in the pots on each side of the door. Memories of planting the flowers every spring with your mom played in your mind, bringing with them a hollow sadness that you couldt allow yourself to feel right now. The flowers before you had wilted away, just like your mom had done, alone on this farm without anything or anyone breathing life into them. 

You had abandoned her when she needed you the most, and that was something you could never take back. And for what exactly? Your career? The illusion of love from a man that turned out to be something else entirely? The starry eyed dream that a city like New York promised to make true? No. It was all for nothing, and it was too late to make things right now, you could never fix this mistake. 

Pushing away your emotions wasn't easy, especially as you walked through the old house that hadn't changed much and the memories from your childhood threatened to bring you to your knees. No, you had to push it all away. You were here to get things in order so that you could sell the place and then haul your ass out of town again. A week. Two at the most, and then you could return to the messy life you had left back in New York. 

***

It was early in the morning when the sun crept through the curtains of your room, making you groan in displeasure. Back in New York, tall buildings surrounded yours making it so the sun didn't reach your window until 11am. Something that suited your lifestyle perfectly. You were a night owl, always had been. 

As you opened your eyes, you saw the five members of Backstreet Boys smiling down at you and you couldn't help but laugh. The poster you had once hung in the ceiling had been long forgotten, as had the girl that hung it up there. It was barely past six am as you begrudgingly dragged yourself out of bed, but the sooner you got started, the sooner you could get out of here and back to the big city where you belonged. Nothing had changed in your room in the past - what- 13 years since you lived here. Your parents hadn't touched it, and whenever you visited, you never stayed long enough to bother changing anything. 

In your closet you found your old flannel shirt, the one that a certain green eyed boy had given you one night when it was cold. You took it from the hanger and ran the rough fabric through your fingers before you, as on instinct, brought it up to your nose. It didn't smell like him anymore, but you hadn't expected it to either. You threw it on over a white tank top and shimmied into a basic pair of jeans, and then you spotted them. The brown cowboy boots your dad had gotten you as a going away present when you left. The boots that you had left behind because they didn't fit into the style of life you were pursuing in the big city. Unused and filled with guilt they stood there and basically mocked you. With mixed emotions you slid your feet into them, like if it was an effort to make up for past behavior or something. Nothing changed, your dad would never know how much you appreciate them in this moment, but you still wore them, completing the farm girl look as you set out to start the day. 

It was nearly noon before you took a break, the scorching sun forcing you to find some shade to hide in for a little while. Tomorrow you had a meeting with a realtor, she would help you with everything that came to selling the place, what you would have to get rid of beforehand, and what could be sold with the property. So until then, you just went around and cleaned things up a bit. Now it was lunch time, but you hadn't done any shopping yesterday, and there was a limit to how many granola bars one could have. 

Inside you found the keys to your old truck, and with a nostalgic giddiness you practically skipped outside to the garage to find it. It was an old Ford pickup truck, blue with a white trim around it. Your father had kept it running for as long as he was alive, but now it probably hadn't even been started since you were last here. Two years had passed, but you had unrelenting faith in this truck. “Come on, baby. Show me what you’re made of,” you gently coaxed as you slid the key in the ignition. As you turned it, you closed your eyes and prayed to a higher power you didn't believe in. A meek noise came from the engine, but the engine didn't turn at all. “It was a long shot,” you conceded.

There was a greater chance of getting your mom's car to start, a shaggy, old Volvo that she had had forever, but it was well kept so you had a home there. But no such luck. 

You thought for a moment, but it was abundantly clear what your next move had to be, and you didn't really look forward to it. 

As you waited on the front porch, you looked at the hammock chair that hung there. The ropes that came with it had been exchanged with chains that had started rusting. Visions of your mom reading while she rocked back and forth flashed across your eyes, remembering how the creak of the chains had reverberated and amplified up to your room and annoyed the shit out of you. How you had yelled out the window and how she had apologized. You also remembered how your dad had caught you and Dean there one night, way past either of your bedtimes. That particular memory brought a smile to your face. If your dad only had known where Dean's hand was a minute before he came crashing through the front door. Oh to be young and in love again. Or young. Or in love. 

The roar of an engine pulled you from your little trip down memory lane, and as you got to your feet the sleek black car came into view. Part of you wished he would just send someone else out here, but somehow you knew that he would be the one to come. 

As he excited his car, you ascended the few steps from the porch, a weary smile on your lips. “The allusive YN YLN,” he said with that cheeky grin of his. 

“In the flesh,” you responded before you gave him a hug hello. “It's good to see you, Dean,” you offered. So good in fact that your heart skipped a beat as you laid eyes on him. He looked exactly the same as he had done all those years ago, the only difference was that his leather jacket had been discarded somewhere in exchange for a simple black t-shirt. Knowing Dean, though, and you did, the jacket was still somewhere waiting for the summer heat to ease up so that it could be used again. 

Five years had passed since Dean saw you last, but you hadn't changed much, if at all. “I was starting to think I’d never see you again,” he half joked. 

“Well…” you started, but let your words trail off. “Thanks for coming so soon,” you said to change the subject. 

“You kidding? I haven't seen you in forever, couldn't let that chance go to waste,” he noted. “The old Ford?” he wondered, pointing to the open garage. 

“Yeah. The engine’s not turning, so I'm pretty sure it's the battery. I probably just need a jump,” you explained. You weren't an expert in any way, but growing up on a farm you learned a thing or two about engines. 

“The battery?” he asked with a chuckle. “YN, this thing was old as sin back when you got it. I'm not sure it has any more miles on it.” 

You tried really hard not to notice the freckles across his nose, or the bright green of his eyes, or the scruff on his jaw, or how his muscles moved under the shirt as he opened the hood. “She might be old, but I know that she has more in her. She's younger than yours,” you retorted. Trying really, really, really hard not to notice the crinkle of his eyes as he smiled. 

Dean didn't respond to your comment, he just made his way to the driverside to get in and try starting the car. He listened intently as he turned the key, and then he jumped back out. “We can try jumping her, but from the looks of this battery you’re gonna need a new one,” he noted. 

It took a few tries, but it finally started. It wasn't the confident engine roar you were used to from this car though, it was more like a cough and a stutter before it settled into its idle rhythm. 

“Can I drive it into town like this?” you asked, looking up at Dean who was still listening to the engine sounds to make sure it was alright. 

“I wouldn't stop it though. I'm not sure if you'll get it started again if you do.” He looked up at you as he wiped his hand on a rag he pulled from his back pocket. “I'll get you a new battery. Might be good to let her sit until then.” 

You sighed and ran your hand through your hair, holding it away from your face for a moment. “But it’ll be fine if I don't cut the engine off, right?” you asked, a hopeful look in your eyes. “I need to go shopping,” you explained before he could discourage you. 

Dean sighed. “You have my number if you get stuck in town,” he offered. 

“Can I ask you something? If you’re not in a hurry, that is?” 

Dean checked his watch and then motioned for you to go on. 

“I'm here to settle the property,” you started to explain. “And I'm not sure if this is in your wheelhouse or not, but I wondered if you could check out the farming equipment that we have, the tractors and such? I just want to know what I can sell and what's a good price.”

“You’re selling the place?” he asked, eyes widening in surprise. 

“Yeah. I get that it might be out of your expertise, but maybe you can recommend someone who knows about these things?” 

“I can take a look,” he offered. “But not right now, I'm already late for something. Can I come back later tonight?” 

“Of course,” you said eagerly. “How about I make us some dinner… as a thank you?” 

Dean furrowed his brows. “Are you gonna cook?” He thought back to all the meals you had prepared for him over the years. It was sweet and all, but you could hardly call it food.  

“I know what you’re thinking, but I took some classes and I'm actually a pretty decent cook now,” you said proudly, but Dean's face was full of scepticism. “Okay. I know how to cook a few things.” He still looked right through you after all these years. “Alright. One thing. I know how to cook one thing. I hope you like chicken parm.”

“Can't wait,” he said with a chuckle. 

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[polaristranslations]

Shinobu Mustard Episode 4

028

"Kanbaru. Do you mind becoming a slave for tonight? Also, lend me your house."

"All right!"

Second slave, secured.

"Oikura. Tonight, become my slave, and cook for me."

"Don't think you'll be able to live until tonight."

Third slave, failed to secure.

The reason for that failure was most likely because I'd been a hurry and said "my slave"... Well, it wasn't like I could tell her to become the slave of a golden-haired, golden-eyed girl.

And because of her connections with Gaen-san, I couldn't exactly get Kanbaru fully involved in this either, so renting her house for one night should be good enough.

As the "citadel" of the king of oddities.

I'd heard yesterday that her grandparents were out on a trip, so Kanbaru could stay over at Higasa-chan's house or even Karen's room in the Araragi house and hold a pajama party there, while I was allowed to do whatever I liked in the meantime.

I knew it made me sound like an outlaw, but it was a decision I couldn't avoid—the only building I could think of in this town that could serve as a vampire's stronghold was Kanbaru's mansion.

Just as the death-prepared, death-inevitable, death-certain vampire, Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicidemaster, had once taken up residence in the "Castle of Corpses", the iron-blooded, hot-blooded, cold-blooded vampire, Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade, needed a building of suitable pedigree in which to take up residence.

It was fairly Japanese-style for a castle—or rather it was just a Japanese mansion—but hopefully, this being Suicidemaster's first visit to Japan, she wouldn't be able to differentiate between castles and mansions in Japan... Not that I, a Japanese person, could.

"But no, I didn't say that just because I wanted to show off. If Suicidemaster were to learn that her former thrall who she came to visit had been rendered harmless and sealed in the shadow of a pervert—nay, human—she may close herself off entirely. We won't be able to hear a single shred of information. In the worst case, you might even be killed. Would you be fine with that?"

"No, I wouldn't, but..."

"In that case, become my slave again like you were in last year's spring break, and prepare a castle and a banquet. To make my reign more convincing. If you can secure two or three more fake thralls, then that would be great."

The slave sealed in my shadow stuck out her chest in pride and ordered me as such from the child seat.

Erm...

"So basically, you want to greet your old pal with a master-servant relationship in that sort of fashion?"

"Fashion is important in hospitality. I'm pretty strict on fashion. Like a Parisienne."

"No, rather than a Parisienne, you're more like a putting-on-airs-ienne. Respectfully speaking, Shinobu. Wouldn't a petty trick like this just be found out immediately..."

"Oh, you're already getting into it. 'Respectfully speaking', you say? Ka ka, you're an expert at acting like a slave already! Have you done this before? Wait, of course you have! Ka ka, keep it up for the real thing!"

With a loud laugh as if she'd already gotten accustomed to being the master, Shinobu sunk back into the shadows... It almost looked like she was assimilating with the child seat.

What a mess. She'd appeared as if she was going to listen to my concerns, but then she just said whatever she wanted to—however, as soon as I parked my New Beetle in the parking lot, before I went inside, it was then that I called Kanbaru, who'd been in the middle of her morning run, and Oikura, who'd been indulging in her slumber at her lodgings.

Kanbaru had eagerly agreed (it was scary how eager she was, but I decided to call her back and discuss it properly, as well as other things), while Oikura had refused (if I left her alone, she'd probably call me back, so at that point, I'll more or less apologize from the bottom of my heart... and ask for her home cooking separately).

Well, Shinobu putting on airs was the same as always.

I almost wanted to tell her to be more show-offy towards me, but considering the way she was cooperating for this case, I couldn't bluntly refuse that honesty... I had better properly inform Gaen-san about this, too.

Thinking about it, Kanbaru was the "niece of that Gaen-san", but in reverse, Gaen-san was the "aunt of that Kanbaru". What if Gaen-san casually went, "I'll do it, too! Let me be a slave, too!" after I went to her with our plans?... I didn't want to see Gaen-san like that.

What an odd family they were.

On the other hand, even though my parents were ordinary, upright public servants, why had all their children turned out like that?

Speaking of which, the fact that only the members of the girls' basketball team of Naoetsu High were being attacked could be rephrased as "only Kanbaru's juniors were being attacked", so maybe it was a good idea to think about things with her as the focal point.

Even if the gourmet Suicidemaster were only able to dine on "Princess Beauty", Kanbaru Suruga was the daughter (in other words, the direct descendant) of Gaen Tooe, who's practically talked about as if she were a legend—so for the club members that were under her influence, the possibility of them being targeted is...

Although, in that case, maybe Kanbaru herself would be targeted? Actually, it was fairly possible that that was the case—and if so, then using Kanbaru's house as a meeting place wasn't a bad idea, if only to see Suicidemaster's reaction, but Kanbaru herself should probably be kept far away.

That was what ran through my mind as I wandered around the campus of Manase University to kill time, having arrived earlier than expected (it was a fairly expansive university, and I still hadn't seen all of the campus yet. Supposedly, it would take over four years to check out all of the facilities—what was this, the British Museum?), but once it got close to 7:45 am, I knocked on the door to the lecture hall for my international linguistics class.

Although it was called "linguistics", it was different from classes on foreign languages in that it put languages from all over the world, both famous and unknown, on equal footing and compared them in detail. Ultimately, an unproductive course with no destination in sight—there were many incomprehensible courses like this in college.

But I liked that sort of incomprehensible stuff. Could this be Ougi-chan's influence?

It was a liberal arts course unusual for someone in the mathematics department to take, and it was hard to say that the course was particularly popular even taking into account how early in the morning it was, but for Meniko, whose goal was to work with codes in the future, there was no way she couldn't take this course—well, for her, international linguistics probably wasn't even an "incomprehensible course" (in exchange, Meniko was bad with normal foreign language study).

"Hola. Araragi-chan, you're ea~arly. How diligent of you~u."

"I dunno about being called early when you're here in your seat before me. Hola."

Not to mention, I planned on skipping class after this. Unfortunately (or not), today's lecture hadn't been canceled.

It seemed I'd have to borrow Meniko's notes another day—the number of favors I was asking her was increasing. Someday, I'd better do something for her in return.

I bumped fists with Meniko and sat down next to her, and then asked, "Do you mind if I asked you to decipher another code?", showing her the sequence of numbers that I had displayed on my cell phone.

"Hmm. Hmm, hmm?"

A normal person, after being asked to solve codes like these two days in a row, would find it strange and ask for my intentions before even trying, but this was Hamukai Meniko—she couldn't not solve a code that was put before her.

It was a difficult personality, but I liked that about her... It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but neither I nor my proud network of friends from high school were people that moved without some reason or purpose.

Even Hanekawa and Oshino.

And even the violent onmyouji Kagenui-san that was heading towards this town was actually a person of reason—she moved according to her own, unique logic.

As a result, there had been a time when I'd thought that people were just like that, but after becoming friends with Meniko, I came to learn that there were people who weren't like that—I'd been enlightened.

Meniko also seemed to be rather interested in the fact that I was (in a rough estimate) rather logical about things, so I suppose it was a mutual thing.

In order to maintain this relationship, I didn't dare introduce Meniko to any of my other connections, such as Oikura, even by mistake—of course, I had absolutely no intention of breaking off my connection with Oikura, who I had reconnected with after entering university, but as for her... Rather than our connection being broken off, it could be more like she herself would snap.

"A cell phone, huh. Was the code recorded in a cell phone?"

"Yep. Although I don't know if that holds any meaning..."

"That's tru~ue. These days, cell phones are like a part of our brains now, aren't they? Some people criticize the fact that when you go on a trip, you end up looking at the scenery through the small screen of your smartphone, but looking at something with the camera of your smartphone is basically the same as looking at it with your own eyes. Maybe when people complain about train passengers playing with their cell phones, it's a sign that they've failed to pair their phones with themselves?"

I hadn't exactly mastered the use of a cell phone myself, so it was hard for me to wholeheartedly agree, but, well, it wasn't like I didn't understand what she was saying.

"Anyway, this time it's only numbers, huh. Hm. I did solve it, bu~ut."

"Already? You're really the one that's early to things, aren't you. The truth is, I didn't have the slightest idea."

It wasn't like I didn't feel helpless when delegating the whole thing to Meniko, so I'd thought that I'd challenge it on my own in the period of time before I took it to her, but I'd spent most of that time on Shinobu's matter.

"It doesn't seem like putting it on a phone and not on paper really mattered? But numbers are easy to make into a code, aren't the~ey. Languages can vary from region to region, depending on grammar and culture, but numbers are worldwi~ide. No matter where in the universe you are, one plus one is two, and a prime number is a prime number, ri~ight?"

"That's not actually the case. For example, in Nepalese, the representations for '1' and '9' look similar, so when a Japanese person sees them, the math wouldn't add up at a glance. The logic would look completely wrong. Also, it's only in Japan where people use the '正' kanji to count to five, and for someone like me, the little horizontal bar used to distinguish a '7' from a '1' is enough to make me not think of it as a '7'".

"I see. For someone like me, a '7' with a horizontal bar looks kind of like the kanji for seven [七] upside down, so I end up getting those confu~used. So you're above me when it comes to that, huh, Araragi-cha~an."

There wasn't really an above or a below in this exchange, but aah, I wanted to have a conversation like this.

I suddenly realized.

When Shinobu—when Princess Acerola, as "Princess Beauty"—went about destroying countries... When she was a human, did she feel the same way as this when she met a vampire?

Even though it was a relationship of eat or be eaten.

The interpretation that they were vampire and thrall, or master and slave, was at odds with the lighthearted way in which she spoke of her as an "old pal".

She had said that she'd reflected from that time with Shishirui Seishirou, so I'd interpreted it as the master-slave relationship having been reversed, but what if it wasn't that? What if Suicidemaster really was just a "friend" to Shinobu?

Like, for example, Kanbaru and Higasa-chan.

According to Hachikuji, Suicidemaster had called Shinobu a friend as well.

A friend, huh.

There had been a fiercely determined class representative who had declared, "If I can't die for someone, I wouldn't call that person a friend". But what if Shinobu wanted to meet Suicidemaster with that in mind?

Did I have the qualification to stop her?

Talking about qualifications at this point was what made me, me—regret may always come too late, but logic always took precedence. If I ultimately acted upon my emotions, then I would most likely act too late to a disgusting extent.

I should learn a bit from my new friend.

What I wanted was not qualifications, but qualities.

"Hmm. Araragi-chan, what's the matter? Thinking about something?"

"No, I'm trying hard not to think about something. So, what's the answer to the code?"

"Like yesterday, I managed to solve it, but it's a dead-end that isn't really refreshing. Even though I managed to decode it, it just leaves me stressed aga~ain. But it ended up being letters of the alphabet aga~ain."

"Alphabet—then, 'D/V/S'?"

"No~ope. This time, it's 'F/C'."

"F/C"?

029

"If 'F/C' are also initials, I wonder if there's someone from the girls' basketball team who has those initials," said Gaen-san, the human representative of logic, after hearing my report.

We were once again in Naoetsu General Hospital, in yet another hospital room different from the three we'd been in earlier—the hospital room where Kanguu Misago-chan's mummy had been put up.

"I wonder if the message was left on a cell phone to hint at that. Since they had matching straps with their initials."

"Aah... That's right, they did have those," I said.

In that sense, I would've had more hints to decipher it than Meniko did.

It wasn't really a contest, but I did find it a bit frustrating.

"By the way, Kanguu-chan also had a strap. Since she's Kanguu Misago, it was 'M K'."

"Eh? But wait, Gaen-san. Wouldn't that mean that the vampire that we're looking for is actually among the members of the girls' basketball team?"

If, not the dying message, but the living message was indicating a specific member's initials, and Suicidemaster was being falsely accused of a crime, then that would be it.

"F C".

"Not necessarily. It could be that Kanguu-chan, in a hazy state of mind, was just trying to write the name of a friend she thought of. Or it's an act of deception to make us think that way. In other words, diversionary tactics by Suicidemaster."

A vampire trying to blame a human for their vampirism—it seemed a little narrow-minded, almost pitiful at that, and not at all in line with the image of a vampire. Well, if we can consider the possibility that the crime is being pinned on Suicidemaster, why can't we consider the opposite?

Taking it to extremes, it was even possible now that this was a diversionary tactic to make us think that everything was fabricated, like a deduction in a honkaku mystery.

Us people of logic.

"You're right. It would be too unexpected a truth for there to be a vampire among the club members."

"I don't remember explicitly denying that possibility. You can't say for sure that there aren't more oddities like you, Koyomin, that put on an air of innocence and casually attend school, right?"

"Again with the jokes."

And this was a bad joke, at that.

The phrasing of "air of innocence" felt like biting words.

"It's not entirely a joke, though. Well, this is just a brute force through all the possibilities at the moment. Like a canvassing operation done by throwing more people at the problem. It's true that, as a result of last night's events, the suspicion placed on Suicidemaster has faded. 'F C' seems like it would be fairly rare for initials, so I'm sure we'll be able to narrow it down to just a few girls out of the hundred on the basketball team..."

As she spoke, Gaen-san began flipping through the register of names borrowed from Higasa-chan, beginning her check. I'd promised not to make any copies of it, so it was the original document.

"For reference, do you mind if I ask, Koyomin? About how the code was deciphered. It's possible that the method can also provide a hint for us."

"Understood. However, I don't think it'll be very relevant."

"I'd like to hear it anyway. I may not exactly be a sciences person, but it's not like I hate number puzzles. It's a great way to exercise the mind and relax."

Relax?

Putting aside exercising the mind... She didn't really look like it, but was Gaen-san actually stressed right now? With this incident taking longer than expected, Kagenui-san drawing closer to the town with every moment, and my betrayal that must not be forgotten, well, there were plenty of things that could be cause for concern.

Well, if revealing the trick is somehow relaxing, then I'll gladly do so.

It's atonement for my infidelity.

"However, this code ended up not being a number puzzle. It had nothing to do with prime numbers, either—though it's still in the sciences, it was not mathematics, but the field of natural sciences."

"Natural sciences? If we're talking about fields, in middle school, they'd divide the natural sciences into the 'first field' for physics and chemistry, and the 'second field' for biology and geology."

"In that respect, it would be the first field—Celsius and Fahrenheit."

In other words, temperature notation.

Like numbers, temperature was the same throughout the world, or perhaps even throughout the universe, and high temperatures were high, low temperatures were low, and absolute zero was absolute zero—but temperature wasn't notated in the same way everywhere. The units differed.

And that difference was Celsius and Fahrenheit.

"Ah—that's why it's 'F' and 'C'?"

As expected of a logical person, she caught on fast. After speaking, Gaen-san flipped the register shut—it seemed she'd finished checking it all.

She was even fast at reading.

"But how does '820/280/610/160' become Celsius and Fahrenheit? Although, since Celsius is 'C' and Fahrenheit is 'F', perhaps I should ask how it becomes Fahrenheit and Celsius."

"For both Celsius and Fahrenheit, a '°' is placed in the top right direction to denote 'degrees'. In the same place where you would write an exponent."

"Do an explanation like that for a science major. I got it just from you saying 'in the top right direction'—don't go off in a completely different direction, Koyomin. And?"

"We look at the '0' in the code and interpret it as a '°'—basically, the '0' in '820', the '0' in '280', the '0' in '610', and the '0' in '160', all the zeroes at the end of the numbers, should not be taken as numbers but as symbols. Then, '820/280/610/160' becomes '82°/28°/61°/16°'."

"Aha. Highest and lowest temperatures, huh?"

That was exactly it.

The code that had been left behind was showing yesterday's temperature, represented in both Celsius and Fahrenheit—just like the Rosetta Stone, which could be described as the originator of cryptanalysis.

However, the essential letters of the alphabet were missing—"F" and "C".

"That's why, 'F/C' becomes the deciphered text to the code. Oh, but if they're initials, you can't really call that a text. But I see. It's amazing that someone could come up with something like that."

"Yes. Checking the daily high and low temperatures may be natural for an athletic person, but even then, I don't think they would have been able to come up with that in their hazy state of mind."

"No, my intention was to praise your friend, Koyomin."

It would be a bit troublesome if you show too much interest in her.

If you point your finger at her.

This was entirely my own self-interest, but I'd like to settle this case before I needed to ask for help with a third code...

But after relying on Hachikuji and getting Shinobu's cooperation and borrowing Kanbaru's house, I'd strayed pretty far from what I'd originally intended, so maybe next time I'd just give up and go to Ougi-chan for help with the cryptanalysis... Although, that girl likes to be befuddling, so she definitely wouldn't just give me the answer straight up like Meniko.

She was also a person of logic. A mysterious form of logic.

But anyway, let's return to the main subject.

For the sake of protecting Meniko, and for the sake of resolving this case.

"But anyway, how many people in the girls' basketball club have the initials 'F C'? Although we'd probably need to check whether that girl has a strap or not..."

Since the first mummy, Harimaze Kie-chan, didn't have a strap on her phone, it wasn't a given that everyone had a matching strap. Perhaps, within the club, that small level of resistance against peer pressure was allowed.

"There were as much as zero people."

"Eh? What did you say?"

"Sorry, that was a weird way to put it. Zero. There were none, is what I meant. Girls with 'F C' as their initials, that is."

030

"Have you looked for the reverse order? You know, when representing the name of a Japanese person, there's the pattern of 'first/last name' and 'last/first name'."

"Of course. There were none like that, either."

Could Meniko's solution have been wrong?

No, there was no way.

"I wonder if we should expand the range of possibilities. Should we include the third-years that have already retired as candidates?"

"Umm..."

It wasn't impossible to ask Higasa-chan through Kanbaru for a list of the OG members, but I wasn't sure. If we expanded it that far, it felt like the possibilities would be endless.

It didn't seem too productive to force the solution into the initials 'F C' and look for a person that matched, either... Rare as the initials might be, it wasn't like there was nobody with those initials.

"We did figure out that the victims were members of the girls' basketball team using the straps as the hint, but like with 'D/V/S', maybe there's a famous vampire with those initials?"

"The vampires here are from overseas, after all. It's normal to add a middle name... It's unnatural to have initials with just two letters."

"Is that so..."

I'd ended up bothering Meniko with this (though she'd been happy about it) and I'd ended up skipping class (though I probably would have skipped class anyway), but it didn't end up being that much of a hint... Well, even Oshino had said that fieldwork was a cycle of futility.

It was important not to dwell on it.

"By the way, Gaen-san. You don't seem to be in that good of a mood, so is it possible that you received more unpleasant news while I was out?"

"Hm? Did it seem that way to you? I was trying to act calm about it, but this onee-san that knows everything must be losing face to receive your concern, Koyomin. Even though I want to be an onee-san you can always rely on."

"No, no. Gaen-san, you're always an older woman that I can rely on..."

"I'm not trying to be a dependable older woman. No, but anyway, Koyomin. Your worries were right on the mark. The contents of a high school girl's cell phone weren't something we should have looked at."

And the fact that it hasn't produced any good results so far is nearly breaking my heart, said Gaen-san as she laid eyes upon the mummy on the bed—the owner of the cell phone, Kanguu Misago-chan.

Having been made to wear a patient gown and laid to rest on the bed... I didn't want to say I was getting familiar with the sight, but I was getting used to it.

When humans become nothing but skin and bones, it's hard to distinguish between them—their height became ambiguous when laid down, and since they were in a sports club, their hair was fairly short, so it was hard to distinguish them that way, too.

Kanbaru had also had a short haircut when she'd been active... Don't tell me it wasn't just because they were in a sports club, but because they were following after Kanbaru...?

Everyone doing the same thing... Hm?

"Even so, this onee-san won't be surprised any more. Seriously, after being shown the ugly side of human relations, I won't even be scared of vampires."

"Being shown? Gaen-san, you're the one who went and looked at it yourself."

"And I have nothing to say in response to that. They say you're not supposed to check your partner's phone, and that's completely true. If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."

What was in that phone, exactly?

Honestly, if she said it like that, it made me even more curious... However, it probably was better to not ask. For the sake of respecting their privacy, and for the sake of my own health... If Gaen-san ended up like that, I might even end up hospitalized as a result.

And if it wasn't producing any good results, then all the more reason not to.

"Well, I suppose the girls' basketball team is pretty unique. If this sort of thing was commonplace... Well, it's not something I want to think about, as an adult. Their club activities are certainly strange. It felt like they were bullying themselves."

"But aren't all athletic clubs more or less like that? Even more so if you're a powerhouse."

Or rather, a former powerhouse. In the case of Naoetsu High.

Of course, that may have intensified that athletic mindset...

"Mm. I've always had a commander-like nature since I was in high school, but even then, I was still pretty incompatible with those sports-minded people."

"So there was a time when you were a high school girl, Gaen-san."

"It's not like this onee-san was always an onee-san from the moment she was born. Or an older woman."

"That wasn't what I meant... But even so, the hardest person to imagine as a high school girl would probably be Kagenui-san."

She didn't seem like she would be in the liberal arts or the sciences, or in a cultural club or a sports club... What kind of high school girl would she have been?

"That girl was actually a surprisingly diligent student. Although I only knew her as a college student, not a high school student. She's the only one from that trio to graduate without dropping out."

Is that so.

Human beings really couldn't be described one-sidedly, huh.

"Oh nooo. While I carelessly stepped into a colony of high school girls and got my feet stuck in a murky, bottomless swamp, Kagenui will probably arri~ive!"

Even if you lament the word "arri~ive" all cutely like that, that in itself seemed more lamentable.

Please remain a reliable older woman.

"It may be fine for me to think this way, but Gaen-san, aren't you being a little too cautious regarding your junior? She may be a bit uncontrollable, but it's not like she completely ignores the orders you give her, right?"

In the first place, Kagenui-san was coming all the way back from the North Pole because she was called by Gaen-san—plus, if she were truly uncontrollable, she would've ignored any sort of harmless certification and gotten rid of Shinobu and me.

Though she was infinitely violent, that was just a matter of the way she did things, and it should be possible to talk things out—she was a person of logic, too.

"That's right. It's true that, if I explain the circumstances, she might understand the reasoning behind why it's not necessary to exterminate Suicidemaster. It might even be possible to certify her as harmless, with how much of a little girl she's become."

Even while stuck in a bottomless swamp of high school girls, it seemed she'd long since considered the things I'd thought of, with the way she spoke.

"Yes. In fact, as soon as I'd heard that Suicidemaster had broken through Hachikuji-chan's mayoi-ushi barrier, those thoughts had already crossed my mind. It wasn't that Suicidemaster had broken through the barrier with brute force, but simply that she had been weakened to the point that the barrier didn't even react."

"......"

Was that even possible?

It sounded pretty painful and distressing, considering that she was the progenitor who birthed and named the legendary oddity.

"Even in that state, she should still be able to suck the blood of high school girls, so just by being in this town, nothing has changed regarding her being the prime suspect. However, the reason she became a mummy might not be because she was attacked by someone, but because she'd weakened to the point that she entered cryptobiosis by herself."

"In that case, would that mean she was the one to bury herself in the mountain?"

"Yes, it would be safer in the dirt, after all. The cryptobiotic-sleep, hibernation-sleep, dozing-sleep vampire. In that case, perhaps she was attempting to make her way back to Hachikuji-chan who was in charge of immigration control, and collapsed along the way. Well, we're still just brute forcing the possibilities here—the strongest possibility is still that she grew so hungry that she attacked a high school girl, but for now, we can apply the principle of innocent until proven guilty. But the problem is, that won't work on Kagenui."

"...Why is that?"

She sure was stubborn in a weird way.

In a sense, she was pretty laid-back to even put her faith in someone like me, but right now, Gaen-san was being weirdly obstinate in regards to Kagenui-san.

"Well, this is just between us, but they share a bit of a past. The problem at hand, Suicidemaster, and the even bigger problem, Kagenui."

"The problem—and the bigger problem."

"Even if Suicidemaster happened to not be the culprit for this case, and even if it's possible for her to be certified as harmless after not having harmed a human for the past six hundred years—even then, they share a past that makes it impossible to stop Kagenui. Though justice is the only thing that can put that unorthodox onmyouji in check, she's very likely to move out of a personal grudge for this time alone."

G—grudge?

That bundle of justice?

"If I make the wrong move, I may find myself having to excommunicate yet another junior. And I don't want to do that."

031

Kagenui-san's personal grudge probably wasn't something that other people should be prying into, so let's return to the main subject. Although the main subject was a ghost story with intense pressure. But anyway, back to the main subject.

The risk of intruding into her private life had been clearly demonstrated, and Gaen-san, who had hinted at it, didn't dare tell me the details of her past—perhaps she'd let it slip after being embroiled in the high school girls' darkness.

Speaking of being embroiled, it seemed that the reason Gaen-san associated the initials "F C" with the members of the girls' basketball team was not only because of the alphabet strap, but because she'd looked into the darkness of the club displayed on Kanguu Misago-chan's cell phone and had been influenced by it (it seemed she even considered the possibility that, in her dazed state, Kanguu-chan thought she could pin the crime on a team member that she had some friction with). But in the register, there was no one with those initials—and, as long as there was no initial for a middle name included, it likely wasn't the vampire's signature, either.

Before expanding our reach to the OG girls, one more possibility came to my mind.

"What if these aren't initials, but an abbreviation for something in English?"

"Abbreviation? ...In other words, something other than a person's name?"

Normally, Gaen-san would have come up with something in an instant, but at the moment, she'd been caught up in the murky mires of those high school girls... And it could be even more damaging to her as an adult.

I've learned that the private life of others is nothing but poison.

"It probably isn't 'franchise (FC)'—then maybe it's something like 'football club (FC)'?"

It seemed appropriate.

First a basketball club, now a football club.

It also wasn't impossible to interpret it as a franchise of making vampire thralls, forced as it was—but there was no need to twist it that much.

But before we went to Naoetsu High's soccer team, we couldn't forget the other organization in that high school that we should consider.

"'Fan club (FC)'."

"Hm?"

"There was something like that. In the past—well, it wasn't that far in the past—an unofficial fan club for the superstar Kanbaru Suruga."

It was an organization separate from the girls' basketball team, yet was an organization that was strongly influenced by Kanbaru, in a way different from the girls' basketball team.

It was something that came to mind after thinking that all the mummies' hairstyles were the same—let's see, as I recall, that fan club's name was "Kanbaru Soeurs"?

"What's that? Is it something like the Rukawa Kaede Imperial Guard?"

"Exactly. But somehow they ended up getting involved with me and I forced them into disbanding—"

"That's something really scary you're saying as just an introduction, Koyomin. Forced them into disbanding. You really are a delinquent like the rumors say, aren'tcha?"

"I think the remnants of that fan club could be related to this case."

As much as the hypothesis that there was a vampire among the girls' basketball team members was incredible to believe, the possibility that there was a vampire mixed in with Kanbaru Suruga's fan club was just as ridiculous.

But we weren't in a situation where we could afford not to consider ridiculous possibilities just because they were ridiculous.

"That's a fact that this onee-san that knows everything didn't exactly need to know. Ah, yes, but my dear sister had a cheerleading squad like that when she was in high school, too."

"It doesn’t seem like it will have much of a connection, but I suppose I should do something now that I've thought of it. She wasn't a member of the fan club herself, but my little sister is pretty close with that organization, so I'll look into it just a teeny bit."

"Your little sister?"

I looked at Gaen-san's clouded expression.

"My little sister (the bigger one)," I amended.

After hearing that, Gaen-san seemed to relax, smiling.

"You mean Karen-chan. Okay, do as you see fit. But, out of concern—from this old lady's point of view—please don't bring Tsukihi-chan into this. Of course, Koyomin, you were originally the one who said you didn't want to cause trouble for your family, but even discounting the thing with Yozuru, things that go well just don't go well when Tsukihi-chan is involved."

She's talking about you in a pretty amazing way, my little sister (the smaller one).

"And, I apologize for the late report, but Shinobu laid out some conditions for her cooperation in Suicidemaster's interrogation."

I presented an outline of the master-servant reversal to Gaen-san. Even though the plan seemed like it would be laughable regardless of the time, place, or occasion...

"Right, that sounds good."

I received the commander's approval.

Of course, she didn't say anything like "I'll do it, too! Let me be a slave, too!"

"Although, rather than an interrogation, it's practically an undercover operation at this point—but if Suicidemaster mistakenly sees that Shinobu-chan is doing well in this country, then she might end up chattering away without any caution."

Mistakenly. Well, she would certainly be mistaken.

Rather than "doing well", she'd been on the verge of being exterminated, on the verge of being killed, and on the verge of death, and in the end failed to die, turned into a little girl, and then ended up sealed in a teenager's shadow.

At any rate, seeing as I'd gotten the go-ahead to put the plan into action, it was inevitable—I wasn't sure if I could pull off the part of a slave, but I would do what I could.

"In that case, even if it didn't have to do with the fan club, I figure I should have a proper discussion with Kanbaru about this, but is there anything I should be careful about when talking to her? The situation has completely changed from yesterday."

"Something to be careful about... I'd like if you could avoid the storm entirely. I know you might feel a sense of duty, but don't go poking your nose into the murky depths of your juniors."

Her advice was not as a specialist but as a person with more seniority in life, but I wanted Kanbaru, too, to follow these words of Gaen-san, who was called a senior by various people.

Even if I couldn't mention Gaen-san's name.

Even if I doubted that Kanbaru would actually follow them.

"I'll stay at this hospital and do my best with the cell phone analysis while waiting for a report from the search party and preparing for the night."

"I'll meet up with Karen-chan and Kanbaru, and if I have some spare time I'll go drop in on Oikura."

"Putting aside your childhood friend, when it comes to your little sister and Suruga, there's no need to wait up until they come back from school. Koyomin, I think you should go back home at least once for a nap. Though I know all-nighters aren't hard on you thanks to your vampire constitution, you must still be at your limit, right?"

That was true.

Thinking about it, vampires, being nocturnal, did go to sleep in the daytime... Just as Shinobu was doing right now.

The truth was, I'd been working out a plan to drop in on Oikura's place until school let out for the day, but it seemed I'd have to abandon that idea.

Even sleeping was work.

Well, if it was around this time, that mathematics maniac was probably in class, too...

"Ah. I know. I'll split the difference and go to Oikura's place to sleep. I have a spare key, after all."

"Childhood friendships are pretty hard for other people to pry into, huh."

032

I decided to just go to my own home. Of course I needed to catch up on sleep, but I wanted to take a bath, too. Alas, I didn't have any clothes to change into at Oikura's place. I'll do something about that later.

Afterwards, I thought about saying thanks to Ononoki-chan for last night—since I'd left in a hurry, I hadn't been able to talk to her about how she relayed Hachikuji's message to me, or how she called over Gaen-san to the mountain after that.

From Ononoki-chan's point of view, I'd gotten a fortune slip and left all of a sudden, and then decided to go to hell—I probably seemed pretty weird to her... I couldn't bear being thought of as a weird guy by Ononoki-chan.

With both parents working, the first daughter a high schooler, and the second daughter a middle schooler, the Araragi house was generally empty in the daytime—I would be able to speak to Ononoki-chan, who'd infiltrated the house as a stuffed doll, without reservations.

It was one thing to give my thanks, but I figured I may as well tell her that Kagenui-san was approaching this town like a hurricane—for Gaen-san and me, it was an approach that was currently fairly inconvenient, but it could be good news for Ononoki-chan, who idolizes (?) Kagenui-san as an "onee-chan".

Because Ononoki-chan was busy with something else, she wasn't participating in this incident, but it wasn't like she was intentionally left out of the loop, unlike Shinobu until she found out—if the conversation went well, perhaps I'd be able to learn about the past between Suicidemaster and Kagenui-san, which I had failed to ask about, or rather, which I had wanted to hear but didn't want to hear.

Perhaps those ulterior motives led to my ruin, for when I arrived home, it was not just my parents and sisters but also that expressionless, frilly-dressed stuffed doll that was absent.

It seemed that young girl was even busier than public servants and middle school students, though not college students.

Well, I'd like to hear as much as what she had to say, but I didn't think it was a past that I wanted to dig into myself... If anything, maybe what I should be doing is to let the foreshadowing die so that her past doesn't get revealed?

Araragi Koyomi, killing the foreshadowing.

With that, feeling a mix of disappointment and relief, I took a shower and crawled into bed.

It seemed I'd been more tired than I realized (perhaps out of worry, too), so I slept soundly until the afternoon, waking only to the sound of Karen's return—despite her training in martial arts, she was a lot noisier in her movements, so it was easy to hear.

"Yo, Karen-chan. By the way, I wanted to ask about Kanbaru's fan club."

"That's way too direct. I haven't even taken off my shoes yet! At least welcome me back. You gotta have some sort of introduction before starting off the main topic with a 'by the way'. What happened?"

Araragi Karen. 16 years old.

She was super tall. My bigger little sister.

Tsuganoki Private High School first-year. She did not take part in any clubs, and continued to attend a martial arts dojo—something like that.

Also, her hairstyle returned to a ponytail.

"Kanbaru-sensei's fan club? Ah, aah. The one that nii-chan smashed up, huh."

"If I didn't break them up, they would've broken me. Just remembering it now, it's super scary."

The fact that she was still calling her Kanbaru-sensei was pretty considerable, but then again, the way Karen yearned for Kanbaru was... pretty unique.

I couldn't exactly give a thorough explanation of the circumstances, so I simply said, "Have you heard anything about, say, them having resumed activities?" and continued the conversation without explaining my reasons.

"Mmm. No, I don't think they have. When an organization like that comes apart once, it's pretty hard to reorganize."

"Is that so?"

"The crux, Kanbaru-sensei, retired, after all. Fans easily heat up and easily cool down."

I see... I guess it was like that.

Just as Karen said, if Kanbaru had continued to be active, then perhaps the fan club could have been passed down to the next generation, but now that the target of their admiration had retired, it was probably hard to gather new members.

And Kanbaru herself wasn't the kind of person that liked attracting that kind of attention, too—I had to admit I felt a bit elated at the inspiration of reading the deciphered code "F/C" as fan club... But I guess it wasn't that easy.

When comparing the girls' basketball team, of which Kanbaru had been a member, with the fan club, which was unofficial and separate... The quality was certainly different—if it became a fan club full of stoicism that could enforce ironclad laws without the actual person in question, it would be one of the best in Japan.

If only it had been "C/F", then it could at least have been read as "center forward", a basketball position...

Well, whether the culprit was in the girls' basketball team or in the fan club, it didn't change the reality that the vampire might be nonchalantly attending Naoetsu High—if that was even possible.

Of course, even though Gaen-san had been trying to implicate me, there were quite a few students that had gotten entangled with oddities, like Senjougahara Hitagi, Hanekawa Tsubasa, Kanbaru Suruga, or Oshino Ougi.

Well, a high school girl being a vampire did make for a prettier picture than a high school boy being a vampire—oh yeah.

"Karen-chan. You're a high school girl now, right?"

"What's with that, all of a sudden? But, that's right. I've become able to get married."

"That's not because you're a high school girl, it's because you've turned 16 years old. If anything, you've gotten harder to marry. Especially for me."

"Nii-chan, for you I'm the most difficult person in the world to marry. I'm your little sister!"

"How does it feel to be a high school girl? Is everything going well with your new friends?"

Regrettably, I pretended to be an overprotective older brother and started a survey to try and collect some live opinions—could even Karen be mired in the murky depths that had been a downer for the easygoing Gaen-san?

"I dunno what sort of school life you mean by 'going well', but this new world is pretty fun. I almost want to go to school on the weekends, too."

That's pretty insane.

But that's true, it's not like all high school girls have a dark side to them. There are individual differences, and it depends on the environment and the situation.

To put it in a good way, Karen's personality was endlessly bright, and to put it in a bad way, she was endlessly idiotic, but that wasn't just it—when surrounded by a stiff atmosphere, even the brightest idiot would lose some of that excitement. However, Karen was a follower of Kanbaru—

"—Oh yeah. Can I ask one more thing, Karen-chan?"

"What is it now? Today, it's all questions and no groping my boobs, huh."

"Don't talk like groping your boobs is a regular occurrence. I'm not going to touch them. This year."

"It was a problem when you've been touching them for the last year. Touching a girl's boobs like you were kneading clay. And? What's the question you were gonna ask?"

"You know the Fire Sisters, that you and Tsukihi-chan were a part of? You guys disbanded after you graduated, right? What happened after that?"

"Whaddya mean what happened. I told you, didn't I? Now, Tsukihi-chan's working hard on her own as Moon Fire."

I may have heard that before, but regrettably, the information she had on her sister was a bit vague.

Not that I could speak for others, considering I was the same way when it came to that sister.

What I wanted to ask was how the community of Tsuganoki 2nd Middle School changed after Karen, the mainstay and core of the school, left, like with the girls' basketball team—wasn't there anything like a war to be the replacement for Tsukihi's partner, or any sort of factional strife?

"Oh, for that, Tsukihi-chan, as the staff officer, handled it pretty well. For better or worse, Tsukihi-chan thinks she's so special that she doesn't expect anyone else, including me, to be able to imitate her."

I see. I'd been worried about my youngest sister's (excessive) self-consciousness, but that was an insight.

As is often the case with hard-working superstars, Kanbaru's self-esteem was quite low, and she had a tendency to believe that "anyone can do what I can do if they work hard enough"—that was something I could appreciate from a human perspective. However, if someone that was charismatic on a national level said such empty words as "if you work hard, your dreams will come true", then it would lead to a generation of people that actually buy into it.

Even though it wasn't Kanbaru's fault, the current state of the girls' basketball team was probably a climate formed by such a belief in hard work.

If I had to say it, when Kanbaru retired from the club because of her left arm, she should've picked a proper successor instead of leaving everything to Higasa-chan—though it was useless to say that now.

"Tsukihi-chan is basically a 'wasted effort is wasted' kind of girl. She'll say stuff like, 'Instead of hard work, just do what needs to be done!' 'If you put in wasted effort, you'll get even farther away from your dreams!'"

"I can't say that leaves a good impression..."

"She'd always insist, 'Find a way to make yourself a lucky boy or Cinderella girl!'"

"Tsukihi-chan probably shouldn't publish any business books. Speaking of which, it worries me that Tsukihi-chan, a middle school student, is coming home later than you, a high school student. Rub rub. What in the world is Moon Fire up to now that she's gone independent?"

"I dunno either. Rather than being independent, Tsukihi-chan's always been a dependent person with an independent spirit. Nii-chan, what were those rubbing sound effects you tried to mix in for the first time this year, without even trying to get them lost in the confusion? And I've heard rumors that you were helping out a magical girl, but how much of that is true?"

"Hmm."

Especially with Kagenui-san's return, I wanted Tsukihi to stay quiet, but she wasn't exactly the kind of sister that listened to her brother.

If I'd been able to talk with Ononoki-chan, I could've asked for her to do something about that... Rather than worry, it made me a little anxious.

Being a big brother was a lifetime job.

"Then, Karen-chan. I'm going to leave the house now, and I don't think I'll be coming back today, so in the meantime, watch over Tsukihi-chan carefully, all right?"

"You mean, today also, right? College students shouldn't be so flashy with their playing around at night. Your new life is an important time for you, too, nii-chan. I don't want to see you get burned like you did when you became a high schooler."

"Those are useful words. Worthy of engraving onto a chest."

"Don't engrave them on my chest!"

033

My fearless (of even a god) strategy to get Hachikuji to sit in the child seat ended in failure.

In transporting the ancient vampire from the Kitashirahebi Shrine to Kanbaru's house while waiting for her awakening (sunset), I'd proposed the formation of putting Hachikuji in the passenger seat and Suicidemaster in the back seat, but considering the size of the target of transportation, I was defeated by the logic that it would be legally safer to secure Suicidemaster, a six-year-old girl, in the child seat.

Well, considering that, in terms of outward appearance, Hachikuji was fixed in the form of a ten-year-old in fifth grade, it was already kind of impossible to fit her in a child seat—and Hachikuji was fairly grown for a ten-year-old. Over the past year, I'd directly felt her measurements with my own hands, so this was for certain. Of course, if the child seat itself were to break, it would be the end of everything.

It was a child seat I hoped to use for many years to come.

However, I'd been worried that Suicidemaster would suddenly go berserk in the middle of the day after being taken out of the shrine and lowered from the sacred mountain, so I consulted with Gaen-san on the phone and ended up applying further seals before securing her in the child seat.

The seals that Hachikuji applied as instructed by Gaen-san were, in simple terms, a blindfold and shackles on her arms and legs, but the image of a blindfolded, shackled little girl in white clothes fastened to a child seat honestly did not make me feel the slightest bit of safety in the legal sense.

If I were to go through police questioning, it wouldn't just end with my license being revoked.

My life would be revoked. Societally.

"A~ah. It was fairly controversial for Araragi-san, who loved his bicycle, to start riding around in a car, but I have to admit that the mobility of a car is certainly different. You can go all over the place, in every direction!"

Hachikuji herself seemed rather happy-go-lucky from the back seat—incidentally, she was in outing mode, which meant she'd changed from her white clothing to her clothes for an outing through the town, with her rucksack on her back.

She was sitting backwards, looking out the rear window, and flapping her legs—was it like a field trip for her?

"Hachikuji. Did your daytime stroll have any results? If you went around looking but couldn't find it, then that would mean the fifth mummy has yet to be made—maybe?"

"I'm not sure. If my godly eyes were able to reach every corner of this town without any problems, you could say this incident would not have happened in the first place. Although it's not that I regret allowing Suicidemaster-san to pass through without security."

"Well, sure."

From Hachikuji's point of view, she might even be a lifesaver—upon Suicidemaster-chan's arrival in Japan, it wouldn't have been odd if she had trampled Hachikuji underfoot, mountain and all.

Even though she was a god, our Hachiku-jin wasn't all-powerful—even in her weakened state, it could be possible for Suicidemaster to defeat even an athletic high school girl in a single blow.

"Hachiku-jin? Please stop. Don't give me a weird nickname. It seems your respect for gods is lacking, you know?"

Hachikuji did a half-turn and took her seat in the normal position.

"I knew that, with the case of Shishirui Seishirou-san, Shinobu-san had messed up twice, after all. I hoped that this could be an opportunity to wipe away that irreversible trauma—although, it would be a lie to say that I wasn't worried about letting Suicidemaster-san meet Shinobu-san, who was currently practically enslaved by a human."

That's why I'm all for the master-servant reversal, said Hachikuji.

"Although, I think it would be better to be honest about it afterwards. It would be sad to lose a friendship because of vanity. When I was alive, there was a boy in my class that I was close to, but because I'd been too vain—"

"Let's save that story for another time, Hachikuji. When Gaen-san called earlier and taught us about the sealing methods, I tried probing a bit, but it doesn't seem like they've found the fifth mummy yet."

"You seem way too uninterested in my flashback scene, Araragi-san."

"The analysis of the cell phone is still in progress, but it doesn't seem like there's any traces of her having made a call or sent a text or used an app since Kanguu-chan went missing, so it's hard to pin down the time of the crime. In other words, we still don't have proof of Suicidemaster's alibi."

I glanced at the little girl in the passenger seat.

The golden-haired little girl fixed in the child seat, in white clothing, blindfolded, arms and legs shackled.

"Is that so? Well, my credibility is at stake, too. I'll cooperate to the full extent of my power. Is it fine if I pretend to be a slave, too? Uhehehe."

"You sound less like a vampire's slave and more like a slave to money. Mm, I've thought about it, but..."

"So you've thought about it? Turning Hachikuji Mayoi into a slave?"

"But ultimately, a vampire's slave should be at least a little vampiric, or the lie will be found out. If it were Ononoki-chan, I may have just barely asked her to, but she's on bad terms with Shinobu. Plus, she's away at the moment, so it seems I'll have to be the only slave. If anything, Hachikuji, you can act as the local deity and be a guarantor for the relationship between Shinobu and me."

Not a bondsman, but a bondsgod.

It seemed rather apt.

Just as we were about to arrive at Kanbaru's house, the cell phone that I had left in the cup holder between the driver and passenger seats buzzed. This time, a call from Gaen-san—had the fifth mummy, Kiseki-chan's mummy, finally been discovered?

I felt slightly nervous, but I was driving, after all, so there was no way I could be the one to pick it up.

I'll leave it to my secretary.

"Who are you calling your secretary? Yes, hello? This is Hachikuji."

Seems like you've taken a liking to it.

"Araragi is currently driving. Yes. Yes. —Yes, I see. Understood. I'll let him know."

Finishing up the short phone call, Hachikuji returned the cell phone to its original position.

"What was it. Did we make any progress?"

"Rather than progress, it's more like we've fallen backwards."

That was Hachikuji's response.

"Putting aside the 'F C' initials, it seems they've completed their brute-force investigation of the remaining members of the girls' basketball team who were on the register, but everyone has been confirmed to be safe."

Everyone was confirmed to be safe?

"Isn't that a good thing? It's the first good news we've heard in a while. What's so backward about good news that's really worth celebrating?"

"The fact that they're safe means that they're also innocent—the results of the investigation made it clear that there is no vampire among the remaining members of the basketball team."

Back to square one.

034

The girls' basketball team members were cleared of suspicion, the fan club was also cleared of suspicion, and there were no signs of another vampire that could be associated with "F/C".

With this, Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicidemaster wasn't just the prime suspect, she was the only suspect—the only reason that could lead me to believe that she was innocent would be Shinobu's testimony that "Suicidemaster, whose diet is unbalanced to the point of refusing food, would never suck the blood of an immature high school girl".

Tonight's interrogation was becoming increasingly important—it wasn't an exaggeration to say that everything depended on my ability to act as a slave.

I never thought that I would get the opportunity to become a slave to a little girl and deceive another little girl, but I guess I never really know where life will go.

There were many things that made me think that my high school years were the peak of my life, but as I lived on, there were many more interesting things occurring.

And with that, a greeting to my sponsor, Kanbaru.

The sealed little girl and the deified girl had been left in the New Beetle parked in the parking lot of Kanbaru's home—of course, I'd made sure the air conditioner was left on. It certainly wouldn't do if I left two children in a car and came back to find that they'd been mummified.

"Hiya, Araragi-senpai. We only just saw each other yesterday, but it feels like it's been so long ago."

"It hasn't been that long!"

"Yes, now here, the key to the house. Use it however you like."

I figured it was impossible for an ordinary person to imitate this sort of openness—if you tried too hard to act simple, you'd crumble under the stress.

However, they say a person is only as unhappy as the number of keys they have... I wonder how many keys I will have in my lifetime.

"Tonight, we decided to hold a pajama party at Higasa's place. If you've made any progress with the matter from yesterday, I can pass it onto her."

It wasn't progress, but falling backwards.

But it was a bit hard to say that.

However, I couldn't turn back now, and I was committed to it—I wasn't going to pretend that I didn't know anything about the girls' basketball team now.

Regardless of the outcome of this case, I should work together with Kanbaru and Higasa to come up with a plan to reform, or perhaps break down, the current situation. Without going against Gaen-san. She'd called it a pajama party, but it seemed it was actually a gathering of the OGs of the girls' basketball team to brainstorm about the current situation of the younger team members...

This had nothing to do with Karen's remarks, but as a former near-dropout of that high school, I couldn't just leave behind the students that seemed like they would drop out. Even if it was odd to speak of me, who nearly dropped out on my own, and the club members, who were about to drop out because of their stranglehold from club activities, in the same breath.

"Oh yeah, Kanbaru. When you ended up reuniting with Hitagi-san, the senior that you yearned for, at Naoetsu High, what kind of airs did you put on?"

"Airs? What do you mean by that?"

Of course.

Even if the person she was talking to was a senior she admired, she wasn't the type to pretend to be something that she wasn't—she was the type of person to charge in just as she was. If anything, it was maybe Hitagi-san that was likely to put on airs at the time.

Or display her stubbornness.

As a result, it would end up taking over a year before Senjougahara Hitagi and Kanbaru Suruga, the Valhalla Combination, would reunite.

"Huh. You're talking as if you're looking for wisdom in regards to Shinobu-chan reuniting with an old acquaintance!"

"I didn't talk like that!"

I didn't even bring up Shinobu's name!

She certainly was Gaen-san's niece, and I couldn't let down my guard—if I let something slip, this capable junior might decide to get involved all on her own.

She might decide to pretend to be a slave all on her own.

As someone who felt badly about the fact that I'd gotten her involved in the case of Shishirui Seishirou because of my own personal circumstances, this was a situation I wanted to avoid.

I needed to make up some reason to change the subject and get rid of her as soon as possible.

"Oh yeah, Kanbaru."

"Araragi-senpai, you sure come up with things frequently, don't you. What is it?"

"There's one more thing I wanted to ask of you—"

035

Though we'd settled on Kanbaru's place for our choice of location, it would be effectively impossible to clean up my junior's disastrously messy room before sunset, and, even if she'd told me to use the house however I liked, it certainly wouldn't do to infringe upon the territory of her grandfather and grandmother, so we ultimately decided upon using the Japanese mansion's garden for the revival of Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicidemaster.

Much like at Ryōan-ji, it was a Japanese rock garden.

Well, even if it was a measure of desperation, the mansion gave off much more of a castle-like impression when viewed from outside rather than being inside.

Yesterday, it had felt like I'd greeted nightfall feeling like I'd run out of time without doing everything I had to do, but today, it felt like I'd done everything I could and was greeting the night having run out of material. Now, I wonder what will happen?

"Thanks for waiting. So, shall we begin?"

At the moment the sun had set about halfway, Gaen-san appeared with a one shou bottle—the ones to welcome her were me; Shinobu, who had woken up early and crawled out of my shadow; Hachiku-jin, our witness; and Suicidemaster, who had been laid down—it seemed a little too pitiful to lay a restrained little girl on the bare ground, so I'd put down a rush mat (I'd found the rush mat in Kanbaru's room—why did she have something like that?).

All the actors were in place.

The show must go on.

"I've set up a barrier going all the way around the mansion, so if by some chance a battle breaks out, we'll be fine."

"That 'some chance' is what I'd like to avoid... But, Gaen-san. What's with that bottle?"

"Well, I am a specialist, after all. Wine would be better for vampires, but I figured we could do this the Japanese way, with sacred sake for a demon."

I guess I couldn't rely on crosses and holy water in a Japanese mansion with a shrine's god present... Her behavior was as if she'd come to a late-night drinking party, but in this Japanese mansion it held an air of sophistication.

"You should've come in full dress, then."

"Did you want to see me in shrine maiden's clothes, Koyomin? Unfortunately, I don't respect formalities and ceremonies as much as Meme does. I may be a pacifist, but at the same time, I'm a rationalist."

Indeed, now that I thought about it, that careless-seeming middle-aged Hawaiian shirt guy was surprisingly pretty picky about arrangements and whatnot to the point of irrationality... And looking closely, Gaen-san's bottle was just a bottle of cheap sake from a discount store... It was a bit difficult to call that sacred sake.

I guess it's the Gaen way to push through what's difficult.

"Goodness, I never thought I'd be visiting the Kanbaru house that rejected my dear sister like this—the wheel of fate sure turns."

As she spoke in an amused manner, Gaen-san casually turned over the one shou bottle and poured it over the body of the little girl.

Rather than occult ceremony, if anything, it seemed more like the "magic kettle" thing they did in rugby clubs.

Good, judging from that composed demeanor of hers, it seemed Gaen-san had managed to safely get through the murky swamp of the high school girls.

"Ooh. White clothing getting wet and sticking to a little girl's body... Kind of erotic, don't you think?"

Hachikuji made a vulgar remark, unbecoming of a god—for the record, though I hadn't touched upon it (double meaning) out of kindness, when you were meditating under a waterfall for a joke yesterday, you looked the same way, y'know?

Putting that aside.

"By the way, Shinobu-sama."

"...... Hm? Ah, you mean me, my master?"

She wasn't getting into her role at all.

Her servile disposition was so deeply ingrained in her.

"I mean, my servant. What is it?"

"Even if you catch it right away... Well, it's fine. Listen, Shinobu-sama. My master. Would you allow me the honor of inquiring something of you?"

"If you bring that quality of acting to the real thing, it'll be your fault if we get found out, my mast... my servant."

I think it would be both our faults.

But since we didn't have time, I continued instead of retorting.

"I haven't really thought too deeply about this until now, but... What's it like, living for six hundred years?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, if I may be permitted to speak for myself, I believe I have undergone quite a few changes, just looking back over the past year."

"Speak normally. I can't tell what you're saying at all."

Right.

I didn't even know what I was saying at all.

"In the course of our lives, we change our opinions, change our minds, realize our mistakes, and learn right from wrong, right? I won't make friends, because my strength as a human would decrease—when I used to say that, I really believed it, and I don't think I could have believed back then that I would have normal friends in college."

And that was in just a single year.

If that had been six hundred years—I'd ended up suddenly wondering how I would feel when I looked back on the past.

"I can't tell what you're saying at all, even when you're talking normally—after all, I've been quick to cast away the past that I can't remember."

Was it because she couldn't remember, or because she didn't want to remember? She probably didn't even remember that.

Well, it's fine. I just wanted something to say at the last minute—not even I, speaking normally, could tell what I was saying at all.

Just because they were meeting again after six hundred years, didn't mean they had to make the same decisions they made six hundred years ago—is that what I wanted to say? However—if I ran into Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade on the verge of death in an alleyway again, what if I would offer up my neck again, just like I had done a year ago?

"In the first place, before oddities are immortal, they're unchanging, universal. They don't change so frequently, like humans do."

"Then, let me ask you the same thing I did in that spring break. Shinobu, to you..."

To you, what are humans?

When Oshino Shinobu had not been Oshino Shinobu, when she had been the vampire, Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade, she had responded immediately.

She'd responded—"food".

But for Shinobu now, that was incorrect.

Even under the premise that she was sealed—but when you took that out, it was still incorrect.

However, what she would respond was another matter entirely—and it was as if Shinobu had been caught off guard, because for a moment, she fell silent. But, as if aiming for that moment...

"O devourer, o imbiber, o lurker! Now that the holy sun has set, tear open the coffin and rise! Boil the flesh in blood, and stir it with the bones!"

Gaen-san started chanting something like a magic spell that had taken the world by storm a few decades ago—it seemed like a joke, but it was for real, right?

"Come together with the night! Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicidemaster!"

It seemed like the sort of hackneyed incantation that I would've been convinced if she'd said, "Just kidding," but in that instant, the little girl soaked in cheap sake began to glow gold—or so it seemed.

But it was just my imagination, and my misunderstanding.

In actuality, the girl who had been sleeping as if she were dead had suddenly opened her eyes—the blindfold flew open, revealing two eyes as golden as her hair, and it had felt to me as if they were glowing.

Miss Suicidemaster's facial features, who had previously appeared as expressionless as Ononoki-chan's, became clearer as she awoke—though they had the same golden hair and golden eyes, she gave off a different impression from Shinobu.

The sake that had been sprinkled over her evaporated in an instant—not only the shackles on her arms and legs, but even the sash of her white clothing flew off, just like her blindfold.

Had Gaen-san broken the seal, or had the little girl herself broken it? It wasn't clear from afar—but if anything, my impressions were more towards the latter, and I couldn't help but think, "What part of her is weakened?"

I was just beginning to regret my thoughtless act of treatment, which made me recall my actions last spring break, and was wondering if it would have been better to leave her as a mummy, but then...

Creak!

The little girl's face turned towards me.

Lying on her side, only her head turned to look towards me—no.

Not me. Those golden eyes had fixed their gaze upon the one standing on my shadow, the other little girl in this garden—within moments of waking up, the ancient vampire had sensed her former thrall.

And then.

"Ha."

She said.

"Ha." "Ha."

She said.

"Ha." "Ha." "Ha."

She said.

"Ha! Ha ha! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

She said—sprawled out on the ground, from the lowest position imaginable, her laugh rang out louder than I could have imagined.

And in response to that loud laugh, Shinobu, who had borne vivid witness to her former "master"'s revival—

"Ha."

She said.

"Ha." "Ha."

She said.

"Ha." "Ha." "Ha."

She said.

"Ha! Ha ha! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

She—laughed in return.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

If it weren't for the barrier, their loud exchange laughter would surely have disturbed the neighbors—it was like microphone feedback. How long had it gone for?

Six hundred years. A thousand years.

Did it go on for eternity?

It was quite the uproarious bout of laughter, as if Gaen-san and Hachikuji and I weren't even there in that garden, but it was finally brought to an end.

"Somehow or other, it seems I've died again."

That was the remark from the little girl on her back.

And, hearing that, Shinobu shrugged her shoulders.

"It seems we've both grown old," she said.

The two little girls had reunited for the first time in six hundred years.

[gstqaobc]

CBC THE ROYAL FASCINATOR

Friday, November 20, 2020

Hello, royal watchers and all those intrigued by what’s going on inside the House of Windsor. This is your biweekly dose of royal news and analysis. Reading this online? Sign up here to get this delivered to your inbox.

Janet DavisonRoyal Expert Fact, fiction and The Crown

The last time Arthur Edwards took a photo of Prince Charles with Lord Louis Mountbatten, the heir to the throne had his arm around his great uncle. Similarly, Mountbatten had his arm around his great-nephew. They both seemed to be in fine form that day, not too long before Mountbatten lost his life to an IRA bomb in the summer of 1979 off the coast of Ireland. "They were laughing together," Edwards, the longtime royal photographer for the Sun newspaper, recalled over the phone from the U.K. this week. The recollection came to mind as controversy swirls over the newly released Season 4 of the Netflix drama The Crown. The show takes viewers into the reign of Queen Elizabeth, with the latest season moving the action into the 1980s. In the first episode, Mountbatten is seen just before his assassination writing a letter to Charles saying he could bring "ruin and disappointment" on the Royal Family with his pursuit of Camilla Parker Bowles, who in real life is now Charles's wife but at that time was married to someone else. There's no evidence — again, in real life — that such a letter was ever written or that Charles and Mountbatten quarrelled before he was killed. It's just one of many moments in the latest season that have set off debate over how fact meets fiction in the award-winning drama created by Peter Morgan. "Many people will think it's the truth ... but it's not," said Edwards, who snapped his first photo of Charles feeding sugar to his polo ponies in the mid-1970s, just after he'd left the Royal Navy. "Much of it … comes out of a scriptwriter's brain, which I can understand because … it's drama.” What bothers Edwards, he said, is the portrayal of Charles. "I've worked with him now for over 40 years, and I don't recognize that man in it." And therein lies a challenge of turning history into drama. "Certainly, in every season [of The Crown], there's a blend of fact and fiction, but it stands out in Season 4 because we are getting closer to the present day," said Toronto-based royal historian and author Carolyn Harris. Because so many in the audience will have their own memories of how what is portrayed in Season 4 turned out in real life — how Charles's marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales, collapsed in spectacular fashion, for example — there is perhaps further potential for the controversy now swirling. "It's always a challenge with historical fiction that the people who are being portrayed do not know what's going to happen next, but the audience ... does," said Harris. In some instances, the episodes present events that played out in the public eye and reflect the historical record. "An example is that engagement interview where Prince Charles famously said, 'whatever in love means,'" said Harris. But there are many other examples of events being fictionalized or put together to create a narrative. Take Michael Fagan's break-in at Buckingham Palace, a focus of Episode 5. That actually happened, in 1982. He breached security and made it to the Queen's bedroom, where he spoke to her. "But Michael Fagan describes it as a very brief conversation before he was arrested, whereas for the purposes of the series, he has a more extended dialogue about [Prime Minister] Margaret Thatcher's politics in order to tie this event to the series's critique of political developments while [she] was prime minister," said Harris.

CBC Archives: The leadership fracas that forced Margaret Thatcher from power

Edwards worries, however, that people will believe The Crown's version of what happened when Fagan broke into the palace that night, which isn’t true, with its portrayal of a longer chat with the Queen. "That's what really irritates me," he said. And he remains troubled by the thought that the portrayal of Charles, pilloried for a bad marriage, doesn't reflect the driven and hard-working man he has seen up close, whether he is visiting and offering support to schoolgirls in northern Nigeria or the Jewish community in Krakow, Poland. "You won't see that on Netflix." Edwards went with Charles when he returned in 2015 to the site of Mountbatten's assassination. "I watched him … and he was remembering it." As aware as Edwards is of The Crown, he has stopped watching it.   "You've got to remember it's drama; it's not necessarily the whole truth."

Just let loose and dance Peter Morgan may be the creative mind behind The Crown, but in the current season, at least one moment playing out on the small screen came straight from the actor. At one point, Diana — played by Emma Corrin — dances by herself with wild abandon inside a very well-appointed room at Buckingham Palace — or in this case, a stately home filling the role of the palace where Diana went to live after her engagement to Prince Charles was announced in 1981. "It was one of my favourite scenes to film," Corrin said in a recent interview with the Royal Fascinator. "I loved it because they wanted to choreograph it, and I said, 'Do you mind if we don't ... I don't think we can choreograph a moment like that. I'd love to just let loose and dance.'" So she did, and she chose the song that was blasting over the speakers during filming, a bit of musical time travel to 1998, and Cher's Believe. Corrin's love for the song dates back a few years. "There's a theatre company in Britain called DV8, and they do this show called The Cost of Living, and there's an amazing dance scene," she said. "A guy does this dance to Cher's  … Believe…. It's like the truest form of expression I've seen." In Corrin's research for the role, she was surprised to learn how important dance was for Diana. "It was quite a private thing," said Corrin. "You see her dancing and what that does, how that is such a mode of expression and release, and I thought that was really interesting."

Looking ahead — and looking back

Every so often over the past few years, there have been rumblings about whether Queen Elizabeth, now 94, might step aside from her role as she gets older. And as soon as those rumblings emerge, other royal observers are quick to note how that is unlikely for a variety of reasons, including the dark shadow cast by her uncle's abdication as King Edward VIII in 1936, her deep devotion to duty and how she has always considered her role as one for life. So it wasn't too surprising to see that scenario play out again in recent days when one royal biographer suggested Elizabeth might "step down" when she turns 95 next April. But soon after, there was also a very strong signal from Buckingham Palace about looking ahead in her reign. The first plans were announced for celebrations in 2022 to mark her Platinum Jubilee, or 70 years on the throne. It would be an unprecedented milestone — no British monarch has reigned as long as she has. In the United Kingdom, it will culminate in a four-day bank holiday weekend in early June. Oliver Dowden, the British culture secretary, said it would be a "truly historic moment" worthy of a "celebration to remember," the BBC reported.

Royally quotable

"Let us reflect on all that we have been through together and all that we have learned. Let us remember all victims of war, tyranny and persecution; those who laid down their lives for the freedoms we cherish; and those who struggle for these freedoms to this day."

— Prince Charles,

during a visit to Germany

to attend events commemorating its national day of mourning, which focused on British-German relations this year.

Royals in Canada

While members of the Royal Family have made numerous trips to Canada over the years, The Crown hasn't turned its dramatic attention to them yet, even though the show has featured several foreign visits.

"It's a shame," said royal historian Harris, because during Queen Elizabeth's reign, "there have been some very interesting Canadian tours."

Sure, there's been a brief glimpse of a Canadian flag at a table during a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting portrayed in The Crown.

"But we don't see Canada assuming a prominent role, whereas the series has had at least three tours of Australia," Harris said.

One episode in the current Season 4 focuses on Charles and Diana's 1983 trip Down Under. Shortly after that visit, Charles and Diana came to Canada. Had that been portrayed in The Crown, it would have backed up a developing theme, Harris said.

During the visit, Diana celebrated her 22nd birthday on Canada Day.

"There's press footage of Canadians giving Charles birthday cards to give to Diana, and a scene like that would have supported the theme of that episode of Charles feeling overshadowed by Diana," said Harris.

Edwards, the Sun photographer, was along for that trip, and has been to Canada about 15 times with members of the Royal Family.

The 1983 trip lasted 17 days and was "fantastic," he said. "It was just brilliant. I can recall it like it was yesterday. We criss-crossed the country."

During the opening of the World University Games in Edmonton on July 1, the crowd sang Happy Birthday to Diana.

"The whole crowd. It was phenomenal," said Edwards.

Harris sees potential plotting for future seasons of The Crown possibly playing into how the series has portrayed foreign visits so far.

"We see a stronger Australia focus, and it's certainly possible that the 1999 Australian referendum [on the monarchy] may come up in a subsequent season so some of this may be building towards that.

"But definitely in terms of the Commonwealth, certain nations are emphasized more than others in the series."

Royal reads

1. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip

celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary today

, and a photo was released of them reading a card from their great-grandchildren. [CBC]

2. In a rare statement, Prince William has said he

welcomes an investigation by the BBC

into circumstances around the controversial Panorama interview his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, gave to Martin Bashir in 1995. [CBC]

3. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex,

did authorize a friend to talk to the authors of Finding Freedom

, a biography of her and Prince Harry that was published his summer, court papers say. [ITV]

Cheers!

I’m always happy to hear from you. Send your ideas, comments, feedback and notes to

royalfascinator@cbc.ca

. Problems with the newsletter? Please let me know about any typos, errors or glitches.

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿

[waterrunstogether]

Rites of Passage in the Fifth World

I’ve been thinking lately about the absence of real rites of passage in modern “western culture”. A rite of passage is a sort of ritualized event (that may or may not be endorsed/organized by a community) in which a person is believed to exit from one stage of life and enter the next, usually from childhood to adulthood. Other than the humiliation of high school proms/frat hazing, or getting your driver’s license, or turning 21 and getting shitfaced, my culture in the United States has little to offer in the way of true rites of passage. 

The result is a population of confused, somewhat disillusioned children driving around and going to work or university and pretending to be adults while hopelessly stuck in the liminal space between youth and adulthood.

~ 20 year old me pretending to know what’s going on ~

I have thought about quinceañeras and baptisms, religious rites of passage commonly practiced still, but considering the traumatic experience that my parents’ organized religion was for me, I don’t believe now that my baptism was a helpful event facilitating my transition into maturity. I think it was a blindingly painful event whose toxicity I needed to overcome in what I now believe was the true rite of passage. 

I first dropped acid when I was traveling in Bulgaria. My partner was in her hometown across the country and I was visiting Plovdiv with a friend. We had just finished traveling the world, or at least Eurasia, meeting new faces and trying new things and taking wild risks in Thailand and Turkey and India and Malaysia, to name a few. I had also just escaped the cult I was born and raised in which had hammered into me from birth that my sexual and romantic orientation was an abomination, as a woman I was to obey men, God loved me and wanted me to fear him (that is to say, love = fear), the leaders of the church were to be obeyed and respected all the time (even if they were obviously wrong) and so on and so forth. It was an insane transition between being trapped in these religious handcuffs and learning that I could break free all along. In fact, I carried so much self hatred and internalized homophobia with me into my supposed new life that I didn’t know what to do with myself. Despite being outwardly happier than I had ever been before with a wonderful partner and community who truly loved and supported me for who I was, inwardly I was constantly on the verge of a mental breakdown due to all of the conflicting thoughts and beliefs I was carrying and creating within myself.

The experience of that first trip was an interesting one. Every step of the way my body seemed to pull me towards the letting go of all of the toxicity that was so thick and had built up like plaque in the arteries of my energetic being--yet, I remained me throughout the trip, at the end feeling somewhat empowered but not yet finished with the transformation.

A few months later I took psilocybin, AKA magic mushrooms, with my little brother on a rainy Summer day in D.C. The whole come up of the trip was talking to trees and observing the movements of leaves, running my fingers over the moss growing on the exposed, knotty roots of tree in front of our house. But at the end of the trip, something changed. Once again my body requested, begged me, to let go of the still-prevalent toxicity inside of me. My health was in rough shape, mentally and physically, and my body knew the culprit. But once more I felt I couldn’t let go just yet, it would be too much for me, I wasn’t ready. So I spent the entire come down and then some, maybe four hours, weeping uncontrollably on the basement floor.

The second time I dropped acid was yesterday, with my partner, here in Berlin. It changed everything.

During the come up I was taken aback by how strong the effect it had on me was. My partner, bless her heart, had taken a larger dose than me, yet felt no effect the entire time. Her tolerance has always been naturally higher than mine for every kind of intoxicating substance, and LSD was no exception. 

As time went on I came to realize that her high tolerance was incredibly fortunate for me and my trip. The initial come up was amusing, as flashes of white light began to fill up my eyes, closed and open; but very quickly I began to get paranoid, strange little thoughts about being set up and targeted running through my mind as my sense of self slowly began to dissipate, just nonsense that the ego conjures up to protect itself. But my partner’s calming reassurances that she loved me and that I was safe effectively calmed me down.

Once I began to enjoy the ride up, holding a half of a pomegranate and appreciating its beauty, touching a slice of orange and loving how soft it felt in my hands, admiring the fractals of color creating all kinds of geometric shapes on the walls and snow outside the window, I became comfortable with my loss of identity. At some point I realized that I didn’t even know my name, and I didn’t care, because it was irrelevant. All that was relevant was experience. 

Imagine experiencing and interacting with the world around you without the barrier of the thing that we are so used to that it’s difficult to think of it as a barrier at all: your concept of self. Ideas about names and races and gender and desire and anger and malice and hatred just made absolutely no sense whatsoever. In this state, all that made sense was goodness and beauty and love. All that I understood was harmony and mutually beneficial behavior. My preconceived notions about who I was and what that meant were being shattered and shredded before my very eyes, exposed for what they were: nonsense.

Once I plateaued and began to slowly come down after about four or five hours I was able to contemplate what these things meant, what they would mean for me going forward. I went into the bathroom around hour 7 and decided that it was time to look into the mirror.

Many people will tell you not to look into the mirror during an acid trip, that it’ll give you the dreaded “bad trip” and you’ll have a shit time. I completely disagree. If you are like me and need to come to terms with yourself through the wonderful, horrific, beautiful, terrifying experience that is an “ego death”, I’m afraid that you’ll have no choice but to look into the mirror at some point. 

So, I stared myself down in the mirror and admitted what I couldn’t admit for so long, due to being taught that I was essentially evil since the day I was born. I’d called myself a sinner, wicked, worthless, ugly, an abomination and just about every other mean word in the evangelical dictionary. But as I stood there looking at my body in the mirror, egoless and impartial, I said, “You have done and thought some cruel things to yourself for some time now. But you know what? You are a kind person. You are a wonderful person. You treat people with respect and love, you treat everyone you’ve ever met with so much empathy, so much caring. You love the truth, you love to be generous, you love to be a good friend. You must begin to treat yourself the same way. I know you’ve had so much hatred in your heart contaminating your energy for so long, but that is enough. That is enough. No more. I am a kind person. I am a kind person. I love you. Remember that night so long ago? Beneath the stars, where they submerged you in the baptismal water and tried to destroy you, saying these sacred waters would wash all your sins away, along with your fragile, meaningless identity? Well, they simply added more to your ego, a darker side. You built up so much negativity for so long. Well, look at you now. Your identity, all of the ideas and concepts that you’ve built up around who you really are to protect you from the hurt of Life, it’s all gone. Now you’re going to baptize yourself again. You’ll be truly reborn, this time dedicated not to destroying yourself for the sake of a religion, but dedicated to renewing and becoming and becoming and becoming.” As I looking into the mirror my silhouette became filled in with the velvet black of the night sky, full of bright stars.

I turned on the water and was baptized once again, by my own hands.

When I returned to the room I felt happier than I had ever felt in my life, light as air, free. I told several people about how much I love them and described my love for them in detail, not as this thing that’s an extension of my own ego, but my love for them was a little bit of energy that I had the honor of holding in me, in this body, and sharing between us for a time, for the wonderful events that we call our lives. I could actually see love. I understood that I was not all of the concepts I’ve built around myself, but an expression of energy in this space and time, connected to every other expression of energy in all of history, from the beginning and until the end. My matter, my body, was simply a vehicle for the energy, and would be recycled into new vehicles after I die. My energy would be transferred into new vehicles as well. That’s what we perceive as death: just a simple transfer of energy and recycling of matter. My ego would not live on, thankfully. My consciousness as conflated with ego would cease to exist with me. But the underlying animating force behind all things in the universe, the true source of consciousness, would never be destroyed or created, simply recycled again and again and again and again. Becoming and becoming and becoming and becoming.

The hilarious and bizarre world of reality is hilarious and bizarre. It’s so beautiful and mystical and wonderful and honestly, nothing I write here could ever explain how I experienced being alive in that sixteen hour trip. Words don’t convey it, words can’t convey it. Reality is visceral, experiential, impartial and impossible to quantify in something as crude as human language. 

All I know is that, today, I am a fundamentally changed person. I’d feared ego death for so long, feared that it would be too much, too painful. And it was so, so painful--but it was so worth it. I am happy and proud to exist, grateful for everything I have accomplished and can accomplish in this miraculous, tiny little vessel during this ephemeral event that is my life. I can’t wait to wake up tomorrow if tomorrow exists, and unleash all of my love on everyone who’ll have it. Love is the energy that unites us with our own bodies and the entire world around us. How lucky and strange it is to be anything at all.

May you have a peaceful day. The universe smiles upon you.

[bakudekuficlibrary]

Do you have any fics with a deaf or blind Bakugou or Midoriya? Doesn't matter if it's angst, fluff, or whatever, I love all types ^w^

All righty, here we go. I found a ton of these! The tags are riddled with Koe no Katachi AUs, as to be expected (KnK is The Sob-Inducing BombTM). But there’s a ton of really cool and interesting fics that diverge from that. Thank you for your patience^^ I hope you like.

Also, be sure to check out the Disabled Bakugou list curated by Jay!

~Gabs ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

25 works.

Actions Speak Louder by TsunaidaMay( E | 38,438+ | 10/14 )

When Bakugou Katsuki meets Midoriya Izuku at a Pro Hero fan event, he’s intrigued by the intricate way Izuku’s hands move, emphasizing every word and phrase. After another chance meeting, Katsuki will soon come to learn that sometimes, actions speak louder than words.

The Way You Used to Do by edema_ruh( T | 347,037+ | 20/? )

“We’re really sorry,” his father says, in a teary-eyed, wobbly way. “But your friend, Izuku, he’s… He’s gone, son.”

Katsuki can do nothing but blink up at them for moments that feel like an eternity, eyes darting between both his parents in obvious confusion, disbelief, and, more than anything, indignation.

“What the fuck are you two talking about? The damn nerd is standing right beside you!”

During a battle, Midoriya gets hit by a villain whose quirk detaches his soul from his body. Stuck in a ghost-like state, the boy enters a race against time in order to save himself from permanently dying. Much to his luck - or lack of it -, the only person who can see and talk to him in this state is no one other than Kacchan.

Alternatively: Deku and Kacchan are soulbound.

[PTSD]

Some Wannabe Hero! by Superior_Mustache( M | 50,792+ | 14/25 )

Katsuki had bullied Izuku for nearly all his life for being deaf and Quirkless. After middle school, they went their separate ways, never to see each other again. Ten years later, however, when Izuku moves back into his old neighborhood, a familiar face jumps back into his life. But neither of them are sure if they want to reopen old wounds.

Senses by Phayte( E | 22,294+ | 6/? )

In a freak accident through battle, Bakugou loses his sight. This is the story of his struggle, downward spiral, and the friends that get him through it. 

Hand Speak by crackmonster( E | 30,350 | 12/12 )

“You think you’re some hotshot, huh? You’re not going to even apologize, are you?” Bakugou folded his arms, waiting for him to get on his knees with grief, but he turned around and picked something up from the counter inside. “Hey! Hey are you serious? I’m talking to you!”

Bakugou had no qualms about barging into his house uninvited. “I said I’m talking to you! Are you Deaf-” 

Blue snow by Darkshadow( T | 908 | 1/1 )

A bullied Izuku meets a blind Katsuki in the park.

I guess… I’ll just… fuckin read this by TheGeekProblem( G | 1,533 | 1/1 )

Izuku works the graveyard shift in a diner and he’s really tired. A group of people come at 2 a.m. What could go wrong? 

Dull by choimarie( G | 714 | 1/1 )

“What? Never have seen a hot dude before?” 

Learning A Thing Or Two by overworldpumpkin( G | 654 | 1/1 )

Bakugou meets somebody new and interesting on his first day. 

love is blind (and deaf) by kagehinataboke( T | 789 | 1/1)

Izuku hesitantly opens the door, wielding an umbrella and ready to square up against a mugger. but it’s only one of his neighbors: a new one, in fact. Izuku faintly recalls him moving in a few weeks ago, but one unfriendly glare was enough to stop him from approaching.

he discreetly drops the umbrella behind the door. “can i help you?”

— a bakudeku one-shot

Learning Curve by iknewaman( G | 10,304 | 1/1 )

“Izuku.” Uraraka repeats as she motions at the person stood next to her. Green curls, average height, and, well. Up close, not such a bad smile. Uraraka points a thumb at Bakugou and enunciates slowly, “This is Bakugou. He can speak sign language too.”

Wait. Sign language?

The stranger— well, Izuku— looks at him with a raised brow. Their free hand lifts up as they make a slight motion of the hand.

‘Really?’

*

Bored out of his mind at a house party one night Bakugou is introduced to Izuku, a deaf student who offers to help teach Bakugou sign language in exchange for a favor– or well, is prompted into asking for a favor.

Missed Connections by Labellevita( M | 9,765 | 3/5 )

Deaf Uni student Bakugou can’t catch a break, but he does catch the scent of a fantastic smelling omega. 

Hackles Raised by Sanctioned_Chaos( T | 3,357 | 1/1 )

Twenty-six year-old Midoriya Izuku takes a trip to the past in the middle of grocery shopping for him and his mate, Bakugou Katsuki. It’s happened before but it’s always managed to be different each time. Still, doesn’t change the fact that he usually only travels when he’s needed. He shouldn’t be surprised coming face to face with a teenage Katsuki mid-panic attack.

His inner alpha bares his teeth and Izuku worries.

Silenced. by RJDAZE( T | 2,644 | 1/1)

When Bakugou was bit, he didn’t die. He was one of the few people that lived. But he lived for a price, and that price … it was his quirk.

OR

Bakugou runs into Deku while he’s in a bad situation and helps him. They talk— they really talk.

transfigured night by bittermoons( M | 6,044 | 1/1 )

An unexpected hospital trip changes things between Izuku Midoriya, age forty-four, and his longtime roommate, co-parent, and co-composer, Katsuki Bakugou.

Do You Hear What I See? by SilentJo( M | 2,156+ | 1/? )

Nearly deaf from the use of his own quirk, Bakugou fights to keep his dreams alive, despite knowing his career will only last as long as his hearing.

When a villain’s attack takes Midoriya’s sight, Bakugou is overwhelmed with guilt that it was his fault Midoriya’s hero career was over.

But Midoriya was never one to just give up, now was he?

No Warning by DeafBakugou( G | 10,375 | 1/1 )

Bakugou survives a natural disaster and has to navigate the world without the normal accommodations he depends on as a Deaf individual.

To Fight and Protect by HapSky( T | 2,566 | 1/1 )

The officer laughs then, and claps Katsuki’s shoulder. “You guys really fit the ‘go big or go home’ attitude! If I weren’t on the job right now, I’d praise you. Really nice teamwork there–every villain got caught and every citizen was protected,” he clears his throat and retreats his hand, “but I’m on the job right now so you didn’t hear any of that,” he winks then and adds, in a forced serious voice, “You could do better regarding own safety and quirk overuse next time.”

Katsuki grins, because he knows he didn’t kill the villains yesterday, and knows the villains didn’t get past Izuku to kill anyone either.

Lost the Fight by Katt1848( T | 1,733 | 1/1 )

Every Hero remembers the first time they weren’t able to save someone. This is Katsuki’s.

Angel Down by Baltic_Breath( M | 16,008 | 3/3 )

After Midoriya Izuku throws himself out of a window because of him and almost dies, Katsuki comes down from his high horse real fucking quick.

He decides to be responsible for what he caused.

(glimpses into the lives of Katsuki and Izuku in the aftermath of Izuku’s suicide attempt in middle school.)

[Graphic Depictions of Violence]

Finding Out and Confessions by Needle_In_A_NeedleStack( G | 605 | 1/1 )

Bakugo is deaf, that’s why he’s always so loud. He hasn’t told anyone. So when Midoriya Izuku accidentally finds out Bakugo’s secret, how will things change.

[Discontinued] Listen to the Heart by milkcandie( M | 25,682+ | 5/? )

Katsuki wants to remake what he had demolished (broke, cut, destroyed), every little thing that he had single-handedly set on fire and every moment that he had crushed under his foot. The past is irreparable, but when he sees Izuku, he feels like he can believe in the impossible again.

☆ A Koe no Katachi AU where Izuku is deaf and Katsuki dedicates his entire being to see him smile.

Omniscient Eyes by everlastingspaghetti( T | 11,285 | 1/1)

Katsuki wasn’t sure what to say about this. All his life, he'd— he was a horrible person; both inside and out.

He didn’t deserve whatever this is. He didn’t deserve anything, not when the boy he’d tormented relentlessly was shaking in front of him, with outstretched limbs a sincere smile dripping down his face, tears smacking the concrete.

Katsuki wanted to say something— anything, but then Deku had looked up at him - through a tearful gaze of forest green - and softly gasped, “I forgive you, Kacchan.”

Silent Voice, Loud Gestures by ReadingHell( T | 10,001 | 3/3 )

“My name is Bakugou Katsuki”

“If you need to talk to me, use this notebook”

“I can’t hear”

Koe no Katachi AU

Say Something by limesicle( T | 4,520 | 1/1 )

Katsuki pushes and pushes until he pushes too far. He is left guilty until Izuku returns to give him–not a second chance, or even a third–another chance.

[javier-djarin]

Como Me Duele: Epilogue

Ship: Javi x Reader

Rating: M

Word Count: 2,057 words

Warnings: Language, Soft!Javi

Masterlist

(Gif by @pascvl)

Summary: Just a glimpse into the life of the Peñas. 

A/N: As they say, all good things must come to an end. This is the last part to this fic. I have toyed with the idea of doing one shots to fill the time between Chapter 12 and now, since there is a significant time jump. But those are a ways out. Thank you again for all the love and support! I love you all so much and absolutely love the comments you send me! Please let me know if you want to be on my tag list for any future fics! I have a few lined up. As always, the translations are at the bottom.

15 Years Later

Mariana was stretched out on the pool deck soaking up sun, with Olivia next to her. Marcela was helping Y/N in the garden, pulling weeds and picking vegetables while Jaime was playing catch with his little brother, Javier. It was the middle of June in Laredo, which meant that it was hot, but it was nothing compared to the heat of Colombia. A heat their children never had to experience, but heard stories about. Only the twins had ever been to the country where their parents’ story started, but they were too young to remember any of it.

Javi walked out of the barn, having just finished watering the horses, and wiped the sweat from his brow. He looked around their massive backyard with a large smile. Seeing his children made his heart swell with such happiness, that sometimes he was afraid he’d wake up and it’d all be a dream. But then, his gaze found her. She was covered in sweat and specks of dirt in her swimsuit top and sports shorts as she weeded the garden, but he’d never seen anything more beautiful. Every time he saw her, he found his footing. This was all real; she was real. Seventeen years together, fifteen years of marriage, and four kids later and he was still as in love with her as the day he saw her in that red dress. He smirked at her when she stood up and he saw the sweat glistening off her skin, dripping down between her breasts. “You checking me out, Mister?” She laughed, approaching him as she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.

Javi smiled at her and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close. “Siempre, mi hermosa,” he said.

She grinned at him. “I look gross right now.”

He shook his head. “No, Hermosa, you look as perfect as the day I first saw you in your apartment.”

He smiled wide at her, a few more wrinkles appeared around his eyes over the years, just like her, but he was still her Javi. She blushed at his comment and replied, “After all these years, you still make me blush.”

Javi leaned down and met his lips with hers, kissing her delicately. She reached up and lightly tugged at the hair near the nape of his neck and smiled into his kiss. “Careful,” he growled, “you know what that does to me.”

She laughed and kissed him again.

“Get a room!” Mariana shouted from the deck.

Javi looked up and smiled at his daughter before dipping Y/N and giving her a very passionate kiss. They both grinned against each other’s lips as they heard the rest of their children groan in disgust together. Marcela came over and dropped the vegetable basket on the ground in front of them. “Can’t you just wait until tomorrow? Do this when you aren’t here?” She laughed.

He looked at his eldest daughter. She was a spitting image of his wife. Honestly, both of his beautiful daughters were; his hermositas. “When you find the love of your life, you’ll understand one day. And I hope your kids are just as disturbed,” Javi laughed.

Marcela wrapped her hand around him, and he held her close. “Does that mean I can go out with Ryan when you get back?” She asked.

He looked at Y/N slightly horrified. “Ryan?”

She looked over to Marcela. “Your father and I will talk about it tonight,” she said, giving her daughter a wink. 

Marcela smiled and grabbed the basket again, heading into the house. Javi turned to his wife. “Ryan?”

She rested her hand on her hip and glared at him through her sunglasses. “I told you about him, mi amor. He plays on the baseball team and they do debate together.”

Javi’s eyes grew wide. “Is he that boy that drove here two weeks ago?” He asked, suddenly concerned, “he has a car.”

“Javi, she’s going to be sixteen in a few weeks. It’s time we start to let her grow up.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Ryan is a very sweet boy. Besides, you should count your blessings. Everyone is afraid to date the daughters of the famed DEA Agent who brought down both Pablo Escobar and the Cali Godfathers. I’m surprised Ryan worked up the nerve,” she laughed.

“He. Has. A. Car, Hermosa.”

“Good,” she said, “then we don’t have to drive them around.” She gave him her doe-eyed look he couldn’t resist.

Javi let out a long nervous breath. “Nothing was ever going to prepare me for this day. They’re growing up way too fast.”

“It seemed like just yesterday the four of us packed up and moved back to Cali.” 

He kissed her before bringing her to his side as they walked towards the house. “Speaking of packed…”

“I’m going inside to shower…” she began.

He gave her his trademarked devilish grin. “Oh?”

“You’ll get plenty of that this week, mi amor.” He laughed at her. “Anyway,” she continued, “I was going to finish laundry and finish packing.”

“Well, don’t pack too many clothes,” he whispered into her neck. 

She gasped and slapped his shoulder. “Go practice with your sons. Jaime has a game tonight.”

“What time are your parents getting here?”

“They’ll be here before Jaime’s game. Dad is driving us to the airport. Steve and Connie said they’d meet us at the ballpark, since Olivia is here. They’re staying the night so we don’t have to make extra stops tomorrow. We can go straight to the airport. And then, this time tomorrow the four of us will be sitting on a cruise ship sipping cocktails.”

Javi smiled. They made a point to do trips with The Murphys as often as they could, especially since the girls were so close. But then, every summer, the four of them would escape for a week sans kids. This year, they decided on a cruise to celebrate The Peñas’ fifteenth wedding anniversary. Steve actually suggested it, and the girls were sold. Javi was obviously eager to get away, and wherever his hermosa wanted to go, he would follow.  

***

It was late after Jaime’s game, and the adults were sitting on the deck. Y/N’s parents turned in early, so that left Javi, Y/N, Steve, and Connie. Javi had her pulled into his lap, hand wrapped around her waist as they sat laughing about old times. Both Javi and Steve’s beers ran out, and so she and Connie offered to run inside and fetch them some. Steve waited until they were gone before he said, “Do you ever feel like you’re living in a dream?”

Javi nodded. “Every damn day.” They sat in silence for a minute. “You know, I never thanked you,” he said.

“For what?” Steve asked.

Javi took a deep breath and sighed. “For everything you did that day,” he added. They never talked about that day. Despite the fact she survived, he never wanted to relive it.

“It’s no big deal, man. You would have done the same thing.”

“Steve, if you weren’t there keeping a level head and doing what I should have, she might not have made it. I owe you everything.”

Steve smiled at him. “I’d do anything for you two. Besides,” he laughed, “It’s in the handbook. It says your partner has your back when you get shot, your wife gets kidnapped, when you’re getting married, but tells you when you’re being a dumbass.”

Javi laughed at Steve. “It all worked out, didn’t it? Even after you threatened me to leave her alone.”

Connie and Y/N rejoined them. “I knew you wouldn’t listen,” Steve said.

“Does he ever?” She said, handing Javi his beer before returning to his lap. 

Connie grinned. “Not as long as I’ve known him.”

“He called her ‘forbidden fruit’ the first time I said to back off.”

She turned to look at him. Her eyes rolled as she looked down at his big grin on his face. “Forbidden fruit?”

“Damn right,” he said, his grin going into that same devilish look he always had. 

She lightly kissed his lips. “Who knew I’d marry someone so cheesy?”

“Solo para ti, Hermosa.”

Steve laughed. “So, Javi, Connie tells me Marcela has a date?”

“Thanks for the reminder, dick.”

Giggling, Connie said, “When Olivia invited her first date over, Steve wore his badge.”

“I sure did,” he said, tipping his bottle at Javi, “he had her home fifteen minutes before curfew.”

Javi smiled. “You wanna have a barbecue that night. Two DEA Agents might have him back here fifteen minutes after they leave.”

“Shooting some clay birds while we wait.”

Y/N looked at Connie, shaking her head. “You two are insufferable. Ryan is a good boy.”

“No,” Javi said, “Dusty, is a good boy.” Motioning to the dog at their feet. “Ryan is a boy.”

They laughed. “And she’s our daughter,” Y/N said, “I do believe the first time we went out, your persistence in the backseat got you nowhere.”

Steve chuckled and nodded. “I believe she called you harmless at one point.”

Javi glared at him. “Fuck you, Murphy.”

Y/N smiled and ran her hand up and down his back. “He was! Connie and I were dying over him practically tripping over himself. He could hardly form sentences during that car ride.”

“In my defense,” Javi said, “it worked.” He motioned to her in his lap.

“Three weeks later,” Steve added.

“Again, fuck you, Murphy.”

Steve finished his beer and stood up. “Well, now that Javi has told me to fuck off twice, I’m heading to bed. See you bright and early tomorrow.” Connie got up to follow him, but he stopped at the door. “Happy Anniversary, you guys.”

Javi held his beer up to Steve and Y/N smiled as they retired for the night. “It’s hard to believe it’s been fifteen years,” Javi said, finishing his beer.

She turned in his lap, so she was straddling him as she ran her hands over his chest and shoulders. “You know,” she grinned, “that night at the club, I only danced with Rodriguez to piss you off.”

“Oh, it was obvious, Hermosa. Which is why I danced with that nurse.”

“I won that game,” she added, kissing him.

“You always win.” He returned her kiss. “I did always wonder about something. What did you tell Kate about me before we got together?” His hermosa blushed and looked away. “Now you’re embarrassed? I would think what we did last week in the shower would have been more embarrassing?”

She laughed and pushed on him. “After the night of the club, I told her that I had this neighbor who was hands down the most attractive man I have ever seen. I told her while we danced, I’d never felt so alive before and that I would look for any excuse just to have your hands on me. I also told her that it was so obvious you looked for similar excuses to touch me. So, when you picked me up and tossed me in that Jeep, she made a comment about it. When we got back to my apartment, she told me that she’d never seen someone look at anyone the way you did at me. As angry as you were about Lara, she watched you sneak glimpses of me, and vice versa. She was so annoyed it took you as long as it did to do anything about it.”

He laughed, and ran his hands down her back, cupping her bottom to pull her closer to him. Javi looked up into her eyes with so much love and adoration as she returned his gaze. Her hands rested in his hair, holding him steady - tethering him to his reality. He had a few tears in his eyes. “I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you, Hermosa.”

“Me neither. It scared me at first, because my heart ached to have you. And I can’t imagine it any other way.”

“El mejor tipo de dolor,” he smiled.

She leaned down and rubbed her nose on his. “Sí, y como me duele,” she said, smiling before she kissed him just as passionately and deeply as they did the first time all those years ago.

Translations

Siempre - Always.

Solo para ti. - Only for you.

El mejor tipo de dolor - The best type of pain.

Sí, y como me duele - Yes, and oh how it hurts.

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[vivalamusaine]

Les Mis Rare Pair Week - Bahorel & Enjolras: Minutes at the Musain

August 26: Friendship! (two days late)

Character Focus: Enjolras and Bahorel - (platonic)

Description: Bahorel and Enjolras are the only ones to show one night for Les Amis De L’ABC. In lieu of a meeting, they share stories of their friends, talk of old memories, discuss theoretical punches to the face and create fraudulent meeting minutes. Modern AU

Words: 2485

Hurrying into the Musain, Enjolras was expecting to be met with a boisterous crowd of tired and overworked friends ready to greet him, but opening the door to the back room of the cafe he was met with an almost empty room. Only one person was seated at the table across from him. Bahorel looked up from his phone and gave him a small wave.

“Are we early…. or late? or is everybody else late?” Enjolras asked with one more confused look around the room. The chaos and stress of exam season always had Enjolras slightly turned around and stressed for time, but usually les amis de l'abc was the exception to his frantic schedule. In the four years since he’d formed it he hadn’t once missed a meeting, and had only been late a handful of occasions that were completely out of his control. 

“None of the above!” Bahorel said with a grin and gestured for a bewildered Enjolras to sit in the free seat across from him, he did so with a curious tilt of his head, waiting for explanation. “Have you checked the group chat? It’s just me tonight. ”

“My phones dead,” Enjolras frowned as he placed his messenger bag on the empty chair beside him, another frightful side effect of his busy schedule was that he occasionally forgot to charge it overnight. “All I know is Joly and Combeferre won’t be here. I still can’t believe they’re actually interning at a real hospitals now.”

It felt like just yesterday he’d met them at an orientation party in their first year of university. Fresh faced and bold and excited for the future. They had all felt so mature and invincible then, but they had been practically children. 

“Ah, they grow up so fast,” Bahorel replied wistfully, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. “Well, I have the full litany of pathetic excuses in the chat, let me enlighten you.” He held up his phone and cleared his throat loudly. 

“Jehan has come down with a touch of melancholy, can’t bring themselves to leave the bed. Feuilly just came back from a double shift and can’t function like a normal human today — his words, he sends his deepest apologies, Bossuet is desperately trying to cram last minute for his final tomorrow, Eponine is working and took Gavroche with her, Musichetta’s got plans, Grantaire’s dead, Courf is-”

“Dead?” Enjolras interrupted with a horrified expression.  

“Yeah, from last night. We went a bit overboard celebrating his guest spot in the gallery. All his pieces sold and all the champagne was free,” Bahorel grinned. “I tried to wake him up three times before I left but he wasn’t having it.”

“Oh,” Enjolras said with a relieved smile. “What were you saying about Courfeyrac?”

“Helping a friend outside of our group move apartments. Can you believe it? The traitor!”

“And let me guess, Marius and Cosette are on a date?” Enjolras said with an amused roll of his eyes. His annoyance was more for show than anything, he didn’t actually mind all that much that they’d missed the last three meetings to run off on some spontaneous romantic adventure together, he was happy for them. It was just becoming a little predictable. 

“Yeah, but they have to be forgiven this time,” Bahorel said with a knowing smile. “It’s the most important night of their romantic life for a very important question.”

It took a while for the meaning of these words to hit him completely, but when Enjolras realized what Bahorel meant his eyes went and his mouth fell open slightly. “Marius is proposing?” 

“No actually, Cosette is. I think she realized that boy would have to trip over himself for another two years before he could even think of mustering up the courage to ask, and she’s impatient as anything to get married. I can’t tell you how unbearable it is to watch ‘Say Yes To The Dress’ with her. That’s supposed to be my cool down show! It shouldn’t make me more stressed! Plus, she’s always talking over Monte to talk about her dream dress and that should be like a federal crime or something. I can’t wait to go gown shopping for her, I’m going to be such a bitch when she tries on her sweetheart neckline princess ball gown. I’ll cause a big scene about how it's totally not the dress for her and I’ll guilt her into trying on an ugly poofy sleeved lace a-line.”

“No, you won’t,” Enjolras laughed fondly. “You’ll fold and cry immediately the moment she comes out in that dress.”

“Fuck, you’re right! I’m getting emotional just thinking about it.”

“Has it really been two years for them?” Enjolras placed his chin absentmindedly in his hand. “Everyone seems to be growing up.”

“Except for us, of course.” Bahorel winked. “Young, wild, and free forever! A youth unbridled by time and motivated for a fresh new world!”

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